The Slave Trade Mainstream Media Hates To Talk About
The Sahara is the world’s largest desert and crossing it is only possible thanks to scattered oases that provide life-sustaining water to travelers along the way. For those untrained in handling it, the Sahara is a place of death and despair.
This was certainly true for millions of slaves who were dragged in chains across that burning desert for a thousand years. This Trans-Saharan Slave Trade is easily overlooked thanks to its more famous Atlantic cousin, but the exchange of unfree people across the desert was a longer lasting and possibly larger system that deserves much ore attention.
Today on A Day In History we look at the brutality of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade and how this institution of slavery and suffering stood for over a thousand years. Don’t forget to live and subscribe to keep up with more videos on historical topics like this one.
Origins of Trans-Saharan Slave Trade
Slavery within and around the Sahara is as ancient as civilization. Ancient Egyptians extracted slaves from adjacent regions in modern day Sudan and Libya. Later, Phoenician settlers along the fertile Mediterranean Coast, most notably Carthage, established slave trading networks that included slaves taken from all areas of the Mediterranean Basin.
But the scattered inhabitants of the Sahara could not satisfy the growing demand for slaves forever. Eventually, traders began using the Sahara as a passageway to access and enslave the people of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Historians are unsure who began the trans-Saharan slave trade or when. Herodotus writing in the 5th century BC described a people called the Garamentenes from Libya who allegedly used their chariots to hunt down Ethiopian slaves, and some historians say they were the first trans-Saharan slavers. However, there is no material evidence of these vast slave trading networks and it’s more likely these were just slave raids deepers into the Sahara and not a true trans-Saharan slave trading system.
Small numbers of Sub-Saharan Africa slaves existed in Roman North Africa by the 300s. Artwork recovered from Roman villas shows figures who seem to be Black Africans working in fields and hunting, showing that at least some slave trading across the desert existed by this point. However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Islam and the Arabs to North Africa that a larger sustained system of slave trading emerged.
Describing the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade
Arab armies conquered most of North Africa by the early 8th century. The unified ‘Abbasid Caliphate connected the Islamic world religiously and economically, and slaves would soon move along these connections. Like every major contemporary society, the Islamic world had a great need for slaves, and quickly found that the rural berbers of North Africa were not enough to satisfy the demands of their interconnected world. In time, they would also become suppliers to Christian Europe as well.
#transsaharanslavetrade #slavery #history
Music: Epidemic music
Sources:
Keith Bradley, ‘Apuleius and the Sub-Saharan Slave Trade’, Apuleius and Antonine Rome: Historical Essays, (2012)
Matthew S. Gordan, ‘Slavery in the Islamic Middle East (c.600-1000 CE)’, in C. Perry et al, Cambridge World History of Slavery Volume II: AD 500 - AD 1420, (2021)
Ralph Austen, Trans-Saharan Africa in World History, (2010)
Ralph Austen, ‘Regional Study: Trans-Saharan Trade’, in The Cambridge World History Volume 4: A World with States, Empires and Networks 1200 BCE-900 CE, (2018)
Ronald Segal, Islam’s Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora, (2001)
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This Slave Owner Did Things Beyond Human Comprehension
Delphine Macarty Lalaurie was the daughter of Louis Barthelemy de Macarty, an officer of the French army. She belonged to the Creole class of people, descended from French and Spanish colonists who had arrived in the United States in the 1700’s. Both she and her family benefitted from the exploitation of enslaved people on their sugar and cotton plantation. Delphine was also wealthy in her own right; following her mother’s death she received a sizable inheritance including a plantation on the Mississippi River, livestock, and farm equipment. Indeed, Delphine was much admired; it was said that the Queen of Spain deemed LaLaurie so beautiful that she granted a pardon to her Spanish first husband, who had married without the permission of the Crown.
Having first been married to prominent soldiers and businessmen, Delphine was twice widowed before she married Dr Louis LaLaurie, twenty five years her junior, who had travelled from France to set up a medical practice. In her first year of marriage, when she resided with her husband on their Mississippi plantation. Delphine was investigated for cruelty towards her slaves; thereafter, she sold six enslaved people to a friend, most likely to avoid further scandal.
In 1831, the Lalauries moved into their infamous house at 1140 Royal street, in the fashionable Vieux Carre district. Here the LaLaurie’s formed a part of elegant New Orleans society, holding extravagant parties for their neighbours. Yet behind this supposedly respectable façade, Delphine hid a cruel and possibly unstable streak. Some accounts report that a young, enslaved girl fell from a window in the LaLaurie New Orleans home and tragically died. A neighbour suggested that Delphine may have been at fault, chasing the unfortunate girl with a cowhide whip in her hand. However, the local authorities deemed that the child’s death was accidental and did not hold the LaLauries responsible
#madamedelphinelalaurie #history #slavery #neworleansslavery
Music: Epidemic music
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DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Assyrian Genocide: A Fate Worse Than Death
It seems impossible that we would forget genocides of entire people, but events like the Assyrian genocide show us how fickle human memory can be. Also called the Sayfo, meaning ‘the sword’, the Assyrian genocide was one of three mass campaigns of extermination waged by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Alongside the more famous Armenian genocide and that of the Greeks, hundreds of thousands of Assyrians lost their lives in racially and religiously motivated atrocities at the command of the Ottoman government between 1914 and 1918.
The struggle of the Assyrians is easily overlooked, but it contains tales of incredible brutality and of admirable resistance. Today on A Day In History, we look at how the atrocities of the Sayfo unfolded, the deplorable ways that the Ottomans deceived their victims, and the stories of the men who took up arms to defend themselves from those who would exterminate them.
Don’t forget to like this video to show your support and subscribe for more dives into overlooked historical events like this
Prelude
The Assyrians are an ethnic group united by their shared languages which derive from ancient Aramaeic. Christianity They are also thorouglhy Christian although split between several denominations, of which the largest are the Orthodox Assyrian Church of the East and Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Unlike the Armenians, the Assyrians have never been politically unified - there is no real link between the ancient Assyrian empire and the modern Assyrian people - and they were treated as a loose ethnic group with no fixed territory. Like other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, they faced sporadic violence and persecution for decades before the genocide. In 1895, Assyrians were among the victims of the waves of violence that killed thousands of Christians across the Empire and they faced regular discrimination in law and public life. Violence from Turkish authorities and Kurdish raiders continued throughout the early 20th century with land seizures, forced conversion, and mob violence becoming regular features of life.
Things changed with the rise of Turkish ethnonationalism and the First World War. The Empire’s new ruler Talaat Pasha envisioned an ethnically Turkish empire where minorities were excluded, or eliminated. The Ottomans also saw the Assyrians as a security risk, fearing that they would side with Russia once the fighting began.
