One hundred forty-four years ago today, on April 6, 1862, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston died during the bloody Battle of Shiloh. Wounded in the leg, Johnston did not seek medical attention quickly enough, and a severed artery caused him to bleed to death.
A Kentucky native, Johnston graduated from the United States Military Academy (like many generals of his day) and served in the American army. He fought in the Black Hawk War against Native Americans (which began 174 years ago, on April 6, 1832) and served in Texas during the Texas Revolution. He was the Republic of Texas' Secretary of War from 1838 to 1840. Johnston's next military assignment was the Mexican War, when he volunteered and fought at Monterrey. Johnston reentered the American army in 1849 and was the leader of the U.S. army's expedition against the Mormons in Utah.
When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, Johnston resigned from the U.S. army and joined the Confederates. His experience and status made him the obvious choice for commanding the Confederate forces in the West. He formed a defensive line, but the Union steadily pushed it back. Johnston regrouped his forces at Corinth, Mississippi, and prepared to attack General Ulysses S. Grant's forces.
The Confederates ambushed the Union at Shiloh in Tennessee. The Federal forces were surprised, but they recovered and fought back viciously. The Battle of Shiloh was the single bloodiest battle of the war, and among the South's casualties was General Johnston, who died on the battle's first day.
Albert Sidney Johnston was considered one of the South's greatest generals. His death brought great mourning to the South; few generals were as competent as the aged Johnston, who was one of the oldest officers during the war. General Johnston's loss was a terrible blow to the Confederate cause, and he was never replaced by an equally competent commander in the West.
Sources: Columbia Encylopedia, The History Channel Website, Wikipedia
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Marshal Tito (1892 - 1980)
It's been 61 years since Marshal Tito signed a quasi-alliance with the Soviet Union. On April 5, 1945, when World War II was in its final hours, Tito signed the treaty on behalf of Yugoslavia, setting in stone that nation's status as Soviet sphere of influence.
Josip Broz was born in 1892, of Croatian stock. He fought for the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and returned to Croatia after the war. Broz rose to be one of the most influential leader of Yugoslavia and was charged with reorganizing the Yugoslav Communist Party during the late 1930s.
In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia and took control of the government. Broz assumed the alias Tito and headed the Yugoslav resistance to Axis occupation. His resistance force was composed of several different political affiliations, so there were clashes between opposing ideologies. Tito was responsible for the execution of Draza Mihajlovic, the other leader of Yugoslav resistance forces and Tito's main opponent for power. In an instance of strange bedfellows, Great Britain and the United States supported the self-proclaimed Communist in his fight against the Nazis.
In 1945, Germany was defeated, and Tito solidified his rule as leader of Yugoslavia. He was elected president of the Republic of Yugoslavia in November 1945, and became practically a dictator for the next 35 years.
Tito transformed Yugoslavia into a Communist state with a controlled economy. He brutally suppressed opposition to his rule with a secret police force. He did a remarkable thing, however, when he broke with the Soviets in a quarrel over correct Communist ideologies and became an independent Communist. Tito was one of the three main leaders of the Nonaligned Nations (the others were Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and India's Jawaharlal Nehru), which claimed neutrality during the Cold War, refusing to support either side.
Despite proclaiming Yugoslavia's neutrality, Tito had to deal with the Soviet Union due to its close proximity. Relations with the Soviets were love-hate; sometimes the two nations got along, sometimes they did not. Tito opposed the Soviet crackdown of Alexander Dubcek's liberalization of Czechoslovakia's economy known as the Prague Spring.
Tito was reelected President in 1953, and in 1963 he was proclaimed President for Life. Domestically, Tito began to face growing tensions between the different ethnicities in Yugoslavia: Croats, Serbs, Albanians, and Slovenes were among the different ethnic groups that threatened to split the nation apart. Tito suppressed civil liberties, especially among intellectuals.
