Old History Becomes New History Now

One hundred years ago historians might make amazing discoveries by reading old papers, memoirs, or newspapers. Today, the benefit of social media can cause immediate news coverage, for good or bad. During the Mexican-American War President James Polk Bamboozled Congress into secretly giving him one million dollars to offer as a bribe to Santa Anna, who was in exile in Cuba. The general took the money and returned to Vera Cruz aboard an American warship, ostensibly to end the war on Polk's expansionist terms. But the joke was on Polk. Santa Anna kept the war going and almost won.

Polk wanted to annex All of Mexico. That part of his evil plan was well known. But Mexico was predominantly  Roman Catholic, a "no-no" for most Americans. Also, Mexico opposed slavery, a huge "no-no" for Southern states. The press found out about most of the machinations but it was recorded in detail until decades later when historians like Harvard's Frederick Merck wrote a book about it.

Today, however, technology is so advanced that top government leaders can discuss bombing Yemen at length and in detail without noticing that there is a person privy to the discussion that is a journalist. The app they used wasn't approved or secure. After years of watching fictional TV shows like NCIS, viewers know what secret communication rooms and SCIF's are all about. Yet here are a group of so-called professionals not only giving away the plans but, as in the case of J.D.Vance denigrating our European allies, something he does with regularity.

And the President, with a straight face, says he knows nothing! Absolute BS, All of these men have lost the confidence of the nation and the congress and should resign or be fired. Drain the swamp!

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, if you have principles, then it is time to resign. 

Get History Mr. Vance

 Vice President went to Dachau upon arriving in Munich for the security conference and then proceeded to question Europe's Democracy and Spoke of the "enemy within..." How could he have seriously visited a Concentration Camp and not comprehend why it was left standing? My father, who was a school boy in Nazi Germany, came home with a red cheek because his teacher had slapped him across the face. He didn't greet her with the expected Heil Hitler salute. 

My saintly mother, before she died, warned that we could relive the 1930's very easily and she saw the signs of Hitlerism in this country and abroad. It had been illegal in Germany long after the war to possess Nazi paraphernalia including books and posters. The fear was that future generations needed to know what happened Under Hitler

Thankfully, my parents left Germany and immigrated to America.Vance's meeting with AfD, however, was an indirect endorsement of their right-wing beliefs. Germans should be concerned about migration. Angela Merkel had much blame in causing this situation. But free speech should not be mouthing neo-Nazi ideas. At one point Germany had many Turkish guest workers. Their children were born in Germany. They were skilled workers and even university educated professionals. I once met a Turkish shop ower in the Great Bazaar of Istanbul who spoke perfect German and had lived many years in Hamburg - the city my own family came from.

Germany of late has had numerous terror attacks on the civilian population. The perpetrators are usually migrants identifying with Islamist groups or radical ideologies. Germany has courts just as we do. But Germans may remember President Trump referring to Germany as a "fly over country." If it eventually turns out that J R Vance influence the German election, much as we accused Russia of meddling in our elections, then Vance should be severely reprimanded or asked to resign. His speeches are political blackmail to the German people.

And let us not forget the deep friendship that Germany has had with the United States for decades. Germans in Illinois helped Abraham Lincoln get elected in 1860. And they fought in the Civil War. There are more Germans that came to America as immigrants that any other grouping, including the Irish and Italians. Germany influence goes back to the 1700's when they fought with George Washington and many Hessians and other ethnic Germans did not return to Europe but made their homes in the American colonies. This was even true of German soldiers taken prisoner at Saratoga.

So Mr. Vance has a lot of history to reread, if he ever read it in the first place. I was a college history professor. I should know. 

 

When my brother and I were still in middle school, my parents took us every summer for a week or longer to Canada. My dad drove the entire way, never stopping except to eat or get gas. Our goal was the Ontario city of Gananoque in Ontario. Here, we stayed for one night in a perfectly wonderful motel that was clean and manned by a friendly staff. In the morning we had a full breakfast, bacon and eggs, toast, and great coffee. It was, for us kids, a treat since every school day we ate farina or oatmeal.

We drove east, stopped at historical sights and eventually came to out destination: Nova Scotia. Here we spent a week with family friends who own a small knitting mill making sweaters. The first weekend, however, my dad and his old friend went into town to buy about dozens  lobsters. We all had fun cracking them open and piling the meat on the kitchen table. That's when I got my lifelong taste for lobster!

