"Is It 'Rumania' or 'Romania?' " Part 6/Final

The end of World War Two saw Rumania's eastern border set again to its status prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, but the part of Transylvania lost to Hungary in 1940 was returned to Rumania. Rumanian casualties during the war are difficult to determine, although my guess would be at least 700,000 dead, including military and civilian (which includes murdered Jews).*

Rumania was occupied by the Soviet Union after the war, and many thousands of Rumanian soldiers captured during the war by the Soviets returned to their native land fully imbued with communist ideas, giving the Soviets Rumanian communist troops to help in their takeover of the country. The Soviets and Rumanian communists gradually took control of the political machinery of the country and King Michael** was forced to abdicate at the end of 1947, thus ending the monarchy, and making Rumania a totally communist country, a "people's republic." The 1960s saw Nicolae Ceausescu take control of the Rumanian Communist Party and the country. He was more open to Western Europe, an obvious departure from Soviet policy, but he also began to tighten his dictatorial control of Rumania. This continued until December 1989 when mass protests of the government took place. Within days the military had abandoned Ceausescu, and he, his wife and a couple of associates fled before being captured by police and then handed over to the army. A quick trial was held and Ceausescu and his wife were executed by some army men.

A democratic governing system developed in Rumania and the country established closer ties to Western Europe and the United States. The Rumanian economy was gradually opened up to private investment. The beginning of the severe world economic recession of 2008 hit Rumania very hard, but it has been recovering.  

NOTE: Back in the 1990s I met some fairly recent Rumanian immigrants on a couple of separate occasions. Because I have studied World War Two extensively, I naturally mentioned that I knew something of Rumania because of its involvement in the war. Interestingly, on both occasions, the immigrants spoke highly of Antonescu, with one saying he was important to Hitler, and one of the others mentioning something about Antonescu's face-to-face meetings with Hitler put him in high standing. This certainly was NOT the "politically correct" thing for these people to say, and "perhaps" part of the explanation is, these were immigrants to the U.S., and like some immigrants from many countries, "may" have been highly anti-communist (although that is not a given). Remember too, Ceausescu had been overthrown not all that long before, and ill feelings toward him, if not outright hatred, may have colored their thoughts, and thus, Antonescu's anti-communism appealed to them, in spite of his association with Hitler. Whether these few people I spoke with represent a significant attitude held by average Rumanians, I do not know, but I thought their comments were interesting.

Likewise, I have had some medical issues over the last few years and several EKGs were taken. On two of those occasions, I had the same technician for the tests. She was from Hungary and as we chatted about my little bit of knowledge about Hungary, I mentioned Transylvania. She got very upset, told me how Rumania had "stolen" the area from Hungary. She was so worked up, I thought she was going to declare war on Rumania all by herself! So while one person's opinion does not make a trend, her impassioned feelings show how the Transylvania issue still packs some emotional punch, even for a person who no longer resides in that part of Europe. 

* It is a bit difficult to get a handle on figures for the Jewish deaths, as many Jews lived in, or moved to, the eastern districts, which then became part of the Soviet Union in 1940. Further, Jews also lived in, or were deported to, Transnistria (see Part 5 for more about this region), which was part of the Soviet Union, but was administered by Rumania after the conquest of the area in 1941. For a good explanation of all of this, please check this:  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Romania/five.pdf

Another problem with overall Rumanian casualties is, the part of Transylvania with a substantial Rumanian population was given to Hungary in 1940, and men in this ceded area then served in the Hungarian armed forces, and their casualties would have been counted as "Hungarian," although the area was returned to Rumania after the war. Further, Rumania fought on both sides during the war, although mostly as one of the Axis nations, but it did provide military forces to the Allies to fight against Germany and Hungary from the late summer of 1944 until the end of the war. These forces were under the overall direction of the Soviets. A good place to start when researching World War II casualties is "World War II: The Encyclopedia of Facts and Figures" by John Ellis, the 1995 edition with corrections to the initial 1993 release, but understand, other sources will not necessarily agree with figures from this book. 

** As of this writing (May 2015), King Michael is still alive at the age of 93. The establishment of a democratic government after the fall of communism gradually saw Michael granted the right to visit his homeland and his public appearances have drawn large crowds, although a return of the monarchy itself to some position of power has not seemed to be particularly popular among Rumanians.        

The following were consulted for this article on Rumania: "Kingdoms of Europe" by Gene Gurney, published by Crown Publishers, Inc. NY 1982

"Romania/An Illustrated History" by Nicolae Klepper, published by Hippocrene Books, NY 2002

WORD HISTORY:
Cunning-This adjective, related to, and actually derived from, the verb "can" ("to be able to do, have the knowledge to do"), the modern meaning of which is, "shrewd, often deceptive, way of doing something." It goes back to Indo European "gnoh," which had the notion of "to have knowledge." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kunnanan," with the same general meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cunnan," the first and third person singular present form of which was "cann." The present participle of the verb was "cunnende, which was also used as an adjective, and it later became "cunninde" (also as "kunnende"), which then became "cunning" (also "kunning"). Most of "cunning's" Germanic relatives did not develop the "shrewd, deceptive" tilt to their meanings, but rather they have remained closer to it pure meaning of "be able to do," which is the case with its German relative "könnend," but Icelandic "kunnandi" does indeed mean "cunning." 

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Thirty-Five

"Tax Cuts and 9/11" (Part Two)

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was driving to work. I was only a few blocks away from my job when a report came over the radio about a plane striking the World Trade Center in New York City. There were no other details at that point and my first thought was that a small plane must have hit the complex. When I got to work a few minutes later, I put the radio on and then came a report of a second plane hitting the World Trade Center. Now I knew this all was something more than an accident. Of course as time passed, reports came in of a plane hitting the Pentagon, and another plane crashing in Pennsylvania. We all remember where were were when we heard these things, and this will not be a retelling of those terrible events.

At that time, I managed an apartment building occupied mainly by college students, many of whom were international students. As events unfolded, the college, located just down the street, closed, and city officials asked employers to send workers home, as no one knew if further attacks were coming. I stayed at work, as many of our students were absolutely terrified, and that counted those whose actual homes were generally in the area, not just overseas. Phone service out of the country was down for awhile, as I recall, and there was an air of fear in many of the students. A police officer came to the building, as the city wanted workers out of the downtown area, because they were preparing to close some streets, so I finally left later in the afternoon.

After the initial shock, the country rallied and President George W. Bush addressed the nation. For quite some time Americans actually got along as they had not gotten along for years. Even the politicians stopped calling each other names and crime declined, and it's a shame it took such a series of events to shake us out of our nastiness. We found out that a radical Islamic group called "al Qaeda," led by one Osama bin Laden, a Saudi born extremist, was responsible for the attacks, as their agents hijacked four airliners. Three of the four planes were turned into "suicide missiles," as the hijackers struck their targets. Passengers on the fourth plane, "Flight 93," seem to have heroically battled the fanatical nutcases, causing the plane to crash into a field in Pennsylvania, rather than into its presumed target of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

I pay a lot of attention to news in various forms, but I must admit, I, like many other Americans, had just not paid enough attention to events which had gone on involving Islamic terrorists in other parts of the world, and the idea that these extremists would strike right here inside the United States was certainly not on the radar screen of many Americans. Unfortunately, it took these attacks and the loss of nearly 3000 lives to get our attention, but, once focused, we remained so for quite some time. To be honest too, when some of these extremists had gone to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet forces there in the 1980s, the American government supported them, as did a number of Americans, although I question how much many Americans really knew, if anything, about the situation, except that these extremists were opposed to the Soviets, and that was all they (and the Soviet-obsessed government of Ronald Reagan) needed to know. Sometimes people make a pact with the devil, as the saying goes. During World War Two, Winston Churchill allied himself with Josef Stalin against Hitler, although Stalin, just a couple of years prior to that, had signed a pact with Hitler; a pact that gave Stalin a large part of Poland, and included the eventual annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and parts of Rumania. Not only that, Stalin then turned around and attacked little Finland in late 1939, and though Stalin's forces eventually prevailed, the hardy Finns left Stalin's forces so bloodied, Soviet leaders were relieved when the Finns asked for an armistice.

The thing was, when Hitler attacked Stalin's Soviet Union in June 1941, Churchill leaped at the idea of having a powerful ally, especially one on the other side of Hitler, thus relieving Britain from the possibility of facing a Nazi invasion, or at least from continued heavy aerial bombardment. He knew this would divide Hitler's forces. You must remember, the United States was NOT at war with anyone at that point in time, although the U.S. was aiding Britain, and France had been defeated by Hitler. Churchill even said something to the effect that he'd have been willing to say a good word about the devil, if the devil was against Hitler. Churchill's hand was forced, as Hitler was one very dangerous nutcase. Defeating the more threatening devil of the moment was the important matter. Judging who the most threatening devil of the moment is, can be another matter, but Churchill made the right call, in my opinion. The point is, the U.S. supported Islamic extremists when they opposed the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, a country at that point, that was about as threatening to the United States as.... Finland! After Hitler was defeated, the association with Stalin came to an abrupt end, as the other side of the "pact with the devil" then came into play. Stalinist governments took over eastern Europe with the military backing of the Soviet Union. The price of allying with the devil out of necessity continued for more than four decades, although Stalin himself died in 1953.

