Nonetheless, Switzerland was because of its geopolitical position of great interest for these foreign powers. Thus, they sent their diplomats who then struggled to understand the dynamics of Swiss politics that differed quite a bit from European monarchies. (4/5)
Today is International Day of Women in Diplomacy! #emdiplomacy was by no means an all male affaire. Women played a central role not only in mainting contacts to the queen's court and other female actors. They could also directly take part in negotiations, as the example of the Ladies' Peace of Cambrai (1529) shows. Here Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy negotiated for the Emperor and the king of France respectively.
If you want to know more, have a look at the #handbook article by Carolyn James who talks about female diplomatic actors.
I find it strange that royal marriages are often seen as the CONCLUSION of a treaty/diplomatic process. Surely marrying one's daughter or sister to another king or prince is the BEGINNING of having a close ally permanently placed at the heart of a foreign court - with direct, privy access.
That's true. In general, a treaty might be the conclusion of the negotiations leading up to it, but it's never the end. It's often the beginning of an alliance or a relation on the basis of peace instead of war. In case of marriage treaties it's even closer.
... in the 1930s, wealthy Germans who saw the Nazi party as a “battering ram” against trade unions and socialists were persuaded to overlook Hitler’s antisemitism because it allowed the market system to flourish."
... a lot of German elites said to themselves: we’re quite happy funding Hitler because his street fighters will help crush the trade unions, so that we can make more profits.”
@antipode77@bookstodon “The Nazis are just a gang of stupid hooligans, but they do serve a purpose. Let them get rid of the communists, later we’ll be able to control them.” - Baron Maximilian von Heune, in the film CABARET
After 1639, foreigners were not allowed to enter Japan, and Japanese people were not allowed to travel abroad. Japan would remain closed off to the world for more than two centuries.
Well, sort of. The truth was much more complicated, centering on a weird little man-made island in Nagasaki Harbor. Dejima was a sort of jail and a site of fascinating cultural exchange.
Volunteer Louise Pengelley shows a page from the 1638 Mercator Atlas to delegates of the Societies of Antiquaries of Ireland and Scotland today at the delightful Library of Innerpeffray, Scotland’s oldest free lending library - established 1680! https://innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk
That's helped me find it with a double T: “The vulgar word for a skeleton.” and also a verb:
“ To be ottomised; to be dissected. You'll be scragged, ottomised, and grin in a glass case: you'll be hanged, anatomised, and your skeleton kept in a glass case at Surgeons' Hall.’
Goetze then turns her attention to #emdiplomacy by individual Imperial estates. Exemplary she focusses on Brandenburg, Saxony and Hesse-Kassel. In general, she again regrets a lack of research. Although there are some studies focusing for example on the relations between Hesse-Kassel and Sweden, such studies are always limited on a particular period and case.
There’s a definite lack on studies who try to give a more concise overview and put the diplomatic activities of the different Imperial estates into context. (6/7)
Summing up, Goetze concludes that the complexity of #emdiplomacy is reflected in the complexity of the #HRE and calls for more a more inclusive approach meaning more exchange between different research tradition, combining constitutional history, court studies and dynastic history and #NewDiplomaticHistory. (7/7)
Last year on Mastodon we featured this story from the BBC about Gladstone's Library, the U.K.'s only residential library. Fediverse folk were so enthusiastic that when we discovered the library is offering scholarships to be taken in 2025, we had to share the information (see the second link in this post for all the details).
@CultureDesk@bookstodon It is worth warning folks who are thinking of visiting that it is full of the raceism (both casual and overt) of the time. Think carefully who you take there and go with that in mind.
#OnThisDay, June 19, 1964, having survived a 60-day filibuster, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed the US Senate, a milestone in the struggle to extend civil, political, and legal rights and protections to African Americans and to end segregation (depicted in All The Way, 2016)
#OnThisDay, June 17, in 1972, five burglars connected to senior figures in the Nixon administration were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. (depicted in All the President’s Men, 1976)
@faab64 There's an article I can't find at the moment containing the (approximate) lines: “Where are the Palestinian Gandhis, they ask? They're in Israeli prison cells.”
The exact quote is:
»Where are the Palestinian Gandhis and MLKs? They are in Israeli jails.
When people try to protest non-violently, they are beaten, teargassed, and jailed. Despite what is told in the media, Palestinians have long engaged in non-violent resistance in their quest for liberation.«
@bifouba throughout history, Israel has been extremely violent against peaceful protesters and leaders who don't call for it's destruction.
They KNOW that the passive and indifference masses western population may change rapidly if they no longer see palestinians as bloodthirsty savages who's only interest is to start a new holocaust.
That's one of the main reasons Netanyahu ordered the assassinated architect of the one and only hostage exchange in Lebanon.
But Israel's arrogance and savagery have become it's worst enemy and with social media, the vast majority of people have seen the true face of the Israeli treatment of palestinians.
Young people who were not brainwashed for decades have seen the real Palestine. And that's why Israel has been using all it's power to prevent real and uncensored news from Gaza. Either by killing the reporters, censoring the internet or forbidding apps like TikTok, telegram and "signal"