tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post7711318795898148458..comments2024-03-29T09:09:46.823+02:00Comments on A Political Refugee From The Global Village : A Ruritanian page from the history of the Second World War.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-28185702982393008572022-01-10T11:20:31.699+02:002022-01-10T11:20:31.699+02:00Talking of Stresemann this is interesting, from th...Talking of Stresemann this is interesting, from the Encyclopaedia Britannica article on 'the Locarno era and the dream of disarmament'.<br /><br />'As the decade of the 1920s came to a close, most Europeans expected prosperity and harmony to continue. Briand even went so far as to propose in 1929 that France and Germany explore virtual political integration in a European union, asking only that Germany confirm her 1919 boundaries as immutable. But Stresemann died suddenly on Oct. 3, 1929, and three weeks later the New York stock market crashed. In the storms to come, the need for firm, material guarantees of security would be greater than ever. But on June 30, 1930, in accordance with the Young Plan, the last Allied troops departed the German Rhineland for home.'<br />A European Union consisting of France, Germany and Benelux in 1930 would have been a good idea.Political Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-73432740029958455332022-01-10T11:17:06.965+02:002022-01-10T11:17:06.965+02:00Ha ha. He was not, of course, interested in world ...Ha ha. He was not, of course, interested in world domination and Romanians or Englishmen speaking German. He wanted domination of Central and Eastern Europe and especially European Russia (by Russia I mean Czarist Russia). As Timothy Snyder said he was not a normal nationalist like Antonescu, Pilsudski etc. Snyder calls him a racial anarchist (but then Snyder expected Donald Trump to instal a dictatorship so one can't follow him blindly). I suppose a right-wing dictatorship in Germany was very likely to happen, as throughout Eastern Europe -the anti-democratic reactionaries had no legitimate monarchy to support - and it was inevitable that Germany would seek to overturn the borders to her east. (Even Gustav Streseman didn't guarantee them. He hoped to rewrite them when the time came, though not by force.) But Hitlerism was not in the least to be expected, any more than Leninism could have been expected - the great man theory of history is the correct one - the Marxist theory of ineluctable forces is silly. Political Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-76603281181517800582022-01-03T15:18:26.382+02:002022-01-03T15:18:26.382+02:00'he was obviously intelligent'
Smart. As ...'he was obviously intelligent'<br /><br />Smart. As in 'street smart'. Were he intelligent, you know, we all would be speaking German now.Tomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355268309169462651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-3762526327757515622022-01-03T15:05:40.797+02:002022-01-03T15:05:40.797+02:00Marie Jose and Umberto during their marriage cerem...Marie Jose and Umberto during their marriage ceremony<br /><br />https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Marie_Jose_and_Umberto_during_their_marriage_ceremony.jpg<br /><br />Ferdinand and Marie, the Crown Prince and Princess of Romania, pictured after their 1893 marriage<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Romania#/media/File:1893_-_Ferdinand_%C5%9Fi_Maria_ca_Principe_%C5%9FiPprincipes%C4%83_de_Coroan%C4%83.PNGTomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355268309169462651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-6414371469018708192022-01-03T14:56:43.578+02:002022-01-03T14:56:43.578+02:00Hee hee. We understands what she meant, but he was...Hee hee. We understands what she meant, but he was obviously intelligent - he was a Lenin who was his own Marx.Political Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-5007942651898439642022-01-03T14:55:00.384+02:002022-01-03T14:55:00.384+02:00That's not a good one. https://www.theguardian...That's not a good one. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/31/mussolini-queen-marie-jose-affairPolitical Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-30116705397398688952022-01-03T14:45:19.871+02:002022-01-03T14:45:19.871+02:00'She was a looker'
https://upload.wikimed...'She was a looker'<br /><br />https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Maria_Jos%C3%A9_del_Belgio%2C_Regina_d%27Italia.pngTomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355268309169462651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-6831808556049668512022-01-03T14:23:18.429+02:002022-01-03T14:23:18.429+02:00'She was very much more attractive to my eyes ...'She was very much more attractive to my eyes than Marie of Romania'<br /><br />Are you having trouble seeing clearly with your current glasses? Are you experiencing eye strain or headaches? Are the lenses on your glasses scratched? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may be time to get a new glasses prescription or maybe even an entirely new set of glasses.<br />Tomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355268309169462651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-10673064048330090042022-01-03T13:51:26.927+02:002022-01-03T13:51:26.927+02:00'he was certainly a remarkable man - but certa...'he was certainly a remarkable man - but certainly mentally odd and without culture'<br /><br />A remarkable cretin.Tomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14355268309169462651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-59820669218026517712022-01-03T11:19:25.470+02:002022-01-03T11:19:25.470+02:00Thank you. My ignorance of Italian history is prof...Thank you. My ignorance of Italian history is profound. But would things have been different had Italy had a president as head of state in 1922? It depends on whether he had less power than the King and on who he was and what he decided, I suppose. Had the Papal States (and other Italian states perhaps) still existed Musso would have not been a factor on Europe.Political Refugee from the Global Villagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523068770529814044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-891289711377156224.post-6803880371542039832022-01-03T00:05:58.342+02:002022-01-03T00:05:58.342+02:00"but it seemed obvious that if you have a par..."but it seemed obvious that if you have a parliamentary system a constitutional monarch is so much better than a president, not only for romantic or conservative reasons but for a management consultant's reasons."<br /><br />According to another of Dennis Mack Smith's books, the army was competent and ready to suppress the March on Rome, the government wished the army to do so, and the king overrode them both. Constitutional monarchy is fine when the monarchic role has been reduced to Bagehot's "dignified" component, and will quietly agree to create peers as necessary.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.com