Nazi Germany’s “Holocaust by Bullets” has already claimed over a million lives over the past 8 months; this week German authorities hold a conference to streamline and systematize the process of extermination. Gas will now be the preferred method of murder. The Japanese are murdering Allied soldiers that fall into their hands as they advance ever closer to Singapore. The Soviet offensive continues along the entire Eastern Front, but the orders and objectives grow ever more confusing and chaotic. In North Africa, Erwin Rommel launches a surprise offensive against the Allies and make a lightning advance the final two days of the week.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
– IWM SE 4819
– Mil.ru
– Bundesarchiv
– ammo by Nociconist, Fruits by Icongeek26, Oil Tank by Mangsaabguru, from the Noun Project
– JoJan from Wikimedia Commons
– Yad Vashem 1427_85, 2CO1, 4613_360
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
– Rannar Sillard – “Easy Target”
– Flouw – “A Far Cry”
– Fabien Tell – “Weapon of Choice”
– Reynard Seidel – “Rush of Blood”
– Edward Karl Hanson – “Spellbound”
– Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
– Johannes Bornlöf – “The Inspector 4”
– Gunnar Johnsen – “Not Safe Yet”
– Rannar Sillard – “Split Decision”
– Howard Harper-Barnes – “London”
– Christian Andersen – “Barrel”
– Cobby Costa – “From the Past”
The US government realizes that it cannot send help to relieve the US and Filipino forces in the Philippines, but it does not tell those forces. Meanwhile in the USSR, a huge Red Army offensive against entrenched German forces begins along the entire frontline. The Germans have pulled back in North Africa, though, to consolidate. The Japanese enter Manila and advance in Malaya, but are forced to withdraw in China.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
At the ongoing Arcadia Conference, 26 nations sign the Declaration of the United Nations. Otherwise it is very much a week of motion and changes in motion: in the USSR the Soviets are on the move in the center and the Crimea, the Japanese are slowing their movement in China, the Americans are finishing their movement in the Philippines, and the Axis are moving backward in North Africa. The Luftwaffe also decides that Malta must be eliminated as a base for the Allies.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Colorizations by:
– Julius Jääskeläinen – https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
– Mikolaj Uchman
Sources:
– Election1960 from Wikimedia
– Battleship by Anand Prahlad from the Noun Project
– Supermarine Spitfire by Joel Wisneski from the Noun Project
– Afrrs from Wikimedia
– National Portrait Gallery
– Bundesarchiv
The Japanese offensives and advances in Southeast Asia and the Pacific continue unabated and both Hong Kong and Wake Island fall. British and American leaders begin the Arcadia Conference to decide just how they are going to fight this war together, and there are more changes made in the German High Command on the Eastern Front, even as the Soviets make advances there.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
– IWM: FE 203
– Battleship by Anand Prahlad from the Noun Project
– Man by Milinda Courey from the Noun Project
– prisoner by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
– bockelsound from freesound.org
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published 18 Dec 2020
Big thanks to our friend Al-Muqaddimah for his help with this video. The look of this video’s maps is an homage to his wonderful mapmaking style. For more Islamic History, check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0O…
From the coast of Tunisia across the Straits of Gibraltar, over the Atlas Mountains, and east to the Nile of Egypt, Ibn Khaldun had certainly seen history at work. That experience came in handy as he wrote The Muqaddimah, a genre-defining masterwork of Historiography — not just retelling the events of the past, but explaining their causes and effects through the lens of human behavior and sociology.
SOURCES & Further Reading: Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography by Irwin, The Muqaddimah
The Japanese launch attacks all over Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and launch a preemptive surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The war is suddenly much larger. In the USSR, the Germans find themselves now heavily on the defensive after the failure to take Moscow, while in North Africa, Erwin Rommel decides he must withdraw out of Cyrenaica to await reinforcements.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
IWM HU 56120, K 1385, HU 675, TR153, HU 81216, WPN 298
NARA
Bundesarchiv
Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Picture of a victim of starvation during the siege of Leningrad, courtesy of George Shuklin
Picture of Alfred Godwin-Austen, courtesy of Berserker276 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi…
Picture of Harold Cole, courtesy of Cumbria County Archives
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Phoenix Tail – “At the Front”
Johannes Bornlof – “Deviation In Time”
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 4”
Jo Wandrini – “To War!”
