The new page on the Wars of Charlemagne, who built Western Europe’s most powerful empire in the post-Roman period, is now online at:
http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_charlemagne_king_of_franks.htm
Charlemagne Picture by Durer
McChrystal Flap Shows Power of Civilian Control Over The Military
24
Jun
It is interesting that Afghan President Karzai wanted General Stanley McChrystal to stayas the Western commander in Afghanistan, and Karzai apparently found it not unusual for a military commander to publicly criticize his civilian bosses. Considering that Karzai is from a part of the world where the military often calls the shots or at least threatens to override civilian control (see Pakistan, Turkey, and most of the Middle East), it may be a good lesson to Karzai and his regional counterparts in how a democracy is supposed to work. McChrystal is may very well be right in his comments about President Obama’s national security team members, but it is a severe breach of established protocol between a subservient military and the elected leadership of a democratic country. Right or wrong, the general should have kept his mouth shut. And why was he giving so much access to a reporter anyway? Bad judgement all around!
Israel and Syria War Page Online
19
Apr
Israel-Syria War page now online at: http://www.historyguy.com/israel_syria_wars.htm
Also, tensions between the two Mideast foes may be heating up toward a new war. Read the interesting WSJ article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704671904575194100405117846.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion
Images and Pictures of German Invasion of Norway 1940
28
Feb
New page on Images and Pictures of the German Invasion of Norway (1940) now online at http://historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_images_invasion_of_norway.htm
German Soldiers in a burning Norwegian Village During the Nazi Invasion of 1940
Joe Stack Joins Other Domestic Terrorists on The Dark Side of History
19
Feb
The blazing assault by Joe Stack on the Austin IRS offices comes at a scary time in American politics. The euphoria felt in some corners of America after the election of Barack Obama has now given way to fear. Fear by many, especially those drawn to the populist Tea Party demonstrations and events, of an all-powerful government seen as out of control. Fear also, by those who see government as a useful tool to correct social injustice and to aid those who need assistance. That fear is in the form that Obama’s promise is being wasted by political theater and partisan divisiveness in Congress and throughout our nation. One needs only look at Senator Evan Bayh’s acid comments on the political gridlock in Washington City, and the upset win by a Republican as Ted Kennedy’s replacement, to see the political tempest we are now in.
Joe Stack saw the government as an enemy out to get him with tax laws designed to enrich the powerful and already-rich (his manifesto cited Enron, General Motors, and the Wall Street scandals) and not designed to help average Americans. These opinions are nothing new. Many activists on both sides of the political spectrum have said similar things for decades, if not centuries, while trying to advance their own agendas. The scary thing about Joe Stack is that he not only openly called for Americans to revolt and use violence to fix these problems; he acted on his own call to violence. And then he went from being just another taxpayer with a grudge against the IRS to a domestic terrorist when he plunged his plane into a downtown Austin office building full of innocent people. Government workers and bureaucrats who are often the butt of anti-government jokes and insults, yes, but still people innocent of anything deserving of death.
While reading Joe Stack’s manifesto, some parts of his diatribe sounded quite similar to commentary made by the Tea Party activists and many economic conservatives critical of the government in general and President Obama in particular. While calls for violence are thankfully few and far between, the fact that many Americans who suffered losses in the Great Recession; lost jobs, lost homes, lost hope, may read Stack’s manifesto and see themselves in his list of travails and critiques of government and Wall Street. While clearly no fan of President George W. Bush, Stack in that regard mirrors many who today are frustrated with the system. Analysts have noted that many ordinary citizens drawn to the Tea Party are not necessarily friends of the Republican Party, despite their opposition to the Obama Administration. The fear mentioned earlier is also felt in the GOP, as party leaders see a new movement arise that they may not be able to control and which may turn on them as part of the partisan problem.
Many incumbent politicians fear the rising anti-incumbent fever gripping the electorate; as well they should. But that fear should be only of losing their jobs, not of losing their lives. America is one of the world’s most successful, rich, and powerful nations not because we can beat anyone on the battlefield or because our citizenry is any smarter than the rest of the world. No, America’s promise, and America’s success, rests in the relative stability ensured by our imperfect, yet functioning Constitution, and by the tradition of political stability Americans have cultivated over the centuries. We are no banana republic with a history of coups, revolutions, and constant civil war. We know that when President Obama’s time in office ends, either through the ballot box or through constitutionally-mandated term limits, he will leave office, just as all of his predecessors have done. When Americans “throw the Bums out,” to use an old-time phrase, we do so with the ballot box, not a box of bullets. Joe Stack (and before him, Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, and all of our other domestic terrorists and assassins) got it all wrong. Some misguided fools may see Stack as a populist hero, but in reality, he misused his anger and rage, and took a step (or flight, as the case may be) onto the Dark Side of American history.
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/andrew_joseph_stack.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/domestic_terrorists_and_assassins.html
Bio on Fed Chair Ben Bernanke
24
Jan
New Biographical page on prominent 21st Century Americans featuring Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke online now at http://historyguy.com/american_history/bernanke_ben.htm
Earthquake adds to Haiti’s Tragic History
13
Jan
Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake on January 12, 2010, causing massive damage and loss of life.
