Reviews - Books I Read - DRJG: July 2024

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

SOVIET UNION A History from Beginning to End (Russian History: Soviet Union by Hourly History).

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SOVIET UNION

A History from Beginning to End

Russian History: Soviet Union

by Hourly History.

Russian History: Soviet Union, Russian Civil War,

Russian Empire, Russian Revolution, Crimean War

by Hourly History.

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"At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Russian Empire appeared to be one of the most powerful nations in the world, yet this apparent power concealed serious internal weakness. The bulk of the Russian population were peasants who lived in conditions little better than slavery. There were large and growing movements for reform, but the tsar refused to countenance change. Then came two disastrous wars."

"After the Russian Revolution came two years of bloody civil war in which various factions fought for control. The Bolsheviks emerged from this war as the victors, and they established a confederation of republics that represented a bold new social and political experiment, which grew not from nationalism or religion but from a new political movement: communism. Communism, it was claimed, would lead to a utopian state run not for the benefit of a wealthy elite but for every person within that state. It would not be ruled by a hereditary leader such as a tsar or king but would instead be a federation ruled by the people themselves. It was this revolutionary idea that would lead to the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the birth of Soviet Russia."

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"The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (more commonly known as the Soviet Union or the USSR) was created in December 1922 with the signature of a treaty formally linking four socialist republics that had been created from territory previously controlled by the Russian Empire: the Soviet Federated Socialist Republics of Russia and Transcaucasia (present-day Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan), and the Soviet Socialist Republics of Ukraine and Belarus."

But wasn't Siberia, or all of North Asia - north of India, China and Mongolia, and too, Persia - too, always ruled by Russia - and therefore, subsequently, by USSR?

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" ... During the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1920, the Bolsheviks became increasingly powerful until, by the time of the creation of the USSR, the Mensheviks had been completely crushed. As a result, the new union was to be entirely communist. ... "

"From its inception, the USSR claimed to represent a classless, egalitarian, and conflict-free society that was radically different from anything else existing in the world at that time. Of course, there were those both inside and out who didn’t agree and who sought to undermine the USSR. To fight against these “reactionary” forces, it was deemed necessary to have an army—a secret police—willing to suppress its own people. Most people believed that once opposition was crushed and the true benefits of communism became apparent, things would be very different. In The ABC of Communism, published in 1920 and soon to become widely published in the USSR, it was said that very soon, there would be no need for police, prisons, or even laws because, within the new society of the USSR, every citizen would work for the good of the nation. This belief accorded with Marxist teaching, which claimed that after revolution, the state would simply “wither away.”

"The reality was quite different. By 1921, the chaos of the civil war had brought Russia close to collapse. Up to six million peasants had died of starvation, riots broke out in cities controlled by the communists, and there was even a mutiny amongst naval units in the city of Kronstadt. Several hundred people were executed and many hundreds more arrested before the communists were able to regain control, but even Lenin recognized that fundamental changes were needed if the new state was to be able to survive. This led in 1921 to the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP), under which the state would control industry, but some level of private ownership of agriculture and trade would be permitted. In particular, rather than having their entire crop requisitioned, farmers would be required to give 10% of what they grew to the state but would be permitted to sell any surplus they produced."

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"“True courage consists in being strong enough to master and overcome oneself and subordinate one’s will to the will of the collective.”

"—Joseph Stalin"

No wonder Mother said they had nothing to teach India - that quote couldbe straight from a grandmother-in-law or a father-in-law to the young new bride, or even to her bridegroom!

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"In 1927, Stalin was forced to address another pressing problem: a grain shortage in the Soviet Union. Grain was a central part of the diet in the region, but the harvest in 1927 was less than 70% of the harvest the previous year. This decrease led to a very real threat of starvation within the Soviet Union but also to the prospect of a complete lack of grain exports, one of the very few sources of foreign currency. ... "

" ... Kulak became an extremely negative term, and Kulaks were increasingly (and unjustly) blamed for the grain shortage. It was said that wealthy Kulaks were hoarding grain and that this was the cause of the shortages."

" ... In 1928, Stalin traveled to Siberia and announced, without consulting the Politburo, that he had discovered Kulaks with hoards of grain, and because of this, the grain owned by Kulaks was to be seized. Grain Procurement Squads were mobilized across Siberia and the Urals and began to seize any stocks of grain they could find, leading to violent clashes in some places and to serious food shortages in others."

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"During the Great Terror, Stalin had become convinced that within the leadership of the Red Army, there were counter-revolutionary groups plotting to remove him from power. There is little evidence that this was true, but from 1937, the focus of the purge switched from politicians to soldiers. In all, 25,000 men were removed from the Red Army, with most being executed or sent to labor camps. These were invariably senior officers, the most experienced, veteran troops that the Soviet Union had (three of the five most senior commanders, marshals of the Soviet Union, were executed during the purge). As a result, army officers became very wary of displaying any independence of thought or action and instead took the safest route: slavish obedience to orders, no matter how absurd they might be."

Why the authors here refuse to acknowledge or mention the cause of this horror, namely, falsehoods planted by nazi regime against the best of Russia, is unclear.

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"In 1964, there were 24,000 US “military advisors” in Vietnam. By the following year, there were almost 200,000 US troops in South Vietnam supported by naval and air force units. The Vietnam War would prove costly to America in human terms—60,000 US soldiers would die in the conflict—and it would be ruinously expensive and deeply unpopular at home. Combined with the Space Race, a technological battle with the Soviet Union to gain supremacy in space exploration that was also extremely expensive, it was becoming clear that the cost of maintaining the Cold War was unsustainable."

" ... A series of subsequent meetings between Brezhnev and Nixon and later US Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter led to a new period of improved relations between the US and the Soviet Union that became known as détente."

"In 1978, a revolution saw a communist government installed in Afghanistan. Despite a brutal campaign of repression that involved thousands of people being executed without trial, large parts of the country erupted in a rebellion against the new Soviet-supported regime. In September 1979, Afghanistan’s leader, Nur Mohammad Taraki, was assassinated in a coup planned by his rival, Hafizullah Amin. Amin was much less sympathetic to the Soviet Union, and there were fears in Moscow that he might be about to switch allegiance to the US. Given that Afghanistan shared a border with the Soviet Union, this was seen as representing a major threat. Thus, on December 24, 1979, Soviet forces moved across the border and rapidly took the city of Kabul. Amin was executed and replaced by a Soviet supporter, Babrak Karmal, as the new leader of the country."

The authors omit the fact that it was a legitimate Afghanistan government that had requested help from USSR, to deal with the instability due to Islamic terrorism sponsored actively by the neighbour, pakis, encouraged by US as part of strategy to surround USSR with 'green crescent'.

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SOVIET UNION

A History from Beginning to End

Russian History: Soviet Union

by Hourly History.

Russian History: Soviet Union, Russian Civil War,

Russian Empire, Russian Revolution, Crimean War

by Hourly History.

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July 27, 2024 - July , 2024.

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Format 317 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2024 by Hourly History

ASIN:- B0CRDM474L

Language English

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Table of Contents

SOVIET UNION

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Introduction

Birth of the Soviet Union

Stalin: A New Leader

Collectivization, Famine, and Purges

An Unlikely Alliance

The Great Patriotic War

The Cold War

Détente and a New War

Chernobyl

Glasnost and Perestroika

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

Conclusion

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REVIEW

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Introduction

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July 28, 2024 - July 28, 2024.

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1. Birth of the Soviet Union

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But wasn't Siberia, or all of North Asia - north of India, China and Mongolia, and too, Persia - too, always ruled by Russia - and therefore, subsequently, by USSR?

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July 28, 2024 - July 28, 2024.

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2. Stalin: A New Leader

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"“True courage consists in being strong enough to master and overcome oneself and subordinate one’s will to the will of the collective.”

"—Joseph Stalin"

No wonder Mother said they had nothing to teach India - that quote couldbe straight from a grandmother-in-law or a father-in-law to the young new bride, or even to her bridegroom!

