Daniel Orr's Blog, page 16

July 29, 1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party

On July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the far-right National Socialist German Workers’ Party, more commonly known in the West as the Nazi Party, which was the successor movement of the German Workers’ Party.

Hitler first participated in the German Workers’ Party in July 1919 not as a recruit but to infiltrate the newly formed organization. At that time, he was an intelligence agent of the German Army. However, he soon was won over by the movement’s ultra-nationalist, anti-Semitic, anti-capitalist, anti-Marxist ideas.

(Taken from Events Leading up to World War II in Europe – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Hitler and the Nazis in Power In October 1929, the severe economic crisis known as the Great Depression began in the United States, and then spread out and affected many countries around the world.  Germany, whose economy was dependent on the United States for reparations payments and corporate investments, was badly hit, and millions of workers lost their jobs, many banks closed down, and industrial production and foreign trade dropped considerably.

The Weimargovernment weakened politically, as many Germans turned to radical ideologies,particularly Hitler’s ultra-right wing nationalist Nazi Party, as well as theGerman Communist Party.  In the 1930federal elections, the Nazi Party made spectacular gains and became a majorpolitical party with a platform of improving the economy, restoring politicalstability, and raising Germany’sinternational standing by dealing with the “unjust” Versailles treaty.  Then in two elections held in 1932, the Nazisbecame the dominant party in the Reichstag (German parliament), albeit withoutgaining a majority.  Hitler long soughtthe post of German Chancellor, which was the head of government, but he wasrebuffed by the elderly President Paul von Hindenburg , who distrustedHitler.  At this time, Hitler’s ambitionswere not fully known, and following a political compromise by rival parties, inJanuary 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, with fewNazis initially holding seats in the new Cabinet.  The Chancellorship itself had little power,and the real authority was held by the President (the head of state).

On the night of February 27, 1933, fire broke out at theReichstag, which led to the arrest and execution of a Dutch arsonist, acommunist, who was found inside the building. The next day, Hitler announced that the fire was the signal for Germancommunists to launch a nationwide revolution. On February 28, 1933, the German parliament passed the “Reichstag FireDecree” which repealed civil liberties, including the right of assembly andfreedom of the press.  Also rescinded wasthe writ of habeas corpus, allowing authorities to arrest any person withoutthe need to press charges or a court order. In the next few weeks, the police and Nazi SA paramilitary carried out asuppression campaign against communists (and other political enemies) across Germany,executing communist leaders, jailing tens of thousands of their members, andeffectively ending the German Communist Party. Then in March 1933, with the communists suppressed and other partiesintimidated, Hitler forced the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act, which allowedthe government (i.e. Hitler) to enact laws, even those that violated theconstitution, without the approval of parliament or the president.  With nearly absolute power, the Nazis gainedcontrol of all aspects of the state.  InJuly 1933, with the banning of political parties and coercion into closure ofthe others, the Nazi Party became the sole legal party, and Germany became de facto a one-partystate.

At this time, Hitler grew increasingly alarmed at themilitary power of the SA, particularly distrusting the political ambitions ofits leader, Ernst Rohm.  On June 30-July2, 1934, on Hitler’s orders, the loyalist Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel; English:Protection Squadron) and Gestapo (Secret Police) purged the SA, killinghundreds of its leaders including Rohm, and jailing thousands of its members,violently bringing the SA organization (which had some three million members)to its knees.  The purge benefited Hitlerin two ways: First, he became the undisputed leader of the Nazi apparatus, andSecond and equally important, his standing greatly increased with the upperclass, business and industrial elite, and German military; the latter,numbering only 100,000 troops because of the Versailles treaty restrictions,also felt threatened by the enormous size of the SA.

In early August 1934, with the death of PresidentHindenburg, Hitler gained absolute power, as his Cabinet passed a law thatabolished the presidency, and its powers were merged with those of thechancellor.  Hitler thus became bothGerman head of state and head of government, with the dual roles of Fuhrer(leader) and Chancellor.  As head ofstate, he also was Supreme Commander of the armed forces, making him absoluteruler and dictator of Germany.

In domestic matters, the Nazi government made great gains,improving the economy and industrial production, reducing unemployment,embarking on ambitious infrastructure projects, and restoring political andsocial order.  As a result, the Nazisbecame extremely popular, and party membership grew enormously.  This success was brought about from soundpolicies as well as through threat and intimidation, e.g. labor unions and jobactions were suppressed.

Hitler also began to impose Nazi racial policies, which sawethnic Germans as the “master race” comprising “super-humans” (Ubermensch),while certain races such as Slavs, Jews, and Roma (gypsies) were considered“sub-humans” (Untermenschen); also lumped with the latter were non-ethnic-basedgroups, i.e. communists, liberals, and other political enemies, homosexuals,Freemasons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. Nazi lebensraum (“living space”) expansionism into Eastern Europe and Russiacalled for eliminating the Slavic and other populations there and replacingthem with German farm settlers to help realize Hitler’s dream of a 1,000-yearGerman Empire.

In Germanyitself, starting in April 1933 until the passing of the Nuremberg Laws inSeptember 1935 and beyond, Nazi racial policy was directed against the localJews, stripping them of civil rights, banning them from employment andeducation, revoking their citizenship, excluding them from political and sociallife, disallowing inter-marriages with Germans, and essentially declaring themundesirables in Germany.  As a result, tens of thousands of Jews left Germany.  Hitler blamed the Jews (and communists) forthe civilian and workers’ unrest and revolution near the end of World War I,ostensibly that had led to Germany’sdefeat, and for the many social and economic problems currently afflicting thenation.  Following anti-Nazi boycotts inthe United States, Britain, and other countries, Hitler retaliatedwith a call to boycott Jewish businesses in Germany, which degenerated intoviolent riots by SA mobs that attacked and killed, and jailed hundreds of Jews,looted and destroyed Jewish properties, and seized Jewish assets.  The most notorious of these attacks occurredin November 1938 in “Kristallnacht” (Crystal Night), where in response to theassassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jew in Paris, the Nazi SA andcivilian mobs in Germany went on a violent rampage, killing hundreds of Jews,jailing tens of thousands of others, and looting and destroying Jewish homes,schools, synagogues, hospitals, and other buildings.  Some 1,000 synagogues were burned, and 7,000businesses destroyed. 

In foreign affairs, Hitler, like most Germans, denounced theVersaillestreaty, and wanted it rescinded.  In1933, Hitler withdrew Germanyfrom the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva,and in October of that year, from the League of Nations, in both casesdenouncing why Germanywas not allowed to re-arm to the level of the other major powers.

In March 1935, Hitler announced that German militarystrength would be increased to 550,000 troops, military conscription would beintroduced, and an air force built, which essentially meant repudiation of theTreaty of Versailles and the start of full-scale rearmament.  In response, Britain,France, and Italyformed the Stresa Front meant to stop further German violations, but thisalliance quickly broke down because the three parties disagreed on how to dealwith Hitler.