In the case of bin Laden and Islamic extremists, the price continues to this day, although bin Laden too is now dead. The whole matter in Afghanistan during the 1980s helped to train and equip, but mainly finance, militant Islamists, with further loads of equipment captured from, or left behind by, Soviet forces there. These extremists then spawned the Taliban, an extremist group that took over Afghanistan and combined with al Qaeda to provide training facilities and operational bases to launch attacks against various targets around the world, including the 9/11 attacks. Making a pact with the devil is tricky and dangerous business.      

WORD HISTORY:
Kill-This word apparently traces back to Indo European "kwel," which had the notion of "to inflict pain, to torture, torment." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kwaljanan," with the same basic meanings. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cwellan," which meant "to kill, to murder." Later the "cw" came to be spelled "qu," and this form became modern "quell" (covered in a previous "Word History"), which once meant "to kill," but then the meaning softened into "suppress." "Apparently" it had a spinoff, "kyllen," which showed up by the late 1100s meaning, "to beat, to hit," then proceeded to the meaning "to kill," a meaning then being vacated by its close relative "quell." Not uncommonly, words for "hit, beat, strike" eventually came to mean "kill," as the synonym of kill, "slay," once did. The noun "kill," as in "the lions devoured their kill," developed from the verb. Several of the other Germanic languages have had forms of "kill," but not usually with the modern English meaning, but rather they retained the "hit, strike" meaning. These terms appear to have died out in the standard languages, but may still be dialectal in usage. For Germanic language relatives of "kill" (and its relative "quell") see the "Word History" in the previous part of this series:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part_9.html

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Seventeen

"Reagan's Last Years In Office"

Libya, a North African nation, was once part of the vast Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, and then a colony of Italy until after Mussolini's defeat in World War Two. Shortly thereafter it became a kingdom. In the late 1960s, Muammar Gaddafi,* the leader of a group of army officers, overthrew the government when the king was out of the country. Gaddafi established a dictatorship, with socialism as the economic base of the oil-rich country. Gaddafi militarized Libya and supported various anti-government, anti-Western groups in other countries, particularly, but not exclusively, in his own part of the world. In the spring of 1985, Gaddafi's agents bombed a nightclub in (then) West Berlin, killing and injuring a couple of hundred people, including a number of Americans. Intelligence from a number of sources, not just American, clearly linked the terrorist attack to Gaddafi. Reagan ordered air attacks against Libya not long thereafter. The American planes were given permission by Britain to operate from bases there, which then moved the British up on Gaddafi's hit (or hate) list, too. Gaddafi began to deal with the Soviet Union more and more. In December 1988, a Pan Am flight from London to New York exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard the plane and causing further deaths on the ground. Evidence pieced together led investigators to believe the bombing was orchestrated by Gaddafi. The extensive investigation was ongoing when Reagan left office in January 1989. 

 During the mid 1980s, members of both political parties tried to work out a law to deal with the nation's problem with illegal immigration. The law basically made it illegal for employers to "knowingly" hire people who were in the country without documentation. This was an attempt to restrict employment, primarily, but not exclusively, by agricultural firms, in hiring undocumented workers, which the theory went, then only encouraged more illegal immigration. These workers typically made far less than the average American worker and provided a cheap labor source. The idea was, curtail hiring of illegals, and this would then discourage other potential illegal immigrants from trying to enter the country. Many American business people, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opposed the bill, not just because of the cheap labor sources it provided to some businesses, but because the law would involve them in checking worker documentation. Latino-American groups opposed the bill because they feared hiring discrimination against LEGAL immigrants, or even Latino-American citizens, simply because of their appearances, and the desire by employers to avoid any possibility of hiring illegal immigrants. In an effort to please both business people and the Latino-American community, the law provided for undocumented workers to become legal under certain circumstances.** With many of the grievances addressed for both business and Latino-Americans, a successful coalition had been formed to advance the legislation, and the bill passed and was signed into law by President Reagan.

By 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took power in the Soviet Union. Gorbachev sought to modernize and to liberalize Soviet society by granting a degree of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, plus by releasing a number of political prisoners from Soviet custody. Gorbachev himself criticized corruption in the Soviet system. He also desired a lowering of tensions in the Cold War and met with President Reagan, with whom he signed an agreement about limiting nuclear weapons.***

Next.... "Assessment of Reagan"

* Until more recent times in English, it was more typically spelled "Qaddafi," the "q" being pronounced like a "k."

** The law granted legal status (amnesty) to certain "seasonal workers" (almost by definition, agricultural workers) who had worked at least 90 days in the U.S. by May 1986 and to illegal immigrants who had continuously lived in the U.S. prior to 1982. These provisions granted amnesty to about three million previously illegal immigrants.

*** Earlier in his administration, Reagan had proposed an elaborate space defense system against attack, dubbed "Star Wars" in the media. The plan created much debate as to its possibilities, but its major stumbling block was the estimated cost at a time when Reagan had already proposed large defense budget increases and the country was running huge budget deficits. A further problem was the time needed to develop the technology for such a system, which involved a system of space deployed lasers to destroy incoming enemy missiles (usually in those times thought of as "Soviet"). 

WORD HISTORY:
Broth-This word traces back to Indo European "bhreuwhe," which had the notion of "to boil;" thus also, "to bubble, to seethe, to cook." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "breuwanan," which meant "to brew" (indeed, the ancestor of "brew"), which then also produced a noun "breuthan," meaning "broth;" that is, "liquid produced after cooking/boiling something in it." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "broth." Since this word is derived from the same source as "brew," its other Germanic relatives have retained the forms generally closer to that, like German "Brühe" (broth), although German also has the derived verb "brodeln," which means "to boil," along with the figurative "seethe with anger." Low German Saxon has "Bröh" (broth). Latin borrowed a form of the word from Germanic, which then gave Italian, for instance, "brodo," their word for "broth."

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Fifteen

"Conservatism Consolidates Power-Reagan Runs Again"

As the economy gradually improved, foreign policy challenges remained for the U.S. and the world, including in the ever volatile Middle East. Lebanon was in a state of civil war, and the U.S. sent military personnel, mainly Marines, as part of an international force to guarantee the withdrawal of opposing forces there, including Israeli military units, and to provide security for Lebanon to stabilize.* Not long thereafter, there was a suicide bombing of the American embassy in Beirut which killed more than 60 Americans. This was followed a few months later by another suicide attack on a barracks in Beirut housing American military personnel, primarily Marines, which resulted in the death of nearly 250 Americans, most of them U.S. Marines. A few months later, Reagan authorized the withdrawal of American forces from Lebanon. Also shortly after the barracks bombing came an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kuwait and about a year later came another attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut, which had been moved to another part of the city after the first bombing.

In a period of about two and one half years, the Soviet Union had FOUR different leaders. Always secretive and insecure, the Soviets were terrified of telling the truth to their people, and when their leaders did not appear in public for a lengthy period, Soviet propaganda, ah, I mean "news," would announce that the particular leader "has a cold." It fooled few in free nations (in fact it became something of a joke), and probably few Soviet citizens, as three leaders died during that time span, finally bringing Mikhail Gorbachev to power. In the midst of these changes in Soviet leaders came news that a Korean passenger plane had been shot down by Soviet aircraft, after straying into Soviet airspace, resulting in more than 200 deaths (most of them South Koreans, but Americans and other nationalities were also killed). Reagan stopped Soviet flights to the U.S. and halted some negotiations with the Soviets in retaliation. The Soviets "claimed" the plane was spying on the Soviet Union,** a story that didn't play well in the international community. The incident only served to play to one of Reagan's strengths, his anti-communism and his ability to lambaste the Soviets, which became increasingly popular in the U.S. and other democratic nations.

By 1984 Reagan was up for reelection, although he was 73 years old. The age issue remained with him, as it had when he ran in 1980. As noted in an earlier segment, Reagan loved to joke, including about himself, and he even could laugh at jokes by others about him. Just prior to his inauguration, impressionist and comedian Rich Little had perfected Reagan's voice and mannerisms. With Reagan in the audience, Little told a joke, the gist of which, I have never forgotten. The basic joke was that a reporter (imitated by Little) asked Reagan at a news conference what he planned to do about the energy crisis. In response, (imitating Reagan) he said something like, "We are going to go to the sun to tap the energy there. Now I know you may think this is strange, because we'll get burned up before we get there, but we won't, because we're going to go at night." Cameras showed Reagan laughing as hard as the audience. This was one of Reagan's strengths, the ability to laugh, even at his own expense. I can't emphasize enough, Americans generally liked this, and being liked as president is critical in tough times, and it undoubtedly, in my opinion, allowed Reagan to remain in office, even though the public did not necessarily agree with many of his policies. This earned him the title of the "Teflon president," by some; that is, political problems didn't stick to him.