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Wendel Scherer – “Defeated”
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 3”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 3”
Skrya – “First Responders”
Bonnie Grace – “Imperious”
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
2 days ago (edited)
Five days ago, we covered the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor minute by minute in real time over five hours. If you missed that, then check out episode one right here, you’ll love it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joh2BXPsrXs&t=4s
NOTE: An error snuck through our controls regarding the Japanese casualties at Wake, we are working with YouTube to have it fixed before the video goes public. We apologize for this inconvenience.
Japan attacked a whole variety of places that day, launching massive offensives all over SE Asia and the Pacific. I’ll be covering them here weekly, of course, but for even more coverage, check out our day by day Instagram coverage of the war: https://www.instagram.com/ww2_day_by_day
Comments Off on Hitler Declares War on the USA and the Jews – WW2 – 120 – December 12, 1941
The Wehrmacht is halted by the Red Army at the gates of Moscow. Not only that, but a Red Army counteroffensive begins pushing the Germans back decisively. The Germans are also beginning to withdraw from their siege of Tobruk in North Africa. Japan, however, is advancing all over the Pacific, sending troop transports into the South China Sea, though it is unclear just whom Japan plans to attack. The Japanese are also — in top secrecy — sending a force of aircraft carriers to soon attack the American Pacific fleet at anchor at Pearl Harbor.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
RIA Novosti #2410
Bundesarchiv
IWM A 10499, A 6784, CH 11140
Visuotinė-lietuvių-enciklopedija
Yad Vashem 5705/34
from the Noun Project: low temperature by The Icon Z, Skull by Muhamad Ulum
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 3”
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Johannes Bornlof – “Deviation In Time”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 4”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 4”
Fabien Tell – “Last Point of Safe Return”
Bonnie Grace – “Imperious”
Max Anson – “Maze Heist”
Gunnar Johnsen – “Not Safe Yet”
Jon Bjork – “Force Matrix”
The German advance has pushed within artillery range of Moscow, but can they reach it — and take it — before the Red Army and the murderously cold weather halt them? Meanwhile in North Africa, both Erwin Rommel and Claude Auchinleck make daring and brilliant moves that save the fight for their sides. A mighty Japanese fleet is now secretly heading for Hawaii to make a surprise attack on American territory while the US worries where in Southeast Asia the Japanese are planning to attack.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
Bundesarchiv
IWM E 6661, WPN 298, E 446
Bletchley Park Trust
Mil.ru
RIA Novosti #303890, #2551
Yad Vashem 4562/3
Picture of Cordell Hull, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 10”
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 3”
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 2”
Jo Wandrini – “To War!”
Fabien Tell – “Weapon of Choice”
Fabien Tell – “Last Point of Safe Return”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Andreas Jamsheree – “Guilty Shadows 4”
Philip Ayers – “Trapped in a Maze”
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
2 days ago (edited)
– IMPORTANT NOTICE –
Since we’re all busy working on our minute-by-minute coverage of Pearl Harbor, which is edging ever closer, it has been an especially challenging task to follow Operation Crusader in all its complexity. This has resulted in an error on the animated map about which we want to be transparent and honest.
The current map suggests that the 2nd New Zealand Division links up with the Tobruk garrison from the south-east. In reality, it does so from the Via Balba running along the coast, along which it has advanced during the past days. Another thing to note is the position of the Allied 30th Corps, which has withdrawn further south after the Battle of Sidi Rezegh than the map shows. They are positioned near Gabr Saleh as the New Zealanders link up with Tobruk.
We apologize for this inaccuracy and are working to fix this error as soon as possible.
———-
It’s getting closer … 9 days from now is December 7th, and we will cover the Japanese attacks of that day right here in real time for FIVE HOURS. Pearl Harbor minute by minute will be the most exciting documentary series you’ve ever seen. https://youtu.be/5D8c7YvLBUc
The long planned Allied Offensive in North Africa — Operation Crusader — begins, but the Allies are worrying about how to defend Singapore in case of Japanese aggression. The Germans renew their drive on Moscow, but their number one flying ace perishes, a major PR hit.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Bundesarchiv
Australian War Memorial
Yad Vashem 143BO2
IWM E 6661, K 1261, A 3898, A 10499, FE 487, TR153, E 2384E
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 2”
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Farrell Wooten – “Blunt Object”
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Johannes Bornlof – “Last Man Standing 3”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Philip Ayers – “Under the Dome”
Max Anson – “Ancient Saga”
Johannes Bornlof – “Deviation In Time”
Jon Bjork – “Disposal”
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
3 days ago
On December 7th we will cover the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in real time, minute by minute, as it happens … for five solid hours starting 0610 local Hawaiian time right here on this channel. Don’t miss it!
