Military History stories and facts Thread

Odin of Ossetia wrote:



Another interesting battle involving the Poles in Spain, but this one is somewhat incomplete as it does not mention the Spanish and German casualties that the Polish troops inflicted.


And the "100%" thing is obviously not true for every battle in the Polish history.


Rather silly video, but the only one I could find on this battle that is in English.

Most of this Youtube channel's videos are of rather low quality.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz9JMmlHrYQ

Looks like I was wrong about this being the only video on this battle in English.




Battle of Fuengirola (1810)


A Polish-French (but predominantly Polish) force defeats a much larger British-German-Spanish force in southern Spain.

Most of the "French deserters" were in reality Germans.


Part 1



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUbkXf-qOho


Part 2



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpJ81oKqUw

War on Cape Sterlegov. Nazis' failed mission in Siberia

In September 1944, amphibious assault force landed from Nazi submarines to capture Cape Sterlegov's meteorological station, which sent forecasts to vessels carrying military cargo along the Northern Sea Route and thus disrupt Soviet Arctic transportation

MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. A mission in September 1944 in the Arctic’s Kara Sea remains among understudied events of World War II. Amphibious assault force landed from Nazi submarines to capture Cape Sterlegov's meteorological station, which sent forecasts to vessels carrying military cargo along the Northern Sea Route. The attackers hoped the radio station’s personnel would be taken aback and they would be able to disrupt Soviet Arctic transportation.

The polar station

Cape Sterlegov's station went into operation in 1934. It was named after Russia’s participant in the 18th-century Great Northern Expedition, Dmitry Sterlegov.

The station is located in the area where the Lenivaya River flows into the Kara Sea forming a cape. It makes a very convenient place for polar explorers with its rocky shores and the surrounding tundra with small hills.

The area is hard-to-reach. The station sent clear radio signals from the cape, and observers could see approaching vessels an hour before they reached the shore.

"The station transmitted meteorological data to vessels passing along the Northern Sea Route. It’s covered area was a passage between Cape Chelyuskin in the east and Dikson in the west," Pavel Kochkarev of the Russian Geographical Society’s Krasnoyarsk branch said.

During the war, the Northern Sea Route became a key route to deliver strategic military cargo from the US and the UK to the Soviet Union, Krasnoyarsk’s historian Alexei Yeliseyenko said.

Pilots dispatched to the frontline from Alaska across Siberia requested weather reports from the station, Pavel Kochkarev added. Before the war, the station issued weather reports four times a day, and during the war the forecasts would come out much more frequently.

During the war, security at all polar stations was tightened. The station had the so-called observation and communication teams. However, those, who served on Cape Sterlegov, must have believed the place was inaccessible and were rather negligent, Kochkarev said.

'Wolfpack'

It was a dramatic mistake to think the Kara Sea is the safe rear. Back in 1942, the German Navy organized the Wunderland mission, plotting to disrupt Soviet navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

Hitler’s submarines, working in groupings, dubbed "Wolfpack," attacked vessels and convoys. The U-251 submarine opened fire at the polar station on Cape Uedineniye, and the Admiral Scheer cruiser in August 1942 attacked the Dikson port (the Krasnoyarsk Region’s north).

Attacks continued in 1943. In 1944, when the Soviet Army was approaching Germany, the situation in the Kara Sea seemed to have calmed down. The illusion of being in the far rear that reigned on Cape Sterlegov turned into a disaster and almost a catastrophe in September.

At least three Nazi submarines entered the Kara Sea: Greif U-711, U-957 and U-739. On September 24 - some historians claim it was on the night to September 25 - the Nazi submarines' amphibious assault force attacked the polar station.

"Interestingly, those submarines did not succeed much in sea missions. They planted mines and destroyed two mid-size vessels. The attack on the meteorological station leaves many questions: was it a desire of the Nazi officers to have at least any success?" Yeliseyenko continued. "We cannot rule out the task was to reconnoiter and then set up a base on Taimyr, the more so since the Northern Sea Route lies close to the shore near Cape Sterlegov, making vessels vulnerable for attacks from the shore."

Radio game

In the 1990s, Doctor of Philosophy Lev Ventskovsky, who served as a radio operator at the station in 1944, wrote a letter to the station, where he described the past events.

"I turn off the radio and hear steps up the stairs outside the radio cabin <…> I was about to reach for the door, when it swung open, and people in fur coats attacked me, threw me on the floor, then put me face to the wall and began asking something. Here I realized they were Germans," he wrote in the letter.