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" ... “Left Opposition,” was led by Leon Trotsky, also a member of the Politburo. By 1926, this had expanded to become the “United Opposition,” led by Trotsky but joined by other leading members of the party, including Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev. Since Stalin and his supporters believed that abruptly abandoning the NEP would plunge the USSR back into chaos, the opposition accused Stalin of being a “rightist” who planned to bring back capitalism. The situation became so serious that the United Opposition was able to organize large-scale demonstrations against Stalin in Moscow and to produce documents that seemed to suggest that Lenin had favored Trotsky, not Stalin, as his successor."

" ... In October 1926, Stalin’s support had grown sufficiently strong that he was able to have Trotsky voted off the Politburo. Then, the following year, Stalin was able to have membership in the United Opposition declared to be incompatible with membership in the Communist Party. Trotsky and his supporters were thereby expelled from the party as well. From this point on, there was little organized or coherent opposition to Stalin within the Communist Party or the Soviet Union as a whole. However, the experience of dealing with this opposition would leave Stalin distrustful and suspicious. As his power grew, he would later take brutal revenge against those who had opposed him in 1926 and 1927, and for the rest of his time in power, he would continually look for and attempt to destroy real or imagined threats to his position."

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July 28, 2024 - July 28, 2024.

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3. Collectivization, Famine, and Purges

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"One of the most pressing concerns affecting the Soviet Union in its early years was the fact that industry and agriculture were relatively primitive compared to Western Europe. Stalin told a meeting of the leaders of Soviet industry that “we are 50–100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they crush us.”"

"Improving industry meant that a proportion of the population had to be persuaded to move from rural to urban areas to provide the required industrial workforce. To achieve this, a new, more efficient means of agricultural production was needed that required fewer workers. This led to the policy of collectivization, which instead of improving agricultural efficiency, would lead to starvation and the death of millions of people."

"The policy of collectivization had some fundamental flaws. The kulaks, now identified as criminals, were often the most knowledgeable and efficient farmers. Taking them out of the system immediately affected production. Even worse, any surplus produced by any farm was simply seized by the state, providing no incentive for workers to do anything but produce the minimum required to fulfill their allotted quota. This situation quickly led to grain shortages. In 1928, there was a shortfall of around two million tons of grain, but much worse was to come."

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" ... Soviet Union relied on grain exports to provide the foreign currency required to buy the materials and equipment needed to support industrialization. Even as starvation spread across the Soviet Union due to grain shortages, these exports continued. No one is entirely certain how many people died as a direct result of famine and disease in the period from 1928 to 1932, but most estimates suggest at least four million. Most of these deaths occurred in rural areas, and these, in turn, caused a shortage of agricultural workers that led to more grain shortages."

" ... news of the famine leaked out and caused many people to begin to doubt Stalin’s leadership. Trotsky, though in exile, became the main spokesman for this group. Soon, Stalin began to feel under threat again and reacted with a wave of brutal repression that became known as the Great Terror.

"In 1936, the secret police of the Soviet Union, the NKVD, began a wave of arrests across the Soviet Union. These started with the people Stalin saw as political rivals, then moved on to the Red Army and to ethnic minorities within the Soviet Union. The NKVD used imprisonment without trial, torture, and arbitrary executions to crush the threat perceived by Stalin. During a period of two years, hundreds of thousands of people were arrested. Some were subject to show trials where confessions extracted under torture were used to secure conviction and execution."

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July 28, 2024 - July 29, 2024.

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4. An Unlikely Alliance

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Why the authors here refuse to acknowledge or mention the cause of this horror, namely, falsehoods planted by nazi regime against the best of Russia, is unclear.

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"Even before the Winter War provided a graphic illustration of just how much the Red Army had been weakened by the purges of 1936-1938, there were concerns within the Soviet Union about whether it was capable of fighting off an attack by another nation. These concerns were heightened by a threatening international situation. Britain, France, Japan, and America had all provided troops and materials to support the Whites (the anti-Bolshevik faction) in the Russian Civil War. This led to a lingering distrust within the Soviet Union of these nations and a general antipathy on their part toward the Soviet Union. Then, the rise of a new political movement in Europe in the 1930s destabilized the existing balance of power and raised a new threat to the Soviet Union."

"In the summer of 1939, Britain sent a delegation to the Soviet Union to discuss the possibility of a military alliance. This was led by a man with the unlikely name of Reginald Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, but his mission was hampered from the start by the fact that the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, detested communism and deeply distrusted Stalin. The Anglo-French talks dragged on for several weeks, and Stalin (rightly) suspected that the only reason these nations were talking to him was in the hope that the Soviet Union and Germany would go to war over Poland. While Stalin was well aware of Hitler’s antipathy to the Soviet Union, he also understood how weak the combat efficiency of the Red Army was following the purges."

"Just nine days after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany, though they did not declare war on the Soviet Union even after Soviet troops marched into eastern Poland three weeks later. World War II had begun, but for the moment, it did not involve the Soviet Union."

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July 29, 2024 - July 29, 2024.

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5. The Great Patriotic War

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"“This perfidious aggression against our country is a treachery without precedent in the history of civilized nations.”

"—Vyacheslav Molotov"

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"For more than 18 months at the beginning of World War II (known within the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War), Nazi Germany seemed unstoppable. First Poland, then Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, parts of Yugoslavia, and France were all invaded and rapidly defeated and occupied by German forces. Only Britain remained to fight Germany, but the only land combat between these two nations took place in North Africa, where Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps pushed British forces back into Egypt.

"During this period of Nazi military domination, its ally the Soviet Union was also acquiring new territory. The eastern half of Poland was subject to brutal occupation by Soviet forces from October 1939. Soviet troops occupied the three Baltic states Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania soon after, and all three were forced to join the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1940, as Nazi panzers were rolling into Belgium and France, the Soviet Union annexed the Romanian territories of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. Only military defeat in the Winter War with Finland prevented the Soviet Union from also acquiring that territory in 1940.

"Up to June 1941, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union both independently and separately enlarged the territory under their control through conquest. Then, on June 22, everything changed. Hitler turned on his previous ally and launched Operation Barbarossa, in which millions of German troops supported by thousands of tanks, armored fighting vehicles, and combat aircraft began one of the largest military operations ever seen against the Soviet Union. Most people expected a rapid German victory; the US War Department warned President Roosevelt that the defeat of the Soviet Union might take as little as six weeks. After all, German military units had proved victorious in every military campaign they had undertaken, while the Soviet Union had been defeated in the only active war it attempted against Finland."

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"Russian losses during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa were vast. On the first day of the operation alone, more than 1,800 military aircraft were destroyed. By December 1941, German troops had reached the suburbs of Moscow. By that point, the Soviet Union had lost almost 2.5 million troops taken prisoner and hundreds of thousands more killed or seriously wounded. The Red Air Force had taken losses on a huge scale, and no one is certain how many tanks had been lost. The Germans occupied more than 200 million square miles (500 million square kilometers) of Soviet territory. To most outside observers, it seemed only a matter of time before Moscow fell and Russia surrendered. But that wasn’t how it worked out.

"The truth was that German supply lines were stretched over hundreds of miles of dirt roads made impassible first by rain that turned them into quagmires and then by brutal cold that left many German vehicles and aircraft inoperable. Thanks to this, in late December, the Red Army was able to mount a counter-offensive that drove the Germans back from Moscow. Meanwhile, events elsewhere in the world had changed the course of the war and had turned it into a truly global conflict."

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" ... For the next three years of bloody and brutal combat, it was the courage and tenacity of Soviet troops that first stopped and then began to drive back the Nazi invaders.

"The Battle of Stalingrad (from August 1942 to February 1943) marked a turning point on the Eastern Front. A German attempt to take the city was repulsed, and a Soviet counter-attack finally began to drive the Germans back to the west. There would only be one more large German offensive—at Kursk in the summer of 1943. This, too, was stopped, and another Soviet counter-offensive began to drive the Germans even further out of previously captured territory. In June 1944, the Soviet Union launched Operation Bagration, a vast attack on German forces in Belarus. By April 1945, Soviet forces had besieged the city of Berlin. Hitler committed suicide soon after, and Germany surrendered on May 8.

