Dean Swift

Disasters waiting to happen: Leopold II of the Belgians

King Leopold II of the Belgians

Leopold was born in 1835 and was King of the Belgians from 1865 – 1909. We are told that he was lively and energetic practically from birth, and that he was unusually ambitious. Looking around him at countries like near neighbour France, distant Austro-Hungary, just-over-the-sea Britain, he saw empires. He wanted Belgium to have immense overseas territories too. She had some, of course, but in Leopold’s opinion not enough. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-04T11:11:06+00:00 October 4th, 2012|History of the Low Countries, World History|0 Comments

Humour: tall tales

Madame Charles de Gaulle

Paul Johnson tells us that when General de Gaulle at last decided to retire to his small chateau at Colombey-les-deux-Églises, he and his wife threw a small party to celebrate. Several distinguished journalists were invited, among them a few English reporters. During the conversation, an English lady reporter asked the General’s lady what she most looked forward to now that the general and ex-president of France had retired. “A penis,” said Madame. Silence fell around the table. The general leaned forward tutting. “Your pronunciation, cherie,” he said, not without benevolence; “I sink you mean ‘appiness, no?” (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-04T09:25:06+00:00 October 4th, 2012|British History, English History, English Language, French History, History of the Cinema, Humour, US History|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: Edward VIII

The Duke of Windsor (ex-Edward VIII) and the woman he loved / onlinepublishingco.info

Edward (born 1894) was the oldest son of George V and Mary of Teck. He should have become King of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and Emperor of India. He did become Prince of Wales in 1911, and was popular with the people. As a child and youth he maintained a rigid and distant relationship with his parents, who would not allow him to attend an ordinary school, not even Eton or Harrow. He could never have gone toWinchester because he was not intelligent enough. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-03T09:41:25+00:00 October 3rd, 2012|British History, English History, French History, German History, History of India, US History, World History|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: John Calvin Coolidge

The thirtieth President of the United States was born in 1872. No-one knew much about him, except his reputation for long silences broken by periods of terseness, until he became Governor of Massachusetts. He intervened in a strike called by Boston policemen, stating that after the strike was over none of the those involved in it would get their police jobs back. Coolidge broke his customary silence by saying firmly, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.” He soon earned the nickname, ‘Silent Cal’. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2025-03-06T21:40:40+00:00 October 2nd, 2012|US History, World History|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: Count Ciano – not really his fault

Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law / globalsecurity.org

Galeazzo Ciano was born in 1903, the son of an admiral in the Italian navy. After a privileged education he entered the foreign service of his country in 1925, and followed this success by marrying Mussolini’s oldest daughter Edda. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-01T11:49:54+00:00 October 1st, 2012|German History, History in The Balkans, Italian History, World History|0 Comments

Disasters waiting to happen: Charles X of France

Charles X / historywarsweapons.com

Charles was born in 1757 and was King of France for barely six years. He was a younger brother of Louis XVI, guillotined during the French Revolution, and also Louis XVIII, who as the Count of Provence had escaped to Brussels in 1791 at exactly the same time as his ill-fated brother attempted escape to Varennes with his family. Louis XVIII became king after Napoleon’s abdication as Emperor and was persuaded by Talleyrand (q.v.) to accept the Charter of 1814 and therefore recover the throne. It was this Louis who ran from Paris when news of Napoleon’s escape from Elba arrived, and the Hundred Days’ War began. After the Allies dealt at last with the Corsican, Louis became king again, reigning from 1814 to 1824. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-10-01T08:41:45+00:00 October 1st, 2012|French History, World History|0 Comments

Gibraltar in the news again

President of the Spanish Government Mariano Rajoy spoke to the United Nations recently. He explained the country’s economic situation, which is disastrous, though no fault of his own, and clarified what his government is doing (or trying to do) to improve the situation. But he also brought up the thorny and contentious subject of Gibraltar. He said that the two governments, British and Spanish and the UNO itself must reach a consensus of opinion about the Rock, and be quick about it. He pulled no punches. It is not his job to pull punches. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-28T09:13:04+00:00 September 28th, 2012|Austrian history, British History, Dutch History, English History, Spanish History, Today, World History|11 Comments

What was the Freikorps?

Freikorps troops /phoenixinvestmentarms.com

Literally translated from the German, the word means ‘Free Corps’, though this term does not really express the intention behind the nomenklature. Freikorps were para-military formations formed throughout Germany after the end of the World War. These bodies were led by former officers and non-commissioned officers who had had difficulty adjusting to civilian life after four years of mainly trench warfare. The men tended to be nationalist and unemployed. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-27T12:51:30+00:00 September 27th, 2012|German History, World History|0 Comments

‘Emancipation’ of the Catholics

The Christian Church first came into Britain through the north of Ireland and Scotland, probably with St. Augustine. The Roman Catholic Church was soon established throughout Ireland, Scotland and England, ruled inexorably from Rome by the Pope. The Pope’s bishops then ruled both the Church and much more, in association with kings of England when they established themselves. The first king of all England was a Norman Viking called William the Conquerer, and he was a Catholic and a bastard. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-26T08:59:02+00:00 September 26th, 2012|Asian History, British History, English History, French History, History of Rome, History of the Low Countries, Spanish History, Today, World History|0 Comments

Great War Commanders: General Allenby

Allenby’s chief claim to fame, though he would not have liked my reminding him of it, was that for a time he was Laurence of Arabia’s commanding officer. This was not easy for anyone, and Edward Allenby’s notoriously bad temper was always on a short fuse: as a Field Marshall he was known throughout the ranks as ‘The Bull’ on account of his great size and violent nature. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2019-01-15T18:37:25+00:00 September 25th, 2012|British History, English History, French History, German History, History of Egypt, History of India, History of the Cinema, History of Turkey, Jewish History, The Arab races, World History|0 Comments

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