English History – Page 14 – General History

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

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

‘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

Rich in history: the Rothschilds

Nathan Rothschild, who ‘organised’ the purchase of those Suez Canal shares / texemarrs.com

Whole books have been published about this world-famous banking family. Some of the authors have indulged in hagiography, others have been perhaps unconsciously anti-Semitic. The latter view is particularly irritating, as it is the very Jewishness of the Rothschilds that makes their family history so interesting. Here, we can engage in a brief potted biography of the family. For further reading, I consider the best and most intimate biography is by Frederic Morton. It is probably out of print by now, but ransack the libraries for The Rothschilds – a family portrait. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-20T12:21:49+00:00 September 20th, 2012|Austrian history, British History, English History, French History, German History, Italian History, Jewish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Tory, Conservative; Whig, Liberal

The term ‘party’ for a political group has been around in Britain for centuries. The Tory Party was a political group that was spoken of in the 1680s. The term ‘Tory’ is itself pejorative, derived from the Irish Gaelic-speaking Catholic toraidhe – ‘outlaw’ or ‘brigand’. In the last quarter of the sevententh century the outlaws were those against the attempt being made to put the Duke of York, who was Catholic, on the throne after the death of his older brother Charles II (q.v.). (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-08T09:41:08+00:00 September 8th, 2012|British History, Dutch History, English History, Scottish history, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Ghostly armies in the nave?

St. Albans Abbey was built about a thousand years ago by the people of the town, which was already ancient. In fact it was a Roman foundation called Verulanium, and ‘Alban’ was a Roman centurion executed by his superiors for embracing Christianity. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2025-03-06T21:30:09+00:00 September 6th, 2012|British History, English History|0 Comments

Great War Commanders: Horatio Nelson

Horation Lord Nelson

Like so many other men of small stature throughout history, Nelson was not only a successful seaman and admiral, he was popular with his officers and men. Given that naval authority in the 18^th/19^th century was backed by more than ample application of the lash, this popularity is excessively rare. Indeed, when Nelson was shot down dead during the battle of Trafalgar (1805 q.v.) half the crew of his ship Victory were in tears. You had to be really bad to be flogged in any ship under Nelson’s command. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-06T10:22:37+00:00 September 6th, 2012|British History, English History, French History, History of Egypt, Italian History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Great War Generals: Erich Ludendorff

This dynamic and very physical soldier was born in 1865. Obviously destined for the Army, he did singularly well as a cadet, passed through the junior ranks at panther’s speed, and by the timeEuropewas (not) ready for World War I he was already on the German General Staff.

First off he led his troops with verve and bravery to capture the Belgian fortress at Liège. Promoted instantly to general, he became Chief-of-Staff of the 8^th Army under Hindenberg (q.v.) who was busy at the time dealing with the Russian invasion of East Prussia.

Ludendorff rapidly became known as a master of strategy, the most important quality in a fighting general. Using this talent he smashed two Russian armies at Tannenberg and theMasurianLakes, and keptGermanysupreme on the Eastern Front until September, 1916. Falkenhayn (q.v.) was dismissed and replaced by Hindenberg as Supreme Commander. Erich became his most senior Quartermaster-General, a vital post. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-09-05T10:51:25+00:00 September 5th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments