Daniel Orr's Blog, page 24

May 7, 1915 – Japan sends the “Thirteen Demands” ultimatum to China

In 1915, Chinawas experiencing severe political, economic, and social problems. Two thousand yearsof imperial rule had ended in February 1912, which was followed by a powerstruggle between the northern and southern factions.  Yuan Shikai, military commander of thenorthern faction, soon gained ascendancy, becoming president of the newrepublic. Yuan quickly made moves to consolidate power: establishing Beijing as the nation’scapital and purging political opposition and dissent.

On May 7, 1915, Japan sent the “Thirteen Demands” ultimatum to Yuan with a two-day deadline for response. Yuan, faced with internal political tensions, was forced to cede to the Japanese demands. Japan had gained a large sphere of interest in China and Manchuria with its victories in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. Hoping to gain greater control in China, in January 1915, the Japanese government sent the “21 Demands” to China, which would extend Japanese control in Manchuria and the Chinese economy.

Following China’srejection of the “21 Demands” and facing pressure from the United States and Britain(two other countries vying for influence in China),Japan revised its positionand issued the less harsh “13 Demands”, which China accepted on May 25, 1915.

In the aftermath, the United and States expressed strong disapproval to Japan’s actions. In China, anti-Japanese sentiment grew considerably, together with an upsurge in nationalism.

May 6, 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army launches the Prague Offensive

By early May 1945, Nazi Germany was in total collapse. Adolf Hitler had killed himself, Berlin had fallen, and the Allies were closing in from the east and west. The remaining German forces from the Eastern Front were making a desperate rush to reach the west, to surrender to the Western Allies instead of their pursuers, the dreaded Soviet Red Army.

In Bohemia and Moravia, some 1 million German troops became bogged down intheir withdrawal when on May 5, the Czech resistance in the capital Prague (as well as otherkey areas) broke out in an uprising. The German units were the Army GroupCentre and Army Group Ostmark, which were the last intact German militaryformations. The following day, the Red Army, with 1.7 troops, launched itsPrague Offensive, in the process joining the battle on the side of the Czechs.

Fighting continued until May 11 when some 860,000 German troops capitulated. The Prague Offensive was one of the few instances where fighting in the European theater continued after the official German surrender on May 7 and 8.

Prague’s capture by the Soviet Army had far-reaching consequences in the immediate post-war period. The U.S. Third Army had entered Czechoslovakian territory on May 4, and both the Soviets and Western Allies desired the capture of prized Prague, for geopolitical reasons in the post-war period. However, on the request of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, U.S. forces stopped at Plzen, 50 miles to the west of Prague.

In the aftermath of World War II, in 1948, the democratic government in Czechoslovakia was overthrown by a communist coup d’état. A socialist regime was formed that thereafter aligned with the Soviet Union.

May 5, 1945 – World War II: Allied forces liberate Denmark

The British Army led by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery liberated Copenhagen and much of Denmark from German occupation.  By this time in the wider conflict of World War II, Nazi Germany was verging on total defeat with its armed forces totally spent; it would surrender unconditionally two days later, May 7.

Denmark, Germany’s neighbor to the north, was not initially considered within Adolf Hitler’s plans of conquest. However, in late 1939, with the British Navy increasing pressure along Norway’s western coastline to stop Swedish iron-ore shipments to Germany, Hitler ordered his military staff to draft plans for an invasion and occupation of Norway.  Apart from protecting the vital sea lanes for the iron-ore shipments, the Germany Navy saw the strategic importance of Norway: bases could be established there to launch air reconnaissance missions on the North Atlantic Ocean, and German warships, particularly U-boats, could attack merchant vessels headed for Britain.

Denmark was included in the Norway operation only as an afterthought: German planners recognized that the Danish north airbase at Aalborg was vital for German control of the skies over the Skagerrak Straight between Denmark and Norway. Control of Denmark would also allow Germany to extend its air and naval power to the north, as well as protect the air defenses of the German homeland.  Although some German officials preferred to use diplomatic pressure on Denmark to force it to agree to the German terms, in the end, Hitler decided on an invasion.  On March 1, 1940, Hitler approved Operation Weserubung, the invasions of Denmark and Norway.  On April 1, he set the invasion date for April 9.

Denmarkwas practically defenseless to fend off the German invasion: it had a smallpopulation and territory, its flat terrain was conducive to German mobilewarfare, and the absence of mountains precluded any attempt to carry out aprolonged guerilla struggle.  Denmark did consist of an archipelago ofhundreds of islands, which included Funen, Lolland, and notably Zealand, where Copenhagen, the nation’s capital was located, but theseislands’ geographical nearness to Germany allowed for easy access byGerman land, sea, and air forces.

The Danish military consisted only of two infantry divisions,a total of 10,000-14,000 troops many of whom were new draftees, had no tanks,and possessed only a small navy and air force that had obsolete naval vesselsand aircraft, respectively.  The Danishgovernment received intelligence information of an imminent invasion, but so asnot to provoke Germany,it rejected the recommendation of its military to mobilize the Danish Army(which was placed on high alert), and the Danish Navy was ordered not to resistGerman naval actions.

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, Denmark wasallowed to maintain much of its internal political and administrative duties,King Christian X remained as the nation’s head of state, and the legislature,police, and judiciary continued to function as before.  The Danish people generally were displeasedby the German occupation, but also accepted the reality of the situation,especially after France’sdefeat only two months later, in June 1940.

By 1943, German-Danish relations had deteriorated, and Denmark’s“politics of cooperation” ended, and the Danish people became hostile towardthe occupation forces.  Then when a spateof strikes, civil unrest, and sabotages broke out, and an armed resistancemovement began to emerge, German authorities dissolved the Danish government,declared martial law, and enforced anti-dissident measures, including presscensorship, banning strikes and mass assemblies, and imposing the death penaltyfor saboteurs, as well as ordering the round up of all Jews for deportation.

