US History – Page 8 – General History

The Battle of ‘the Bulge’

American infantry moving in the Battle of the Bulge / wikipedia.org

I happened to see a new DVD of an old film with this title last night. It was a typical Hollywood presentation, cost a fortune, was directed oddly enough by an Englishman, Ken Annakin (but not Skywalker). The script was quite literate, the acting good as always. The customary Hollywood absence of anyone British or Canadian in scenes supposedly from the Second World War was adhered to. I remember a Spielberg epic called Saving Private Ryan in which the director even managed to make it appear that the Normandy Invasion of 1944 was entirely American. The GIs had two beaches in Normandy, and the British/Canadians etc. had three, but no hint of this appeared in the movie. It was a bit like this in The Battle of the Bulge (1965). Henry Fonda and Robert Ryan played the military heroes, backed up by James Macarthur and of course Charles Bronson and Telly Savalas and there went your first ten million dollars off the budget before the camera was turned. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-06-14T12:18:10+00:00 June 14th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, German History, History of the Cinema, History of the Low Countries, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments

Missing or misdirected: $13,000 million for Haiti

: Only two years after the catastrophic earthquake that almost destroyed the island of Haiti, killing many (200,000 is one estimate) and leaving more homeless, it would not be incorrect to ask what has happened to the huge sums of money raised by international organisations and private donors to finance the recovery of the island. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-06-08T09:26:04+00:00 June 8th, 2013|Church history, EU History, French History, History of Japan, Philosophy, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

America’s Supreme Court

The Supreme Court building / becketfund.org

Most developed countries have a Supreme Court, which means what it says.* It is the maximum legal authority a third branch of the government, independent however of the legislative (Congress or Parliament) and the Executive (The President or Head of State); yet it is only a small body of highly qualified judges, appointed in the case of the United States by the President, with the agreement of the Senate or Upper House. There were only nine members when the Court was established in 1869, and they held and hold their place in the Supreme Court for life. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-29T09:57:41+00:00 May 29th, 2013|A History of North America, US History, World History|0 Comments

Caustic Congresses II: the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles / AKJ Images/Imperial War Museum

This treaty has been blamed by many historians as a more than indirect cause of the Second World War. It was supposed to be a treaty made between the Allies and Germany to be signed on 28 June, 1919, but negotiations continued until 1923. Germany however did not take part in the debates aired before the actual signing. Most intelligent Germans therefore thought it was a dictated agreement for peace, which could not be morally binding. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-23T10:35:44+00:00 May 23rd, 2013|A History of North America, A History of Poland, Austrian history, British History, French History, German History, Philosophy, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments

Erich Ludendorff

Erich Ludendorff / commons.wikimedia.org

Germany is a country of tradition, contrast and discipline mixed with a craving for modernity and change. The actual Chancellor is a lady from the Centre/Right who was in her youth a devoted Communist. In the First and Second World Wars almost all of the ‘officer class’ were titled irrespective of whether Germany was a monarchy or a republic. Rare it was to find a senior army officer without a von in his name. Only recently retired was Freiherr Bertoldt von Stauffenberg, a Count as well as being a son of the heroic leader of German military resistance against Adolf Hitler, recently ‘immortalized’ by Mr Tom Cruise in a rather bad film called Valkyrie. Cruise, who is not very tall, played Klaus von Stauffenberg, who was tall. Actually Rommel was one of the few very senior officers in the Second War who was not a von. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-21T09:52:25+00:00 May 21st, 2013|A History of North America, Austrian history, British History, German History, History of the Cinema, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments

The campaign in North-West Europe (September 1944 – May 1945)

This campaign was the advance of the Allies through France following the successful invasion of D-Day. It is important because it contains the blindest and most incomprehensible mistake made by a commander-in-chief in all History. But we will come to that later.

The Durham Light Infantry moving up / durhamlightinfantry.webs.com

Combined with the Soviet invasion of Germany from the east, the campaign would lead to the end of the Second World War and the inevitable Treaties. Following the Normandy invasion most German armies were withdrawn from France, though not all. British and Commonwealth troops entered Brussels on 3 September, 1944, and Antwerp was relieved one day later. The port could not be used immediately because pockets of German resistance had been left behind in the mouth of the Scheldt, and had to be dealt with. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-14T09:53:40+00:00 May 14th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, Commonwealth History, Dutch History, French History, German History, History of New Zealand, History of the Low Countries, Russian history, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

IG Farben

This was a cartel formed by the leading chemical companies in Germany after the First World War. ‘IG Farben’ is the diminutive of the rather more tongue-stretching Interessen Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie which has been translated as ‘Community of Interests of Dye Industries’. Three of the many companies which joined were BASF, Bayer and Hoechst.

It was by far the largest corporation or cartel in Germany between the two world wars, controlling five hundred companies (in ninety-two countries). Corporative arrangements were made between Farben and Standard Oil (USA), Imperial Chemical Industries (Gt. Britain), and Mitsui (Japan), which makes the period 1929 – 39 so interesting. You may have noticed that the nationality of the first two of these commercial giants formed the major part of the Allies in World War II, while the third joined Hitler’s Axis. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2019-01-15T18:34:19+00:00 May 9th, 2013|A History of North America, A History of Poland, Austrian history, British History, Czech History, Dutch History, German History, History of Czechoslovakia, History of Japan, History of the Low Countries, Italian History, Jewish History, Russian history, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

The first Empire upon which the sun never set

A Spanish fleet / bbc.co.uk

Four hundred years before the British Empire never enjoyed the setting sun, the Spanish Empire rose, flourished, dwindled and vanished. From the late fifteenth century, Spain, a fraction smaller than France, forged an empire including the Canary Islands, most of the West Indian Islands, all central America, all of South America except Brazil, parts of the Low Countries and parts of Italy, plus the Philippines. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-06T10:11:29+00:00 May 6th, 2013|A History of North America, Dutch History, South American History, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|2 Comments

The Malayan Campaign and Emergency

Ge, Sir Gerald Templer / allmalaysia.info

Gen. Sir Gerald Templer / allmalaysia.info

The campaign was a military action in South-East Asia between December 1941 and August, 1945 during the Second World War. General Tomoyuki secured free passage through Thailand because of an agreement with the Vichy administration in France (pro-German). He then invaded northern Malaya in December 1941 while his companions were assaulting Singapore with great success. While Japanese aircraft bombed the city, British, Indian and Australian troops retreated to the south. It was a failure, as they were then taken prisoner after the fall of Singapore in February 1942. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-05-05T11:03:19+00:00 May 5th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, Commonwealth of Nations, French History, History of China, History of India, History of Japan, History of the Far East, US History, World History|0 Comments

King George’s War & King William’s War

The assault on Cape Breton Island was successful / louisbourghistory.blogspot.com

The War of the Austrian Succession in Europe actually saw a component part in North America, the first time such a thing should happen. Up until 1744 Europeans fought each other in the New World regularly, but not many expected the taking of Louisberg on Cape Breton Island by a combined British Navy/New England force commanded by W. Pepperell in 1745. Thus it was that a British army was able to see for itself what American colonists were capable of. Pepperell’s report is favourable. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-30T08:24:27+00:00 April 30th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, English History, French History, US History, World History|0 Comments