Italy,after being denounced by the League of Nations and slapped with economicsanctions after its invasion of Ethiopia,switched sides to Germany.  Mussolini and Hitler signed a series ofagreements that soon led to a military alliance.  Meanwhile, Britainand France continued theirindecisive foreign policies toward Germany.  In March 1936, in a bold move, Hitler senttroops to the Rhineland, remilitarizing the region in another violation of the Versailles treaty, but metno hostile response from the other powers. Hitler justified this move as a defensive response to the recentlyconcluded French-Soviet mutual assistance pact, which he accused the twocountries of encircling Germany,a statement that drew sympathy from some British politicians.

Nazi ideology called for unification of all Germanic peoplesinto a Greater German Reich.  In thiscontext, Hitler had long sought to annex Austria,whose indigenous population was German, into Germany.  An annexation attempt in 1934 was foiled byItalian intervention, with Mussolini determined to go to war if Germany invaded Austria.  But by 1938, German-Italian relations hadwarmed and were moving toward a military alliance.  With Britainand France watching by, inMarch 1938, Hitler put political pressure on Austria, and with the threat ofinvasion, forced the Austrian government to resign, and cede power to theAustrian Nazi Party.  Within days, thelatter relinquished Austrian independence to Germany,and German troops occupied Austria.  In a Nazi-controlled plebiscite held in April1938, an improbable 99.7% of Austrians voted for “Anschluss” (political union)with Germany.

In late March 1938, while Germany was yet in the process ofannexing Austria, another conflict, the “Sudetenland Crisis” occurred, whereethnic Germans, who formed the majority population in the Sudeten region ofCzechoslovakia, demanded autonomy and the right to join the Nazi Party.  Hitler supported these demands, citing theSudeten Germans’ right to self-determination. The Czechoslovak government refused, and in May 1938, mobilized for war.In response, Hitler secretly asked the German High Command to prepare for war,to be launched in October 1938.  Britain and France,anxious to avoid war at all costs by not antagonizing Hitler (a policy calledappeasement), pressed Czechoslovakiato yield, with the British even stating that the Sudeten Germans’ demand forautonomy was reasonable.  In earlySeptember 1938, the Czechoslovak government agreed to the demands.  Then when civilian unrest broke out in theSudetenland which the Czechoslovakian police quelled, in mid-September 1938, afurious Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany in order to stop thesupposed slaughter of Sudeten Germans. Under great pressure from Britainand France, on September 21,1938, the Czechoslovak government relented, and agreed to cede the Sudetenland.  Butthe next day, Hitler made new demands, which Czechoslovakia rejected and againmobilized for war.  In a frantic move toavert war, the Prime Ministers of Britainand France, NevilleChamberlain and Edouard Daladier, respectively, together with Mussolini, metwith Hitler, and on September 29, 1938, the four men signed the Munich Pact,where the Sudetenland was formally ceded to Germany.  Two days later, Czechoslovakiaaccepted the fait accompli, knowing it would not be supported by Britain and Francein a war with Germany.  In succeeding months, Czechoslovakia disintegrated as a sovereignstate: the Slovak region separated, aligning with Germanyas a puppet state; other regions were annexed by Hungaryand Poland; and in March1939, the rest of the Czech portion of the country was occupied by Germany.

Hitler then turned to Poland,and proposed to renew their ten-year non-aggression pact (signed in 1934) inexchange for revising their common border, specifically returning to Germany some territories that were ceded to Polandafter World War I.  The Polish governmentrefused, causing Hitler to rescind the pact in April 1939.  By then, Britainand France had abandonedappeasement in favor of assertive diplomacy, and promised military support to Poland if Germany invaded.  In the period May-August 1939, as war loomed,frantic efforts were made by Britainand France jointly, and by Germany, to win over to their side the lastremaining undecided major European power, the Soviet Union.  The Germans prevailed, and a non-aggressionpact was signed with the Soviets on August 23, 1939, which prompted Hitler tobegin hostilities with Polandunder the mistaken belief that Britainand Francewould not react militarily.

July 28, 1915 – U.S. forces land at Port-au-Prince, starting a 19-year occupation of Haiti

 (Taken from United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915 – 1934 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

On July 28, 1915, Haitian President Vibrun Sam, an ally of the United States, was killed in a riot that broke out after he ordered the execution of his political enemies.  Pandemonium broke out in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where anti-American elements led by Rosalvo Bobo moved to take control of the government.  Declaring the need to protect American citizens and American commercial interests in Haiti, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson acted swiftly, and U.S. Marines were landed in Port-au-Prince.  After some fighting, the U.S. forces expelled the anti-American militia from the capital.

The island of Hispaniola consists of two separate nations: French and French-Creole speaking Haiti to the west and Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic to the east.

The American intervention began a 19-year occupation of Haiti, prompted by the U.S. government’s determination to bring aboutstability in the Caribbean country and ensure that Haiti repaid the loan.  Under U.S. pressure, a pro-Americangovernment, led by President Sudre Dartiguenave, was installed in August 1915,which held only limited authority.  Thetwo countries signed a bilateral treaty, whereby Haitipractically became a U.S.protectorate, as the Caribbean country’s political, judicial, military, andeconomic policies came under the authority of first, the U.S. occupation force, and later by the AmericanHigh Commissioner’s Office, which was set up by the U.S. government.  The United Statestook control of Haiti’streasury, customs, banking, and other revenue-generating agencies, andpersuaded the Haitian government to pass laws that made Haiti pay back its foreign loans,especially to those from American and French creditors.

History of Haiti Haiti, a country that occupies one-third and the western section of Hispaniola Island in the Caribbean Sea, gained its independence in 1804 when black African plantation slaves rebelled and overthrew their French colonial masters, and then established their own government.  Thereafter for the rest of the 1800s, Haiti experienced political instability and social unrest because of its weak governmental, security, and economic infrastructures, with successive governments being deposed as a result of coups, revolts, and civil wars.

Largely because of a massive foreign debt, particularly to France, Haiti constantly experiencedeconomic difficulties.  In the post-waragreement signed between Haitiand France in 1824, France promised not to invade Haiti, and recognized Haiti’s independence.  In return, Haitipromised to pay France alarge indemnity, which became a heavy monetary load that crippled Haiti’seconomy.

By the early 1900s, German Haitians (ethnic Germans who hadimmigrated to Haiti) hadestablished large businesses in Haiti,gaining control of the local economy that once was dominated by theFrench.  The Germans had succeededbecause many of them had married with Haiti’s mulatto elite, allowingthem to join the ranks of local power and influence, as well as acquire theright to own Haitian land (which legally was forbidden to foreigners).

Background of U.S. Intervention in Haiti Haiti’s political instability continued into the early twentieth century – seven governments changed hands violently between 1911 and 1915.  The United States viewed the Haitian situation with great concern, as Haiti was located fairly close to the Panama Canal, on which the U.S. government had invested a large amount of money to complete and which provided not only a substantial economic benefit to the Americans but also served as a vital strategic and military asset.

U.S.foreign policy at this time was based on the Monroe Doctrine*, which was aimedat deterring European involvement in the Western Hemisphere.  In Haiti, the U.S. government looked withdisfavor at the strong German and French diplomatic and economicinfluences.  But of particular concernfor the United States in1915 were the German Haitians, as World War I had broken out in Europe and Germanyhad taken the initiative early in the war. The United States believedthat Germany might intervenein Haiti’spolitical instability in order to protect German commercial interests.  The American concern was increased whenGerman Haitians made such a request for intervention to the German government.  For the United States,a German military presence in Haitiwould threaten American interests in the Caribbean region, particularly withregard to the Panama Canal.