In the first debate in 1984 against Democratic opponent, former Vice President Walter Mondale, Reagan was not in top shape, and this brought renewed concern about his age. More on his toes in the second debate, Reagan cracked that he was not going to exploit Mondale's "youth and inexperience" (he was 17 years younger than Reagan) against him in the campaign. Even Mondale laughed, and the issue of Reagan's age died down. On election day, Reagan won a resounding victory, carrying all but Mondale's home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia, as well as nearly 59% of the popular vote (Mondale received less than 41%).*** Like him, not like him, agree with him, or not agree with him, Americans took a strong liking to Reagan and felt he was "in charge;" thus they entrusted him with another four years.

* The situation in Lebanon was highly complex and far beyond the boundaries of this article, but it involved religious elements in Lebanon, where there was a mixture of Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, plus elements of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (also known as the "PLO"), and substantial influence by Syria and by Iran, which was a theocracy (a system of rule by those believed to be divinely guided). Israel intervened in Lebanon with military forces about a year before U.S. military involvement.

** This is another complicated story beyond the boundaries of this article, but there have been theories that the plane may have had the additional mission of gathering information (spying) on the Soviets. Since the Soviets withheld much evidence for so long, including items recovered from the aircraft, their credibility for supporting evidence was highly suspect. 

*** The 1984 election saw Walter Mondale choose Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential running mate. This was the first time a major party had a woman on the ticket, but it didn't help much, as women voted heavily for Reagan, although less so than men.

WORD HISTORY:
Stair(s)-Often used in the plural, this word goes back to Indo European "steygh," which had the notion of "step, stride (which also produced the sense 'march'), and ascend." This gave Old Germanic the noun "staigriz," which placed more emphasis on the "ascend" meaning, as it meant "elevated platform;" thus several "elevated platforms" became "stairs, staircase, stairway." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "staeger," with the meaning "staircase" or just one "step" of such a staircase. This later became "stayer," "steir," or "steyer" (all such forms were used), as the "g" sound transitioned to a "y" or "i" sound, which then produced the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German uses three forms: "Stiege" (pronounced as if "steeg-eh), "staircase," "Steig" (pronounced as if "styke"), "path on a hill or mountain," and "Steige" (pronounced as if "sty-geh"), "steps, stairs;" Low German Saxon has "Stieg" meaning "path;" Dutch has "steiger," "landing platform, pier;" Danish and Norwegian have "sti," meaning "path, trail;" and Swedish has "stig," meaning "path." I did not find forms in modern Frisian or Icelandic, although West Frisian has the verb form "stige," meaning "to climb, to ascend."

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Fourteen

"Conservatism Consolidates Power-Reagan"

During 1981 Ronald Reagan fired thousands of the nation's air traffic controllers who had gone on strike.*  This action signaled business people that labor unions had no friend in the White House, in spite of Reagan touting how he had once been the president of a union. It was another of Reagan's contradictions, but it didn't really hurt him in the long run, as some union members still staunchly supported the President.

Ronald Reagan had made his strong anti-communist feelings clear going back well before he was president; in fact, when he was still a Democrat and president of The Screen Actors Guild, the union for performers, when he testified at a congressional hearing about possible communist sympathies in the film industry. His strong support for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election solidified Reagan's position as a leading anti-communist spokesman. As President, Reagan used his position to lambaste the Soviet Union, which he declared to be "the evil empire," and he supported giving aid, even in secret, to groups opposing communist or communist leaning governments in other countries. President Carter had begun giving aid to Afghanistan opponents of the Soviet Union and its Marxist allies in the country.** Reagan, with support from some Democrats in Congress, intensified American support for the Afghanistan forces opposing the Soviets. The Reagan administration also supported anti-communist groups in a number of other countries, including in Ethiopia and Nicaragua.*** In 1983, the little island nation of Grenada (off the coast of the northern part of South America), with a Marxist government, had internal troubles which had the government taken over by the military elements of the ruling Marxists and strict martial law was imposed, with the threat of execution for violators.**** There were at least several hundred Americans on the island, mainly medical students. In an effort to send in military forces to both secure the Americans and to defeat the Marxists, who had Cuban support, the Reagan administration had other nearby nations "ask for military assistance from the United States," and American forces invaded the island. A constitutional government was established, although Britain was not entirely happy with the American intervention into this Commonwealth nation. Americans generally reacted favorably to the President's action, which had the cover of acting to secure the American medical students, as the recollection of the hostages in Iran was still fresh in people's minds, but the administration also claimed victory of turning a Marxist nation, albeit a small one, to a constitutional nation.

* The controllers wanted better pay, but the main issue was a shorter work week. Reagan had voiced support for the controllers' cause during the 1980 campaign and the union endorsed Reagan over Carter in that election.

** Afghanistan was and is a nation almost exclusively Muslim. The Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan in 1979 in support of the pro-Soviet government there, which was opposed by the committed Muslim segment of the population, a segment which grew and became more radicalized as time passed. Thus began a resistance to Soviet forces in Afghanistan, aided by Muslims who came from outside the country, including one Osama bin Laden, and given financial and military aid by the United States. The military and clandestine operations experience gained by the Muslim fighters against the Soviets over nearly a decade of war was later often turned against the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after suffering tens of thousands of killed, wounded, or sick. Their failure in Afghanistan is often likened, by some, to the U.S. role in Vietnam, which ended in the mid 1970s.

*** Just a little personal story here. In the mid 1980s I was in Germany traveling on a train from Berlin to Frankfurt. From the end of World War Two until German reunification in 1990, Berlin lay within the Soviet occupation zone, which was communist East Germany. Berlin itself was also divided into democratic and communist. The trip to Frankfurt was largely in East German territory. There had been a major revelation about communist spies, called "moles"  (German: "Maulwürfe") in (democratic) West Germany, and the West Germans cracked down. In my train compartment, besides a couple of Germans, was a young man from Ethiopia, a country at that time with a pro-Soviet government. He had been to a university in Moscow and he actually had a Soviet passport. He spoke to the German guy next to me in French (so an Ethiopian with a Soviet passport speaking French, confused yet?). When the train stopped at the border between East and West Germany, the West German guards got on to check passports and  identification, which was quite normal. However, when they saw the man's passport and his native country, they went through everything that man had with him, including his toothbrush. I am not exaggerating. He was young and visibly shaken, but such were the tensions of the Cold War back in those times. As for myself, I had no problems going through East German territory either to get to Berlin or to return to Frankfurt. The East Germans needed western money, and they charged a special "transit visa" (equivalent to a dollar or two) to cross their territory. The trip to Berlin was not quite as much in East German territory, as I had been in Hamburg (in northern Germany) for a few days and left from there, crossing into East Germany at the little town of Büchen (actually in West Germany), which was a major crossing point between East and West..

**** Grenada had been a British colony until the mid 1970s and the official language is English. It remained (and remains) a Commonwealth nation, and Queen Elizabeth II is also the Queen of Grenada.  

WORD HISTORY:
Missile-The ultimate origins of this word are unknown, but it is closely related to "mission" and "message." It goes back to Latin "mittere," which meant "to send," the participle form of which was "missus." This produced the Latin  noun "missilis," meaning "things that are thrown," but especially used of "thrown weapons." English borrowed the word from Latin in the early 1600s, and by about the mid 1700s, besides being used for thrown weapons, it was also applied to rockets used in combat (see note). The modern sense of large rockets remotely controlled or with guidance systems of their own is post World War Two usage.
NOTE: The use of rockets as weapons goes back much further than most people probably realize, as the Chinese and Mongols certainly used them in the 1300s, and likely the 1200s or before. 

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Ten

First published September 2012 
See NOTE at bottom of article for update


The Reagan Coalition and the Rise of the American Political Right, Part Two

You can't really understand the election of Ronald Reagan, unless you understand the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter and the nation faced a serious problem over a continuing energy problem, or perhaps it would be better to say, over a lack of energy. Oil and gasoline prices soared, dragging the price of everything else along. The long time Democratic coalition continued its disintegration, and overseas, a fundamentalist Muslim revolution in Iran brought down the American supported government of the Shah of Iran, only to be replaced by a fanatical fundamentalist Muslim cleric, the Ayatollah Khomeini. Iranian students and revolutionaries took over the American embassy in November 1979, along with more than fifty Americans who were held hostage. The crisis had grave consequences, which are still with us today.* As the crisis went on, it was eventually covered by the news media as, "Day 79 of the Iran Hostage Crisis," .... "Day 101 of the Iran Hostage Crisis," .... Day 250 of the Iran Hostage Crisis..." and so on and so on. Americans were angry and frustrated, as no one really knew what to do. After the first couple of months of the crisis, it was revealed that Canada had hidden several American diplomats in their embassy in Iran, eventually granting special "Canadian passports" to the Americans and then flying them out of Iran to safety. All over the United States the announcement was greeted by standing ovations for the Canadians and Canadian flags were displayed and the Canadian national anthem played on radio stations and at sporting events, it was a little victory in a dismal situation, as the actual hostages remained in Iran.