On May 4, 1970 – Vietnam War: National Guardsmen open fire on protesters at Kent State University, Ohio

Before the Cambodian Campaign (April– July 1970) began,President Richard Nixon had announced in a nationwide broadcast that he hadcommitted U.S.ground troops to the operation.  Withindays, large demonstrations of up to 100,000 to 150,000 protesters broke out inthe United States,with the unrest again centered in universities and colleges.  On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University, Ohio,National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of protesters, killing four peopleand wounding eight others.  This incidentsparked even wider, increasingly militant and violent protests across thecountry.  Anti-war sentiment already wasintense in the United Statesfollowing news reports in November 1969 of what became known as the My LaiMassacre, where U.S. troopson a search and destroy mission descended on My Laiand My Khe villages and killed between 347 and 504 civilians, including womenand children.

Vietnam War: North Vietnam and South Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

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

Toward the endgame Americanpublic outrage further was fueled when in June 1971, the New York Times beganpublishing the “Pentagon Papers” (officially titled: United States – Vietnam Relations,1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense), a highly classifiedstudy by the U.S. Department of Defense that was leaked to the press.  The Pentagon Papers showed that successivepast administrations, including those of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, andKennedy, but especially of President Johnson, had many times misled theAmerican people regarding U.S.involvement in Vietnam.  President Nixon sought legal grounds to stopthe document’s publication for national security reasons, but the U.S. SupremeCourt subsequently decided in favor of the New York Times and publicationcontinued, and which was also later taken up by the Washington Post and othernewspapers.

As in Cambodia,the U.S. high command hadlong desired to launch an offensive into Laos to cut off the logisticalportion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail system located there.  But restrained by Laos’ official neutrality,the U.S. military instead carried out secret bombing campaigns in eastern Laosand intelligence gathering operations (the latter conducted by the top-secretMilitary Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group, MACV-SOGthat involved units from Special Forces, Navy SEALS, U.S. Marines, U.S. AirForce, and CIA) there.

The success of the Cambodian Campaign encouraged PresidentNixon to authorize a similar ground operation into Laos.  But as U.S. Congress had prohibited Americanground troops from entering Laos,South Vietnamese forces would launch the offensive into Laos with the objective of destroying the Ho ChiMinh Trail, with U.S. forcesonly playing a supporting role (and remaining within the confines of South Vietnam).  The operation also would gauge the combatcapability of the South Vietnamese Army in the ongoing Vietnamization program.

In February-March 1971, about 17,000 troops of the SouthVietnamese Army, (some of whom were transported by U.S.helicopters in the largest air assault operation of the war), and supported by U.S. air and artillery firepower, launchedOperation Lam Son 719 into southeastern Laos.  At their furthest extent, the SouthVietnamese seized and briefly held Tchepone village, a strategic logistical hubof the Ho Chi Minh Trail located 25 miles west of the South Vietnameseborder.  The main South Vietnamese columnwas stopped by heavy enemy resistance and poor road conditions at A Luoi, some15 miles from the border.  NorthVietnamese forces, initially distracted by U.S. diversionary attackselsewhere, soon assembled 50,000 troops against the South Vietnamese, andcounterattacked.  North Vietnamese artilleryparticularly was devastating, knocking out several South Vietnamese firebases,while intense anti-aircraft fire disrupted U.S. air transport operations.  By early March 1971, the attack was calledoff, and with the North Vietnamese intensifying their artillery bombardment,the South Vietnamese withdrawal turned into a chaotic retreat and a desperatestruggle for survival.  The operation wasa debacle, with the South Vietnamese losing up to 8,000 soldiers killed, 60% oftheir tanks, 50% of their armored carriers, and dozens of artillery pieces;North Vietnamese casualties were 2,000 killed. American planes were sent to destroy abandoned South Vietnamese armor,transports, and equipment to prevent their capture by the enemy.  U.S. air losses were substantial:84 planes destroyed and 430 damaged and 168 helicopters destroyed and 618damaged.

Buoyed by this success, in March 1972, North Vietnam launched the Nguyen Hue Offensive(called the Easter Offensive in the West), its first full-scale offensive into South Vietnam,using 300,000 troops and 300 tanks and armored vehicles.  By this time, South Vietnamese forces carriedpractically all of the fighting, as fewer than 10,000 U.S. troops remained in South Vietnam,and who were soon scheduled to leave. North Vietnamese forces advanced along three fronts.  In the northern front, the North Vietnameseattacked through the DMZ, and captured the northern provinces, and threatened Hue and Da Nang.  In late June 1972, a South Vietnamesecounterattack, supported by U.S.air firepower, including B-52 bombers, recaptured most of the occupiedterritory, including Quang Tri, near the northern border.  In the Central Highlands front, the NorthVietnamese objective to advance right through to coastal Qui Nhon and split South Vietnamin two, failed to break through to Kontum and was pushed back.  In the southern front, North Vietnameseforces that advanced from the Cambodian border took Tay Ninh and Loc Ninh, butwere repulsed at An Loc because of strong South Vietnamese resistance andmassive U.S.air firepower.

To further break up the North Vietnamese offensive, in April1972, U.S. planes including B-52 bombers under Operation Freedom Train,launched bombing attacks mostly between the 17th and 19th parallels in NorthVietnam, targeting military installations, air defense systems, power plantsand industrial sites, supply depots, fuel storage facilities, and roads,bridges, and railroad tracks.  In May1972, the bombing attack was stepped up with Operation Linebacker, where Americanplanes now attacked targets across North Vietnam.  A few days earlier, U.S. planes air-dropped thousands of naval minesoff the North Vietnamese coast, sealing off North Vietnam from sea traffic.