Historically, the U.S.response to Haiti’sinstability was to launch a direct military intervention: between 1876 and1913, the American government sent troops to Haiti a total of 15 times duringperiods of unrest.  In 1891, the United States had failed to persuade the Haitiangovernment to allow the U.S.military to construct a naval base in Haiti.  Nevertheless, the U.S. Navy kept a permanentwatch of the waters off Haiti,which was part of American policy to maintain political and military control ofthe whole Central American and Caribbeanregions.

In 1910, the United Statesloaned out a large amount of money to Haitito help pay down the Caribbean country’s largeforeign debt. The U.S.government, therefore, had its commitments, as well as its stakes, raised in Haiti.In 1914, Haitirejected American attempts to impose more economic measures.  Consequently, the United States withdrew $500 million of Haiti’s foreign reserves and transferred thatamount to New Yorkfor safekeeping.  The United States also gained control of Haiti’sNational Bank.

July 27, 1953 – Korean War: An armistice is signed that ends fighting

On July 27, 1953, representatives of the UN Command, North Korean Army, and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended fighting in the Korean War which had begun on June 25, 1950.  South Korea, led by president Syngman Rhee, refused to sign but promised to observe the armistice agreement. President Rhee was determined to reunify Korea under his rule and wanted the UN Command to force an all-out war against China, even at the risk of provoking the Soviet Union into entering the conflict on the side of North Korea. As such, he strongly opposed the armistice negotiations and even demanded that UN troops withdraw from South Korea to allow only his forces to continue the war.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung had also desired Korean unification under his authority. But after armistice negotiations commenced, he was prevailed upon by his backers China and the Soviet Union to tone down his hard-line stance.  He subsequently changed his motto of “drive the enemy into the sea” to “drive the enemy to the 38th parallel.”

North Korea and South Korea in East Asia.

(Taken from Korean War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

Aftermath of the Korean War Meanwhile, armistice talks resumed, which culminated in an agreement on July 19, 1953.  Eight days later, July 27, 1953, representatives of the UN Command, North Korean Army, and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended the war.  A ceasefire came into effect 12 hours after the agreement was signed.

War casualties included: UN forces – 450,000 soldierskilled, including over 400,000 South Korean and 33,000 American soldiers; NorthKorean and Chinese forces – 1 to 2 million soldiers killed (which includedChairman Mao Zedong’s son, Mao Anying). Civilian casualties were 2 million for South Korea and 3 million for North Korea.  Also killed were over 600,000 North Koreanrefugees who had moved to South Korea. Both the North Korean and South Korean governments and their forcesconducted large-scale massacres on civilians whom they suspected to besupporting their ideological rivals.  In South Korea,during the early stages of the war, government forces and right-wing militiasexecuted some 100,000 suspected communists in several massacres.  North Korean forces, during their occupationof South Korea,also massacred some 500,000 civilians, mainly “counter-revolutionaries”(politicians, businessmen, clerics, academics, etc.) as well as civilians whorefused to join the North Korean Army.

Under the armistice agreement, the frontline at the time ofthe ceasefire became the armistice line, which extended from coast to coastsome 40 miles north of the 38th parallel in the east, to 20 miles south of the38th parallel in the west, or a net territorial loss of 1,500 square miles toNorth Korea.  Three days after theagreement was signed, both sides withdrew to a distance of two kilometers fromthe ceasefire line, thus creating a four-kilometer demilitarized zone (DMZ)between the opposing forces.

The armistice agreement also stipulated the repatriation ofPOWs, a major point of contention during the talks, where both partiescompromised and agreed to the formation of an independent body, the NeutralNations Repatriation Commission (NNRC), to implement the exchange of prisoners.  The NNRC, chaired by General K.S. Thimayyafrom India, subsequently launched Operation Big Switch, where inAugust-December 1953, some 70,000 North Korean and 5,500 Chinese POWs, and12,700 UN POWs (including 7,800 South Koreans, 3,600 Americans, and 900 British),were repatriated.  Some 22,000Chinese/North Korean POWs refused to be repatriated – the 14,000 Chineseprisoners who refused repatriation eventually moved to the Republic of China (Taiwan),where they were given civilian status. Much to the astonishment of U.S. and British authorities, 21 Americanand 1 British (together with 325 South Korean) POWs also refused to berepatriated, and chose to move to China. All POWs on both sides who refused to be repatriated were given 90 daysto change their minds, as required under the armistice agreement.

The armistice line was conceived only as a separation offorces, and not as an international border between the two Korean states.  The Korean Armistice Agreement called on thetwo rival Korean governments to negotiate a peaceful resolution to reunify the Korean Peninsula.  In the international Geneva Conference heldin April-July 1954, which aimed to achieve a political settlement to the recentwar in Korea (as well as in Indochina, see First Indochina War, separatearticle), North Korea and South Korea, backed by their major power sponsors,each proposed a political settlement, but which was unacceptable to the otherside.  As a result, by the end of theGeneva Conference on June 15, 1953, no resolution was adopted, leaving theKorean issue unresolved.

Since then, the KoreanPeninsula has remained divided alongthe 1953 armistice line, with the 248-kilometer long DMZ, which was originallymeant to be a military buffer zone, becoming the de facto border between North Korea and South Korea.  No peace treaty was signed, with thearmistice agreement being a ceasefire only. Thus, a state of war officially continues to exist between the two Koreas.  Also as stipulated by the Korean ArmisticeAgreement, the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) was established,comprising contingents from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland,tasked with ensuring that no new foreign military personnel and weapons arebrought into Korea.

Because of the constant state of high tension between thetwo Korean states, the DMZ has since remained heavily defended and is the mostmilitarily fortified place on Earth. Situated at the armistice line in Panmunjom is the Joint Security Area,a conference center where representatives from the two Koreas hold negotiationsperiodically.  Since the end of theKorean War, there exists the constant threat of a new war, which is exacerbatedby the many incidents initiated by North Koreaagainst South Korea.  Some of these incidents include: thehijacking by a North Korean agent of a South Korean commercial airliner inDecember 1969; the North Korean abductions of South Korean civilians; thefailed assassination attempt by North Korean commandos of South KoreanPresident Park Chung-hee in January 1968; the sinking of a South Korean navalvessel, the ROKS Cheonon, in March 2010, which the South Korean governmentblamed was caused by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine (North Koreadenied any involvement), and the discovery of a number of underground tunnelsalong the DMZ which South Korea has said were built by North Korea to be usedas an invasion route to the south.

Furthermore, in October 2006, North Korea announced that it haddetonated its first nuclear bomb, and has since stated that it possessesnuclear weapons.  With North Korea aggressively pursuingits nuclear weapons capability, as evidenced by a number of nuclear tests beingcarried out over the years, the peninsular crisis has threatened to expand toregional and even global dimensions. Western observers also believe that North Korea has since beendeveloping chemical and biological weapons.