"The Soviet Union emerged victorious from a four-year war that many had expected to last only a few weeks. The human cost was simply staggering. Later estimates suggested that up to 9 million Soviet troops died during this conflict and up to 18 million civilians. This level of casualties was unprecedented in warfare, but somehow, the Soviet Union emerged from World War II not weakened but as an emerging superpower."

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July 29, 2024 - July 29, 2024.

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6. The Cold War

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" ... The western countries feared further Soviet expansion and the spread of communism, while the Soviet Union feared further aggression that might lead to another invasion. The two power blocs faced one another in a heavily-armed stand-off that became known as the Cold War.

"In 1948, this conflict escalated when the Soviet Union attempted to blockade West Berlin, the part of Berlin controlled by the US, France, and Britain. This blockade led to the Berlin Airlift, the successful re-supply of the city by air, but it increased tensions between east and west. Although Europe was the center of the Cold War, it also had an impact on other continents. For example, the Korean War (from 1950 to 1953) was fought between South Korea (supported by America) and North Korea (supported by the Soviet Union). Although the outcome was indecisive, the conflict led to the death of over two million people, mainly civilians."

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" ... Khrushchev’s leadership was different, seeming to herald a less repressive regime within the Soviet Union. In 1956, he gave a speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which was, at the time, shocking. He denounced the leadership of Stalin, criticized the purges, and even suggested that by becoming an autocratic dictator, Stalin had betrayed the ideals of communism. It appeared that the Soviet Union was entering a new phase, but nevertheless, while under the control of Khrushchev, the Soviet Union came to the very brink of war with the United States."

"In 1961, America secretly stationed ICBMs in Turkey, from which location they could reach many important Soviet cities. In the same year, America sponsored a failed invasion of the main Soviet ally in the Caribbean, Cuba. In a series of secret meetings, Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, met with Khrushchev and agreed that Soviet ICBMs could be stationed in Cuba, from where they would be within range of many American cities. For Castro, this seemed to provide a deterrent against any future American invasion. For Khrushchev, it provided a response to the American missiles in Turkey."

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"In the almost 20 years that Brezhnev would rule the Soviet Union, a new and more hopeful word entered the lexicon of international relations: détente."

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July 29, 2024 - July 30, 2024.

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7. Détente and a New War

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" ... What the Soviet Union had hoped would be a short military intervention would drag on for nine years and result in more than 15,000 deaths among troops of the Soviet Union. Although Soviet forces controlled most of the major Afghan cities, the mujahideen were never eliminated in rural and mountainous areas. These guerrilla fighters were supplied with arms and supplies by America via its ally Pakistan, which also shared a border with Afghanistan. In particular, the supply of anti-aircraft missiles by America helped the mujahideen to overcome the most potent weapon available to the Soviet Union: air power.

"Meanwhile, in 1982, Leonid Brezhnev died and was replaced by the former head of the KGB, Yuri Andropov. Just three months later, Andropov suffered total kidney failure and was admitted to hospital, where he eventually died in February 1984. He was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, who lasted just 13 months as leader of the Soviet Union before his death in March 1985. This short-lived succession of leaders had ruled a Soviet Union that was suffering a series of economic crises caused by the war in Afghanistan and the economic sanctions that followed. Chernenko was finally replaced by another new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1985."

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July 30, 2024 - July 30, 2024.

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8. Chernobyl

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"On the night of April 25, 1986, there was an explosion at Reactor 4 in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the town of Pripyat in Ukraine, at that time one of the 16 republics that constituted the Soviet Union. The explosion killed many workers and exposed others to deadly levels of radiation. Soon, a cloud of radiation was released into the air and began to drift over the surrounding countryside. In Pripyat, people woke the next morning to find they were having difficulty breathing."

" ... secrecy proved impossible to maintain; within days of the explosion at Chernobyl, high radiation levels were being detected as far away as Sweden. By April 29, western newspapers were carrying reports of a “huge nuclear leak” in Ukraine, but within the Soviet Union, it was claimed that this was not a large-scale incident. May Day parades in the nearby city of Kiev, just 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the south, were permitted to go ahead even though radiation levels in the air were dangerously high."

" ... When the people of the Soviet Union later discovered that western reports had been accurate and it was the Soviet claims which minimized the dangers involved that were untrue, this further undermined trust in the rulers of the Soviet Union."

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July 30, 2024 - July 30, 2024.

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9. Glasnost and Perestroika

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" ... By 1986, more than 100,000 Soviet troops were permanently stationed in Afghanistan. In a planned economy such as the Soviet Union, it is very difficult to assess the direct costs of any military action in the same way as can be done for a capitalist nation. However, the cost to keep this large army fed and supplied with weapons and ammunition, as well as the need to replace tanks, vehicles, helicopters, and aircraft lost in combat, must have been substantial."

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"In the short term, perestroika had little impact. Businesses that had been state-controlled and subsidized for over 50 years could not simply transform themselves into profitability overnight, and a lack of investment over previous decades meant that many were using relatively antiquated techniques and machinery. For the five years that it was in place, perestroika led to little concrete improvement in the Soviet economy, added a measure of confusion in many sectors, and failed to attract foreign investment. However, perestroika was only one of two new approaches that Gorbachev introduced.

"In 1986, Gorbachev told his advisors to begin using a new slogan: glasnost (“openness”). The purpose of this new policy was to introduce a measure of transparency to major Soviet institutions and, critically, to allow Soviet citizens to publicly and openly discuss problems in the system and to suggest ways of improving it. This, in turn, led to less direct censorship of the press—previously, all newspapers in the Soviet Union were subject to official scrutiny and censorship before they were published.

"However, almost as soon as it was introduced, glasnost led to problems. The accident at Chernobyl led to open criticism of the leadership of the Soviet Union, including Gorbachev, both for failing to be honest about the scale of the disaster and the dangers it posed and for failing to ensure that those involved in rescue and remediation work were kept safe.

"Glasnost also allowed for the first time open discussion of past events. It was only after 1986 that most Soviet citizens learned, for example, of the true scale of the purges undertaken during Stalin’s period as leader. It seems that Gorbachev had hoped that glasnost would be linked with perestroika to promote a new, vibrant, and efficient socialist society. Instead, it increased dissatisfaction. Soviet citizens were now more widely permitted to travel outside the Soviet Union, and many returned with news of how the lives of those in capitalist countries were very different. The press was able to report for the first time on widespread corruption and inefficiency in all levels of business activity within the Soviet Union and to give candid reports on the actual progress (or lack of progress) in Afghanistan."

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July 30, 2024 - July 30, 2024.

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10. The Collapse of the Soviet Union

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"“People in Russia say that those who do not regret the collapse of the Soviet Union have no heart, and those that do regret it have no brain.”

"—Vladimir Putin"

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"Glasnost had inadvertently allowed independence movements in many of the republics and satellite states that formed the Soviet Union to grow and organize. These began as early as 1986 with large-scale student demonstrations in the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, it was a wave of mass strikes in Poland that led the movement which culminated in the fall of the Soviet Union."

" ... Virtually overnight, Poland was no longer a communist state. The Soviet Union made no attempt to intervene in Poland, and soon, a wave of anti-communist movements erupted across Eastern Europe.

"In January 1989, Hungary elected a new government which promptly enacted a “democracy package,” introducing a new constitution and freedom of the press. Crucially, Hungary also began to dismantle the barrier that had defined its border with Austria. Across Europe, borders between nations of the Warsaw Pact and NATO were generally guarded and marked by lines of barbed wire, mines, armed troops, and watchtowers. Officially, the Soviet Union claimed this was to stop westerners flooding into communist countries. In reality, this barrier was intended to stop an exodus of people from communist countries moving to the west. With the opening of the border between Hungary and Austria, people living within the Soviet Union were suddenly able to travel freely. Thousands did so, and other border barriers would soon also be torn down.

