French History – Page 22 – General History

Two (du Plessis) Richelieus

Armand.Emmanuel du Plessis / retratosdelahistoria.blogspot.com

Cardinal Richelieu has not been treated kindly by journalists, novelists or movie-makers. I suppose it is an honour to have been played on the screen by, in alphabetical order, Mr Tim Curry, Mr Charlton Heston and Mr Vincent Price among others. In Man in the iron mask (Curry), the Cardenal schemes against the future Louis XIV, tries to seduce of the wife of Louis XIII, imprisons a mysterious twin brother, masking his face with a cruel contraption, and forces war against England. In two of the dozens of Three Musketeers Hollywood films, the Cardenal (Heston in one and Price in another) conspires with Milady de Winter to murder both Buckingham and the girl D’Artagnan has fallen for, persuades the King to disband the loyal (and fashionably dressed) Musketeers, sends his lackeys off to murder and rob. Fiction regards Cardinal Richelieu as a baddie. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-09T09:44:26+00:00 March 9th, 2012|French History, Russian history, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

War Crimes

This subject arouses all kinds of passions in men’s hearts. Historians are right when they say that subjecting leaders defeated in a war or wars to a tribunal accusing them of war crimes is likely to occur only to the winner. The vanquished are an easy target; in custody, defenceless, probably guilty – but no more so than the winners. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2024-01-15T13:14:33+00:00 March 5th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Russian history, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Crusades in brief

Probably the best known of all the crusaders – Richard I ‘Lionheart’ / masonicsourcebook.com

They were a series of military expeditions ranging from the 11^th to the 14^th centuries, meant to secure Christian rule over the holy places of Palestine controlled by the Muslims. It would not be too much to say that Islam has never forgiven the European Christian kings for what is still seen as presumption. In modern times, the term is extensively used to describe any war encouraged by a moral, religious or political movement. There was a ‘crusade’ recently when the West decided to assist Iraquis in their successful move to dislodge Saddam Hussein. George Bush Senior thought his defence of Kuwait against the same man and country was a ‘crusade’. It seems likely that the woman C. Kirchner, installed as President of Argentina, will shortly embark on a ‘crusade’ firmly to replace the term ‘Falkland Islands’ with ‘Las Malvinas’. Equally, Mr David Cameron will resist this, and employ the word ‘crusade’ as he launches what is left of the British Army and Fleet towards the South Atlantic. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-02T09:45:53+00:00 March 2nd, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Jewish History, Philosophy, Today, World History|1 Comment

Figures in a Revolution: Joseph Fouché – survivor

Joseph Fouché – survivor / commons.wikimedia.org

The French politician was born at Nantes in 1759. As a very young man he was an ardent admirer of Robespierre (q.v.), touring the provinces in 1792/93 shouting the praises of the Jacobins (q.v.), and attracting fair criticism for his cruel treatment of opponents in Lyons.

Leaders of revolutions usually fall out with each other while fomenting rebellion, and Fouché fell out with his former idol – Robespierre – in 1794. It was said at the time that the latter had been suggesting that he, Robespierre, was a ‘Supreme Being’. Fouché found this contemptuous, and said so. No-one was permitted to criticise Robespierre, or judge him anything less than perfect, so Fouché had to maintain a profile so low he was almost underground, while the Revolution raged above. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-29T11:13:54+00:00 February 29th, 2012|French History, German History, US History, World History|0 Comments

De Gaulle, a great Frenchman

/ balearoculta.blogspot.com

Charles A.J.M. de Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890. An average schoolboy (apart from his great height), he graduated from the Military Academy at St. Cyr in 1909, and was gazetted lieutenant in the 33^rd Infanty Regiment under the command of Pétain (of whom he was an admirer).

In 1916 he was a captain in the French army fighting at Verdun; he was taken prisoner, but released quickly because by 1919 he was serving in the military mission in Poland. After two years of administrative work he was taken on as a lecturer at the French Staff College, where he was a clear and popular speaker with highly developed theories on the offensive use of tanks and aircraft, two potentially important weapons first seen in action in the First War. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-29T09:39:40+00:00 February 29th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, US History, World History|6 Comments

The Communist Parties

The word itself – ‘Communist’ – was certainly first heard as long ago as the 1840s. Both Karl Marx (q.v.) and his promoter Engels used the word, but it was not until after the Russian Revolution (q.v.) of 1917 that fervid Marxists detached themselves from the more moderate Social Democrat Parties, to form groups (and committees) called Communist Parties. In Russia, Bolsheviks did not officially adopt the term until 1918. When the news of the shooting of the royal family spread, it was considered wise to tone down the ‘Ekaterinburg/Bolshevik’ connection, replacing ‘bolshevik’ by a little-known word. There had been ‘Communes’ in Europe, especially in France, but ‘Communists’ was something new. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-27T12:05:00+00:00 February 27th, 2012|Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Italian History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Elisabeth Báthory, ‘The Blood Countess’

The Countess, innocence personified / maraswic.blogs.uv.es

In a recent post on this blog, Gilles de Retz or Rais was discussed. France has its Gilles de Retz, and Hungary has its Elisabeth Báthory. The connection is that both were wealthy aristocrats, and both were found guilty of murdering children, very much in the plural sense. De Retz had a proper trial, but Elisabeth did not, though sentence of death was passed on both.

Britain has had its Moors Murderers of course, and Imperial Rome had captured foreign ladies stripped in public and later raped and eaten by savage animals as part of the day’s entertainment. The Japanese soldiery, during the Second World War, would use live prisoners for bayonet practice for conscripts. The list is endless. Man’s inhumanity to man is insatiable. Do you remember a picture on the front page of Time Magazine showing a Serbian civilian, smoking a cigarette while shooting a young Bosnian to death on the pavement? (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-18T13:24:00+00:00 February 18th, 2012|French History, World History|0 Comments

Figures in a Revolution: Two French revolutionary leaders

The former government in Spain, evicted by a powerful majority of votes last November 20, had two Robespierres and one Fouquier-Tinville. I refer to leaders of the French Revolution (q.v.). Now their Spanish clones have almost gone. They must wait in parliamentary solitude for the Spanish people to vote socialist again in 1014. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-11T08:10:55+00:00 February 11th, 2012|French History|0 Comments

Merry King Charles II and his Ladies

Charles II – VERY popular with the ladies / historical-nonfiction.com

At the same time as Felipe IV reigned in very grand Spain, and Louis XIV in very rich France, the ‘Sun King’s’ cousin Charles II was living a double life in England. He had regained the throne in The Restoration, had punished a few of those who had signed the death warrant for his father’s execution in 1649, and was now suffering a certain amount of stick from his wretched parliament. More intelligent, tactful and resourceful than Charles I had ever been, merry Charles II knew how to deal with irritating Members of Parliament. When they became irksome, he simply closed Parliament and ruled with a cabal of his chosen ministers instead. And the MPs let him. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-10T11:11:34+00:00 February 10th, 2012|English History, French History, Humour|0 Comments

Anti-Semitism

My inspiration to write more on this spiny subject came from one of the published Comments on this site. The Comment can easily be found under the subject heading Jewish History. One of my previous posts dealt with statistics connected with The Holocaust. The commentarist restricted himself to using American terminology inviting and requiring intimate oral relations. One assumes that the expression used – “Suck my dick” – indicates a certain disinclination to accept the usual 6-million-dead holocaust statistics. They were I admit wrong, because I had inadvertently left out figures of murdered Jews in Poland and many Soviet satellites, leaving a final figure that lacks substance and does not add up to 6 million. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-06T11:28:35+00:00 February 6th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Jewish History, Philosophy, Russian history, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments