Moderation Takes Another Hit

Moderation in American politics is being squeezed. Longtime moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine has decided against running for another term. She cited the polarized atmosphere in the U.S. Senate as the main reason for her decision to retire, and she said the Senate has become "dysfunctional."

Moderates are always under some fire, simply because they don't always satisfy those more committed to a particular ideology, and they almost never satisfy those VERY committed to a particular philosophy. Unfortunately, I don't see any end to this situation, which has been developing in fits and spurts for decades, but which has intensified in more recent times, as a fairly large number of very conservative Republicans have been elected to both houses of Congress, threatening to take the country back to varying degrees of the Middle Ages, the Iron Age, and the Stone Age. Opponents of this agenda seem to have no other choice than to hold the line just as fanatically against a headlong retreat into the distant past.* Many more moderate and traditional Republican officeholders or candidates have moved rightward in an effort to retain their offices (or gain office) in the face of the highly activist conservative rightwing. We certainly see this with Mitt Romney, a moderate Republican, who now has almost gotten to the point of beating his chest to prove how conservative he is.

So Olympia Snowe will be gone. She tried to do as her former Republican Senate leader, Bob Dole, did; that is, " to reach across the aisle" to the other party and come to agreements that may not have satisfied the hard left or the hard right, but which tried to do what was good for the nation, not what was good for an ideology. I will miss you Senator Snowe, and so will the nation.

* In a certain "odd" way, "progressives" have become sort of "conservatives," as they have had to react to the aggressive push by the right wing to turn back the clock.

WORD HISTORY:
Snow-This word goes back to Indo European "sneigwh/snoigwh," which meant "snow." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "snaiwaz," which produced Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "snaw," with a long "a" sound, which then became "snow," the version that has endured for many hundreds of years. The verb was derived from the noun. Common in the other Germanic languages: (these are the noun forms) German has "Schnee," Low German Saxon has "Snee," West Frisian has "snie," Dutch has "sneeuw," Danish has "sne," Norwegian has "snø," Swedish has "snö," and Icelandic has "snjór."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Eisenhower, Part Four/Final

"Dwight D. Eisenhower" Part 4/Final

It was at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, France that Colonel-General Alfred Jodl* signed the surrender on behalf of the German Armed Forces on May 7, 1945. With the end of the war, Eisenhower undertook providing assistance to the German population in the American Occupation Zone, which stretched from west central Germany (Hessen) into much of the southern part of the country (Bavaria and part of Baden-Württemberg), with headquarters in Frankfurt-am-Main. The beginning of what came to be called the "Cold War" brought the Western Allies into potential conflict with the Soviet Union, and Germany became the center of this potential conflict; thus, the western nations determined to make the Germans in the western occupation zones part and parcel of the defensive measures against the Soviets and their satellite allies (in this case, mainly Poland and Czechoslovakia). Later, Eisenhower was named Chief of Staff of the Army, became president of Columbia University, and was the commander of NATO.**

Both major American political parties courted Eisenhower to run for president in 1948, but he did not get involved. In 1952, however, "Ike" defeated Senator Robert Taft for the Republican nomination, and he went on to win a landslide victory against Democrat (then Illinois Governor) Adlai Stevenson. A rematch in 1956 produced the same Eisenhower landslide. In 1952, Eisenhower chose (then Senator) Richard Nixon as his vice presidential running mate, although shortly thereafter a controversy erupted about a special fund maintained on Nixon's behalf.*** Eisenhower had heart troubles (he was a heavy smoker), and Nixon served ably in his stead during periods of illness by the president, including a heart attack.

Eisenhower was confronted by a number of problems during his two terms as president: the Korean War, where Eisenhower was able to get an armistice,**** tensions of the Cold War,***** including the crushing of a revolt in Communist-governed Hungary, and the desegregation of American schools, where Eisenhower, a supporter of civil rights, sent in the U.S. military to back up the desegregation of a schools in Arkansas. Eisenhower also promoted the interstate highway system in America, a system still very much with us today. As with many former Republican presidents, in my opinion, it is likely the moderate Eisenhower would be an Independent today, and maybe even vote Democratic at times, especially in these more recent times of rightwing extremes in the Republican Party. Eisenhower died of congestive hear failure in 1969. While not a great speaker, Eisenhower's presidency has been reassessed to the upside by many historians. Ike loved golf, and just to show how images can stick in some minds, a late friend of mine (from my father's generation), and a Republican, once told me, "The only thing I remember about Eisenhower was he was always on the golf course on the news." The obvious implication is that Eisenhower didn't do anything as president, but that is unfair.


* For info on Jodl, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/10/german-military-leadersnazi-erajodl.html

** NATO stands for "North Atlantic Treaty Organization," and it really came into existence in 1949 as a military alliance by nations in western Europe and North America to counter any threat by the Soviet Union or its allies against member nations, as the treaty considered an attack on any one nation to be an attack on all members. The organization still exists, although the Soviet Union is now defunct, and the alliance's role has changed to protect an increasing number of member nations against attack or threats, and to act in common interest.

*** Nixon was a senator from California and a group of his supporters collected money to "promote" him during his time in the Senate. The money was to be used to pay for hotels, public appearances of a totally political nature, and political mailings during Nixon's first term in the Senate. Questions arose as to how the money was actually being used, and who was donating to the fund. Fairly or unfairly, Americans can be very suspicious of special funds and politicians, and after Eisenhower chose Nixon for his running mate, accusations came that Nixon was financially benefiting from the fund. The story became a hot topic, and there were rumors Eisenhower would "dump Nixon" from the ticket. Nixon made a televised speech where he defended himself, saying that he and his family were of modest means, and that he had not gotten money from the fund to enrich his lifestyle. In the best remembered part of the speech, Nixon said he had gotten a little dog as a gift, called "Checkers," and that no matter how much his opponents railed against him, he would not give the dog back. He asked viewers to contact Republican leaders about whether he should stay on the ticket with Eisenhower. The outcome from the public was overwhelmingly in Nixon's favor, giving Eisenhower little choice but to continue with Nixon.

