Showing posts with label Diplomacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diplomacy. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Tuesday, May 27, 1975. Americans out of Laos.

The US and Laos reached an agreement which included that all Americans were to leave Laos,by June 30, 1975.

The nation was not yet fully controlled by the Pathet Lao.

Falling like dominoes.  

Last edition:

Monday, May 26, 1975. Memorial Day.

Friday, May 23, 2025

Friday, May 23, 1975. Leaving Laos.

Most American employees of the U.S Embassy in Laos were ordered to evacuate.

The U.S. has an embassy in Laos presently.  In fact, the countries never severed diplomatic relations and normalized them in 1992.

The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 was signed into law by President Ford. The act provided for resettlement of South Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees into the United States. In 1975 it would be amended to include include refugees from Laos.

A military government was appointed to govern Lebanon.

Former President of the Teamsters Union Dave Beck was pardoned by President Ford.

Last edition:

Thursday, May 15, 1975. The Raid on Koh Tang.

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Monday, April 26, 1915. Leaving one Triple and joining another. French remounts travel through Laramie.

The secret Treaty of London was signed in which Italy agreed to abandon the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austro Hungaria and join the Triple Entente in exchange for Austro Hungarian territory.

Canadians attacked St. Julien again, but were once again forced back.


Horses in transit to the French Army travelled through Laramie.

German colonial forces attacked the South African-held town of Trekkopje in South West Africa but were repulsed by a unit of armored cars equipped with machine guns.

Last edition:

Sunday, April 15, 1915. Gallipoli.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Thursday, April 5, 1945. Rebellion of the Georgian Legion.

The Soviet Union renounced the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941.

The Georgian Legion, a German foreign legion, rose up against the Germans on the Dutch island of Texel.  The battle would result in large-scale casualties incurred until the end of the war by both sides.

The uprising is regarded as heroic, but the late war uprising was naive.  It counted on an Allied landing which did not occur, and it presumed favorable post war treatment by the Allies.

Arrested officers.

African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club at Freeman Field, Indiana, resulting in the predictable scuffles and arrests although the ultimate punishment was minor.

Gen. MacArthur was appointed control of all Army forces in the Pacific and Adm. Nimitz all naval forces.  The move was made in anticipation of the Invasion of Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso (小磯 國昭), frustrated in his attempts to be involved in military decisions, resigned.

The U-242 sank in St. George's Channel after hitting a mine.

Last edition

Wednesday, April 4, 1945. The Third Army liberates the Ohrdruf Subcamp.

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Thursday, April 3, 1975. Operation Babylift.

President Ford ordered the evacuation of Americans from Phnom Penh.

Operation Babylift began as a U.S. effort to bring South Vietnamese orphans to the United States.  Widely lauded today (it would be unlikely to take place, frankly, under the current administration), there was some criticism at the time on the assertion that not all the children were actually orphans, and that it was a cultural based decision given that young people were being taken out of their native land to avoid communism.

Gen. Weyand met with President Thiệu in Saigon and promised more American aid to South Vietnam, but declined Thiệu's request for a renewal of American bombing of North Vietnamese forces.  As they both well knew, without U.S. air support there was no hope for the ARVN.

South Vietnamese Prime Minister Trần Thiện Khiêm resigned.  He would take up exile in France and then the United States, converting to Catholicism there.  He died in 2021.

Israel and South Africa signed SECMENT, a secret mutual defense agreement.

Bobby Fischer refused to play a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, and thereby ceded the title of chess champion.

Actress Mary Ure, most famous for her role in Where Eagles Dare, and the wife of Robert Shaw, died of an overdose of alcohol and barbiturates at age 42.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 2, 1975. Driving on Saigon.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Thursday, April 2, 1925. Oklahoma.

 


Oklahoma adopted its current flag.

The prior flag:


France and Turkey agreed on the autonomy of Alexandretta, which is today party of Syria.

The Police Forces Amalgamation Act 1925 went into effect in the Republic of Ireland consolidating the Garda Síochána and the Dublin Metropolitan Police into a single national police force.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 1975. A new king.

The 9th NVA Division attacked again at Chơn Thành Camp, apparently trying to retrieve disabled tanks, but was repulsed again by ARVN defenders.