At the end of the Easter Offensive in October 1972, NorthVietnamese losses included up to 130,000 soldiers killed, missing, or woundedand 700 tanks destroyed.  However, NorthVietnamese forces succeeded in capturing and holding about 50% of theterritories of South Vietnam’snorthern provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien,Quang Nam,and Quang Tin, as well as the western edges of II Corps and III Corps.  But the immense destruction caused by U.S. bombing in North Vietnam forced the latter to agree to make concessions atthe Paris peacetalks.

At the height of North Vietnam’sEaster Offensive, the Cold War took a dramatic turn when in February 1972,President Nixon visited Chinaand met with Chairman Mao Zedong.  Thenin May 1972, President Nixon also visited the Soviet Unionand met with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet leaders.  A period of superpower détente followed.  Chinaand the Soviet Union, desiring to maintain their newly established friendlyrelations with the United States,aside from issuing diplomatic protests, were not overly provoked by the massiveU.S. bombing of North Vietnam.  Even then, the two communist powers stood bytheir North Vietnamese ally and continued to send large amounts of militarysupport.

Since it began in May 1968, the peace talks in Paris had made littleprogress.  Negotiations were held at themain conference hall.  However, sinceFebruary 1970, U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and NorthVietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho had been holding secret talks separate fromthe main negotiations.  These secrettalks achieved a breakthrough on October 17, 1972 (ten days after the U.S.bombings had forced North Vietnam to return to negotiations), when Kissingerannounced that “peace is at hand” and that a mutually agreed draft of a peaceagreement was to be signed on October 31, 1972.

However, South Vietnamese President Thieu, when presentedwith the peace proposal, refused to agree to it, and instead demanded 129changes to the draft agreement, including that the DMZ be recognized as theinternational border of a fully sovereign, independent South Vietnam, and that North Vietnam withdraw its forces from occupiedterritories in South Vietnam.  On November 1972, Kissinger presented Thowith a revised draft incorporating South Vietnam’s demands as well aschanges proposed by President Nixon. This time, the North Vietnamese government was infuriated and believedit had been deceived by Kissinger.  OnOctober 26, 1972, North Vietnam broadcast details of thedocument.  In December 1972, talksresumed which went nowhere, and soon broke down on December 14, 1972.

Also on December 14, 1972, the U.S.government issued a 72-hour ultimatum to North Vietnam to return tonegotiations.  On the same day, U.S. planesair-dropped naval mines off the North Vietnamese waters, again sealing off thecoast to sea traffic.  Then on PresidentNixon’s orders to use “maximum effort…maximum destruction”, on December 18-29,1972, U.S. B-52 bombers and other aircraft under Operation Linebacker II,launched massive bombing attacks on targets in North Vietnam, including Hanoiand Haiphong, hitting airfields, air defense systems, naval bases, and othermilitary facilities, industrial complexes and supply depots, and transportfacilities.  As many of the restrictionsfrom previous air campaigns were lifted, the round-the-clock bombing attacksdestroyed North Vietnam’swar-related logistical and support capabilities.  Several B-52s were shot down in the firstdays of the operation, but changes to attack methods and the use of electronicand mechanical countermeasures greatly reduced air losses.  By the end of the bombing campaign, fewtargets of military value remained in North Vietnam, enemy anti-aircraft guns had been silenced, and North Vietnamwas forced to return to negotiations.  OnJanuary 15, 1973, President Nixon ended the bombing operations.

One week later, on January 23, negotiations resumed, leadingfour days later, on January 27, 1973, to the signing by representatives fromNorth Vietnam, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong/NLF through its ProvisionalRevolutionary Government (PRG), and the United States of the Paris PeaceAccords (officially titled: “Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace inVietnam”), which (ostensibly) marked the end of the war.  The Accords stipulated a ceasefire; the releaseand exchange of prisoners of war; the withdrawal of all American and othernon-Vietnamese troops from Vietnam within 60 days; for South Vietnam: apolitical settlement between the government and the PRG to determine thecountry’s political future; and for Vietnam: a gradual, peaceful reunificationof North Vietnam and South Vietnam.  Asin the 1954 Geneva Accords (which ended the First Indochina War), the DMZ didnot constitute a political/territorial border. Furthermore, the 200,000 North Vietnamese troops occupying territoriesin South Vietnamwere allowed to remain in place.

To assuage South Vietnam’sconcerns regarding the last two points, on March 15, 1973, President Nixonassured President Thieu of direct U.S.military air intervention in case North Vietnam violated theAccords.  Furthermore, just before theAccords came into effect, the United Statesdelivered a large amount of military hardware and financial assistance to South Vietnam.

By March 29, 1973, nearly all American and other allied troopshad departed, and only a small contingent of U.S. Marines and advisorsremained.  A peacekeeping force, calledthe International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS), arrived in South Vietnamto monitor and enforce the Accords’ provisions. But as large-scale fighting restarted soon thereafter, the ICCS becamepowerless and failed to achieve its objectives.