**** Eisenhower personally went to Korea and toured the area. The death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (the backer of China and North Korea) presented an opening for serious negotiations which ended with a divided Korea, but the end to the open warfare and to the mounting casualties.

***** The "Cold War" was the term used for the tensions between the Communist dominated parts of the world, primarily in eastern Europe, and what were either basically free nations, or nations whose leaders were opposed to communism. The came about as the opposite of a "hot" war, where bombs and fire were regularly exchanged.

WORD HISTORY:
Steer-This is the noun meaning "young male ox, young bull." The origins of this word are uncertain, although many believe it is Indo European, and that it may be related to "stand," in the sense of "strength," but that is speculation. Old Germanic had "steuraz," meaning "bull, ox," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "steor," with the same meaning. German has "Stier," some Low German has "stiar," Dutch has "stier," Swedish has "tjur," Danish has "tyr" (notice the absence of the beginning "s" in these two North Germanic languages). "Apparently," Frisian, Norwegian and Icelandic no longer use a form of the word.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Eisenhower, Part Three

"Dwight D. Eisenhower" Part 3

Eisenhower made some crucial (and often controversial) decisions during the war. General George Patton often got into trouble during the war,* and Eisenhower reprimanded him, but he also continued to recognize Patton's talents that could help bring the war to a successful conclusion, supporting the naming of Patton to command the U.S. Third Army, a critical force for the breaking of the German lines in Normandy. Further, the launching of the D-Day invasion was hampered by bad weather conditions, but Eisenhower made a bold decision to go forward, catching the Germans sort of "off guard," because they did not consider the weather conditions favorable for the invasion, and many commanders, including Field Marshal Rommel, were away from their commands. Eisenhower also prepared a statement accepting responsibility for the failure of the invasion, if that result had taken place. How many people do any of us know who would take such responsibility?

In advance of the invasion, Eisenhower made it a point to visit the units to be involved in the invasion, and there is a famous photograph of him talking with American paratroopers who would soon be dropped in the rear areas of Normandy. In September 1944 Eisenhower went along with British Field Marshal Montgomery's plan to drop paratroops behind the German lines in the Netherlands in conjunction with a ground offensive. The operation was very costly, as the Germans reacted quickly and killed or captured many of the paratroops, and the operation did not succeed in its overall objectives. In December 1944, Hitler launched a major winter offensive against American forces near the Belgian-German border. The initial success of the attack brought a controversial decision from Eisenhower to place British Field Marshal Montgomery in charge of operations in the area; thus placing American troops under Montgomery's command, something that did not sit well with some Americans.** During this same time period, Eisenhower was promoted to "General of the Army (Five Star General)," the equivalent to a British or German field marshal. As the war neared its end, Eisenhower made the decision NOT to send forces to capture Berlin, but to permit the Soviets to take the city.***

As the war ended, Eisenhower ordered extensive documentation, including photos and films, of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps under control of the Western Allies. The documentation served to prosecute Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg Trials in the postwar period, but it still serves to this day to refute those who deny the perpetration of the atrocities, including absurd Nazi apologists.

Next, the final installment on Eisenhower.

* I'll be doing an article on General Patton in the near future, and I will cover these issues then, but Patton first got into trouble by slapping a soldier in a hospital during the Sicily campaign. The incident became a big story, and Eisenhower required a public apology from Patton, including to the units of the Seventh Army, then under his command.

** Montgomery's claim to have saved the Americans made the controversy even worse, but "Monty," like Patton, was never one to fail to build up his own image.

*** For more information on the Berlin decision, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/09/allies-berlin-1945.html

WORD HISTORY:
Curse-This word, meaning "a spoken wish that harm come to someone," has a very shaky history. Attempts to connect this word to an ancestral term have been unsatisfactory, at best, as "apparently" there are no words in the other Germanic languages, past or present, that qualify as a relative, nor does it seem to have been borrowed from Latin or Celtic.^ Anyway, Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "curs," before the modern version. The verb form in Old English was "cursian," and from the notion of "putting a curse on someone," came the idea during the 1200s of "using profanity" ("curse words") perhaps in the sense, "damn those people who steal" (literally, a "curse"), and then later meaning any profanity. "Cuss," the verb form meaning "swear," is from the American dialect of English dating from the early 1800s, where the "r" sound died out.^^ I can hear the English now, "Those damned Americans!"

^ Some speculate it "could" have been borrowed from Latin "cursus," which is the ancestor of English "course," as in "the path taken by a river or a runner, and also a class ('course') taken in education." Celtic was replaced in part of Britain by the Germanic dialects that became English; thus it was thought that perhaps it was borrowed from the language of the Britons, a Celtic dialect, but no successful connection has been made. Just as with Germanic, there are no "apparent" words, past or present, in either Latin or Celtic that seem to match up with "curse."