Kissinger spoke to the press.

A Henry Kissinger Press Conference – March 26, 1975 – Past Daily Reference Room

Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, the Crown Prince and the younger half-brother of King Faisal, was crowned as the new King of Saudi Arabia.


Clela Rorex, the County Clerk for Boulder County, Colorado. issued a marriage license to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora who had consulted with the county's District Attorney who decided that there was nothing in Colorado's law that prohibited same sex marriage.

It was the first same sex marriage license issued in the US.

On April 24, Colorado State Attorney General Joyce Murdoch invalidated the license, as well as five others issued by Rorex.

Jaws premiered in an advance screening.

The Biological Weapons Convention banning the production or use of biologcial weapons, entered into force by its own terms.

Last edition:

Tuesday, March 25, 1975. A murdered king and evacuations.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Monday, March 19, 1945. The Nero Decree.

Hitler issued the Nero Decree, which stated:

I. Hitler’s Order of March 19, 1945

RE: Destruction Measures within Reich Territory

Our nation’s struggle for existence forces us to utilize all means, even within Reich territory, to weaken the fighting power of our enemy and to prevent further advances. Any opportunity to inflict lasting damage on the striking power of the enemy must be taken advantage of. It is a mistake to believe that undestroyed or only temporarily paralyzed traffic, communications, industrial, and supply installations will be useful to us again after the recapture of lost territories. During his retreat, the enemy will leave behind only scorched earth and will abandon all concern for the population.

I therefore command

1. All military traffic, communications, industrial and supply installations as well as objects within Reich territory that might be used by the enemy in the continuation of his fight, either now or later, are to be destroyed.

2. It is the responsibility of the military command posts to execute this order to destroy all military objects, including traffic and communications installations.

The Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense are responsible for destroying the industrial and supply installations, as well as of other objects of valuable; the troops must give the Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense the assistance they need to carry out this task.

3. This command is to be transmitted to all troop commanders as promptly as possible; orders to the contrary are null and void.

Adolf Hitler

Albert Speer and various officers of the Wehrmacht conspired against its implementation.

Ostensibly a war measure, at this point in the war Hitler was lashing out against the German people themselves, whom he was punishing for, in his mind, having failed him by losing the war, something he now clearly knew had occurred.  

Also at this point, internal German attitudes were rapidly changing.  While still fighting in the field, German troops were now surrendering in large numbers to the Western Allies, rather than die in the final weeks of the war.  German commanders, including some in the SS, were seeking to make back deals with the Western Allies, unsuccessfully, and without Hitler's knowledge.  Some were preparing for their own post war futures.  Members of the German government and military were starting to conspire to save what they could.

Again, there's a lesson here.  Hitler was a populist politician who had risen to power backed by lies.  His policies inevitably lead Germany to shame and ruin.  Rather than resign when things turned bad, he hung on, supported by fanatic supporters, and in the end sought to destroy the very country he claimed to represent.

All U-boats in the Baltic were transferred to the west.

The British Indian Army took Mandalay.

The USS Franklin was hit by kamikazes and badly damaged.


724 men were killed and 265 wounded.   Captain Gehres regarded those who had jumped into the sea during the event as having acted improperly, leading to post incident tension and ultimately his relief. She'd return to service and was ultimately stricken in 1964.

The Soviet Union notified Turkey that their non aggression pact would not be renewed after it expired in November.  It demanded territorial concessions from Turkey, which Turkey rejected.

Last edition:

Sunday, March 18, 1945 Landings in the Philippines, the largest air attack on Berlin.

Friday, March 14, 2025

Saturday, March 14, 1925. Spring.


France's Senate Finance Committee voted to keep its embassy at the Vatican, over the wishes of Prime Minister Édouard Herriot.

The Council of the League of Nations expressed its hopes that Germany would join the body.


Last edition:

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Friday, March 13, 1925. Tennessee prevents evolution in schools.

In a uniquely American struggle, due to the strong influence of Evangelical Protestantism in the country, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the Butler Act, which prohibited public schools from teaching evolution.

CHAPTER NO. 27

House Bill No. 185

(By Mr. Butler)

AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.