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"By September 1989, after more than 30,000 people had left East Germany by traveling into Hungary and then into the west, the East German authorities closed their border with Hungary. Demonstrations in East Germany in September and October grew in size until, on November 9, they culminated in the gathering of hundreds of thousands of people in East Berlin who believed that the Berlin Wall, the barrier between East and West, was about to be opened. Although this wasn’t true, the overwhelmed border guards opened the gates. Thousands of East Germans traveled to the west, many for the first time, and in a short space of time, the Berlin Wall itself was destroyed. Soviet troops stationed in East Germany made no move to intervene."

" ... On November 28, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced that it would give up power and abandon the policy of a one-party state. On December 11, the Communist Party of Bulgaria announced that it, too, would give up its rule and that democratic elections would be held as soon as possible. Just before Christmas, the leader of the Romanian Communist Party, Nicolae Ceausescu, was executed by firing squad after an uprising by armed citizens. An interim government announced that democratic elections would be held as soon as possible. In January 1990, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia effectively relinquished power, and the first multi-party elections were held in that country later the same year. Even in Soviet republics as far distant as Mongolia, there were large-scale protests and growing independence movements. In the space of less than one year, the Soviet Union had begun to, in the memorable words of Gorbachev, “crumble like a dry saltine cracker.”"

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" ... Boris Yeltsin, a former head of the Communist Party in Moscow, was elected head of the Russian parliament, and in 1990, that parliament voted through new legislation that made Russian (as opposed to Soviet) law effective across Russia, a direct contravention of the constitution of the Soviet Union. In January 1991, there was a bloody confrontation between Soviet troops and protestors in the Baltic city of Vilnius. Yeltsin responded by ordering that, in the future, Russian troops should not, under any circumstances, open fire on unarmed protestors. These moves effectively ended attempts by Gorbachev to create a new and more open replacement for the Soviet Union, the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics.

"In August 1991, members of the KGB, hardline communists, and others attempted to stage a coup in Moscow. Gorbachev and his family were placed under house arrest, and for three days, there was a tense armed confrontation in Moscow between those who wished to see the restitution of the old Soviet Union and supporters of Boris Yeltsin. The plotters were defeated, and Yeltsin remained in power in Moscow. Gorbachev returned, but his authority was fatally undermined. Soon after, the Republics of Ukraine and Belarus announced that they, too, intended to leave the Soviet Union."

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" ... On December 25, Gorbachev announced his resignation as president of the Soviet Union. Later the same day, the Hammer and Sickle flag was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time. The following day, it was replaced by the Russian tricolor. The Soviet Union was no more."

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July 30, 2024 - July 31, 2024.

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Conclusion

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"Although it lasted for less than 70 years, at its peak, the Soviet Union was one of the most powerful polities in the world. It covered over 8.5 million square miles (22 million square kilometers) and ruled a population of over 290 million people."

"During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the Soviet Union remained one of the two superpowers that effectively controlled a large part of the globe. ... "

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July 31, 2024 - July 31, 2024.

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SOVIET UNION

A History from Beginning to End

Russian History: Soviet Union

by Hourly History.

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July 27, 2024 - July 31, 2024.

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Saturday, July 27, 2024

Phoenician Civilization: A History from Beginning to End (Ancient Civilizations), by Hourly History.

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PHOENICIAN CIVILIZATION: A HISTORY

FROM BEGINNING TO END

(ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS),

HOURLY HISTORY.

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"The Phoenicians lived in a time when the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Macedonians, and the Persians were the masters of the ancient world at one time or another. Those fierce armies overpowered the existing military forces until, with time, they could no longer maintain their empires and were subjugated by the next mighty army.

"But for the Phoenicians, who built a commercial empire on the strength of the Levant’s craving for glass, bronze, jewels, purple dye, and costly goods, trade seemed to give them immunity against the territorial ambitions of neighboring dynasties and leaders. They built up a profitable network of city-states and colonies by sailing the Mediterranean Sea on ships that were better built and better manned than those belonging to other peoples and tribes. Even the Phoenicians’ rivals conceded that they were unmatched in their navigating skills. The Phoenicians were sufficiently confident of those nautical abilities that they could depart from their coastal cities and venture out into the open waters, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Africa.

"That venturesome spirit was characterized later in their history, but right from the beginning, the Phoenicians were a seafaring people. They made a dramatic first impression in history, coming to the world’s attention as the Canaanites, the tribe famous in Biblical Old Testament lore as the occupants of the land of milk and honey promised by the god of the Israelites to his people. Despite this perceived hostility between the Israelites who came to take the land and the Canaanites who occupied it, the two Semitic groups shared cultural and linguistic roots."

................................................................................................

"The Phoenician innovations advanced the civilizations of the ancient world and, at the same time, advanced their profits as well. They were rich enough to hire mercenaries to fight their battles and rich enough to pay the tribute demanded by conquerors. As one city-state faded in supremacy, another rose to take its place, for the importing and exporting of goods was a matter upon which even enemies were in accord: they felt that they must have what the Phoenicians could provide.

"However, as the centuries advanced, military leaders who had a consuming greed for land and power became more expert in their methods. By the time Alexander the Great left his homeland in search of conquest, the Phoenician city-states were in varying stages of power. When Tyre refused Alexander’s calculated request to be allowed to sacrifice at the temple within their fortified city, he laid siege to the occupants. Seven months later, his Macedonian troops had breached the walls, killing thousands within and enslaving many more.

"Bereft of their far-reaching empire, the remnants of the Phoenicians took refuge in Carthage, a former colony which had become rich in trade. Before long, the Romans had aspirations to conquer, and they set their sights on Carthage. The Punic Wars unfolded over a century of combat that ended with the sacking of Carthage, its people made slaves. So dire was the destruction of the city that some claimed that the Romans had sown the earth around Carthage with salt to render its soil forever unfertile. There is no truth to the legend, but its existence testifies to the bitter legacy that has traveled through the annals of history when the tale of Carthage is told."

................................................................................................

"What is true is that the Phoenicians were an advanced civilization whose contributions to humanity are vast and lasting, touching our lives even today and bridging the distance between the ancient and the modern world."

................................................................................................

"No one is exactly sure where the Phoenicians came from. Equally uncertain is what they called themselves. They appear in the Old Testament as the Canaanites, a word which also meant “merchants,” a translation which tells us that, even early on, they were known for their commercial talents.

"The Canaanites appeared for the first time on the stage of the ancient world sometime around the year 3000 BCE. They probably originally hailed from the Persian Gulf region but came to settle in the Levant, an area along the eastern Mediterranean Sea comprising modern-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

"According to scholars, the Canaanites were probably never a united kingdom but were instead composed of different ethnic groups. Archeological evidence obtained from burial sites of the Canaanites during the Late Bronze Age supports this view of a diverse population who observed a wide variety of burial customs. It’s not surprising then that there were various branches of the Canaanites. What they did have in common was language—they spoke Semitic languages which were all closely related.

................................................................................................

"A statue erected by the Pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled from 1213-1203 BCE, attested that Canaan was plundered “into every sort of woe.” Tangentially, the text says that the Pharaoh’s armies had also laid waste to Israel.

"As the Hittites and Amorites rose to power, the Egyptians could not retain their hold on Byblos, which then fell under the invaders’ control. By 1200 BCE, the Canaanites were encountering powerful enemies and were driven out of the countries they had lived in as the Arameans and Neo-Hittites in the north, the Israelites from the south, and the Sea Peoples from the east came for plunder and conquest. As a result, their boundaries were narrowed to a shrunken strip of land in Lebanon."

This lacks clarification, and clarity, both.

What "Sea Peoples from the east", exactly? Not Mongol, since they were not "Sea Peoples", ever. Chinese, or Japanese, extremely unlikely, as too Southeast Asians. So is "sea" referred to in that description is a smaller one, such as Caspian Sea, or Black Sea, or Persian Gulf? The last mentioned was probably part of Persia, so that' too is an unlikely description applying to them.

................................................................................................

"Despite the minimized borders, the Canaanites flourished in the five chief cities where most of the people lived—in Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, Arwad, and Berytus, now Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. These cities became the foundation of the Phoenician power base.