#assyrian #history #armeniangenocide #sayfo
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Epidemic Music
Sources:
David Gaunt, Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I, (2006)
David Gaunt, ‘The Ottoman Treatment of the Assyrians’, in Ronald Grigor Suny et al (ed.), A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire, (2011), p244-59
David Gaunt and Naures Atto (ed.), Let Them Not Return: Sayfo - The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire, (2019)
Maryam Ishaya, ‘France recognizes Seyfo Genocide of 1915’, 27th February 2023, The Morningside Post, https://morningsidepost.com/articles/france-recognizes-assyrian-genocide
Florence Hellot-Bellier, ‘The Increasing Violence and the Resistance of Assyrians in Urmia and Hakkari (1900–1915)’, in Talay Shabo and Soner O Barthoma (eds.), Sayfo 1915: An Anthology of Essays on the Genocide of Assyrians/Arameans during the First World War, (2018)
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Unspeakable Things That Happened To Christians In Japan
Initially, the Japanese did not see Christianity as a threat, but with every ship arriving in Japan came missionaries. Because the shogunate valued trade with the Europeans and their technologies, they permitted the Catholic Church to build churches, missions, and monasteries in the country, again, mainly, but not only in the south.
Unfortunately for the Christians of Japan, not all European missionaries were concerned with just spreading the Gospel. Many were also concerned with increasing the Church’s political power and that of the Portuguese and Spanish. By 1600, Europeans controlled most of Japan’s trade with China – today, it would be a multi-billion dollar industry. The Spanish and Portuguese also worked to convert and bribe – daimyo into favorable trade deals and for political information and influence. In the historical novel and TV series “Shogun,” a British sailor tells the shogun that the Pope had divided the undiscovered world between the Spanish and Portuguese in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. The Pope is “the representative of Christ on Earth” - the discovery of this treaty by the Japanese may not have happened like this. However, Shogun is based on a true story, and we can safely say that the Japanese were not pleased with the treaty or the fact that the Europeans had kept it secret.
For hundreds of years after the crucifixion of Christ, Rome persecuted Christians. They nailed them to crosses, set them on fire by the dozen in arenas, whipped them, beat them, humiliated them and fed them to lions, leopards, bears and dogs. Thousands upon thousands were killed. Others went into hiding. But the persistence, faith, conviction and perseverance and reported miracles, Christianity eventually became the state religion of the Western Roman Empire under Emperor Theodosius I in 380.
By the early 17th century, Christianity had spread or had begun to spread to almost all corners of the world – including the then isolated and remote islands of Japan. It's estimated that there were about 300,000 Christians in Japan, mostly in the south, in 1635. In 1640, the only Christians left in Japan were hiding their faith, hiding themselves, or both.
#history #christianpersecution #japanhistory #shogun
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Merakie Media
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Epidemic music
Sources:
Alves, Jorge M. Fernão Mendes Pinto and the Peregrinação: Notes. Lisbon: Oriente, 2010
Boxer, Charles R. The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650. 2020.
Cary, Otis. A History of Christianity in Japan. London: Psychology Press, 1995.
Dougill, John. In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians: A Story Of Suppression, Secrecy And Survival. London: SPCK, 2016.
Endo, Shusaku. Silence. Picador Classics, 2015.
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Disturbing US Government Secrets Revealed By These Documents
The US government has all sorts of secrets, from the absurd to the insane, the hilarious to the horrific. Few governments are as willing to declassify their secrets, especially if it harms their image, which gives us disturbing insight into what the most powerful nation on earth has gotten up to behind everyone’s backs.
Today, we crack open the files to reveal more of America’s most disturbing government secrets. If you like this content, check out our other videos on similar topics and don’t forget to like and subscribe to support our channel.
Meddling in Chile
It’s common knowledge that the US meddled in the affairs of South America throughout the Cold War. A perfect example of this is Chile. The US was concerned about the rise of socialism and communist sympathies in Chile throughout the 1960s, focused mostly around the figure of Salvador Allende. The US spent millions bolstering Allende’s opponents in the 1964 election, which Allende narrowly lost. With the 1970 election fast approaching, President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared that Allende would finally take power.
The US’ fears were realized by Allende’s victory in September 1970. Soon after, Nixon authorized Project FUBELT in late 1970 with a budget of $10 million to foment a coup against Allende. It is the only verified record of a US President authorizing the overthrow of a democratically elected leader.
The US reached out to the only group in Chile with the power and potential to overthrow Allende: the military. They found plenty of allies, but also an obstacle: the Commander in Chief, General René Schneider. Schneider was an upstanding constitutionalist who would never support a coup, so the CIA decided to get rid of him.
#cia #history #classified #ciasecrets #governmentsecrets
Scriptwriter: Natasha Martell - Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Sources:
Edward G Lansdale, In the Midst of Wars: An American's Mission to Southeast Asia, 2nd Edition, (1991)
Herbert A. Friedman, ‘The Wandering Soul’, http://pcf45.com/sealords/cuadai/wanderingsoul.html
Jeffrey Haas, The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther, (2009)
Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison, ‘The FBI Allegedly Used at Least 12 Informants in the Michigan Kidnapping Case’, Buzzfeed News, July 13th 2021 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jessicagarrison/fbi-informants-in-michigan-kidnap-plot
Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison, ‘Watching the Watchmen’, Buzzfeed News, July 20th 2021, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/michigan-kidnapping-gretchen-whitmer-fbi-informant
Lubna Z. Qureshi, Nixon, Kissinger, and Allende: U.S. Involvement in the 1973 Coup in Chile, (2009)
Michael Martin, ‘Undercover FBI agent testifies on day 4 of Governor Whitmer kidnap plot trial’, Fox17, August 12th 2022, https://www.fox17online.com/news/governor-kidnapping-plot/undercover-fbi-agent-testifies-on-day-4-of-governor-whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
Nelson Blackstock, Cointelpro: The FBI’s Secret War on Political Freedom, (1988)
William M. Arkin, ‘When Seeing and Hearing Isn’t Believing’, Washington Post, 1st February 1999, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/dotmil/arkin020199.htm
‘CIA Activities in Chile’, Chile Documentation Project, September 2000, https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/news/20000919/01-13.htm
‘Extreme Option: Overthrow Allende’, (1970), National Security Archive, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/documents/extreme-option-overthrow-allende/01.pdf
‘Hinchey Report’, September 18th 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20061205223350/http://foia.state.gov/Reports/HincheyReport.asp#5
‘Transcript of Day 2: People of the State of Michigan vs Pete Musico, Joseph Matthew Morrison, and Paul Edward Beller’, March 4th 2021, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21011388-bellar-morrision-musico-day-2#document/p182/a2046348
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Exposing Africa's Part In The Slave Trade
Slavery has existed in Africa for as long as recorded history. Ancient Egypt had slaves toiling away in its fields and on its monuments, ancient Carthage trafficked in slaves across the Mediterranean, and the Ethiopian kings of Aksum wrote proudly of the slaves they took in war. Slaves were also exported from Africa for centuries before Europeans arrived. The Trans-Saharan slave trade lasted for over a thousand years and dragged about 10 million people across the desert to be slaves in the Islamic world. The Indian Ocean also had a similarly long-lasting ocean-going slave trade with about 5 million ending up in slave ships, bound and branded for use in foreign lands. These slaves ended up as labourers, domestic servants, soldiers, or more. Male slaves in the Islamic world were typically castrated which meant that new slaves had to be regularly imported to maintain the population.
