Dimitri > Recent Status Updates

Asad Sr. was already facing islamic rebellion in the '70s. Feels proto-ISIS to me !

Armstrong walks on the moon but Arabs are in a state of gloom: joint defeat in the Six Days war against Israel, the bipolar seductions of the Cold War and the death of Nasser damage the credibility of pan-Arabism and the post-colonial states whose artificial nature belies nationalism.

One key difference between the developping nation-states of the Middle East after WWI was whether the rulers incorporated Islamic values into their socio-economic programmes (Saudi Arabia, Egypt), or tried to build a new nationalism on secular grounds (Turkey, Iran). However, neither course was a guarantee for popular support.

When I read bits like the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt having moderately progressive origins in the '30s, I miss the days where Kennedy would hand his advisors copies of "The Guns of August" and make them think twice about going to global war over the Cuban missile crisis . Politicians don't read enough history. Especially about what lies outside "the Western World" in any definition.

entering a century of Western screwups...

part II p. 553: neither Hess' flight, the British reoccupation of Iraq or the sinking of the Bismarck affect more than Hitler's mood. Between march & june '41, the planning for Barbarossa reaches a smooth end in the hands of the OKW.

Even on the verge of the great purge of '38, the original Bolsjeviks still hadn't grasped Stalin's uncanny grasp of the principle "the revolution devours its children", just as prior to Lenin's death Trotski failed to identify the power lurking behind the throne.

Vronski eats a steak in the casino. A fat, old officer and a young, pale officer with a hint of moustache are referred to as "the inseparables". Gay reference ?

She's pregnant. This won't end well. That's as far as the popular synopsis of Anna Karenina goes. Which means I'm in uncharted territory for the full 75% to go.

I'm feeling rather upset over our West-Eurocentrist school history now. Eastern Europe is just as rich games for thrones and cavalry charges.

the Phoney War = Hitler making up his mind about whether to focus on England (maybe via a Mediterranean approach & a Soviet drive towards the Persian Gulf) , or on the Soviet Union. He was unusually concerned about strategic circumstances rather than ideological motive during this period.

with the 4th installment, the Harry Potter books have evolved from simple black-and-white fantasy stories into a morally ambiguous world, albeit with a heavy those of Chosen one

the Partitions of the 19th century gave a nationalist resilience to the preservation of Polish culture and identity which would serve it well during the Nazi occupation

The forbidden relationship is established. How will all the other characters (Stephan A. O & Vlenin...) fit into this story ?

the illusion of Panslavism shows when the Balkan states don't give a toss about Russian mediation when there's Ottoman land to be grapped. First come, first eat.

"as much as anything, the First World War turned on the fate of Ukraine". A surprising, innovative read from the very first sentence. Russia appears as a damaged, insecure Great Power. Torn between upholding Romanov power or liberalisation. Torn between the popular call for Pan-Slavism towards the Balkans, an imperial alliance with Germany & Austria or the French alliance. Torn between Europea and its Asian empire.

the correspondence between Grant & Lee prior to the surrenders is framed by an analysis of both general's political views within Northern & Southern political streams of tought, each hoping to gain the moral high ground.

1942, the formative year, saw the switch from medium to heavy bombers (same crew, 3x the load) the introduction of radar guidance for guiding squadrons, enabling efficiently concentrated bomber waves capable of disrupting hard targets such as the smoky Ruhr area in the face of radar-guided AA guns & increasing numbers of nightfighters and worse weather conditions

Rare for a memoir, it can stand alone as a history of Bomber Command...

1937; the last year the German people could close their eyes, bask in its newfound porosperity and pride, and blame the dark side of the regime on the Führers underlings. Interesting how Kershaw links Hitler's machochism to the "working towards the Führer" dynamic of the Party.

Bomber Command had too much on its plate in '40-'41: Luftwaffe infrastructure and invasion barges during the Battle of Britain, scoring enemy vessels, U-boat pens, the capital ships of the Kriegsmarine and extensive mining. Popular history overlooks the primary role of BC as a direct weapon for or against military operations, devoting a 5th or less of its assets to more indiscriminate bombing of industrial cities.

There's a clear correlation between the 1935 reveal of the Luftwaffe to the world & the 1936 changes within RAF: in this single year, Harris wins the argument for development of a heavy rather than a cheaper medium bomber, Bomber Command is established and writes the first doctrine manual, RAF training expands and the growing aircraft industry puts out a new generation of bombers. the WWI legacy ends.

the stride of history slows down as it nears the present but its shuffle is complex. At best, I have a framework for the 1947 partitions, but no complete understanding of Pakistani independence or the Kashmir conflict.