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

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 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

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-Soviet Dictator and Mass Murderer

Joseph Stalin’s 130^th 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.

For anyone interested in the complexities and frustrations American fighting forces are experiencing in Afghanistan, The History Guy highly recommends reading an op-ed piece in the New York Times written by Afghanistan veteran Jonathan Vaccaro.  His article shows the inane bureaucracy imposed on the front-line commanders and soldiers who are doing their best to protect the Afghan population from the Taliban and al-Qaida.  Read the article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/opinion/08vaccaro.html

December 7, 2009, marks the 68^th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. military bases in and around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  This attack launched America into World War Two and literally changed the course of history.  Without being attacked first, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. would have entered World War Two.  By attacking the United States, Japan thought it would cripple or destroy the U.S. Pacific fleet, thereby preventing American forces from stopping Japan’s Asian blitzkrieg.  In the days and weeks following the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces attacked American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, and Dutch forces as Japan seized the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and New Guinea.  American islands at Wake and Guam were also attacked and occupied. 

Believing that America had suffered a crippling blow, Hitler and Mussolini also declared war on the United States, thereby bringing American power into the war against the Nazis and the Fascists.  As history now shows, America’s entry into World War Two ensured Allied victory, as the Nazis and Fascists were destroyed in Europe, and Japan fell under the power of two atomic bombs some four years after their ill-fated and ill-advised assault on Pearl Harbor.

For more information, go to: http://www.historyguy.com/battle_of_pearl_harbor.html

Two new pages dealing with World War Two Vocabulary and World War Two Biographies are at:

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_vocabulary.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_biographies.htm

New pages related to World War Two deal with the Battle of the Atlantic and the sinking of the German raider, the Admiral Graf Spee in 1939.

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/naval_war_battle_of_the_atlantic.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/naval_war_battle_of_the_river_plate.htm

George Stanley McChrystal (b. August, 14, 1954)
General Stanley A. McChrystal is an American army general who was named the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, and assumed command of those forces in May of 2009.
General McChrystal is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. McChyrstal is a Green Beret and an Army Ranger, as well as a veteran commander in Special Operations, also known as “Black Ops.”
McChrystal served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of the military operations in 2001 and 2002. He also commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment and served tours in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Forces under General McChrystal’s command found and captured Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Mesopotamia (al-Qaida in Iraq).
General McChrystal replaced General David McKiernan…

http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/mcchrystal_stanley_general.htm