joeblogshistory

[joeblogshistory]

An obvious but thought-provoking point on coalitions

“It is the essence of a coalition, by definition almost, that the differences between its members and the common enemy are greater than their internal differences amongst each other.”

- Henry Kissinger in A World Restored (1957) 

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Booker T. Washington, on race relations

‘A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, “Water, water; we die of thirst!” The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water; send us water!” ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are”. The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbour, I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are” – cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions... No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.’ 

- speech of Booker T. Washington, 1901. Born a slave, died a hero. 

(Source: Cobbs & Blum, Major Problems in American History Volume II: Since 1865 4th ed.) 

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Those who loved and those who hated history:

‘When we discuss the discipline of history with friends and strangers, we typically get one of two responses. The first is something like “I hated history in school.” The other is something like “history was my favourite subject.” Invariably the people who hated history refer to the boring facts they had to memorize. Those who loved history remember a teacher or professor who brought the subject alive by imaginatively invoking the past.’

Taken from the introduction of Major Problems in American History Volume II: Since 1865, ed. by Elizabeth Gobbs & Edward J. Blum (4th ed.) 

[joeblogshistory]

Trees in Victorian Politics

This 1982 cartoon from The Economist depicts William Ewart Gladstone; four-time Prime Minister, Liberal titan and arguably the most influential or definitive politician of the Victorian age - his career spanning seven decades and fifty-one years either in government or leading in opposition. While the illustration serves little purpose within the article (a review of a biography of the ‘Grand Old Man’) it does highlight a key feature of Gladstone’s life: his passion for chopping down trees. More observant readers – or ones who particularly enjoy studying illustrations – will have noticed that for someone partaking in one of his favourite pastimes Gladstone is looking remarkably vexed. This is because he was famed for retreating to his Hawarden castle in the Welsh Marches after suffering political defeats in order to contemplate events while putting axe to wood. One such example of his retreats is after the Conservatives, led by Benjamin Disraeli, beat Gladstone and the Liberals to passing the Second Reform Act in 1867. Gladstone’s arch-rival Disraeli also had an unusual interest in trees, however the Conservative colossus preferred to plant them, dozens of which he nurtured at his Hughenden estate from 1848 until his death in 1881.   Trees are useful symbolic devices when it comes to Victorian politics. The great conflicts between the numerous behemoth figures can certainly be simplified to and explained as one man planting a tree and the next cutting it down. Examples of this include Gladstone’s retrenchment of empire overturned by Disraeli’s unbridled imperialism and the protectionism of figures like Wellington being reversed by free trade Peelites and Liberals like Peel and Palmerston. The great irony however does lie in the fact that while Gladstone enjoyed cutting down trees in his spare time, in government he was often the man planting the seeds – seeds that would grow into concepts like retrenchment, Irish home rule and devolution as well as the welfare state.  

[joeblogshistory]

'The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars had "quickened the pace of felt time" and opened up apparently boundless and immediate prospects of individual and social liberation.'

George Steiner, In Bluebeard's Castle: Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture (1971)

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The Nation Awaits the Death of the Grand Old Man

'In the meantime a strange and almost unexampled spectacle was being witnessed throughout Great Britain. As the consciousness that Mr. Gladstone’s last hours had come and that he was passing them in sore physical tribulation, but with never-yielding courage and resignation, spread abroad throughout the land, public feeling was stirred to its very depths. All rancour disappeared from the breasts of his political opponents, party feeling seemed to die away, and the whole nation joined in watching by the bed on which one who was now universally recognised as being above and before everything else, “a great Christian man,” to use Lord Salisbury’s words, was stretched in the pangs of dissolution. “Kindness, kindness, nothing but kindness!” was a phrase that often fell from Mr. Gladstone’s lips in those last days, and he was not without some knowledge that this kindly feeling towards him was now universal, and that his earnest prayer that he might die at peace with all men had been answered.’

Reid, S. W. (1899). The Life of William Ewart Gladstone. London: Cassell and Company, Limited.

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“To love the past may easily be an expression of the nostalgic romanticism of old men and old societies, a symptom of loss of faith and interest in the present or future.” -  E. H. Carr, What is History? (1961)

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Thoughts on Patriotism and History

As I was reading through a book on historiography I stumbled across this quote from the Roman historian Livy:

“I hope my passion for Rome’s past has not impaired my judgement; for I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds...” 

It made my mind whir - despite what many historians (Especially liberals and / or revisionists) seem to think there is nothing inherently wrong with being a patriotic historian. While it is of course important to ensure that this doesn’t cloud your vision to the point that facts are altered, often a sense of pride or devotion to a subject matter produces a work of History more interesting and informative and ultimately valuable than other works where facts may overwhelm passion or opinion. 

The works of The Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson come to mind here. It is most prevalent in his fantastic pseudo-biography The Churchill Factor but can also be found in other books of his like The Dream of Rome and even his less-historical books like Friends, Voters, Countrymen. 