When Allies and Axis clash on the deserts of North Africa, harsh and unique conditions force them to develop new tactics. From misdirection to new ways to move across the desert, all to gain an advantage over the enemy.
Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Marlon William Londoño and Francis van Berkel
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Marlon William Londoño
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Colorizations by:
Julius Jääskeläinen – https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Spartacus Olsson
Sources:
IWM E 18461, E 8361, E 10147, E 12630, E 12385, E 12375, E 21337, E 12410, HU 3715, E 21339, E 4350
Picture of John Hutton, courtesy of Coventry Society
Picture of Edwin Galligan, Steven Sykes and Fred Pusey, courtesy of Rick Stroud
Picture of Hugh Cott, courtesy of Selwyn College, Cambridge
Picture og Ralph Alger Bagnold, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery
from the Noun Project: sun by MRFA
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Max Anson – “Ancient Saga”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 4”
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 4”
Jon Bjork – “Force Matrix”
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
6 hours ago
As we see the North African campaign ongoing in our week by week series, in today’s episode we take a closer look at the tactics and logistical developments that helped shaped that campaign.
Comments Off on Deception and Dust-ups – Desert Warfare Tactics – WW2 Special
The British sink an entire convoy of supplies heading for Rommel in North Africa by using radar at night, something their opponents lack. In North Africa itself, the Allies are gearing up for a major offensive to begin in a few days. Meanwhile, the Germans are gearing up for a renewed drive on Moscow even as Georgy Zhukov launches small attacks there designed to spoil the larger German plans.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Visual Sources:
– Bundesarchiv
– Imperial War Museums: A 8158, FL 4822, A7266, G40, A 6329, A 6333, E 6724, WPN 298, IB2095, CM1725,
– Mil.ru
– Portrait of Alfred Godwin-Austen courtesy of Berserker276 from Wikimedia Commons
– Icons from Noun Project: boy by Mauro Lucchesi, Nick Novell, Calendar by Lorena Salagre, horse by Luis Prado, Gentleman by Samy Menai, man face by Nick Novell, Russian Russian soldier by Wonmo Kang
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
– “March Of The Brave 10” – Rannar Sillard – Test
– “Last Point of Safe Return” – Fabien Tell
– “Weapon of Choice” – Fabien Tell
– “Please Hear Me Out” – Philip Ayers
– “Potential Redemption” – Max Anson
– “nBreak Free” – Fabien Tell
– “Moving to Disturbia” – Experia
– “The End Of The World 2” – Håkan Eriksson
– “Epic Adventure Theme 4” – Håkan Eriksson
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
2 days ago
Mark December 7th in your calendars, for that day we have five hours of material — ten half-hour episodes — coming out to tell you the story of Pearl Harbor minute by minute in real time, starting 0610 local Hawaiian time.
And in addition to specials like that and our regular week by week coverage here on YouTube, we also cover the war day by day on Instagram, filling in things we don’t have time to cover here. It’s a perfect complement to this. Check it out at: https://www.instagram.com/world_war_two_realtime/
Comments Off on Night Vision Brings Triumph to the British! – WW2 – 116 – November 14, 1941
Don’t miss the special announcement of our new exciting collaboration at the end of this episode!
Register for free at World of Warships here: https://wo.ws/PearlHarbor and receive a special in-game package worth €25, including the ships USS St. Louis, Japanese Cruise Tenryū – and more bonuses.
