jgo
jgo's JournalOn This Day: Governor of Egypt ambushes, massacres large number of mercenary slave class - March 1, 1811
(edited from Wikipedia)
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Mamluk
Mamluk were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-soldiers, and freed slaves who were assigned high-ranking military and administrative duties, serving the ruling Arab and Ottoman dynasties in the Muslim world.
The most enduring Mamluk realm was the knightly military class in medieval Egypt, which developed from the ranks of slave-soldiers. Originally the Mamluks were slaves of Turkic origins from the Eurasian Steppe, but the institution of military slavery spread. They also recruited from the Egyptians. The "Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class, was of great political importance; for one thing, it endured for nearly 1,000 years, from the 9th to the 19th centuries.
Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly class in various Muslim societies that were controlled by dynastic Arab rulers. Particularly in Egypt and Syria, but also in the Ottoman Empire, Levant, Mesopotamia, and India, mamluks held political and military power.
In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as emirs or beys. Most notably, Mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on Egypt and Syria, and controlled it as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517).The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut. They had earlier fought the western European Christian Crusaders in 1154–1169 and 1213–1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. In 1302 the Mamluk Sultanate formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades.
While Mamluks were purchased as property, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In places such as Egypt, from the Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, mamluks were considered to be "true lords" and "true warriors", with social status above the general population in Egypt and the Levant. In a sense, they were like enslaved mercenaries.
French campaign in Egypt and Syria
The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a Napoleonic campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, executed by Napoleon Bonaparte. The campaign ended in defeat for Napoleon after abandoning his troops to head back to France for the looming risk of a Second Coalition.
[Part of Napoleon's campaign was the] Battle of the Pyramids, a French victory over an enemy force of about 21,000 Mamluks. (Around 40,000 Mamluk soldiers stayed away from the battle.) The French defeated the Mamluk cavalry with a giant infantry square, with cannons and supplies safely on the inside. In all 300 French and approximately 6,000 Mamluks were killed. The battle gave rise to dozens of stories and drawings.
After Napoleon
After the departure of French troops in 1801 the Mamluks continued their struggle for independence; this time against the Ottoman Empire. In 1803, Mamluk leaders Ibrahim Bey and Osman Bey al-Bardisi wrote to the Russian consul-general, asking him to mediate with the Sultan to allow them to negotiate for a cease-fire, and a return to their homeland Georgia. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople refused however to intervene, because of nationalist unrest in Georgia that might have been encouraged by a Mamluk return.
In 1805, the population of Cairo rebelled. This provided a chance for the Mamluks to seize power, but internal friction prevented them from exploiting this opportunity. In 1806, the Mamluks defeated the Turkish forces in several clashes. in June the rival parties concluded an agreement by which Muhammad Ali, (appointed as governor of Egypt on 26 March 1806), was to be removed and authority returned to the Mamluks. However, they were again unable to capitalize on this opportunity due to discord between factions. Muhammad Ali retained his authority.
Massacre of the Mamluks at the Cairo citadel in 1811
Muhammad Ali knew that he would have to deal with the Mamluks if he wanted to control Egypt. They were still the feudal owners of Egypt and their land was still the source of wealth and power. However, the economic strain of sustaining the military manpower necessary to defend the Mamluks's system from the Europeans and Turks would eventually weaken them to the point of collapse.
On 1 March 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all of the leading Mamluks to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia.
Between 600 and 700 Mamluks paraded for this purpose in Cairo.
Muhammad Ali's forces killed almost all of these near the Al-Azab gates in a narrow road down from Mukatam Hill. This ambush came to be known as the Massacre of the Citadel. According to contemporary reports, only one Mamluk, whose name is given variously as Amim (also Amyn), or Heshjukur (a Besleney), survived when he forced his horse to leap from the walls of the citadel.
During the following week an estimated 3,000 Mamluks and their relatives were killed throughout Egypt, by Muhammad's regular troops. In the citadel of Cairo alone more than 1,000 Mamluks died.