Another fun experience I recall was visiting Fort Niagara, where so many conferences had taken place in colonial times between the indigenous tribes, the British, French, and American colonial representatives. I recall seeing a sign that is was the "Rush-Baggot" Treaty line; the official border between Canada and the United States.

One year we took a popular Thousand Island cruise. Another year we stopped at Fort William Henry, a military outpost featured in the Hollywood fil, "The last of the Mohicans," a novel written in the 1800's by James Fennimore Copper. But I would also recommend Allan Eckert's "Frontiersman" and other books he's written about this time period, all very well written and footnoted for fact.

Walter Edmonds was another superb writer whose books like "Paint a very colorful picture of the colonial period of " Drums along the Mohawk'" That movie starred Henry Fonda as Gill and Claudette Colbert as his wife . Edna May Oliver plays a noteworthy role as well. But Canada was never seriously up for grab's 

The Techumseh conspiracy was defeated and things settled to Status Quo Ante-Bellum. And so it's been since we was a kids, marveling at the clear, exciting land we colorful neighbor to the north!

While we are at it, Let plus the book, "Night Probe" by Clive Cussler who recenly pass away. who recently passed away. The book is a lively James Bond type action story with the premises' that the US has always owned Canada by virtue of an old treaty that was lost long ago Or was it? One copy was aboard the Empress of Ireland,'the ship sank. There we only two copies of the treaty'. Another my have been lost on a ghost train. Clive was always prescient in many of his books. The Ghost train supposed plunged into a dep river bed abd then covered with mud for decades.

It is available in paperback and was published in1981.And so the saga continues. Who will own Canada? 

It makes perfect sense to Give Donald Trump a third term or perhaps even more. Why should a new president follow Trump and sign his or her own executive orders possibly undoing what Donald Trump is doing? Like the times of FDR, the world is in such a crisis that unlimited terms are almost a necessity. It is hard enough for a President to get much accomplished in four years.

The next four years will be Chaos in my regard. As Margo Channing famously said, "Fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy night."  This is a period in Washington when the Term "Decorum" will be banned from all proceedings. And, sadly, the so-called Deep State, whatever that may be, will still be a mythical reality. 

Billionaires, for good or ill, will make the laws and enrich themselves off of a dystopian society.  And we will all clap and sing God Bless America. Let us Thank God for creating such a heaven on earth. Our kids in high school need to read 1984 and see where we are going. Colleges need to require American History survey courses, preferably taught by OLD SCHOOL Masters credentialed professors. 

Maybe then we will really get back to basics and be prepared to say, with Nathan Hale, that we only have one life to give for our country. And, please, give Mr. Musk a lesson on Nazism and racism. Something they obviously don't teach in South Africa. Isn't President Trump tired of him yet?

When I taught Freshman History in College we invariably became entwined in what is generally called "Western Civilization." The course begins with the ancient world and eventually lands on the shores of ancient Greece. Here we learned that there were various types of governments emerging with the various city-states, Athens, for example, is most often associated with early attempts at Democracy. Democracy  is itself constantly evolving. Under Pericles it seems to have reached it's zenith.

Another aspect of Democracy was it's exportation to other regional areas where the Greeks were making cultural and political inroads. It was called Hellenization. All of this boded well for land owning males being able to participate in politics and determine their future.

But other City-States took different paths to express government, such as a system of monarchy. Still others were ruled by oligarchy. These rulers were part of the ruling elite. No elected, their power and wealth in the community gave them the tight to rule.

What are oligarchs? This definition comes from the Oxford dictionary as quoted in Wikipedia: a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union).

Today, America is poised to be run by oligarchs, chosen by Donald Trump, some to be in his Cabinet, others to act as an ad hoc" Kitchen cabinet" ala Andrew Jackson. No one of them have one iota sense of who the everyday American is. They have no idea I cannot buy eggs due to costs.

Historically, Oligarchs tend to be displaced by the masses, eventually. This is the evolution of society. So we, today, must toil through the Trump years and hope for a better day over the horizon.

A member of my family suggested to me that the firestorm in Los Angeles  was God's punishment for the "young people" living there. I'm not sure whom he exactly meant, But I reminded him that some evangelicals also said that years ago about the New Orleans Katrina disaster. It is so each to blame God for bad things. Did the Christians blame Nero when Rome burned? Throughout history, Christians have used God's vengeance as an excuse for bad things happening.