For the United States, the Paris Peace Accords meant theend of the war, a view that was not shared by the other belligerents, asfighting resumed, with the ICCS recording 18,000 ceasefire violations betweenJanuary-July 1973.  President Nixon hadalso compelled President Thieu to agree to the Paris Peace Accords under threatthat the United States wouldend all military and financial aid to South Vietnam, and that the U.S.government would sign the Accords even without South Vietnam’s concurrence.  Ostensibly, President Nixon could fulfill hispromise of continuing to provide military support to South Vietnam, as he had beenre-elected in a landslide victory in the recently concluded November 1972presidential election. However, U.S. Congress, which was now dominated byanti-war legislators, did not bode well for South Vietnam.  In June 1973, U.S. Congress passedlegislation that prohibited U.S.combat activities in Vietnam,Laos, and Cambodia,without prior legislative approval.  Alsothat year, U.S. Congress cut military assistance to South Vietnam by 50%.  Despite the clear shift in U.S. policy, South Vietnam continued to believe the U.S. governmentwould keep its commitment to provide military assistance.

May 3, 1919 – The start of the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919

Upon his ascent to the throne on February 28, 1919, Emir AmanullahI declared Afghanistan’sindependence, doing away with his father’s policy of trying to gain thecountry’s sovereignty through diplomatic means. The declaration of independence was immensely popular among Afghans, asnationalist sentiments ran high.  Emir Amanullahtherefore was able to consolidate his hold on power, even as some sectorsopposed his leadership.  Emir Amanullahprovoked the British by inciting an uprising of the tribal people in Peshawar, British India.  Using the uprising as a diversion, he senthis forces across the Afghan-British Indian border to capture the town of Bagh.

Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. The British Empire’s prized possession during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the Indian subcontinent. Afghanistan served as a neutral zone between the region’s two major powers, the Russian Empire and the British Empire.

(Taken from Anglo-Afghan War of 1919 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

During the early years of the twentieth century, TsaristRussia and the British Empire in Indiawere the regional powers in Central Asia.  The devastating effects of World War I onthese two regional powers had a profound effect on the Anglo-Afghan War of1919.  In Russia, the Tsarist government hadcollapsed and a bitter civil war was raging. Consequently, Russia’scontrol of its Central Asian domains was weakened.  The British Empire,which included the Indian subcontinent (Map 7), was drained financially andmilitarily, despite emerging victorious in World War I.

With the two regional powers weakened by war, thesemi-independent Emirate of Afghanistan moved to assert its right ofsovereignty.  More important, Emir Habibullah,the Afghan ruler, wanted to annul the Treaty of Gandamak, where Afghanistan had ceded its foreign policydecisions to the British Empire.  Adding strength to Emir Habibullah’sdiplomatic position was that he had allowed Afghanistan to stay neutral duringWorld War I, despite the strong anti-British sentiments among his people.  Emir Habibullah had also spurned Germany and the Ottoman Empire, enemies of theBritish, who had encouraged him to defy British domination in the region andeven launch an attack on British India, at a time when Britain wasmost vulnerable.

For these reasons, Emir Habibullah asked the British toallow him to present his case for Afghanistan’s independence at theParis Peace Conference, where the victorious Allied countries had gathered todiscuss the end of World War I. Habibullah was assassinated, however, before his case was decided.  His son, Amanullah, succeeded to the Afghanthrone, despite a rival claim by a family relative.

Upon his ascent to the throne on February 28, 1919, Emir AmanullahI declared Afghanistan’sindependence, doing away with his father’s policy of trying to gain thecountry’s sovereignty through diplomatic means. The declaration of independence was immensely popular among Afghans, asnationalist sentiments ran high.  Emir Amanullahtherefore was able to consolidate his hold on power, even as some sectorsopposed his leadership.  Emir Amanullahprovoked the British by inciting an uprising of the tribal people in Peshawar, British India.  Using the uprising as a diversion, he senthis forces across the Afghan-British Indian border to capture the town of Bagh.

The British Army quickly quelled the Peshawar uprising and threw back the Afghanforces across the border.  The Afghansclearly were unprepared for war – although having sufficient numbers ofsoldiers as well as being assisted by tribal militias, they possessed obsoleteweapons, which even then were in short supply.

By contrast, the British were a modern fighting machinebecause of the technological advances they had made in World War I.  The British suffered from a shortage ofsoldiers, since much of their forces had yet to return to India fromtheir deployment to other British territories during World War I.  The British air attacks on Kabul devastated Afghan morale, forcing Emir Amanullahto sue for peace.

Afghanistanand the British Empire entered into peacenegotiations to end the war.  In thepeace treaty that emerged from these negotiations, the British grantedconciliatory terms to the Afghans, including returning Afghanistan’sright of foreign policy.  The British,therefore, essentially recognized Afghanistan as a sovereignstate.  By this time, Afghanistan already had been nominallyindependent, as it had established diplomatic relations with the newly formed Soviet Union and its independence was gaining recognitionby the international community.

Afghanistanand the British Empire retained the DurandLine as their common border.  After thewar, Afghanistan continuedto serve as a buffer zone between the Russians and the British, because of theend of the previous non-aggression treaties between Tsarist Russia and theBritish Empire following the emergence of the Soviet Unionafter the Russian Civil War.

May 2, 1982 – Falklands War: The Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano is sunk by a British submarine torpedo

The British Navy declared a 200-mile exclusion zone aroundthe waters of the Falkland Islands, warningthat all non-British ships that entered the zone would be attacked.  The Argentine Navy decided to challenge theblockade, sending two flotillas of ships, one led by the aircraft carrier, the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo from the northof the Falklands, and the other led by thelight cruiser, ARA General Belgranofrom the south.  The Argentine plan wasfor these two fleets to use a pincers movement to trap and destroy the Britishfleet.

A British submarine spotted the southern arm of the pincersand on May 2, fired three torpedoes at the ARAGeneral Belgrano.  The Argentineanship was hit and sunk, killing over 300 sailors.  Fearing more submarine attacks, the ArgentineNavy cancelled the operation and ordered its ships to return to port.  Thereafter, Argentine ships did not ventureout to sea.

