In response to above: No, of course not. How could you think that. Remember, the Commonwealth is a club.
Anglosphere
DAMIAN:
'So Edward VIII and this American woman, whom he married soon after his Abdication, were immediately banished from Britain, and not long aftrwards the British newspapers showed both the former King of England and his wife virtually idolising Adolf Hitler over in Nazi Germany, and reported as saying they found many of the Nazi dictator's pinciples "admirable". That sure as hell didn't go down well back in Britain and these two were loathed even more over here. "
Damian, looking through the hourglass of today, our view of Hitler's New Germany is probably hard for Englishmen to understand. You have to remember our view of the world at that time.
The abdication of Edward came in 1936; Kristallnacht did not occur until 1938. Concerning Hitler, we just didn't know any better. That's all it was—we just didn't know better.
It was a favorite pastime of mine for a time to peruse old Life magazines of the era. It is a testament to our ignorance of the Hitler regime that there was quite a bit of admiration of Hitler in those early days. We saw pictures of roads and bridges being built, and read reports of the plans for the Volkswagen Beetle, a car that every German could afford. In short, we saw all of the good and none of the bad in those days of a still-lingering Great Depression, so the views of Edward and Wallis Simpson were shared by quite a few Americans.
Kristallnacht awakened us to a certain extent, but we really didn't get the "blow on the head" until Hitler attacked Poland in 1939.
'So Edward VIII and this American woman, whom he married soon after his Abdication, were immediately banished from Britain, and not long aftrwards the British newspapers showed both the former King of England and his wife virtually idolising Adolf Hitler over in Nazi Germany, and reported as saying they found many of the Nazi dictator's pinciples "admirable". That sure as hell didn't go down well back in Britain and these two were loathed even more over here. "
Damian, looking through the hourglass of today, our view of Hitler's New Germany is probably hard for Englishmen to understand. You have to remember our view of the world at that time.
The abdication of Edward came in 1936; Kristallnacht did not occur until 1938. Concerning Hitler, we just didn't know any better. That's all it was—we just didn't know better.
It was a favorite pastime of mine for a time to peruse old Life magazines of the era. It is a testament to our ignorance of the Hitler regime that there was quite a bit of admiration of Hitler in those early days. We saw pictures of roads and bridges being built, and read reports of the plans for the Volkswagen Beetle, a car that every German could afford. In short, we saw all of the good and none of the bad in those days of a still-lingering Great Depression, so the views of Edward and Wallis Simpson were shared by quite a few Americans.
Kristallnacht awakened us to a certain extent, but we really didn't get the "blow on the head" until Hitler attacked Poland in 1939.
Heh - at least here in Wisconsin, I have on a good few occasions heard the view* that, excluding the persecution of Jews/Gypsies/anyone right-of-center, Nazi Germany prior to the beginning of WW2 as not all too bad, and that from the point of view of the average German at the time, one cannot blame those who did vote the Nazis into power and those who supported them after that (especially since they may have not been fully aware of the extent of the actions of the Nazis in power).
* and this was not from people who were neo-nazis, white supremacists, or like either (considering that the only overt one I have ever known personally was an old man who had fought for Germany during WW2 and who seemed to have been involved in things other than merely fighting other soldiers...)
* and this was not from people who were neo-nazis, white supremacists, or like either (considering that the only overt one I have ever known personally was an old man who had fought for Germany during WW2 and who seemed to have been involved in things other than merely fighting other soldiers...)
Jasper, it seems that you are right about both American and British perceptions of Hitler in the mid 1930s, bearing in mind the astonishing turn around in Germany's economic situation following the dreadful mess the country was in following the Treaty of Versailles at the end of WW1 when inflation was running ant many thousands % and starvation was rife. Many people related this to the new political set up in Germany from 1933 onwards, all associated with the kind of developments you mentioned. I don't think people here, as well as in America, were quite aware of the strong militaristic theme to all this though, and how sinisted it was all to become.
Germany got its pride back again, in effect, but even at the time of the Abdication in Britain in December 1936 many Jewish people had already sought refuge both here in Britain and in America, and they were still streaming in, and certainly those arriving in Britain were already telling people here about the widespread persection of the Jews in Germany and of the new Nazi Party regime's plans for some kind of Master Race...the sort of Deutschland Uber Alles thing of their anthem. Life had increasingly been made difficult for them so the lucky ones managed to get away to Britain and America before all the balloons finally went up in 1939 by which time all hope was gone for those still left in Hitler's Germany, as we all now know.