Admiral Arseniy Golovko wrote in memoirs that those were twenty-five gunners from the German submarine, plus an assistant, a bosun, and a translator. The latter sailed on ships of the Soviet Northern Shipping Company before the war. According to German sources, the operation was organized personally by U-711 Commander Hans-Gunther Lange. The submarines took shelter at the bottom of Lozhnykh Ognei Bay.

The station’s personnel was seven people: the station’s head, radioman and mechanic Poblodzinsky; technician for the runway for hydroplanes Bukhtiyarov, radioman Ventskovsky, meteorologist Markov, and three Red Fleet officers engaged in the observation and communications.

Grigory Bukhtiyarov and Red Fleet officer Nogayev were in the tundra during the attack: they searched and defused the mines, which had got ashore. Bukhtiyarov, an experienced hunter, soon returned to the station and was taken prisoner.

The Germans made the personnel continue radio communication. The Nazis plotted a radio game to entrap Soviet vessels and find out information about convoys.

In those days, a convoy of four vessels was about to cross the Kara Sea. Admiral Yuri Panteleyev, the Commander of the White Sea Flotilla, which during the war provided security for sea communications in the Western part of the Arctic, later recalled numerous requests during one day regarding the convoy’s coordinates. This weird activity aroused suspicion among the command, and they decided to send a warship to Cape Sterlegov.

The polar station’s personnel were trying to signal the attack: they included an SOS signal "we are captured" in the messages, but inexperienced radiomen in Dikson failed to identify it. Meanwhile, events at the station made the Germans stop the radio game before they could learn information about the convoy’s sailing.

Escape

The Nazis were looting. According to Kochkarev, they were stealing anything they could grasp, including dishes and linen. They took the trophies to Lozhnykh Ognei Bay on Bukhtiyarov’s dog sleds - the only transport for miles around.

Bukhtiyarov was an experienced polar explorer. He had spent a few winters at the station and knew all the surroundings. He persuaded the Nazis that it would be much easier to take the cargo by a different road, along the Lenivaya River. The enemies did not suspect the trap.

"The very idea of an escape seemed unrealistic, as on the one side there was the river still without thick ice, and on the other side - the sea <…> Bukhtiyarov made it to a certain place, threw the cargo onto the ground and together with the dogs crossed the river. The thin ice was firm enough for the dogs, while the man had to crawl in a few places, holding onto the sled. When on the other side, he started running, holding the sled," recollected Aref Minayev, the wartime Arctic Fleet’s Chief of Sea Operations in the Northern Sea Route’s Western Sector. He had read Bukhtiyarov’s report about the escape.

The guard, who remained on the other side of the river, kept shooting, with no result though. After the escape, the Nazis took the station’s five staff members to the submarines and destroyed the station’s facilities with artillery. After that they left the Kara Sea for good. A British destroyer is believed to have sunk one of the submarines near Norway.

"A Soviet pilot found Bukhtiyarov and Nogayev in the tundra. During questioning, the polar explorer had listened attentively to what the talkative Nazis would say. They were sure an escape across the Arctic desert is impossible, as the nearest settlements were hundreds of kilometers away. According to Admiral Golovko, Bukhtiyarov managed to learn the circumstances of the Nord vessel's sinking, the location of the Nazi submarines in the Kara Sea and the route they took to get into the sea," Alexei Yeliseyenko said.

The Nazis declared the submarine’s mission a success. They lauded it as an excellent and thought-out operation, according to a German archive. Hitler’s Navy explained the failure in hunting Soviet ships by another "General Frost," meaning "freezing water temperatures, icing and magnetic disturbances," the historian said.

The polar station’s personnel were taken to a concentration camp. In 1945, the Soviet Army liberated Ventskovsky, Poblodzinsky, Utkin and Kondrashov. After the war, Ventskovsky and Bukhtiyarov participated in reconstruction of the station on Cape Sterlegov.

https://tass.com/society/1206753

Representatives of the 201st Russian military base in Tajikistan congratulated 108-year-old veteran of the great Patriotic war Rashid Karimov, who participated in the battle of Stalingrad and the storming of Berlin, on the day of rocket troops and artillery.

Rashid Karimov was born in 1912. He took a direct part in the liberation of Kiev, Kirov, Lviv, Konigsberg, and Polish cities. He was wounded twice during the war. Awarded the Order of Glory and various battle medals.

