Category Archives: History

Stalin’s Catch 22: the starvation of the Ukraine 1932-3

Posted on October 10, 2017 by odeboyz

“Stalin never wrote down, or never preserved, any document ordering famine. But in practice [he] forced Ukrainian peasants to make a fatal choice. They could give up their grain reserves and die of starvation, or they could keep some grain … Continue reading →

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Conservation: Is it worth it?

Posted on September 29, 2017 by odeboyz

A confident nation builds so that future people may look back and marvel at their ancestors ingenuity and aesthetic vision. A nation in decline looks to the past in a vain attempt to “preserve” what was once great. Preservation is … Continue reading →

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The price of naivety: Verdun 1916

Posted on September 29, 2017 by odeboyz

The Bismarckian precept that two-front wars are disastrous shaped his foreign policy. He created a gigantic balance-of-power, which kept European peace from the formation of Germany in 1871 until 1914. Needless to relate 43 years of peace wasn’t a blessing … Continue reading →

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Et tu, Brute?

Posted on September 12, 2017 by odeboyz

“As he fell, Caesar cried out in Greek to Brutus, ‘You too, child’, which was either a threat (I’ll get you, boy!) or a poignant regret for the disloyalty of a young friend (You too, my child?), or even, as … Continue reading →

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The Governor of the Bank of England and the Nazis in 1934

Posted on August 15, 2017 by odeboyz

Monty* says that Hitler and Schacht** are the bulwarks of civilization in Germany and the only friends we have. *Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England **Hjalmar Schacht, President of the Reichsbank (He was found not guilty of crimes … Continue reading →

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Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Great Compromise 1962-3

Posted on August 4, 2017 by odeboyz

  The 1958 installation of missiles in Italy and Turkey provided compelling evidence, for the Soviets, of the USA’s malign intentions. Khrushchev resolved to remove the American missile threat to the USSR’s existence. The Cuban Revolution in 1959 provided an … Continue reading →

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Fidel Castro, Regime Change and American Imperialism 1956-61

Posted on July 21, 2017 by odeboyz

Fidel Castro successfully deposed the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. It quickly became apparent to the Americans that Castro wouldn’t be another patsy like Batista. Batista fulfilled the model of Latin American dictators insofar as he promoted American big … Continue reading →

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Adolf Hitler’s pitiless indifference to the suffering of the Wehrmacht 7th November 1942

Posted on July 18, 2017 by odeboyz

The table was elegantly set with silver cutlery, cut glass, good china and flower arrangements. As we began our ample meal, none of us at first saw that a freight train was stopped on the adjacent track. From the cattle … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Philip Kerr March Violets

Posted on July 11, 2017 by odeboyz

March Violets is the first in the Bernie Gunther series of novels, which are a tour de force. Bernie Gunther is a Berlin policeman caught up in the madness of Nazi Germany. The evocation of 1930s Berlin is exceptional as … Continue reading →

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The Sledgehammer and the Scalpel: Hamburg 1943 and Amiens 1944

Posted on June 16, 2017 by odeboyz

Introduction The Germans achieved a stupendous military victory in the summer of 1940 leaving Britain isolated behind the English Channel, which acted as a ‘moat’. It quickly became apparent the Germans couldn’t invade Britain and vice versa. A military impasse … Continue reading →

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