This was not a new experience for this country as as throughout history we have been a safe haven in these islands for people fleeing persecution and horrible fates in the turmoil of Continental lands torn by strife and what have you. One example were the Protestant Huguenots escaping Catholic France.
It seems that many people in Britain at least had some idea of what was beginning to happen in this new Germany of the mid to late 1930s if the accounts of what they were being told by all the escaping refugees from Nazidom were being believed, which is why the British people reacted so negatively to all those reports, newspaper articles and pictures of Edward (or David as he was known to all his family) and Wallis smiling at and virtually embracing a swastika bedecked Adolf Hitler up there at that retreat on a mountain top. I suppose many people at the time still had vivid memories of all the horrors of the trenches of 1914-1918 when Britain lost so, so much of its young manhood* as well as all the airship and Gotha bombing raids in many parts of eastern and southern Britain.
One such raid in 1917 on the Kent coastal town of Folkestone, close to Dover (which was bombed and shelled constantly throughout WW2 and became known as Hellfire Corner) killed over 300 people in the space of about 20 minutes when all the bombs landed on a crowded shopping centre in the middle of the afternoon. They didn't have the benefit of air raid sirens and warnings similar to those of WW2 at that time.
These things all happened just twenty years or so previous to the massive upheaval inflicted on the British Constitution caused by King Edward VIII's abdication and all those pictures and newspaper articles featuring Edward (David) and Wallis apparently in some kind of love-in with Der Fuehrer - Herr Adolf Hitler, the new German Wunderkind.
Germany got its pride back again, in effect, but even at the time of the Abdication in Britain in December 1936 many Jewish people had already sought refuge both here in Britain and in America, and they were still streaming in, and certainly those arriving in Britain were already telling people here about the widespread persection of the Jews in Germany and of the new Nazi Party regime's plans for some kind of Master Race...the sort of Deutschland Uber Alles thing of their anthem. Life had increasingly been made difficult for them so the lucky ones managed to get away to Britain and America before all the balloons finally went up in 1939 by which time all hope was gone for those still left in Hitler's Germany, as we all now know.
This was not a new experience for this country as as throughout history we have been a safe haven in these islands for people fleeing persecution and horrible fates in the turmoil of Continental lands torn by strife and what have you. One example were the Protestant Huguenots escaping Catholic France.
It seems that many people in Britain at least had some idea of what was beginning to happen in this new Germany of the mid to late 1930s if the accounts of what they were being told by all the escaping refugees from Nazidom were being believed, which is why the British people reacted so negatively to all those reports, newspaper articles and pictures of Edward (or David as he was known to all his family) and Wallis smiling at and virtually embracing a swastika bedecked Adolf Hitler up there at that retreat on a mountain top. I suppose many people at the time still had vivid memories of all the horrors of the trenches of 1914-1918 when Britain lost so, so much of its young manhood* as well as all the airship and Gotha bombing raids in many parts of eastern and southern Britain.
One such raid in 1917 on the Kent coastal town of Folkestone, close to Dover (which was bombed and shelled constantly throughout WW2 and became known as Hellfire Corner) killed over 300 people in the space of about 20 minutes when all the bombs landed on a crowded shopping centre in the middle of the afternoon. They didn't have the benefit of air raid sirens and warnings similar to those of WW2 at that time.
These things all happened just twenty years or so previous to the massive upheaval inflicted on the British Constitution caused by King Edward VIII's abdication and all those pictures and newspaper articles featuring Edward (David) and Wallis apparently in some kind of love-in with Der Fuehrer - Herr Adolf Hitler, the new German Wunderkind.
***If the Spanish King marries the English Queen would Spain join the Commonwealth?***
First and foremost she is not just the "English" Queen! Try British instead - what have Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland done to deserve being ignored by you?
Anyway, the answer to your question is no, absolutely not! Such a move is impossible under any circumstances. Spain has never had any connection with the British Empire and in any case was, for many years, England's most bitter enemy. Your suggestion is plainly ridiculous if you pardon me for say so.