In the midst of all that was going on, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. This prompted President Carter to have the American team boycott the 1980 Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow. It was a decision that brought mixed reviews, as many critics, fairly or unfairly, believed the Olympics should have been free of international politics.** 

President Carter also negotiated a treaty with Panama to turn control of the Panama Canal over to Panama on December 31, 1999, while maintaining the neutrality of the canal, so it could be used by all nations, and giving the U.S. the right to enforce that neutrality. Conservatives exploded, accusing Carter of giving away control of a necessary American shipping passageway to a dictator (which was true, as the ruler of Panama had taken power in an overthrow of the government several years before). The Senate ratified the treaty anyway, but conservatives fumed for years over the loss of what was "like sovereign American territory," as I believe some of them put it, and perhaps even Ronald Reagan said it, I just forget, as he opposed ratification of the treaty.

With inflation a constant problem, and gasoline prices at record highs (the Middle East/Iran situation),*** the economy stumbled along in a period of what was termed "stagflation;" that is, stagnant economic growth, but persistently high inflation which was threatening to climb to double digits. President Carter wore a sweater, told Americans to adjust their thermostats to help control energy costs, and a 55 mph highway speed limit had already gone into effect under President Nixon in 1974. At first, many Americans saw the need for such measures, but Americans were not used to such things, and many people began to resent the conservation measures. In an effort to get control of rising prices and restore economic growth, President Carter, a moderate, appointed Paul Volcker as Federal Reserve Chairman. Volcker began to raise interest rates, but with rate increases came a downturn in economic growth, which brought Carter trouble from labor unions and businesses. The 1980 election season was then underway. 

* The U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Iran back then, which were later intensified over other matters, and these sanctions continue to the present, President Obama having turned the screws even more tightly. The American public was so outraged over the hostage taking (countries had long agreed to the non arrest of foreign diplomatic personnel and to help protect such personnel from harm), that politicians were careful not to be seen as in any way associating with Iran, thus keeping any diplomatic ties from being reestablished, and preventing talks aimed at averting other crises. With no presence in Iran, when the anti-government protests developed there a year or two ago, the U.S. was pretty much out in the cold. Now, the other side of this is certainly true; that is, while Khomeini died in 1989, the religious fundamentalist governmental system he established is still in place, and this government not only allowed American embassy personnel to be held captive, but actively supported it. The problem is, no one, Republican or Democrat, really knows what to do about the situation, in spite of hot-air rhetoric to the contrary. The Middle East has been a powder keg for decades, seemingly waiting for the lit match. The world dependence on oil from the Middle East has given countries there a daunting trump card, as anything that threatens the world oil supply sends oil/gasoline prices skyrocketing, threatening economic turmoil everywhere. 

** In retaliation, the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.   

*** For much of the 1970s gasoline prices were high compared to previous decades, and this was in large part due to the Middle East being so unstable, including war between Israel and Arab nations, and revolution in Iran.

NOTE: The situation with Iran goes far beyond the revolution there and the taking of American hostages in late 1979, but the tensions between many nations, including the U.S., and Iran do trace back to the Iranian Revolution. In more recent times, Iran began research and development in the nuclear field. This brought more sanctions from the U.S. and others. In 2015, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and several other countries reached an agreement with Iran over nuclear research and sanctions against Iran. 

WORD HISTORY:
Shot-This word, closely related to "shoot," goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion of "to project, to throw, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring a noun "skot(an)," "something thrown or discharged, the result of shooting." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceot," with the same meaning, but also "a payment, a contribution" presumably from the notion of "handing over; that is, projecting the payment to another." It had this same ("payment") or similar ("tax") meaning in the other Germanic languages too, but this meaning has died out, except in the expression "scot free;" literally, "payment free," and the original hard "c" or "k" sound is still present, while in "shot" the sound softened. Common in various forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schoss," which means "lap (of a person);" that is, "a projection from a sitting person," and also "a young sprout from a plant, for which English uses the related "shoot;" further, German has "Schuss," meaning "shot." Low German Saxon has "Schott" (shot) and "Schoot" (lap of a person). Saterland Frisian has "Schoat" (shot) and "Schoot" (lap); Dutch has "schot" (shot) and "schoot" (lap of a person). Danish has "skud" (shot) and skød (lap); Icelandic has "skot" (shot); Norwegian has "skudd" (shot); Swedish has "skott" (shot). Notice that the North Germanic languages, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish have all retained the "k" sound.

Field Marshal Mannerheim of Finland/Final

"Gustaf Mannerheim"
Gustaf Mannerheim was born into a noble family in southwestern Finland. He was of German-Swedish descent. He attended military (cavalry) school in St. Petersburg, Russia,* and then served in an Imperial Guard unit. Later he served with honor in the war between Russia and Japan (1904-05),** a war which ended with the mediation of American President Theodor Roosevelt.*** He served in the Russian cavalry during World War One and was decorated for his services. Mannerheim, a supporter of the Tsar, was later relegated to the reserves in the aftermath of the Tsar's abdication in March 1917, and he returned to Finland at the end of that year, by which time the Bolsheviks had overthrown the so called "Provisional Government."****

Revolutionary turmoil in Russia gave Finland the opportunity to declare its independence and Mannerheim was made commander-in-chief of the Finnish Army. The major effort of the army was to defend the government during a civil war with socialist and communist opponents. In 1919, Mannerheim was defeated in his attempt to become the first president of Finland.***** In the 1930s, Mannerheim was chairman of the National Defense Committee, which attempted to build up Finland's armed forces. When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in the late fall of 1939, Mannerheim was named Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish armed forces. After inflicting severe losses on the Soviet invaders, the Finns were forced to sign an armistice and cede territory to the Soviet Union in 1940. This brought Finland closer to Germany, as the Finns needed a strong ally against any further Soviet aggression. When Hitler's armies invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Finnish forces participated in the invasion, but with the limited objective of regaining lost Finnish territory. In a secret visit to Finland in 1942, Hitler tried to get Mannerheim, then in his early 70s, and the Finnish government to provide more military forces against the Soviets, a commitment they, at Mannerheim's urging, would not give. The old marshal always tried to keep himself at a comfortable distance from Hitler and the Nazis.

When the tide of war turned in favor of the Soviet Union, Mannerheim became President of Finland in the aftermath of the resignation of Risto Ryti. His appointment was made by special order of the Finnish parliament, as the critical wartime situation could not allow an election. Mannerheim proceeded to negotiate Finland's exit from the war, although the Soviets forced the Finns to wage war on German forces withdrawing from Finland. With the war over and Mannerheim's health in decline, he resigned the presidency in 1946. He died at age 83 in January 1951, highly respected even by former adversaries.

* Finland was part of the Russian Empire, but with a strong degree of regional independence.

** Essentially Russia and Japan both wanted Korea and Manchuria and they fought a war over it. Russia was heavily favored, but the distance from Russian supply, manpower, and naval bases, which were in European Russia, helped give the better led and motivated Japanese forces an advantage. After stunning defeats with heavy casualties, many Russians turned against the war, as they saw little worth fighting for in the Far East. A large part of the Russian population was illiterate or semi-literate, and they knew little if anything about Korea or Manchuria. Revolution broke out, but it was eventually contained.

*** Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The treaty ending the war was signed in Maine.

**** There were TWO revolutions in Russia in 1917. The first revolution in the late winter of 1917 caused the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, and brought an end to Romanov rule in Russia. The new government was left-leaning, but still supported the war effort against Germany and Austria-Hungary, which proved to be a fatal mistake. The terrible casualties and the economic distress caused by the war helped the Bolsheviks to launch another revolution in the fall of 1917, bringing them to power, although it took them several years of civil war to really consolidate their rule over the entire country.

***** Mannerheim's service in the Russian army made him suspect to some Finns, as did his conservatism.

 Photo is a public domain photo of Gustaf Mannerheim, 1940 (from Wikimedia)

WORD HISTORY:
Whelp-I'll bet many of you have heard or seen this word, but you didn't know what it meant. This word means "pup" or "young animal, cub, usually from the canine family," and is now more of a rarity today, as "pup, puppy and cub" have all overtaken it. Its ultimate origins are uncertain, but Old Germanic had "hwelpaz," which then gave Old English "hwelp," which then became "whelp" by the Middle English period and it has remained such ever since. German has "Welf(e), but it is archaic, replaced more commonly by "Welpe"^ (puppy, pup), Dutch has "welp" (lion cub), Danish has "hvalp" (pup, cub), Norwegian has "valp" (pup, puppy), Swedish has "valp" (puppy), Icelandic has "Hvolpur" (puppy). I did not find a form in modern Frisian, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.

