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…)
Probably the best known of all the crusaders – Richard I ‘Lionheart’ / masonicsourcebook.com
They were a series of military expeditions ranging from the 11th to the 14th 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…)
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…)
/ 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 33rd 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…)
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 13th 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…)
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…)
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…)
Essential knowledge for students of European history, this was the agreement between the Austrian government in Vienna, led by Beust, and two moderate Hungarian politicians, Deák and Andrassy, leading to the transformation of what was then the Austrian Empire into the dual monarchy of ‘Austro- or Austria/Hungary’. As this signified the combination of the considerable powers of two influential nations, neither known as ‘homely’ or even peace-loving, the Compromise was witnessed with some scepticism and not a little alarm by the rest of Continent, starting with France, Russia and Great Britain.
Territories of the Emperor Franz or Francis Joseph (Austria) were divided into what was technically called ‘Austria’ (lands represented in the Imperial Parliament), and the Kingdom of Hungary. In the latter state the Magyars were allowed to dominate their subject peoples. (more…)
Contemporary etching showing Vlad enjoying his breakfast aming impaled prisoners / johnnyscreepshow.blogspot.com
It seems more than likely that Bram Stoker was inspired to write Dracula by this fifteenth century ruler in Transvylvania, whose father bore the nickname ‘Dracul’ (which simply means Dragon). On his shield when he went into battle (which was often) was a dragon. The suffix ‘a’ was later added by Orthodox scribes, making a Slavonic genitive into Latin to create a surname equivalent to ‘son of Dracul’. The eager student must travel to Transylvania where he/she can see many documents signed Dragwyla, Voivoda partium Transalpinorum. (more…)
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…)