Tag: Treaty of Versailles

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Logistics Genius

He once told his son, “To be a leader or commander, you must have some ‘son of a bitch’ in you.” Well, Gen. Lucius Clay was certainly not short of that trait. Nicknamed “The Great Uncompromiser” or “The Kaiser,” Clay’s reputation was built on his ability to manage large construction projects and solve complicated logistic problems. Gen. Clay had his fingerprints on some of modern history’s iconic (and dangerous) military and political events.

Official portrait of Gen. Lucius D. Clay after returning from Berlin to Washington, D.C. Photo by anonymous (c. May 1949). Official military records. PD-U.S. government. Wikimedia Commons.
Official portrait of Gen. Lucius D. Clay after returning from Berlin to Washington, D.C. Photo by anonymous (c. May 1949). Official military records. PD-U.S. government. Wikimedia Commons.

 It’s interesting how a blog evolves. I decided to write about Gen. Clay and his role in solving supply chain problems immediately after D-Day and that would be it. However, as I researched the general, I found he was involved in so many other important events that my original content kind of took a back seat to his other accomplishments.

REVOLUTIONARY PARIS – Volume One & Volume Two

 

These books are about Paris. They are about the places, buildings, sites, people, and streets that were important parts of the French Revolution. You are about to enter a journey into history beginning in 1789 at the village of Versailles with the procession of the Estates-General and ending on the Place de la Révolution with the execution of Maximilien Robespierre on 28 July 1794. This is your personal walking tour of the French Revolution as it occurred in Paris and Versailles.

Did You Know?

Did you know there is some really neat information out there that you can use at your next cocktail party to wow your friends?

Nine out of every ten living things live in the ocean.

Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines. It doesn’t smoke unless heated > 450oF.

In ancient times, strangers shook hands to show they were unarmed.

A grave stele from c. 400 B.C. in Pentelic marble depicting a handshake between a youth and a bearded man. Photo by Sandy Ross (c. November 2023). National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
A grave stele from c. 400 B.C. in Pentelic marble depicting a handshake between a youth and a bearded man. Photo by Sandy Ross (c. November 2023). National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

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Hitler’s Blueprint

In his absorbing book, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer made sure to point out on numerous occasions how Hitler’s 1925 book, Mein Kampf, or “My Struggle” (it was really more of a “manifesto”) laid out the agenda the future Führer would pursue once in power. Hitler’s book was first published seven years after Germany signed the armistice ending the conflict of World War I and subsequently, the Treaty of Versailles acknowledging their responsibility. (There were two volumes of Mein Kampf published; 1925 and 1926 for a total of 720 pages.)

CBS war correspondent, William L. Shirer, in Compiègne reporting on the signing of the armistice between Germany and France on 22 June 1940. The building in the background housed Marshal Foch’s rail car where the World War I armistice was signed on 11 November 1918. It was relocated to the Compiègne forest by Hitler for the signing of the June 1940 armistice. Photo by Kreigsberichter Jager Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (22 June 1940). PD-Author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.
CBS war correspondent, William L. Shirer (center at typewriter) in Compiègne, France,  reporting on the signing of the armistice between France and Germany. The building in the background housed the rail car used by Marshal Foch on 11 November 1918 to sign the German armistice after the end of World War I. Photo by Kreigsberichter Jager Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (22 June 1940). PD-Author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.

The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to disarm, give up thirteen percent of its European territory, lose all its colonial possessions, and subjected the country to onerous financial reparations. Germans, including Hitler, were humiliated and at the same time, outraged. The Weimar Republic came into existence in 1919 and things went downhill from there. The book was written during a time when Germany was suffering from hyperinflation, political extremism, quarrelsome relations with its European neighbors, and within five years, a severe depression. It was a period when people began looking for a scapegoat for their problems and Hitler found a group of people who, for millennia, were forced to play this role: the Jews.

Did You Know?

Did you know there was one thing that Hitler and the Nazis feared more than Jews, Communists, or homosexuals? It was cancer. Well, the 1931 Nobel Prize winner for medicine was a German who was Jewish and openly gay. Otto Warburg (1883−1970), a biochemist, was nominated for a Nobel award forty-seven times during his career. He is remembered for his work on how cells metabolize food and sugar. He discovered that cancer cells eat up more glucose than other cells. Warburg believed the cause of cancer was faulty cell metabolism. As time went on, his theories were proven wrong, and Warburg announced his critics were idiots. The scientist was extremely vain and filled with self-conceit. When another scientist was asked to rank Warburg’s arrogance from one to ten, he took a moment and answered, “Twenty.” Read More Hitler’s Blueprint