Marshal Josip Broz Tito died in 1980 at the age of 88 years. He had hoped to quell the uneasiness among the different ethnic groups, but his death proved to be the death knell for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Only a decade later, the country would erupt into violent civil war, complete with ethnic genocides and other atrocities. Tito's dream of a unified Yugoslavia was impossible to realize: the nation could only live within Tito, under Tito; when he died, his hopes for a unified Yugoslav republic died with him.
Sources: The History Channel Website, Encyclopedia.com
Josip Broz was born in 1892, of Croatian stock. He fought for the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and returned to Croatia after the war. Broz rose to be one of the most influential leader of Yugoslavia and was charged with reorganizing the Yugoslav Communist Party during the late 1930s.
In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia and took control of the government. Broz assumed the alias Tito and headed the Yugoslav resistance to Axis occupation. His resistance force was composed of several different political affiliations, so there were clashes between opposing ideologies. Tito was responsible for the execution of Draza Mihajlovic, the other leader of Yugoslav resistance forces and Tito's main opponent for power. In an instance of strange bedfellows, Great Britain and the United States supported the self-proclaimed Communist in his fight against the Nazis.
In 1945, Germany was defeated, and Tito solidified his rule as leader of Yugoslavia. He was elected president of the Republic of Yugoslavia in November 1945, and became practically a dictator for the next 35 years.
Tito transformed Yugoslavia into a Communist state with a controlled economy. He brutally suppressed opposition to his rule with a secret police force. He did a remarkable thing, however, when he broke with the Soviets in a quarrel over correct Communist ideologies and became an independent Communist. Tito was one of the three main leaders of the Nonaligned Nations (the others were Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and India's Jawaharlal Nehru), which claimed neutrality during the Cold War, refusing to support either side.
Despite proclaiming Yugoslavia's neutrality, Tito had to deal with the Soviet Union due to its close proximity. Relations with the Soviets were love-hate; sometimes the two nations got along, sometimes they did not. Tito opposed the Soviet crackdown of Alexander Dubcek's liberalization of Czechoslovakia's economy known as the Prague Spring.
Tito was reelected President in 1953, and in 1963 he was proclaimed President for Life. Domestically, Tito began to face growing tensions between the different ethnicities in Yugoslavia: Croats, Serbs, Albanians, and Slovenes were among the different ethnic groups that threatened to split the nation apart. Tito suppressed civil liberties, especially among intellectuals.
Marshal Josip Broz Tito died in 1980 at the age of 88 years. He had hoped to quell the uneasiness among the different ethnic groups, but his death proved to be the death knell for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Only a decade later, the country would erupt into violent civil war, complete with ethnic genocides and other atrocities. Tito's dream of a unified Yugoslavia was impossible to realize: the nation could only live within Tito, under Tito; when he died, his hopes for a unified Yugoslav republic died with him.
Sources: The History Channel Website, Encyclopedia.com
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Yamamoto Isoroku (1884 - 1943)
Today marks the one hundred twenty-fourth birthday of Yamamoto Isoroku., born on April 4, 1884. A Japanese military officer, Yamamoto is remembered for conceiving and carrying out the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor during World War II.
Yamamoto worked for the Japanese navy as a representative to the United States during the mid-to-late 1920s. From 1926 to 1941, Yamamoto rose up the Japanese military ranks, becoming the commander in chief of Japan's combined navy and air forces in 1941.
In 1941, Japanese relations with the United States were stressed. Yamamoto advised against starting a war with America, but the man with the final say, Tojo Hideki, decided to fight. Yamamoto then argued that the only chance of victory was through a crippling surprise attack on the United States Navy. Yamamoto also issued an ominous prediction for Japan: If Japan did not defeat the U.S. within one year, Japan would fall.
Yamamoto's careful planning of the Pearl Harbor attack (Pearl Harbor was a key U.S. Naval base) resulted in a successful strike. Over 3,400 Americans lost their lives, 180 U.S. aircraft were wrecked, and the United States battleship fleet experienced substantial damage; all of this occurred within half an hour on December 7, 1941 (The History Channel Website).
