22 DECEMBER

BRITISH INTRODUCE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN CYPRUS At 17.00 GMT on Saturday 26 November 1955 the newly appointed British governor of Cyprus, Field Marshal Sir John Harding, announced, during a short statement on radio, draconian emergency laws in order to crush a growing insurgency against British rule.  The death penalty could now be applied for…

MARTIAL LAW IN CEYLON, HUNDREDS SHOT ON SIGHT, THOUSANDS ARRESTED [ 2 June 1915 ] On 2 June 1915, Sir Robert Chalmers, the governor of Ceylon, on the pretext that ethnic rioting between Muslims and Sinhalese Buddhists had been provoked by German agents, declared martial law. There was, however, no evidence to suggest any German…

HUNDREDS INJURED – TWO KILLED – AS GANDHI’S FOLLOWERS ARE BEATEN WITH LATHIS [ 21 May 1930 ] Since the British had begun to extend their rule over India in the eighteenth century, they had relied on various forms of local taxation to pay for the soldiers and administrative apparatus, which ensured that India remained…

CHURCHILL BLAMES THE BOLSHEVIK TERROR IN RUSSIA AND EUROPE ON JEWS [ 8 February 1920 ] On 8 February 1920, writing in the Illustrated Sunday Herald, Secretary of State for War and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill alleged the Jews could neatly be divided into ‘good and bad Jews.’ Please feel welcome to post comments…

FAMINE IN BRITISH CONCENTRATION CAMP FOR SOUTH AFRICAN BOERS [ 24 January 1901 ] By January 1901, British troops had been engaged for over a year in a prolonged military campaign in South Africa to quell an insurgency by elusive Boer rebels who were demanding greater independence.  Please feel welcome to post comments below.  If…

MODERATE MINISTER PRAISES BRITISH REPRISALS AGAINST IRISH CIVILIANS. [ 31 October 1920 ] On this day in 1920  Austen Chamberlain, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer who was considered a dovish moderate on the issue of Ireland, wrote to his sister reminding her of the positive impact of brutal acts of British retribution against Irish civilians.  It…