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www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/opinion/henry-kissinger-foreign-policy-democracy.html
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Far overshadowed, however, is his legacy of violence, including but not limited to: merciless bombing of Indochina, especially Cambodia (top); support for Pakistan against Bangladesh (left), leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths; support for apartheid South Africa; support for the state terrorism in South America known as Operation Condor (right); and support for the events that led to the East Timor genocide. Kissinger often lied about his involvement and knowledge of these events even years after, and at the time supressed media reports. He often acted illegally.
Nonetheless, Kissinger's position as an 'Evil Great Man' is misguided. His role as a lightening rod for criticism of US foreign policy existed mainly because of his continual public appearances and the death of many of the others involved. Whilst influential, he was not the sole mastermind.
Armistice Day in Liverpool, UK, 1921. 1921 saw the introduction of the poppy as a symbol of the commemorations.
But globally, away from the pomp and decorum, there was considerable unrest in some places. In Liverpool itself, veterans disrupted the Silence because they were unhappy with how they had been treated by the government. In London, the same happened at the Cenotaph, and other demonstrations were reported across Europe. 'The dead are remembered but we are forgotten' was one phrase held on placards. It was clear the 1920s was not going to be an easy decade.
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9 November 1923: the coup falters even as SA men stand seem to have taken over parts of Munich. Three crucial government hostages are released in the night by Ludendorff.
Despite taking over key government buildings, there is a lack of direction in what the plotters are trying to do. It is clear by morning that the police and army remain loyal to the state.
(Yes this photo was later used, mistakenly unattributed, on the cover of a Beirut album)
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Alatyr, Samara, Arino, and Tuva (Sergey Chilikov, 1990s). Chilikov sought to capture the brief feeling of liberation after the end of Soviet social repression in the former USSR, which was quickly giving way to economic collapse and corruption.
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Pope Night (Boston, US, 1768).
This was an evolution of the British Guy Fawkes Night, held on the 5th of November. It became a generally anti-Catholic and anti-authority celebration, with effigies of the Pope frequently burnt. It often devolved into violence. After American independence, the celebration continued only in small towns.
Punkie Night is celebrated in some communities in the Westcountry of England on the last Thursday in October. The tradition is thought to date back to when wives would haul their drunken husbands back from Chiselborough fair, using punkie lanterns - hollowed out mangelwurzels used to ward off evil spirits - as their guide. Later, children joined in the festivities and would go door to door asking for candles, with the implicit threat of pranks for households that did comply.
This is one, but definitely not the only, precursor to modern Halloween trick-or-treating.
Image: Punkie Lanterns, Dalwood, 1963
www.marcmorris.org.uk/2013/10/whatultimately-decided-battle-everyone.html
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Dog Child, a North West Mounted Police scout, and his wife, The Only Handsome Woman, members of the Blackfoot Nation (Trueman & Caple, Gleichen, (Alberta, Canada), 1890s).
The man appears to be carrying a distinctive Japanese samurai sword. How a relatively isolated Native American came upon this sword must be an interesting story, but it is one that is unknown.
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If You Don't Read Books, You'll Soon Forget How to Read and Write (Alexander Pavlovich Mogilevsky, USSR, 1925).
The woman is reading the book Ten Days That Shook the World (John Reed, 1919), an account of the Russian revolution by an American journalist.
The event is thought to have originated from the start of the economic year in the Middle East.
Pictured: A Rosh Hashanah greetings card from Theresienstadt ghetto, Nazi-occupied Czechia, 1943.
Although some claimed the coup was to prevent a dictatorship or democratic backsliding, the government of Pinochet (second from right) became a dictatorship itself and committed widespread and depraved crimes against humanity.
Likewise, despite the coup sometimes being justified by Allende's struggling economic situation, Pinochet's government itself showed devastating economic incompetence, with corruption becoming institutionalised and the economy floundering despite dramatic liberalisation. It was only after Pinochet was finally deposed via referendum that Chile's economy began to recover.
Tom Lehrer, noted American satirist, claimed that he gave up writing satire because "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize."
Interesting obituaries:
https://thecritic.co.uk/the-man-who-loved-power/
Henry Kissinger (1923-2023) was notable for his position as a prominent American Secretary of State, advisor, theorist. and diplomat, as well as a war criminal.
Kissinger fled persecution in Germany and became a renowned academic of foreign relations. He was also a skilled self-publicist, creating the myth of a "Great Man" that, whilst serving his public image whilst in power, in later years would see him become reviled as a symbol of American-backed atrocities worldwide.
Kissinger was a "realist" towards international relations, that is, a utilitarian, pragmatic school of thought that focuses on the state as the main international actor. In practice, this meant continual attempts by the US to maintain hegemony over communism.
Kissinger's positive achievements include détente with the Soviet Union, improved relations with China, negotiations to limit nuclear weapons, and the Paris Peace Accords (albeit, ones that he had tried to sabotage earlier).
The People's Republic of China (1949-) has now outstripped its one-time ally and later rival Russia/USSR (1917-1991) in how long it has existed as a self-declared communist state. However, the oldest communist state is currently Vietnam, which was proclaimed in 1945.
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Vacillating and sleep-deprived, Ludendorff declares "we march!" and the plotters set off to the city centre. They meet soldiers of the German army there. Someone fires first, and in the chaos 16 Kampfbund, 4 soldiers, and a civilian are killed. Notably, Hermann Göring narrowly escapes death. Hitler flees to the countryside.
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8 November 1923: Imitating Mussolini's March on Rome, an alliance of nationalist groups called the Kampfbund surround the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich, Germany. Marching in, leader Adolf Hitler is unable to make himself heard and fires a pistol in the air, declaring that the revolution has begun. The intention is to seize control of the Bavarian government and march on the national Weimar government.
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https://www.oldnorth.com/blog/festivities-and-revolution-popes-night-in-boston/
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Collection of Halloween things 🎃
/channel/historicalchan/3822
The annual Randolph-Macon Woman’s College pumpkin parade (Harrison Fisher, 1905) and suggestions for ladies' Halloween costumes (uncredited, 1911). Ladies' Home Journal.
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The Battle of Hastings took place on the 14th of October 1066... this blogpost by historian Marc Morris talks about the common assumption that Harold Godwinson was killed by an arrow in the eye.
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Members of the Eccentric Club of London, at their annual 'Friday the Thirteenth' lunch, surrounded by omens of bad luck (E. Dean, November 13th, 1936)
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Campaigners outside a polling station for the German federal elections of July 31 1932 (Georg Pahl, Berlin, 1932, colourised by Julius Backman Jääskeläinen).
From left to right the campaigners are:
NSDAP (Nazi)
A second NSDAP poster
Zentrumspartei (Centre Party)
SPD/Einheitsfront (Socialist/Iron Front)
KPD (Communist)
DNVP (German National People's Party)
DVP (German People's Party)
At nightfall ends Rosh Hashanah; the Jewish New Year. Traditions include the blowing of the Shofar (a ram horn), to scare Satan.
Pictured: Russian-Jewish soldiers in WWI praying and blowing the Shofar
11 September 1973: US-backed forces in Chile launch an illegal coup against the government of Salvador Allende. Allende dies and General Pinochet becomes President, a role he will hold until 1990.
The Chilean economy was suffering from inflation as a result of government policy. Various right-wing groups, deeply distrustful of Allende, were bolstered by the CIA and several American and European groups. Nonetheless, Allende's coalition was able to increase their vote share in elections. He became wary that figures in the military were plotting against him, but was unable to outmanoeuvre them. When the coup was launched, he could do little to defend against it.