Rashid Karimov returned to his native village on November 19, 1945 and worked as a teacher after the war.

https://stolenhistory.net/threads/tartary-an-empire-hidden-in-history-it-was-bigger-than-russia-once.38/

Conspiracy or truth? I am wondering if there is anyone Russian here that has heard about this based on what their history classes taught them?

I would use the archive version to see the interesting comments there. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330211621/https://www.stolenhistory.org/threads/tartary-an-empire-hidden-in-history-it-was-bigger-than-russia-once.40/page-3

such as a user bringing this up. "we found out that ancient russian is similar to sanskrit, first language of our world. the indian professor when came to russia he was surprised that he understand russian without translater what russians were saying to him. I have a link in russian about this case."

https://web.archive.org/web/20200921101947/https://www.kramola.info/vesti/letopisi-proshlogo/pochemu-vologodskiy-govor-ne-nuzhdaetsya-v-perevode-na-sanskrit

This is Marcel Pliat, a Frenchman of Polynesian descent. He fought in the Russian Imperial Army as a crew member of the Ilya Muromets aircraft. He was awarded two St. George Crosses.
On April 13, 1916, Marcel Pliat, as part of the crew of the "Ilya Muromets — X" bomber, took part in an air raid on the Daudzevas station fortified with anti-aircraft guns. After causing a number of damage to the aircraft and wounding the crew commander Abner Kostenchik with shrapnel, Pliat climbed out on the wing and stayed there for a long time, repairing the damaged engines.

Everyone recovered a little, gave first aid to the commander, who was in an unconscious state. At that moment, Pliat fell from the upper hatch with a crash. Everyone was stunned. Someone broke down: "Marcel, you were supposed to fly to earth on your own!". Everyone laughed, and the tension was lifted. It turns out that the prudent Frenchman tied a belt to the wing post, and when the "Muromets" fell, he was in a state of shock dangled in the air. Marcel then admired the strength of the aircraft for a long time.

Largely thanks to the actions of a Polynesian motorist, "Ilya Muromets", despite severe damage to the surface (only about 70 holes), managed to land. For this battle, all members of the biplane crew were awarded military awards and promoted, including Marcel Pliat - the George Cross of the III degree. He was awarded the rank of senior warrant officer (feldwebel).
Info taken from the Russian-language Wikipedia. Curiously enough, neither the English nor the French wiki has this article about one of the first (if not the first) blacks to join the crew of a combat aircraft.

That's some amazing artwork. Look at it full size and marvel.

History of Central Asia and Khorâsan
@BiruniKhorasan
·
2h
Guys like this ran over the Roman legions, devastating their columns over and over again at the Battle of Carrhae (53BC). It looks pretty much the same as heavy Kushan, Bactrian and Saka cavalries.

BTW the Battle of Carrhae would be a nice topic for a movie.

History Journeys
@HistoryJourneys
· 7 Apr
Depiction of Persian Heavy Calvary known as Cataphracts. Their ability in battle lead to Cataphracts being adopted by subsequent Persian empires like the Sassanids, Parthians and even the Eastern Romans. Amazing artwork done by Joan Francesc Oliveras Pallerols.

Four patriotic Americans on their way to sainthood

The Catholic Church in the United States has a long list of extraordinary men and women from all walks of life who are on their way to official sainthood because they lived Christian virtues to the extreme.

On this 4th of July weekend, we share some of them who, while living those virtues, were also extraordinary examples of heroic dedication to their country.

https://angelusnews.com/faith/four-patriotic-americans-on-their-way-to-sainthood/

Why the Germans didn't bomb Moscow like Stalingrad, by Timur Sherzad for VZGLYAD. 21.07.2021.

80 years ago, on July 21, 1941, the first serious raid on Moscow took place. First, but far from the last, after that, the Soviet capital was awaited by both massive flights and harassing raids, aimed at exhausting the population and the air defense system.

Although in the interwar period, the complete destruction of cities from aerial bombardments became one of the most popular military horror stories. The reason for this was the theory of the Italian Giulio Douet - it was he who proposed to resolve the crisis of the First World War not at the expense of motorized formations, but at the expense of strategic bombing. It was proposed to act not on the troops ready for battle on the battlefield, but on the defenseless and easily panicked cities inhabited by the most ordinary inhabitants. Of course, there was no pity for them - Douai offered to work in residential areas with high-explosive, incendiary and chemical bombs.

An unenviable fate was in store for Moscow - in the diary of the chief of the German General Staff, Franz Halder, there is an entry for July 8, which mentions Hitler's firm intention to "raze the city to the ground."

