Confederate governments issued a vast array of paper currencies — at least seventy different types of currency, totaling more than 1.5 billion dollars, an incredible sum at that time. Making things even more confusing, state governments issued their own currencies — as did banks, insurance companies, and businesses.
via Paper money in the Civil War – North Carolina Digital History.
Wikipedia: Civil War Fractional Currency
Apartheid era menu showing the racialization of food rations.
During Apartheid, the political prisoners of South Africa’s Robben Island would frequently go on hunger strike over the quantity and quality of their rations. Dietitians in the service of the state’s racial system determined ‘racial diets’, according to the Western determined ‘tastes’, with little input from the races themselves. Taste differs from individual to individual.
When prisoners complain, wardens would often respond, “like it,” or “I eat no better at home.” The food would then be quickly traded among the prisoners, until that activity found out and suspended; it later resumes. There is no need for a racial structure of rations, except but to make detention efforts more backwards and cumbersome. Why should they go through such an effort?
It seems to me that a diet of hunger and frustration only serves to radicalize.
Artisans of St. Peterburg’s ‘Silver Age’
Boris Kustodiev “Tsar Nicholas II” (1915)
An aerial view of Zeebrugge (1918)
For much of World War One, the German U-Boat reigned supreme on the seas. Much of these submarines originated from the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend occupied by the German Navy. Their proximity to England presented a major hazard to shipping and transportation for the Allies and “Britain’s continuing ability to wage war depended upon blocking the exits from both ports…thus denying German submarines convenient bases.”[1] The plan to raid the two ports was secretly formulated in February 1918 by the British Admiralty with the objectives of; first, taking out a heavily fortified “mole” or jetty at the mouth of Zeebrugge and second, intentionally sinking ships in the harbor to block the port. The majority of the seventy-five dilapidated ships involved in the operation would be committed to the attack at Zeebrugge, while a smaller force was sent to Ostend with similar intentions.
It was decided to use derelict ships for the operation, and each spent months of overhaul, being scrapped and outfitted for their specific purpose, be it transportation or scuttling. W. Wainright, a sailor involved in the raid, described the Vindictive, the lead ship used to land troops under cover of smokescreen at the entrance to the Brugges Canal[2], as “an exceedingly unique specimen of warship, there being no comparison to her former days when she had been a pride to all who sailed in her..she had been stripped bare of everything bar the essential parts…she was ugly, as she lay there, a veritable floating fortress, a death-trap fitted with all the ingenious contrivances of war that human brain could think of.”[3] This rag-tag fleet also consisted of ferries, the Iris and Daffodil and other ships, the Thetis, Intrepid, Iphegenia, Sirius, and Brilliant, surrounded by destroyers, and submarines to aid in the attack.[4]
The dangerous trip across the Channel would take ten hours.[5] Leading up to the raid, few sailors understood the enormity of what they were about to face, according to the memories of Wainwright. “I doubt if any there thought of the serious mission of this strangely assorted fleet…practically everybody snatched an hour or two’s sleep before the fateful zero hour; how anyone could sleep with an adventure like the one before us speaks volumes for the mental and physical fitness of the party.” When called to their stations, they did so “leisurely as if going to a football match.” Immediately before the battle, as Wainwright recalled, “the magnitude of the scheme overwhelmed (them)–the sheer audacity of tackling a place like Zeebrugge under the muzzles of the world-famed Blankenberghe Battery, where a change in the wind or tide at the critical moment would undoubtedly result in the total loss of the expedition.”[6] The attack on Zeebrugge would begin early in the morning of 23 April 1918.