In this episode:
There is a lull now on the Eastern Front, and Adolf Hitler uses the time to plan another drive on Moscow and points beyond, but he’ll be facing a larger Red Army, as reinforcements and recruits hope to nearly double its size in a matter of weeks. The British are counting down the days to their upcoming North African offensive, and the Japanese are sending out orders that will change the world dramatically in a single morning.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Sources:
Bundesarchiv
Arkiv i Nordland
Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
IWM C 4748, E 6661, WPN 298, E 6724, MH 9292, E 3469E, E 7008, E 759C
Picture of Alfred Godwin-Austin, courtesy of Berserker276 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi…
from the Noun Project: company soldiers by Andrei Yushchenko, Bell by wahyakup
Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Johannes Bornlof – “Deviation In Time”
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 4”
Bonnie Grace – “The Dominion”
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Fabien Tell – “Last Point of Safe Return”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 3”
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
merdiolu81
22 hours ago (edited)
Meanwhile, on 30 October, Stalin had raised a casual question. “How are we going to do the military parade?” That was the great, traditional 7 November Red Square parade, the celebration of the 1917 “October” Revolution, which had taken place on 24-5 October, Old Style — 6-7 November, New Style. General Pavel Artem’ev, who had been commander of the Moscow Military District and had taken command of the Moscow defence zone as the critical phase began, on 12 October, said it could not happen. Yes, it would, said Stalin. If there was a German air raid, the dead and wounded should be removed quickly, he added. It would happen. The risk was considerable. The potential political response was devastatingly positive, and worth the risk. The “Boss” had his faults (aside being a brutal tyrant) , but this was the decision of a leader. The parade would take place, and the troops, guns and armoured vehicles would then proceed straight to the front. It was a stroke of genius. The military effect would be compounded by the media and political effect. As always, everything was kept secret until the last moment. The officers involved did not receive their final briefing until 02.00. Stalin liked surprises, as most dictators do.
On 7 November, at 08.00 hours, just after dawn, under a steely, overcast Russian sky, with rimy air on the brink of freezing and snow beginning to fall, the troops marched south-east down the “square”, towards St Basil’s Cathedral and the Moskva river, beyond. Red Square, which owes its name to the old Slavic word for “beautiful”, and not to communism at all, is not really a square, either. It is a wide cobbled boulevard, running past the north-east wall of the red-brick, triangular Renaissance fortress. St Basil’s Cathedral is the onion-domed fantasy built for Ivan the Terrible. He was so delighted with it that he had the architect’s eyes put out, so that he could not build for anybody else anything so whimsically fantastic and beautiful. Stalin admired Ivan. The Germans were coming from the north-north-west, so, once the troops, guns and armoured vehicles had passed Lenin’s Mausoleum and reached St Basil’s, they would turn smartly about and head in the opposite direction, up Gor’kiy Street, and then north-west, to face the Germans.
The stars of the show were the new T-34 and KV tanks. But one of the heavy KV tanks screeched to a halt and then turned the wrong way. Another followed. The tanks were all armed, ready for battle, and if anybody wanted to take out the Politburo standing on Lenin’s Mausoleum, that would have been an ideal opportunity. Given the paranoia which prevailed in Moscow at the time, overreaction might have been the order of the day. Artem’ev demanded to know what had happened. The first tank, it turned out, had suffered a mechanical problem, and its commander did not want to cause any embarrassment on the big parade, so he got out of the way. Following the standard operating procedures the newly trained crews had been taught, the second tank went to its aid. This was starting to look like a professional army. The boss classes gathered on the Mausoleum found it amusing, and no one was reprimanded. The big parade was an iconic image of the war, and a stroke of public-relations genius. And, that night, earlier than usual, the Russian winter snow really began to fall.
Absolute War, Soviet Russia in the Second World War – Chris Bellamy
Comments Off on The Red Army must double in size… and now! – WW2 – 115 – November 7, 1941
I missed this article by Kay S. Hymowitz when it was published by City Journal a couple of weeks back:
Auction at Richmond. (1834) “Five hundred thousand strokes for freedom ; a series of anti-slavery tracts, of which half a million are now first issued by the friends of the Negro.” by Armistead, Wilson, 1819?-1868 and “Picture of slavery in the United States of America. ” by Bourne, George, 1780-1845 New York Public Library via Wikimedia Commons.