Passed March 13, 1925

W. F. Barry,

Speaker of the House of Representatives

L. D. Hill,

Speaker of the Senate

Approved March 21, 1925.

Austin Peay,

Governor.

Calvin Coolidge held a press conference.

The Hay-Quesada Treaty between Cuba and the United States was ratified by the U.S. Senate, recognizing that the Isla de Pinos was the territory of Cuba.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 12, 1925. Passing of Sun Yat-sen. British rejection of the Geneva Protocol.

Sunday, March 2, 2025

Monday, March 2, 1925. Delta Air Lines. . .

Huff Daland Dusters Inc., a crop dusting company, which would ultimately become Delta Airlines, was founded.

The United States and Estonia signed an agreement for mutual most-favored-nation treatment in customs.

Last edition:

Monday, March 1, 1915. Locusts.

Monday, February 24, 2025

Tuesday, February 24, 1925. Lake of the Woods Convention and Protocol

The United States and Canada signed the Lake of the Woods Convention and Protocol, defining the lake's boundary line more accurately, regulating its water level, and arranging for the settlement of port damages caused by overflowing that arose from work done on the Canadian side. 

This, obviously, before our currently demented occupant of the Oval Office decided that throwing rocks at Canada was fun.

Last edition:

Monday, February 23, 1925. Puyi moves.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

How Trump changed U.S. policy toward Ukraine

 A really excellent look at Trump's foreign policy.

How Trump changed U.S. policy toward Ukraine

Basically, Trump has returned the country to the pre World War Two, frankly pre World War One, sphere's of influence theory of foreign policy.

Indeed, his tax policy and view of the civil service all are deeply rooted in the world as it was prior to 1900. It might basically be summarized as "the biggest bully on the block".

Trump is a real estate developer, and frankly a bully himself.  Born into money, he's always had the luxury of being a bully and is a man who is basically amoral.  He's brought that to the Oval Office in general, where watchdog agencies and the like will be wiped out.  The public won't need to be protected as Social Darwinism will pick the winners and the losers, and people like Elon Musk and Trump already believe that their positions are due to superior genetics.  So too in foreign affairs, the US is big and (theoretically) powerful, so it should take what it wants, just like Donald takes Easter European models as spouses.

It's deeply immoral.

A question will be how long this will last after Trump is gone.  Do Americans have the stomach to be global assholes who stand for nothing more than greed?  My guess is that they don't, but getting back into a new global order, that will be designed to repel Russia, China, and the United States, is going to be difficult.



Monday, February 10, 2025

Tuesday, February 10, 1925. A concordat.

Poland and the Roman Catholic Church signed a concordat establishing diplomatic relations, guaranteeing the full protection by the Polish government of the Catholic Church, in return for the solemn oath of allegiance by Catholic clerics to the Polish government.

Obviously something had inspired tension, but I don't really know what.  What's often missed is that the early Polish government was very left leaning.

Canada, which does not wish to become a US state under any circumstances, and the US signed a fighting rights agreement.

Last edition:

Monday, February 9, 1925. Pondering the borders.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Monday, February 9, 1925. Pondering the borders.

Weimar Germany presented a conciliatory memorandum to France proposing a mutual guarantee of the existing border between the two countries.

Last edition:

Sunday, February 8, 1925. The Lost World.


Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Wednesday, January 22, 1975: Mercury Bobcat goes public


January 22, 1975 – Mercury Bobcat goes public

It was the Mercury variant of the Pinto.

The United States ratified the Geneva Protocol of 1925, officially the "Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare".

A bit late. . . 

Landsat 2 was launched.

Last edition:

Friday, January 17, 1975. Chinese political turnover, French infanticide.

Monday, January 20, 2025

Tuesday, January 20, 1925. The Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention

The Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention between the Soviet Union and Japan was signed.  It provided:

JAPAN and the UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS, desiring to promote relations of good neighbourhood and economic co-operation between them, have resolved to conclude a Convention embodying basic rules in regulation of such relations and, to that end, have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say :

His MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN :

Kenkichi YOSHIZAWA, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of China, Jushii, a member of the First Class of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure ;

THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS :

Lev Mikhailovitch KARAKHAN, Ambassador to the Republic of China ;

Who, having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed as follows :

Article I.