In 1982, Argentina and Britain went to war for possession of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

(Taken from Falklands War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Background Inearly 1982, Argentina’sruling military junta, led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, was facing a crisis ofconfidence.  Government corruption, humanrights violations, and an economic recession had turned initial public supportfor the country’s military regime into widespread opposition.  The pro-U.S. junta had come to power througha coup in 1976, and had crushed a leftist insurgency in the “Dirty War” byusing conventional warfare, as well as “dirty” methods, including summaryexecutions and forced disappearances.  Asreports of military atrocities became known, the international communityexerted pressure on General Galtieri to implement reforms.

In its desire to regain the Argentinean people’s moralsupport and to continue in power, the military government conceived of a planto invade the Falkland Islands, a Britishterritory located about 700 kilometers east of the Argentine mainland.  Argentinahad a long-standing historical claim to the Falklands,which generated nationalistic sentiment among Argentineans.  The Argentine government was determined toexploit that sentiment.  Furthermore,after weighing its chances for success, the junta concluded that the Britishgovernment would not likely take action to protect the Falklands, as theislands were small, barren, and too distant, being located three-quarters downthe globe from Britain.

The Argentineans’ reasoning was not without merit.  Britainunder current Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was experiencing an economicrecession, and in 1981, had made military cutbacks that would have seen thewithdrawal from the Falklands of the HMS Endurance, an ice patrol vessel andthe British Navy’s only permanent ship in the southern Atlantic Ocean.  Furthermore, Britain had not resisted when in 1976,Argentinean forces occupied the uninhabited Southern Thule, a group of smallislands that forms a part of the British-owned South Sandwich Archipelago,located 1,500 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands.

In the sixteenth century, the Falkland Islands first came to European attention when they were signed byPortuguese ships.  For three and a halfcenturies thereafter, the islands became settled and controlled at varioustimes by France, Spain, Britain,the United States, and Argentina.  In 1833, Britaingained uninterrupted control of the islands, establishing a permanent presencethere with settlers coming mainly from Walesand Scotland.

In 1816, Argentinagained its independence and, advancing its claim to being the successor stateof the former Spanish Argentinean colony that had included “Islas Malvinas” (Argentina’s name for the Falkland Islands), theArgentinean government declared that the islands were part of Argentina’s territory.  Argentinaalso challenged Britain’saccount of the events of 1833, stating that the British Navy gained control ofthe islands by expelling the Argentinean civilian authority and residentsalready present in the Falklands.  Over time, Argentineans perceived the Britishcontrol of the Falklands as a misplacedvestige of the colonial past, producing successive generations of Argentineansinstilled with anti-imperialist sentiments.  For much of the twentieth century, however, Britain and Argentinamaintained a normal, even a healthy, relationship, although the Falklands issue remained a thorn on both sides.

After World War II, Britain pursued a policy of decolonization thatsaw it end colonial rule in its vast territories in Asia and Africa,and the emergence of many new countries in their places.  With regards to the Falklands, under UnitedNations (UN) encouragement, Britainand Argentinamet a number of times to decide the future of the islands.  Nothing substantial emerged on the issue ofsovereignty, but the two sides agreed on a number of commercial ventures,including establishing air and sea links between the islands and theArgentinean mainland, and for Argentinean power firms to supply energy to theislands.  Subsequently, Falklanders(Falkland residents) made it known to Britain that they wished to remainunder British rule.  As a result, Britain reversed its policy of decolonization inthe Falklands and promised to respect thewishes of the Falklanders.

May 1, 1995 – Croatian War of Independence: Croatian forces launch a lightning attack on Serb-held Western Slavonia

On May 1, 1995, the Croatian Army launched a lightning attack on Serb-held Western Slavonia.  By the next day, the whole region had fallen to the Croatians, forcing the Serb forces and nearly all the civilian population there to flee to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Then on August 4, the Croatians, supported by Bosnian Army units, attacked northern Dalmatia and Lika.  By the fourth day of the attack, Serbian forces had been routed and the Croatian Serb government of Krajina was in total collapse.  Some 200,000 ethnic Serb civilians fled the fighting and ended up as refugees.

Yugoslavia comprised six republics, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, and Macedonia, and two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina.

(Taken from Croatian War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background By thelate 1980s, Yugoslavia wasfaced with a major political crisis, as separatist aspirations among its ethnicpopulations threatened to undermine the country’s integrity (see “Yugoslavia”,separate article).  Nationalismparticularly was strong in Croatiaand Slovenia,the two westernmost and wealthiest Yugoslav republics.  In January 1990, delegates from Slovenia and Croatia walked out from an assemblyof the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the country’s communist party, overdisagreements with their Serbian counterparts regarding proposed reforms to theparty and the central government.  Thenin the first multi-party elections in Croatiaheld in April and May 1990, Franjo Tudjman became president after running acampaign that promised greater autonomy for Croatiaand a reduced political union with Yugoslavia.

Ethnic Croatians, who comprised 78% of Croatia’s population, overwhelmingly supportedTudjman, because they were concerned that Yugoslavia’snational government gradually had fallen under the control of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s largest and mostpowerful republic, and led by hard-line President Slobodan Milosevic.  In May 1990, a new Croatian Parliament wasformed and subsequently prepared a new constitution.  The constitution was subsequently passed inDecember 1990.  Then in a referendum heldin May 1991 with Croatian Serbs refusing to participate, Croatians votedoverwhelmingly in support of independence. On June 25, 1991, Croatia,together with Slovenia,declared independence.

