HAMILTON FISH ARMSTRONG

Russia, under the Czars, controlled Moldova and part of Romania. In those area the upper and middle class was educated in Russian schools and most became assimilated. However, the Czars saw education of the their feudal peasants as anathema (not unlike the American Slaveowners were opposed to educating slaves). As a result, the Romanian peasants never became Russified.

This is an example of the 3 leading democratic powers refusing to recognize the will of the people in other nations in determining their leadership choice. King Constantine I was a demagogue who maintained popularity with the Greeks by constant roiling and urging conflict with Muslim Turkey—the traditional enemy of the Christian Greeks. It was particularly hypocritical in many eyes since President Woodrow Wilson had established the principle of self-determination. However, Constantine I was a disaster for the Greek people. This is one of the earliest situations where American foreign policy support was in conflict between good sense and self-determination. The dilemma has faced America frequently since then and was especially acute in the 2012 “Arab Spring” Egyptian election of the Muslim brotherhood which turned out to be a disaster for Egypt but at an earlier time had won a national election.

During the 1920s there was a dispute between Romania and Russia regarding land area claimed by both. Few modern people know that Communist Russia, less than a decade after the Russian Revolution, had proposed the creation of a Jewish State. The State would be part of the Soviet Union and under Communist control. While there were some communist Russian Jews who were enthusiastic supporters of such a Jewish State, the Jews of the area were more concerned by the kind of autonomy the Jewish state would have. Western Jews were split. Most were Zionists and wanted an independent Jewish nation, not a Jewish subdivision of the Soviet Union. Pro Communist Jews tended to like the idea but many of them preferred a communist nation in Palestine. Anti-Communist Jews did not want Russia to dominate any more land and saw a Jewish state under communist domination as contrary to the highly traditional Jewish individualistic and independent culture. Soon Lord Balfour was to make his famous declaration about Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and most Jews and many others lost all interest in the earlier Russian idea.

This is an excellent description of the practice of the Serbians of remembering a great defeat as a holiday whereas almost every other culture celebrates victories or positive happenings in their history. The Serbian hatred of the Muslims is stoked every year and this celebration was partially responsible for the atrocities and war crimes committed against the Bosnian Muslims in the Balkans War. Note that there was a different spelling of Yugoslavia in the 1920s. The pronunciation was the same.

Whenever different ethnicities perceive that they are in a “zero sum game” situation where one group cannot benefit without detriment to others, the situation is always unstable and usually explodes as when Yugoslavia broke apart at the end of the 20th century after being held together by a strong leader, Tito. Note that there was a different spelling of Yugoslavia in the 1920s. The pronunciation was the same.

This is an example of the 3 leading democratic powers refusing to recognize the will of the people in other nations in determining their leadership choice. King Constantine I was a demagogue who maintained popularity with the Greeks by constant roiling and urging conflict with Muslim Turkey—the traditional enemy of the Christian Greeks. It was particularly hypocritical in many eyes since President Woodrow Wilson had established the principle of self-determination. However, Constantine I was a disaster for the Greek people. This is one of the earliest situations where American foreign policy support was in conflict between good sense and self-determination. The dilemma has faced America frequently since then and was especially acute in the 2012 “Arab Spring” Egyptian election of the Muslim brotherhood which turned out to be a disaster for Egypt but at an earlier time had won a national election.

Russia, under the Czars, controlled Moldova and part of Romania. In those area the upper and middle class was educated in Russian schools and most became assimilated. However, the Czars saw education of the their feudal peasants as anathema (not unlike the American Slaveowners were opposed to educating slaves). As a result, the Romanian peasants never became Russified.

During the 1920s there was a dispute between Romania and Russia regarding land area claimed by both. Few modern people know that Communist Russia, less than a decade after the Russian Revolution, had proposed the creation of a Jewish State. The State would be part of the Soviet Union and under Communist control. While there were some communist Russian Jews who were enthusiastic supporters of such a Jewish State, the Jews of the area were more concerned by the kind of autonomy the Jewish state would have. Western Jews were split. Most were Zionists and wanted an independent Jewish nation, not a Jewish subdivision of the Soviet Union. Pro Communist Jews tended to like the idea but many of them preferred a communist nation in Palestine. Anti-Communist Jews did not want Russia to dominate any more land and saw a Jewish state under communist domination as contrary to the highly traditional Jewish individualistic and independent culture. Soon Lord Balfour was to make his famous declaration about Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and most Jews and many others lost all interest in the earlier Russian idea.

This is an excellent description of the practice of the Serbians of remembering a great defeat as a holiday whereas almost every other culture celebrates victories or positive happenings in their history. The Serbian hatred of the Muslims is stoked every year and this celebration was partially responsible for the atrocities and war crimes committed against the Bosnian Muslims in the Balkans War. Note that there was a different spelling of Yugoslavia in the 1920s. The pronunciation was the same.

Whenever different ethnicities perceive that they are in a “zero sum game” situation where one group cannot benefit without detriment to others, the situation is always unstable and usually explodes as when Yugoslavia broke apart at the end of the 20th century after being held together by a strong leader, Tito. Note that there was a different spelling of Yugoslavia in the 1920s. The pronunciation was the same.