^ Standard German is heavily based upon "high" dialects, and "Welf(e)" is from the high dialects (thus the "f" in place of "p"), but in this case, "Welpe," from the low dialects, overtook it, and is now considered standard.

Field Marshal Mannerheim of Finland

"Finland & Gustaf Mannerheim" 

First some background on Finland: Finland is known as "Suomi" in Finnish. The Finnish language is non-Indo European,* being from the "Uralic" family of languages, which includes two other prominent national languages, Hungarian and Estonian, besides several other smaller languages, most spoken in Finland and Estonia. "Uralic" refers to the Ural Mountains, a mountain range in Russia considered by many to be the dividing point between Europe and Asia, and the region is generally believed to be the ancestral homeland of "Uralic." Finnish vocabulary has been influenced by the Indo European languages around it, but it gave English one well known word, "sauna" (close Finnish relative Estonian has "saun"). Finland was part of the Tsarist Russian Empire during the 1800s until the end of 1917. While the Tsar was the head of state of Finland, the area enjoyed a degree of independence within the Russian Empire. When the Bolsheviks took power in Russia in November 1917, the (broad) political right and the (broad) political left in Finland clashed in a relatively brief civil war, with the right winning. Finland became a republic and elected a president in 1919. 

Tensions with the successor to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, exploded in the fall of 1939,** as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin wanted Finland to cede territory to the Soviet Union to protect the major Soviet city of Leningrad*** by moving the border further from the city. The Soviet proposal for territorial adjustments were rejected by Finland and the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The Finns fought back in a gallant effort to defend their country, and in doing so, they gained the admiration of many people around the world. In the end, the Soviets, though staggered by heavy casualties, poured in more troops and equipment and the Finns had to come to terms with the Soviets.**** This moved Finland diplomatically closer to potential powerful ally Germany. When German dictator Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Finland participated as a German ally.***** After initial success and the encirclement of Leningrad, the war in northern Russia essentially stalemated. By the summer of 1944 war weary Finland wavered and came to an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union. Finland remains a democratic country to this day. The second part will give some info about Mannerheim. 

* About a 5% minority of the population of Finland speaks Swedish, which is a Germanic language akin to English, Norwegian, Danish, German and others. Swedish is recognized as one of Finland's national languages.

** There were a number of territorial issues pressed by the Soviet Union against Finland, but the main one involved the border area near Leningrad. 

*** Leningrad was the former Tsarist city of St. Petersburg. When the Soviet Union broke up, Leningrad was again named St. Petersburg. 

**** Historians refer to the war between Finland and the Soviet Union, fought in 1939-1940, as "the Winter War."

 ***** Britain declared war on Finland in late 1941, largely to show symbolic support for the Soviet Union. The actual conflict between Britain and Finland was minimal.

Photo of the flag of Finland (photo in the public domain from Wikimedia granted by author Jan Leineberg)

WORD HISTORY:

Nail-This word traces back to Indo European "nogh," which meant "claw, hoof, toenail." This gave Old Germanic "naglaz," with the same meanings, but also the sense of "metal spike/metal peg." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "naegel," which meant "finger or toe nail," and a variant "naegl," which meant "claw, toe nail, or metal spike." These later became "naile," as the "g" sound died out, and then the modern version "nail." The verb form came from Old Germanic "(ga)naglijan(an)," which gave Old English "næglan," which then became "nailen," before the modern version. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German and Low German "Nagel," West Frisian "neil," Dutch "nagel," Icelandic "nögl," Norwegian "negl/nagl" (depending upon dialect), Swedish "nagel," and Danish "negl."

Marshal Antonescu of Rumania, Final

NOTE: I failed to mention in the previous article that the Rumanian language is a Latin-based language, which are often called "Romance languages;" meaning, "languages derived from the language of Rome." These languages are part of the Indo European family of languages, and this means Rumanian is related to English, although further down the family tree. Besides its Latin base, Rumanian has borrowed a fair percentage of words from Slavic and also from German, as German settlers inhabited part of Rumania, especially Transylvania (Siebenbürgen in German), and part of Rumania was under German administration through the Habsburg family.

"Ion Antonescu" Part Two/Final

Antonescu was born in a town somewhat to the northwest of Bucharest, the capitol of Rumania. He attended military school and then entered the military in the cavalry, earning commendations from the monarchy for his role in squelching socialists. So early on, Antonescu showed himself as a man of the political right. During World War One, Rumania fought on the Allied side, but the war was pretty much a disastrous affair for the Rumanians, although Antonescu served his nation well and was promoted. After the war, Antonescu set down his views in writing on the unification of Rumanians and about Rumanian expansionism.* He was appointed chief of staff of the army in the early 1930s. Disputes with King Carol II brought a (forced?) resignation by Antonescu, but it also brought him more prominence throughout the nation. He began close contacts with the fascist and right wing organizations that were growing in Rumania, organizations which tended toward anti-Jewish sentiments.

Antonescu was appointed Defense Minister and the failure of Rumania's two main allies, Britain and France, to stand up to Adolf Hitler's territorial acquisitions brought Antonescu and the political right to question the actual value of these allies against the Soviet Union, which they saw as more of a threat to Rumania. They began to look to Hitler as much more of a reliable ally to oppose the Soviets. The German-Soviet Pact of 1939 put Rumania into a serious situation, as Germany and the Soviet Union essentially became allies. One of the secret provisions of the pact gave the Soviets leeway to move into the former territories of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia and Bukovina. This led Hungary to propose and enter into negotiations with Rumania over Transylvania, but the negotiations got nowhere and Germany and Italy were asked to arbitrate, which resulted in Hungary acquiring the northern portion of Transylvania. King Carol, growing more unpopular by the day and threatened by protests, appointed Antonescu as Prime Minister, but with additional powers taken from the King, who finally abdicated in favor of his son, Michael, who was left more or less as a figurehead. Antonescu joined with the Iron Guard (Rumanian: "Garda de fier"), a fascist, pro-Rumanian Orthodox, anti-Jewish political party to rule the country, but just months later, an Iron Guard uprising against Jews and government officials was crushed when Antonescu, with support from Hitler, used the army to restore order.

Antonescu's fervent anti-communism and his developing closeness to Hitler led Rumania into war against the Soviet Union in June 1941.** In August 1944 Antonescu was arrested on the orders of the king. He was taken into custody by the Soviets who sent him to Moscow, but then returned him to Rumania for trial in 1946. He was found guilty and executed by firing squad that year.***

* The Kingdom of Rumania prior to the end of World War One did not include substantial portions of ethnic Rumanians, who lived in parts of Hungary (Transylvania), the emerging state of Yugoslavia (an area known as the Banat), and the former Russian Empire (Bessarabia and Bukovina), which was developing into the Soviet Union at that time. At the end of the war, with the defeat of Austria-Hungary and the turmoil in the Soviet Union, the territories of Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina joined Rumania, and these changes were then confirmed by various postwar treaties, although Hungary and the Soviet Union did not forget, and these lands became a matter of tensions between Rumania and these two neighbors.

** There is a brief summary of the war in "Part One" of this article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/04/marshal-antonescu-of-rumania.html

*** One of the charges against Antonescu was his complicity in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Rumanian and Soviet Jews. Under Antonescu, Rumania adopted many anti-Jewish measures similar to those of the Nazis , including requiring Jews to wear a yellow Star of David patch.

WORD HISTORY:
Loose/-less-"Loose" and the suffix "-less," as in "homeless," are closely related to "lose, loss, and the "lorn" of "forlorn." They go back to Indo European "leu/lu," which had the notion of "undo, loosen, separate." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "lausaz," which meant "loose, free of." This gave Old Norse, a North Germanic language,^ "lauss," with the same basic meanings. This was then borrowed into English, circa 1200, as "lous(e)/los," and this later became "loose." The verb form "loosen" developed in the second half of the 1300s and later became "lousen," before the modern version. The same Old Germanic word "lausaz" gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "leas," which meant "false, lying," from the notion of "free of validity or truth." This word is now obsolete, but it spawned the suffix "-less," from the original meaning "free of," which gave it the meaning "lacking, not having, without." The suffix form is NOT related to the word "less" which means "fewer." The other Germanic languages have close relatives to the above English words: German has "los" (loose, free, released) and the suffix "-los" ("heimatlos"="homeless," for example); Dutch has "los" (loose), "loos" (false, invalid, empty [from notion "lacking"]) and suffix "-loos;" West Frisian has the suffix "-leas;" Danish has "løs" (loose) and suffix "-løs;" Swedish has "lös" (loose); Icelandic has "laus" (loose); Norwegian has løs/laus (loose), depending upon dialect, and suffix"-løs;" Swedish has lös (loose) and suffix "-lös."