Throw in hats

The Germans, despite the punctuality and thoroughness attributed to them, were no better than others in underestimating the enemy or sloppiness. In the case of Moscow, this circumstance was revealed especially clearly. The commander of the 2nd Air Fleet, Albert Kesselring, became famous for his speech addressed to the crews aimed at bombing the Soviet capital. The glory here was dubious - Kesselring promised the pilots that everything would be much easier than in raids on London - the Russians allegedly have practically no anti-aircraft guns, there are no balloons and everything is very bad with night fighter aircraft.

With the latter, it really wasn't perfect. The lion's share of air defense fighters lacked radio transmitters, and some of them lacked receivers. If in the case of front-line aviation this could still somehow be tolerated, then for the interceptors this drawback was like a knife in the throat. With radars, too, everything was worse than that of the British by 1940 - although later, in the fall, it was possible to create a continuous 300-kilometer radar field around the capital. These were the weaknesses of Moscow's air defense, but there were also strengths.

Yes, there were "bottlenecks" in the system that significantly limited its effectiveness. But all this was more than offset by the richness of means - Moscow was protected by much more fighters and anti-aircraft guns than London during the "Battle of Britain". As for the balloons, they were superior to the British - the Russians often used a "two-story" scheme, which at the first meeting plunged the Germans into shock. If in London balloons rarely rose above 2000 m, then in Moscow they could be found at an altitude of 4500 m.

Very rarely - as, for example, on the night of August 11 - it was even possible to shoot down a plane with a balloon. Then a Heinkel-111 with a wing cut off by a cable was fished out of the Moskva River. But their main task was not this, but to drive the planes higher, to where the bombs do not fly so accurately and from where it is easier to pick them out with anti-aircraft guns.

The Germans made their first major raid on July 21 - and everything was done through one place. The planes flew at low altitudes, no one tried to somehow alternate the altitude, to look for weak points in the air defense - as if it did not exist at all. The results were twofold - on the one hand, the bombers managed to cause some damage and kill 130 people. On the other hand, in comparison with what was calculated, it turned out to be zilch.

The Germans organized the second major raid smarter - the planes went much higher, maneuvered more actively, all the time they came from different directions, trying to find weak points. But nothing has changed fundamentally. Yes, the damage was sensitive, but the results were infinitely far from the apocalyptic pictures of a completely destroyed city.

The disappointment of the German command was confirmed by a change in tactics. The last major raid took place on the night of 11 August. Out of a hundred bombers, only a dozen cars broke through to the city, and only five planes flew to the center.

Realizing that the bombing could not threaten the existence of Moscow, the Germans turned their attention to the nerves of the townspeople. Now the raids were carried out much more often and with much smaller forces. The point was to wear down the population, make them run to the bomb shelter and back from constant air raids, disrupt the work of as many enterprises as possible. The psychological result was definitely - for several days in October, for example, panic swept the capital. Not only from the bombing, but also from rumors that the city was about to be taken by storm - exhausting raids created a torn psychological background. But it was possible to restore order in the city by decisive measures relatively quickly.

As unpleasant as this new tactic was, it meant abandoning attempts to completely destroy the Soviet capital from the air. This meant that the city was saved.

Here you are not here

So why did the Luftwaffe pilots easily turn not the smallest industrial city of Stalingrad into heaps of ruins, but gave up in front of Moscow? The answer to this question is complex.

First, of course, this is the merit of the capital's air defense system - for all its shortcomings, it was, it worked properly and had enough funds to disperse German attacks and shoot down bombers with a bargaining chip "one enemy aircraft in exchange for one Soviet fighter." This was a very good loss ratio by 1941 standards.

Secondly, Moscow was corny more than the same Stalingrad, and it would take longer to destroy it - in any case, it gave a gain in time.

Thirdly, the Muscovites, under the control and according to the plans of the NKVD, actively shoveled the city so that it would change when viewed from above. Camouflage nets, plywood and paints were used - parks that could become landmarks were "built up" with pseudo-houses, historical buildings like the Kremlin were repainted, and bright objects like the same Kremlin stars or gilded domes of churches were covered with covers. In addition, residents carried a night watch on the rooftops of Moscow, extinguishing incendiary bombs and preventing fires from igniting.