It is okay to obliterate Gaza and it's people because of what was done to God's chosen people. Early in the conflict, a hard-liner in the Israeli cabinet advocated dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza. There is great hated and it is on both sides. Do we blame God for the carnage? Do we blame Allah? Or do we blame Man's sinful nature? 

In the Old Testament book of Job, God allowed Satan to torment Job, kill his family, devastate his farm, until he had nothing. Job's wife said, "curse God and die." But Job rightly said, "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." That is an affirmation we should say whenever we wake to to a new day God has given us. Blessed by the name of the Lord!

In 1943 my mother and grandmother emerged from a bunker in Hamburg to see their neighborhood in flames. The bombing of Hamburg gave birth to the term, "firestorm." They rushed past their street and every house was burning. Everything they had was gone. All the new furniture that they had bought from extra savings, all her dolls save one were lost forever in the flames.

Los Angeles is only one recent example of horrific tragedy. The same rain that falls on the just fall on the unjust. God does not target neighborhoods. God is not sitting behind a computer board video game targeting areas of the world. That is not how God works. 

We are Americans and as long as we live we strive to do better and be better. We personally were immigrants who came to the New York area with just a suitcase. We were legal immigrants, having spent hours filling out forms and obtaining the necessary shots. It was up to my parents to excel. It was up to me to be a good son and do well in school. And I think I did.

If I lose my life work today, yes, I will cry but I will not blame God.

And we should not blame the Lord for the fires in California. Only ignorant people do that.

 What is the message of "Where have all the flowers gone"?

Where Have All The Flowers Gone is a powerful anti-war song. When reading the novel And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov, Seeger came across lines sung by a group of Cossack soldiers going back to the war about flowers being picked by girls who marry the men who join the army."Sag' mir, wo die Blumen sind" is a German translation of the anti-war song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The song's message is about the transience of life and the ghosts of war. It's built on the association of nature, bridal wreaths, and men at war. 

Marlene Dietrich's version of the song broke the taboo against singing in German in Israel after World War II. She performed the song in German, English, and French, and the German version reached number 20 on the German charts. 

The song was inspired by lines from Mikhail Sholokhov's novel And Quiet Flows the Don. In the book, a group of Cossack soldiers sing about girls picking flowers for the men who join the army

the symbolism comes hauntingly back. I credit various  Wikipedia entries for the above explanation. We are  probably ...In Time of 'The Breaking of Nations'" by Thomas  Hardy,  the title itself is taken from the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible. 

War, Killing, always seem the answer when nations want to cull the flower of a 

.generation. We cry Peace Peace, but there is no peace.

With my dad in New York City during less hectic times!
 

I can remember when there were only three or four TV channels one could watch. We were kids growing up in New Jersey and on New Year's Eve, the only night we were allowed to stay up past midnight, Guy Lombardo filled our living room. My dad had decorated with colorful streamers hung from everywhere in the room and friends of my folks milled about drinking dad's famous brandy and champagne punch. Life was much easier then and more predictable.

We were immigrants from Germany and brought a lot of our traditions with us. But we all toasted at midnight and hoped for a better year to come. Today, we toast to the normality of those past years.  And often wish those times were still the norm. 

Another Year has come and gone but I still think of you, your goodness, and your generosity. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

One of our earliest remembrances in New Jersey reminding me of your wonderful baking and how proud you were of all of your creations. 

Ingrid Maria Piehl born 1930 in Hamburg

Passed unto glory September 2, 2012

Survived Operation Gomorrah at age 13.

Came to America (with me!) August 1953

 Why We Can Never Forget the Horrors of WWII by Michael Streich

The Ukraine War is proof that WWII must remain in our collective memories as an atrocity that must never be repeated. It included the horrors of the Holocaust and the mass destruction of many European cities although predominantly German cities. Countless civilians were lost. This great war is not that far in our past. People are still alive who suffered from the events. 

Just as cities in the Ukraine today are being bombed by ever newer weapons of destruction, new administration folks like Tulsi Gabbard is given a high security intelligence position under Donald Trump, the man who promised to end the war in one phone call. "Peace in our time," as Neville Chamberlain once said. Tusi has been called a Russian asset.