On a slightly similar tack France tried to hook up with Britain back in 1956 in some cockeyed scheme dreamed up by our French neighbours whereby our two countries would share some kind of common citizenship and sovereignty as well as economic union, but the whole idea was instantly tossed into the waste bin by the British Government of the day once it had stopped rolling about in the floor helpless with laughter at such a ludicrous plan. France was in deep, deep economic and social trouble at the time and was changing its Governments almost on a weekly basis.
How could the French possibly contemplate placing themselves as some kind of subjects of a Royal Crowned Head when just 175 or so years previously they had ceremoniously and eagerly carted off their own Regals in tumbrils all the way to the guillotine to the cry of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity?
Have you not considered the current marital status of Juan Carlos and Elizabeth Alexandra Mary? Both have been happily married for many years, and in any case it could be considered almost incestuous in a way - Queen Sofia (or Sophia if you prefer) Juan Carlos' spouse, is the sister of the ex-King of Greece, Constantine, who is the third cousin of our own Queen Elizabeth and currently recovering from heart surgery in a hospital here in London.
Our Queen's old man Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born in Greece (actually on a table in some mansion in Corful) - his dad was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and his mum was actually called Princes Andrew of Battenburg (like the cake).- strong German connections. In fact, the Queen's family has strong German connections which caused immense problems in WW1 - even dachshunds in the streets of Britain were stoned, poor wee things! Queen Victoria got hitched to Price Albert of Coburg, Germany, and introduced the Tannenbaum )Christmas tree) to Britain.
With all the difficulties WW1 presented King George V decided to change the Royal Family name from the amazingly Teutonic sounding Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Wetten to good old Windsor, which still stands today, like the magnificent castle. THe British Royal Family were also related to the Tsars of Russia, later executed en masse by the Bolsheviks of pre Communist Russia.
Inter-marriage between all the Royal Houses of Europe has been the done thing over many years, as has the taking of extra-marital mistresses, so all in all it's been one almighty regal funfest all round really, which seems to fit in quite well with the present status quo - a Europen Union in all senses I reckon....all one big incestuous happy family....they all seem to be related to each other in one way or another.
Britain was a sort of "Republic" for 11 years - we didn't like it one bit, it was miserable, it was joyless, it was dreary under those horris Puritans, so we becanme a Monarchy again in 1660.
Spain was a Republic for many years prior to 1975 - it had a fanatic leader in Franco and in the process had one almighty bloody Civil War for three years - at the same time as our Abdication, as it happened. But once Franco was six feet under Spoain became a Monarchy again, just like England 300 years before after a much shorter period of what was officially called the Inter-regnum, or the Protectorate.
Juan Carlos is 71, and Queen Elizabeth II is 83 - I don't think she is much into toy boys anyway, and if she ever did get to announce to us all that she'd had enough of Greek cum Danish cum German Phil and wanted to run off with the (still fairly) handsome Spanish King JUan Carlos (assuming Sofia - ok, Sophia then - allows it, which is doubtful) then the entire British Establishment of the United Kingdom would be blown to Kingdom Come - it would make the 1936 Abdication seem like a Buckingham Palace Garden Party running out of cucumber sandwiches.
It just ain't gonna happen, babe, it just ain't. Bloody hell! - I'm speaking like a Londoner now! ;-( I need a long weekend back home in Edinburgh!
First and foremost she is not just the "English" Queen! Try British instead - what have Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland done to deserve being ignored by you?
Anyway, the answer to your question is no, absolutely not! Such a move is impossible under any circumstances. Spain has never had any connection with the British Empire and in any case was, for many years, England's most bitter enemy. Your suggestion is plainly ridiculous if you pardon me for say so.
On a slightly similar tack France tried to hook up with Britain back in 1956 in some cockeyed scheme dreamed up by our French neighbours whereby our two countries would share some kind of common citizenship and sovereignty as well as economic union, but the whole idea was instantly tossed into the waste bin by the British Government of the day once it had stopped rolling about in the floor helpless with laughter at such a ludicrous plan. France was in deep, deep economic and social trouble at the time and was changing its Governments almost on a weekly basis.