Finally, Moscow and Stalingrad had completely different operational situations on the ground. In the summer, when the Germans bombed Moscow massively in order to destroy it, the main battles raged very far from the city, and the air defense system could meet the blow in perfect order. When the Germans approached Moscow, they were practically exhausted, and it was unreasonable to divert aviation to massive bombing of the city. In the case of Stalingrad, it was by no means the final goal of a large offensive, and the Germans still had a lot of forces, and the Soviet troops were shocked by the summer blow of 1942 and retreated, often losing order. Therefore, the Germans, having approached Stalingrad, could afford such an undertaking as the destruction of the city from the air.

Moscow's myriad cultural and infrastructural treasures have been saved by actions both in the air and on the ground. The result fell short of Churchill's “so many owe so little,” one of the most famous phrases about the air battle of Britain. Everyone contributed, from an anti-aircraft gunner or a fighter pilot to an ordinary soldier with a rifle somewhere hundreds of kilometers from the capital.

https://m.vz.ru/opinions/2021/7/21/1108507.html

GarryB wrote:Video that was essentially flame bait removed.

Sounded like Sheldon reads anti Russia propaganda to Americans too stupid to realise it is bullshit.

This is Books thread and if he was still visiting he would ask that it was deleted from his thread I am sure.

?????

No, it wasn't bait, i just thought BlueJay's video was really funny, and i even double checked the info through  Drachinifel.
It was all good.

Anyway, here's Drachinifel more documentary take.

GarryB wrote:

No, it wasn't bait, i just thought BlueJay's video was really funny,

You thought it was really funny?

You might be on the wrong forum.

Bluejay is about as funny as Gonorrhea.

Yes.

No, this is the right forum, although might be the wrong thread.

Nah, Bluejay is pretty funny, people just have different taste.

A project 633 sub that was about to be scrapped will instead be placed in the Balaklava submarine base museum.

Introduction

Mongol invasion of 1241. had a major impact on the Kingdom of Hungary. This impact was most obvious in terms of Hungarian defense strategy, engendering a shift that would allow the kingdom to both survive the second Mongol invasion and hold off Ottoman attacks for almost two centuries with minimal outside help.

Before the Mongol invasions, Hungarian cities and forts were largely situated on level ground and defended by wooden and earthen parapets. These however proved very vulnerable to Mongol siege tactics – arrow fire, usage of incendiary materials and artillery bombardment. As a result, upon the Mongol departure, Hungary departed on a spree of castle-building. Some 147 and 172 new castles were built between 1242. and 1300. Vast majority of these were built not in the central plain, but in the western and northern borders. This has led some scholars to conclude that new castles were aimed against Bela’s European rivals, but on another look, this conclusion is mistaken.

Carpini had already envisioned Poland and Hungary as a bulwark of Christian Europe against the Mongol invasion. And Bela IV had specifically referred to Europe as an entity facing this invasion. Location of the castles was not informed by geographical proximity, but rather by experiences of the first invasion with regards to defensability of certain sites and areas, which were further reinforced by geographical, demographic and financial realities.

Lessons of the First Invasion

Main lesson of the first invasion was that Hungarian fortifications in the Carpathian Basin had proven inadequate. There, very few fortresses or towns survived the year-long Mongol occupation. Fortified sites in Croatia, and some in Hungary, deterred or resisted the Mongols much more effectively. All sites that had resisted the Mongols either possessed the stone citadels or were themselves constructed from stone, and were situated on elevated sites. This was the case in Hungary with citadel of Esztergom, city of Szekesfehervar and a monastery of Pannohalma – the only places in the Carpathian Basin that had survived the Mongol occupation, though Pannohalma likely suffered heavy damage. Vast majority of the cities and places that had survived the occupation were located in the mountainous west and north of the country. In Croatia, Mongols were unable to take fortresses in the mountainous terrain, such as Klis, or located on land outcroppings – such as Trogir, which was on an island, or Split and Dubrovnik, located on peninsulas. Overall, elevation and/or significant bodies of water were a major determinant in survivability of the strongholds. This was noticed, and reflected in the new construction.

Danube as a Defense Line

Bela IV and his advisors developed what was essentially a multi-layered strategy in case the Mongols returned. Despite allegations of many modern historians, it seems clear that Bela did genuinely fear the possibility of a renewed attack. Julian’s warning of Mongol attack from 1238. and warnings received in 1241. itself all proved accurate. And Mongol attack was aimed at Bela himself and other leading men of the kingdom, making Bela keenly aware of the threat – Bela had in fact lost his brother in the war. This was complete opposite to European behaviour where nobles were usually captured. Thus, it makes no sense that Bela will have considered European kingdoms as a greater threat. In fact, what he did after the attack was to make alliances with Polish and Rus leaders, specifically in order to gain intelligence on Mongol plans and movements.