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“My duty terminates by calling the attention of the House to the fact, which it is really impossible to set aside, that in considering these Amendments - limited as their scope may seem to some to be - we are considering apart, an essential and inseparable part, of a question enormously large, a question which has become profoundly acute, which will demand a settlement, and must receive at an early date that settlement, from the highest authority. In these circumstances, the House will understand that we have not dealt lightly with this matter; that if we give advice to accept the Bill as it comes to us, undoubtedly a damaged and a mutilated Bill, we have given that advice under the gravest sense of our responsibility; and that, considering the nature of the issue to which we have adverted, we are unwilling to do anything in our power for the purpose of unnecessarily stimulating the sharpness of the crisis, by consigning to destruction the only important, the only very important and truly national portion remaining of the arduous work of the Session now expiring.  Having said this, and thanking the House for the attention they have given me, I have only to signify that it is the intention of the Government to acquiesce in the Amendments which have been made by the House of Lords.”

- The final words William E. Gladstone made in the House of Commons on the 1st of March 1894, ending a career spanning over seven decades. 

[joeblogshistory]

How effective were Cavour’s economic reforms to the Kingdom of Sardinia in regards to Italian unification?

Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour (Or Cavour for short) is widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian Prime Ministers in history. He remained in office as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia followed by the Kingdom of Italy continuously from 1852 until his death in 1861, with only a brief six-month break in the middle after a stress-induced resignation.

While Cavour was most well-known for his extraordinary diplomatic skill (Taking Sardinia from being a quiet backwater Kingdom to a significant player on the European scene) he also carried out some notable and vital economic reforms, making Piedmont-Sardinia not only a modern state but also a viable figurehead for Italian unification. Unlike most of his colleagues, Cavour had travelled widely in Europe including to economic powerhouses like France and Britain and had studied economics from various different angles. He was by far the most knowledgeable Piedmontese politician when it came to money. In addition to this he had made friends with wealthy men in prominent positions – bankers, businessmen and the like. He brought this, as well as his gambling, risk-taking nature, into Piedmontese politics helping the once stagnant state become the economic capital of Italy. As Minister of Agriculture and later Minister of Finance he achieved trade agreements with many important states such as Britain, France, Belgium, the German Zollverein and, to everybody’s surprise, Austria. As a result within a decade Piedmontese trade had trebled and he used this excess money in the Piedmontese coffers to embark on large overhaul schemes. Infrastructure was improved (By 1859 Piedmont hosted half of Italy’s railways) and a central bank was set up.

The economic weakness of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the South became extremely obvious in comparison to the new and reformed Kingdom of Sardinia in the North. Cavour’s new nation was by far the most modern and progressive in all of Italy however his economic reforms were not enough to make Piedmont able to drive out the Austrians from the peninsula. Such a war could only come with foreign backing, as demonstrated during the First Italian War of Independence (1848 – 1849) where King Charles Albert proved that Italy couldn’t “Go it alone”. Cavour’s real contribution to Italian unification was via his diplomatic skill. Cavour’s foreign policy had been inspired by his predecessors Massimo d’Azeglio and Cesare Balbo in that he too desired an Italy free from Austrian influence and that he knew the only way to achieve this would be to acquire the support of a European power, ideally Britain or France. While Britain played its role in the process (Allowing Garibaldi to cross the straits of Messina in 1860) France was Sardinia’s true ally in the period. French Emperor Napoleon III had been extremely sympathetic to the Italian cause but simply hadn’t taken any action on it – his lack of action was to such an extent that it led to a terrorist attack by revolutionary Carbonari leader Felice Orsini in 1858. The first signs of a Franco-Sardinian alliance emerged from the Crimean War, in which Sardinia was pressured to join by both Britain and France. While Sardinia played no major role in the war whatsoever (Merely acting as a junior coalition partner) their participation still earned them a seat at the Treaty of Paris, giving Cavour a chance to raise the Italian question. While many have described Sardinia’s role in the war as unproductive, their presence in the Crimea had confirmed to Europe that they were the leading Italian state and that they were the folk to deal with when it came to alliances and trade. This blossoming Franco-Sardinian friendship culminated in the secret Plombières meeting in 1858 where Napoleon and Cavour agreed that they must try and provoke a war with Austria in order to further Italian unification, which of course they did in the Second Italian War of Independence a year later where the process of expelling Austria had truly begun.

You may say that Cavour’s economic improvements enabled Sardinia to become the frontrunner of Italian unification and a partner of France however Cavour’s diplomacy was the Piedmontese asset that advanced unification further.