^^ Essentially the same thing happened with "gal," which is really "girl," where the vowel sound became altered and the "r" died out.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Eisenhower, Part Two

"Dwight D. Eisenhower" Part 2

In the early summer of 1942 Eisenhower was put in charge of U.S. forces in the "European Theater of Operations" in England, and when Allied forces invaded "French North Africa"* in November 1942, Eisenhower was made Supreme Commander of these forces. During the course of operations in North Africa, then in Sicily, and then on mainland Italy, Eisenhower was confronted by the problems of a multi-national military coalition of American, Free French, and British (and Commonwealth) forces, all with prominent commanders not known for holding their egos in check.** Perhaps his prior experience with General MacArthur helped him, as he navigated this difficult terrain, pitted with egotistical personalities, with more than passing marks, although bruised egos were not uncommon. With North Africa and Sicily cleared of Axis forces, and with an ongoing slogging bout as the Germans slowly retreated up the Italian "boot," Allied emphasis shifted to an invasion of France, and Eisenhower was made its Supreme Commander.

As the Supreme Allied Commander, Eisenhower was in overall charge of planning for the massive invasion to be conducted against German forces defending Hitler's "Atlantic Wall."*** One of the key questions involved where the Allies would actually land. The easiest (in terms of distance) and thus the most inviting area was right across the English Channel in the area of the French city of Calais. It was in this area, however, that the "Atlantic Wall" was much more of a reality, causing Eisenhower and Allied leaders to look elsewhere to increase the chances of a successful landing. Somewhat further down the French coast, and thus further from embarkation ports in England, **** lay the area of Normandy. Here the Germans had been trying to make this portion of the "Atlantic Wall" a reality, but their efforts had not been completed by the early summer of 1944. This area was chosen by the Allies for the invasion. French Resistance forces were employed to help disrupt German communications and transportation networks leading to what would become the battle area. An aerial bombing campaign was also used to damage and disrupt all sorts of transportation facilities throughout France to inhibit German reinforcements from reaching the critical area before the landing had gained a foothold. Now came the big decision...when to land.

* "French North Africa" was composed of the French possessions of French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, all with sea coast along the Mediterranean Sea. While France had surrendered to Germany in 1940, the surrender agreement permitted limited French military forces to remain in her colonies, as well as in a portion of France itself, usually called "Vichy France," as Paris and the periphery of France along the Atlantic was under German occupation. Upon the Allied invasion of French North Africa, Germany occupied most of "Vichy France," with Italy occupying a segment along the Mediterranean (essentially the "French Riviera").

** Eisenhower had to deal military leaders like Bernhard Montgomery (Britain), Charles deGaulle (Free French), and U.S. generals, George Patton and Mark Clark. He also had to deal with his superiors, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

*** The "Atlantic Wall" was part bluff and part reality. Huge artillery pieces in reinforced concrete emplacements were meant to intimidate Allied invasion planners and any Allied troops assigned for landing operations, as well as to boost German morale to repel any invasion. Nazi propaganda films touted these guns and other fortifications with these purposes in mind. The thing about the big guns was, intimidating as they were, they could only fire out to sea, as they were in fixed fortifications. Once Allied troops landed, the guns could not be turned for use against targets on land. It wasn't until early 1944, after Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was given command of the German forces likely to face the invasion, that much better defensive preparations were made to defeat an Allied invasion. Rommel firmly believed the invasion forces would have to be stopped at the water's edge, before gaining a foothold on the beaches. He had millions of mines laid along beach areas of northwestern France, and he had various underwater obstacles installed to hinder Allied landing craft. Further, many inland areas were flooded and fitted with mines and traps to prohibit Allied paratroopers from landing behind the beach areas. It was under Rommel's command that the "Atlantic Wall" became much more of a reality, especially at certain key points, rather than a propaganda ploy.

**** Not only were troops and equipment to be sent out from these areas for the initial landing, but also supplies had to be sent on a continuing basis once troops were on the beaches or had advanced inland.

WORD HISTORY:
Stag-The origins of this word are very uncertain. There are some theories about the early history of the word, but they are just theories. It is likely, but not a certainty, that English borrowed the word in the 1100s as "stagga" from Old Norse "steggr," a term which was used for a couple of adult male animals. Where Old Norse got the word is unknown, although some connect it to Old Germanic (Old Norse is a Germanic language), but that connection is very dubious, in my opinion. Why it was used in English only for an adult male deer is unclear. Later it became "stagge," before the modern version. In America during the mid 1800s, the word took on the slang meaning of "relating to males only" (usually in "stag party"), and also, "solitary male" ("go stag;" that is, "go to a social function without female accompaniment").

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Eisenhower, Part One

"Dwight D. Eisenhower" Part 1

This well known American general and 34th President of the United States traces his ancestry back to Germany, where the name was "Eisenhauer" (pronounced the same as the altered form "Eisenhower"), which literally meant "iron hewer;" that is, someone who fashions iron into usable forms by "striking" and "trimming" it (see "Word History" below). The future president was born in Texas, but raised in Kansas. He attended West Point, and served in the United States in the newly developing tank forces during World War One, where his organizing abilities received attention from his superiors. After the war, Eisenhower was part of an army study of the U.S. road system, an experience he later used as president for the development of the interstate highway system. He also served for a time in the Panama Canal Zone and in France. During the early part of the Great Depression, Eisenhower served as aide to General Douglas MacArthur, and participated in dispersal of the so called "Bonus Army" in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1932.* He went to the Philippines with MacArthur during the 1930s, where his disagreements with the colorful general may have contributed to MacArthur's later off-the-cuff remark about Eisenhower as, "The best clerk I ever had."** Eisenhower returned to the U.S. and served in a variety of staff assignments, including under General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff. it was this assignment which put Eisenhower on the road to fame. The Japanese attacked the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, America declared war, and Hitler and Mussolini both then declared war on the United States. The stage was set for an American military leader to go against Germany and Italy.