For this video, we’ll focus on Western Africa where the Atlantic slave trade was centred. West Africa was removed from the Indian Ocean trade and mostly secure from Islamic slave raids, but slavery was still a feature of life there long before the Atlantic slave trade began. A succession of powerful empires occupied the region which all rested on complex slave systems. The Ghanaian Empire from the 3rd to the 13th century began a tradition of powerful West African imperial states and built much of its wealth through trans-Saharan trading of slaves or goods acquired through slave labour.
The Salt, copper, and gold that made the Mali Empire and Mansa Musa fabulously wealthy were all extracted with slave labour. Domestic slavery was also common and Mali was known to import female slaves from the Mediterranean to act as domestic servants in the households of the elites. Most of the slaves were acquired through conquest of neighbouring kingdoms or tribal groups who were too weak to defend themselves from the organised imperial militaries. Successor empires like the Songhai, Jolof, and Kaabu inherited the social and economic structures of slavery and continued to acquire slaves as they scrambled to establish their own territories. Elites in these empires used slaves as a status symbol and ownership of slaves came to represent someone’s wealth and power.
#history #slavetrade #transatlanticslavetrade #historyofslavery
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Merakie Media
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Epidemic music
Sources:
C. Ebert, ‘European Competition and Cooperation in Pre-Modern Globalization: Portuguese West and Central Africa, 1500-1600,’ African Economic History, 36 (2008)
M. A. Gomez, African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa, (2018)
P. A. Igbafe, ‘Slavery and Emancipation in Benin, 1897-1945’, Journal of African History, 16/3, (1975)
J. Iliffe, Africa: History of a Continent, (2019)
R. Law, The Slave Coast of West Africa, 1550-1750: The impact of the Atlantic slave trade on an African society, (Clarendon 1991)
J. C. Miller, ‘The Dynamics of History in Africa and the Atlantic ‘Age of Revolutions’, in in D. Armitage and S. Subrahmanyam (eds.), The Age of Revolutions in Global Context, c. 1760-1840, (2010)
J. K. Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800, (1999)
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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BIGGEST American War Crime Cover-Up Of The Vietnam War (Warning* Mature Audiences Only)
What happens when a group of men are let loose in the wilderness with no oversight and a simple instruction: kill anything that moves? Tiger Force is the answer. An elite recon group of the Vietnam War whose war crimes were covered up by the US government for decades.
In this video, we look at the atrocities committed by the men of Tiger Force as they descended into barbarity in the jungle of Vietnam, and how the US government tried to hide it from the world.
Origins of Tiger Force
Tiger Force was a long-range reconnaissance patrol unit of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. It was formed in November 1965 by Major David Hackworth to, quote, “out-guerrilla the guerrillas.” He put it more frankly to another reporter. “I want 40 swinging dicks,” Hackworth had said, men who were free to use their own judgment, skill, and drive to conduct unrestrained warfare in the toughest areas of Vietnam. It usually numbered about 45 men at any one time, but people would rotate out every few months. For example, 120 different men served in the Tiger Force between July and December 1967.
Usually, Tiger Force would be dropped into an operational area and given effectively free reign to achieve their goal. Military command maintained minimal oversight of their activities - so long as they racked up a body-count, the brass were happy. Many soldiers embraced the freedom and lack of bureaucracy that Tiger Force provided, but the absence of accountability or oversight would lead the men of Tiger Force down a dark path.
Arriving in Song Ve
The events that would enshrine them in the history books began to unfold in summer 1967 when the Tiger Force was sent into the Song Ve Valley.
The Song Ve Valley was an agricultural hotspot that was allegedly a hiding place for the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA). TTiger Force was instructed to clear out remaining residents of the valley to a nearby refugee camp and then sweep the area for VC soldiers and food caches. The valley was declared a ‘free-fire’ area - shoot first, ask questions later. Civilian casualties were still unacceptable in theory, but enforcing that condition was a whole other matter.
#vietnamwar #tigerforce #history
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Naman Meena
Voice-over Artist: James Fowler
Music: Motionarray.com
Sources:
Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss, Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War, (2006)
Geoffrey C. War and Ken Burns, The Vietnam War: An Intimate History, (2017)
Nick Turse, ‘The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of’, History News Network
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Exposing Pakistan's Disturbing Past: Atrocities Too Evil To Comprehend
The Dominion of Pakistan came into existence in 1947. Covering the modern area of Pakistan in the West and Bangladesh in the East, their shared Muslim faith was not enough to bridge the many linguistic, ethnic, and cultural gaps between the two sides of the country.
West Pakistan and its Urdu-speaking elites dominated the entire state, although the ethnically Bengali East were the majority of the population. The Bengali majority was discriminated against in education, the military, politics, and other aspects of life. This discrimination fell especially hard on the Hindu minority, but the Muslim majority was also characterized as a lesser cultural and racial group to the Western Pakistani. The Pakistani government also tried to suppress Bengali culture, arts, and literature as too “Hindu leaning.” On top of this, economic exploitation of the East’s resources with minimal return investment also created resentment and left the East feeling more like a colony than an equal partner.
Despite this, the Bengalis were reputed for their non-violence. Their discontent was funneled through democratic means, namely the Awami League (AL) under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also known as Sheikh Mujib. The AL pushed for more autonomy for East Pakistan, but try as they might, the Bengalis did not get the democratic resolution they’d hoped for.
#bangladeshgenocide #history #pakistanhistory
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Merakie Media
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Exposing The USA's Pardon of the Most Vile Person Alive (*DISTRESSING CONTENT)
Before WWII, or better yet, before Japan's invasion of China in 1937, Shiro Ishii and Masaji Kitano were respected medical researchers. Ishii had graduated from the prestigious Kyoto Imperial University in 1916 , and Kitano from the equally prestigious Tokyo Imperial University in 1920. Both later received their Ph.D's in the study of infectious disease and related areas. Kitano was particularly interested in the effects of disease and injury on the intestines and digestive system.
By all accounts, Shiro Ishii was brilliant, but a strange and unpleasant person to be around. During his college career, he grew different kinds of bacteria and kept them as “pets” in petri dishes in his room. These “pets” weren't some post-adolescent way of getting attention or standing out in a crowd, as high school and college student often do when trying to find themselves. No, apparently, Ishii really treated the dishes full of bacteria as friends, talking to them, and seemingly preferring their “company” over that of his fellow students when they asked him to go to social events.
He also seemed to be one of those people who viewed most other people as objects to be used or which got in his way. Many of his colleagues at school described him being “pushy” and “indifferent” to the work that they were doing themselves. It also seems as if Ishii was most comfortable being alone in a lab – he would often study and work at night when others were asleep. In the Japanese culture of then and now, anti-social behavior of this type was and still is, to a certain degree, frowned up. What's more, Ishii further alienated his colleagues by messing up the lab everyone used – and had cleaned up the prior afternoon. In the morning when they went into work, they would find the laboratory in disarray, with dirty equipment strewn all over.
#unit731 #shiroishii #history #ww2 #unit100
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Naman
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Exposing North Korea's Diabolical Atrocities
North Korea is not your typical communist state. It strangely includes racial and social prejudice in how its society is formed, and what's more, includes the unborn in its classification system, called “Songbun.”