Yamamoto became a hero in Japan, but his glory was short-lived. America, seeking to settle the score, tracked him down in an airplane over Bougainville Island in the Pacific in 1943. Yamamoto met his death in the ambush as his plane was shot from the sky.
Upon his death, Japan lost one of its greatest strategists. According to the History Channel Website, "Yamamoto died having been right about two things: the effectiveness of aircraft carriers in long-range naval attacks and that Japan would lose a drawn-out struggle with the United States" (The History Channel Website).
Yamamoto's legacy is tainted by Japan's defeat and his role in planning the Pearl Harbor attack. Today, he is viewed as a villain in many World War II Pacific Theater films.
Sources: The History Channel Website
Yamamoto worked for the Japanese navy as a representative to the United States during the mid-to-late 1920s. From 1926 to 1941, Yamamoto rose up the Japanese military ranks, becoming the commander in chief of Japan's combined navy and air forces in 1941.
In 1941, Japanese relations with the United States were stressed. Yamamoto advised against starting a war with America, but the man with the final say, Tojo Hideki, decided to fight. Yamamoto then argued that the only chance of victory was through a crippling surprise attack on the United States Navy. Yamamoto also issued an ominous prediction for Japan: If Japan did not defeat the U.S. within one year, Japan would fall.
Yamamoto's careful planning of the Pearl Harbor attack (Pearl Harbor was a key U.S. Naval base) resulted in a successful strike. Over 3,400 Americans lost their lives, 180 U.S. aircraft were wrecked, and the United States battleship fleet experienced substantial damage; all of this occurred within half an hour on December 7, 1941 (The History Channel Website).
Yamamoto became a hero in Japan, but his glory was short-lived. America, seeking to settle the score, tracked him down in an airplane over Bougainville Island in the Pacific in 1943. Yamamoto met his death in the ambush as his plane was shot from the sky.
Upon his death, Japan lost one of its greatest strategists. According to the History Channel Website, "Yamamoto died having been right about two things: the effectiveness of aircraft carriers in long-range naval attacks and that Japan would lose a drawn-out struggle with the United States" (The History Channel Website).
Yamamoto's legacy is tainted by Japan's defeat and his role in planning the Pearl Harbor attack. Today, he is viewed as a villain in many World War II Pacific Theater films.
Sources: The History Channel Website
Monday, April 03, 2006
The Death of Jesse James
One hundred twenty-four years ago, on April 3, 1882, legendary Western outlaw Jesse James was betrayed by gang member Robert Ford. While adjusting an off-kilter picture on a wall in his house, Jesse James was shot in the back of the head and fell to the ground dead.
Born in 1847 in Missouri, Jesse James was a farmboy. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jesse's older brother Frank (born 1843) joined the Confederate Army. Jesse later joined a band of quasi-outlaws headed by William Quantrill. When the war ended, Jesse's band surrendered, but the Federal troops fired upon it anyway, and Jesse was wounded.
This incident helped spur Jesse James's hatred for the Federal government. He and his brother Frank met Cole Younger during the war, and after the surrender Jesse formed a gang which included brother Frank as well as Cole Younger and his three brothers. Before the Younger brothers joined the gang, Jesse and Frank headed a bank robbery in 1866. Thus was the beginning of a legend.
Jesse's gang were bank robbers, highwaymen, store robbers, and stagecoach hold-ups. In other words, they did everything that the classic Western outlaw is portrayed as doing in popular culture. Jesse's gang even popularized robbing trains, which shocked authorities due to the crime's boldness.
Jesse's gang was nearly decimated on September 7, 1876. While attempting to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse's gang was discovered by the townspeople, who took up arms. Only Frank and Jesse James escaped; the Youngers were captured, and three gang members met their deaths.
Jesse and Frank returned to Missouri and formed a new gang, provoking a warrant from Governor Crittenden. It was this "Wanted: Dead or Alive" warrant (with promise of a reward) that led Bob Ford to shoot Jesse James. Jesse had yet to see his 35th birthday.