How could the French possibly contemplate placing themselves as some kind of subjects of a Royal Crowned Head when just 175 or so years previously they had ceremoniously and eagerly carted off their own Regals in tumbrils all the way to the guillotine to the cry of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity?
Have you not considered the current marital status of Juan Carlos and Elizabeth Alexandra Mary? Both have been happily married for many years, and in any case it could be considered almost incestuous in a way - Queen Sofia (or Sophia if you prefer) Juan Carlos' spouse, is the sister of the ex-King of Greece, Constantine, who is the third cousin of our own Queen Elizabeth and currently recovering from heart surgery in a hospital here in London.
Our Queen's old man Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born in Greece (actually on a table in some mansion in Corful) - his dad was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and his mum was actually called Princes Andrew of Battenburg (like the cake).- strong German connections. In fact, the Queen's family has strong German connections which caused immense problems in WW1 - even dachshunds in the streets of Britain were stoned, poor wee things! Queen Victoria got hitched to Price Albert of Coburg, Germany, and introduced the Tannenbaum )Christmas tree) to Britain.
With all the difficulties WW1 presented King George V decided to change the Royal Family name from the amazingly Teutonic sounding Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Wetten to good old Windsor, which still stands today, like the magnificent castle. THe British Royal Family were also related to the Tsars of Russia, later executed en masse by the Bolsheviks of pre Communist Russia.
Inter-marriage between all the Royal Houses of Europe has been the done thing over many years, as has the taking of extra-marital mistresses, so all in all it's been one almighty regal funfest all round really, which seems to fit in quite well with the present status quo - a Europen Union in all senses I reckon....all one big incestuous happy family....they all seem to be related to each other in one way or another.
Britain was a sort of "Republic" for 11 years - we didn't like it one bit, it was miserable, it was joyless, it was dreary under those horris Puritans, so we becanme a Monarchy again in 1660.
Spain was a Republic for many years prior to 1975 - it had a fanatic leader in Franco and in the process had one almighty bloody Civil War for three years - at the same time as our Abdication, as it happened. But once Franco was six feet under Spoain became a Monarchy again, just like England 300 years before after a much shorter period of what was officially called the Inter-regnum, or the Protectorate.
Juan Carlos is 71, and Queen Elizabeth II is 83 - I don't think she is much into toy boys anyway, and if she ever did get to announce to us all that she'd had enough of Greek cum Danish cum German Phil and wanted to run off with the (still fairly) handsome Spanish King JUan Carlos (assuming Sofia - ok, Sophia then - allows it, which is doubtful) then the entire British Establishment of the United Kingdom would be blown to Kingdom Come - it would make the 1936 Abdication seem like a Buckingham Palace Garden Party running out of cucumber sandwiches.
It just ain't gonna happen, babe, it just ain't. Bloody hell! - I'm speaking like a Londoner now! ;-( I need a long weekend back home in Edinburgh!
Corful doesn't exist as far as I know - Prince Philip was born on Corfu a favoured holiday destination island, or retirement paradise in the sun, for many Brits....away from Gordon Brown and expenses scandals and all that kind of whatever....
>> First and foremost she is not just the "English" Queen! Try British nstead - what have Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland done to deserve being ignored by you? <<
What has Canada, Australia, and several others done to deserve being ignored by *you*?
What has Canada, Australia, and several others done to deserve being ignored by *you*?
<<How could the French possibly contemplate placing themselves as some kind of subjects of a Royal Crowned Head when just 175 or so years previously they had ceremoniously and eagerly carted off their own Regals in tumbrils all the way to the guillotine to the cry of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity? >>
Just 175 years? Just? What planet are you living on?
<<Wouldn't it be a better idea for AU and NZ instead of wasting their time worrying about whether to become a republic and instead just write in some kind of escape rope into their constitutions that says that a 2/3 majority in parliament can override the monarch's reserve powers in the event of an emergency. This would prevent a constitutional crisis in the future, in the unlikely event that some future monarch might abuse their power. Seems like this would be the most sensible approach. Debating whether or not to have a monarch is a waste of the government's time, that they could put to better use. >>
In the case of an emergency nobody would even think of the queen, let alone ask her for permission to do something.
Just 175 years? Just? What planet are you living on?
