A historic date in history....

It was 25 years ago today the Hammer and Sickle flag of the USSR was lowered for the last time over the Kremlin in Moscow.  On that day the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially dissolved.  A political movement that began with a bang, literally, 70+ years earlier ended with just a whimper.

I just finished listening to a fascinating 6-part podcast series (Dan Carlin's Hardcore History / Blueprint for Armageddon) about The Great War, aka World War I, and how it changed the course of history from June 1914 to this very day.  As it pertains to Russia, the short version:

Unable to withstand the hardships and hunger of everyday life in war-weary Russia, by 1917 the people seized control and, after a series of revolutionary consolidations, the USSR was born.  By the 1980's the old Communist revolutionary zeal was long gone, and their system, which was slowly withering away, was as rotten as the Czar's was back in its dying days.

Russia to this day seems to have a never-ending inferiority complex.  They SO want to be a respected world power, but they simply have never quite been able to pull it off.  You can only rule by intimidation for so long, and by the late 1980's they were losing their iron grip.  Unable to afford an arms race with the West, with a population begging, then demanding a better life, and with nations on their periphery they had effectively controlled since the end of WWII now beginning to stand up to them, the hopelessly exhausted USSR finally lost power.  

Their last (nominal) Communist leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, after desperately trying a series of life-saving institutional reforms, finally accepted the inevitable and officially dissolved the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991.

Most reading this probably haven't given the passing of the USSR much thought since that historic day 25 years ago.  But at least one person, one Vladimir Putin, probably hasn't let a day pass since that event 25 years ago without thinking about it.  And he isn't smiling.

S

The linchpin of 20th Century history

Here's another Paul Harvey-ish "The Rest of The Story" (stay with me here):

Those of us who stayed awake in history class already know the story of how this meek looking Serb...

 ...Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the heir to the Austo-Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia 100 years ago in Sarajevo. 

 The last photo taken of Ferdinand and Sophia before they were killed moments later.

This led to war between Austro-Hungary and Serbia, which also brought in Germany, England, France, Russia, the US, The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and others to what we know today as...

...World War I.

Because of Russia's disastrous showing under the corrupt Czar Nicholas his people revolted, eventually leading to the rise of....

...Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks/Communists.

After The Great War the victorious Allies put in place very harsh terms on the vanquished which brought great misery to average Germans, eventually leading to the rise of....

...Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party and World War II.

The new Post War League of Nations gave administration of the Mid East to France and Britain, who set up the boundaries of many of the present day countries there.

The newspapers still remind us every day how well THAT worked out! 

And of course Lenin's legacy brought us the Cold War...

 ...which lasted until the end of 1991.

All things considered, it was a pretty crappy century.

Now for The Rest Of The Story:  How exactly did Princip come to assassinate the Archduke and his wife?  He had fashioned a crude bomb which he dropped from a bridge onto the Archduke's automobile, but it bounced off the car's folded-back canvas top and exploded without causing injury to the Royals. 

To avoid capture Princip ducked into a nearby business to hide.  The Archduke insisted on completing his ceremonial rounds in Sarajevo so he set out again, but his driver MADE A WRONG TURN which took them right by the shop where Princip was hiding.

Seeing his opportunity, Princip came out and fired 2 shots at Ferdinand and Sophia, killing them both.  Many would argue that that wrong turn set off the chain of events that defined the 20th Century.

Without that wrong turn there might not have been an assassination, WWI, Lenin's revolution, Hitler's WWII, the Cold War, or the current Mid East debacle. 

It goes to show the tiniest things can have the most profound effects on history.

S

The blogger that almost wasn't

My dad, like many people of his generation, lived a very interesting life.  I've always found one era of his life in particular to be special.  

For many Texas boys of that time, due to the still-raging Great Depression, there weren't many career choices after high school outside of farming, and my dad had no intention of becoming a farmer.  Instead he became a soldier.

At only 17 my dad had to get his parents permission before he could enlist in the Army.  After his basic training he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division.  Today the 1st Cavalry Division arrives in battle by helicopters or in tanks or humvees.  In the late 1930's they arrived in battle on horseback.

No joke, my dad was a horse soldier.  They still had horse-drawn chuck wagons and caissons.  Mechanization was just being introduced into the US Army and therefore horses were still in use.  As weapons of war they were probably pretty useless, but they still existed.  He served under soon-to-be famous commanders such as George S. Patton (dad said he was one mean SOB).  They went on maneuvers all over the Southwest....once he rode a horse from San Antonio to El Paso (about 550 miles).  

After dad's horse was "requisitioned" by a Colonel to be his new polo mount dad was transferred to Troop Headquarters for a more agreeable job.  When his enlistment was almost up dad's commanding officer approached him and said he had received orders to go overseas on a new assignment.  He wanted his staff, including dad, to re-enlist and go with him to this exotic new post.

Dad, while tempted, had other plans.  He wanted to go back home and marry his sweetheart, my mom.  He reluctantly told his commanding officer he was mustering out of the army, thanks anyway.

Turns out that exotic overseas assignment was the Philippines, and the commanding officer was Colonel Jonathan M. Wainwright.  The same Jonathan M. Wainwright who eventually surrendered American forces to the Japanese at Corregidor after the three-month-long Battle of Bataan.  

The few survivors of that siege were sent on a horrific 80 mile forced march known as the Bataan Death March to a prison camp, and even fewer of them survived to see the Allies victorious in WWII.

I'm lucky to be here.  Thanks, dad, for your fateful decision. I'm REALLY glad you got to be my dad.  Happy Father's Day.  :)

Tomorrow I'll say a bit more about dad's involvement in WWII.  

S

I'm not sure what to think of this....

Rinspeed, an aftermarket car customizer in Europe, proposes to make an add-on pod for a Smart car, making it capable of carrying more stuff.   Isn't the whole idea of a Smart car to travel light?  When it's hooked up it sorta looks like a  WWII German troop carrier.  Maybe a fake machine gun on top for effect?  Make the Highway Patrol think twice before stopping you, for sure.  

I also read in the paper where Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo Bank, has agreed to pay a $148M fine to settle charges of illegal bid-rigging in years past.  That's it?  Really?  That would be like me robbing a bank (say Wells Fargo) of $1M, getting caught, and agreeing to pay a $500,000 fine.  And they say crime doesn't pay.  Ha!  I wanna see some "suits" busting rocks in the prison quarry!

Emma is doing much better.  Her digestive system seems to be performing as advertised.  Thanks for the prayers and good wishes on her behalf.

Hope y'all have a great weekend.

S