July 26, 1953 – Fidel Castro leads an attack on the Moncada Barracks, sparking the Cuban Revolution

On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro led over 160 armed followers, which included his brother Raul, in an attack on the army garrisons in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo, both located at the southeast section of the island.  The plan called for seizing weapons from the garrisons’ armories and then arming the local civilian population to incite a general uprising.  The attack was foiled by the military, however, with the Castro brothers and many other rebels being captured, imprisoned, and subsequently charged for treason.  Three months later, on October 16, the Castro brothers were handed down long prison terms, together with their followers who were given shorter prison sentences.  The trials gained national attention, with Fidel Castro, who acted as his own defense attorney, gaining wide public recognition.  While serving time in prison, Fidel renamed his organization the “26th of July Movement” or M-26-7 (Spanish: Movimiento 26 de Julio), in reference to the date of the failed attacks.

Fidel Castro was a student leader who previously had takenpart in the aborted overthrow of the Dominican Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo and in the 1948 civildisturbance (known as “Bogotazo”) in Bogota, Colombia before completing his law studies atthe University of Havana.  He then run as an independent for Congress inthe 1952 elections that were cancelled because of Batista’s coup.  Castro was outraged and began makingpreparations to overthrow what he declared was the illegitimate Batista regimethat had seized power from a democratically elected government.  Fidel organized an armed insurgent group,“The Movement”, whose aim was to overthrow President Batista.  At its peak, “The Movement” would comprise 1,200members in its civilian and military wings.

In November 1956, Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels set out from Tuxpan, Mexico aboard a decrepit yacht for their nearly 2,000 kilometer trip across the Caribbean Sea bound for south-eastern Cuba.

(Taken from Cuban Revolution – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Aftermath of the Cuban Revolution In Havana, President Manuel Urrutia (who Castro had appointed as provisional president and Cuba’s new head of state), and especially Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, and the M-26-7 fighters, took control of civilian and military institutions of the government.  Similarly in Oriente Province, Fidel Castro established authority over the regional governmental and military functions.  In the following days, other regional military units all across Cuba surrendered their jurisdictions to rebel forces that arrived.  Then from Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro began a nearly week-long journey to Havana, stopping at every town and city to large crowds and giving speeches, interviews, and press conferences.  On January 8, 1959, he arrived in Havana and declared himself the “Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency”, that is, he was effectively head of the Cuban Armed Forces under the government of President Urrutia and newly installed Prime Minister Jose Miro.  Real power, however, remained with Castro.

In the next few months, the Castro regime consolidated powerby executing or jailing hundreds of Batista supporters for “war crimes” andrelegating to the sidelines the other rebel groups that had taken part in therevolution.  During the war, Fidel Castrohad promised the return of democracy by instituting multi-party politics andholding free elections.  Now however, hespurned these promises, declaring that the electoral process was sociallyregressive and benefited only the wealthy elite.

Castro denied being a communist, the most widely publicizeddeclaration being during his personal visit to the United States in April 1959, orfour months after he gained power. Members of the Popular Socialist Party, or PSP (Cuban communists),however, soon began to dominate key government positions, and Cuba’s foreignpolicy moved toward establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union andother Eastern Bloc countries.  (By 1961when Castro had declared Cuba a communist state, his M-26-7 Movement had formedan alliance with the PSP, the 13th of March Movement – DR, and other leftistorganizations; this coalition ultimately gave rise to the Cuban CommunistParty.)

President Urrutia, who was a political moderate and anon-communist, made known his concern about the socialist direction of thegovernment, which put him directly in Castro’s way.  Consequently in July 1959, President Urrutiawas forced to resign from office, as Prime Minister Miro had done earlier inFebruary.  A Cuban communist took over asthe new president, subservient to the dictates of Fidel Castro.  Castro had become the “Maximum Leader”(Spanish: Maximo Lider), or absolute dictator; he abolished Congress, ruled bydecree, and suppressed all forms of opposition. Free speech was silenced, as were the print and broadcast media, whichwere placed under government control.  Inthe villages, towns, and cities across Cuba, neighborhood watches calledthe “Committees for the Defense of the Revolution” were formed to monitor theactivities of all residents within their jurisdictions and to weed outdissidents, enemies, and “counter-revolutionaries”.  In 1959, land reform was implemented in Cuba;private and corporate lands were seized, partitioned, and distributed topeasants and landless farmers.

On January 7, 1959, just a few days after the CubanRevolution ended, the United States recognized the new Cuban governmentunder President Urrutia. But as Castro later gained absolute power and hisgovernment gradually turned socialist, relations between the two countriesdeteriorated rapidly.  By July 1959, justseven months later, U.S.president Dwight Eisenhower was planning Castro’s overthrow; subsequently inMarch 1960, he ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to organize andtrain U.S.-based Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba.

In 1960, Castro entered into a trade agreement with the Soviet Union that included purchasing Russian oil.  Then when U.S.petroleum companies in Cubarefused to refine the imported Russian oil, a succession of measures andretaliatory counter-measures followed quickly. In July 1960, Cubaseized the American oil companies and nationalized them the next month.  In October 1960, the United States imposed an economic embargo on Cuba and banned all imports (which constituted90% of all Cuban exports) from Cuba.  The restriction included sugar, which was Cuba’sbiggest source of revenue.  In January1960, the United Statesended all official diplomatic relations with Cuba,closed its embassy in Havana,and banned trade to and forbid American private and business transactions withthe island country.

With Cubashedding off democracy and taking on a clearly communist state policy,thousands of Cubans from the upper and middle classes, including politicians,top government officials, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and many otherprofessionals fled the country for exile in other countries, particularly inthe United States.  However, many other anti-Castro Cubans choseto remain and subsequently organized into armed groups to start acounter-revolution in the Escambray Mountains; these rebel groups’ activities laid thegroundwork for Cuba’snext internal conflict, the “War against the Bandits”.

July 25, 1979 – Arab-Israeli Wars: Israel returns a part of the Sinai Peninsula

On July 25, 1979, Israel returned to Egypt a section of the Sinai Peninsula following the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries on March 26, 1979. In the treaty, Israel agreed to gradually withdraw its forces from the Sinai, which it subsequently completed in 1982. A peacekeeping force, the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) comprising contingents from many countries, entered the territory to ensure compliance with the treaty’s provisions. The treaty greatly advanced diplomatic relations between Egypt and Israel, which continues to this day.

Israel gained control of the Sinai during the Six-Day War in June 1967. Egypt attempted to recapture the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Following a ceasefire following the second war, the two sides opened negotiations that led to the Sinai Interim Agreement in September 1975 where a buffer zone was established between the opposing forces.  The two countries also agreed to eschew the use of force, and resolve their disagreements through peaceful means.

(Taken from Yom Kippur War – Wars of 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background With its decisive victory in the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan.  The Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights were integral territories of Egypt and Syria, respectively, and both countries were determined to take them back.  In September 1967, Egypt and Syria, together with other Arab countries, issued the Khartoum Declaration of the “Three No’s”, that is, no peace, recognition, and negotiations with Israel, which meant that only armed force would be used to win back the lost lands.

Shortly after the Six-Day War ended, Israel offered to return the Sinai Peninsula andGolan Heights in exchange for a peace agreement, but the plan apparently wasnot received by Egypt and Syria.  In October 1967, Israel withdrew the offer.

