Croatia’s unilateral declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991 did not come out of nowhere. It occurred in a context of growing nationalism on both sides amid the progressive dissolution of the communist regime, with roots that can be traced back in time. Let us not forget episodes such as the Nazi Germany puppet […]
Politics
Posted inAncient Rome
Stoic Opposition: The Philosophers Who Defied Roman Emperors
Opposing an established government is part of the political game, and democratic systems consider it normal. However, where power is absolute, things become much more difficult, and the problem is that, throughout history, this has been the general trend. That is why it is surprising to discover that in a regime as autocratic as the […]
Posted inModern Era
German Empire: The Unprecedented Federal State Formed by Kingdoms, Principalities, Duchies, and Republics, Where the Ruler Was Both Monarch and President
It is not the parliament that must grant it. With this terse statement, Frederick William IV of Prussia rejected the title of Kaiser der Deutschen (Emperor of the Germans) offered to him by the Frankfurt parliamentarians after the 1848 Revolution, as he believed it should be an initiative of the German princes. It was not […]
Posted inModern Era
Jeannette Rankin, the First Woman Elected to the U.S. Congress, Voted Against Entering Both World Wars
The National Statuary Hall is a semicircular room in the U.S. Capitol originally built to host sessions of the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of Congress) but repurposed in 1864 to house statues of prominent historical figures from the country. There are over a hundred statues, including one of Spanish friar Junípero Serra, but […]
Posted inModern Era
How the Dutch Ate Their Prime Minister in 1672
As its name suggests, the Haags Historisch Museum (The Hague Historical Museum) is dedicated to the history of that city in the Netherlands. Housed in a 17th-century guildhall, it educates visitors about the development of The Hague from its founding in the Middle Ages to the present day, including the commercial and cultural splendor of […]
Posted inGeography
Antarctica: The Unknown Frontier Between Utopia and Dystopia
The Antarctic continent, with its vast and icy expanse, has fascinated explorers, scientists, and diplomats for centuries. This interest arises not only from its desolation and inhospitable beauty but also from the geographical and political imaginations it has inspired throughout history. A recent article by Joanne Yao explores how Antarctica, long conceived as the mythical […]
Posted inModern Era
“The Adventures of Baron Trump”, the 19th-century literary saga that has parallels with Donald Trump
Can you imagine a novel where a boy named Trump embarks on thrilling adventures, discovers strange civilizations, and gets into trouble with natives for unintentionally insulting them in their unfamiliar language? Well, you don’t have to imagine it because it exists; however, its protagonist is not the ineffable former U.S. president, but another who calls […]
Posted inModern Era
Zog I, the Albanian politician who convinced parliament to proclaim him king
Albania is a peculiar country, a rarity in the heart of Europe so, so unique that its ministerial staff includes a man -young, born in South Africa in 1982- named Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu, who is popularly known as Leka II because he is the pretender to the Albanian throne since the […]
Posted inModern Era
How a Hawaiian prince became the only congressman with royal blood in the U.S.A.
Some time ago we saw how Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, Charles Joseph, grew up in the U.S. with his mother (who was separated from his father, Jerome, the emperor’s brother) and turned down several offers of noble titles because a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution required not having royal blood in order to retain citizenship. […]
Posted inModern Era
What’s the origin of the right and left terms in politics?
Why do we use the terms right and left in politics to identify ideologies or concepts on a one-dimensional axis? Everything has its origin in the French Revolution