It is painfully obvious that the Ukraine will be abandoned and that any so-called peace will involve the ceding of Ukrainian sovereign land to a rapacious Vladimir Putin who thinks of himself as the modern day gatherer of Russian lands. He also has not studied history. Indeed, most Russians do not know their own history by design,

In the early 1990's I was part of a small group of Americans to visit the Kremlin. We were told that we were the first westerners to be allowed into the armory. We saw the crown jewels, Faberge Eggs, other ancient artifacts and the huge boots belonging to Peter the Great. When we asked about the tsars our guide told us that this was part of Russia's history they had not been taught.

History is often rewritten to hide what really happened. But in the course of this, people die: men Women and children. Just look at Gaza.

These people are being starved to death. A new form of Genocide.

And Israel can call upon Old Testament Passages to support the policy. Donald Trump can do the same thing with Mexico. He can invoke 19th century James K Polk who wanted to annex Mexico. It was almost put into the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Problem was, the South opposed it because Mexico did not allow slavery, Also, most Mexicans were Catholic.

I taught both high school level and college level history. The past must not be watered down or worse, slowly forgotten. That is why on every trip with students to Southern Germany, we always stopped at Dachau.

copywrite Michael Streich

  Development and Celebration of Epiphany

A Church Festival Ending Christmas Dated to the Early 4th Century

© Michael Streich

 Dec 21, 2008

Twelfth Night has long been associated with the visitation of Magi from the East, but Epiphany also recounts the baptism of Jesus and his first miracle at Cana.

Celebrated on January 6th, Epiphany represents one of the three most important Christian holidays in the church cycle. Most directly, Epiphany recalls the visit of the Magi or “Wise men” from the east, but it is also associated with the baptism of Jesus as well as the first miracle, performed at the wedding in Cana. Celebrated as early as the 4th Century, scholars have traced January 6th as a direct reference to Christ’s baptism to the 2nd century.

Development of the Festival

Historians have traced the first Epiphany celebrations to the eastern Mediterranean region in the early 4th century. Significantly, the festival appeared to parallel a pagan festival centered around Alexandria in Egypt that was tied to the winter solstice. This pagan festival celebrated the birth of the god Aeon in the temple of Kore. [1]

Charles Panati [2] asserts that, “Whereas the solstice caused the banks of the Nile to overflow, the sacred birth caused water in royal and public fountains to miraculously turn into wine.” Hence, January 6th was equated by the Christian Church with the date of the Cana wedding feast when Jesus turned water into wine.

The presence of the Bethlehem star that led the Magi to Christ also figures prominently in the evolution of Epiphany in the church. Sometimes called the Festival of the Lights, it marks that cycle in the church leading from the winter solstice to the return of the sun. R. W. Scribner [3] details this cycle of lights as it expanded in medieval Europe, moving from mid January to February 1st, the feast of St. Bridget, “…a suitable introduction to the feast of the Purification or Lichtmess (Candlemas).”

The Magi from the East

The story of the “wisemen” or Magi (magoi in Greek) is recounted in the second chapter of Matthew. Contrary to tradition, Matthew does not state how many there were. Settling on the number three appears to come, according to most commentaries, from the three separate gifts enumerated in the Gospel: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the ancient world, all three of the gifts were considered kingly.

Although depicted as kings in church tradition, there is no indication that they actually were. The Greek term magoi (used also in Acts) can refer to sorcery and magic. In this case, since they came from the east following a particular star, it is believed that they were Persian astrologers from the Mesopotamian region. It should also be noted that they were non-Jews.

Whereas Luke has Christ born in a manager, the Magi found Christ in a “house.” Bible commentators speculate that their arrival was anywhere from 6 months to a year after his birth. This would also explain Herod’s order to have all infants two years or younger slain.

Light versus Darkness and Good versus Evil

Just as the Magi represent goodness and the fulfillment of prophecy (see Isaiah 60.6), Herod’s response represented evil. James Frazer identifies the “period of twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany” as a “witching time” [4] when Europeans burned wood to ward off evil. “The last day of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, and it has been selected as a proper season for the expulsion of the powers of evil in various parts of Europe.”

For some Eastern Church faith tradition, such as the Armenians, the Epiphany is the true day of Christmas. The traditions see December 25th as having explicit pagan connotations, something Augustine and other church fathers seem to admit. Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Magi, Christ's baptism, and the Cana miracle.

Sources and Notes:

[1]Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970) p. 154.

[2] Charles Panati, Sacred Origins of Profound Things: the Storoes Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World’s Religions (New York: Penguin, 1999) pp. 217-219.