In the ensuing years after the Six-Day War, Egyptcarried out numerous small attacks against Israeli military and governmenttargets in the Sinai.  In what is nowknown as the “War of Attrition”, Egyptwas determined to exact a heavy economic and human toll and force Israelto withdraw from the Sinai.  By way ofretaliation, Israeli forces also launched attacks into Egypt.  Armed incidents also took place across Israel’s borders with Syria,Jordan, and Lebanon.  Then, as the United States, which backed Israel,and the Soviet Union, which supported the Arab countries, increasingly becameinvolved, the two superpowers prevailed upon Israeland Egyptto agree to a ceasefire in August 1970.

In September 1970, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s hard-line president, passedaway.  Succeeding as Egypt’s head of state was Vice-President AnwarSadat, who began a dramatic shift in foreign policy toward Israel.  Whereas the former regime was staunchlyhostile to Israel,President Sadat wanted a diplomatic solution to the Egyptian-Israeliconflict.  In secret meetings with U.S. government officials and a United Nations(UN) representative, President Sadat offered a proposal that in exchange for Israel’s return of the Sinai to Egypt, the Egyptian government would sign apeace treaty with Israeland recognize the Jewish state.

However, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Golda Meirrefused to negotiate.  President Sadat,therefore, decided to use military force. He knew, however, that his armed forces were incapable of dislodging theIsraelis from the Sinai.  He decided thatan Egyptian military victory on the battlefield, however limited, would compel Israelto see the need for negotiations.  Egyptbegan preparations for war.  Largeamounts of modern weapons were purchased from the Soviet Union.  Egypt restructured its large, butineffective, armed forces into a competent fighting force.

In order to conceal its war plans, Egypt carried out a number ofruses.  The Egyptian Army constantlyconducted military exercises along the western bank of the Suez Canal, which soon were taken lightly by the Israelis.  Egypt’s persistent war rhetoriceventually was regarded by the Israelis as mere bluff.  Through press releases, Egypt underreported the truestrength of its armed forces.  Thegovernment also announced maintenance and spare parts problems with its warequipment and the lack of trained personnel to operate sophisticated militaryhardware.  Furthermore, when PresidentSadat expelled 20,000 Soviet advisers from Egyptin July 1972, Israelbelieved that the Egyptian Army’s military capability was weakenedseriously.  In fact, thousands of Sovietpersonnel remained in Egyptand Soviet arms shipments continued to arrive. Egyptian military planners worked closely and secretly with their Syriancounterparts to devise a simultaneous two-front attack on Israel.  Consequently, Syria also secretly mobilized forwar.

Israel’sintelligence agencies learned many details of the invasion plan, even the dateof the attack itself, October 6.  Israel detected the movements of large numbersof Egyptian and Syrian troops, armor, and – in the Suez Canal– bridging equipment. On October 6, a few hours before Egyptand Syriaattacked, the Israeli government called for a mobilization of 120,000 soldiersand the entire Israeli Air Force. However, many top Israeli officials continued to believe that Egypt and Syria were incapable of starting awar and that the military movements were just another army exercise.  Israeli officials decided against carryingout a pre-emptive air strike (as Israel had done in the Six-Day War)to avoid being seen as the aggressor.  Egypt and Syria chose to attack on Yom Kippur(which fell on October 6 in 1973), the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, whenmost Israeli soldiers were on leave.

July 24, 1929 – Interwar Period: The Kellogg-Briand Pact goes into effect, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy

On July 24, 1929, the “General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy”, more commonly known as the Kellogg-Brian Pact, went into effect. Its secondary name derives from its authors, U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The instrument, first agreed to in August 1928 by the United States, France, and Germany, was joined within a year by 62 countries, including Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Soviet Union, and China. The instrument’s objective was for signatory states not to use war to resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them”, and that states that fail to adhere would be “denied of the benefits furnished by the treaty”.

The Kellogg-Brian Pact failed in its objective: militarism grewin the 1930s, leading to the outbreak of World War II near the end of thedecade.

(Taken from Events Leading up to World War II in Europe – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Post-World War I Pacifism Because World War I had caused considerable toll on lives and brought enormous political, economic, and social troubles, a genuine desire for lasting peace prevailed in post-war Europe, and it was hoped that the last war would be “the war that ended all wars”.  By the mid-1920s, most European countries, especially in the West, had completed reconstruction and were on the road to prosperity, and pursued a policy of openness and collective security.  This pacifism led to the formation in January 1920 of the League of Nations (LN), an international organization which had membership of most of the countries existing at that time, including most major Western Powers (excluding the United States).  The League had the following aims: to maintain world peace through collective security, encourage general disarmament, and mediate and arbitrate disputes between member states.  In the pacifism of the 1920s, the League resolved a number of conflicts (and had some failures as well), and by mid-decade, the major powers sought the League as a forum to engage in diplomacy, arbitration, and disarmament.

In September 1926, Germanyended its diplomatic near-isolation with its admittance to the League of Nations. This came about with the signing in December 1926 of the Locarno Treaties(in Locarno, Switzerland),which settled the common borders of Germany,France, and Belgium.  These countries pledged not to attack eachother, with a guarantee made by Britainand Italyto come to the aid of a party that was attacked by the other.  Future disputes were to be resolved througharbitration.  The Locarno Treaties alsodealt with Germany’s easternfrontier with Poland and Czechoslovakia,and although their common borders were not fixed, the parties agreed thatfuture disputes would be settled through arbitration.  The Treaties were seen as a high point in international diplomacy, and ushered in a climate of peacein Western Europe for the rest of the1920s.  A popular optimism, called “thespirit of Locarno”,gave hope that all future disputes could be settled through peaceful means.

In June 1930, the last French troops withdrew from the Rhineland, ending the Allied occupation five yearsearlier than the original fifteen-year schedule.  And in March 1935, the League of Nationsreturned the Saar region to Germanyfollowing a referendum where over 90% of Saar residents voted to bereintegrated with Germany.

In August 1938, at the urging of the United States and France, the Kellogg-BriandPact  (officially titled “General Treatyfor Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy”) was signed, whichencouraged all countries to renounce war and implement a pacifist foreignpolicy.  Within a year, 62 countriessigned the Pact, including Britain,Germany, Italy, Japan,the Soviet Union, and China.  In February 1929, the Soviet Union, asignatory and keen advocate of the Pact, initiated a similar agreement, calledthe Litvinov Protocol, with its Eastern European neighbors, which emphasizedthe immediate implementation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact among themselves.  Pacifism in the interwar period alsomanifested in the collective efforts by the major powers to limit theirweapons.  In February 1922, the fivenaval powers: United States,Britain, France, Italy,and Japansigned the Washington Naval Treaty, which restricted construction of the largerclasses of warships.  In April 1930,these countries signed the London Naval Treaty, which modified a number ofclauses in the Washingtontreaty but also regulated naval construction. A further attempt at naval regulation was made in March 1936, which wassigned only by the United States, Britain, and France, since by this time, theprevious other signatories, Italy and Japan, were pursuing expansionistpolicies that required greater naval power.

