Lithuania today is a country with fewer than 3 million people, but has a history stretching back thousands of years, with one of the oldest living Indo-European languages, and a heritage of being at the center of a constellation of empires, including that of Kiev-Rus and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. But as the 20th…
Month: June 2017
Ceaușescu – Romania’s Last Dictator
On December 25th, 1989, Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Romania and his wife Elena were tried, convicted, and executed by firing squad. Prior to their arrest, Ceaușescu had overseen a disastrous series of economic missteps which led the country to experience high foreign debt, massive food shortages, and a decline in…
Korea – The Never Ending War
On June 25th, 1950, North Korea invaded southwards across the 38th parallel in Soviet provided tanks and artillery – and in a matter of weeks swept to almost complete victory over the Korean peninsula. Only after a hastily convened UN resolution condemning the invasion and assemblage of a 16 nation coalition to organize in the…
The IRA and the Struggle for Irish Independence
In 1998, the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement was reached between the multiple parties representing factions in Northern Ireland and the Irish and British governments. It granted the principle of self-determination to the residents, recognition of both national identities, and power sharing arrangements between the British and Irish governments. Since the agreement, the so called…
Myth of the 20th Century 