All casualness was left aside, however, as the operation began badly. Unexpected winds would disrupt the effectiveness of the smokescreen that was deployed to cover the troop landing.[7] The diversion that the Vindictive was suppose to provide by taking possession of the mole, became almost all for naught. The Vindictive took heavy fire from the Germans and moored in the wrong position, causing its guns to be of little use in providing cover fire for the landed troops. Any ships attempting to enter the harbor would be sitting ducks; the blockships Iphegenia, Intrepid, and Thetis had little time to get into position for sinking. The mole would remain untaken, and German guns were able to disable the blockships, preventing them from scuttling themselves “in their correct pre-assigned locations at the narrow entrance to the canal.”[8] A submarine, commanded by Lt. Richard Sandford, would ram the mole and cause an explosion which “left a gaping hole 100 feet wide,” lessening the barrage of German guns and buying considerable time for troops to make it to the transport ships.[9]
The chaos of the battle shook those that participated in it. Wainwright recalled how “all the venom and hatred of the shore batteries seemed concentrated on us…salvo after salvo struck the ship, doing indescribable damage…where all the storming party were awaiting to land…it was hell with a vengeance and it seemed well-nigh miraculous that human beings could live in such an inferno.” The Germans barrage upon the Vindictive was unrelenting “and the dead and wounded were piled up three or four deep.” However, “the remnants of the platoon staggered through, reorganized, and carried on as though.” It was “not inspiring,” Wainwright wrote in his diary to see “the youth of England, laughing, cheering, and swearing, rushing into what seemed certain death.” He found it “heart-breaking” to witness such an event, thinking “that in these enlightened days, the youth of the country (were) being butchered in the cause of civilization.”[10]
The “success” of the operation came with a high price tag. The British suffered approximately 200 fatalities, roughly 500 total casualties in all. Eight Victoria Crosses, the highest British honor for battlefield valor, were awarded. While the operation at Ostend was considered a failure, the battle at Zeebrugge was presented as “a tremendous British victory by Allied propaganda.” Another attempt would be made a month later at Ostend, but again, fail. The raid at Zeebrugge, however, “did not in reality hinder German operations from either port for more than a few days.” Victory was claimed by the Germans who saw themselves as successful in holding both harbors. Zeebrugge was quickly back in service and it took just a few days for U-boats to make it past the scuttled ships.[11]
Bibliography
Duffy, Michael. “The Raid on Zeebrugge, 1918.” http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/zeebrugge.htm (8 January 2010).
Sandford, Daniel. “Heroes of Zeebrugge.” BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series9/week_four.shtml (8 January 2010).
Wainwright, W. “Memoirs & Diaries – Zeebrugge.” http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/zeebrugge.htm (8 January 2010).
[1] Duffy, Michael. “The Raid on Zeebrugge, 1918.” http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/zeebrugge.htm (8 January 2010).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Wainwright, W. “Memoirs & Diaries – Zeebrugge.” http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/zeebrugge.htm (8 January 2010).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Sandford.
[6] Wainwright.
[7] Duffy.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Sandford.
[10] Wainwright.
[11] Duffy.
John Locke though that the mind was a blank slate, born without ideas, and that knowledge is determined only by experience. He believed that humans were generally reasonable and tolerant, and in their natural state, all people were equal and independent. Locke believed that people formed societies and governments to resolve conflicts in civil ways. He felt that everyone had a natural right to defend his “Life, health, Liberty, and Property.” Locke thought that governmental separation of powers was crucial, and that revolution is not only a right but sometimes a necessary obligation to ensure ones’ rights.
This is at a time where Louis XIV claimed that he was a representative of God, and that his actions “were justified with explanation and any dissent was blasphemy.” He also “domesticated the aristocracy,” whereby nobles began “to see that power (was) best achieved through service to the throne” instead of owning lots of land.
John Locke’s political principles were part of the Glorious Revolution. After the revolution, many rights would be granted to the gentry and the Act of Toleration would end religious persecution. Locke saw these rights as inalienable. He also favored taxation by representation, which was mostly achieved after the revolution.
