Messages

76

Marie Feodorovna / Re: Voice Recording of Alexander III & Maria Feodorovna?

« on: August 04, 2018, 05:54:07 PM »

At the end, before the woman chimes in with Det morer mig meget at høre min mands stemme (= It amuses me very much to hear my husband's voice) in Danish, the man apparantly says До свидание, господа (= Good bye, gentlemen). I suspect the feeling of a foreign accent which people in the comments section comment upon, which might be the elusive pre-Revolutionary upper-class sociolect, might be due to low grade of palatalisation and lack of vowel reduction, i.e. he says "gospodá" like the word is written, where you would expect almost "gaspadá" (IPA: [ɡəspɐˈda]). This can be interpreted as spelling pronunciation / foreign bookish accent, Northern Russian dialect and archaïc Church Slavic pronunciation.

77

Scandanavian Royal Families / Re: Swedish Jewels

« on: August 04, 2018, 05:36:53 PM »

I have heard on 1 August 2018 part of the Swedish Crown jewels were stolen 2 Crowns and a orb. The suspects are still on the run.

The main Swedish crown jewels have not been stolen, but a funerary set of crown jewels from the grave of King Karl IX and his Queen Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp in Strängnäs Cathedral. But they are precious objects of gold, silver etc.
See here for a picture and more information: https://www.thelocal.se/20180802/traces-found-in-cathedral-as-investigation-into-swedens-stolen-crown-jewels-continues

78

The Final Chapter / Re: One Hundred Years On

« on: July 22, 2018, 04:57:53 PM »

In Norway we are today, on the 22nd of July, commemorating the massacre of 32 children on the Labour Party Youth summer camp on Utøya in 2011. The youngest of the victims were just a few months older than Alexey Nikolayevich when he was killed. They were killed in cold blood by a self-declared crusader against cultural Marxism. Sometimes I feel things have gone full circle and I'm baffled by how close the dates 17th and 22nd July are.

79

Having Fun! / Re: Russian Music

« on: July 22, 2018, 04:38:36 PM »

In the same vein:

Любэ: "Берёзы" - Lyube: "Birches"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQyYidgk-0Y

Отчего так в России берёзы шумят?
Отчего белоствольные всё понимают?
У дорог прислонившись по ветру стоят
И листву так печально кидают.
=
Why do the birches in Russia rustle the way they do?
Why do these white-trunked trees understand everything?
They stand by the roads, swinging in the wind
And sorrowfully drop their leaves.

80

The Hohenzollern / Re: German Royal Palaces, Castles and Homes

« on: July 12, 2018, 07:37:22 AM »

According to the guided tours in Potsdam, Alexandra's husband Nicholas I provided her brother Friedrich Wilhelm IV with materials for his building projects.

Ann

It was actually Charlotte of Prussia, and later Empress of Russia, who was the wife of Nicholas I. Her brother was King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Another brother was Wilhelm I, German Kaiser.

Prinzessin Friederike Luise Charlotte Wilhelmine von Preußen became императрица Александра Фёдоровна Всероссийская.

81

The Final Chapter / Re: People Being 'Horrified' by OTMAA's Murders?

« on: July 12, 2018, 07:14:45 AM »

If individuals in Britain, France and Germany were asked in 1918 something like 'Do you think that the murder of the Romanovs was a terrible crime?', then probably 99 out of 100 would have answered yes.

You are probably underestimating the number of Communists who believed in (and were hoping for) armed revolution and class war in these countries in 1918. In Germany the left-extreme USPD (which split from the main Social Democratic Party) got 7,6 % of the votes in the 1919 election and the new Communist Party KPD 2,1 % in 1920. Four years later the KPD got 12,5 % of the votes.

82

The Russian Revolution / Re: Jordan B. Peterson on understanding the horrors of the 20th century

« on: June 19, 2018, 04:20:29 PM »

In the same vein, from an old thread:

I've just finished reading an unusually excellent and engrossing novel, The Exception by the Danish author Christian Jungerson. The book concerns four women who work at the Danish Center for Information on Genocide (DCIG), which in reality is the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The plot of this truly exceptional novel revolves around anonymous emails threatening death to two of the employees, who, instead of fixing their suspicions on the most likely candidate for making such death threats, an escaped Serbian war criminal, concentrate their fear and hatred on an older coworker and, in the not-so-subtle campaign of psychological persecution they conduct against her on a daily basis, nearly drive her to madness.

Interspersed with the fictional events at the Center are up-to-date accounts of actual, recent research into genocide studies. One of the alarming studies done by the real-life Danish researcher Torben Jorgensen found as follows:

"10-20 percent of perpetrators try to obtain transfer to other duties;
50-80 percent do as they are told;
10-30 percent develop into eager killers and run riot, intoxicated by torture, rape, and murder"

(Jorgensen's statistics, cited in Christian Jungersen, The Exception, New York: Doubleday, 2004, translation by Anna Paterson.)

Apparently the number of would-be perpetrators who actually have the nerve to stand up and say "no, this is evil, stop it now," to their immediate superiors, is so infinitesimal that it cannot even be scientifically measured.

83

The Russian Revolution / Jordan B. Peterson on understanding the horrors of the 20th century

« on: June 19, 2018, 04:17:27 PM »

Apparantly, in one of his famous YouTube videos, psychology professor and modern alt-right guru Jordan B. Peterson urges people to try to understand the revolutions, genocides, world wars and totalitarian regimes of the 20th century not by trying to put themselves in the place of the victims, as is most often done in education, literature, movies, museums etc., but in the place of the perpetrators, like a gulag or concentration camp guard. Only when you reflect upon your own possible voluntary or involuntary involvement on the "bad side" will you begin to grasp the horror of it - that it actually happened!

Does anyone know in which particular video he talks about this?