* After World War One, Congress granted veterans of the World War era special "bonus" certificates that could be redeemed in full for money in 1945. The severity of the economic collapse and the resulting Great Depression left many veterans out of work, prompting a number of groups to spring up across the country advocating immediate payment of the "bonus" money. In 1932, a number of veterans, their families and supporters came from around the country on a "Bonus March" on Washington as the "Bonus Army," as it came to be called. The "army" camped out in tents and shacks, but some also tried to take over buildings. There were outbreaks of violence, and some people were killed, leading then President Herbert Hoover to order troops to disperse the "Bonus Army." General MacArthur, who was in charge of the operation, exceeded his orders and had the "Bonus Army" routed with cavalry and tanks, and ordered their encampment burned. The whole spectacle played out in newsreels at movie houses across the country. The incident is partially credited with giving Franklin Roosevelt a landslide victory over Hoover in the election later that year. For a little more, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-depression-part-nine.html

** My father served in the Pacific during World War Two, where General MacArthur was in charge of American operations. He liked MacArthur very much, but he was never very keen on Eisenhower, perhaps due to Eisenhower having served in Europe during the war. Even though a staunch Republican throughout his life (with some reservations not long before his death), my father was never all that taken with Eisenhower as president either, preferring his vice president, Richard Nixon. Anyway, my dad often quoted MacArthur's line about Eisenhower being the best clerk he ever had.

WORD HISTORY:
Hew-While not real common in every day speech, this word is still around. It goes back to Indo European "khou/khowa," which had the notion "to strike, to hit, to cut by striking." This gave Old Germanic "hawwan(an)," with the same basic meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "heawan," with the meaning "to hack, to chop (both with that notion of 'cutting by striking'). Later this became "hewen," before the modern version. The noun "hewer" was derived from the verb. Forms of the word are common throughout the other Germanic languages: West Frisian "houwe," Dutch "houwen," German "hauen," some Low German "heiwe," other Low German "hauen," Swedish "hugga," Icelandic "höggva," Norwegian "hugge"/"hogga" (depending upon dialect), and Danish "hugge."

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Thirteen

This was first published in February 2012.


"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 8 (Final)

The Popular Front's failure to unite in the governance of Spain left the government unable to stabilize the country. The government tried to pacify the more revolutionary elements on the left with worker programs (public works, as unemployment was high) and the release of leftist political prisoners,* and thus bring them into the government, but the group was essentially set in its demands for much more dramatic change, and its leaders hoped to replace the more moderate (in their view) government with a truly revolutionary government, and communist influence was rising within the revolutionary element of the leftists. Even the moderate ideas from the government brought intense opposition from the rightists, whose armed militias also wrought havoc (attacks on leftist leaders**) in the hopes of further destabilizing the Popular Front government, and thus bringing the army to the rescue to establish a military dictatorship. The rising power of the (fascist) Falange made the group more apt to not only take on the leftists, but also to try to bully and attack more moderate rightists. A Falangist hit squad killed pro-Republic officers of the urban police, and in retaliation, a prominent rightist politician was then arrested and killed by police while in custody. The situation was on the verge of an explosion, and rightists proclaimed the nation would be taken over by communists.

Rightist and army leaders decided to move to overthrow the government in mid July 1936. In Spanish Morocco, the military took control quickly, with plans to send troops stationed there to the Spanish mainland to aid rightists involved in the coup in Spain itself. As word of revolt in Spanish Morocco spread, leftists began to arm for action against the imminent rightist coup. The coup failed to displace the Spanish government, but it did succeed in gaining footholds in parts of the country from which to launch further attacks on the Republic. Troops arrived from Spanish Morocco to support the rebellion, and the government distributed arms to civilians to resist the insurrection. The war lasted until 1939 and ended with a victory by the Nationalists (rightists and fascists), led by General Francisco Franco, who then became the leader of Spain.***

As the civil war approached, the two sides had become so polarized, there was seemingly just no way to reconcile the differences. The rightists called the leftists "marxists" and "communists," and the leftists called the rightists "fascists." Eventually (Fascist) Italy and (Nazi) Germany sent aid and actual military forces to aid the rightist (Nationalist) cause, while the Soviet Union sent aid and military advisers to support the Republic. With other major nations still trying to recover from the Great Depression, they had little desire to get involved in the war in Spain; thus ceding the field, correctly or incorrectly, to the extremes, where support of either side was political poison.****

The are many books and articles about the Spanish Civil War, so if the subject is of further interest to you, please check out your local library. A good source, which I used, is "The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939," by Anthony Beevor, published in London, in 2006, as a reprint and update of the original release from 1982.

* These political prisoners had been locked up by the previous rightist government. The release of any such prisoners by the leftist government only confirmed to the rightists what they had told voters during the recent election campaign (February 1936), that "criminals" would be released into the general population (remember, the leftists, however, didn't view these prisoners as "criminals"). The problem for the government was, it not only did not appease the far left, but it inflamed the right, only adding to their charges that the country was heading for anarchy.

** There were then often leftist retaliations against rightists, and the whole situation began to spiral out of control.

*** I'm not going to actually re-fight the Spanish Civil War here, but for a little more info, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred-twenty.html

**** Even with the limited aid of the Soviet Union, the successful labeling of the pro-Republic forces (also called "Republicans" or "Loyalists") as "communists" would have set off the political right in many countries, including in the United States; while the successful labeling of the Nationalists as "fascists" would have set off the political left in other nations, including the U.S. No doubt about it, the vast military support of the Nationalists by the two fascist powers (Italy and Germany) certainly gave credibility to the Republican charge of their opponents being "fascists;" although General Franco never repaid Hitler's and Mussolini's help, as he kept Spain out of World War Two, which proved a wise decision, and Hitler once said something to the effect that meeting with the difficult Spaniard was worse than going to the dentist to have several teeth extracted.