"By this time, one branch of the Bronze Age Canaanites of 3000-1200 BCE had evolved into the Iron Age Phoenicians of 1200-333 BCE, and there appears to be a constant in that evolution: both the name “Canaan” and “Phoenician” refer to a purple-red color, demonstrating that despite the differences in time periods, both the Canaanites and the Phoenicians shared one word in common. That one word, meaning “purple merchant,” refers to one of the Phoenicians’ most celebrated trading items, a dye which created clothing that was the color purple, a color which would eventually come to signify that its wearer was someone of great renown and, eventually, of royalty. Perhaps the color purple was among the first status symbols, and no wonder; the Phoenician traders brought luxury goods from their trade routes to whet the exotic appetites of those who could afford the very best."

Is that the author's personal bias, or one shared generally across West, that "the color purple" is assumed as "the very best"?

................................................................................................

"By the eighth century BCE, the Greeks were introduced to the alphabet that the Phoenicians had created; vowels were added, and other adaptations were made. The most commonly used alphabet today, the Latin alphabet, is derived from the Greek alphabet, which in turn was adapted from the Phoenician alphabet. The Cyrillic scripts used in Eastern Europe and Asia are also derived from the Greek alphabet. Similarly, the Arabic script used in the Middle East and Africa can be traced back to the Aramaic script, which in turn was based on the Phoenician alphabet. Thus, the majority of written languages today have their roots in the ancient Phoenician script."

Hence the never-quite-phonetic nature of all these scripts outside of India, unlike the extremely scientific Devanaagarie script of Sanskrit, used by two other Indian languages since - Marathi and Hindi - although most, not all, Indian languages differ only in appearances of their scripts, not in logic.

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December 30, 2022 - July 20, 2024.

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

Origins

Innovations of the Phoenicians

The Phoenician City-States

The First to Plough the Sea

Phoenician Culture, Art, and Religion

The Alliance with Israel

The Conquerors Come

Carthage

Conclusion

Bibliography

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REVIEW

................................................................................................

Introduction

................................................................................................

"Unlike most empires, the Phoenicians belonged to city-states rather than a unified country like the Egyptians or the Persians. Their city-states, a collection of ports where commerce flourished, were celebrated for their wares: Byblos, Arwad, Sidon, and Tyre were preeminent as centers of finance, learning, culture, and trade. The Phoenicians were so adept at sailing and trade that it was only natural for them to establish colonies along their routes; Spain, Sicily, and Carthage (Tunisia) soon joined the pantheon of profitmaking which characterized the Phoenicians’ merchant prowess in the lands of antiquity.

"The Phoenicians were able to turn their trade routes into a uniquely versatile vehicle to exchange not only trade but learning as well. When they refined the cumbersome Egyptian hieroglyphs into a streamlined alphabet that could easily be used for accounting purposes throughout their trade network, they brought this innovative means of communication to all their various stops. The Greeks would later add vowels to the Phoenician consonants, and the alphabet would evolve for the forthcoming generations to use."

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July 20, 2024 - July 20, 2024.

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Chapter 1. Origins

................................................................................................

"During the sixteenth century BCE, Egypt was a dominant power in the Mediterranean region. The Egyptians cast a covetous eye upon the flourishing Canaanite cities. Finally, Pharaoh Thutmose III, who ruled from 1479-1425 BCE, captured the cities of Byblos, Arwad, and Ullasa, thereby gaining access to profitable trading routes, as well as products such as the magnificent cedarwood, which the Egyptians did not have in their own land.

"By the middle of the fourteenth century BCE, the Canaanite city-states were envied throughout the Mediterranean for their prosperity and autonomy. Byblos, a major center of bronze craftsmanship, was a wealthy port where precious goods from afar were shipped to other parts of the region. Sidon and Tyre, meanwhile, were economic rivals, each attracting profits and trade.

"Documentation concerning the Canaanites continued to appear in official writings from Egyptian antiquity. One specific reference comes from findings at Amarna, which was the capital of Egypt under the rule of Akhenaten from 1353-1336 BCE. Correspondence from this era and location include mention of several different Canaanite kings. One diplomatic pass by the king of Mitanni in northern Syria instructs the “kings of the land of Canaan” to allow the royal messenger to safely travel through the region to Egypt. No one, the message warns, is to detain him. It was not a message likely to be flouted by the Canaanite kings because, at that time, the Egyptian New Kingdom remained powerful in the region."

................................................................................................

This lacks clarification, and clarity, both.

................................................................................................

Is that the author's personal bias, or one shared generally across West, that "the color purple" is assumed as "the very best"?

................................................................................................

"As the eleventh century BCE came to a close, the Phoenicians were well on their way to building an empire through their trade networks and establishing colonies along the routes in Cyprus, Sardinia, Sicily, North Africa, Malta, and the south of Spain. The Phoenicians were extraordinary, for in a time of martial exploits, they built their empire through commerce. It would turn out to be an empire of long duration, lasting more than one thousand years.

"The Phoenicians would encounter the armies of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Macedonia, but still, for the most part, the Phoenician cities and later colonies would survive. It would take Rome—that juggernaut of organization, ambition, and military superiority—to finally subdue the Phoenicians."

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July 20, 2024 - July 20, 2024.

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Chapter 2. Innovations of the Phoenicians

................................................................................................

"The Phoenician city-states sent their vessels forth loaded with purple dye, bronze, glass, and jewels. Hunting dogs, which they brought from Asia or Africa, added to the inventory of items they offered for sale. The abundance of cedar provided wood for the ships that the Phoenicians sailed in and those that they built for others to buy. The Phoenicians’ massive vessels with carved horses’ heads in honor of the god of the sea, Yamm, quickly became a familiar sight along the Mediterranean coast.

"As unmatched as they were in their maritime skills, the ships that the Phoenicians built were equally cutting edge. It was the Phoenicians who added a keel down the middle of the hull in order to improve the ship’s balance. They are also credited with placing the battering ram upon the bow and inserting caulking between the planks of a ship to prevent leakage. The Phoenicians were also among the first to build crows’ nests (lookout points) on their ships’ main masts so that they could see far out upon the waters.

"Descriptions in the Book of Ezekiel in the Bible, as well as on Assyrian relief carvings from Khorsabad and Nineveh, illustrate the Phoenician ships. There were three types of ships built by the Phoenicians: warships, trading vessels which could carry 450 tons, and smaller trading ships used for short trips as well as coastal fishing. All were shallow-keeled. The images indicate that these ships would have taken skill to handle, and the navigational skills of the Phoenicians were unequaled in the region. When Persia’s King Xerxes traveled by sea, he made sure that he did so on board a Phoenician ship."

................................................................................................

"Sailing in the ancient world was accomplished without navigational tools. The Phoenicians were experts at using the natural landmarks along the coastlines, as well as the position of the sun, the stars, the direction of the wind, the currents and tides, and the experience of the captain and crew, in order to reach their destinations. Knowing that it was through Polaris, the North Star, that they could find their way, the Phoenicians could discern their location in the open waters. By following what other sailors referred to as the Phoenician Star—so named by the Greeks in tribute to the Phoenician nautical skills—the master seafarers were able to perform the long-distance travel for which they were famous.

"The Greek historian Herodotus claimed that the Phoenicians had circumnavigated Africa around 600 BCE, a feat which has not yet been confirmed by modern historians but was entirely plausible to the scholars of the ancient world. According to this account, the voyage was sponsored by the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II and took three years to complete. The Phoenician sailors started the journey off the Egyptian coast in the Red Sea and sailed westward, passing Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of the African continent, before returning to Egypt by way of the Straits of Gibraltar.

................................................................................................

"The Phoenicians produced many of the goods they traded, and the quality of their work was as expert as their sailing skills. Roman historian Pliny was an admirer of Phoenician innovation, and he credited the Phoenicians with inventing glass. Although contemporary historians believe that glass was actually invented in Mesopotamia around 2500 BCE, the Phoenicians can be acknowledged to have first developed free-blowing—attaching a piece of molten glass to a hollow tube, then blowing air through the opposite end—in order to form a bubble that could be formed into bottles and glasses.

