Stories about History from March, 2007
Russia: Deportation of Kalmyks
J. Otto Pohl posts a note on the deportation of the Kalmyks 63 years ago.
Tunisphere: March 20, Mayans and Arabs.
March 20 is normally the day when my fellow citizens celebrate our independence day (3/20/1956). But it also happens to be the celebration of the fourth year of Iraq invasion by the US and its allies and that was reflected on some Tunisian blogs like Temeraire in his post “March...
Pakistan: Back in 1959
Light Within has a wonderful collection of advertisements from a 1959 publication. “I own a copy of Pakistan Railway's time table published in November of 1959. Besides train timings, it has a section of advertisements which is a great glimpse into our national past. I've selected following 8 advertisements from...
Lebanon: Spring, Art and Dilemmas
In Lebanon spring officially begins on March 21. This is why March 21st is celebrated as Mother’s Day here. Bloggers tend to post more about love, nature and sunshine, reflecting the general upbeat mood. Even the political post tend to be plans, strategies or analysis about how to make things...
Bahamas: Amazing Grace
In light of this year's Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Nicolette Bethel reprints a letter she has written to Caribbean film distributors questioning the limited release of the film Amazing Grace: “Given that the Abolition Act championed by William Wilberforce and his Abolitionists...
Pakistan: At the Badshahi Mosque
MumbaiGirl, who is an Indian living in London, travels to Pakistan. “At the Badshahi Mosque I was immediately reminded of Fatehpur Sikri. There’s something so right about the squareness that the Mughals achieved. The body feels right enclosed in a space like this, precisely because it doesn’t feel enclosed.”
Russia, Estonia: German View on the Bronze Soldier
Rossijskaja Federazija looks at the Russian-Estonian dispute over the WWII monument from a German perspective.
The Balkans, U.S.: General Veljko Kadijevic
Neretva River writes – here, here, here, and here – about a Serbian war criminal who has allegedly been advising the United States on Saddam's bunkers and other strategic facilities in Iraq.
El Salvador, Chile: Roque Dalton and Roberto Bolaño
Venezuelan-American poet Guillermo Parra, recently in San Salvador to research Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton (1935-1975), describes the interests in leftists politics and experimental fiction shared by Dalton and the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño. A follow-up essay, “Poor Poets: Roque Dalton and Roberto Bolaño“, goes into further detail about the lives...
Croatia, U.K.: The Spanovic Decision
A UK court's decision “undermines the effort to bring to trial all defendants currently suspected of war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 conflict,” Neretva River reports.
Bulgaria, Libya: Tripoli Six in the Economist
The Economist's Edward Lucas reposts his piece on the “Tripoli Six”: “Bulgaria has tried hard to make the scandal an international issue, and has also raised money to help the AIDS-infected children. But Libya appears to want to do a deal, involving freedom for the Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi,...
Eastern Europe: Edward Lucas Roundup
The Economist's Edward Lucas posts his pieces on East European churches; Solzhenitsyn; Chechnya; Poland's relations with other EU members; color revolutions and foreign funding.
Samoa: National Flag through the Ages
Fotu of Samoa looks at the evolution of Samoan national flag.
India: For Nandigram
Cuckoo's Call on Nandigram – “Nandigram is a symbol of humble people’s defiance, protest, militant resistance and sacrifice against the globalising local state. It has broken the stupor, apathy, cynicism and mute, opportunistic acceptance defining the intelligentsia and middle classes in Calcutta and West Bengal.”. This comes at a time...
What Salvadoran bloggers are saying — about the passing of a witness
If your only source of news was the main Salvadoran newspapers, you might have missed the story. The sole survivor of a notorious massacre of civilians during El Salvador civil war passed away on March 6. On December 6, 1981, Rufina Amaya, had somehow managed to escape from the government...
China: Book banned prior to printing
Prior to a recent reprinting, ‘A Narrow Escape From Death: My ‘Right-wing’ Life’, a book from retired Xinhua journalist Dai Huang was banned from being published by order of China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), in which Dai recounts the years during which he was cast as a...
Estonia: Tallinn and Narva
Itching for Eestimaa writes about a day spent in Tallinn (11 comments) and the city of Narva (35 comments).
Estonia, Russia: Football and (Lots of) Politics
An upcoming football game between Estonia and Russia inspires Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa to write a lengthy post on all the complex political matters that stand between the two rival teams and their fans.
Serbia: Neo-Nazis
Belgrade 2.0 writes about Serbian neo-Nazis and their web presence.
Serbia: Milosevic and the Internet
Belgrade 2.0 predicts a new war, over Milosevic: “Even though the online group of Milosevic-haters is by far bigger than the group of his supporters, it seems as if the supporters are louder and manage to create a balance. How long can this go on i wonder?”
Serbia: “Deveti Mart”
Belatedly, a bit of contemporary Serbian history, via Belgrade 2.0: on March 9, 1991, Belgrade became the scene of large protest rallies. “This was the first sign that the citizens were not so satisfied with Milosevic’s rule, already after two years of his reign.”