[3] R.W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: the Hambledon Press, 1987) pp. 4-5.

[4] James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1966) p. 650.

The copyright of the article Development and Celebration of Epiphany in Catholic Mass & Holy Days is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Development and Celebration of Epiphany in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

THIS is how America Votes

In North Carolina's newly created 6th Congressional District, several Republicans vied to bring home the prize. It was all the more worthwhile because the incumbent, Representative Kathy Manning declined to seek reelection. The new 6th district had been gerrymandered by the Republican led state legislature so as to make her reelection chances nearly impossible.

The winner of the race was lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield and an aide to Senator Ted Budd, Addison McDowell, a local, from Davidson County. McDowell received 21, 206 votes. The district has a population of 790,000 souls. His voted percent was under 30%. He had been endorsed by former President Trump.

He was followed by former Congressman Mark Walker, with strong ties to the evangelical community. His TV ads claimed he was endorsed by "pastors." During the campaign period, Walker trashed former President Trump but Trump actually called him and offered him a job in the Trump election organization. Moral are are morals but money is money.

The 6th Congressional district is comprised of 6 disparate countries. McDowell faces no opposition in the general election on November 5th. This is the face of American elections. No choices and one well-connected man elected by a mere fraction of the voters in a contrived district. God Bless America. 

Stay tuned - Meghan Markle, the new Lola Montez. But can she dance? 

The Focus of History Teaching

"Don't turn my son into a lawyer," the woman scowled as she helped to empty her son's locker full of books. As a high school freshman he had won the regional Moot Court with a class buddy and almost went to the state competition. One of the judges, however, noted that as freshmen the two still had three years whereas their competitors were two senior girls.

In the next few years he participated in speech and debate competitions, a variety of sports, and was part of the Model Congress team that went to Boston every spring to compete in an event facilitated by Harvard University. In that, he won a blue ribbon. 

But he didn't become a lawyer. Rather, he went to medical school. 

We often forget that kids, as they get older, tend to focus on their own goals and not those others set for them. Some parents appreciate this while others threaten to sue not only the school but the teachers and counselors that they perceive weren't doing their jobs. 

My part in this was two-fold: writing letters of recommendation that set the students apart from everyone else and being an unpaid faculty advisor to the many extra and co-curricular activities the school offered. Once, I was even asked to coach tennis, a task I was completely unprepared for.

The fact that I knew my subject area really well didn't matter. What mattered was the results of a stellar recommendation letter or blue ribbon awards that were attached to high school resumes in the hopes of getting the most attention from college admissions officers. 

Grades mattered, of course, but if you had climbed Mt. Everest during a summer break, to offer an exaggerated skill, students were guaranteed a closer look. One dean of admissions at a prominent southern university told an applicant who was accepted that the recommendation letter written by his teacher which illustrated in detail how the student had overcome obstacles was the deal-breaker in terms of admission. 

I loved teaching history and I think I was very good at it. But what mattered more to parents and school officials was the ability to help students get into their dream colleges. It even meant taking groups of students in the summer on "educational tours" of Europe or the Southern Pacific. There can't be that many students who can boast on their resume that they spent time in a Queensland rain forest or climbed to the top of Ayer's Rock in the Australian outback. 

Of course it was fun for me as well and the other teacher chaperons. "Foreign exchanges" were integral to the college application process, adding another layer to a complex and already padded resume. 

Ironically, history today is a subject relegated to the bottom of important subjects. One prominent university in my state doesn;t even require a single history course for graduation. I considered my primary vocation to be the indispensable aspect of future success and social survival. If the Civil War, for example, doesn't matter anymore in our history, than everything else is moot. 

So we turned out doctors and lawyers. Hopefully successful human beings that know the history that provided for their success. Once that stops, teaching will have no more focus.

 Happy Birthday Mom! 93 Today.

You are a wonderful person, totally loving, respecting all life including your thousands of bird fans around the house. We all miss you everyday and I pray you are in a better place.

Notre Dame Cathedral credit: Mike Streich

St.Denis in Paris photo by Streich

 Gothic cathedrals Date: May 16, 2018 Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.  The rise of the Gothic form began in the mid 12th century. Gothic cathedrals, often taking decades to construct, began to appear in cities and towns throughout Europe, although French cathedrals like Amiens and Notre Dame in Paris are some of the finest and most spectacular of these great houses of worship. Gothic cathedrals served many purposes beyond their chief function as seats of local bishops and archbishops. 