Croatian Serbs (ethnic Serbs who are native to Croatia) numbered nearly 600,000, or 12% of Croatia’stotal population, and formed the second largest ethnic group in therepublic.  As Croatiaincreasingly drifted toward political separation from Yugoslavia, the Croatian Serbsbecame alarmed at the thought that the new Croatian government would carry outpersecutions, even a genocidal pogrom against Serbs, just as the pro-Naziultra-nationalist Croatian Ustashe government had done to the Serbs, Jews, andGypsies during World War II.  As aresult, Croatian Serbs began to militarize, with the formation of militias aswell as the arrival of armed groups from Serbia.

Croatian Serbs formed a population majority in south-west Croatia(northern Dalmatian and Lika).  There, inFebruary 1990, they formed the Serb Democratic Party, which aimed for thepolitical and territorial integration of Serb-dominated lands in Croatia with Serbiaand Yugoslavia.  They declared that if Croatia wanted to secede from Yugoslavia, they, in turn, should be allowed toseparate from Croatia.  Serbs also interpreted the change in theirstatus in the new Croatian constitution as diminishing their civil rights.  In turn, the Croatian government opposed theCroatian Serb secession and was determined to keep the republic’s territorialintegrity.

In July 1990, a Croatian Serb Assembly was formed thatcalled for Serbian sovereignty and autonomy. In December, Croatian Serbs established the SAO Krajina (SAO is theacronym for Serbian Autonomous Oblast) as a separate government from Croatia in the regions of northern Dalmatia and Lika. Croatian Serbs formed a majority population in two other regions in Croatia, which they also transformed intoseparate political administrations called SAO Western Slavonia, and SAO EasternSlavonia (officially SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Syrmia).  (Map 17 showslocations in Croatiawhere ethnic Serbs formed a majority population.) In a referendum held inAugust 1990 in SAO Krajina, Croatian Serbs voted overwhelmingly (99.7%) forSerbian “sovereignty and autonomy”.  Thenafter a second referendum held in March 1991 where Croatian Serbs votedunanimously (99.8%) to merge SAO Krajina with Serbia, the Krajina governmentdeclared that “… SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified stateterritory of the Republic of Serbia”.

April 28, 1965 – Dominican Republic Civil War and U.S. / OAS Intervention: American troops land in the Dominican Republic

On April 27, 1965, whenthe war threatened to engulf the city’s western sector where most of theforeign diplomatic offices were located, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (whohad succeeded President Kennedy after the latter’s assassination), ordered U.S.naval forces in the Caribbean to evacuate U.S. citizens and other willingforeign nationals from Santo Domingo. Hundreds of foreign civilians and diplomatic personnel gathered at HotelEmbajador in the city’s western sector were transported by helicopter to U.S.Navy ships at Haina Port, and then evacuatedout of the country.  During the war, some6,500 foreign nationals from 46 countries were evacuated.

(Taken from Dominican Republic Civil War – Wars of the 20th Century – The Western Hemisphere – Volume 7)

William TapleyBennett, theU.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, believed that a Constitutionalistvictory in the war would lead to Castroists turning the country into acommunist state.  In an urgent cable to Washington, D.C.,he asked President Johnson to intervene so as “to restore order beyond a mereprotection of lives.  If the presentLoyalist efforts fail, the power will go to groups whose aims are identifiedwith those of the Communist Party.  Wemight have to intervene to prevent another Cuba.”

On April 29, 1965, some400 U.S. Marines were landed to proceed to and protect the U.S. Embassy.  President Johnson also purposed the operationto initiate U.S. Army presence and buoy up support for the flagging Loyalistforces.  The U.S. Armed Forces then madepreparations to land more troops through San Isidro Airfield, located east of Santo Domingo.

First, however, the United States needed to gain permission from theOAS, whose member-countries were already condemning the U.S. operations.  Then in a session held on April 30, 1965, theOAS lambasted the U.S.government, declaring that American operations in the Dominican Republic were a flagrantviolation of OAS regulations that forbid any OAS member-country frominterfering in the internal affairs of another OAS member-country.  At the same time, however, the OAS wasconcerned about the Dominican Republic falling to communism.  Ultimately, a compromise agreement wasreached: the U.S. Army could proceed with its operations until such time thatan OAS force arrived to take over and carry out peacekeeping duties.  The United States then would scale backmilitary operations.

In early May 1965, largenumbers of U.S. soldierswere landed at San Isidro Airfield; the U.S. presence eventually would peakat 22,000 troops on May 17.  Assisted bytheir Dominican Loyalist allies, the Americans secured San Isidro town located east of DuarteBridge, at the eastern entrance to Santo Domingo.  Then in a lightning operation that lastedjust over one hour, in the early morning of May 3, U.S. forces seized controlof a 25-kimeter strip extending from San Isidro to the U.S. Embassy in SantoDomingo, which they declared a neutral zone called the “Line of Control”(LOC).  Subsequently, the LOC wasextended further west to the city’s diplomatic section and Hotel Embajador.

The LOC allowed U.S.forces east and west of the city to link up; more important, it physicallyseparated Constitutionalist and Loyalist forces.  The U.S. Army quickly consolidated its holdon the LOC, preventing either armed side from crossing and thus effectivelyputting an end to the fighting.

President Johnson hadconceived the U.S.intervention as a means to force the two sides to the negotiation table.  He therefore stopped active support for theLoyalists and ordered the U.S. Army to carry out a “hearts and minds” campaignto the general population, i.e. distributing food and clothing and providingmedical services to win over public support to the foreign presence.  Began in Santo Domingo, by May 1966, these civicaction programs were being expanded to rural areas.