Though there are literally dozens of classifications within North Korean, there are three basic categories: “Core,” “Wavering,” and “Hostile.”
People in the “Core” category are desencdants of those who fought against the Japanese from 1910-45, people whose family were workers, peasants or laborers when North Korea became a country, and high-ranking party members and their families, almost all of whom had ancestors from the groups just mentioned.
The “Wavering” group are the bulk of the North Korean population, who are watched not only by the secret police, but by each other, and have their files and lives investigated every two years.
The last group are those who are descended from former landowners – considered to have taken advantage of the working classes for centuries, and criminals. Those who break the law, and this includes people who try to flee the DPRK, have tainted their descendants for at least three generations – and there is virtually nothing they can do about it. One other group often categorized in the “hostile” group are those with Chinese or Japanese blood. As you can see, North Korea bears more resemblance to Hitler's Germany in the value it places on “the blood,” than anyone in North Korea would admit.
As in every system, there are likely exceptions, and it's easy to imagine that someone who performs an unusual act of bravery in the military service is going to be moved up the ladder, but there is so much we don't know about the inner workings about North Korea that it's difficult to say.
#northkorea #history #kimjongun
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Naman
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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This Genocide Was Too Evil To Comprehend (Warning* Mature Audiences Only)
From 1885-1961, Rwanda was a possession of two European countries, Germany, from 1885-1919, and Belgium, from 1919 to 1961. The same held true in neighboring Burundi, which was also populated by Hutu and Tutsi peoples. During this period, European ideas about ethnicity and racial superiority permeated much of Africa. To many Europeans, there was no doubt, white Europeans were superior to black Africans. BUT, people are people, no matter what their color, and it doesn't take much for one group of people to hate another, even if they look very similar to each other.
There is a long complicated history of tribal relations and tribal warfare in Rwanda, and the area around it. To the north, Uganda has had issues between different ethnic groups, and to the south, in Burundi, ethnic tensions got so high in 1972 and 1993 that hundreds of thousands of people were killed. In Burundi and Rwanda, the two dominant ethnic groups are the Hutu and the Tutsi. Caught between them in Rwanda are the Twa, a pygmy tribe who likely are the areas indigenous people.
The Tutsi and Hutu moved into the region hundreds of years ago, and by the 16th century, had established a variety of different kingdoms in the area. From the 16th to the 19th century there were times of ethnic violence between the two groups. Though the level and frequency of this ethnic violence decreased when Europeans took over, tensions often ran high and violence did occur.
There were many reasons for the tensions between Hutu and Tutsi. One of them was simple. Power. Hand in hand with power is economics. And finally there are the illogical reasons that people use to set themselves apart or claim “superiority” over another around the world – appearance, education (or the lack of it), or just plain differences that the two groups simply don't understand, care to understand or willfully put down.
When the Germans, and later Belgians moved in, they largely controlled the ethnic violence in the area, mostly out of concern that large-scale violence would interfere with the economy of the area, which both nations profited from. Unfortunately, a by-product of European control were European ideas about race and ethnicity
#rwanda #history #rwandagenocide
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Merakie Media
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Bibliography
"The Burundi Killings of 1972." Last modified June 27, 2008. https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/burundi-killings-1972.html.
History.com Editors. "Rwandan Genocide." HISTORY. Last modified October 14, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/africa/rwandan-genocide.
"Just a Moment..." Taylor & Francis Online: Peer-reviewed Journals. Accessed April30,2023. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/11287462.2000.10800754.
McCoy, Jason. "Making violence ordinary: radio, music and the Rwandan genocide."African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music8, no. 3 (2009), 85-96. doi:10.21504/amj.v8i3.1829.
"The Rwanda "Genocide Fax": What We Know Now." The National Security Archive. Accessed April 30, 2023. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB452/.
Yanagizawa-Drott, David. "Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide *." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 129, no. 4 (2014), 1947-1994. doi:10.1093/qje/qju020.
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The Diabolical Brutality Of King Leopold II (Warning* Mature Audiences Only)
The official title of the Belgian kings is “King of the Belgians.” In Belgium, there is a difference between the titles “King of Belgium” and the “King of the Belgians.” The first suggests that the monarch is the owner of all of the country's land. The second title implies that he simply “reigns” over the Belgians in the constitutional monarchy that's existed in the country since it separated from Holland and the “United Kingdom of the Netherlands” in 1830. The Belgian king, and its been a king, not a queen, since independence, was never an absolute monarch, though in the 19th century, the king had considerable more power and influence than King Philippe does today.
The problem for Leopold was that he really wanted to be that king – you know, the “your wish is my command, Sire” type king, and he could not be that kind of a king to the Belgians, who had gone through much debate, internal strife and some bloodshed to prevent that kind of absolute monarchy in Belgium.
Much of Western Europe was going through the “Second Age of Imperialism” in the latter part of the 19th century. Great Britain's empire spanned the globe – the largest empire the world has ever seen. The French controlled a great deal of Africa and parts of the Middle East. Italy had a small African empire. Holland had extensive colonies in the Pacific, most notably today's Indonesia. Even declining Spain and Portugal had colonies in Africa and the Far East in the late 1800s.
Some in Belgium call Leopold II “The Great Builder,” for in Belgium, he sponsored and promoted the building of new roads, public buildings and a variety of public works, many of which are still in existence. Many in the country believe that that was his purpose in attempting to gain the Congo River area for Belgium – to improve and modernize the vast forested territory. He also wanted to spread the Christian faith and to bring Western culture and technology to the area.
#kingleopoldii #history #congo #belgianhistory
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lain Herignman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Unspeakable Things That Francisco Franco Of Spain Did
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Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was born in El Ferrol, Spain, on December 4th 1892. His father’s military background and his mother’s devout Catholicism shaped the young Franco into a hardline traditionalist and after an uneventful childhood he entered a military school and progressed into the army. Despite a lackluster performance in the academy, Franco proved to be an incredible soldier in the field. He spent over a decade fighting in Morocco where he soared up the ranks, becoming Spain’s youngest Captain, Major, and then General in 1926. He was admired for his bravery and personal discipline that earned him the respect of his men and others in the military establishment. Franco settled into the command of
Zaragoza General Military Academy and spent several years quietly teaching the next generation of Spanish officers, but events were transpiring that would lead Franco down a very different path.
In April 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain was deposed by elections and a new left-wing Republican government took power. The Republican government closed Franco’s academy and reassigned him to an insignificant post to get him out of the way. Across Spain, Catholic schools and charities were closed down, Catholic orders like the Jesuits were outlawed, and priests were imprisoned and sometimes killed by spontaneous left-wing violence. Things got so bad that Pope Pius XI publicly denounced Spain for its oppression of the Church. Cuts to the military were one thing, but these attacks of Catholicism infuriated many Spaniards like Franco, but he kept his head down and obeyed his orders for the time being.