Frank James surrendered shortly thereafter. At Frank's trials (which occurred in three different states), he was acquitted of murder, bank robbery, and armed robbery charges, a testament to his popularity with the majority of citizens in those areas. Frank James lived out his final years near the town of his birth, dying in 1915 at the age of 72, thirty-three years after his brother's murder.
In his day, Jesse James was both revered and hated. Many lower class citizens viewed him as a Robin Hood-type figure, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Indeed, Jesse had good PR skills, and it was this very belief that he cultivated by using persecution as his excuse for crime. Native Americans saw him as a hero due to his ability to escape Federal authorities (who were persecuting the Native Americans at the same time).
Today, James is a legend. Whether one views him as a hero or a petty criminal (the truth probably lies somewhere in between), one thing is for certain: Jesse James will continue to live on in our romanticism of the Old West.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Born in 1847 in Missouri, Jesse James was a farmboy. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jesse's older brother Frank (born 1843) joined the Confederate Army. Jesse later joined a band of quasi-outlaws headed by William Quantrill. When the war ended, Jesse's band surrendered, but the Federal troops fired upon it anyway, and Jesse was wounded.
This incident helped spur Jesse James's hatred for the Federal government. He and his brother Frank met Cole Younger during the war, and after the surrender Jesse formed a gang which included brother Frank as well as Cole Younger and his three brothers. Before the Younger brothers joined the gang, Jesse and Frank headed a bank robbery in 1866. Thus was the beginning of a legend.
Jesse's gang were bank robbers, highwaymen, store robbers, and stagecoach hold-ups. In other words, they did everything that the classic Western outlaw is portrayed as doing in popular culture. Jesse's gang even popularized robbing trains, which shocked authorities due to the crime's boldness.
Jesse's gang was nearly decimated on September 7, 1876. While attempting to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse's gang was discovered by the townspeople, who took up arms. Only Frank and Jesse James escaped; the Youngers were captured, and three gang members met their deaths.
Jesse and Frank returned to Missouri and formed a new gang, provoking a warrant from Governor Crittenden. It was this "Wanted: Dead or Alive" warrant (with promise of a reward) that led Bob Ford to shoot Jesse James. Jesse had yet to see his 35th birthday.
Frank James surrendered shortly thereafter. At Frank's trials (which occurred in three different states), he was acquitted of murder, bank robbery, and armed robbery charges, a testament to his popularity with the majority of citizens in those areas. Frank James lived out his final years near the town of his birth, dying in 1915 at the age of 72, thirty-three years after his brother's murder.
In his day, Jesse James was both revered and hated. Many lower class citizens viewed him as a Robin Hood-type figure, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Indeed, Jesse had good PR skills, and it was this very belief that he cultivated by using persecution as his excuse for crime. Native Americans saw him as a hero due to his ability to escape Federal authorities (who were persecuting the Native Americans at the same time).
Today, James is a legend. Whether one views him as a hero or a petty criminal (the truth probably lies somewhere in between), one thing is for certain: Jesse James will continue to live on in our romanticism of the Old West.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica
History Repeats Itself...Like Clockwork
Today, April 3, 2006, national news is reporting that 27 people were killed in tornadic storms across the Midwest. Tragedies such as these are not uncommon, but the events that happened in the Midwest 32 years ago today, on April 3, 1974, were far from common. In fact, they were downright horrifying.
On April 3, 1974, a large weather system over the Midwest produced 148 tornadoes in a mere twenty-four hours, an outrageous number of twisters for one system and by far the record. The History Channel sums it up best: "On this day in 1974, 148 tornadoes hit the United States heartland within 16 hours. By the time the deadly storm ended, 330 people had died. This was the largest grouping of tornadoes recorded in its time, affecting 11 states and Ontario, Canada. At any one moment during the storm, there were as many as 15 separate tornadoes touching the ground. " (The History Channel Website)
The system began its path of destruction over the Ohio River Valley, and Illinois was the first state hit by a tornado that afternoon. The system was not only unusual in the number of tornadoes it produced, but also in the number of severe tornadoes it created: According to the History Channel, 22 F4 tornadoes and 6 F5 tornadoes resulted from the system.
