Articles in ‘History’

Alex Krainer · History records many crisis periods where the ruling “elites” sought to avert social uprisings by culling their own populations, especially the military-age males. This usually involved fomenting fear of an external enemy: barbarians at the gates! If we don’t stop them, they’ll surely invade, ransack our towns, rape our women and enslave our children. · State propaganda was there to induce an “intense and cohering…

Psychological conditioning is more powerful than intimidation and violence. · John Leake · In a letter dated October 21, 1949, Aldous Huxley thanked George Orwell for sending him a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four. He praised the book, but also offered some friendly criticism in which he proposed that his dystopian vision in Brave New World was the more likely direction in which the world was heading. · Key points of Huxley’s letter include the…

The lightening operation to seize Iranian oil fields and railroads to fuel the Red Army was launched a few months after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. · John Leake · For most of the 19th century, the British and Russians vied with each for control of Central and West Asia in what Rudyard Kipling the “Great Game” in his 1901 novel Kim. · One of the most intriguing British characters of this era was Harry St. John Bridger…

The Rise and Abandonment of Gunkanjima – Japan’s Battleship Island · In the relentless pursuit of money, power, and industrial dominance, humanity has often pushed the limits of both engineering and endurance. Few places illustrate this more starkly than Gunkanjima, Japan’s infamous “Battleship Island”—a tiny slab of rock in the East China Sea that once symbolised the heights of industrial ambition and today stands as one of the world’s most…

Before the Iron Curtain: The centuries-old roots of the Russia–Europe rift · In 1946, Winston Churchill’s Fulton Speech symbolically marked the beginning of the Cold War between the Western world and the Soviet Union. Since then, relations between Russia and the West have been fraught with tension. In recent years, this culminated in a strong and almost existential antagonism.  · Surprisingly, just a while ago, Russia viewed Europe…

Winston Churchill’s Fulton address was a signal for the Iron Curtain to drop, and for nukes to almost drop as well ByTarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/tarik-cyril-amar/@tarikcyrilamartarikcyrilamar.substack.comtarikcyrilamar.com · © Legion-Media /…

The land issue was the pillar of Kenyan resistance against colonialism · How do nations truly break free from colonial chains? What happens when a population, stripped of its land and dignity, decides to fight back against an empire? And what enduring legacies are left when freedom is finally won, but the wounds of the past refuse to heal? These questions lie at the heart of Kenya’s struggle for independence. · Kenya was a prime…

The Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day or Theophany, is an ancient Christian holiday that predates the celebration of Christmas. People around the world still observe it today, typically on January 6. However, some observers, including Catholics in America, honor different dates. Traditions vary by region. In many Spanish-speaking countries, children receive presents on Día de Los Reyes (Three Kings Day) instead of or in addition to…

The concept of gathering in convivial settings to enjoy a sumptuous feast has persisted throughout the history of humankind. Dating back as far as prehistoric man, the consumption of substantial amounts of food to celebrate the midwinter solstice has been discovered through archaeological finds in locations such as Stonehenge. In the time of the Romans, the winter festival known as Saturnalia began on the 17th December and involved a week-long…

For nearly her entire life, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, kept a diary detailing royal life, world affairs, political intrigue and even her passion for her husband, Prince Albert. Starting in 1832 when she was 13, Victoria wrote nearly every day for nearly 69 years—sometimes jotting thousands of words at a time and occasionally studding the pages with her own drawings and watercolors.…