Spanish voters made their opposition clear in 1933 when they voted a right-wing coalition into power. However, the existing government blocked the right-wing parties from entering government for over a year. Soon after, Socialist and Communist militias staged insurrections to prevent a right-wing takeover of the country. The worst of these was in Asturias where labor unions rose up and killed dozens of people including priests, businessmen, and soldiers in October 1934. The government needed someone to deal with them: they needed Franco.
#franciscofranco #history #spainhistory #ww2
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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What Japan DOESN'T Want You To Know About Their Korean Invasion
In 1894-5 Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War. With that victory the Japanese had hoped that Korea, a territory that had been giving tribute to China for centuries, would fall under it's control. It didn't, because Imperial Russia had military and economic interests in Korea that it was willing to go to war to defend. So, in 1904-1905, Japan and Russia went to war, partly over the question of who would be the dominant power in Korea. To the shock of almost everyone except the Japanese, Russia was defeated, and in the Treaty of Portsmouth which ended the war and which won American president Theodore Roosevelt the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in sponsoring and hammering out the treaty, Japan was recognized as having control over Korea, though no one asked the Koreans about it.
The Japanese “control” of Korea fell a little short of outright conquest, however, and by 1910, the Japanese had managed to put themselves in an economic, political and military position that made Korea an occupied Japanese colony.
Korea from 1910-WWII
As we've said before on this channel, we've got nothing against the Japanese people or government of today, or since 1945, but it's important to know that there are parts of Japanese history that are downplayed or even completely ignored in Japanese textbooks, and that's not right. The United States government has played a role in this too, as you know from watching our other videos. After WWII, the USA, while dominating Japan, was still wary of alienating its people, for it needed Japan as an outpost against the Soviet Union and Communist China in Asia, and so the history of the Japanese occupation of Korea is little known outside of the Korean peninsula and China.
#history #comfortwomen #koreanhistory #japan
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Sources:
Blakemore, Erin. "How Japan Took Control of Korea." HISTORY. Last modified February 28, 2018. https://www.history.com/news/japan-colonization-korea.
Kang, Hildi. Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910–1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013.
"Korea in World War II." WW2DB. Accessed April19,2023. https://ww2db.com/country/korea.
"Korea Under Japanese Rule." Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April19,2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Korea/Korea-under-Japanese-rule.
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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This Sinister Air Bombing Annihilated 100,000 Civilians
By early 1945, the outcome of the Second World War was obvious to anyone. Italy had been knocked out, Germany was retreating on all fronts, and the Americans were within striking distance of the Japanese mainland.
The question the Allies faced was how to end the war as quickly, and with as few casualties, as possible. This thinking would lead to one of the most controversial Allied actions of the war: the fire-bombing of Tokyo, codenamed Operation Meetinghouse.
In this video, we’ll explore what Operation Meetinghouse was and ask whether it was the right call. If you enjoy this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe for more videos like this one.
Lead-Up
With the conquest of Guam and the Marianas in early 1945, American bombers could now reliably strike Japan itself. Allied leadership began to consider how they might undertake an invasion of Japan once Germany had been defeated in Europe. Certainly, Japan would have to be weakened first. Its industrial capacity had to be crippled and its population demoralized to pave the way for a full-scale invasion.
This was the issue faced by Major General Curtis LeMay, Commander of the 21st Bomber Command in the Pacific. LeMay addressed this problem the same way the Allies had solved the issue in Europe, with the most American solution of all: bombs.
LeMay and the US military leadership knew that a strategic bombing campaign on Japanese cities would cripple their industry and demoralize the population, much as it had done in Germany. These bombing campaigns would inevitably target civilians, but this didn’t phase LeMay or any of the US leadership. After all, the entire conflict had seen atrocity upon atrocity inflicted on non-combatants, and, ultimately, the US believed that the civilian costs were worth the potential saving of military lives.
#history #operationmeetinghouse #bombingoftokyo #ww2
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: LC
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Epidemic Music
Sources
Curits LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor, Mission with LeMay: My Story, (1965)
Edwin Hoyt, Inferno: The Firebombing of Japan, March-August 15, 1945, (2000)
Marc Selden, ‘A Forgotten Holocaust: US Bombing Strategy, the Destruction of Japanese Cities & the American Way of War from World War II to Iraq’, in Yuki Tanaka and Marilyn B. Young (eds.), Bombing Civilians: A Twentieth-Century History, (2009), pp77-96
United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (Pacific War), 1st July 1946, https://www.anesi.com/ussbs01.htm
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The Unspeakable Things That Happened In Lebensborn: The Nazi Breeding Farm?
The Lebensborn began in 1935, the same year that the Nazis passed their anti-Semitic “Nuremberg Laws.” By 1935, Hitler and Himmler felt strong enough in their position in Germany to begin what would eventually end in the murder of six million Jews and five million other people in the Holocaust. Historians still debate whether or not Hitler and Himmler actually began this process with the idea of killing millions of people, but we do know that at the very least, they wanted to remove all “un-German” people from the lands that Germany controlled or would control throughout the war. If you are a racial eugenicist, someone who believes that unwanted traits can be scientifically or criminally removed or bred out of a population, it's only logical that you would encourage the reproduction of the people you wanted.
What did Lebensborn do?
Officially, Lebensborn focused on three things: providing a healthy and safe environment for healthy “Aryan” mothers, placing children with childless German couples if the mother could not care for them, and canvassing the countries Germany conquered during the war.
The unofficial part is where most people stop learning. Since the end of the war, the Lebensborn has been called the “Nazi Breeding Program,
#lebensborn #history #nazi #nazibreedingfarm
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The US Government Hid This About The Vietnam War (Warning* Mature Audiences Only)
From 1965 to 1973, the United States waged a grueling war against the Communist forces of North Vietnam. The conflict was a brutal guerrilla war where young American soldiers were sent far from home to fight an enemy that fought unlike anything the US military had seen before.
The Vietnam War remains controversial to this day. Some argue it was a justified defense of South Vietnam against Northern Communist aggression, while others argue it was an unjustified war of US imperialism driven by Cold War anti-communist hysteria. What all can agree upon is that the war resulted in the deaths of millions of people, a large portion of them civilians killed by the United States.
By 1968, the Vietnam War was going badly for the Americans. The Tet Offensive launched by the North in January 1968 had strained America’s military might and shattered US morale at home and abroad. Desperate to reclaim the initiative, the US launched a series of counter-offensives to push back the Communist enemy.
One target of this counter-offensive was Quang Ngai province, specifically the village of Son My. Son My was made up of several smaller hamlets including My Lai. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll stick to the more famous name for the whole village. My Lai, nicknamed Pinkville by the Americans because of its Communist sympathies, was believed to be a hotspot for Viet Cong (VC). US Intelligence claimed that the VC was active in the area and the village was essentially a Communist outpost.
In March 1968, Task Force Barker was assembled to deal with My Lai. The Task Force was made up of soldiers drawn from two companies: Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment and Company B, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division. For simplicity’s sake, we will call them B Company and C Company. There was also an A Company but their role in events was relatively minimal.