Among the hardest-hit areas were the towns of Xenia, OH and Brandenburg, KY. Over thirty people died in each town, and thousands were injured and left homeless. By the time the "Super Outbreak of '74" had ended, six states were declared Federal Disaster Areas.
The events that occurred on April 3, 2006 were tragedies, but they pale in comparison with that terrifying day in 1974.
Sources: The History Channel Website
Other Sites of Interest: April 3, 1974 - The Tornado Super Outbreak
On April 3, 1974, a large weather system over the Midwest produced 148 tornadoes in a mere twenty-four hours, an outrageous number of twisters for one system and by far the record. The History Channel sums it up best: "On this day in 1974, 148 tornadoes hit the United States heartland within 16 hours. By the time the deadly storm ended, 330 people had died. This was the largest grouping of tornadoes recorded in its time, affecting 11 states and Ontario, Canada. At any one moment during the storm, there were as many as 15 separate tornadoes touching the ground. " (The History Channel Website)
The system began its path of destruction over the Ohio River Valley, and Illinois was the first state hit by a tornado that afternoon. The system was not only unusual in the number of tornadoes it produced, but also in the number of severe tornadoes it created: According to the History Channel, 22 F4 tornadoes and 6 F5 tornadoes resulted from the system.
Among the hardest-hit areas were the towns of Xenia, OH and Brandenburg, KY. Over thirty people died in each town, and thousands were injured and left homeless. By the time the "Super Outbreak of '74" had ended, six states were declared Federal Disaster Areas.
The events that occurred on April 3, 2006 were tragedies, but they pale in comparison with that terrifying day in 1974.
Sources: The History Channel Website
Other Sites of Interest: April 3, 1974 - The Tornado Super Outbreak
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Leon Gambetta (1838 - 1882)
Born on April 2, 1838, Leon Gambetta would become one of France's great patriots during the final half of the 1800s.
Gambetta was trained to be a lawyer. He opposed Emperor Napoleon III's empire and gained election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1869. Napoleon III's government fell in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and Gambetta took over the temporary provisional government.
Gambetta opposed the German occupation of France, setting up a national defense to push the Germans out. He is remembered for a bizarre incident in which he escaped Paris in a hot air balloon after fear of a revolution in the French capital.
Gambetta returned and tried to oppose Otto von Bismarck's terms on France, but was forced to resign, and France capitulated to Germany. Leon Gambetta retired from politics briefly, but returned in 1871 to help set up the French Third Republic.
Gambetta tried to compromise with both the conservative monarchists and the liberal republicans. He helped set up a constitution in 1875. Gambetta favored a republican form of government, and he opposed the strong Roman Catholic influence over France.
In 1881, Gambetta was appointed French premire. Gambetta tried to bring together rival factions in the government, enact electoral reforms, and strengthen the executive branch of the French government, but his efforts proved futile. Gambetta died in 1882.
Today, Leon Gambetta is remembered for his French patriotism, and he is revered by the French people.
Sources: Columbia Encyclopedia, Wikipedia
Gambetta was trained to be a lawyer. He opposed Emperor Napoleon III's empire and gained election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1869. Napoleon III's government fell in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and Gambetta took over the temporary provisional government.
Gambetta opposed the German occupation of France, setting up a national defense to push the Germans out. He is remembered for a bizarre incident in which he escaped Paris in a hot air balloon after fear of a revolution in the French capital.
Gambetta returned and tried to oppose Otto von Bismarck's terms on France, but was forced to resign, and France capitulated to Germany. Leon Gambetta retired from politics briefly, but returned in 1871 to help set up the French Third Republic.