^ Germanic is divided into West Germanic, which includes English, German, Dutch, Frisian, Yiddish, and Afrikaans; North Germanic, which includes Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Faroese; and the now "deceased" (bow your heads) East Germanic, which had Gothic, Vandalic and Burgundian.

Marshal Antonescu of Rumania

"Ion Antonescu" Part One

Background on Rumania: First, I prefer the spelling "Rumania," but "Romania" has become more popular in English in recent decades. Next, Rumanian history is highly complex and thus beyond the scope of this article, although I may do another article giving a bit of this southeastern European country's earlier history. Rumania (a "kingdom") fought on the side of the Allies in World War One. The resulting post-war treaties gave Rumania more territory, much of it with Rumanian majorities, but with non Rumanian minorities, but the ceding countries, Hungary and the Soviet Union (successor to the Russian Empire), were unhappy with the territorial adjustments, and tensions remained. During the 1920s and 1930s right wing and fascist movements arose in many European nations, and Rumania was no exception, with the political right growing in power by the latter 1930s, encouraged by the success of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his expansion of German territory in eastern Europe. There was also a rise in Rumanian feelings against Jews and Gypsies (Roma/Romani).

Hitler's successes brought about a simultaneous decline in the influence on Rumanian foreign policy by Rumania's traditional allies, Britain and France. Highly anti-Soviet, Rumania's political right saw Hitler as the best bet to keep Rumania from Soviet influence or domination. Hitler's agreement with Soviet leader Josef Stalin just prior to the beginning of what became World War Two gave the Soviet dictator leeway to take over former Russian territories from Rumania in 1940. King Carol II brought many pro-German/anti Soviet rightists into the government, but it could not save him, and he abdicated in favor of his son, Michael. Military strongman Ion Antonescu became dictator and in November 1940, Rumania joined the pact directed against communism (the Anti-Comintern),* but especially directed against the Soviet Union, the major source of communist influence in those times. So Rumania joined other pact members Germany, Italy, and Japan. Germany supplied military advisers to help modernize the Rumanian military, and the presence of actual German military units in Rumania continued to increase. Rumania had substantial oil and refining facilities, extremely important to oil-dependent Germany.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Rumanian forces joined in the attack, as Rumania sought to recover the lost territories, and to even gain additional lands. In mid November 1942 the Soviets launched a massive offensive directed at Rumanian troops, bolstered to some degree by German troops, on either side of the German Sixth Army in the Soviet city of Stalingrad. The Soviet forces broke through the Rumanian lines and proceeded to encircle German and Rumanian forces in Stalingrad. The resulting surrender of these troops brought a pronounced increase to the prospects of an Axis defeat in the war. With Allied bombings of the Rumanian oil fields, of Bucharest (the capitol), and the with the approach of Soviet forces, Rumanians, led by King Michael, overthrew Antonescu in August 1944. Rumania then changed sides. Soviet occupation brought a decidedly pro-Communist government to power and King Michael abdicated in 1947. Rumania remained under Communist rule until December 1989 when revolution brought down the government of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, who was tried an immediately executed (along with is wife). Since those times Rumania has joined the ranks of democratic nations. About a half million Americans claim at least some Rumanian ancestry, per the 2000 Census, and Greater Cleveland is home to a fair number of those people.

* The Comintern was a shortened form of "Communist International," dating from 1919, an organization advocating the spread of communism.

"Part Two" will contain some basic information on Antonescu.

WORD HISTORY:
Note: I will return to words related to "lose" in the next article, but since I mentioned "solve" in the last article, I decided to do it first.
Solve-The Latin ancestor of this word was a compound (se-leu/se-lu) of Indo European "s(w)e," a pronoun essentially meaning "we, ourselves," and Indo European "leu/lu," which had the notion of "undo, loosen, separate," the same ancient ancestor of English "lose, loose, loss, (for)lorn, and the suffix -less." This gave its Latin offspring "solvo," meaning "undo, loosen," and this then produced Latin "solvere," with the same basic meaning, but with the additional "become free of a problem," which seems to have had emphasis on "becoming free of debts;" thus the derived word "solvent," one of the meanings of which is "able to pay debts," but also "a liquid that loosens (usually) solid materials." English borrowed "solve" in the 1400s as "solven," by which time the word was also taking on more of the meaning "undo or dissipate a problem," its more common meaning ever since.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Final

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 4/Final

During the summer of 1942, Hitler planned on capturing the the Soviet oilfields of the Caucasus and on taking the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River; thus cutting off the north/south river route for Soviet supplies. What is termed "the Battle of Stalingrad" was really a series of battles beginning with the German advance to the city and their ensuing attempts to capture the city with Stalin's name.* The Soviet defenders barely held on, but the worn out German forces could not fully capture Stalingrad. With Zhukov in overall command of the region, a massive offensive was planned to destroy the southern flank of the German and Axis front, and in November 1942, the Soviets struck, bringing on another chapter to the Stalingrad battle. Rumanian forces (German allies), on either side of the German forces in the city, were shattered by the Soviet attack, and the German 6th Army, along with some Rumanian units, were surrounded. Now began another phase of the battle; the reduction and final surrender of the German forces in Stalingrad, which took place in early February 1943. Interestingly, when the German forces were surrounded in Stalingrad, Zhukov was transferred north to the Leningrad sector to try organize an attack to relieve the besieged metropolis, which was not successful, although the Soviets did manage to get a quantity of supplies through to the city.

Zhukov went south again, this time to plan a defensive battle against an expected large German offensive around the city of Kursk. Large Soviet defensive works created serious problems for the German attack, and with the invasion of Sicily by the Western Allies, Hitler broke off the offensive in the Kursk area, his forces, especially his armored forces, badly depleted. Then came the Soviet counter thrust, and the Germans never really recovered. Zhukov remained in charge of large Soviet forces headed into Poland and then into Germany itself. In mid April 1945 Soviet forces launched the attack intended to end the war, and Zhukov's forces were given the direct route to the German capitol. Stiff German resistance during the initial part of the Soviet attack brought angry remarks from Josef Stalin, but Zhukov's troops finally broke through and headed for Berlin.

Zhukov served as Commander of the Soviet Zone in occupied Germany after the war, but his popularity made him a target of the paranoid Stalin, who had him sent to remote military posts. Stalin's death in 1953 brought Zhukov into public view again. In poor health from the mid 1960s, Zhukov died in 1974 from a stroke.

* The city was called Tsaritsyn in the days of the Russian Empire, but it was renamed during the early Communist era, after Stalin, in the mid 1920s. In the early 1960s the city was once again renamed, as Volgograd, as Communist leaders distanced themselves from Josef Stalin.

WORD HISTORY:
Man-While there is disagreement on the origins of this word, it likely goes back to the Indo European root "man(u)," which meant "human being, 'man,' in the general sense person." This gave Old Germanic "mann(a)," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "mann," with the same meaning. Later this became "man." One of the questions about this word is why it took on the meaning "male person" in all of the Germanic languages (English has kept both meanings, "human being," and "male human"). English used "wer" for "male person;" thus "werewolf," "man wolf," but gradually "man" overtook "wer" in this meaning during the 1200s. In the male dominated world of those times, perhaps the general idea of "man," the human being, transferred to the dominate sex, male, but it is interesting that this occurred in all of the Germanic languages, which makes me wonder if this was already a secondary meaning going back in time. The verb form "to man," as in "to supply a group of men to some task," as in "man the walls of the fort," developed from the noun during the same period when "man" was overtaking "wer." Common in various forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Mann" (male person, also husband) and the derived "Mensch" (person) plus "bemannen" ("to man"); Low German has "Mann" and "Minsch;" West Frisian has "man" and "minske;" Dutch has "man" and "mens;" Icelandic has "karlmaður" and "maður;" Danish has "mand" and "menneske;" Norwegian "mann" and "menneske;" Swedish has "man" and "människa."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Part Three

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 3

As Chief of the Soviet General Staff Zhukov faced a daunting task, as German, Rumanian, Hungarian, Finnish, Italian and Slovak forces penetrated deep into Soviet territory, encircling large numbers of Soviet troops and inflicting staggering casualties on the Red Army. Zhukov's problems were complicated by the fact that he not only had to combat the Axis invaders, but he also had to contend with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who ordered counterattacks with little knowledge of the actual situation at the front, or with little preparation to give the attacks a chance to succeed. After strenuous arguments, Stalin relieved Zhukov at the end of July 1941, giving him command of a "front."* After some success at slowing the German onslaught in his sector, Zhukov was sent northward to keep Leningrad** from falling to the Germans. Defensive measures were implemented, including minefields, to slow the German advance. Generally small counterattacks sapped the strength of the German and Finnish forces and brought the situation to a stalemate. The Germans had to content themselves with besieging the city until they could bolster their forces for an all out attack, but this opportunity never came.