#vietnamwar #mylai #history
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason
Voice-over Artist: Stephan
Music: Motionarray.com & Epidemic Music
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Unspeakable Things That Happened In The Armenian Incident
The 20th century had no shortage of terrible events that cast a shadow over people today. The deaths of over a million Armenians is one such tragedy. Few tragedies have faced such bitter political discussion after the fact as the Armenian Incident. , others deny it ever happened, insist it was an accident, or that it was a justified response to a political threat.
In this video, we look at the unspeakable things that happened in the Armenian Incident and how its complicated legacy is still hotly debated today. If you appreciate these videos, leave a like to show your support and subscribe to A Day In History for more content like this.
Setting the Stage
Nestled in the Caucasus Mountains on the border between Europe and Asia, Armenia’s long history has seen it caught between countless empires. By the late 19th century, Western Armenia was firmly under the control of the Ottoman Empire while a smaller Eastern portion was controlled by the Russians. The Armenians of the Ottoman Empire faced many obstacles. As a Christian minority in a Muslim-majority Empire, they were subject to legal discrimination and higher taxes. Over time, racial ideologies that privileged ethnic Turks opened new opportunities for anti-Armenian discrimination.
Another significant obstacle was their role as a middleman minority. A middleman minority is an ethnic group that is overrepresented in occupations like bankers, merchants, and bureaucrats relative to their small overall population. Other middleman minorities around the world included the Chinese in Southeast Asia, the Gujaratis in India, and most famously the Jews in Europe and the United States. Although only a small percentage of Armenians worked in these lucrative jobs, all Armenians were subject to discrimination that described them as parasites, thieves, and leeches who were stealing the wealth of the rest of the population.
This caused outbreaks of violence and persecution throughout the late 19th century. The Ottoman government regularly seized Armenian land to redistribute to Muslim and Kurdish settlers and the Kurdish Hamidian regiments were given free reign to raid Armenian villages as part of their resettlement. Despite attempts to muster international support, the Armenians were left to defend themselves and formed a number of impromptu militia groups to defend their towns, but the Ottoman authorities interpreted this as a sign of rebellion and cracked down hard in the 1890s.
#armenian #history #worldwar1 #ottoman #armenianhistory
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Naman
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Sources:
https://shrib.com/#Samson2lDbvEp
Music: Motionarray.com & Epidemic Music
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
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The Dark Side of Ancient Egypt's Pharaohs and Their Mummies
In ancient Egypt, going back as far at least of the famous King Tutankhamen, who reigned from 1332BCE to 1323BCE, and was part of the long-lasting 18th Dynasty (c.1550BCE-1292BCE) in the New Kingdom of Egypt Period (1550BCE-1069BCE). We'll tell you more about Tutankhamen, or “King Tut” in a bit, but in addition to having one of the most glorious and preserved tombs of the ancient world, Tut and his relatives had their DNA tested. No, the Egyptians didn't possess some kind of advanced alien technology 3,000 years ago – like some people do believe – their DNA was removed in 2010 by a team of German and Egyptian researchers.
It turned out that Tut was the incestuous product of his father, the famous religious reforming pharaoh Akhnaten, and his sister. Akhnaten, also known as “Amenhotep”, was also married to the famous Queen Nefertiti, who may have ruled Egypt for a time after her husband's death and before Tut came of age. Also, Nefertiti was the mother of Tut's wife, Ankhesenamun – which would make her Tut's half-sister.
Birth defects are quite possible in a child born of an union between brother and sister – but perhaps not as high as they would be if the “practice” was carried on for many years, which it was in ancient Egypt. That's not to say that all royal Egyptians married their relatives or had children by them, but enough did to make it a “thing,” and Tutankhamen's body was evidence of that. The famous pharaoh had a clubfoot, a common disability among those whose parents are related, and bone necrosis, which restricts or blocks blood to various areas of the skeleton, especially the legs, and feet. The necrosis may have been due to injury, not incest, but we'll tell you more about that in a moment! We know that Tut had a pretty face, at least judging from the sculpture on his sarcophagus or coffin, but from the neck down – not so pretty!
Nefertiti, more formally known as Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti is famous for being the wife of Akhnaten, who attempted to create a new branch of the Egyptian religion when he promoted the idea of a single god, Aten, the god of heat or sometimes called the god of the sun. Unfortunately, Akhnaten was not remembered favorably in ancient Egypt because he promoted the idea that HE was the personification of Aten on Earth. Nefertiti was his wife and Tut's stepmother. We've already mentioned that she may have ruled the empire while Tut was still a young boy, but she is also so famous because of her most well-known statue. Nefertiti's beauty is apparent, even 3,000 years later, unlike many ancient statues still with their faces. The other Egyptian queen that everyone knows is Cleopatra (69BCE-30AD), or, as she's formally known, "Cleopatra VII Philopator "- "Cleopatra the Father-beloved," which likely has normal and no incestuous nuance to it. Or maybe not – she was wed to her much younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, and was also the product of an incestuous union between her father and his sister. In the popular series "Rome," Cleopatra schemes with her lover, Julius Caesar, to have her "brother-husband" eliminated, with her put on the throne. That never happened, but she did rule the country in all but name, for her brother was too young, and Cleopatra was well connected to the now dominant Romans, especially Caesar and then his top general, Mark Antony. Incidentally, Cleopatra was part of the Ptolemy Dynasty, who descended from one of Alexander the Great's generals – she was Greek, but unlike her ancestors, she not only spoke Greek, but Egyptian as well.
#ancientegypt #kingtut #cleopatra #egypt #pharaoh
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason
Voice-over Artist: Stephan Vox
Music: Epidemic Music
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Diabolical Things Pope Sixtus IV Did During His Reign
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Upon becoming Pope, Sixtus abused his new position to shower gifts on his family. Within a year, Sixtus’
sisters had elaborate houses in Rome and every luxury they desired. His nephews Pietro and Guiliano
were immediately made cardinals despite being completely unqualified for the position. Pietro was made
a bishop and then the Archbishop of Florence in 1473. Pietro was close to his uncle and effectively ran
Sixtus’ foreign policy until his sudden death later in 1473. Meanwhile, Giovanni was made the Lord of
Papal Lands in Senigallia and Mondavio and given a favorable marriage to a daughter of the powerful
Montefeltro family.
But perhaps the most richly rewarded nephew was Girolamo Riario who was made Captain-General of
the Church, effectively in full control of the papacy’s military resources, and was made the Lord of Imola
- a recently acquired city that would cause a cascade of problems in time.
He was also married off to the
daughter of the Duke of Milan and in 1480 was made the Lord of the city of Forli as well.
Thanks to Sixtus’ nepotism, no fewer than 6 of his nephews were made cardinals. Sixtus also poured
honors onto other friends and allies, such as his friend Francesco Salviati who was made the Archbishop
of Pisa. In fact, of the 34 cardinals created during his papacy, almost none of them were properly
qualified.
This corruption did not go unnoticed. Stefano Infessura, a prominent critic who lived in Rome during
Sixtus’ reign, wrote a scathing description of the man. He was, quote, “an impious and unjust king, who
had no fear of God, no love of governing the Christian people, with no affection for charity or love, only
caring for dishonest pleasure, greed, and vanity.” Infessura had his own theories for why Sixtus appointed
so many cardinals. According to rumors, Sixtus was a closested homosexual who gave out cardinal
positions to his illicit lovers.