<<Wouldn't it be a better idea for AU and NZ instead of wasting their time worrying about whether to become a republic and instead just write in some kind of escape rope into their constitutions that says that a 2/3 majority in parliament can override the monarch's reserve powers in the event of an emergency. This would prevent a constitutional crisis in the future, in the unlikely event that some future monarch might abuse their power. Seems like this would be the most sensible approach. Debating whether or not to have a monarch is a waste of the government's time, that they could put to better use. >>
In the case of an emergency nobody would even think of the queen, let alone ask her for permission to do something.
Damian, I see what you're saying, but a picture of King Edward and Ms. Simpson hugging a swastika wouldn't have been seen as too terribly unusual in the US of 1936-8.
It is true we heard tiny whispers of cruel treatment of Jews as early as 1934, but it must be remembered that those days were far less tolerant of minorities in general, so those reports were read on the bottom of the 10th page of the paper, when they were noticed at all. Even then, given the general air of intolerance, a lot of Americans would have thought,"Well, so what?" (Similar stories of persecution of homosexuals in Muslim countries, for example, are met with the same level of disinterest.)
It is interesting to note, that an element of anti-Semitism in the UK, too, was alive and well in those turbulent times. A single reading of a first-edition Agatha Christie novel makes this clear.
I'm not trying to excuse Edward's and Ms. Simpson's actions, exactly, merely trying to put them into historical perspective.
It is true we heard tiny whispers of cruel treatment of Jews as early as 1934, but it must be remembered that those days were far less tolerant of minorities in general, so those reports were read on the bottom of the 10th page of the paper, when they were noticed at all. Even then, given the general air of intolerance, a lot of Americans would have thought,"Well, so what?" (Similar stories of persecution of homosexuals in Muslim countries, for example, are met with the same level of disinterest.)
It is interesting to note, that an element of anti-Semitism in the UK, too, was alive and well in those turbulent times. A single reading of a first-edition Agatha Christie novel makes this clear.
I'm not trying to excuse Edward's and Ms. Simpson's actions, exactly, merely trying to put them into historical perspective.
"I'm not trying to excuse Edward's and Ms. Simpson's actions, exactly, merely trying to put them into historical perspective."
Hello Jasper
I agree with what you have written. The reason why Edward and Mrs Simpson were so dangerous was precisely because they represented a possible alliance with Germany.
Rudolf Hess tried to broker a peace with Britain during the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess
Hello Jasper
I agree with what you have written. The reason why Edward and Mrs Simpson were so dangerous was precisely because they represented a possible alliance with Germany.
Rudolf Hess tried to broker a peace with Britain during the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess
<<Spain was a Republic for many years prior to 1975 - it had a fanatic leader in Franco and in the process had one almighty bloody Civil War for three years - at the same time as our Abdication >>
You are partially wrong at this point. Spain was a genuine republic only in 1873-1874 (I Republic) and in 1931-1939 (II Republic). That's just 9 years. On the other hand under Franco's regime Spain still was called "Kingdom of Spain" in all official papers and the right to sucession of future king Juan Carlos was recognized by the new regime . So aside from the fact that there was not a king, Spain was a Monarchy for legal purposes. Juan Carlos' education was supervised by Franco with the hope that he would the future king after Franco's death.
You are partially wrong at this point. Spain was a genuine republic only in 1873-1874 (I Republic) and in 1931-1939 (II Republic). That's just 9 years. On the other hand under Franco's regime Spain still was called "Kingdom of Spain" in all official papers and the right to sucession of future king Juan Carlos was recognized by the new regime . So aside from the fact that there was not a king, Spain was a Monarchy for legal purposes. Juan Carlos' education was supervised by Franco with the hope that he would the future king after Franco's death.
"On a slightly similar tack France tried to hook up with Britain back in 1956 in some cockeyed scheme dreamed up by our French neighbours whereby our two countries would share some kind of common citizenship and sovereignty as well as economic union, but the whole idea was instantly tossed into the waste bin by the British Government of the day once it had stopped rolling about in the floor helpless with laughter at such a ludicrous plan. France was in deep, deep economic and social trouble at the time and was changing its Governments almost on a weekly basis.