… slavery was a mundane fact in most human civilizations, neither questioned nor much thought about. It appeared in the earliest settlements of Sumer, Babylonia, China, and Egypt, and it continues in many parts of the world to this day. Far from grappling with whether slavery should be legal, the code of Hammurabi, civilization’s first known legal text, simply defines appropriate punishments for recalcitrant slaves (cutting off their ears) or those who help them escape (death). Both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament take for granted the existence of slaves. Slavery was so firmly established in ancient Greece that Plato could not imagine his ideal Republic without them, though he rejected the idea of individual ownership in favor of state control. As for Rome, well, Spartacus, anyone?
In the ancient world, slaves were almost always captives from the era’s endless wars of conquest. They were forced to do all the heavy labor required for building and sustaining cities and towns: clearing forests; building roads, temples, and palaces; digging and transporting stone; hoeing fields; rowing galley ships; and marching to almost-certain death in the front line of battle. Women (and often enough boy) slaves had the task of servicing the sexual appetites of their masters. None of that changed with the arrival of a new millennium. Gaelic tribes took advantage of the fall of the Roman Empire to raid the west coast of England and Wales for strong bodies; one belonged to a 16-year-old later anointed St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. “In the slavery business, no tribe was fiercer or more feared than the Irish,” writes Thomas Cahill in How the Irish Saved Civilization.
Today, of course, the immorality of slave-owning is as clear as day. But in the premodern world, no neat division existed between evil slaveowners and their innocent victims. Once the Vikings arrived in their longboats in the 700s, the Irish enslavers found themselves the enslaved. Slavery became the commanding height of the Viking economy; Norsemen raided coastal villages across Europe and brought their captives to Dublin, which became one of the largest slave markets of the time. The Vikings thought of their slaves as more like cattle than people; the unlucky victims had to sleep alongside the domestic animals, according to the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Norsemen rounded up captured Irish men and women to settle the desolate landscape of Iceland; scientists have found Irish DNA in present-day Icelanders, a legacy of that time. The Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe were an especially fertile supplier for Viking slave traders as well as for Muslim dealers from Spain: their Latin name gave us the word slave. Slavs were evidently not deterred by the misery they must have suffered; when Viking power waned by the twelfth century, the Slavs turned around and enslaved Vikings as well as Greeks.
Slavery was a normal state of affairs well beyond the territory we now call Europe. The Mayans had slaves; the Aztecs harnessed the labor of captives to build their temples and then serve as human sacrifices at the altars they had helped construct. The ancient Near East and Asia Minor were chockfull of slaves, mostly from East Africa. According to eminent slavery scholar Orlando Patterson, East Africa was plundered for human chattel as far back as 1580 BC. Muhammad called for compassion for the enslaved, but that didn’t stop his followers from expanding their search for chattel beyond the east coast into the interior of Africa, where the trade flourished for many centuries before those first West Africans arrived in Jamestown. Throughout that time, African kings and merchants grew rich from capturing and selling the millions of African slaves sent through the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean to Persians and Ottomans.
From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the North African Barbary coast was a hub for “white slavery.” This episode was relatively short-lived in the global history of slavery, but one with overlooked impact on Western culture. Around 1619, just as the first Africans were being sailed from the African coast to Jamestown, Algerian and Tunisian pirates, or “corsairs” as they were known, were using their boats to raid seaside villages on the Mediterranean and Atlantic for slaves who happened in this case to be white. In 1631, Ottoman pirates sacked Baltimore on the southern coast of Ireland, capturing and enslaving the villagers. Around the same time, Iceland was raided by Barbary corsairs who took hundreds of prisoners, selling them into lifetime bondage.
Comments Off on America’s “brutal system of slavery [was] unlike anything that had existed in the world before”
The road to Moscow does indeed lay open before the Germans, but for how long? And can they exploit such an opportunity — since the panzers are busy encircling hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers near Vyazema? Georgy Zhukov arrives in Moscow to take charge of the Soviet defenses and try to shut the door.
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Monika Worona
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)
Colorizations by:
Carlos Ortega Pereira
Mikołaj Uchman
Julius Jääskeläinen
Daniel Weiss
Sources:
Archive.org
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Mil
Bundesarchiv
Claude Auchinleck put military matters over that of politics. Although this angered some, mainly Churchill, Auchinleck still found himself in India, and later facing down Rommel in North Africa.
Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Francis van Berkel
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Lennart Visser
Edited by: Monika Worona
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