"The Phoenicians also traded in wine. In the ancient world, wild grapes grew in abundance, but turning those grapes into a wine that was drinkable would require a deft and perceptive process. The Phoenicians’ travels unraveled the mystery of which grapes were particularly suited for making wine. Cuttings of these vines were easily accessible for travelers whose voyages took them to as many places as the Phoenicians went.

................................................................................................

"Wine was more than a favorite beverage in the ancient world. It was a valuable commodity for merchants to use in trade, certainly, but wine also played a ceremonial role in religious rituals. It was sometime around the year 1000 BCE that the thirst for wine increased dramatically, and naturally, as the Phoenician ships went all over the Mediterranean, they were able to provide what the ancient world demanded. The Phoenicians were among the first to introduce the Egyptians to wine.

"Apart from trading in the wine that was produced in their own land, the Phoenicians also created markets for wine that was produced in their port cities and colonies. They spread ancestral grapevines throughout their trading network; some of our modern European grape varieties come from those long-ago cuttings. By taking grapevines to the Iberian Peninsula, the Phoenicians can be credited for the growth of some of the most popular white grapes. The vines that were brought to Barcelona around 500 BCE got there by way of Phoenician ships and now grow in the Spanish wine-growing region of Catalonia.

................................................................................................

"Their trade gave the Phoenicians a presence along the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. Through trade, the Phoenicians advanced the economic development of various civilizations. Initially, they traded by barter. Once the currency was invented, they adapted this revolutionary medium of commerce, and, as they managed to reach a large number of ports and regions, they were able to expand its use as well."

"Perhaps surprising for a people who were known for their exploits at sea, architecture and engineering were also among the Phoenicians’ skills. Skyscrapers were, of course, unknown in the ancient world, but the Phoenicians knew how to design and build structures that were six stories in height, giving buildings an innovative appearance."

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July 20, 2024 - July 22, 2024.

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Chapter 3. The Phoenician City-States

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"The Greeks knew the Phoenicians as a brilliant seafaring people. To them, the Phoenicians who mattered were the sailors whose ships brought goods to other parts of the Mediterranean region. It was the Greeks who coined the name Phoenician, coming from the word “Phoiníkē,” which referred to the purple-red dye that the Phoenician merchants became famous for trading. Those sailors and other peoples now grouped together as Phoenicians may have more likely identified themselves as belonging to one of the city-states which were famous throughout the ancient world."

"Thus, the Phoenicians never actually ruled over a kingdom named Phoenicia. Their influence was, instead, felt in cities that were formed as a result of the Phoenician trading network. These cities grew to become city-states and later vassal kingdoms, all fabled in antiquity. The cities dotted the Mediterranean coast and, although they shared a similar culture and religion, they were independent entities.

"The Canaanites, the forebears of the Phoenicians, had achieved prominence in their region, but by 1200 BCE, they had been pushed into a skinny stretch of Lebanon. Still, they were not vanquished. These people were never tied to the land and utilized the routes of the seas better than any of the other nations of the ancient world. Despite conflicts, these seafaring traders managed to build a commercial and financial realm which made these cities vibrant and thriving centers of culture and commerce."

................................................................................................

" ... Anything that anyone could possibly want was brought to the Mediterranean by the sleek, swift Phoenician ships. Goods from the Levant, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, silver from Spain—all traveled through these port cities, eagerly sought after by the world and making the Phoenicians rich in bringing them.

"The Phoenician city-state of Byblos has the distinction of being one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, having been occupied as far back as 8000 BCE during the New Stone Age. It was located on the Mediterranean coast approximately 26 miles (42 kilometers) north of where Beirut, Lebanon, is currently located. Byblos quickly became a vital trading center; through this harbor, the cedars of Lebanon and other woods would be transported to Egypt."

................................................................................................

" ... Byblos flourished in its independence from Egypt and became a major Phoenician city until its glory was dimmed by the rise of another Phoenician city-state, Tyre.

"Tyre was a fortified island off the mainland. The purple dye of Tyre clothed the rich and famous of the ancient world. The dye was extracted from sea snails native to the Levantine coast through a complex and time-consuming process. Estimates show that as many as 12,000 snails were required to produce enough dye for a single garment. The precious dye soon became invaluable to the royalty of the region, and profit flowed into the coffers of Tyre. Eventually, Tyrian purple would be reserved for use only by the Roman emperor.

"An alliance with the nation of Israel under the rule of King David also served Tyre well; cedars from Lebanon were sent to the Israelite king and would later be sent to his son, Solomon, for the building of the temple in Jerusalem. The alliance was not only lucrative for trade but also for explorations, as a joint expedition traveled to the Sudan, Somalia, and possibly as far as the Indian Ocean."

................................................................................................

"Rivaling Tyre in size and importance was the city-state of Sidon, located between the Lebanese Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Founded in the third millennium BCE, Sidon was one of the oldest Phoenician cities and renowned as a center of commerce and religion. Sidon was the first city to sail its ships out into the open waters using the stars for navigation.

"Princess Jezebel, the notorious wife of the Israelite King Ahab, is perhaps Sidon’s most famous resident. Archeological findings reinforce the Old Testament stories of Jezebel’s adherence to the deity Baal; excavations have facilitated the reconstruction of the religious worship of this god during the Bronze and Iron Ages."

"As conquerors came and went, an increasing number of Phoenicians chose to leave the city-states which were vanquished or lost their autonomy to powerful military invaders, choosing to migrate to the colony of Carthage. In time, Carthage would be the only remaining city of the Phoenician Empire—that was until the Romans came."

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July 22, 2024 - July 22, 2024.

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Chapter 4. The First to Plough the Sea

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"The Phoenicians eventually became as famous for their maritime prowess as for their fiduciary acumen; referring to the latter, the Greek philosopher Plato disparagingly described them as “lovers of money.” They had indeed displayed a remarkable talent for profit, gaining wealth from the exportation of cedar and the purple dye famed in Tyre. A shrewd respect for the appeal of money would rescue the Phoenicians from the dire forces that were about to devastate the ancient world in the twelfth century BCE.

"This century saw a period of tumult in the region of the eastern Mediterranean. Tribes of Aegean seafarers joined forces and launched their troops into Anatolia and the Near East, striking first against the Mycenaeans of Crete, overwhelming the ancient Greeks. These Sea Peoples next set their sight on the Hittite Empire, which soon fell to the invaders. The Sea Peoples didn’t fare as well against the Egyptians, but Pharaoh Ramses III’s military might was hard-pressed to achieve victory and, even though triumphant, Egypt was unable to protect its Levantine colonies.

"Not only were the Phoenicians not conquered when the Sea Peoples came marauding, but they continued to prosper, expanding their influence as they built colonies as far away as Portugal. It was not that the Sea Peoples did not seek to conquer the Phoenicians as they had done with the other dominant powers of the Mediterranean, but the savvy Phoenicians had resources that the other peoples lacked. They were prosperous enough to pay off the marauders, according to historians. Instead of being subdued by the invaders, the Phoenicians readied their vessels, minted new currency, and proceeded to develop a trade network that rivaled anything ever before known in the Mediterranean."

................................................................................................

"Later, when the Phoenicians established a colony on the Iberian Peninsula, they had access to the silver mines of Spain, another valued commodity. It did not inconvenience the Phoenicians to pay tribute to other powers rather than meet them in battle; as long as the Phoenicians could sail their ships, they were masters of the waters.

"The Phoenicians soon had a route of harbors where they could stop along the Mediterranean that let them go out into the Atlantic and return safely. In those days, a ship could sail approximately six miles (ten kilometers) per hour. Allowing for stops, it likely took at least 15 days to sail from Greece to Sicily. Long voyages, such as one of 2,000 miles, might have taken 60 days in the seventh century BCE."

................................................................................................

"The Phoenicians are believed to have made it all the way to the British Isles for one precious resource which they could not find at home: tin, used for making bronze. However, the Phoenicians did more than bring tin out of the British Isles—they left legends behind. Stories spread claiming that it was the Phoenicians who had colonized Britain. The Phoenicians, like the British, had a famed connection to the sea that fostered belief in the story. Some stories even claimed that King Arthur was of Phoenician descent.