An effort by the League of Nations and non-League member United States to achieve general disarmament inthe international community led to the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva in 1932-1934,attended by sixty countries.  The talksbogged down from a number of issues, the most dominant relating to thedisagreement between Germany and France, with the Germans insisting on beingallowed weapons equality with the great powers (or that they disarm to thelevel of the Treaty of Versailles, i.e. to Germany’s current militarystrength), and the French resisting increased German power for fear of aresurgent Germany and a repeat of World War I, which had caused heavy Frenchlosses.  Germany,now led by Adolf Hitler (starting in January 1933), pulled out of the World DisarmamentConference, and in October 1933, withdrew from the League of Nations.  The Geneva disarmamentconference thus ended in failure.

July 23, 1962 – Laotian Civil War: The major powers affirm the neutrality of Laos

On July 23, 1962, the major powers, United States, Soviet Union, China, United Kingdom, and France, signed the “International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos” in Geneva. Apart from Laos itself, the other signatory countries were North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Canada, India, and Poland. The agreement arose from the “International Conference on the Settlement of the Laotian Question” (May 1961-July 1962) which sought a resolution to the ongoing Laotian Civil War. The signatory countries agreed to respect Laotian neutrality, abstain from interfering in Laos’ internal affairs, and refrain from drawing Laos into a military alliance or to establish military bases there.

Laos and Southeast Asia during the Indochina Wars.

Ultimately, the agreement was a failure as Laos became a battleground during the Indochina wars, which included its own civil war and the Vietnam War. The United States carried out a “secret war” and heavily bombed the Laotian countryside, while North Vietnam established a supply route called the Ho Chi Minh Trail to support the Pathet Lao and more important, the Viet Cong rebels in South Vietnam.

A former French colony, Laos had declared independenceafter World War II. But the returning French reoccupied the territory, as wellas Vietnam and Cambodia.An insurgency broke out by the nationalist/communist North Vietnamese-backed, PathetLao. After the defeat of the French in the First Indochina War (1946-1954) andtheir withdrawal from the region, Laos regained its independence.  In 1960, civil war broke out between the RoyalLao Army, backed by the United States,and the Pathet Lao rebels, supported by communist North Vietnam.

(Excerpts taken from Laotian Civil War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

Background In March 1889, France established a protectorate over the Kingdom of Luang Prabang.  Then in October 1893, the French extended the boundaries of Luang Prabang after gaining more territory on the western side of the Mekong River.  Also in 1893, following the Franco-Siamese War, France formally established Luang Prabang’s borders by annexing the regions of Vientiane, Xiangkhoang, and Luang Namtha.  With the further addition of Phongsali and Houaphan, the French protectorate of Luang Prabang essentially delineated the borders of what is the present day country of Laos.  The French protectorate of Laos formed part of French Indochina, which included Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina (these three regions forming modern-day Vietnam), and Cambodia.

In the early 1940s, Franceencouraged nationalism among the different Lao tribes to counteract Thailand’s irredentist territorial ambitions on Laos.  This had the unintended consequence ofgenerating anti-French, anti-colonial sentiment among Laotians, which led tothe founding of the short-lived separatist organization, Lao Pen Lao (Lao for Laos).

In September 1939, World War II broke out in Europe, and in December 1941, in the Asia Pacific.  In June 1940, Francefell to Germany, and the newFrench Vichy government became allied with the Axis Powers, including Japan.  In August 1940, Japanand Vichy Francesigned the Matsuoka-Henry Pact, which granted Japanese forces access to FrenchIndochina for Japan’sinvasion of other parts of Southeast Asia.  The treaty also allowed French colonialauthorities to continue governing Indochina.

But by 1944, World War II had turned decisively in favor ofthe Allied Powers.  In September of thatyear, Francewas recaptured by the Allies, and a pro-Allied provisional government came topower.  By early 1945, French commandoinfiltrations into Indochina and the subsequent formation of French-Laoguerilla resistance groups forced the Japanese to dismantle French colonialauthority in Indochina.  As a result, the Japanese ruled Indochina directly. The Japanese then exerted pressure on King Sisavang Vong, the pro-FrenchLao monarch, who in April 1945, ended the French protectorate and declared Laoan independent state.  But just fourmonths later, on August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies,bringing an end to World War II.

In the immediate post-war period, Indochinawas racked by anarchy and unrest.  In Laos,rival political elements competed in a power struggle to fill the void left bythe sudden Japanese capitulation.  InLuang Prabang (the royal capital of Laos), Prince Phetsarath, the PrimeMinister, tried to convince King Sisavang Vong to implement policies relevantto an independent Laos.  King SisavangVong refused, as he was determined to permit the restoration of Frenchrule.  After being stripped of hispositions of Prime Minister and viceroy, on August 27, 1945, Phetsarath tookcontrol of Vientiane (Laos’ administrative capital).  There, on September 15, 1945, Phetsarathdeclared a unified Laoscomprising Luang Prabang and the four southern provinces of Khammouan,Savannakhet, Champasak, and Saravane (Figure 14).

On October 7, 1945, a Lao partisan force led by PrinceSouphanouvong arrived at Savannakhet, where other nationalists had takencontrol of the town’s administration. Their combined forces, with Souphanouvong as over-all commander,proceeded north to join Phetsarath in Vientiane.  There, in October 1945, the Lao nationalists,now led by the three princes, the brothers Phetsarath and Souvanna Phouma, andtheir half-brother Souphanouvong, declared Laos’ independence under arevolutionary government called Lao Issara (“Free Laos”).  (Souvanna Phouma and Souphanouvong wouldlater play major roles in the coming Laotian Civil War.)  On October 10, 1945, the Lao Issara sent aforce to Luang Prabang, where it forced King Sisavang Vong into submission.

However, the Lao Issara failed to consolidate power.  In the immediate post-World War II period,major political decisions were dictated by the victorious Allied Powers, whichaccepted France’s desire torestore colonial rule in Indochina.  But in the meantime that France was yet assembling a force for thatpurpose, the Allies also allowed the Chinese Nationalist forces to enter Laosto formally accept the Japanese surrender there. 

As a result, Laosbecame partitioned into areas of control by different forces.  The Lao Issara controlled the capital and thetowns of Thakhek and Savannakhet. Chinese forces held the northern regions(Luang Prabang, Phongsali and Luang Namtha). The French-Lao forces controlled the south (Xiangkhoang, Khammouan, andSavannahkhet provinces, together with Pakxe and Saravane, where the pro-Frenchpolitical warlord Prince Boun Oum operated). And the Viet Minh (a Vietnamese anti-French revolutionary movement)occupied Houaphan along the northeast border with Vietnam.

The Lao Issara, apart from its lack of foreign support,faced many other major problems: a dearth of money to run a government, ashortage of weapons, and political infighting. These problems undermined the Laos Issara’s capacity to survive.  By October 1945, the French had reestablishedits military presence in southern Indochina (Cochinchina and Cambodia).  From Saigon, French troops advanced northtoward Laos.  In January 1946, French-Lao forces seizedfull control of Laos’southern regions and soon entered Savannakhet, meeting only light resistance.  In March 1946, following lengthyFrench-Nationalist Chinese negotiations, Chinawithdrew its forces from Laos(and Vietnam).