The Social Democrats desired order, foremost, and when armed uprisings took place in Berlin, they would turn against the socialists and communists that brought them to power. Popular leaders were killed on the “left” and the counter revolutionary “freikorps” (anti-Marxist, anti-Semitic, anti-liberal, and “fiercely right wing”) would attack Poles and suspected Bolsheviks.
Because of the racism and polarization in politics, there was nearly another civil war. Debt and social welfare obligations would eventually bankrupt the country.
Severe hyperinflation of the currency would cause the government to print more and more money, and it eventually became worthless. The Great Depression would come along, ruining economies globally, and this would be the breaking point for the Weimar Republic which would see massive unemployment; all of these troubles, ingredients for revolution.
The Left had failed in their attempt at governance, and the conservatives got their chance. Hitler and his policies were popular with a broad variety of people, especially the working class. As the National Socialist party began to win a place in government, the grabbed at every power chance they could. Hitler would be made Chancellor in 1933 in an attempt by the German President to create a conservative coalition government. Soon after his appointment, the Reichstag fire occurred and Hitler jumped on the opportunity for him and the Nazis to lead. He asked for and received broad unprecedented powers, and by the fall of that year, when the dust cleared, Germany was a one-party state.
The smoke of chimneys is the breath of Soviet Russia
The Soviet Union industrialized under a series of five-year plans, which increased the industrial output of the USSR by 50% in the first five years (all this while the most of the West was reeling from the Great Depression).
The Soviets built new cities, centered upon entirely new industries. Large cities such as Moscow and Leningrad doubled in size, as the country became more urban (and more industrial). Much of the hard work, like mining, was done by prison labor and gulag became part of the Stalinist economic system. Because of the urbanization and forced prison labor, the USSR would transform from an agrarian nation to and industrial power in just a few years.
Manchester England, 1850
Manchester could be considered a class-based society for the fact that the Upper Bourgeoisie enjoyed great separation from the lowest segments of society. The rich were on the outskirts, located in suburbs of garden villas and scenic vistas, whereas the working class lived in crowded “grimy” quarters. Also, by mode of travel; the thoroughfares leading to the CBD were lined with Middle and Upper Bourgeoisie establishments, “claimed” in order to insulate the bourgeoisie traveling between the periphery and CBD from the poor/working class.
The working class of Manchester lived among abandoned and inhabited ruined buildings. It was not an orderly or planned arrangement. The public space consisted of narrow alleys and small nooks among the buildings. Most dwellings had ill-fitting doors and windows, and most lacked a wooden or stone floor. There was trash everywhere from lack of collection. In some cases, homes were little more than shacks or cattle sheds. And the smell…
Great Resource/Image: http://www.grimshaworigin.org/ManchesterIndustrialCity.htm
Asia Minor is the area of the Asian continent encompassed by Turkey.
map via: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/asia_minor_p20.jpg
It is basically the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. It was multi-ethnic for thousands of years. Over time, Muslims from all over Asia settled in the area. The area that the Christian Armenians inhabited is almost right in the middle of Asia Minor. They would face expulsion when ultra-nationalist Turks came to power. The conflict was that Armenians were Christian in a country which pressed for one religion (Islam). In a wave of Islamic fundamentalism, the Christian Armenians were considered infidels.
Burning Jews at Cologne 1349
During the Black Death, Jews were thought to be responsible for the plague, and like many other occasions throughout the last few thousand years, they became victims of racial hatred. Many thousand were horribly tortured into giving false confessions (for poisoning wells) and executed; mostly by grotesque means such as burning, and in some cases, butchering.
These Jews, under torture, incriminated others. Records of their confessions were sent from one town to another in Switzerland and down the Rhine River into Germany, and as a result, thousands of Jews, in at least two hundred towns and hamlets, were butchered and burnt.
The sheer loss of numbers, the disappearance of their wealth, and the growing hatred of the Christians brought German Jewry to a catastrophic downfall. It now began to decline and did not again play an important part in German life till the seventeenth century.
The Black Death and the Jews 1348-1349 CE, Fordham University