European History
Responding to Trump: What about the State AGs? What about the Democrats? And the Germans?
In response to three recent pieces—one discussing the public and private parts of the U.S. system of self-governance that are still working, another arguing that Donald Trump’s monologue to the <i>New York Times</i> represented a new frontier in self-revelation, a third saying that a handful of Republican …
Napoleon BonaparteGermany sends Turkey carefully calibrated warning signal
BERLIN – Germany's government is signaling to Turkey that its patience is running out and it can hit back against escalating provocations, but has sought to stop well short of burning its bridges with its NATO ally.<p>More than a year of strains in the countries' relationship came to a head this week …
TurkeyWhat actually happened at Dunkirk?
<b>Many historians say it was the battle that cost Germany the Second World War.</b><p>Dunkirk, directed by the acclaimed Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar), tells the epic tale of the chaotic evacuation of British and French Allied troops from Northern France in 1940.<p>Ahead of its …
Winston ChurchillRussian History & Literature Come to Life in Wonderfully Colorized Portraits: See Photos of Tolstoy, Chekhov, the Romanovs & More
Colorized episodes of <i>I Love Luc</i>y verge on sacrilege, but Olga Shirnina, a translator and amateur colorist of considerable talent, has unquestionably …
Russian HistoryNewly Released Documents Reveal Churchill’s Efforts to Suppress Details of Nazi Plot
In July of 1940, Nazi officials hatched a plan to kidnap Edward VIII, who had abdicated the British throne in 1936, and install him as a puppet ruler …
Winston ChurchillWorld War II pilot's remains found in tree, return for burial 72 years later
For more than 70 years a tree protected the remains of a World War II fighter pilot from Washington state whose plane crashed in Germany in 1945.<p>6 …
ArchaeologyPainting From Goering’s Collection Is Returned to Banker’s Heirs
An heir of a prominent German banking family recovered a Renaissance-era painting on Friday that was looted by the Nazis and then bought by the Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, who amassed a collection of more than 1,000 paintings.<p>The work, “The Raising of Lazarus,” by an anonymous German artist, …
German HistoryA Vanished World: 27 Rare and Amazing Photographs Capture Jewish Life in Europe Before the Holocaust
Photographer Roman Vishniac created some of the most iconic images of Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, documenting a world that would soon …
History'Super Producer' Donates Gallons of Her Breast Milk to Feed Other Kids | Mental Floss
Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra makes much, much more breast milk than your average mother. So the Beaverton, Oregon, resident has become a major donor to …
BabiesYair Mintzker: The Many Deaths of Jew Süss
Joseph Süss Oppenheimer—”Jew Süss”—is one of the most iconic figures in the history of anti-Semitism. In 1733, Oppenheimer became the “court Jew” of …
HistoryFACT CHECK: Is This a 'League of German Girls Inspection' During World War II?
CLAIM<p>A photograph taken during World War II shows members of the League of German Girls during a uniform inspection.<p>RATING<p>FALSE<p>ORIGIN<p>A photograph …
Fact CheckingThe Unwomanly Face of War
By <b>Elaine Margolin</b><p>(Penguin Random House)<p>To see long excerpts from “The Unwomanly Face of War” at Google Books, click here.<p><b>“The Unwomanly Face of War:</b> …
Liberal POV11 Jewish Things We Learned From A Director Of German History Museums
Everything you need to know about Erfurt and its Jews — both ancient and modern.
