Month: October 2022

The King who jeopardized the Monarchy

On By Marc NadeauIn Abdication, Andrew Lownie, Antisemitism, Charles III, Edward VIII, Elizabeth II, George V, George VI, History, Monarchy, Nazis, Pegasus Books, Prince Harry, Wallis Simpson, World War IILeave a comment

The cover of Prince Harry’s memoir was released last week, in mounting anticipation of the day it hits the shelves next January. Since their wedding in May 2018, Harry and Meghan have proven to be distracting – to say the least – for the Royal Family. Their staunch desire to center everything around their desires, feelings and intentions goes against the grain of an institution based on selflessness and duty.

Even though the revelations contained in his book will probably rock and ruffle Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry’s fifth position in the line of succession to the throne render his tribulations much less catastrophic than those posed by his late grandmother’s uncle, King Edward VIII. On December 10, 1936, this Monarch deposed the scepter and the orb for the sake of marrying the Queen of his heart, the American-born divorcee Wallis Simpson.

His brother, George VI, was left to pick up the pieces. He was neither supposed nor prepared to accede the throne. The reputation of the institution was severely tarnished, but the history of the world can be grateful that George Windsor was tasked with this mission because his brother David (Edward VIII)’s presence on the throne would have proved catastrophic in the period leading to and during World War II.

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« Il y a chez cet homme du Churchill et du Clemenceau »

On By Marc NadeauIn Affaires militaires, Éditions Perrin, Chefs d'État en guerre, François Mitterrand, Général Henri Bentégeat, Georges Clemenceau, Guerre, Histoire, Jacques Chirac, Russie, Ukraine, Volodymyr ZelenskyLeave a comment
Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky parcourant les tranchées qui contribuent à défigurer son pays depuis le début de la guerre lancée par la Russie. (source: Kyiv Post)

Le général d’armée Henri Bentégeat est un militaire français qui a servi en tant que chef de l’état-major particulier du président de la République entre 1999 et 2002 et chef d’état-major des armées de 2002 à 2006. Il est l’auteur de deux excellents livres, Chefs d’État en guerre et Les ors de la République, tous deux publiés chez Perrin.

Je suis privilégié de le compter parmi mes interlocuteurs appréciés. Le général Bentégeat tient à conserver un devoir de réserve, pour ne pas porter ombrage à son successeur, le général Thierry Burckhart. Ce qui est très louable. Il a néanmoins accepté de partager quelques observations à propos du leadership de guerre du président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky.

« Qu’attend-on d’un chef d’État confronté à la guerre », de se questionner réthoriquement l’ancien proche collaborateur des présidents Mitterrand et Chirac? « D’abord, une vision claire des enjeux, ensuite une capacité à se fixer des buts de guerre ambitieux et réalistes, enfin la capacité à mobiliser l’ensemble des ressources du pays pour conduire la guerre; accessoirement, le choix de chefs militaires compétents et loyaux. Selon ces critères, le président ukrainien est parfaitement à la hauteur de ses lourdes responsabilités. »

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Russian Game of Thrones

On By Marc NadeauIn Catherine the Great, Game of Thrones, Georgy Zhukov, History, Holodomor, Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Military, Pegasus Books, Peter the Great, Russia, Simon & Schuster, Ukraine, Vladimir PutinLeave a comment

Back in March 2014, while I was sojourning in Moscow for the second time, I visited the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, the Borodino Battle Museum, and the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812. I also took the time to drive to Zhukovo to visit the Museum dedicated to the famous Marshal – Georgy Zhukov – who vanquished the Nazis on the Eastern Front. Any serious student of history couldn’t help but note how attached the Russians are to their military heritage. It was an amazing trip for a military enthusiast like me!

To a degree that might seem astonishing to a Western mind, war occupies a fundamental place in the history of Russia. And it is imperative to fully grasp that reality, if one wants to ascertain what has been happening since February 24 in Ukraine. In that perspective, I was extremely happy to dig into Russia: Myths and Realities (Pegasus Books) by Sir Rodric Braithwaite.