84

Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Alexandra in historical memory and women who have endured a similar afterlife

« on: June 19, 2018, 03:22:20 PM »

Perhaps people expect more from women, because the few women who have managed to wield massive political power have been extremely shrewd and clever: Queen Margrethe I of the Kalmar Union, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel etc. Plus, there is always the "mom factor": Mom knows best, so when a senior female politician fails it's seen as catastrophic, because "mom" is supposed to always be right, know best and have her children's best interest at heart. (Whereas a dad's fall from power just is another patricide and possibility for a son / new alpha to climb to the top.)

It's interesting to see how Angela "Mutti" Merkel now is facing more and more criticism and problems. She seems to have a tendency to lock herself in her own idealistic and ideological bubble in the same way as her compatriot Alexandra. Merkel is well-meaning in a manner similar to Alexandra compared to for example Theresa May, who with the recent imprisonment of regime critic Tommy Robinson has shown a macchiavellian and totalitarian side worthy of the Soviets, in addition to her very obvious fear of upsetting extremist Muslims.

85

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 02:54:31 PM »

It should not be forgotten that Le Gaulois is a nationalist French newspaper. He is ironic because the Germans give a price to "the ally of France".
The French were still very worried at that time, as soon as the Germans were "nice" with the Tsar.

It's interesting that the French public in the middle of the Dreyfus panic would suspect the same thing as the Chinese did when the Norwegian Nobel Committee (NOT the Norwegian government) awarded the human rights activist Liu Xiaobo the prize in 2010 and the Chinese government got really mad at Norway. Even though you can't rule out that it also might have been used or infiltrated for political purposes (peace activism as a cover for armament and preparations for war), the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft must have been rather unpopular and suspect in the very militaristic leading circles of Wilhelminian Germany.

86

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 02:46:56 PM »

For the sum, it did not surprise me. I think that speaking of Alfred Nobel the sum in crowns seemed logical to the journalist.

How many Frenchmen knew the value of Swedish crowns in 1898 - or today, even if Le Gaulois was read by the upper classes of French society, according to Wikipedia? (In fact 10 million Swedish crowns seem to be worth 13.885.036 francs in 1898.)

In fact, if I have confidence in the information it is because Le Gaulois is a journal very friend of Nicolas II. Even after the revolution of 1917. So the "ironic" or "annoyed" tone of the article is surprising. If the information had been wrong, I think the tone would have been more neutral.

So the newspaper is perhaps trying to make fun of the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft and peace activists in general?

87

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 07:53:34 AM »

Maybe he refused the sum.

I do not speak German very well, but perhaps there are also more specific German sources.

After all, Le Gaulois reports information from Berlin.

It should not be forgotten that Le Gaulois is a nationalist French newspaper. He is ironic because the Germans give a price to "the ally of France".

The French were still very worried at that time, as soon as the Germans were "nice" with the Tsar.

Yes, context is important for the interpretation. To me it sounds like a lot of dubious newspaper reports that go like "according to trusted sources", "one hears from Berlin that....", "it is reported that...." etc. Notice also that they do not specify whether the 10 million are Swedish crowns, French francs, German Reichsmark or what. Sounds fishy.

You can search Le Gaulois or other newspapers for further mentions of the actual ceremony or reception. (Obviously not NII travelling to Germany to receive the prize, but a delegation from Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft travelling to St. Petersburg to award it.) If it isn't mentioned again later in 1898 or in 1899 it was evidently just a false rumour.

88

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 07:31:57 AM »

The association gave its prize to Nicolas II in 1898. The prize was paid with the donation of Nobel.
Deutschen Fridengesellschaft still exists. I sent an email to find out.

Good idea. It will be interesting to read the answer. But I doubt it's true. As Le Gaulois notes, it would be absurd and controversial to give a huge money price to one of the richest men in the world. If NII did receive it, he would have donated it to the Permanent Court of Arbitration or some other good cause if he had half a brain and I've never read anything about him doing so.

89

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 07:25:04 AM »

Bjornson was a member since 1897.

https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_over_Den_norske_Nobelkomites_medlemmer#Den_Norske_Nobelkomite/_Det_Norske_Stortings_Nobelkomite_1897%E2%80%931909

List of members:

Den Norske Nobelkomite 1897

Bernhard Getz (47 år), riksadvokat. Høyre.
Johannes Steen (70 år), Stortingspresident. Venstre.
Jørgen Løvland (49 år), Odelstingets president. Venstre.
John Theodor Lund (55 år), President Lagtingets. Venstre.
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (65 år), forfatter. Venstre.

Nobel may have given before his death. I do not have the details.

Thank you, I didn't know they set up a committee already in 1897, even though it had to wait untill 1901 to actually award a prize. But then it makes even more sense that the great speaker and writer Bjørnson already started talking about candidates years before the formalities were in place.

90

Nicholas II / Re: Nicolas II, first unofficial Nobel Peace Prize

« on: June 17, 2018, 07:17:20 AM »

Alfred Nobel died in December 1896. He had no direct heirs, but other relatives contested his testament in court cases that lasted three years, because it gave them very little of his enormous fortune. There were also several testaments that had to be examined to find the last and correct one. So the Nobel Foundation, which manages this capital and funds the prizes, could not be founded untill 1900, and the prizes could then be awarded for the first time in 1901. A further delaying factor, which involved Nikolay II, was that Nobel's investments in Russia, most notably in the oil industry in Baku and Azerbaijan had to be liquidated and allowed to "exit Russia", in order to set up the foundation.

So when Le Gaulois prints a rumour in September 1898 about Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft awarding a donation from the Nobel legacy to NII as a peace prize it is just a rumour, because at that time it is not certain that Nobel's money will actually be used to fund various prizes instead of being claimed by his heirs.