The High Contracting Parties agree that, with the coming into force of the present Convention, diplomatic and consular relations shall be established between them.

Article II.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics agrees that the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5th, 1905, shall remain in full force.

It is agreed that the Treaties, Conventions and Agreements, other than the said Treaty of Portsmouth, which were concluded between Japan and Russia prior to November 7, 1917, shall be re-examined at a Conference to be subsequently held between the Governments of the High Contracting Parties and are liable to revision or annulment as altered circumstances may require.

Article III.

The Governments of the High Contracting Parties agree that, upon the coming into force of the present Convention, they shall proceed to the revision of the Fishery Convention of 1907, taking into consideration such changes as may have taken place in the general conditions since the conclusion of the said Fishery Convention.

Pending the conclusion of a convention so revised, the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall maintain the practices established in 1924 relating to the lease of fishery lots to Japanese subjects.

Article IV.

The Governments of the High Contracting Parties agree that, upon the coming into force of the present Convention, they shall proceed to the conclusion of a treaty of commerce and navigation in conformity with the principles hereunder mentioned, and that, pending the conclusion of such a treaty, the general intercourse between the two countries shall be regulated by those principles.

         (1) The subjects or citizens of each of the High Contracting Parties shall, in accordance with the laws of the country : (a) have full liberty to enter, travel and reside in the territories of the other, and (b) enjoy constant and complete protection for the safety of their lives and property.

         (2) Each of the High Contracting Parties shall, in accordance with the laws of the country, accord in its territories to the subjects or citizens of the other, to the widest possible extent and on condition of reciprocity, the right of private ownership and the liberty to engage in commerce, navigation, industries and other peaceful pursuits.

         (3) Without prejudice to the right of each Contracting Party to regulate by its own laws the system of international trade in that country, it is understood that neither Contracting Party shall apply in discrimination against the other Party any measures of prohibition, restriction or impost which may serve to hamper the growth of the intercourse, economic or otherwise, between the two countries, it being the intention of both Parties to place the commerce, navigation and industry of each country, as far as possible, on the footing of the most-favoured nation.

The Governments of the High Contracting Parties further agree that they shall enter into negotiations, from time to tune as circumstances may require, for the conclusion of special arrangements relative to commerce and navigation to adjust and to promote economic relations between the two countries.

Article V.

The High Contracting Parties solemnly affirm their desire and intention to live in peace and amity with each other, scrupulously to respect the undoubted right of a State to order its own life within its own jurisdiction in its own way, to refrain and restrain all persons in any govern mental service for them, and all organisations in receipt of any financial assistance from them, from any act overt or covert liable in any way whatever to endanger the order and security in any part of the territories of Japan or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

It is further agreed that neither Contracting Party shall permit the presence in the territories under its jurisdiction :

     (a) of organisations or groups pretending to be the Government for any part of the territories of the other Party, or

      (b) of alien subjects or citizens who may be found to be actually carrying on political activities for such organisations or groups.

Article VI.

In the interest of promoting economic relations between the two countries, and taking into consideration the needs of Japan with regard to natural resources, the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is willing to grant to Japanese subjects, companies and associations concessions for the exploitation of minerals, forests and other natural resources in all the territories of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Article VII.

The present Convention shall be ratified.

Such ratification by each of the High Contracting Parties shall, with as little delay as possible, be communicated, through its diplomatic representative at Peking, to the Government of the other Party, and from the date of the later of such communications this Convention shall come into full force.

The formal exchange of the ratifications shall take place at Peking as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, in duplicate in the English language, and have affixed thereto their seals.

Done at Peking, this twentieth day of January, One thousand nine-hundred and twenty-five.

                    (L. S.) K. YOSHIZAWA.

                    (L. S.) L. KARAKHAN.

Japan and Russia, and then Japan and the Soviet Union, never got along well.  They had fought the Russo Japanese War some twenty years prior, and Japan had heavily intervened in Siberia during the Russian Civil War.  There remains tension between them over the the Sakhalin.

Last edition:

I had no idea Sanka was this old.