How could the French possibly contemplate placing themselves as some kind of subjects of a Royal Crowned Head when just 175 or so years previously they had ceremoniously and eagerly carted off their own Regals in tumbrils all the way to the guillotine to the cry of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity? "
No, it was just Guy Mollet, a "anglophile" who tried this alone in 1956 and never spoke about this after his request was denied. Nobody in France knew this story, and today many consider his act "high treason", certainly Guy Mollet would have be doomed.
How could the French possibly contemplate placing themselves as some kind of subjects of a Royal Crowned Head when just 175 or so years previously they had ceremoniously and eagerly carted off their own Regals in tumbrils all the way to the guillotine to the cry of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity? "
No, it was just Guy Mollet, a "anglophile" who tried this alone in 1956 and never spoke about this after his request was denied. Nobody in France knew this story, and today many consider his act "high treason", certainly Guy Mollet would have be doomed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6261885.stm
<<Seeing these words for the first time, Henri Soutou, professor of contemporary history at Paris's Sorbonne University almost fell off his chair.
Stammering repeatedly he said: "Really I am stuttering because this idea is so preposterous. The idea of joining the Commonwealth and accepting the headship of Her Majesty would not have gone down well. If this had been suggested more recently Mollet might have found himself in court."
Textbooks
Nationalist MP Jacques Myard was similarly stunned on being shown the papers, saying: "I tell you the truth, when I read that I am quite astonished. I had a good opinion of Mr Mollet before. I think I am going to revise that opinion.
"I am just amazed at reading this because since the days I was learning history as a student I have never heard of this. It is not in the textbooks."
It seems that the French prime minister decided to quietly forget about his strange proposals.
No record of them seems to exist in the French archives and it is clear that he told few other ministers of the day about them.
This might well be because after Britain decided to pull out of Suez, the battle against President Nasser was lost and all talk of union died too.
Instead, when the EEC was born the following year, France teamed up with Germany while Britain watched on. The rest, it seems, is history. >>
<<Seeing these words for the first time, Henri Soutou, professor of contemporary history at Paris's Sorbonne University almost fell off his chair.
Stammering repeatedly he said: "Really I am stuttering because this idea is so preposterous. The idea of joining the Commonwealth and accepting the headship of Her Majesty would not have gone down well. If this had been suggested more recently Mollet might have found himself in court."
Textbooks
Nationalist MP Jacques Myard was similarly stunned on being shown the papers, saying: "I tell you the truth, when I read that I am quite astonished. I had a good opinion of Mr Mollet before. I think I am going to revise that opinion.
"I am just amazed at reading this because since the days I was learning history as a student I have never heard of this. It is not in the textbooks."
It seems that the French prime minister decided to quietly forget about his strange proposals.
No record of them seems to exist in the French archives and it is clear that he told few other ministers of the day about them.
This might well be because after Britain decided to pull out of Suez, the battle against President Nasser was lost and all talk of union died too.
Instead, when the EEC was born the following year, France teamed up with Germany while Britain watched on. The rest, it seems, is history. >>
This is the part of the whole Queen's Birthday* Parade my friends and I were unable to see as we could get no closer to Horse Guards Parade to see the real Trooping of the Colour of the Irish Guards than the section of The Mall we were located on - just around the corner - but we could hear some of the commands being yelled out and of course the bands - some of the tunes they play are the same every year but being the Irish Guards this year many of the tunes were from Ireland......I was hoping they would play the Londonderry Air (O Danny Boy) but they didn't.
All those Guards respendent in busbies and scarlet tunics may well look like ceremonial toy soldiers but believe you me they are anything but - they have been fighting in the desert hellholes of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as conducting highly complicated military procedures in other parts of the world as well - they are highly disciplined fully trained professionals every man Jack of them, fully qualified, and to them parading like that in the heart of our capital city is a mere doddle in comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWwxaGmtX8&NR=1
*The Queen has two birthdays - one for real (21 April) and the other is what is known as her Official BIrthday - second Saturday in June each year when this particular parade is held on Horse Guards Parade after several rehearsals over the previous couple of Saturdays.
The monument you see in the background, just in front of St James's Park, is interesting because it bears the scars of flying shrapnel and bomb fragments from the WW2 blitzes.
Regarding the Reign of Terror over in France - my calculator told me a bare faced lie - I feel like binning it. Will 216 years ago do? It should do as it's correct!