In the fall of 1941, Zhukov was shifted to the defense of Moscow to halt the German advance bearing down on the capitol. Winter weather and stubborn Soviet resistance brought the German attack to a halt with some German troops actually able to see the spires of the Kremlin off in the distance. A Soviet counteroffensive only a few days later threw the Germans back, but failed to achieve a decisive victory. Still, Moscow had some breathing room and the Germans took up defensive positions. As with Leningrad, the Germans had the idea of renewing the attack when the situation proved more favorable. But also as with Leningrad, the favorable situation never presented itself. The action now shifted to southern Russia and a decisive battle on the Volga River.

Next, the final installment on Marshal Zhukov.

* What the Russians called a "front" was what was termed an "army group" by western Europeans and Americans. An army group or a front was literally a "group of two or more armies serving in the same general area."

** Leningrad was the Soviet-era name for the northern city of Saint Petersburg, which had served as the capitol of Tsarist Russia since the times of Peter the Great, who had had the city built at great cost, including in lives. The Soviets returned the capitol to Moscow. With the fall of the Soviet Union came the renaming of the city as Saint Petersburg, but Moscow remains the capitol.

WORD HISTORY:
Yeoman-First the "yeo" part of this compound; the specifics for the "man" part will be covered in the next article. The ultimate origin of "yeo" is uncertain, but Old Germanic had "gawjan," which seems to have denoted a "piece of land near water; thus land ready for settlement and cultivation." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "gea," which meant "village, region of inhabitants." This then produced "geaman," "a settler, villager," and from this it later took on the meaning "a person who cultivates the land, a farmer." As large landowners became more common, the term was applied to "a common farmer who worked the land on a large estate." This association then led to "a person in the service of a noble." The term is rare in American English, but it is more common in British English, especially because of military units: "Yeoman Cavalry," which were volunteer cavalry used for the defense of England. Later the spelling was "yoman/yeman," depending upon dialect, before the modern spelling. "Yeo" still has some living relatives in other Germanic languages: German has "Gau," an old word for "an administrative region or district, like a county," dating back to Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse, in German), and resurrected by the Nazis for "an administrative district in the Nazi political system, both before and after they took power." It is pretty much confined to use in historical texts now; Dutch has "gouw," "a region or administrative district;" West Frisian was "gea," which means "region."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Part Two

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 2

Zhukov moved up through the ranks and remained an officer in various cavalry units until he was sent to command some Soviet forces in Mongolia in the late 1930s. At that time, Japan occupied Korea and an undeclared war flared between Japan and the Soviet Union. Zhukov launched an offensive operation against the Japanese, in what was something of a Blitzkrieg operation, just a week or so before the German Blitzkrieg against Poland in 1939.* The Soviets defeated the Japanese, who were far more reluctant to cross the border thereafter. Zhukov became an instant hero in the Soviet Union. In 1940, Zhukov took command of Soviet forces along the border with Rumania, where Stalin moved forces into Rumanian territory to claim the area known as Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which then became part of the Soviet Union.

Zhukov was promoted to Chief of the General Staff and he intensified efforts to prepare for a German invasion.** On June 22, 1941 Hitler launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed "Operation Barbarossa."

* Just very briefly, a Blitzkrieg, literally "lightening war," was an offensive which used air power to strike enemy supply, communications, command and staging areas in the rear areas, as well as on the front lines, while fast moving armored vehicles and motorized artillery and motorized infantry were concentrated at key points to break through enemy positions, bypassing strong points, which were then taken on by the slower moving infantry, who consolidated the gains made by the motorized units. The fast moving motorized units disrupted enemy rear areas, spreading confusion and terror among enemy troops. The motorized columns often had the purpose of encircling large concentrations of enemy forces. Zhukov employed similar tactics against the Japanese.

** In August 1939, Hitler and Stalin reached agreement on a "non-aggression" pact, which also contained provisions for a division of Poland between the two dictators, as well as plans for other countries and territories in eastern Europe.

WORD HISTORY:
Snide-This word goes back to Indo European "sneit," which meant "to cut." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "snithanan," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "snithan," which then became "snithen," and which retained the "to cut" meaning. This gave English the now obsolete verb "snithe," meaning "to cut," and an adjectival form "snithe" which meant "cutting, sharp." "Snide" developed from these forms, and the meaning once meant "tricky," apparently from the idea of a person "being sharp, cunning." Today it is most commonly heard, at least in American English, in "snide remark(s);" that is "a sharp or cutting remark(s)." English borrowed "cut" which overtook forms of "snide" as the main word for "use of a sharp instrument to make an incision;" thus the little usage of the word. Not so in other Germanic languages (except Norwegian) where forms are quite common and usage much more prevalent: German has "schneiden," Low German has "snieden," Dutch has "snijden," West Frisian has "snije," Icelandic has "sníða" (essentially like "snitha"), Swedish has "snida," and Danish has "snide." All have a meaning "to cut," "to carve," or "to trim." Apparently a verb form has died out in Norwegian, as I could not find it, although I did find "snitt," a noun form, but it seems little used anymore. There are noun forms in other Germanic languages. German, for example, makes fairly extensive use of the base word in various forms: "Schnitt," means "a cut," and in the north of Germany a "Schnitte" means "a slice of something (often bread)," "Schneider" is a "tailor" ("cutter of cloth"), "Schneide" is the "blade of a knife," and "Schnitzel" means "clipping, chip, slice," and is famous as the "slice of meat, pounded thin, breaded and fried, with "Wiener Schnitzel" being specifically veal prepared that way.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 1
("Georgi" also transliterated at times as "Georgy" and "Georgii")*

Notes and Commentary:
First, the Soviet Union took over the former "Russian Empire," which was a multi-ethnic, multi-national empire. Because it was the "Russian Empire," citizens were often called "Russians," regardless of their actual ethnic background.** That terminology continued when the empire became the Soviet Union, and I will continue that terminology here to try to keep things simple, even if not politically correct. Second, while not popular, especially, but not exclusively, with super patriots of the political right in many western countries, we need to remember that the Soviet Union suffered more dead and casualties against Hitler and his allies than all of the western Allies combined. On the other hand, super patriots of the former Soviet Union don't like to hear how western countries helped them stave off defeat early on by supplying them with all sorts of war materials, especially tanks, trucks, etc. I'm just saying we all need to keep some perspective here. Also, I know some of my articles contain extensive footnotes, but I believe it is important to give some explanations about events or ideas. So often books or articles mention something, but the reader may not really know the meaning of that "something." I'm sure I haven't been perfect on this subject either, but I usually do try to give some basic definition to terms used, as well as to express opinions on a particular subject (Hey, it isn't called "Pontificating" for nuthin'...I mean nothing).

Zhukov was born to a poor farming family in the Kaluga area of Russia, southwest of Moscow. The harsh "you're on your own" philosophy of the Tsarist Russian Empire undoubtedly influenced his, and many other poor Russians, beliefs when revolution against Tsardom became likely. He served in the cavalry in World War One, where he further saw the huge differences between the the mainly peasant and worker soldiers and the noble and aristocratic officer corps.*** He was decorated for bravery during the war. He joined the Bolshevik Party after the Bolsheviks came to power by revolution in November 1917.**** He fought as part of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War,***** where he showed leadership qualities and rose to command a cavalry regiment.

*Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian (all Indo European languages, and therefore related to English further down the "family tree") and several other languages (some Indo European and some from other language families) use a different alphabet system called "Cyrillic." It was a writing (alphabet) system developed back in about the 900s (A.D.) and is named in honor of the Eastern Orthodox saint, Cyril. When someone "transliterates a word," they put it into the closest rendering of another alphabet system, and there are variations of how to do this; thus some spelling differences occur.

** Part of the neighborhood where I grew up had a sizable Ukrainian population, those Ukrainians being from the western part of the Ukraine, where Ukrainian Catholic was the predominant religion, not Eastern Orthodoxy, which dominates in the rest of the Ukraine. Understand, defining the "Ukraine" is not an easy issue, as borders have changed numerous times over the centuries, and even since World War One. When I was a kid, it was a part of the Soviet Union, and was called "the Ukraine," but since the break up of the Soviet Union it has become independent and is simply "Ukraine," without the article. Anyway, if you called one of the Ukrainians in my neighborhood a "Russian," most would quickly, but politely, correct you, but a few might even get downright hostile about it.