 Gothic cathedrals were the visual representation of God’s kingdom and, as such, provided spiritual education to the illiterate masses. They also functioned as the hub of town commerce and characterized civic pride. Gothic cathedrals are still used as active churches today, allowing Christians to worship and celebrate their faith amidst the supreme expression of Medieval piety.

 Gothic architecture changed during the three phases: early Gothic (late 12th and early 13th centuries in France (Notre-Dame in Paris and the Carthes Cathedral), classical Gothic peak around 1220 (Reims Cathedral and Cathedral in Amiens) late Gothic (14th and 1st decades of 15th century throughout Europe). Gothic architecture or style (lat: Gothicus: belonging to Goths) was originally concealed by the name Giorgio Vasari who wanted to say that, from the point of view of the Italian Renaissance, that style was barbaric.

 Gothic Cathedrals as a Spiritual Story Book During the Middle Ages, most Europeans were illiterate peasants. Their daily lives revolved around the Church, from when they arose in the morning until sunset. Life on earth was merely a brief sojourn in the overall working of God’s plan. This message was constantly reinforced by the sculptures, stained glass windows, relics, and other adornments found in Gothic cathedrals.

 Depictions of the saints and Apostles, Old and New Testament stories, and Church doctrine like the final judgment comprised the images on the stained glass windows as well as outdoor and indoor sculptures and carvings. Alfons Dierick, in his book on the windows at Chartres Cathedral, states that “the faithful ‘read’ the stained glass windows.” Additionally, the cathedral as a total structure was a microcosm of God’s universal kingdom and the cosmology of Medieval theology. Dierick comments that the Gothic cathedral was an “image of light, strength and repose, symbolic of the faith of the Middle Ages.”

 In most cases, cathedrals were dedicated to “our lady,” the Virgin Mary depicted as both the Queen of Heaven as well as the most exalted of females, chosen to be the mother of Christ. The Cathedral as a Commercial Hub Still today European cathedrals serve as market areas, their squares frequently filled with vendors. This is most evident in November and December when Christmas markets appear in many cities and towns under the shadows of cathedral spires. The cathedral was tied to town and city revenue in many ways during the Middle Ages.

 All great cathedrals displayed holy relics. Because pilgrimage was a key element of Medieval religious practices, churches that held important relics became key destinations, bringing in thousands of pilgrims that spent money in the town. In 1087, merchants from the Italian city of Bari forcibly stole the remains of St. Nicholas of Myra in Asia Minor. This action increased the popularity and prosperity of Bari. Cathedral chapters, charged with the cathedral revenues, often held financial stakes in local merchant enterprises. This was true at Amiens and Cologne as well as a number of other cathedral towns. 

Other Benefits of Gothic Cathedrals Basilica of St Denis. Photo credited by Michael Streich Basilica of St Denis.  The draw of Gothic cathedrals came from their immensity as well as their interior beauty, enhanced by the myriad of stained glass windows, an art that can be traced to St. Denis in Paris in 1146 and the brilliant planning and facilitation of the Abbot Suger. Beyond the spiritual education of peasants and towns folk, cathedrals, like Notre Dame de Paris, became associated with some of the earliest universities. Cathedral “schools” had been around as early as Charlemagne, who established a school run by English Benedictines at the Aachen Cathedral, Germany’s first cathedral. 

But in the High Middle Ages, early universities often began as an extension of cathedral ministries, such as the University at Paris. Gothic cathedrals played a significant role in the urban, social, and economic development of European towns and cities. They still stand today and function as active churches.

 Sources:

 Rosalind and Christopher Brooke, Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000-1300 (Thames and Hudson, 1984)

 Alfons Dierick, The Stained Glass at Chartres (Berne: Hallwag Ltd., 1960)

 Andrew Martindale, Gothic Art From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967)

 By: Mike Streich

Read more at: https://www.shorthistory.org/middle-ages/church-in-the-middle-ages/gothic-cathedrals/  

Joe Biden should not go to the Middle East. The world already knows we support Israel. Additionally, as the humanitarian crisis balloons into a nearly impossible problem, the world will judge Israel for permitting a greater human disaster while obliterating Hamas. And that is a good thing. Hamas is a terrorist organization and needs to be obliterated. Like ISIS and like El Quida. But, It is too dangerous for President Biden to shuttle between Arab leaders.

