Last week’s Chilcot report on Britain’s role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was as polite and guarded as a proper English tea party. No direct accusations, no talk of war crimes by then Prime Minister Tony Blair or his guiding light, President George W. Bush. But still pretty damning. […]
United Kingdom
Brexit and the German Rise – Should Jews worry?
“The frail skiff of present-day British policy is not inspiring any hope in British people, especially since the ‘symbolic voyage’ is taking place amidst the approaching economic crisis which is also tossing the American ship of state on its menacing waves.” This was Mikhail Afonin’s conclusion in Izvestiya, 31 August […]
Episode 17. Britain – Adolf Hitler’s star-crossed love (III)
Part I, part II Never during this time did Great Britain agree to peace negotiations. She steadily continued her shelling of German cities. She showed her resolve to fight until the end. The United Kingdom could be fought, and even defeated, but after examining his options, Adolf Hitler asked himself […]
Episode 17. Britain – Adolf Hitler’s star-crossed love (II)
Part I Two weeks after Britain’s treacherous attack on the French navy, the world was already discussing a very different event. On July 19, 1940, Adolf Hitler stepped up to the podium of the German Reichstag. In that hall sat not only the members of the German parliament, but also […]
Episode 17. Britain – Adolf Hitler’s star-crossed love (I)
Nothing must be done between England and Germany which would in any way violate the prestige of Great Britain. Adolf Hitler[1] When Hitler realized that his original idea, the creation of a powerful Reich of all Germans allied to Britain, could not be realized, he tried to build and secure […]
Episode 16. Who signed death sentence for France in 1940? (I)
This is something you ought to know: each time we must choose between Europe and the open sea, we shall always choose the open sea. Winston Churchill[1] A reverse on the Continent had been enough to make Great Britain desire to absorb herself in her own defence. Charles de Gaulle[2] […]
Episode 15. Poland Betrayed (VI)
Part I, part II, part III, part IV, part V … Poland suffered a crushing defeat at the speed of light. Columns of German tanks easily broke through the defenses of the Polish divisions and stormed into the breach. By Sept. 8, 1939, the eighth day of the war, armored […]
Episode 15. Poland Betrayed (IV)
Part I, part II, part III So, by March 31, 1939, 16 days after Hitler entered Prague, the United Kingdom, which until then had “not noticed” Germany’s aggressive nature and had surrendered Austria and Czechoslovakia to Hitler and meekly handed over the Saarland and the Rhineland, was now ready to […]
Leaving the Doll’s House: The Scottish Referendum
They won’t be going anywhere. The Scottish “No” vote may well have had their day on Friday, but the genie of Britannic rejection is definitely out of its confined bottle. The United Kingdom is feeling the strain and stretch of secession sentiment, and those in London are scurrying about in […]
‘Yes’ to Scotland Independence and Britain’s Waning Imperialism
In 1707 a shaky union was set up that made Scotland a part of the United Kingdom. Scottish parliamentarians were bribed with vast sums of money and lucrative pension schemes to move their seats to Westminster, London. It was a sell out of the Scottish electorate that would later prompt […]
Lessons and Consequences of World War I: Back to the Future? (I)
The centennial anniversary of the First World War is a time for sober reflection and deep thought about the causes and consequences of this human tragedy. It has been quipped that hindsight is 20/20, but being so far removed from the actual event itself nowadays, it appears as though hindsight […]
Foreign Office: How not to handle a Black Sea crisis
“All the assumptions on which… this policy [was] based turned out to be wrong…. British domestic opinion would prove hard to persuade that seeking the return… of a fortress on the Black Sea merited the risk of a war with Russia.” William Hague on the Anglo-Russian Crisis (1791) Oxford historian, […]
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