WORD HISTORY:
Front-Some believe this word traces back to an Indo European source, but evidence is scant, at best; thus I prefer to say the origins of the word are uncertain. Latin had "frons," which meant "forehead," and from this also developed the notion of "things to the fore, things that face an opposing item, the outermost area of something" ("frontier" is derived from the same source; "border, outermost area of a nation, or region"). Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited the word from Latin as "front," with the same general meaning. English borrowed the word from French, with the same spelling and meanings (including "forehead"), during the 1200s. The word also had developed the military meaning of "place where opposing forces face off/clash," as well as the later political term, "unified group opposing someone or some other group," and it also came to be applied to meteorological events in terms of advancing weather systems, "cold front" and "warm front." The verb form developed from the noun with the meaning, "to form a group to face or confront an enemy/opponent," and the additional, "to cover or conceal information by joining together with the same story line, or to stick to a story line." German also borrowed the word from French as "Front" (all German nouns are capitalized, it is feminine; thus, "die Front," "die" being pronounced as "dee"), with the same military, political and weather meanings, but German didn't borrow the word until the 1600s.

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Twelve

This was first publish in February 2012


"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 7

The reactionary rightist government policies during the two years prior to the election (February 1936), and the crushing of the 1934 rebellion (mainly by miners) by the rightists, brought increasing numbers on the political left to advocate revolution. Others tried to work with the rightist government to some extent to moderate the rightist policies. The election brought all leftist elements together, however, due to their opposition to the rightist government. The electoral victory by the left, called the Popular Front, then brought the political right into a similar split, with more and more rightists convinced of the need to take down the republic and overthrow the new government by force,* but others on the right wanted to remain within the democratic process. More and more the center of the political spectrum was being squeezed.

Celebrations by the victorious Popular Front supporters brought large crowds into the streets across Spain. Rightists and rightist press stories depicted the country as descending into anarchy, and they demanded the implementation of martial law. Some rightists and some military leaders began to plot a coup to takeover the Spanish government. The existing rightist government resigned and the new leftist government took power early, but a significant part of the socialists refused to join the government, feeling they had been let down by the last leftist government. So, the leftists had united for the election, but they could not unite to govern the nation, leaving the government in a weakened condition against mounting rightist opposition. Playing into the hands of the right, some peasants and workers wanted revenge for the rightist policies of the previous two years, and some churches, large private estates, and rightist political facilities were vandalized. This only led the rightists to use such incidents as evidence of the country's plunge into anarchy, and rightists began to expand their paramilitary forces to go after the leftists. One group of Falangist** paramilitaries fired on some workers, which brought a severe crackdown from the now leftist government. Leftist groups further played into the hands of rightists by staging strikes, with some protests bringing attacks on Church and rightist properties. Some Spaniards began to look to the army to restore order, and several army leaders were already involved in planning an overthrow of the government. The government crackdown on the Falange only brought it recruits from hardcore rightists.

*The hardcore rightists saw the election loss as devastating, as they had enjoyed overwhelming financial advantages, had used threats and outright force against leftist voters, had had leftist officials arrested, and had stuffed ballot boxes with rightists votes, but they had still lost the election. While not completely unified during the election, a number of rightists groups formed the so called "National Front" to oppose the leftist "Popular Front."

** The Falange was the Spanish fascist party, founded in the early 1930s, and modeled greatly upon Mussolini's fascists in Italy. Members hated communism, socialism and democracy.

WORD HISTORY:
Hart-While not all that commonly used today, this noun now means a male deer after its fifth year, and it is used for family names and in place names. It traces back to Indo European "kher," which meant "horn." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "herutaz," meaning "male deer, stag, buck." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "heorot," with the same meaning. This later became "hert," before the modern version. Forms are common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Hirsch," some Low German dialects have "Hersch," while other dialects have "Hirsk," Dutch has "hert" (all of these forms mean "male deer, stag, buck"), Frisian has "hart," which means "deer," and Danish, Norwegian, Swedish "hjort" (all mean stag, buck). I could not find a form in Icelandic, where such a form apparently died out.

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Eleven

This was first published in early 2012.

"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 6

The inclusion of the far right in the Spanish government coalition* brought many problems for the more moderate rightists, but many average Spaniards suffered from the rightist government policies in general, and from the actions of wealthy landowners and business people who no longer feared government intervention, as the government now favored the upper classes. As a consequence, farm worker wages were cut severely (in some cases, in half!). The military reforms were halted and army officers who supported the Republic were often forced out and replaced by right wing supporters, who also gained promotions. The far right wing was difficult for some other coalition members of the government to tolerate, and the government could not function;** thus in February 1936 new elections were held.

The election campaign turned out to be absolutely vicious from the right wing. Funded by wealthy interests, the right wing had lots of money to spend on pamphlets, leaflets, and radio, often laced with exaggeration or blatant lies. They told voters that if the left won, the victors would come and take their children away from them, burn down businesses and privately owned homes, criminals would be released from prisons into the general population, and Jews and Freemasons would rise in power (remember, Spain was overwhelmingly Catholic). They also had money to pay thugs to break up opposition meetings and to intimidate voters. Some business owners leaned on their employees to vote for the "right." Like scenes from "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," where the political machine went all out to halt their opposition from being heard, rightist groups blocked roads to prevent pro-Republic speakers from attending rallies, rightist mayors had Republican and leftist supporters and poll watchers locked up to prevent them from voting or doing their jobs (leaving only rightist poll watchers in some locations), and rightist officials halted public transportation to prevent poor people from reaching the polls easily. Rightists also closed polls early in areas where peasants (overwhelmingly pro-Republic) traditionally came into town later, because of working all day. Ballot boxes were seized, their ballots removed, and then refilled with rightist marked ballots. Things were so bad, in some villages with strong Republican sentiments, when the ballots were counted, there we no votes for the "Popular Front."*** In the end, however, in spite of all of the shenanigans and illegal actions of the right, the close vote went to the Popular Front.

