1918: On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, The Great War ends. https://t.co/lUp7M0VqPV #ArmisticeDay pic.twitter.com/XllNn8BWfc
— The New York Times Archives (@NYTArchives) November 11, 2015
11 November 1918 was a busy day in Berlin
12 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in political change, war and peace Tags: Germany, World War I
The expansion of ISIS
12 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: ISIS, Middle-East politics, war on terror
WWI deaths from the British Empire, day by day
11 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: Armistice Day, British empire, World War I
A stunning and frightening #dataviz of WWI deaths from the British Empire, day by day: theguardian.com/news/datablog/… http://t.co/8Neym8zQBQ—
Randy Olson (@randal_olson) June 05, 2015
Watching people fighting, watching people fighting on Armistice Day
11 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Armistice Day, game theory, Treaty of Versailles, World War I
The Midnight Oil song was true. Generals launched attacks on Armistice Day in full knowledge that the 11 a.m. truce had been agreed unofficially up to two days before. The Germans finally signed the armistice at 5:10 a.m. on the morning of the 11th November.
- The records of Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows that 863 Commonwealth soldiers died on 11 November 1918 – this figure includes those who died of wounds received prior to November 11.
- The Americans took 3,300 casualties on the last day of the war.
The last American soldier killed was Private Henry Gunter who was killed at 10.59 a.m. – the last man to die in World War One. His divisional record stated:
Almost as he fell, the gunfire died away and an appalling silence prevailed.
General Pershing supported commanders who wanted to be pro-active in attacking German positions on the last day of the war. Pershing stated at 1919 Congressional hearings that although he knew about the timing of the Armistice, he simply did not trust the Germans to carry out their obligations. Pershing also pointed out that his orders of the Allies Supreme Commander, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, to
pursue the field greys (Germans) until the last minute
Pershing found the idea of an armistice repugnant. He maintained:
Germany’s desire is only to regain time to restore order among her forces, but she must be given no opportunity to recuperate and we must strike harder than ever.
As for terms, Pershing had one response:
There can be no conclusion to this war until Germany is brought to her knees.
Pershing said that conciliation now would lead only to a future war. He wanted Germany’s unconditional surrender. He insisted that Germany must know that it was fully defeated in the field of battle rather than betrayed from within.
When presented with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, several German governments resigned. France started to remobilise before Germany finally accepted the Treaty. The Treaty was somewhat harsher than the German Foreign Office anticipated.
A blow by blow account of the six-months of treaty negotiations is in Margaret MacMillan Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World 2002 who showed that:
- real defeat was not brought home to the German people,
- the power of the peacemakers was limited,
- they were not responsible for the fragmentation of Europe which was already happening,
- the blockade did not starve Germany,
- neither the Versailles treaty nor France was vindictive,
- reparations were not crushing,
- the treaty was not enforced with any consistency, and it did not seriously restrict German power, and
- The Versailles treaty was not primarily responsible for either the next twenty years or for World War II.
The high-minded efforts of the Paris negotiators were doomed as some of them realised. Lloyd George wrote:
It fills me with despair the way in which I have seen small nations, before they have hardly leapt into the light of freedom, beginning to oppress other races than their own.
Casualties in the First World War
11 Nov 2015 1 Comment
in war and peace Tags: World War I
The casualties of the First World War econ.st/1B1Riq6 http://t.co/fUrmVKy6M2—
The Economist (@ECONdailycharts) November 11, 2014
European alliances in 1914 set the stage for the first world war
11 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: economics of alliances, game theory, World War I
European alliances in 1914 set the stage for the first world war. bit.ly/VoxMapsWWI (via @WestPoint_USMA) http://t.co/NVTZ5dtymJ—
Vox Maps (@VoxMaps) October 03, 2015
@GreenCatherine more BDS hypocrisy on Gaza Strip @KennedyGraham
09 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in laws of war, war and peace Tags: BDS, Gaza Strip, Left-wing hypocrisy, New Zealand Greens
Concerns must grow of mass kidnappings of BDS activists. There is no other explanation for their failure to protest with great vigour against the Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. Egypt has flooded the tunnels across its border with the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip has two borders: both Egypt and Israel restrict trade with the Gaza. The Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip is biting much more than the Israeli blockade.
Hamas derived 40% of its tax revenue from tariffs on goods that flow through those tunnels. One estimate puts the economic losses at nearly a fifth of Gaza’s GDP. This blockade by Egypt of the Gaza Strip has been regularly reported in the Guardian, so BDS activists must know of it.
No peace convoy has been launched to break this Egyptian blockade. Plenty were launched against Israel. One reason may be the Egyptians are a lot rougher customers. There is rule of law in Israel, none in the Egypt.
As the Guardian reported, Hamas’s decision to fire missiles at Egypt despite the risk of ringing upon themselves civilian losses owed as much to Egypt’s refusal to lift this blockade as it does to Israel’s.
David Brooks argues that Egypt is the real target of the Hamas missiles. After the military coup in Egypt, its military leaders closed roughly 95% of the tunnels that connected Egypt to Gaza which were used to smuggle food, weapons and other goods into Gaza.
Source: When Middle East Conflicts Become One – The New York Times.
The first letter from a Holocaust survivor after liberation to friends
07 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: genocide, Nazi Germany, The Holocaust
How the first world war changed the world
04 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Armistice Day, World War I
#Dailychart: How the first world war changed the world econ.st/1rvj6tW http://t.co/OldeGaiJEe—
The Economist (@ECONdailycharts) July 28, 2014
@jeremycorbyn @BernieSanders oppose the one path to peace
04 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in international economics, liberalism, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: British politics, capitalism and freedom, China, expressive voting, free trade, game theory, populists, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, Richard Cobden, World War I
Jeremy Corbyn is in trouble again, this time for describing World War I as pointless.
Corbyn has, for all his life, opposed the only means of securing peace either in Europe or anywhere else. He is against trade agreements, the European Union and NATO. Bernie Sanders is equally as misguided.
Corbyn and Sanders thinks you can make peace just by talking with people. Peace is made by trading with hostile countries to make them depend on you for their prosperity as well as yours. By growing rich through free trade, it’s in no ones interest to go to war or have poor relations with each other or each other’s friends.
Who has gained ground after the Russian air strikes?
01 Nov 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: Middle-East politics, Russia, Syria, war on terror
Last British Gitmo prisoner released
30 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in International law, war and peace Tags: British politics, war on terror
Why this Bozo wanted to be put on trial is beyond me.
The usual sentence for a terrorist offence in a US court is life without parole. He had a much better deal being detained until either the end of hostilities or until the combatant status review tribunal determined he was no longer likely to rejoin the fight. The combatant status review tribunals have made a number of errors and up to 100 Gitmo detainees have rejoined their battle to destroy Western civilisation.
If he had been put on trial and convicted, that meant the rest of his life in prison in maximum-security. If found not guilty, he would have remained in Gitmo until the end of hostilities or until a combatant status review tribunal released him early.
Vietnam War tunnels
30 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: Vietnam war
During the Vietnam War This Is How The Enemy Hid http://t.co/jYf5XoNZ0S—
War History Online (@WarHistoryOL) June 30, 2015
The ups and downs of the Afghan war
23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, unintended consequences, war against terror
https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/653888723034222592/photo/1
Rethinking Afghanistan (and then rethinking some more) http://t.co/uY7T6mUIUV—
ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 17, 2015
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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