I take on board what Jasper says about what was going on in Germany at the time of the Abdication in Britain. This country did indeed have its Nazi sympathisers - such as the leader of the British Union of Fascists, Sir Oswald Mosley - who was a privileged member of the aristocracy in England who led many parades and demonstrations of his henchmen in the 1930s all wearing Nazi style uniforms of brown shirts and giving Nazi style salutes - the Brownshirts. They regularly fought battles with the British police and opposing groups before and after the Abdication.
He was related to the (in)famous Mitford sisters - five girls who also came from a highly priviliged position within the aristocracy here - one of them being Nancy, who never faltered in her support for Nazi ideals even after all the horrors of what had gone on over there on the Nazi dominated Continent had been fully revealed to the world.
Another Mitford sister Unity idolised Hitler as if he was some kind of Deity and when Great Britain declared war on Germany on the sunny Sunday morning of 03 September 1930 she shot herself in the head but didn't quite do it properly as she survived but was so badly brain damaged that she had a complete personality change and all her fire and passion for her beloved Adolf and the Nazis had died a death in her.
It was well known that Adolf Hitler had stated his belief that England (Engeland was the word the Germans always used to refer to Great Britain as a whole) "was not our natural enemy" and even though his main aim and ambition, his ultimate dream at the time as part of his quest for world domination by his Master Race, was to conquer this country, he did indeed admire and respect much of what Great Britain stood for.
He failed to achieve his dream as we all know.
He did managed to invade and occupy one small part of the British Isles - the Channel Islands - which had to endure five whole years of German Occupation, although about half the islanders had managed to flee to the mainland of England before the Germans invaded. Throughout those five years the Germans did treat the Channel Islanders, who were and still are, British subjects, with much more respect than they did the people of the Continental countries they had invaded and occupied. Even so it was a very difficult time for the inhabitants, and later in the war the Germans did indeed transport some of the Channel Islanders they had suspected of any kind of trangression over to the Continent to be held in those concentration camps and nothing was ever heard of them again.
If you believe in any kind of Divine Intervention then surely you would think it had a part to play in just why Hitler failed to win the biggest prize of all - the invasion and subjugation of Great Britain. Divine Intervention may well have had something to do with the astonishing thick mists which shrouded the English Channel and which prevented the Germans seeing all those 339,000 British troops being lifted off the beaches of Dunkirk and then ferried over to the ports of South East England, and which miraculously cleared the moment the last British squaddie set foot again on British soil.
It may well have had a part to play in making Hitler inexplicably deciding to stop his Luftwaffe attacks on the RAF airfields of England which were literally on their last legs in the fight to defend our island and would not have lasted more than a week more of incessant bombing raids, therefore leaving the door wide open for Hitler to land here following an RAF capitulation - and turn his attention to the start of the Blitz - the mass assault on Britain's towns and cities, therefore leaving time for the RAF to recuperate and regain their fighting power.
Divine Intervention may also have had a part to play in the extraordinary survival of Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent 17th century masterpiece St Paul's Cathedral, in London - which can literally be seen from the building I am in right now. During the entire Blitz the Cathedral sustained only minor damage comparatively speaking while absolutely everything around it - including the mediaeval Paternoster Row - was totally razed to the ground and burned out - everything flattened -
while St Paul's still managed to shine like a beacon through all the smoke and flames. Someone was obviously listening when the Dean of St Paul's, during Evensong on the later afternoon of 29 December 1940, just two hours before one of the most severely destructive air raids on London in WW2 said these words of prayer to the full congregation:
"Defend us O Lord we beseech thee and protect us from all the dangers and perils of this night!"
All those Guards respendent in busbies and scarlet tunics may well look like ceremonial toy soldiers but believe you me they are anything but - they have been fighting in the desert hellholes of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as conducting highly complicated military procedures in other parts of the world as well - they are highly disciplined fully trained professionals every man Jack of them, fully qualified, and to them parading like that in the heart of our capital city is a mere doddle in comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWwxaGmtX8&NR=1
*The Queen has two birthdays - one for real (21 April) and the other is what is known as her Official BIrthday - second Saturday in June each year when this particular parade is held on Horse Guards Parade after several rehearsals over the previous couple of Saturdays.