"A stele on the temple of Baal Hammon at Carthage backs up Phoenician glory on the seas, telling the story of a trip made around 450 BCE by a Carthaginian named Hanno. He sailed the Atlantic coast and reached what is today Cameroon or Gabon, where he encountered gorillas, volcanoes, and savage tribes.

"According to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, the Phoenicians made it to the island of Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Azores in the Atlantic. Although there is no definitive proof of this, archeologists have discovered eight Carthaginian coins on the Azores dating from the third century BCE.

"Biblical accounts in the Book of Kings tell of a Phoenician voyage that left the Red Sea to find gold, silver, jewels, and ivory; the actual site of their discovery is lost in time but is believed to have been Somalia, Yemen, the Sudan, or perhaps an island in the Indian Ocean. The voyage was of interest to the biblical writer because the ships had been paid for by King Solomon’s wealth."

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July 22, 2024 - July 24, 2024.

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Chapter 5. Phoenician Culture, Art, and Religion

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"The Phoenicians were expert artisans, offering ornamental products made out of bronze, iron, gold, ivory, and textiles. In general, Phoenician art seem to have been closely tied to their commercial interests, and they appear to have adapted their art depending on the buyer. Their pottery, for example, was highly influenced by Greek styles, while their ivory reflected typical Egyptian designs. In addition, the Phoenicians favored small figurines over large sculptures, likely to make shipping them easier."

................................................................................................

" ... Some of the main gods were El (the father of all gods), Baal (the god of fertility and weather), and Astarte (the goddess of love and war and the forerunner of Greek and Roman deities such as Artemis, Aphrodite, and Venus). In the city-state of Tyre, Melqart became the highest god. He was the god of the sea, fertility, hunting, and colonization, and perhaps more importantly to the Tyrians, he was credited with the discovery of Tyrian purple, the dye which made the Tyrians so rich and famous."

" ... It appears the Phoenicians also made human sacrifices in times of strife, such as during natural disasters or wars. According to ancient sources, the victims were most often children, and they were killed by fire. No conclusive archeological evidence has been found to support this claim, however, and scholars are still debating whether Phoenician burial sites found containing bodies of children are the result of a naturally high infant mortality rate or child sacrifice."

" ... In Phoenician artworks, women are usually portrayed with more clothes than men, suggesting that they were expected to dress and behave modestly. This was not true of artworks depicting female goddesses, however; Astarte, for example, was usually portrayed naked."

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July 24, 2024 - July 24, 2024.

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Chapter 6. The Alliance with Israel

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"“There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.”

"—Book of Kings"

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"Before they became known as Phoenicians, the Canaanites were known to the Old Testament peoples of Israel as the occupants of the Promised Land, whose territorial dispute with the invading Israelites presages the centuries of warfare that would come to characterize the Middle East. Although they feature prominently in the Old Testament Book of Joshua as the resident bad guys in the story, very little information about the Canaanites is actually provided. It’s easy to assume from this evidence that the two groups were bitter and bloody enemies, and yet, linguistic and archeological evidence indicates that relations between them were not entirely hostile.

"Around the year 1200 BCE, crop failures struck the Egyptians, leading to famine. The Egyptian famine may be the origin of the intersection of the Israelites and the Canaanites. The tribes of Israel, which according to Jewish tradition ended up in Egypt, were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians. When the Israelites left Egypt, they followed Moses to the Promised Land. This land was already occupied by the Canaanites. Battles for the region broke out, and the Israelites, the legend claims, triumphed over the Canaanites.

"Some scholars challenge this story. According to them, because the Hebrew language shares many similarities with the Canaanite language, it’s more likely that the Israelites and Canaanites lived side by side during the second millennium BCE. Other scholars support the idea that some of the Israelites may have left Egypt during the second millennium BCE, basing this conjecture upon archeological evidence and ancient texts which provide evidence that there were foreign peoples living in the Egyptian Empire at various times.

"The resemblance of the Phoenician language to Hebrew indicates that the Israelites and their Phoenician foes were much more connected than the hostility of their battles would indicate. The similarity in language may indicate that there were other shared traits in their art, culture, and possibly even religion."

................................................................................................

" ... The alliance between Tyre and Israel happened during the golden age of the Phoenician city-states.

"The Phoenician city of Tyre was the center of trade; therefore, King Hiram had a keen interest in the trade routes crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Neighboring Israel had as its king the warrior David, who had established peace in his realm by overpowering nations that were a threat to Israelite security. After establishing prosperity in Israel, King David wanted to build a magnificent temple to honor his god and to house the cherished Ark of the Covenant.

"The Israelite god had blessed David with victories over the Moabites, Arameans, Ammonites, and Edomites, but a holy temple could not be built by a man of violence who had shed blood. Therefore, David’s son Solomon, who would rule after him, would have the privilege of building the temple. In order to make certain that the temple would be of sufficient majesty to honor his god, David initiated the ordering and purchasing of materials for its construction."

................................................................................................

"In 922 BCE, Israel split into two nations. The northern section continued to be called Israel, while the southern section became Judah. The Phoenician city-states bordered Israel, and the strife-ridden Israelite kingdom, with its strict religious views, was becoming ever more different from the sophisticated and polytheistic Phoenicians.

"Israel’s attractions as an ally were apparent not only to Tyre but also to Sidon. King Ithobaal I of Sidon strengthened the alliance by marrying his daughter, Jezebel, to Ahab, the son of King Omri who would one day sit on the throne of Israel. The benefits to both nations were pragmatic. Israel would have access to the ports of the Phoenician cities, while the Phoenicians would gain passage through Israel to the King’s Highway, a busy inland route which linked the Gulf of Aqaba in the south to Damascus in the north."

" ... Ahab not only built a temple to Baal for his queen, but he also joined her in worship. According to the biblical narrative, Jezebel, zealous in the observation of her faith, brought 800 prophets of Baal to Israel ... "

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July 24, 2024 - July 24, 2024.

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Chapter 7. The Conquerors Come

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...............................................................................................

" ... In 854 BCE, the Phoenicians—along with the Babylonians, the Medes, the Scythians, the Egyptians, and the northern tribes of Israel—fell to the Assyrians. The Assyrians had advanced the art of war through technology, becoming the first in the region to use iron weapons as well as chariots for greater mobility and protection in battle. They also introduced such innovations as engineering units that would dig tunnels so that soldiers could invade walled cities.

"By 600 BCE, the Assyrian reign was over, as they were defeated by the Babylonians in 612 BCE at Nineveh. In their turn, the Babylonians were defeated by Persia’s King Cyrus in 539 BCE. Cyrus didn’t stop with Babylon and went on to capture and consolidate territories across the Near East. Watching his ascent, the Phoenicians decided to surrender in advance rather than be destroyed by war. The Phoenician region was divided by Cyrus into the four vassal kingdoms of Arwad, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, but even though they were under Persian rule, they retained a significant amount of sovereignty. Their kings were permitted to maintain the rights that were accorded to the Persian governors, including minting their own coinage.

"The Phoenicians were an asset to the Persian Empire with their famed naval superiority, and the Persians soon went to war in ships built by the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians also built the pontoon bridges over which the forces of Xerxes I entered Greece. However, when the Persian king was defeated at the Battle of Salamis, he blamed his loss on the Phoenicians. By this point, many of the citizens of the Phoenician city-states had already left their homes. They migrated to Carthage, the Phoenician colony located in North Africa in what is now Tunisia, in order to escape the conquest of the invaders."

................................................................................................

"The next conqueror consumed by the desire for more territory was Alexander III of Macedon, who defeated the Persian King Darius III at Issus in November 333 BCE. When the Macedonian army marched into the Phoenician region, the cities of Byblos and Sidon surrendered. Envoys from Tyre, meeting with Alexander the Great, likewise said that they would honor his wishes.