Bela IV thus implemented lessons of the 1241. invasion, and one of these was strategic value of the Danube. Despite the lack of preparation and a previous catastrophe at Mohi, Hungarians had managed to hold back the Mongols for ten months at Danube. Thus it made sense for Danube to be fortified and prepared as a primary defensive line against any repeated invasion, as Bela IV did not want to gamble royal army in another open battle.

The Knights Hospitaller played a key role in Bela IV’s defense reforms. They were placed in key positions and engaged in castle-building, as Hungarians themselves were not skilled in it. Knights were to fortify and repopulate Transylvania while providing sixty knights against the Mongols and fifty knights to garrison castles in the kingdom’s west against Christian foes. The Order also garrisoned a castle on Margaret Island, one of key points on the Danube defense line, separating Buda and Pest. They were present there until 1290., when Mongol threat had receded.

Danube-centered defensive strategy had significant impact on development of Hungary’s capital. Newly constructed castle in Buda (Obuda) had survived the 1241. invasion, and Bela IV established “New Buda” on the castle hill west of the Danube. By 1255., new city – constructed on the hills – was already fortified with stone walls. The other linchpin of this defensive system was Visegrad, situated at a hilltop at a Danube Bend. A small castle had already existed there, but by 1259. at latest, a whole new castle had been constructed.

These constructions were hastened by Mongol incursion of 1247. – 1248. While probably not a full-scale invasion, and in fact may have been mostly rumors, it certainly hastened development of the defensive system. Cumans were settled in depopulated areas, while densely populated areas to the west of the Danube were fortified with castles – possibly reflecting strategic considerations, but also simply because they could afford building the castles.

Social and Military Reforms

One of major reasons for Hungarian military defeat against the Mongols was the fact that majority of Hungarian army consisted of light cavalry and wooden castles. Bela IV thus attempted to adress this shortcoming by giving land grants in exchange for obligation of newly made nobles equipping heavy cavalry. In addition, nobility was given the right, and indeed obligation, to construct new stone castles – something that until then had been a solely royal prerogative. Barons and nobility became the foundation of kingdom’s military strength, as they were the only ones who could supply sufficient numbers of heavily armored cavalry.

Bela IV also introduced a large number of crossbowmen into Hungary, something that will become a major feature of Hungarian armies henceforth.

Conclusions

Bela IV’s reforms would play a large part in times to come. They fundamentally changed Hungarian military and the society as a whole, creating a state that will face the Ottomans in the 14th and 15th centuries. Just as importantly, however, the invasion shaped Hungarian attitudes towards the foreigners and especially the West. Cumans had been given a refuge, yet conflict with Hungarian nobles caused them to riot and ultimately rebel, denying Hungarians their help when it was needed the most. West meanwhile had sat silent and immovable, observing the events while offering little or no help – a situation that will repeat later during wars with the Ottomans.

Catalan Rule in a Portion of Central Greece During the 1300's.


Keep in mind about the claims made by Muntaner, it has been confirmed that he lied about the magnitude of and embellished the scale of the Catalan victories.


https://issuu.com/institut-destudis-catalans/docs/issuu_chr_13_2020/s/11135888




An interesting quote from the article from the link above about the Catalans in Greece:

Would that I could see you under the sword of a Catalan! The Catalans in Greek folklore

As Rubió revealed almost one century ago, and as we have tried to further flesh out,31 the Catalan presence in Greece in the 14th century has left a deep (and often quite negative) imprint on the collective Greek imagination. Wherever the Catalan Company went, from Thrace to Attica, where it settled permanently from 1311 to 1388, we find toponyms, sayings, curses and even entire songs which evoke the violence of those mercenary warriors who stood up to the Byzantine Empire.

The folkloric testimonials collected in Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly, where the Catalan Company remained just a few years, as mentioned above, are rather scarce. Still, we can mention the curse “May the vengeance of the Catalans fall upon you!” (Η εκδίκησις των Καταλανών εύροι σε!), which, according to the Valencian historian Francesc de Montcada, was frequent in the region of Thrace at least until the 17th century. In these regions, the monastic community on Athos deserves special attention, where the Catalans’ raids left a harrowing memory which lasts until today, and the expression “You’re a Catalan!” (Κατελάνος είσαι!) was proffered as an insult by people from Thessaly until the late 19th century.