On March 21, 1946, at the decisive Battle of Thakhek,French-Lao forces attacked and defeated the Lao Issara.  A few days later, the Lao Issara governmentabandoned the capital, Vientiane,which was taken over by the French. Arriving at Luang Prabang on March 23, 1946, the Lao Issara madeappeasement with Sisavang Vong, restoring him to the throne. King Sisavang Vongonly reluctantly accepted reconciliation, and on April 23, 1946, he announced anew constitution and declared Laos’unity.  French forces continued theiradvance north, and entered Luang Prabang in May 1946.  The French ended the remaining Lao Issararesistance, and presently regained control of all Laotian territory.

Francereinstated King Sisivang Vong as monarch over Laos, and then reversed its plan torestore direct colonial rule.  Instead,the French government prepared to hand over self-government to the Laopeople.  In December 1946, elections wereheld to the Lao National Assembly (the state legislature), which then convenedto prepare a new constitution.  In May1947, the completed constitution, ratified by the king, declared Laosan autonomous state within the French Union. In July 1949, in the Franco-Lao General Convention, France granted the Lao government greaterprerogatives in Laos’foreign affairs.  In February 1950, with France again confirming Laos’ self-determination status, the United States and Britainrecognized Laosas a sovereign state.  In December 1955, Laosjoined the United Nations.

However, despite Laos’apparent independence, Franceretained a virtual stranglehold over the country, controlling Laos’ finance, defense, and majorforeign policy functions.  French forcesalso were stationed in the country, which by the late 1940s, had becomeextremely vital to French regional interests, because of the ongoing conflictin Vietnam(First Indochina War, separate article).

Meanwhile, the Lao Issara, following its defeat, fled to Thailand,where it set up a government-in-exile and a guerilla force.  Lao Issara fighters then began launchingcross-border attacks into Laos.  But in November 1947, a military coup in Thailand brought to power a regime that restoredrelations with France,recognized Laos, anddismantled Lao Issara bases in Thailand.  The Lao Issara then experienced infightingwithin its leadership, particularly between Phetsarath and Souphanouvong, onwhether to seek assistance from the communist Viet Minh to continue therevolutionary struggle.  Souphanouvong, aMarxist ideologue, subsequently was expelled from the Lao Issara.  He then moved to Vietnam, where he previously hadlived many years, and came into contact with Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamesecommunist revolutionary leader.

In October 1949, the remaining Lao revolutionaries disbandedthe Lao Issara and dissolved their government-in-exile.  Souvanna Phouma accepted a Lao governmentamnesty and returned to Laos,where he would play a major political role in the next 25 years.  After the 1951 National Assembly elections,he became Prime Minister, holding this position until 1954.  In subsequent years, he would return as PrimeMinister in 1956-1958, 1960, and 1962-1975.

Phetsarath remained in Thailand, and ceased to play animportant role in Laotian politics.  In Vietnam,Souphanouvong met with other Lao anti-French radicals.  These included communists, but alsonon-communists, such as former Lao officials and royals, and ethnic minorities,who saw the Lao royal government as no more than a French puppet.  In August 1950, these anti-colonialistsformed the Neo Lao Issara (Free Laos Front), purportedly a united front of Laoopposition groups comprising different political persuasions.  A revolutionary government also was formed,called the “Resistance Government of the Lao Homeland”, led by Souphanouvong asits president.  The Western press soonbegan using its shortened name, “Pathet Lao” (Lao Homeland), to refer to thisorganization.

During its revolutionary struggle, the Pathet Lao would putgreat efforts to portray itself as an ideologically and politically pluralisticorganization.  In large part, it reliedon the prestige of Prince Souphanouvong. In fact, however, the Pathet Lao was controlled behind the scenes byhard-line communists led by Kaysone Phomvihane and Nouhak Phoumsavan.  To gain the widest popular support, thePathet Lao kept hidden its Marxist background. It also did not overtly call for the end of the Lao monarchy, and didnot reveal its desire to implement agrarian reform and collectivizedfarming.  Land reform ran contrary to Laos’ socio-economic structure, as most farmersowned their own lands, and landless peasantry was almost non-existent in Laos.

The communist movement in Laos traces its origin to theIndochinese Communist Party (ICP), formed in 1930.  The ICP consisted nearly exclusively ofethnic Vietnamese, and had as its main goals the overthrow of French rule inIndochina and the establishment of socialist governments in an independent Vietnam, Laos,and Cambodia.  In February 1951, the ICP reorganized intothree separate but allied communist parties, one each for Vietnam, Cambodia,and Laos.  The Lao communist group, in March 1955,secretly formed the Lao People’s Party (LPP), which later in February 1972, wasrenamed the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), both of which were notknown to the general public at that time.

As early as January 1949, with the military guidance andsupport provided by the Viet Minh, the fledging Lao communist movementorganized an armed militia to launch the revolutionary struggle in Laos.  By the early 1950s, with the formation of thePathet Lao and also with Viet Minh leading the way in the escalating FirstIndochina War, the Lao guerillas were transformed into an auxiliary force behindthe Viet Minh.

July 21, 1944 – World War II: Coup plotters against Hitler are executed

On July 21, 1944, the leaders of the assassination attempt against German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler were executed by firing squad after being sentenced to death by an impromptu court martial.  The executions came following a failed attempt the previous day, July 20, to assassinate Hitler during a military meeting with the German Armed Forces high command at the “Wolf’s Lair” (Wolfsschanze), the German military headquarters on the Eastern Front, located near Rastenburg, East Prussia (now located in present-day Poland). The assassination attempt was part of a coup plot by several high-ranking German military officers and civilian members of the German resistance to seize power from the Nazi Party and then negotiate an immediate end to the war with the Western Allies. The failed assassination was the latest (and the last) of at least fifteen attempts made on Hitler during his lifetime.

The plan involved detonating two bombs at the Wolf’s Lair military headquarters while Hitler was meeting with the German high command. One bomb exploded which failed to kill Hitler, instead killing four officers and wounding many others.

In the aftermath, a massive hunt for the conspirators was launched. The Gestapo arrested more than 7,000 people, of whom 4,980 were executed. Famed war hero Field Marshall Erwin Rommel became implicated in the interrogations, which eventually led to his arrest and forced suicide rather than face a court martial which would lead to certain death by execution.

July 20, 1969 – Football War: El Salvador and Honduras agree to a ceasefire

On July 20, 1969, six days after the outbreak of the Football War, a ceasefire ended fighting between El Salvador and Honduras. Immediately after the war had begun, the Organization of American States (OAS) had tried to intervene with a ceasefire.  El Salvador had resisted, as its forces were on the attack.  But when its offensive bogged down, the Salvadoran government agreed to end hostilities on July 18, four days after the war began (thus, another name of the war is the “Hundred Hours War”).  A ceasefire took effect two days later.

El Salvador and Honduras and other countries in Central America

(Excerpts taken from Football War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

Background By May 1969, the land reform law in Honduras was being fully implemented.  Thousands of dispossessed Salvadoran families returned to El Salvador, causing a sudden surge in the Salvadoran population, and straining the country’s economic resources and the government’s capacity to provide public services.  El Salvador condemned Honduras, inciting tensions and animosity on both sides.  Furthermore, the press media in both sides spouted rhetoric and propaganda, which fueled nationalistic sentiments.