* The previous "leftist" government was a coalition of moderate "left-leaning" Republicans (see note at end), socialists, and Marxists. The new "rightist" government was something of the opposite, with more moderate members and pro-monarchists to extreme right wing members, with the extreme right essentially being fascists, without the actual designation as such (yet). NOTE: Spanish Republicans were basically left-leaning and pro-republic; that is, they wanted representative government, as opposed to Spain's recent dictatorship of the 1920s and the monarchy from the past centuries. Americans and people from countries with representative governments in those times (and certainly today) would hardly have seen this as radical, but in Spain, representative government was controversial, as entrenched interests saw it as a threat.

** Just an interjection of opinion here: far right extremists may well have intended for the government to be dysfunctional, as many right wing reactionaries wanted a complete takeover of the government, and their leader installed as, what would have been, a dictator. In more than thirty years now in the U.S., we have seen how the political right has beaten up on "government" by cutting funding and personnel, but then saying how dysfunctional government is. The debate over efficiency in government is a valid one, but the relentless assault on government, and the preaching of "hate the government" by right wing extremists, has made many Americans forget the good government can do to help average and less fortunate people. That's been the object of the assault by the right wing, in my opinion, and it has been to the absolute detriment of the country. A disconnected and inattentive (sometimes distracted) electorate is then overwhelmed by disinformation funded by wealthy interests. This is not to say that those left of center don't get into the disinformation business too, but they "generally" are not as well funded. I'm NOT saying most American conservatives or Republicans want to establish a dictatorship.

*** The "Popular Front" was a coalition of various pro-Republic, leftist, and communist political groups bound together to oppose Spain's rightists in the election.

WORD HISTORY:
Bull-This is the noun meaning, "adult male animal, typically raised for breeding." The ultimate origins of this word are unclear and I am not "sold" on any particular theory, so I'll only begin with it's Old Germanic form, "bullon/bulon," with that same basic meaning, although seemingly used only for "cattle" in ancient times, then later expanded to other animals, like elephants. Whether this then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bula," with the same meaning, is uncertain, as the word only shows up in texts in the later Old English period. That doesn't mean the word wasn't around originally among the common people, as English also had "steer" (other Germanic languages also had forms of "steer"), which may have been used by the more literate part of English society back then. Or, it could have been borrowed from Old Norse (North Germanic) "boli," especially since it shows up in texts at the time when Old Norse was impacting English. Since the closest relatives of English (German, Dutch, and Frisian) all have forms of the word, did they too borrow it from North Germanic? Or did Old English have a form brought along with the migration of the Anglo-Saxons from the continent to Britain, which stayed among the common people and then was reinforced into broader usage by the borrowing or reinforcement from Old Norse? Whatever the case, "bula" later became "bule," before the modern version. "If" English (and the other West Germanic languages) borrowed the word from North Germanic, it is ironic, as Icelandic is now the only North Germanic language to still use a form of the word, and it still has the original "boli" for "bull." Norwegian, Swedish and Danish no longer use forms of the word. German has "Bulle," Low German Saxon has "Bull," some Low German has "Boll," Dutch has "bul," and Frisian has "bolle."

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Ten

This was first published in early 2012.

The Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 5

With a rightist government now in control, landowners and many business owners, in general, often cut wages for workers and refused to hire union workers. The army was used to help harvest crops, so that landowners did not have to rely upon union workers. Some union workers were beaten and thousands became destitute because of unemployment.* With a pro-business government in power, owners began to ignore labor laws (wages were withheld by some owners, for instance) and the government was generally unresponsive to calls for enforcement.

When the unions announced their intention to strike to protest withheld wages and the generally poor working conditions and treatment of workers, the rightist government outlawed strikes (they called them "revolutionary"), closed the union newspaper, and had many union leaders arrested in an attempt to preempt the strike. While the strike went forward in many locations, it soon faltered without the arrested leaders. This only encouraged the rightist government to crack down even more, and the far right political organization was admitted into the government. This prompted some uprisings in certain areas, mainly in the industrialized and mining region of the north, and the government sent in troops to crush the rebellion in October 1934.

* Spain was heavily agricultural, more so the further south one went. One of the problems for agricultural workers was, it was seasonal work. A person had to make enough money to live on planting, caring for, and then harvesting crops, until the process was started again in the planting time of year. Poor wages and less demand for products because of the Great Depression left many workers desperate. Refusal to hire union workers left many of these workers near starvation.