The monument you see in the background, just in front of St James's Park, is interesting because it bears the scars of flying shrapnel and bomb fragments from the WW2 blitzes.
Regarding the Reign of Terror over in France - my calculator told me a bare faced lie - I feel like binning it. Will 216 years ago do? It should do as it's correct!
I take on board what Jasper says about what was going on in Germany at the time of the Abdication in Britain. This country did indeed have its Nazi sympathisers - such as the leader of the British Union of Fascists, Sir Oswald Mosley - who was a privileged member of the aristocracy in England who led many parades and demonstrations of his henchmen in the 1930s all wearing Nazi style uniforms of brown shirts and giving Nazi style salutes - the Brownshirts. They regularly fought battles with the British police and opposing groups before and after the Abdication.
He was related to the (in)famous Mitford sisters - five girls who also came from a highly priviliged position within the aristocracy here - one of them being Nancy, who never faltered in her support for Nazi ideals even after all the horrors of what had gone on over there on the Nazi dominated Continent had been fully revealed to the world.
Another Mitford sister Unity idolised Hitler as if he was some kind of Deity and when Great Britain declared war on Germany on the sunny Sunday morning of 03 September 1930 she shot herself in the head but didn't quite do it properly as she survived but was so badly brain damaged that she had a complete personality change and all her fire and passion for her beloved Adolf and the Nazis had died a death in her.
It was well known that Adolf Hitler had stated his belief that England (Engeland was the word the Germans always used to refer to Great Britain as a whole) "was not our natural enemy" and even though his main aim and ambition, his ultimate dream at the time as part of his quest for world domination by his Master Race, was to conquer this country, he did indeed admire and respect much of what Great Britain stood for.
He failed to achieve his dream as we all know.
He did managed to invade and occupy one small part of the British Isles - the Channel Islands - which had to endure five whole years of German Occupation, although about half the islanders had managed to flee to the mainland of England before the Germans invaded. Throughout those five years the Germans did treat the Channel Islanders, who were and still are, British subjects, with much more respect than they did the people of the Continental countries they had invaded and occupied. Even so it was a very difficult time for the inhabitants, and later in the war the Germans did indeed transport some of the Channel Islanders they had suspected of any kind of trangression over to the Continent to be held in those concentration camps and nothing was ever heard of them again.
If you believe in any kind of Divine Intervention then surely you would think it had a part to play in just why Hitler failed to win the biggest prize of all - the invasion and subjugation of Great Britain. Divine Intervention may well have had something to do with the astonishing thick mists which shrouded the English Channel and which prevented the Germans seeing all those 339,000 British troops being lifted off the beaches of Dunkirk and then ferried over to the ports of South East England, and which miraculously cleared the moment the last British squaddie set foot again on British soil.
It may well have had a part to play in making Hitler inexplicably deciding to stop his Luftwaffe attacks on the RAF airfields of England which were literally on their last legs in the fight to defend our island and would not have lasted more than a week more of incessant bombing raids, therefore leaving the door wide open for Hitler to land here following an RAF capitulation - and turn his attention to the start of the Blitz - the mass assault on Britain's towns and cities, therefore leaving time for the RAF to recuperate and regain their fighting power.
Divine Intervention may also have had a part to play in the extraordinary survival of Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent 17th century masterpiece St Paul's Cathedral, in London - which can literally be seen from the building I am in right now. During the entire Blitz the Cathedral sustained only minor damage comparatively speaking while absolutely everything around it - including the mediaeval Paternoster Row - was totally razed to the ground and burned out - everything flattened -
while St Paul's still managed to shine like a beacon through all the smoke and flames. Someone was obviously listening when the Dean of St Paul's, during Evensong on the later afternoon of 29 December 1940, just two hours before one of the most severely destructive air raids on London in WW2 said these words of prayer to the full congregation:
"Defend us O Lord we beseech thee and protect us from all the dangers and perils of this night!"
Sorry, but France has nothing to do with the Anglosphere. Even if it had joined the Commonwealth, it would be no more influenced by the UK, than Mexico is influenced by the US because of NAFTA, or Romania is influenced by the UK, because of the EU. It would still be France. The Anglosphere is not an association of countries, but rather countries that have been under colonization.