A hostile, charged atmosphere led up to the three football matches between El Salvador and Honduras in June 1969.  The first match was played on June 8 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital, which was won 1- 0 by the host team.  Aside from some fans fighting in the stands, no major security breakdown occurred during the match.

In El Salvador, however, soccer fans were enraged by the result, believing they had been cheated.  The Salvadoran media described the football matches as epitomizing the “national honor”.  After the defeat, a despondent Salvadoran fan died after shooting herself.  Her death became a rallying cry for Salvadorans who regarded her as a martyr.  Thousands of Salvadorans, including the country’s president and other top government officials, attended her funeral and joined the nation in mourning her death.

The second match was played in El Salvador on June 15, 1969, and was won 3- 0 also by the home team, thereby leveling the series at one game apiece.  The tense situation during the game broke out in widespread violence across the capital, San Salvador.  Street clashes led to many deaths, including those of Honduran fans.  As a precaution, the Honduran football team was housed in an undisclosed location and driven to the game in armored vehicles.  After the game, the Honduran team’s vehicles plying the road back to Honduras were stoned while passing through Salvadoran towns.

In Honduras,the people retaliated by attacking and looting Salvadoran shops in Tegucigalpa and othercities and towns.  Armed bands of thugsroamed the countryside targeting Salvadorans – beating up and killing men,raping women, burning houses, and destroying farms.  Thousands of Salvadorans fled toward theborder to El Salvador.  And as the prospect of war drew closer,Salvadoran and Honduran security forces guarding the border engaged in sporadicexchanges of gunfire.

The third, deciding football match was played on June 26,1969 in Mexico City,which was won by the Salvadoran team 3 – 2 in overtime.  Two days earlier, Hondurashad cut diplomatic relations with El Salvador.  The Salvadoran government reciprocated onJune 26, accusing Hondurasof committing “genocide” by killing Salvadoran immigrants.  The two sides prepared for war by increasingtheir weapons stockpiles, which were sourced from private dealers because the United Stateshad imposed an arms embargo.

July 19, 1979 – Nicaraguan Revolution: Sandinista rebels overthrow the Somoza regime

On July 19, 1979, rebels of the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front entered Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, where huge crowds welcomed them as liberators. Two days earlier, July 17, President Anastacio Somoza fled the country into Paraguay, where he was assassinated by Sandinista commandos the following year. The Sandinistas had waged a lengthy struggle (the Nicaraguan Revolution) since 1961.

Nicaraguan Revolution (1961-1979). Communist rebels called Sandinistas fought to overthrow the autocratic right-wing government of Anastacio Somoza. The Somoza dynasty ended when the rebels captured Managua, Nicaragua’s capital.

The Sandinistas took over power, allowing a civilian juntathat had been set up earlier by the opposition coalition to rule thecountry.  The junta represented across-section of the political opposition and was structured as a power-sharinggovernment.

Non-Sandinista members of the junta soon resigned, as they felt powerless against the Sandinistas (who effectively controlled the junta) and feared that the government was moving toward adopting Cuban-style socialism.

Nicaragua in Central America.

(Excerpts taken from Nicaraguan Revolution 1961-1979 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

By 1980, the Sandinistas had taken full control of the government.  The country had been devastated by the war, as well as by the corruption and neglect by the previous dictatorial regimes.  Using the limited resources available, the Sandinista government launched many social programs for the general population.  The most successful of these were in public education, where the country’s high illiteracy rate was lowered significantly, and in agrarian reform, where large landholdings, including those of ex-President Somoza, were seized and distributed to the peasants and poor farmers.  The Sandinista government also implemented programs in health care, the arts and culture, and in the labor sector.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter was receptive to the Sandinista government.  But President Ronald Reagan, who succeeded as U.S. head of state in January 1981, was alarmed that Nicaragua had allowed a communist toehold in the American continental mainland, and therefore apparently posed a threat to the United States.  Reagan believed that the Sandinistas intended to spread communism across Central America.  As evidence of this perception, he pointed out that the Sandinistas were arming the communist insurgents in El Salvador.  Consequently, Reagan prepared plans for a counter-revolution in Nicaragua that would overthrow the Sandinista government. The Nicaraguan Counter-Revolution would last until 1990.

Background of the Nicaraguan Revolution In 1961, the revolutionary movement called the Sandinista National Liberation Front was formed in Nicaragua with two main objectives: to end the U.S.-backed Somoza regime, and to establish a socialist government in the country.  The movement and its members, who were called Sandinistas, took their name and ideals from Augusto Sandino, a Nicaraguan rebel fighter of the 1930s, who fought a guerilla war against the American forces that had invaded and occupied Nicaragua.  Sandino also wanted to end the Nicaraguan wealthy elite’s political and financial stranglehold on society.  He advocated for social justice and economic equality for all Nicaraguans.

By the late 1970s, Nicaragua had been ruled for overforty years by the Somoza family in a dynastic-type succession that had begunin the 1930s.  In 1936, Anastacio Somozaseized power in Nicaraguaand gained total control of all aspects of the government.  Officially, he was the country’s president,but ruled as a dictator.  Over time,President Somoza accumulated great wealth and owned the biggest landholdings inthe country.  His many personal andfamily businesses extended into the shipping and airlines industries,agricultural plantations and cattle ranches, sugar mills, and winemanufacturing.  President Somoza tookbribes from foreign corporations that he had granted mining concessions in the country,and also benefited from local illicit operations such as unregistered gambling,organized prostitution, and illegal wine production.

President Somoza suppressed all forms of opposition with the use of the National Guard, Nicaragua’s police force, which he had used to turn the country into a militarized state.  President Somoza was staunchly anti-communist and received strong military and financial support from the United States, which was willing to take Nicaragua’s repressive but right-wing government as an ally in the ongoing Cold War.

In 1956, President Somoza was assassinated and was succeeded by his son, Luis, who also ruled as a dictator until his own death by heart failure in 1967.  In turn, Luis was succeeded by his younger brother, Anastacio Somoza, who had the same first name as their father.  As Nicaragua’s new head of state, the younger Anastacio outright established a harsh regime much like his father had in the 1930s.  Consequently, the Sandinistas intensified their militant activities in the rural areas, mainly in northern Nicaragua.  Small bands of Sandinistas carried out guerilla operations, such as raiding isolated army outposts and destroying government facilities.

By the early 1970s, the Sandinistas comprised only a small militia in contrast to Nicaragua’s U.S.-backed National Guard.  However, the Sandinistas struck great fear on President Somoza, because of their ’ symbolic association to Sandino.  Somoza wanted to destroy the Sandinistas with a passion that bordered on paranoia.  He ordered his forces to the countryside to hunt down and kill Sandinistas.  But these military operations greatly affected the rural population, who began to fear as well as detest the government.

The end of the Somoza regime began in 1972 when a powerful earthquake hit Managua, Nicaragua’s capital.  The destruction resulting from the earthquake caused 5,000 human deaths and 20,000 wounded, and left half a million people homeless (nearly half of Managua’s population).  Managua was devastated almost completely, and all government services were cut off.  But in the midst of the widespread destruction, President Somoza diverted the international relief money to his personal bank account, greatly curtailing the government’s meager resources.  As a result, thousands of people were deprived of food, clothing, and shelter.