There’s no solid evidence, but most historians agree that this was a
widespread belief among his critics at the time.
A Flawed Papacy
Outside of his nepotism and private life, Sixtus showed an eagerness for power. For example, he had a
serious disagreement with the King of France over the King’s insistence that all papal decrees needed his
royal assent before being obeyed in France. Sixtus thirsted for the glory of the old papacy whose power
was unchallenged and extensive. The glory days of the crusades were long gone, but that didn’t stop
Sixtus calling for them multiple times. His efforts produced unremarkable results. He also wanted to be
the Pope to reunite Catholicism with the Orthodox East, another papal pipe dream that was never going to
work, and once again his lofty ambitions came to nothing and he achieved no meaningful progress
towards that goal. It seemed that Sixtus pursued his own ego and dreams of a glorious papacy before
anything else, and every time met with disappointment.
To his credit, Sixtus proved a far better ruler of Rome than of the Catholic Church. Sixtus’ road
pavements and bridge work significantly improved the city’s infrastructure and he had dozens of churches
restored throughout the city. Sixtus was also a true patron of the Renaissance, acting as a patron to a
number of scientists and artists including Botticelli. He extended this support for knowledge abroad, such
as in Sweden where he approved the creation of the country’s first university in Uppsala.
#popesixtusiv #history #vatican #pope #evilpope
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Diabolical Things Benito Mussolini Did During His Reign
Mussolini was born on the 29th July 1893. His father was an avowed socialist while his mother was a devout Catholic. This conflicting balance of economic socialism but social traditionalism might be key to explaining the radical path the young boy would take later in his life.
Mussolini was a difficult child with rebellious and violent tendencies. He was expelled from multiple schools for engaging in fights with other pupils and even staff. At one school, he was expelled for stabbing another boy with a penknife during an argument.
At home, Mussolini was radicalized into his father’s socialist politics. While helping his father in his workshop, the young Mussolini’s head was filled with criticisms of the government and the dreams of a socialist future. As he got older, Mussolini began attending socialist meetings and building a network of friends among the socialist movement. These early political engagements planted the seeds of political ambition that would one day bear terrible fruit.
In 1902, the 19 year old Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland. Mussolini immersed himself in radical political ideas of direct action and violent opposition to the powers that be. He began advocating for these tactics which resulted in him being arrested and deported to Italy in 1903 and again in 1904, before returning to Italy permanently. After serving his 18 months of compulsory military service from 1905 to 1906, Mussolini began editing and writing for a variety of socialist publications. His rise to stardom came with the Italian Invasion of Libya in 1911. Despite his own military service, Mussolini was a fierce critic of the war and even participated in anti-war riots. His public opposition to the war caught the eye of authorities who arrested him and sentenced him to jail for 5 months. Already popular on the socialist left, Mussolini’s anti-war advocacy and arrest catapulted him to new heights and he became one of Italy’s foremost socialist figures. In 1912, he was appointed the editor for Italy’s leading socialist newspaper, Avanti!. The paper went from 20,000 daily readers to 100,000 under Mussolini’s oversight. Mussolini’s power to appeal to the people was clear.
Now a rising political star with an audience at his fingertips, Mussolini’s path in life was soon to take a radical turn.
Mussolini Turns to the Right
In 1914, the First World War erupted in Europe. Italy was initially neutral and Mussolini, like most socialists, supported this neutrality. However, Mussolini’s opinion soon changed and he came to see the war as an opportunity to inspire revolution across Europe as the old regimes were consumed by devastating conflict. By the end of 1914, Mussolini was passionately pro-war. His new pro-war opinions alienated his socialist allies and in October 1914 he was suspended from his position as editor for Avanti!.
However, Mussolini would not be silenced. He quickly founded a new paper, Il Popolo d’Italia, which would run until the fall of his regime in 1945. In Il Popolo, Mussolini advocated for Italian entry into the war, a position that earned him secret backing from the British and French governments. But Mussolini’s intentions were far from pure: he wanted war as a prelude to revolution and came to see war as a crucial step in forming a strong Italian national identity. As he famously claimed in a speech in December 1914: “Blood alone moves the wheels of history.” Furious at the Italian government, he urged “the shooting, I say shooting in the back of some dozen deputies.” Mussolini argued that the Germans were engaged in a “war of extermination” and, in return, “we must reply with a war of extermination of our own.”
#benitomussolini #history #ww2 #nazi #italy
Scriptwriter:Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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Bizarre WW2 Shipwrecks WORSE Than The Titanic
The Gustloff
The ship’s namesake was a German-born Swiss and a nasty piece of work who led a small Nazi Party in Switzerland. He and others agitated pressed, threatened, spoke, and politicked for Hitler in the small mountain country, hoping to take over Switzerland from within. In 1936, Gustloff was shot and killed by David Frankfurter, a young Jewish man from Yugoslavia who had begun his college education in Germany in 1931. Frankfurter witnessed the rise of the Nazis to power and saw the hateful changes that had come over Germany in a short time. In 1934, Frankfurter moved to Switzerland to continue his education. In Switzerland, he worked to ensure that the Swiss, especially the Jews of Switzerland, knew what life under the Nazis was like. In 1936, seeing Nazis in the streets in small but growing numbers, Frankfurter went to Gustloff’s house and killed him with a gun he had bought shortly before. Frankfurter was given a life sentence and spent the war in a Swiss prison, but was pardoned just before the end of the war and lived until 1982.
At his funeral in Germany, Hitler promised Gustloff’s widow that her husband would be remembered with a notable honor. A year later, a new cruise ship, which was supposed to be named after the Fuhrer, was named after Gustloff. From 1937 to 1939 and the outbreak of WWII, the Gustloff was the flagship of the “Kraft durch Freude” or “Strength through Joy” ships, one of the few nice things the Nazis did. The “KdF” or “kah-day-eff” was an organization designed to bring Germans together in recreational activities and low-cost vacations for those who could not afford it. However, high-ranking Nazis and their friends who could afford it went on the cheap, too. The KdF ships took primarily working Germans to the tropical Azores, Canaries, and Madeira islands, among other places in warmer European climes, and were quite popular. Tens of thousands people had taken pleasure cruises aboard the Gustloff when WWII began.
For over a year, the Gustloff served as a hospital ship, but fears of the more numerous Allied surface fleet and Allied submarines caused her to be docked in the port of Gydnia, Poland (known to the Nazis as “Gotenhafen”). There the ship acted as a barracks for submarine crews undergoing training.
By January 30th, 1945, Germany was in full-retreat and Soviet troops had already entered the easternmost German state, East Prussia, passing south of Gdynia. Along the Polish and northeastern German coast, the Nazis held the Soviets back, but were in danger of being cut-off against the Baltic Sea if they didn't retreat quickly.
#wwii #history #gustloff #titanic #wwiisinkings #historydocumentary
Scriptwriter:Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lian Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Most Disturbing Beliefs About Radiation And Nuclear Weapons In History
What about nuclear radiation, one
of the most dangerous things known to man? Well, some knew. They truly did. Many chose to
downplay the threat, while others knew and tried to raise the alarm the best way they could. Of course,
although sophisticated beyond belief, mankind's knowledge of radiation was primitive compared to
today's understanding of it.