[joeblogshistory]

The Forgotten Republic

In 1849 a new Republic was declared in Rome. This Republic, which took inspiration from the Ancient SPQR, arose while the entirety of the Italian peninsula took arms in revolution against their conservative rulers and the equally conservative Austrians. It was one of many revolutionary acts during the widespread European revolutions of 1848-49. The Republic was able to form when Pope Pius IX fled the Vatican after his Chief Minister Count Pellegrino Rossi was murdered in November of ‘48. In the Pope’s absence the remaining Roman government undertook a liberal shift under the Ancient Roman inspired triumvirate leadership of Carlo Armelini, Aurelio Saffi and Giuseppe Mazzini at the head of government. The liberal reforms passed by this new government included taxation reform to help the poor, relaxation of censorship and also the abolition of the death penalty – making the Republic the first nation in the world to constitutionally abolish capital punishment. Despite the apparent popularity of the Republic within Rome itself, further afield there was little sympathy for the newly founded nation. The Pope had called upon France, Spain and Naples (Where he was residing) to march into Rome and take back the city and it was the new French Republic that answered the Pope’s call. The new French President Louis Napoleon (Nephew and heir of the Napoleon) sent forth an army of 20,000 under the watchful eye of General Charles Oudinot to retake the Republic, as repayment for Napoleon’s past dealings with the Pope. The defending Roman army was made up of around 7,000 ragtag volunteers using guerrilla tactics under the command of romantic hero Giuseppe Garibaldi. Despite Garibaldi’s brilliance his forces couldn’t match the brute force of the French force and much like the revolutionary forces elsewhere in Italy the Roman army was defeated, with the French keeping a garrison in Rome until 1870 to ensure that a repeat incident didn’t occur.   While the new Republic’s government was plagued with problems, such as the lack of foreign support and its lack of proper governmental strategy, it was truly the influence of foreign powers that put down the revolutionary dream. Even if France had not answered the call Austria would have soon taken their place after they had finished defeating King Charles Albert of Piedmont in a similar patriotic Italian struggle in the North.  

[joeblogshistory]

The role French women played in the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War

“40 of the soldiers were poisoned by women who offered them wine in the Market-place, such devils are not fit to live, shooting is by far too good for them, the women behaved like tigresses, throwing petroleum everywhere & distinguishing themselves by the fury with which they fought, a convoy of nearly four thousand passed the Boulevards this afternoon, such figures you never saw, blackened with powder, all in tatters and filthy dirty, a few with chests exposed to show their sex, the women with their hair disheveled & of a most ferocious appearance.” 

- from the diaries of London-born Edwin Child

Source: Paris Under Siege 1870-1871, Joanna Richardson, 1982, Folio Society p. 197 

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“It’s just like being back as a new boy at public school - with its ritual and rules, and also its background of convention, which breeds a sense of anxiety and inferiority in people who don’t know the rules. Even the smell - the smell of damp stone stairways - is like school. All you have of your own is a locker - just like a school locker. You don’t know where you’re allowed to go, and where not - you’re always afraid you may be breaking some rule, or wandering into the Speaker’s house by mistake. In the smoking room, you’re afraid to sit down in case you’re in somebody’s special chair. The only place where you can work is in the library: and even there you daren’t ask the man for a book, because you don’t know whether he’s a librarian or an old member.” 

~ Mark Bonham Carter (Later Baron Bonham Carter), Liberal MP for Torrington, after being elected for the first time in 1958. 

Source: Never Had It So Good, D. Sandbrook, 2005

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"Words of peace But no treaty, Are a sign Of a plot" Sun-Tzu, "The Art of War"

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“For my own part I can only say that I enjoyed life more whilst on active service than I have ever done since; and as I sit at work in my shop in Richmond Street, Soho, I look back upon that portion of my time spent in the fields of the Peninsula as the only part worthy of remembrance. It is at such times that scenes long passed come back upon my mind as if they have taken place but yesterday. I remember even the very appearance of some of the regiments engaged; and comrades, long-mouldered to dust, I see again performing the acts of heroes.” - Rifleman Benjamin Randell Harris in the 1830s looking back on his time as a Rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars.

Source: Voices From The Napoleonic Wars, J. E. Lewis 2001

[joeblogshistory]

As you’ll be able to tell from my previous post (A quote from D. Thomas’ The Victorian Underworld) that I’ve been reading into Victorian prostitution and I ended up setting out to write a short post telling the story of one particular prostitute who was well-documented within Thomas’ book. Then I expanded the piece to include another well-document girl, and then another. And then I started researching more about what happened to them after they gave up their careers as prostitutes. Then I started researching any criminal convictions they may have had... Basically, don’t expect a post for a while as this is going to take a lot of research!

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“In the 1840s [Prostitution] had seemed a more attractive future to girls in their early teens than the dignity of honest toil. If they were exploited by female bawds, this appeared no worse than what they would suffer as servants at the hands of middle-class mistresses, whose meanness they must endure and whose excrement they slopped out each morning. Men who hired them for pleasure might be more humane than masters of labour who set them to work in such environments as the carding-room of a mill, where congestion of the lungs by specks of fluff and consequent early death were the rewards of honest toil.” - extract from The Victorian Underworld by D. Thomas (1998) 

Will post a part of the paragraph after this extract in a separate post as it is equally interesting but deals with a different side to Victorian prostitution.