"Alexander’s wishes were to sacrifice to the god Heracles, who was comparable to the Phoenician god Melqart in Tyre. The Tyrians, realizing that this would allow Alexander’s forces to enter the city and occupy it, told the warrior king that he was welcome to sacrifice in the old city of Tyre, which was located upon the mainland, but not in the new Tyre, which was fortified and protected by its naval forces in the harbor. The Tyrians, trusting their navy and the mercenaries who made up their army, were confident that their city, located half a mile offshore and protected by high walls, would save them from Alexander’s retaliation. As a precaution, the women and children were evacuated to Carthage, and the remaining 40,000 occupants of the city began to prepare for a siege. They also requested help from Carthage to defend themselves against the Macedonians.

"Alexander’s strategy relied upon subjugating all the Phoenician city-states so that none could jeopardize his rear forces as he advanced to Egypt. Thus, he would not rest until Tyre had capitulated. He sent heralds with a message ordering the city to surrender. The response from Tyre was to execute the envoys and throw their bodies into the Mediterranean.

" ... Six thousand Tyrians were killed when the Macedonians took the city. Two thousand more were crucified on the beach, and thirty thousand were sold into slavery. The Macedonians lost only 400 soldiers. Alexander showed some restraint, however, as the king of Tyre, his family, and Carthaginian pilgrims who had taken sanctuary inside the Temple of Melqart were spared.

"It had taken him seven months, but Alexander was able to make his sacrifice to Heracles as he led a triumphant procession through the streets of Tyre. The empire built upon trade and navigation that the Phoenicians had ruled over was no more, and Phoenician culture and influence faded. Now, all that was left of the glory of the Phoenicians was Carthage."

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July 24, 2024 - July 24, 2024.

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Chapter 8. Carthage

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"“[Cato] never gave his opinion in the Senate upon any other point whatever, without adding these words, ‘And, in my opinion, Carthage should be destroyed.’”

"—Plutarch"

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"As the Phoenician ships sailed throughout the Mediterranean, bringing their goods and trading them for the products of other lands, they also established colonies that expanded their trading network. In 814 BCE, the Phoenicians established the colony of Carthage, or Kart-hadasht, meaning “new city,” in modern-day Tunisia on the coast of North Africa.

"In time, Carthage would become a city out of legend. Even so, it acquired a provenance that placed it in the annals of Greek mythology. ... "

" ... After the Persians conquered the Phoenician city-states, many of the residents of Tyre and Sidon moved to Carthage rather than living in vassalage to the Persians. Carthage had begun as a dependency of the rich and influential city-state Tyre, but as time went on, Carthage grew in power. After winning its independence from Tyre in 650 BCE, Carthage proceeded to establish its hegemony over the other Phoenicians settlements along the western Mediterranean Sea."

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" ... The city of Carthage had a date with destiny—and the Romans legions. But before the Romans, there was Alexander the Great, who had conquered the Phoenician cities on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in effect leaving Carthage and the other colonies to fend for themselves. Carthage did so splendidly at first, becoming the dominant Mediterranean power and the maritime ruler of the seas. Prosperity and the first stirrings of democracy were features of Carthage. Here, the government was accountable to the citizens, a radical concept for the times and, indeed, for a long time after."

"Darker days were indeed on the horizon. In the past, Phoenician prosperity had allowed the city-states to hire mercenaries to fight their battles for them or pay tribute to whatever power was threatening their walls while maintaining a competent naval force. But some time before 550 BCE, in response to hostile actions on the island of Sicily by the Greeks, the Phoenicians formed an army to fight back. For 70 years, Carthage fought the Greeks with no results."

"Although Carthage had clashed violently with several other powers in the region, notably Greece, its relations with Rome were historically friendly, and the cities had signed several treaties defining trading rights over the years. But, in 264 BCE, Rome interfered in a matter involving the western coast of Sicily, which was a colony of Carthage. Carthage supported Syracuse, Rome allied itself with Messina, and inevitably the conflict brought the two powers into the clash."

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" ... The end of the First Punic War, so called because Punic was the Latin translation of Phoenician, gave the Romans Sicily—the first of Rome’s overseas acquisitions."

" ... Sicily provided Rome with grain, natural resources, and minerals. The people were made subjects, not allies or citizens. The people’s land was confiscated, and those who had supported Carthage were charged a tribute as punishment. Now a conquered province, Sicily was governed by a Roman praetor.

"Even though Rome followed up on its successful takeover of Sicily by taking control of Corsica and Sardinia, Carthage still had Spain as a power base, as well as military expertise owing to the leadership of the Barca family, first Hamilcar and then his son-in-law Hasdrubal. Hamilcar Barca died in 228 BCE but not before forcing his younger son, Hannibal, to swear a blood oath against Rome. After Hasdrubal’s death, Hannibal took over as commander of the Carthaginian forces in Spain. His march into Saguntum, which was under the protection of Rome, threw down the gauntlet to Rome.

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"Launching the Second Punic War, Hannibal, with 90,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and the famous war elephants, marched from Spain over the Alps and into Italy. Hannibal’s audacity led to victories over the Roman legions at Ticinus, Trebia, and Trasimene. At the Battle of Cannae in 216 BCE, Hannibal’s cavalry surrounded a Roman army twice their size and inflicted punishing casualties. Still, the Romans rallied. General Scipio Africanus defeated the Carthaginians in Spain and North Africa. Hannibal had no choice but to abandon his success in Italy in order to defend North Africa.

"In 202 BCE, the Romans under Scipio defeated the Carthaginians at Zama. With Rome now in control of Spain, only the North African territory was left of Carthage’s empire. By gaining Spain, Rome claimed the silver, copper, and iron from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the profits from its position on the trading routes. As a result, Rome’s economy boomed, and the Romans became the dominant power in the Mediterranean. Carthage became a client state of Rome, subject to Roman rules. The navy was reduced to a mere ten ships, and an army could be raised only with Roman assent. The Romans levied a heavy burden of tribute on Carthage—nearly ten tons of silver annually.

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"The Third Punic War, which lasted from 149 BCE to 146 BCE, was the death knell of Carthage. Rome was flush with its triumph, and the Roman Senate, led by Cato the Elder and other warmongers, convinced the Senate that Carthage remained a threat to Roman dominance in the Mediterranean. When Carthage declared war against neighboring Numidia, the Romans regarded this as a violation of the treaty between the two nations, and the Third Punic War was underway.

"Rome besieged Carthage for two years. Then Scipio the Younger was put in command of the North Africa effort in 147 BCE. The young general launched an attack on the harbor side of Carthage in the spring of 146 BCE, forcing his way into the city. The fighting went on for seven days until the Carthaginians surrendered. The 700-year-old city was destroyed, and the 50,000 citizens who hadn’t been slaughtered were taken into slavery.

"By the end of 146 BCE, Rome’s power extended from Spain’s Atlantic coast to the border between Greece and Asia Minor. The Phoenician Empire had ended; the Roman Empire was about to begin."

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July 27, 2024 - July 27, 2024.

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Conclusion

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"In order to be the masters of the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians realized that they needed maps of the waters, and so they charted the seas and honed their maritime skills. With expert knowledge of the sea, they ventured beyond the familiar waters and went exploring. While it’s uncertain just how far beyond their own territory they went, the legendary Phoenician sailors definitely reached the European and West African coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. They may even have crossed the Atlantic to reach North America, and they may have circumnavigated Africa. Their reputation was so widely respected that they were credited with having populated lands as far away as Ireland and Britain."

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"By the ninth century BCE, the Phoenicians were a significant power in the Mediterranean region. After their famed cities Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre fell to conquerors or faded in influence, the Phoenician city of Carthage grew to prominence. Carthage would become a city so affluent that it, too, would one day meet a master determined to subdue it."

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July 27, 2024 - July 27, 2024.

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PHOENICIAN CIVILIZATION: A HISTORY

FROM BEGINNING TO END

(ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS),

HOURLY HISTORY.

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December 29, 2022 - December 30, 2022

- July 20, 2024 - July 27, 2024.

Purchased December 29, 2022.

ASIN:- B09QKJRWVD

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Reviews - Books I Read - DRJG

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

SOVIET UNION A History from Beginning to End (Russian History: Soviet Union by Hourly History).

Saturday, July 27, 2024

Phoenician Civilization: A History from Beginning to End (Ancient Civilizations), by Hourly History.

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