WORD HISTORY:
Shirt/Skirt-While English uses both words, closely related to "short," they are really the same word going back in time, with "shirt" using the softer "sh" pronunciation and "skirt" the harder sounding "sk." They trace back to Indo European "sker," which meant "cut." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "s(h)kurtijon," with the meaning "a cut off, or shortened, garment." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "scyrte," with the same meaning. Later it became "shirte," before the modern version. In modern times, it is pretty much used exclusively for a man's upper body garment, but in the past, it was not uncommon for it to be used in similar context for a woman's garment, with "blouse" now more commonly used. Skirt has the same history, except it was borrowed into English from Old Norse (a North Germanic language; English is West Germanic), which had "skyrta," in the late 1200s, which also meant "shirt." The change in meaning from "garment worn around the upper body" to "woman's garment worn from the waist, a shortened form of lady's dress," is not completely known, but similar meaning change took place in other West Germanic dialects, where in most cases, forms of the word (shirt/skirt) mean "apron." Perhaps the general meaning of "cut off garment" was what really prevailed in the specific meaning change. A verb form, "skirt," meaning "around the border or edge," came from the noun in the 1600s. The notion is perhaps from the garment "wrapping around (bordering) parts of the body;" thus, "don't skirt the issue" (don't just go around the main issue) and "outskirts of the city" (area encircling the city), or again, "cutting off an issue, or cutting off going directly into a city," might have been the reason for the terms. Forms of "shirt/skirt" are quite common in the other Germanic languages: German has both "Schürze" and "Schurz" (“apron"), Low German Saxon has "Schört" ("apron"), Dutch has "schort" ("apron"), Swedish has "skjorta" ("shirt"), Danish and Norwegian have "skjorte" ("shirt"), Icelandic has "skyrta" ("shirt"). I could not find a form in modern Frisian, but Frisian once had "skerte/skorte."

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Nine

This was first published in early 2012.

"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 4

The Spanish Republic was set against the major backdrop of the Great Depression. Escalating unemployment had an impact on Spain, just as it did in many other countries. After two years of  leftist coalition government (1931-1933), new elections were in the offing, and the governing coalition was showing the strains of policy decisions, which had been altered by the stiff opposition encountered by the political right. The farther left on the political spectrum a person was, the more likely that person was to be disappointed in the government's progress in moving Spain into a more equitable society. While those of the more moderate center-left political view saw much progress, the political right, by comparison, was totally mobilized against the government, and wealthy landowners and industrialists hired groups of thugs, ah, I mean, individuals, to break (literally) strikes and protests by violence (to be fair, some protests contained acts of violence, also). Powerful moneyed interests funded a campaign to tar the left with being anti-Catholic (some were, but certainly not all) and even communistic (again, some of the far left were communists, but overall, the left was more in the model of other left-leaning groups in other European countries).* The deluge of money spent by the right convinced many a Spaniard to believe the stories, and the election went to the political right, some of whom promised special interest groups they would repeal the laws initiated by the government from 1931 to 1933. Some right wing extremists admired and openly praised Mussolini's Fascist Italy and the new fascist dictator of Germany, Nazi Adolf Hitler. The Spanish political scene was becoming more and more polarized, and less prone to compromise.

* All "democracy" is not created equally. Those individuals with lots of money to spend on political campaigns often have a bigger say in politics than the average person. The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that unleashed the so called "superpacs" on Americans is a case in point, as it permits corporations, unions and individuals (guess which ones have more money?) to contribute unlimited amounts of money as independent expenditures for political purposes. That means independent of specific campaigns. For example, political action committee (PAC) "Americans For Apple Pie" (fictitious, as far as I know) can raise unlimited amounts from corporations, unions and individuals to support candidate "John Rambleon," but the candidate cannot legally be involved with that PAC. While it is not a given, as we've seen in the ongoing Republican contest for the 2012 presidential nomination, PACs "tend" to run very negative ads against those opposing their "chosen" candidate. Wait until the Republicans have a nominee and the actual campaign starts! Then the Democratic PACs will be on the offensive too. This upcoming election may well be the nastiest ever. And then there are the races for governor and Congress, too!

WORD HISTORY:
Stead-This word traces back to Indo European "sta/steh," with the notion of "stand," which then produced, "stetis," with the notion of "standing, being in place." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "stadiz," with the general meaning "place, spot, location." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "stede," also with the meaning "place, location, position." Some English dialects apparently later spelled it "sted," before the modern version. It is more common today in the compounds "instead" (literally "in place of") and "homestead," but also used alone, although less commonly, as in "In Mary's stead, Judy went to the meeting." After the Germanic dialects that became English left northern Germany for Britain, forms of the word in some of the other Germanic dialects developed the idea of "town, city," (see below) in addition to just the meaning "place." Very common in various forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Stadt" (city), "Statt" ("place, spot") and "Stätte" (stead, living place); Low German Saxon has "Stääd" ("place") and "Stad" ("city"), some Low German dialect has "Städ" (stead) and "Staut" (city); Dutch has stad (city), West Frisian "stêd" (city) and "stee" (place); Icelandic "staður" (place); Danish has "stad" (city) and "sted" (place); Norwegian has "sted" (place); and Swedish has "stad" (town).

The World In Protest, Revolution or Civil War? Part Eight

This was first published in early 2012.

"Polarization of the Spanish Civil War" Part 3

Catalonia, a more industrialized region of northeastern Spain, was granted regional autonomy by the government of the Spanish Republic. The region had many union people and strong socialist sentiments.* The Basque region** of northern Spain also sought local autonomy (some wanted outright independence), and these developments brought serious concern from the army leadership, which was fearful of Spain literally breaking up into independent entities, or with regional governments being stronger than the national government.*** The Spanish army had traditionally tried to keep Spain stable and many people looked to it to provide guidance.