To Donate money to help Haiti, go to: World Vision, Save The Children, or the Red Cross
For information on Haiti’s government, history, and economy, go to http://www.historyguy.com/nations/nation_of_haiti.htm and http://www.historyguy.com/nations/haitian_leaders.htm
Yemen History of Wars Nothing New and al-Qaida Forms New Threat
04
Jan
Yemen is one of the poorest nations in the world, with high unemployment, a low literacy rate, a corrupt government, a well-armed population with a history of stronger allegiance to tribe, clan, and family than to the nation, and a long history of civil conflict. Many analysts consider Yemen a leading candidate to become a “failed state,” as Afghanistan once was and Somalia is now. Both Afghanistan and Somalia have become havens for al-Qaida and other Jihadist Muslim organizations intent on destabilizing secular Arab nations and launching attacks on Western interests. The presence of al-Qaida is not Yemen’s only military problem, though it may be the most pressing as 2010 begins. The attempted bombing of an American airliner on Christmas Day, 2009 has been linked to al-Qaida forces in Yemen (part of the larger al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula organization, also known as AQAP). The suspected airline bomber spent time in Yemen and evidence points toward the likelihood that he received training in Yemen from al-Qaida. Also, a Yemeni radical Yemeni cleric was connected to the U.S. Army officer who killed several soldiers at Fort Hood earlier this year. As of this writing, many experts believe that an increased American involvement in Yemen is highly likely in 2010 as,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm
Venezuela War and Conflict Page Online
23
Dec
A new page listing the wars, conflicts, and many coups in Venezuelan history is now online at http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_venezuela.htm, including information about the ongoing conflict between Venezuela and Colombia.
Joseph Stalin: History’s Villain
22
Dec
Joseph Stalin-Soviet Dictator and Mass Murderer
Joseph Stalin’s 130th birthday is today. That he was ever born and lived out his evil, bloody life is a cause for despair and sadness. Joseph Stalin was, without a doubt, one of the vilest, most villainous dictators in history. Only Hitler surpasses Stalin in the annals of war and genocide.
Russia’s remaining Communists, though, choose to ignore his crimes (or, perhaps they actually applaud them. Being Communists, you never know what they truly believe), and instead want to celebrate the birth of their long-lost hero. For those who may not be fully aware of what Stalin did in his criminal career to deserve this status just below Hitler in evil, here is a listing of Stalin’s crimes against peace, life, decency, and humanity itself:
-as a revolutionary in Czarist Russia, Stalin organized murders, assassination, labor strikes, bank robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes to support the fledgling revolution against the Czar
–during the Russian Civil War, Stalin ordered the murder of many former Czarist military officers, as well as Bolshevik deserters and mutineers
–led an important role in the Red Army’s invasion and conquest of his native country of Georgia, resulting in many deaths.
–Stalin played a vital role in the collectivization of farms in the Ukraine, in part to force the death by starvation of private land owners. The resulting Ukrainian famine killed millions, and is now considered to be an intentional genocide.
–Stalin ordered the Soviet secret police to assassinate his rival, Leon Trotsky, in Mexico.
–As the Soviet leader, he ordered many purges, murders, and deportations that resulted in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of deaths:
–Between 1941 and 1949 nearly 3.3 million men, women, and children were deported to Siberia and the Central Asian republics. By some estimates up to 43% of the resettled population died of diseases and malnutrition. During World War Two, the entire population of five ethnic groups in the Caucasus and the Crimean Tatars, more than a million people in total ,were deported without notice or any opportunity to take their possessions with them. Many of these populations were not allowed to return to their homelands until well after Stalin’s death in the 1950s.
–In 1939, Stalin joined with Hitler in invading Poland without provocation. Stalin also forcefully annexed the defenseless nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and invaded the nation of Finland, resulting in the in death and deportation of millions of people.
–Stalin persecuted religion in the Soviet Union, and by the 1930s the Russian Orthodox Church was near-extinction: by 1939, active church parishes numbered in the low hundreds (down from 54,000 in 1917), many churches had were destroyed, and tens of thousands of priests, monks and nuns were persecuted and killed. Over 100,000 were shot during the purges of 1937–1938.
–Stalin persecuted the Jewish population in the Soviet Union.
–After the defeat of the Nazis, Stalin enslaved most of Eastern Europe, installing Communist regimes which also murdered, imprisoned, and tortured political and religious opponents. Most of Eastern Europe would not know freedom and democracy until after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
–After the defeat of the Japanese in World War Two, Stalin helped the Chinese Communists, under Mao Zedong, gain power in China, which resulted in the eventual deaths of millions of anti-Communist Chinese, and the enslavement of the Kingdom of Tibet by the Chinese Communists, which continues to this day.
–By occupying Japanese-held northern Korea at the end of World War Two, Stalin brought Kim Il-Sung into power, plunging North Korea into a Stalinist dictatorship which continues to this day under Kim’s son, Kim Jong-Il. North Korea began the Korean War (1950-1953) with the consent and aid of Stalin and Mao. This war resulted in great destruction and the death of millions of people.
Joseph Stalin, dictator, murderer, persecutor of Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others of faith, the architect of the Ukrainian famine and genocide, the maker of wars, the ally of Hitler, and one of the top tyrants of all time, was born 130 years ago. His birthday is a truly dark day in the history of the world! Had he never been born, the world would have been a better place! May he burn in eternal damnation for his crimes
For more information on what Stalin’s birthday means to his victims and to Russia’s modern Communists, check out http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091221/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_stalin_s_birthday and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/6859183/Kremlin-campaign-revives-Stalins-reputation-in-Russia.html and http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/21/world/international-us-kazakhstan-gulag.html.
