Today – Page 17 – General History

Andorra & Luxembourg

The first is a co-Principality, and the second a Grand Duchy. Both are tiny, but significant in questions of tourism and politics. Andorra lies between France and Spain, a beautiful landscape of hills and valleys at around 900 metres, sometimes rising to peaks at 2900 metres (9,600 feet). The country is bisected by the River Valira, which provides for three distinct natural regions – valleys of the North and East Valira, and the Grand Valira. The peaks are snow-covered during several months of the year. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-08T11:17:03+00:00 March 8th, 2012|Dutch History, EU History, Spanish History, Today, 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 Double Negative – Articulate or Annoying?

The double negative is a peculiarly English device very much used in what might be called ‘literary’ English. It is designed to give more emphasis to a phrase. For example, the writer of a novel could say, “She was unusually attractive.” The term is self-explanatory but not very advanced. Using the double negative, the same writer could say, “She was not unattractive to men, though not pretty.”

As far as I know, this literary device is unusable in the Romance languages. In Spanish, for instance, the double negative is used to emphasise the negative, not to negate it, ie. “Ellos no tienen nada que temer”. ‘no’ and ‘nada’ are both negatives. Sensitively translated into English, it would read, “They have nothing to fear,” with only one negative. Directly translated however, the phrase would be ungrammatical – “They don’t have nothing to fear,” which in English is unacceptable. In Spanish the phrase is perfectly acceptable. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-04T12:54:58+00:00 March 4th, 2012|English Language, Humour, Philosophy, Today|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

Conscription may not be a relic of the past

Conscription means compulsory enlisting for military service. With several countries engaged in sabe-rattling at the moment, compulsory enlistment may be revived in the present. China, India and Russia are probably right when they claim that any attempt made by the West to contain Assad’s slaughter of his own people in Syria will only invite more radical Muslim attention, as has already happened in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq. However much technology is used in modern warfare (a very great deal) troops on the ground are as necessary now as they were in the 13^th century, when everybody thought that gunpowder would replace the infantry. Soldiers on the ground can either be volunteers (few on the ground these days) or they must be conscripted. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-28T09:47:26+00:00 February 28th, 2012|Today, US History, World History|0 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

The Battenbergs and Mountbattens

Prince Louis of Battenberg / papermag.com

With Prince Philip heading for his century, the Battenberg/Mountbatten dynasty is well worth examining. Who were they? Why were they related to everybody? How did a penniless, sharp-witted and seriously good-looking youth collar the future queen of England? (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-22T17:15:27+00:00 February 22nd, 2012|English History, German History, Greek History, History of India, Russian history, Today, World History|0 Comments

A message from Dean Swift

I apologise to this website’s watchers for the fact that I have not posted anything for a couple of days. I and my family have been struck down by Madame Grippe, a tenacious and painful lady whom nobody wants to sleep with, though anyone struck by her – must. Today I hope to write about a lady who must be a relative of La Grippe, in that both females are extremely disagreeable, though myths about both have been around for centuries. Today or tomorrow I write about Elizabeth Báthory, Countess (or ‘Blood Countess’) of Nádasdy. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-18T12:03:55+00:00 February 18th, 2012|English Language, Humour, Today|0 Comments

Separatism for all!

I am becoming all fired up with enthusiasm for the Pandora’s Box of separatism. In Cataluña, Catalunya and Catalonia, Mr Arthur More y More says Cataluña etc. is a Nation, speaking its own language, and must therefore be free of Spanish shackles. In the Basque Country terrorists have been murdering people for years because someone told them assassination was the best way to achieve secession. In Scotland, Mr Alexander Scottish-Salmon is all for independence because of the 1997 devolution referendum, and because the bloody Sassenachs have bullied the Scots since the Romans, though the latter were not actually Sassenachs. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-07T18:30:56+00:00 February 7th, 2012|Humour, Philosophy, Today, World History|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