Gambetta tried to compromise with both the conservative monarchists and the liberal republicans. He helped set up a constitution in 1875. Gambetta favored a republican form of government, and he opposed the strong Roman Catholic influence over France.
In 1881, Gambetta was appointed French premire. Gambetta tried to bring together rival factions in the government, enact electoral reforms, and strengthen the executive branch of the French government, but his efforts proved futile. Gambetta died in 1882.
Today, Leon Gambetta is remembered for his French patriotism, and he is revered by the French people.
Sources: Columbia Encyclopedia, Wikipedia
Why Soviet Communism Failed
So far, all of my articles have been purely historical. However, with this article I intend to establish my views concerning the reasons that communism fell in the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:
- Communism assumes that all individuals will work to their fullest potential without any incentive to do so. When people under the Soviet government realized that they received the same government-regulated wage no matter how hard they worked, they worked less than efficiently.
- The Soviet Communist government spent too much money producing military goods for the escalating Cold War and less on consumer goods.
- The consumer goods produced by the Soviet-regulated industries lacked variety and were of lesser quality than goods produced in a market economy with competition.
- Communism assumes that all individuals will work to their fullest potential without any incentive to do so. When people under the Soviet government realized that they received the same government-regulated wage no matter how hard they worked, they worked less than efficiently.
- The Soviet Communist government spent too much money producing military goods for the escalating Cold War and less on consumer goods.
- The consumer goods produced by the Soviet-regulated industries lacked variety and were of lesser quality than goods produced in a market economy with competition.
- Communism champions the equality of everyone. However, as George Orwell said in Animal House, "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others." The Communst government of the Soviet Union had individuals that had great power, including the Politburo members. These leaders proved to be both the failure of Soviet Communism and a source of hypocrisy between Soviet Communism and Marxism.
Soviet Communism originated with the creation of the Soviet Union under Vladimir I. Lenin, whose philosophy was similar to the Communism first described by Karl Marx. However, he made several alterations to Marx's ideas, creating a separate form of Communism known as Leninism. Stalin helped solidify the gap between Marxism and Soviet Communism and set in stone the bureaucracy that proved to be both the failure of Communism and a hypocritical moral paradox.
Sources: Personal knowledge
Saturday, April 01, 2006
A Crook Named George
United States General George Crook died 116 years ago last month, on March 21, 1890. Crook served in the American Civil War for the Union, but he made his name in the Indian Wars that occurred in the latter half of the 1800s.
Crook was born in 1829 near Dayton, Ohio. He was a lackluster student at West Point, but still served in the Civil War for the Union. He was present at Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chickamauga, and the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.
In 1873, Crook attained the rank of brigadier general. He served in the Federal relocation of the Apaches and the Sioux. In the 1880s, Crook was in charge of rounding up the Apaches in Mexico, who were led by Geronimo. The Apaches proved hard to work with, with Geronimo getting away, but Crook succeeded in placing 500 Native Americans in a reservation (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
General Crook championed the rights of the Native Americans in his final years. He was known as a man of compromise and understanding to the Indians, and, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "General William Tecumseh Sherman called him the best of the Indian fighters and managers" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Crook died in 1890, leaving behind a legacy of conciliation with the Native Americans.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia
Crook was born in 1829 near Dayton, Ohio. He was a lackluster student at West Point, but still served in the Civil War for the Union. He was present at Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chickamauga, and the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.
In 1873, Crook attained the rank of brigadier general. He served in the Federal relocation of the Apaches and the Sioux. In the 1880s, Crook was in charge of rounding up the Apaches in Mexico, who were led by Geronimo. The Apaches proved hard to work with, with Geronimo getting away, but Crook succeeded in placing 500 Native Americans in a reservation (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
General Crook championed the rights of the Native Americans in his final years. He was known as a man of compromise and understanding to the Indians, and, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "General William Tecumseh Sherman called him the best of the Indian fighters and managers" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Crook died in 1890, leaving behind a legacy of conciliation with the Native Americans.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia
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