I could detail all the qualities and insights of this book, but its main merit is to brush the portrait of a nation and people forged in war. “More than a thousand years ago a people arose on the territory of today’s Russia whose origins are disputed”, writes the author. “But Kievan Rus was invaded and destroyed in the thirteenth century by the Mongols.” The tone was set and even after the “Mongol yoke” was removed from Russia’s neck, the pugilistic character was well ingrained into the nation’s DNA.

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The khaki presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky

On By Marc NadeauIn Battle for Kyiv, Leadership, Polity Books, Russia, Serhii Rudenko, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Warfare, Winston ChurchillLeave a comment
Serhii Rudenko (courtesy of himself)

After the publication of my review of his insightful biography of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, author and political analyst Serhii Rudenko generously accepted my invitation to respond to a few questions for this blog.

In the aftermath of the war launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24th, the offices of the television station where he worked became a bomb shelter. He has moved to another region, which suffered the recent Russian onslaught. The coming winter will undoubtedly be extremely difficult for Ukrainians, but Mr. Rudenko’s resilience and determination to pursue his work is immensely commendable.

I consider myself privileged to be in touch with him and to present you with the content of our discussion.

________

Mr. Rudenko, in your book, you depict an administration with a lack of political experience and a very high turnover level. Has the situation stabilized since the beginning of the war?

Yes, it has stabilized. In the conditions of war, Zelensky had to choose the most optimal and effective people. Now we see around the President of Ukraine a team that governs the state in the conditions of war. Hardly anyone in the world has such experience in governing the state. It is not easy.

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How Putin Saved Zelensky

On By Marc NadeauIn History, Leadership, Mikhail Gorbachev, Polity Books, Russia, Serhii Rudenko, Servant of the People, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Warfare, Winston ChurchillLeave a comment

The world “would hardly have heard about [Volodymyr] Zelensky if he had become an engineer, gone into the military, or became a doctor”, writes political commentator Serhii Rudenko in a recent biography of the Ukrainian President (Polity Books). Thanks to the political reality crafted by Servant of the People in which he played the role of a history teacher elected against the odds to lead the country, fiction turned into reality in 2019. And thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to start a war on Ukraine before sunrise on February 24th, the actor turned President has become an icon of resilience in defense of freedom and democracy.

Serhii Rudenko paints the portrait of a leader who was not on sure footing before the war intervened.

After his election, Zelensky broke his promise to distance himself from the nepotism espoused by his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. “[…] A year after his election, the Poroshenko family was replaced by the Zelensky family – or, more precisely, by the Kvartal 95 Studio.” In other words, those who accompanied him in his showbusiness career, including in his role as President Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko on television.

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The Gurkha Diaries

On By Marc NadeauIn British Army, British Empire, Casemate Publishers, General Sir Peter Duffell, Gurkhas, History, India, Israel, Malaya, Mao Zedong, Military, Monarchy, Pakistan, Pen & Sword, Robert AtkinsLeave a comment

Any history buff strolling in Old Jerusalem can observe some vestiges of the British Empire. There’s the Mahane Yehuda police station on Jaffa Road, which served during the Mandate. Less than two hours from the capital city of Israel, on the Mediterranean Coast, one can visit the Acre prison where Jewish nationalists were imprisoned, including those who were condemned to death. At least, it was possible to do so when I visited back in 2008.

The rebirth of Israel in 1947-1948 was a direct consequence of the disappearance of the British Empire in the aftermath of World War II. The same year also witnessed the partition between India and Pakistan, a development that would give rise to population displacements and massacres. Robert Atkins, author of The Gurkha Diaries of Robert Atkins MC: India and Malaya 1944 – 1958 (Pen & Sword) and his fellow Gurkhas [the sturdy and legendary Nepalese soldiers who serve the Crown since the middle of the 19th century] were deployed on that theater and attempted “[…] to mitigate the massacres [between Hindus and Muslims] and stem the violence in the last days of a teetering Raj.” The magnitude of the violence perpetrated during that tragic chapter of contemporary history must have been staggering for the young soldiers, but they carried on with admirable bravery, nevertheless.

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