However, the unpleasant memory of the Almogavars was the most deeply rooted in the former duchies of Athens and Neopatria, where the Catalan presence lasted for over 70 years. In Athens, for example, we can find disparaging phrases about the Catalans from Theseus’ own city, such as “What a Catalan!” (Διντί Καταλάνο!) or “What a devil of a Catalan!” (Τί διάβολο Κατελάνο!), especially in areas that are difficult to reach, where the population generally remains stable, unlike Athens and the capital of the duchy, Thebes, which were virtually depopulated in the Turkish era. At the foot of Mount Parnassos in 1938, for example, the Greek folklorist Irini Spandonidi collected the saying “I fled from the Turks to end up in the hands of the Catalans” (Από τους Τούρκους έφευγα, στους Καταλάνους πάαινα), which she herself described as a “curious reminder of the terrifying Catalans”. And it is worth noting that the Catalans’ association with the Turks as the proverbial enemies of the Greek people is also widely documented in the folklore from southern Euboea, as revealed in several popular songs from the region.

However, the countship of Salona (today Amphysa) is much more interesting, and especially the duchy of Neopatria, in whose capital, Ypati, phrases and expressions disparaging the Catalans were still quite common at the end of the last century. In the first of these two cities, the capital of a powerful countship governed by the descendants of the vicar general Alphonse Frederick for more than 70 years, the memory of the fall into the hands of the Turkish sultan Bayezid I still survives today in the region’s popular tradition. And in Neopatria, in addition to the insults “Leave him alone, he’s a Catalan” (Άφτονε αυτόν. Αυτός είναι Κατιλάνος) and “Read, Catalan dog” (Διάβασε, σκυλί Κατιλάν[ι]κο[ν]) – the latter said to lazy children – and the threat “Would that I could see you under the sword of a Catalan!” (Να σε δω στο σπαθί του Κατελάνου!), as late as 1994 we had the chance to hear an entire series of disparaging expressions which revealed two new aspects of the Catalans, namely uncleanliness and religious impiety, which were virtually unknown in the rest of Greece. Good examples are the phrases “The Greek cleaned himself and the Catalan soiled himself” (Ο Ρωμιός νιβόταν και ο Καταλανός σκαταλιβόταν), and to refer to the act of eating meat on fasting days, “The Catalan even eats meat on Good Friday” (Ο Καταλάνος τρώει κρέας και τη Μεγάλη Παρασκευή) and “[This person] fasts like a Catalan” (Νηστεύει σαν τον Κατελάνο). These expressions seem to be justified by the clash between the Catholic invaders and their Orthodox subjects, which must have been particularly virulent in this city.32

To conclude, we should note that the Catalans’ poor reputation also radiated out to lands that they never occupied, although some of them were the victims of their devastating raids. For example, their sinister reputation is strongly preserved in the central Peloponnesus. In the city of Tripoli, for example, the historian Epaminondas Stamatiadis collected the expression “She’s acting like a Catalan woman” (ομοιάζει σαν Κατελάνα) to describe an irascible, harsh, coarse woman, and in the Argolis region, “Catalan” was the worst insult that could be hurled at a woman, as revealed in the expression “Ah, Catalan woman, you’ve done me a thousand wrongs!” (Μωρ’ Κατελάνα, χίλιες ζημιές μου ᾽καμες!), recorded by a Greek folklorist in 1937. Yet the Peloponnesus, more specifically in the Mani region of Laconia, is also where the only positive testimonials of Catalans survived until modern times. In this region, the proper name Catalan, which we can also find all over the Peloponnesus and on some islands in the Aegean Sea, was a symbol of bravery and courage, as revealed in a report that the Greek folklorist Nikolaos Politis sent to Rubió in 1883 which recounts a father’s violent reaction when he finds out that the son born during his absence was named “Peter” instead of “Catalan”, which he believed to be an expression of strength and noble birth. However, the use of the word “Catalan” as a proper name, or more frequently as a surname, is also related to the blossoming of Catalan trade on the Aegean islands during the late Middle Ages – especially in Chios and Crete, which even had Catalan consuls for long periods of time – a new phenomenon which was largely independent from the Catalan presence in the duchies of Athens and Neopatria.33

Some more information here:


https://elorganillero.com/blog/2004/05/03/catalan-women-are-fat-and-ugly-say-the-greeks/

(...). Even today in some areas of Greece, as for example in Eubea, to reproach someone for an illegal or unjust act one says “Even a Catalan wouldn’t do that.” In Acarnania the word “Catalan” is currently considered a synonym for savage, thief, delinquent, and they call “Catalan” the man of lewd and cruel sentiment. Today also in Tripoli in the Peloponnese they use none other than the expression “like a Catalan” to indicate that a woman is irascible, uncouth and hard. The Catalan dagger … is synonymous with that of the murderer. (...).

