Stories about History from May, 2009
Caucasus: Mutual self-destruction
Security in the Caucasus and beyond… comments on the tendency of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian nationalists to selectively use and manipulate history to justify territorial claims on each other as well as to perpetuate ethnic hatred. The specialist blog concludes that its time for the South Caucasus to decide between...
Ukraine: 65th Anniversary of the Crimean Tatar Deportations
May 18 marked the 65th anniversary of Sürgün, the 1944 deportations of Crimean Tatars from their homeland in Crimea. J. Otto Pohl writes about the history of the deportations, while Maria Sonevytsky describes the current plight and the attitudes of the Crimean Tatars who have returned to live in Ukraine, and shares her thoughts on the changes that need to take place for the situation to improve.
South Korea: May 18
May 18 is the 29th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. Ask a Korean! translated a review on a movie, May 18, which touches upon the media representation of democracy movement in Korea.
China: The democracy movement since 1989
During the last mother's Day weekend on May 10th, a number of intellectuals in Beijing organized a seminar discussing 20 years of the democracy movement in China. This is a very significant event in breaking the long silence among intellectuals on the June 4th student movement, as well as in...
Sri Lanka: Prabhakaran, The King Maker Is Dead
Ajith P. Perera at Dare To Be Different writes about the life of the slain LTTE rebel chief: “Prabhakaran is no more a hero than Hitler or Pol Pot, but he is a legend that will live on. I am sure for centuries to come mothers use his name to...
Caribbean: Bloggers React to Walcott's Withdrawal
St. Lucian-born Derek Walcott is truly a West Indian man. He has been embraced by literature lovers of countless other regional territories who identify with his writing and see the nuances of the Caribbean come alive in his work. Which was why his Nobel Prize win for Literature in 1992 seemed like a regional victory - and why his withdrawal from the tight race for the coveted position of Oxford Professor of Poetry has left a bad taste in many bloggers' mouths.
Myanmar: 150th Anniversary of the Founding of Mandalay City
Mandalay, the last royal capital of Myanmar, celebrated its 150th anniversary with a three-day festival event from May 14 to May 16. GV Author TAN translates a few posts written by bloggers from Myanmar who had witnessed the event.
Haiti, Dominican Republic: Repercussions
Wadner Pierre republishes an article from Haiti Liberte that examines the repercussions of the decapitation of a Haitian man by another from the Dominican Republic.
Jamaica: Bolt Takes to the Street
Girl With a Purpose congratulates Jamaica's Usain Bolt on his impressive win at the 150 meter Manchester Street Race.
Haiti: Flag Day
Today is Flag Day in Haiti. Real Hope for Haiti offers some insight into the history of the celebration, while The Livesay Weblog ruminates on the country's recently concluded elections.
Hong Kong: Donald Tsang, please die!
Last week, the public was outraged by the Chief Executive Donald Tsang‘s remark on June 4 Incident in the Legislative Council's policy address in May 13. When asked about his personal view on the vindication of June 4 student movement, he answered: I understand Hong Kong people’s feelings about June...
Taiwan: Media mixes up history
Taiwanese Identity points out a mistake in a news article which demonstrates confusion about Taiwan's history. They argue that these kind of mistakes are common and the media needs to find new ways of writing about Taiwan.
Macedonia: French Military Cemetery in Skopje
Volan presents a photo and video story about the French Military Cemetery in Skopje that houses the remains of 2,930 soldiers from France and its colonies, including Morocco and Senegal, who have fallen during World War I on the Macedonian Front, aka Salonika front (1915-1918). The site presents a historical...
Angola: “Every city has its history, and ours is no different”
In a time when Luanda's landscape is suffering big changes, citizens have come together to protect the city’s architectural heritage. In this post we explore bloggers' discussion of the need to save what is left of Luanda.
Iran: Karroubi supporters armed with Facebook in presidential election
Facebook was banned in Iran until recently, but now supporters of the former speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mehdi Karroubi, use it as a vehicle to promote his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.
China: Earthquake, one year later
Michele Scrimenti from Chinageek translate Chang Ping's article on the 1st anniversary of Sichuan earthquake: Earthquake, One Year Later: Today Should Not Be a Celebration.
Sri Lanka: Understanding The Tamil Conflict
G. Kuganesan at Voices In Exile sheds a light into the background of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: “The Tamil conflict has deep roots, distant ties that date well beyond the mere formation of a violent LTTE (Tamil Tigers) movement, a history buried in discrimination, segregation, and specific ethnic...
Russia: Eurovision
“Suddenly it is that time of the year again – the time when one cannot help but feel that one is, was and will always remain a European,” writes Josefina of Russian Blog in her post on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Siberian Light posts an overview “of every single...
Russia: History of Victory Day
Copydude on Victory Day in today's Russia and back in the Soviet times – here and here.
Ukraine: Victory Day 2009
Lots of photos and video from the celebration of Victory Day in Kyiv – at Ukrainiana.
Serbia: Skull Tower
Gray Falcon writes: “If there was just one thing I could show someone seeking to understand the Serbs, I would take them to a hill northeast of Niš (Ниш), and show them the Skull Tower.”