The first “nuclear football”
For those of you outside the USA, a “bowl” game usually refers to an American championship football
game of some kind or another.
At the time professional football was not very popular compared to
college football, and the professional football “Super Bowl” didn't exist until 1967. College football
dominated, and many of the Marines in Nagasaki were fresh out of school, whether it was high school
or college. Football then was not football now in terms of popularity, but it was still very popular, and a
lot of those Marines, both officers, and men, had played football in school. Football and Marines just
go together, too, you know?
That's why, after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945,
American occupational troops stationed in Japan on New Years' Day 1946 held "The First Annual Atom
Bowl" football game. On a field covered in radioactive dust and glass shards and surrounded by piles
of irradiated rubble.
The men and women who developed and built the first atomic bombs knew that exposure to high
radiation levels could kill.
Most believed that the force of the blast and the fire of an atomic explosion
would kill most of the people on whom the bomb was dropped, but knew that a considerable number
would die by receiving a fatal blast of radiation in the explosions' first milliseconds.
They also knew that many who survived the blast and the initial burst of radiation would likely die,
depending on the dose absorbed and other factors. However, they didn't fully comprehend the longterm
effects of exposure to lower levels of nuclear radiation could, and often did, do to a person over
the years.
A person who may have lived another 10, 20, 30, or more years had they known what rolling
around the radiation-covered ground in Nagasaki might do to them.
The Second Marines were stationed in and around Nagasaki during the early part of the American
occupation of Japan. The 2nd included many college and professional football players in its ranks, and
its commander Major General Leroy Hunt knew it and wanted a football game to be played to raise
morale on the holiday. So naturally, the Marines of the 2nd were more than happy to oblige. It would
be a chance to blow off some steam and build morale, whether you were playing (and yes, the
spectators stood on a lot of radiation too).
Stop and think about this for a moment, and forget the stuff about radiation.
Can you imagine American
troops doing that today? Playing a football game where tens of thousands of people had just died? It
would never happen. BUT 2023 is not 1945/46. From the start, the war in the Pacific rivaled, at least in
savagery if not scale, the ethnic violence between the Germans and Russians on the Eastern Front. Many of
the Marines in the Second were combat veterans, so the thought that they "shouldn't" have
a game there didn't enter into it.
#radiation #nuclearweapons #history #nuclearwar #coldwar #armsrace
Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: LC
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Stomach-Churning Punishments Of The Assyrian Empire
Check out Serpent Forge here: https://serpentforge.com/
Of all the warlike peoples of history, few have earned such a brutal reputation as the Assyrians. Hailing from part of Mesopotamia, roughly in modern-day Iraq, the Assyrians forged a series of empires that were some of the great powers of the ancient world. The greatest of these empires was the Neo-Assyrian Empire which existed from the late 10th to late 7th centuries BC. In its day, it was the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Egypt to Syria, from the Levant back into Mesopotamia.
Today, we explore the brutal punishments inflicted on enemies, rebels, and criminals in order to build and sustain this mighty empire, and learn why the Assyrians have their fearsome reputation.
Conquest
Like many other ancient powers, the Bronze Age collapse of the 12th and 11th centuries led to a decline in the power of the long-standing Assyrian state. It was not until the reign of King Adad Nirari (~912-891 BC) that Assyria bounced back in what modern historians call the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Mirari reconquered many of the lands once lost, including Babylon, but it was his successors, especially Ashurnasirpal II (884-859 BC) who turned Assyria into a superpower. Ashurnasirpal extended Assyrian power into the Levant and Canaan. Other great kings like Tiglath-pilesar III and Esarhaddon would conquer Syria and even Egypt for a time.
These conquests required significant military resources. The armies of Assyria were called the “Hosts of the God Assur”, named after Assyria’s patron deity, who also gave his name to the traditional Assyrian capital of Assur. These armies were comprised of foot soldiers, archers, charioteers, and advanced siege equipment that made Assyria the deadliest military force the world had yet seen. The Assyrian army crushed countless foes on the battlefield or slaughtered them in the streets of the cities they conquered.
Inevitably these conquests involved massacres, looting, rape, executions, and slavery, as with all ancient empires. But why are the Assyrians seen as uniquely brutal compared to other empires? Monuments and inscriptions from the time show the Assyrians inflicting and celebrating unusually horrific punishments that have earned them a sinister reputation.
#assyrian #history #assyrianempire #punishments
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Kanishka
Voice-over Artist: Stephen Vox
Music: Motionarray.com & epidemic music
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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The Scandalous Life Of Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Rome in 100 BC into the prestigious Gens Julia family. His childhood was spent in the shadow of Italy’s Social War and then a civil conflict between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Caesar’s uncle, Gaius Marius, while the Senate floundered and struggled to respond to the crises facing the Republic. Sulla emerged victorious, forcing a young Caesar to ship out to the military early to avoid facing punishment for his uncle’s actions.
Young Caesar served with distinction in the legions in Greece and Asia. He earned special honors for his bravery at the Siege of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos in 81 BC. Caesar also rubbed shoulders with foreign rulers, most notably King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia with whom he allegedly had a close relationship. Already, Caesar was proving to be charismatic and capable.
He also proved to be uncompromising and fearless. While sailing off the coast of Asia Minor, Caesar was captured by pirates. According to Plutarch, Caesar was outraged that the pirates were ransoming him for twenty talents - he insisted he was worth fifty. Caesar spent several weeks with the pirates, where he joined games with his captors and entertained them with speeches and poetry. They got on so well that Caesar would joke with them and promised that he would crucify them when he was freed. Eventually, the ransom was paid and Caesar was not one to break his promises. He immediately gathered his forces and set out in pursuit of the pirates, captured them, and, true to his word, had them crucified.
Caesar only returned to Rome after Sulla’s death in 78 BC where he became renowned as a legal advocate. He had a respectable political career in a succession of offices, but his ambition was not satisfied. When he was 32, Suetonius tells us that Caesar fell to his knees before a statue of Alexander the Great and lamented that he had achieved only a fraction of what Alexander had done by that age.
However, it wouldn’t be long before Caesar’s life became more exciting. In 63 BC, the senator Lucius Sergius Catilina attempted to assassinate the consuls and seize control of the Republic. The plot failed and the conspirators were caught. Many people wanted them to be executed without a trial. Chief among these voices were Cato the Younger and Marcus Tullius Cicero. It was Caesar who tried to convince the Senate that the men deserved a trial. Although his speech was powerful, Cato and Cicero’s arguments prevailed and the men were executed. Caesar himself was even accused of being aligned with them. Caesar’s argument might have failed, and he made lifelong enemies of Cato and Cicero, but his reputation for powerful oratory and political boldness was clear and he was fast becoming one of the most well-known faces in Rome.
#juliuscaesar #history #romanhistory #romanempire
Scriptwriter: Nathan Hewitt
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Aditya
Voice-over Artist: Lain Heringman
Music: Motionarray.com & Epidemic Music
Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com
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