ArchaeologyDonald Trump’s New York Times interview: 8 absurd things the president said
Some takeaways from Trump's weird, candid interview with the New York Times<p>President Donald Trump sat down with the failing New York Times this week in a candid interview about his first six months in the White House. Beyond his admission that he would have never picked Jeff Sessions as his …
Napoleon BonaparteTrump's Recently Disclosed Putin Conversation Is 'Nixon All Over Again'
Harry Obst, who worked as a German interpreter for seven U.S. presidents through Bill Clinton, says he can only remember one who ever dispensed with an interpreter during discussions with a foreign leader: Richard Nixon.<p>It was a bad idea for lots of reasons, the author of <i>White House Interpreter:</i> …
German HistoryWhy Switzerland never takes sides
What most people don’t know is that the Swiss had to choose a policy of neutrality, because for centuries, they'd been a country of mercenaries.<p>I was sitting in a grotto in southern Switzerland, savouring a regional version of risotto made with local merlot, surrounded by vibrant green mountains …
EuropeHurtling toward a showdown with the special counsel
Donald Trump’s career before his election was shaped by a few massive, risky gambles — at least one of which, his plunge into buying casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., nearly ruined him. Now, as president, he seems headed for another.<p>In his interview Wednesday with the New York Times and in other …
Napoleon BonaparteOne of the world’s largest Nazi bunkers has been transformed into a museum — take a look inside
During World War II, about 200 concrete bunkers for Nazi soldiers were built along the Danish coast.<p>Denmark's largest was the Tirpitz Bunker, which measured 7,500 square feet and was located in Blåvand. Named after a German battleship, the bunker never saw military action. Nazi soldiers abandoned …
German HistoryOn this day: The first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov was crowned
Michael Romanov was the Tsar of Russia from 1613 to 1645 and founder of the Romanov dynasty, which ruled Russia until 1917. He was crowned on July 21, 1613 in Dormition Cathedral.<p>Alexei Tolstoy described the country inherited by Tsar Michael: "Russia was ravaged and ruined. The Crimean Tatars …
Russian HistoryLight everything on fire: What would have happened had the Nazis invaded Britain
Print<p>The movie <i>Dunkirk</i>, opening today, is a big budget Christopher Nolan epic about Operation Dynamo, the miraculous 1940 evacuation of 300,000 troops …
Winston ChurchillThe Latest: Turkish PM downplays tensions with Germany
BERLIN (AP) — The Latest on Germany's tougher stance on Turkey following the jailing of a human rights activist (all times local):<p>2:15 p.m.<p>Turkey's prime minister has sought to downplay worries of growing tensions between Turkey and Germany following the jailing of six human rights activists, which …
German HistoryGermans are learning to love Germany again, and Merkel takes note
BERLIN — If the origins of Germany’s tricolor flag are not widely known, that is because the banner is rarely displayed in a country still atoning for the crimes it carried out in the name of national pride.<p>There may be a history lesson, then, and not just an electoral gambit, in the prominent use …
German HistoryThe untold story of the Ritchie Boys
How German-Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis gathered military intelligence in Europe for the U.S.<p>Martin Selling, 24, was undergoing training as a …
History“All Kinds of Wrong”: Trevor Noah Looks at Trump’s Wild New York Times Interview
<i>The Daily Show</i> had one of those days Thursday when all they had to do to make fun of Trump was read his words back verbatim, thanks to Trump’s …
French HistoryWhat to Know About the Miraculous True Story Behind 'Dunkirk'
The story of the World War II evacuation at Dunkirk — the subject of Christopher Nolan's well-reviewed new film — starts well before the men who were …
Military HistoryThe Russian Revolution, Debt Repudiation, War and Peace | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
<i>In early January 1918, the Soviet government suspended payment on foreign debt, and in early February 1918 it decreed that all Tsarist debts were</i> …
Russian HistoryTo Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann review – a brutal coming of age in Nazi Germany
The final weeks of the second world war are hauntingly portrayed in a German novel that bears comparison with Erich Maria Remarque and Günter Grass<p>March 1945, and Walter and Friedrich, young apprentices on a north German dairy farm, are drafted into the Waffen SS, serving out the final weeks of …
HistoryThe USSR’s Air-Dropped Fighting Vehicles Tore Through Cold War Conflicts
Since the 1970s, the Russian military has possessed a diverse fleet of armored vehicles it can drop out of airplanes … with parachutes, of course.<p>The …
Russian HistoryThe Napoleonic Wars With Dragons.
I brought this up in the ‘Napoleon bad‘ thread, and thought I’d give it a bit more exposure. I haven’t read these, just an excerpt <i>League of Dragons</i> …
Napoleon BonaparteRecalling the father of Latvian classical music
Wednesday, July 26, is the birthday of Jazeps Vitols: composer, critic, educator, the father of Latvian classical music — and an example of how …
Russian History