***Growing income disparity in America over the last three (plus) decades has been making it less and less possible for Americans to rise (or fall) through the social ranks. "Social mobility," as it is called, has declined markedly in the U.S., and the nation now lags behind many developed countries like Canada, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Spain, Germany, and France (based upon statistics from the "Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development"). As wealthy earners pass on wealth to their descendants, the nation has been losing its reputation as a "meritocracy;" that is, a system where people are rewarded, promoted, and paid according to their achievements, as opposed to aristocracy, where people are rewarded simply because of birth to aristocratic families. The push by American conservatives in the last few years to do away with inheritance taxes on wealthy Americans will only make matters worse, as even some wealthy individuals, like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, have noted. You would think the "free marketers" would oppose the elimination of inheritance taxes for the nonsense it is, but not so in many cases. If you notice the numerous European countries on the list above (they are not in any particular order, by the way), many American conservatives like to say, "We don't want to be like Europe." I wonder if this is what they mean? Let's be honest here, there is currently an exemption of 5 million dollars from such taxes (Federal, but there are usually state taxes, too). So, Uncle Randy leaves you $10 million. You get $5 million automatically (subject to whatever state law applies to you), and then you pay (currently) 35% Federal Estate Tax on the other $5 million, leaving you $3.25 million (again, subject to any state law pertaining to you). I have a sneaking suspicion you wouldn't turn down a grand total of $8.25 million because you had to pay a tax of $1.75 million. American conservatives say how unfair all of this is. The tax was once much higher, and should be again, but with a hearty exemption.

**** It is often called the "October Revolution" by Russians, as Russia used the Julian Calendar (developed by Julius Caesar; thus "Julian"), as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar (developed by Pope Gregory XIII) of western countries.

***** The Russian Civil War was fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army, a coalition of pro-monarchist and anti-Bolshevik forces, including foreign elements. The end of the war is a matter of opinion, as it took the Bolsheviks a few years to actually gain control of the country. Some historians say it ended in 1921, while others say 1923. I lean toward the latter.

WORD HISTORY:
Kremlin-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain. It goes back to Old East Slavic "kreml" ("кремль") which had the notion of "separate; thus a fortress part of a city or town." This gave Old Russian "kremlinu" which later became "kremlin." English seems to have borrowed the word in the 1600s from either German or French. German had borrowed it initially from Russian as "Kremelin/Kremelien." While used for the citadel/fortress of any Russian city or town, the use of the term for the central part of Moscow dominated even a few hundred years ago, as it still does.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Patton, Part Three/Final

"George S. Patton" Part 3

With the defeat of the German offensive known as "the Battle of the Bulge," Patton's army pressed into Germany and crossed the Rhine River. In mid April 1945, Patton was promoted to four-star general, although just a couple of weeks before, he had gotten into more trouble by sending a force of some 300 men behind German lines to liberate a POW camp where his son-in-law was a prisoner. The operation failed and almost the entire force was lost. The 3rd Army advanced through Bavaria and into (German held) Czechoslovakia as the war ended.

As the postwar military governor of the German state of Bavaria, Patton got into more trouble, as his dislike of the Soviets prompted him to express views and to take actions that were highly controversial. He kept former Nazis in office to help govern the region, compared Nazis to American political parties, referred to Russians in Nazi-like terms, like "Asiatic" and "Mongolian,"* and espoused using the German army in conjunction with the Western Allies against the Soviets. While tensions with the Soviets mounted, Patton's strident opinions did not sit well with many Americans or western Europeans who had had enough of war, and just wanted to recover from World War Two. Eisenhower relieved Patton of his command, although the general prepared to help write the history of the U.S. Army in the war.

In December 1945 General Patton was injured in what appeared to be a relatively minor auto accident (others involved were uninjured), but he was paralysed by a spinal injury. He died a couple of weeks later from a blood clot in his lung. He is buried with 3rd Army troops in Luxembourg.**

* The Soviet Union actually inherited the former multi-ethnic Russian Empire of the Tsar, and as such, a large area of the country lay in Asia. The term "Russian" had become standard for Soviet citizens by many people around the world, although many were not really Russian at all. Nazi propaganda had played up the "Asian" part of the Soviet population to scare Germans and western Europeans into fighting against the Soviets (remember, historically Asian tribes like the Mongols and Huns had pushed into many parts of Europe in prior centuries), although there is no question that Nazi racial and ethnic ideas had long preached this Asian connection. There is also no question that Russians had been influenced by Asians (even mode of dress) prior to Tsar Peter the Great, who forcibly changed Russians to more western European ways.

** For my article on the movie, "Patton," see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/09/patton-just-great-movie.html

WORD HISTORY:
Hand-This word "may" go back to an Indo European base "khend/khent," which had the notion of "seizing, grasping," but it only developed its meaning of "body part" in Germanic, as forms of the word are not found outside of the Germanic languages, except in borrowings. Old Germanic had "khanduz," which meant "hand." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hand/hond," depending upon dialect, which later just became "hand." Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Hand" (all German nouns are capitalized), Low German Saxon has "Hann," Dutch, West Frisian, Swedish, and Norwegian all have "hand," although Norwegian also has the variation, " hånd" (depending upon dialect), Danish has "hånd," and Icelandic has "hönd."

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.

Allied Leaders of World War Two-Churchill, Part 2

"Churchill and World War Two"

Once Hitler's foreign policy took a much more aggressive turn, and Mussolini became more entangled with Hitler, Churchill dropped any favorable references to either dictator and stepped up his calls for British rearmament. As Hitler scored bloodless victories, even with British complicity in the ceding of the German-populated area of Czechoslovakia,* Churchill heavily criticized the Conservative Party government of Neville Chamberlain for its attempts to appease the German leader. When Hitler pushed matters further by invading Poland on September 1, 1939, Britain (and France) declared war on Germany just a couple of days later. Churchill was returned to his old position as First Lord of the Admiralty, but public dissatisfaction with the government led to Chamberlain's resignation and his replacement with Churchill as Prime Minister in May 1940. Just as Churchill was being elevated to Prime Minister, the largely inactive war on the continent suddenly changed, as all hell broke loose in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with a German offensive that broke through French lines and trapped the British army, and many Belgian and French troops, along the Channel coast at Dunkirk. While the British successfully evacuated their troops to England, virtually all of their heavy equipment was left on the beaches at Dunkirk. France surrendered a few weeks later and Hitler stood as the master of much of Europe. England, now lacking heavy armaments, faced a possible successful invasion for the first time since 1066, when William, thereafter known as William the Conqueror, successfully defeated the English and King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. While some thought it best to negotiate an end to the war, Churchill was defiant and he rallied the British people with memorable words until their arms could be replenished: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat;" "This was their finest hour;" "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be... we shall never surrender." While highly sympathetic to the British efforts, the United States remained "officially" neutral, although it increasingly supplied Britain with various necessities and even war materials, bringing it into many diplomatic confrontations with Germany, and eventually, into military actions over German submarine warfare. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in late 1941, Hitler and Mussolini disregarded any common sense they had, and declared war on the United States, bringing Britain a very formidable ally.

Whether Hitler really ever intended to invade England, or if he really had the capability to do so,** has been the subject of historical debate, but his failure to secure air superiority over England during the "Battle of Britain" effectively eliminated the "immediate" threat of invasion. By the summer of 1941 Hitler had turned eastwards and invaded the Soviet Union, and in spite of his anti-communism, Churchill allied Britain with the Soviet Union. Meanwhile in North Africa, the British and Commonwealth forces did battle with a mixed German and Italian force in the sandy and rough terrain of Libya and Egypt. By late October/early November 1942, Allied forces under Bernhard Montgomery inflicted a decisive defeat on the Axis forces under the command of famous German commander, Erwin Rommel. The Allies, including substantial American forces for the first time, then landed behind Rommel's retreating forces in French colonial areas of North Africa. All of this culminated in Axis defeat in North Africa by May 1943.

Next, Churchill and the end of the war.

* The region, known as the "Sudetenland," was given to Hitler by Britain and France at a special conference held in Munich in 1938, without the participation of Czechoslovakia, whose representatives were not even permitted to be in the room.

** An invasion would have required a large number of various landing craft capable of transporting men, artillery, tanks, trucks, supplies, etc. The Germans had a number of river barges available, but they were essentially untested in waters like the English Channel. Further, an invasion force needed naval protection, and the German navy was not all that large. My own opinion is, Hitler neither wanted to invade England, nor did he truly have the capability to do so at that time (summer/fall 1940). Besides, it didn't take him long to shift gears and begin planning what he really desired, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

WORD HISTORY:
Earl-The ancient origins of this word are uncertain, but Old Germanic had "erloz/erlaz," which meant "warrior," and later "chief, leader in war." This gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "eorl," with the same meaning, but later, probably under influence from its Old Norse relative "jarl," its meaning advanced to "nobleman," and later still it was used in England as the equivalent to a "count" in the nobility. The spelling next became "erl," before the modern version, and of course, it also became a fairly common male name. A number of its other Germanic relatives died out long ago, like for instance, Old High German "erl," but Icelandic, Danish and Norwegian still have "jarl," but how much it is used by any or all is unclear to me. Norway produces the popular "Jarlsberg" cheese, named after a district in Norway where it was first made.