The question remains: what to do with an entire population who, according to history, were originally driven from their homeland two generations ago and funneled into Gaza City, an urban interpretation of a concentration camp. As the vernacular saying states: what goes around comes around. And that will be the long term historical trajedy.

 It doesn't do any good to complain, even to oneself. History has ceased to be a major concern for most Americans and even our key leaders, like former President Trump, often get it wrong. But then, who cares that we didn't have airports in the Revolutionary War? Try fully explaining the Boston Tea Party to students whose ONLY reference to tea is southern style sweet ice tea! One wrote, on a quiz, the Indians poured buckets and buckets of tea into Boston Harbor.

History teaching has taken backseat to other disciplines that seem to make more sense like science, math, and even aviation. But, what happened a hundred years ago or five hundred years ago will come back to haunt us. Paul Kennedy, in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers,all but predicted that world powers rise and fall based on many different factors, including economic ones.

I was a history teacher, instructor and, according to my community college chairperson, an adjunct professor. Now I wonder why I entered education half way through a life career as an unsuccessful businessperson. Maybe I was living a life long dream that flowed from my history-loving father and a German family with deep ties to World War II.

There is much talk today about the decline of the American Republic, perhaps a parallel story to Ancient Rome. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was contemporary in it's publication to the precious documents that set up the American democratic experiment. President Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address asked if this nation would endure.

I would have enjoyed teaching until my body fully gave out. But I was stopped by a former student who accused me of misconduct. It was his word against mine, even though I was out of the country when the so-called indiscretion took place. I took it all as a sign. The church school did not support me.

Then in 2011 I became incapacitated with a major heart attack, fatty liver disease, and a host of other ailments like COPD and kidney dysfunction. My saintly mother passed in September 2012. She had always been my support.

I wrote history. Over 1500 articles for an on-line Canadian group out of Vancouver. But by 2013 they too found themselves bankrupt and relegated to the pits of Internet limbo. But, I still think getting the message out is vitally important: History matters! Perhaps more now than ever before.

It is Saturday and I wake up to news about a major Hamas Strike against Israel. And, secondarily, a 6 point earthquake in Afghanistan. All over the globe conflicts loom and, of course, the Ukraine war is still in brutal swing. But now Israel. And, here on Saturday there is no news, just football games. I enjoy sports as much as anyone, but how can sports mask the reality of bloodshed all over the world.

President Biden promised solidarity. We support Israel. But there will never be lasting peace in the Middle East, at least not as long as we prefer football over tanks and missiles. And only last night I re-watched the 1977 film, Black Sunday with Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern.

Israel should remind us that history repeats. Whether it is the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem or Titus destroying the city hundreds of years later, history repeats and we dare not forget it. I have been to the Forum Romanum and seen the arches, the trophies of long past wars. The monuments of the past, even our American relatively short past, stand around us and we debate their on going relevance and value.

Was Robert E Lee a brilliant general of a war criminal, a traitor? Debates about simple grey clad soldiers carved in stone or displayed in bronze, feed our frenzy to erase history. Everyone has a good reason. Regardless, history matters. One hundred years ago history will still matter, even if human beings live under domes to survive.

And we will never learn from history. As fascinating as the study can be, it is eventually buried like the civilizations of early Mesopotamia, covering the lie that somehow human beings have solved the questions of war and peace, good and evil.

  

 

Early 19th Century Revolutionary Movements

Although unified by nationalistic goals, the various revolutionary movements in the wake of the 1815 Congress of Vienna were the products of various motives and ideals.

The years after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the reestablishment of legitimate rulers by the Congress of Vienna were marked by growing demands for political, social, and economic change among some Europeans. Napoleon, who once referred to himself as nothing more than an “upstart soldier” in a letter to Austria’s Prince Metternich, had unleashed powerful forces within the continental empires and kingdoms. Nationalism, frequently fueled by 19th century liberal values, challenged the reimposed power structures founded on strict principles of conservatism.

Post Congress Revolutions

Revolution and popular unrest broke out throughout Europe following the Congress of Vienna. Their causes were many: ethnic nationalism, reaction to unacceptable political institutions, the desire for independence, resistance to efforts at recolonization (Central and South America), and idealistic motivations.

Early 19th Century revolutions included

• Spain in 1820
• Naples in 1820
• Greece in 1821
• Russia in 1825
• France in 1830

Unrest in Poland, Hungary, Belgium, and Serbia can also be attributed to nationalistic movements while in Central and South America former Spanish colonies declared their independence.