The LOC also sealed inthe Constitutionalists within the confines of Ciudad Nueva.  There, on May 3, 1965, former legislatorsfrom President Bosch’s 1963 Congress proclaimed Colonel Caamañoas President of the Dominican Republic.  Not to be outdone, four days later on May 7,the Loyalists, with U.S.tacit approval, declared General Antonio Imbert as the country’s President under the“Government of National Reconciliation”. (General Imbert previously had takenpart in the assassination of the dictator Trujillo).  The LOC also allowed Loyalist forces toeliminate Constitutionalist pockets of resistance outside Ciudad Nueva; theLoyalist capture of Radio Santo Domingo dealt a major blow to theConstitutionalists, as broadcasts from the radio station had generated massivepublic support for the rebellion early in the war, bringing about combatsuccess, and were keeping the flagging hope of a Constitutionalist politicalvictory alive even after the U.S. intervention.

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Map 36: Dominican Republic Civil War.

On May 5, 1965, the twosides agreed to a ceasefire, which was mediated by the United States and OAS.  The next day, the OAS established apeacekeeping force, the Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF), which was organizedfrom military and police units from Brazil,Honduras, Paraguay, Nicaragua,Costa Rica, and El Salvador, and arrived in the Dominican Republicon May 23.  Security functions wereturned over to the IAPF, allowing the United States to withdraw most ofits troops.

By early May 1965,large-scale fighting had ended, although small bands of Constitutionalistssometimes skirmished with IAPF peacekeepers. On June 14, 1965, Constitutionalists launched a major attack on the LOC,but were thrown back.  The IAPF thencounter-attacked and seized control of a section of Ciudad Nueva, which iteventually returned to the Constitutionalists.

Peace negotiationsbetween Constitutionalists and Loyalists took place, which led to an agreementcalled the “Act of Dominican Reconciliation and the Institutional Act”, signedon August 31, 1965.  In the agreement,the two sides agreed to stop their claim to exclusive political authority(causing them to dissolve their respective “governments”), respect the truce,and work together to organize a provisional government that would lead thecountry until free elections were held. On September 3, 1965, a provisional government was formed and headed by Héctor García-Godoy, a former Foreign Ministerin the Bosch regime, to serve as interim President.

April 22, 1930 – Interwar Period: The London Naval Treaty is signed, which regulates submarine warfare and shipbuilding capacities

In February 1922, the five navalpowers: United States, Britain, France,Italy, and Japan signed the Washington NavalTreaty, which restricted construction of the larger classes of warships.  In April 1930, these countries signed theLondon Naval Treaty, whichmodified a number of clauses 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 andnon-League member United Statesto achieve general disarmament in the international community led to the WorldDisarmament Conference in Genevain 1932-1934, attended by sixty countries. The talks bogged down from a number of issues, the most dominantrelating to the disagreement between Germany and France, with the Germansinsisting on being allowed weapons equality with the great powers (or that theydisarm to the level of the Treaty of Versailles, i.e. to Germany’s currentmilitary strength), and the French resisting increased German power for fear ofa resurgent 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 theWorld Disarmament Conference, and in October 1933, withdrew from the League of Nations. The Genevadisarmament conference thus ended in failure.

(Taken from Events leading up to World War II in Europe – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 6)

Riseof Military States: ItalyIn World War I, Italyhad joined the Allies under a secret agreement (the 1915 Treaty of London) inthat it would be rewarded with the coastal regions of Austria-Hungary after victory wasachieved.  But after the war, in thepeace treaties with Austria-Hungaryand Germany, the victoriousAllies reneged on this treaty, and Italy was awarded much lessterritory than promised. Indignation swept across Italy,and the feeling of the so-called “mutilated victory” relating to Italy’sheavy losses in the war (1.2 million casualties and steep financial cost) ledto the rise in popularity of ultra-nationalist, right-wing, and irredentistideas.  Italian anger over the war pavedthe way for the coming to power of the Fascist Party, whose leader BenitoMussolini became Prime Minister in October 1922.  The Fascist government implemented majorinfrastructure and social programs that made Mussolini extremely popular.  In a few years, Mussolini ruled with nearabsolute powers in a virtual dictatorship, with the legislature abolished,political dissent suppressed, and his party the sole legal politicalparty.  Mussolini also made gains inforeign affairs: in the Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923) that ended World War IIbetween the Allies and Ottoman Empire, Italy gained Libya and the DodecaneseIslands.  In August 1923, Italian forcesoccupied Greece’s Corfu Island,but later withdrew after League of Nationsmediation and the Greek government’s promise to pay reparations.

In the late 1920s onward, Mussoliniadvocated grandiose expansionism to establish a modern-day Italian Empire,which would include plans to annex Balkan territories that had formed part ofthe ancient Roman Empire, gaining a sphere of influence in parts of Central andEastern Europe, achieving mastery over the Mediterranean Sea, and gainingcontrol of North Africa and the Middle East which would include territoriesstretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east.

With the Nazis coming to power in Germany in 1933, Hitler and Mussolini, withsimilar political ideologies, initially did not get along well, and in July1934, they came into conflict over Austria.  There, Austrian Nazis attempted a coupd’état, assassinating Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss and demanding unificationwith Germany.  Mussolini, who saw Austriaas falling inside his sphere of influence, sent troops, tanks, and planes tothe Austrian-Italian border, poised to enter Austriaif Germanyinvaded.  Hitler, at this time stillunprepared for war, backed down from his plan to annex Austria.  Then in April 1935, Italy banded togetherwith Britain and France to form the Stresa Front (signed in Stresa, Italy), aimed as a unitedstand against Germany’s violations of the Versailles and Locarno treaties; onemonth earlier (March 1935), Hitler had announced his plan to build an airforce, raise German infantry strength to 550,000 troops, and introduce militaryconscription, all violations of the Versailles treaty.