The army officer corps, or more precisely, a substantial part of it, saw the establishment of the republic with a bit of apprehension. Right wing newspapers inflamed fears in many in the army leadership and other Spaniards with a bombardment (no pun intended) of stories proclaiming how the Republicans (not to be confused with America's Republicans) were against the Church, private property, and the army. While there was truth in these basic assertions, there were also blatant falsehoods repeated over and over to prove their point.**** For instance, the army officers were required to swear an oath to the republic (they had previously sworn such an oath to the monarchy), but some (few) were so opposed to the republic, they chose to give up their army positions. The right wing press told the Spanish public that the officers were forced out, without pay, and that they would be destitute. The truth was, the officers were put on "reserve" status, and were accordingly paid. Discrediting out and out lies can be very difficult, however, and those on the right continued to believe the stories, and repeat them. To make matters worse, the government minister overseeing the army wanted officers to make a decision about taking the oath quickly, or face the possibility of not receiving pay if they chose to leave their positions. This gave a certain validity to the right wing charge that officers were being "forced out" and that they would be destitute. Whether the minister realized his mistake, or just decided against implementing it, no officers were deprived of pay (based upon what I have read). Further, some army officers were arrested for the role they played in the dictatorship of the 1920s, primarily in North Africa.***** All of this made army officers uneasy about the new republic.

And still further, the government wanted a review of officer promotions granted during the dictatorship. While not all promotions were reviewed, or reversed, the anger in the officer corps continued to build, especially since pro-Republican officers (there were some) were often given special treatment and advancements. Numerous army installations were closed, as the new government tried to scale back on army outlays, although some senior officers were put into retirement with full pay (a major expense for the government). The reduction in the army's size meant fewer promotions for ambitious officers, and this too added to anger and frustration within the officer corps.

* Keep in mind, workers around the world didn't form unions because they one day were sitting around with nothing to do and one of them said, "Gee, what can we do to bedevil wealthy business people." Mistreatment by business owners, low wages and horrible working conditions made workers depend upon one another for help and support, and the idea of joining together to force better conditions and wages was seen as an effective way to add balance to business-labor relations. I used the word "force," because, let's be honest, most owners were NOT going to just give workers better pay and conditions, because it was the right thing to do, no matter how much religion they professed to have. Forget the religion! All of this was about one thing, for better or for worse, MONEY! Remember for example, the Russian Tsars (Czars, alternate spelling) professed Christian Orthodoxy, and the Spanish monarchy was vastly entangled with Christianity (after the Reformation, that specifically being Roman Catholicism), but that didn't make the leaders try to help the vast majority of their people, who were very poor. No, instead they chose to support the upper classes and business interests in a one-sided manner. Americans can draw their own conclusions as to any resemblance to a particular philosophy present in this country.

** The Basques are a people "thought" to have inhabited parts of western Europe prior to the arrival of Indo European speakers. Their language is not Indo European, and attempts to connect it to other non Indo European languages have left many questions, although it "appears" to be a part of "Vasconic," an ancient language family that was eventually replaced, with a few exceptions, by Indo European speakers. The origin of the Basques and their language is a highly controversial subject, but "apparently" the Basques are a pretty unique people among the modern peoples of the world, and they can "bask" in their uniqueness ... hm, okay, so that wasn't such a good one. The Basques inhabit part of northern Spain and part of southern France, both in the general area of the Pyrenees Mountains. Quite a number of Basques emigrated to America, primarily in the mid 1800s.

*** For those who followed my extensive series, "The German Question," you should recall the problems of the "old" German Empire (The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), where the individual German states tended to be more powerful than the collective empire.

**** I say there was truth in the basic assertions, because some of the more extreme elements on the left were not shy in saying these things, and they actually wanted a major shake-up in Spanish society. Other parts of the coalition were simply left-leaning, and they did not favor truly radical measures. A big problem for the new left-leaning government of the republic was, when a program favoring more "equality" was put forth, the "haves" of society used such talk to scare the hell out of the "lesser haves," that some of their more modest means would be distributed to the "have nots." We've seen this tactic used in America over the last couple of years, as super rich right wingers have helped finance advertisements and rallies trying to scare middle-class Americans into opposing Obama and Democrats, although with mixed political results, as insurgent Republicans (the American variety) won a majority in the midterm elections, but President Obama remains "fairly" popular (polls show him near 50% positive), as the fervor of these Republicans has called their judgment into question, and Obama has had time to demonstrate that he's not proposing or implementing extremist programs; although the jury is still out on an overall verdict, which will come in the 2012 elections. The interesting thing is, whatever the verdict, it is apt to have more to do with the overall economy than attempts to paint the President as some radical leader.

***** Spain possessed a part of what is now Morocco in North Africa; for some strange reason called, "Spanish Morocco." (Hm, you don't think it was called that because it was a Spanish possession, do you? Hm, maybe; after all, the part possessed by France was called "French Morocco." That must be the answer, darn! Just give me time and I can figure things out.) Anyway, there were periodic rebellions in Spanish Morocco, and the Spanish troops there were pretty ruthless in their suppression of these rebels. A core of the Spanish troops in Morocco became well trained and were led by Francisco Franco. They would later lead the attack on the republic when the civil war started.

WORD HISTORY:
Coup-The ultimate origins of this word are unknown. It traces back to Greek "kolaphos," which meant "slap." Latin borrowed the word as "colaphus," with the meaning "a punch or blow (usually to the head)." This then later became "colpus," "a blow or stroke." Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited the word as "colp," which had the same basic meaning. English borrowed the word from French, or perhaps more likely from the altered form of French, Anglo-French, brought to England by the Norman invasion, although the word didn't really come into more common usage until the 1300s. Today the word is really a shortening of "coup d'etat," which developed in French in the mid 1800s for a "sudden overthrow of a government; literally 'stroke of the state.' " It is also used in English in "coup d'grace;" which means "a final terminal blow," seemingly originally used when severely wounded people were put out of their misery, if you get my drift, although it has now come to mean "any blow that finishes off someone or something."