The reaction of the great European powers was mixed. Britain was chiefly interested in its commercial empire and resisted direct intervention, particularly after the death of Lord Castlereagh. The Decembrist Revolt in Russia required no intervention. In St. Petersburg, the new Tsar, Nicholas I, easily suppressed the small group of elite officers behind the revolutionary plot.

Greece, however, was another matter. Greek independence from the archaic Ottoman Empire was supported by Britain, chiefly for strategic reasons that meshed with global economic policies. Additionally, European intellectuals and Romanticists like the poet Lord Byron idealistically identified Greece with its classical and democratic past.

Revolutionary Activity Crushed

Poland had struggled to regain independence ever since the final partition of its lands by Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Under Napoleon, the Duchy of Warsaw reappeared briefly, but lost any semblance of self-rule after a series of revolts were crushed by Tsar Nicholas I in 1832.

Student unrest within the thirty-nine states of the German Confederation resulted in harsh restrictions placed on universities by Austria’s Prince Metternich. Metternich’s Carlsbad Decrees dissolved student organizations and imposed censorship not only on written material, but on what was being taught. Many of these students championed a united Germany, a similar goal found among young Italians.

In Russia, Nicholas I, referred to as the “Iron Tsar,” issued restrictions that forbade Russians from attending European universities and strengthening censorship. Not until the end of the Crimean War when Alexander II became Tsar would these restrictions be lifted.

Revolutionary Activity Supported

The Haitian Revolt, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, was one of the first “New World” successful endeavors. Taking place during the time of Napoleon’s reign, its success was clandestinely supported by Britain and ultimately resulted in the Louisiana Territory sale to the United States in 1803.

After the defeat of Napoleon, other Spanish colonies declared independence. Leaders like Simon Bolivar, the so-called “George Washington of South America,” led efforts to end Spanish hegemony. Spain was in no position to challenge these movements.

By the end of the Napoleonic Era, Britain had established lucrative trade agreements with many newly independent countries and in 1823 the United States issued the Monroe Doctrine, blocking Spain – or any European country, from attempting to recolonize the hemisphere.

Incremental Successes of Revolutionary Goals

Revolutionary activity continued in Europe throughout the 19th Century but only achieved modest success. Although Alexander II feed the Russian serfs in 1861, he was assassinated by revolutionaries before he could begin the process of granting Russians a constitution. In England, Parliamentary efforts like the Great Reform Bill addressed political inequities, but much remained to be done. Even in France, where revolutions in 1830 and 1848 began with promise, ruling elites soon turned back the tide of reform.

Sources:

• Charles Breunig, The Age of Revolution and Reaction, 1789-1850 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1970)
• C. Edmund Maurice, The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany with some Examination of the Previous Thirty-Three Years (New York: Greenwood Press, 1969)

Michael Streich

Former Adjunct Instructor, History & Global Studies

Posted on Jul 8, 2009

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Toward the latter part of spring in 2023, people hovered around their smart devices trying to ascertain the progress of Congressional debt talks. President Biden had cut short his G-7 meeting to broker an end to the process but many observers thought Biden had procrastinated for months. His counterpart, Speaker Kevin McCarthy was no better. Each represented divergent priorities for the national budget, all of which impinged on the debt ceiling being raised.

At one point the budget had been balanced when President George W Bush was elected president in 2000. But Republican led wars in  Afghanistan and Iraq raised the budget and national debt substantially. Then came the pandemic which cost America 16 trillions of dollars or 90% of the national GDP. (JAMA network, October 12, 2020)

During the 1929 Great Crash of the Stock Market men had flung themselves from buildings or shot themselves. It was that time no American ever wanted to repeat. Buy, in 2023. with no new debt ceiling and no movement of the budget, financial ruin was in the cards for everyone.

Seniors on Social Security; Veterans that expected checks; Disabled folks depending on monthly support - all will be part of the new Bonus Army, or perhaps an earlier, late 19th Century, Coxy's Army, marching on D.C. to right the wrongs and confront Congressional corruption. Has America's "little man" ever been treated as a citizen?

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The failure in 2023 to set a path toward financial recovery and to chart a plan to eliminate blatant spending by both parties would destroy the Republic. Is it any wonder certain politicians strove to eliminate history from the nation's curricula?