However, the Stresa Front quickly endedin fiasco, as the three parties were far apart in their plans to deal withHitler.  Mussolini pressed for aggressiveaction; the British, swayed by anti-war public sentiments at home, preferred tonegotiate with Hitler; and France,fearful of a resurgent Germany,simply wanted an alliance with the others. Then in June 1935, just two months after the Stresa Front was formed,Britain and Germany signed a naval treaty (the Anglo-German Naval Agreement), whichallowed Germany to build a navy 35% (by tonnage) the size of the Britishnavy.  Italy(as well as France) wasoutraged, as Britain wasopenly allowing Hitler to ignore the Versaillesprovision that restricted German naval size. Mussolini, whose quest for colonial expansion was only restrained by thereactions from both the British and French, saw the naval agreement as Britishbetrayal to the Stresa Front.  ToMussolini, it was a green light for him to launch his long desired conquest of Ethiopia[1](then also known as Abyssinia).  In October 1935, Italyinvaded Ethiopia, overrunningthe country by May 1936 and incorporating it into newly formed Italian East Africa.  In November 1935, the League of Nations,acting on a motion by Britainthat was reluctantly supported by France,imposed economic sanctions on Italy,which angered Mussolini, worsening Italy’srelations with its Stresa Front partners, especially Britain.  At the same time, since Hitler gave hissupport to Italy’s invasionof Ethiopia, Mussolini wasdrawn to the side of Germany.  In December 1937, Mussolini ended Italy’s membership in the League of Nations, citing the sanctions, despite the League’s alreadylifting the sanctions in July 1936.

[1] Also encouraging Mussolini to invade was the recently signedItalian-French agreement (January 1935), where France,hoping to keep Italy fromsiding with Germany, cededto Italy some colonial areasin Africa, and promised not to interfere if Italyinvaded Ethiopia.

April 5, 1982 – A fleet of 93 ships sets out from Britain to recapture the Falklands Islands from Argentina

On April 5, 1982, a fleet of 93 ships, led by two aircraftcarriers, set out from Britainfor the South Atlantic Ocean.  On April 9 and May 12, two requisitionedcommercial vessels also set sail, carrying the 15,000 British troops that wouldcomprise the ground forces for the land invasion.  The British plan was to gain air and navalsuperiority before carrying out a land attack on the islands.

(Taken from Falklands War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Background Inearly 1982, Argentina’sruling military junta, led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, was facing a crisis ofconfidence.  Government corruption, humanrights violations, and an economic recession had turned initial public supportfor the country’s military regime into widespread opposition.  The pro-U.S. junta had come to power througha coup in 1976, and had crushed a leftist insurgency in the “Dirty War” byusing conventional warfare, as well as “dirty” methods, including summaryexecutions and forced disappearances.  Asreports of military atrocities became known, the international communityexerted pressure on General Galtieri to implement reforms.

In its desire to regain the Argentinean people’s moralsupport and to continue in power, the military government conceived of a planto invade the Falkland Islands, a Britishterritory located about 700 kilometers east of the Argentine mainland.  Argentinahad a long-standing historical claim to the Falklands,which generated nationalistic sentiment among Argentineans.  The Argentine government was determined toexploit that sentiment.  Furthermore,after weighing its chances for success, the junta concluded that the Britishgovernment would not likely take action to protect the Falklands, as theislands were small, barren, and too distant, being located three-quarters downthe globe from Britain.

The Argentineans’ reasoning was not without merit.  Britainunder current Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was experiencing an economicrecession, and in 1981, had made military cutbacks that would have seen thewithdrawal from the Falklands of the HMS Endurance, an ice patrol vessel andthe British Navy’s only permanent ship in the southern Atlantic Ocean.  Furthermore, Britain had not resisted when in 1976,Argentinean forces occupied the uninhabited Southern Thule, a group of smallislands that forms a part of the British-owned South Sandwich Archipelago,located 1,500 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands.

In the sixteenth century, the Falkland Islands first came to European attention when they were signed byPortuguese ships.  For three and a halfcenturies thereafter, the islands became settled and controlled at varioustimes by France, Spain, Britain,the United States, and Argentina.  In 1833, Britaingained uninterrupted control of the islands, establishing a permanent presencethere with settlers coming mainly from Walesand Scotland.

In 1816, Argentinagained its independence and, advancing its claim to being the successor stateof the former Spanish Argentinean colony that had included “Islas Malvinas” (Argentina’s name for the Falkland Islands), theArgentinean government declared that the islands were part of Argentina’s territory.  Argentinaalso challenged Britain’saccount of the events of 1833, stating that the British Navy gained control ofthe islands by expelling the Argentinean civilian authority and residentsalready present in the Falklands.  Over time, Argentineans perceived the Britishcontrol of the Falklands as a misplacedvestige of the colonial past, producing successive generations of Argentineansinstilled with anti-imperialist sentiments. For much of the twentieth century, however, Britainand Argentina maintained anormal, even a healthy, relationship, although the Falklandsissue remained a thorn on both sides.

After World War II, Britain pursued a policy of decolonization thatsaw it end colonial rule in its vast territories in Asia and Africa,and the emergence of many new countries in their places.  With regards to the Falklands, under UnitedNations (UN) encouragement, Britainand Argentinamet a number of times to decide the future of the islands.  Nothing substantial emerged on the issue ofsovereignty, but the two sides agreed on a number of commercial ventures,including establishing air and sea links between the islands and theArgentinean mainland, and for Argentinean power firms to supply energy to theislands.  Subsequently, Falklanders(Falkland residents) made it known to Britain that they wished to remainunder British rule.  As a result, Britain reversed its policy of decolonization inthe Falklands and promised to respect thewishes of the Falklanders.