29 MAY

THE TIMES ARGUES IRELAND’S POTATO FAMINE IS “A BLESSING” [ 22 September 1846 ] On this day in 1846, an editorial in The Times admonished those arguing for London to intervene to ameliorate the catastrophic potato famine in Ireland. Some might go hungry or starve, but this was a necessary evil, which would correct Irish indolence…

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…

THE BRITISH STAGE A COUP IN SHARJAH. 24 June 1965 – The British orchestrated a coup in the emirate of Sharjah to remove Sheikh Saqr, who was considered to have too great an interest in independent development and had even allowed the Arab League to have a role in the small kingdom’s decision making, at…

THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY HERALD APOLOGIZES FOR INSULTING HITLER Cartoon by Will Dyson (1880-1938) in the Daily Herald, 1 December 1937, p. 10 [ 1 December 1937 ] The left leaning Daily Herald, was arguably the most progressive of Britain’s mainstream newspapers in the thirties. Unlike The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express and the Daily Mail, it would…

FIELD MARSHAL ROBERTS – DETAIN BOER CIVILIANS AND BURN THEIR HOMES [ 16 June 1900 ] In October 1899, Boer settlers in the Transvaal and Orange Free, faced with a tightening circle of British troops advancing from Cape Colony and Natal, had declared a war against Britain. It was a desperate act of rebellion, which…