(...).

The word Catalan is considered in Athens as a terrible insult which may only be applied to cruel and barbarous men. “What a Catalan!” say the old people of Attica as an insult… In Messenia and Laconia they call Catalan a woman who is masculine, tall, bulky and ugly…

Much is talked about how the soviet union destroyed russian empire industry, but one, thing it didnt destroy was the russian shipbuilding industry.


Much of Russia's warships in the 19th century were contracted to be designed and built by foreign shipyards, including those of hostile countries like the British empire. We can't talk about that being temporary, since this happened for more than 40 years. Russian ironclad battleships were built in France for example whil the Rurik armored cruiser was built and designed by germans right before WW1.


Why was that.

Beginning of the End of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire During the Early 7th Century.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj__uJ1u1rQ

Axis Anti-Partisan Operation Schwarz or the Battle of Sutjeska.


http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/operation/schwarz-1943/



The largest partisan battle of the Second World War?

On the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad

Zlatti71
@djuric_zlatko

“The Siege Book”: a document of the era, a manifesto of humanity.

“The Siege Book,” known in the west as “Leningrad under Siege” written by Daniil Granin and Ales Adamovich in 1977-1982, is a rare phenomenon in history and literature. And this is not an exaggeration. After all, is it possible to find analogues? What can the “Siege Book” be compared to? And if you try, will the scale be maintained? About these and other questions - in the column of the writer Platon Besedin @pbesedin
for “360”.

The “Siege Book” is an archive whose pages have come to life, and by touching them the human soul itself changes. This book is dedicated to the siege of Leningrad and is woven from the memories of the siege survivors themselves; however, as a truly great work, it eventually outgrew itself.

The initiator of the creation of the “Siege Book” was Ales Adamovich, a Belarusian writer and screenwriter, whose political views sometimes had too much influence on his undoubted creative gift. His co-author, the Russian writer Daniil Granin, was able to balance it, whom many, and rightly, called the tuning fork and conscience of St. Petersburg.

Of course, the tone and atmosphere of the “Siege Book” were largely determined by the material and the authors, who did a tremendous job. Adamovich initiated the creation and testimonies of hundreds of people who survived the 900-day siege of Leningrad were collected.

“The Siege Book” is not just a collection of memories of siege survivors, their testimonies and experiences. This is a whole canvas consisting of thousands of strokes, hundreds of plots and hundreds of destinies. All of them not only connect, but complement and saturate each other. Hence this has a powerful impact on the era, its shift and movement.

Yes, the book by Granin and Adamovich is about those events, about those times, but its greatness lies in the fact that it touches on universal themes that change both the fabric of history and the very souls of men. This is a canvas of an era, yes, but also a canvas of immortality.

The first chapters, as you know, appeared in 1977 - with cuts and abbreviations. And in fact, there is and cannot be anything strange in this. In its own way, this is even correct. True, as I already wrote, it can be crushed by its weight when it leans on it. Especially when you consider that historical truth, like human truth, is always subjective.

Not in the sense that one should downplay or even deny one’s own feat, but in the fact that this feat is always associated with losses, with pain, with disappointment. With the fact that you, one way or another, tear off a part of yourself. Tears divide the face into three parts, both from sadness and from joy.

The Blockade Book is a unique artifact. This is how it can and should be classified. It is located at the junction of eras, at the junction of genres, at the junction of worlds. When I talk about the junction of eras, I mean the fact that after the end of the Second World War, people, disappointed, lost, began to live, in general, differently, not only socially, but also, above all, mentally. The values ​​that existed before were almost useless. But no one offered any new ones.

As for the genre, how to classify the “Siege Book”? Is it an epic equal to Homer’s Iliad? Or essays like “Sevastopol Stories”? Or a document testifying to the heroism of people and the outrages of non-humans? Like Hannah Arendt’s “The Banality of Evil,” only bigger, more voluminous, broader.

In the documentary chronicle, Granin and Adamovich manage to convey how they collide, striking sparks, good and evil. But these categories are not philosophical, not abstract, but more than concrete. They are materialized in specific events, in specific people and specific actions.

This book is about how a person rises above his body, above what holds him to the ground, seemingly incredibly tightly. But what is hidden inside, and what is revealed through feat.

"JohninMK", your post should have been made in the Great Patriotic War thread, not here.