Despite Muhammad Ali's destruction of the Mamluks in Egypt, a party of them escaped and fled south into what is now Sudan. In 1811, these Mamluks established a state at Dunqulah in the Sennar as a base for their slave trading. In 1820, the sultan of Sennar informed Muhammad Ali that he was unable to comply with a demand to expel the Mamluks. In response, the Pasha sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan, clear it of Mamluks, and reclaim it for Egypt. The Pasha's forces received the submission of the Kashif, dispersed the Dunqulah Mamluks, conquered Kordofan, and accepted Sennar's surrender from the last Funj sultan, Badi VII.
[Importance of Mamluks in Arab history]
According to Eric Chaney and Lisa Blades, the reliance on mamluks by Muslim rulers had a profound impact on the Arab world's political development. They argue that, because European rulers had to rely on local elites for military forces, lords and bourgeois acquired the necessary bargaining power to push for representative government. Muslim rulers did not face the same pressures partly because the Mamluks allowed the Sultans to bypass local elites.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_campaign_in_Egypt_and_Syria
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On This Day: Columbus intimidates indigenous Jamaicans with knowledge of eclipse - Feb. 29, 1504
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373373
On This Day: Branch Davidians inadvertently tipped off, leading to death, standoff with ATF, FBI - Feb. 28, 1993
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373350
On This Day: Poet/Peer Byron speaks against death penalty for destroying industrial machines - Feb. 27, 1812
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373297
On This Day: 1,400+ soldiers attempt coup by assassinating series of Japanese gov't officials - Feb. 26, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373253
On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373206
On This Day: Columbus intimidates indigenous Jamaicans with knowledge of eclipse - Feb. 29, 1504
(edited from Wikipedia)
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1504 lunar eclipse
A total lunar eclipse occurred on 1 March 1504, visible on the evening of 29 February in the Americas, and later over night over Europe and Africa, and near sunrise over Asia.
During his fourth and last voyage, Christopher Columbus induced the inhabitants of Jamaica to continue provisioning him and his hungry men, successfully intimidated them by correctly predicting [the] total lunar eclipse. Some have claimed that Columbus used the Ephemeris of the German astronomer Regiomontanus, but Columbus himself attributed the prediction to the Almanach by Abraham Zacuto.
Visibility
The eclipse was visible after sunset on 29 February from most of North America, all of South America, as well as across Europe, Africa, and western Asia on the morning of 1 March.
Observations
On 30 June 1503, Christopher Columbus beached his two last caravels and was stranded in Jamaica. The indigenous people of the island welcomed Columbus and his crew and fed them, but after six months, they halted the food supply, dissatisfied with what the Spaniards could provide in trade.
Columbus had on board an almanac authored by Abraham Zacuto of astronomical tables covering the years 1475–1506. Upon consulting the book, he noticed the date and the time of an upcoming lunar eclipse. He was able to use this information to his advantage. He requested a meeting for that day with the Cacique, the leader, and told him that God was angry with the local people's treatment of Columbus and his men. Columbus said God would provide a clear sign of displeasure by making the rising full Moon appear "inflamed with wrath".
The lunar eclipse and the red Moon appeared on schedule, and the indigenous people were impressed and frightened. The son of Columbus, Ferdinand, wrote that the people:
with great howling and lamentation they came running from every direction to the ships, laden with provisions, praying the Admiral to intercede by all means with God on their behalf; that he might not visit his wrath upon them ...
[God had pardoned them]
Columbus went into his cabin, ostensibly to pray, and timed the eclipse with his hourglass. Shortly before the totality ended after 48 minutes, he told the frightened indigenous people that they were going to be forgiven. When the Moon started to reappear from the shadow of the Earth, he told them that God had pardoned them.
Longitude
Columbus was perhaps the first to put into practice an idea proposed by Hipparchus, to use a lunar eclipse to determine one's geographical longitude. A lunar eclipse is visible across half the globe, and everyone sees it begin and end at the same moment. But the times when measured in the local solar time will differ, because everyone is in a different time zone. The local time is determined by observing the rise, culmination, or setting of the Sun. Now an almanac will predict an eclipse for some place at a certain geographical longitude at a specific local time there. The same event observed elsewhere will occur at a different clocktime. The difference in time is proportional to the difference in geographical longitude, by 15 degrees per hour.
Columbus had no accurate means to determine how far he had travelled West on the globe. He observed the lunar eclipses of 15 September 1494 near Hispaniola (Dominican Republic), and that of 29 February 1504 from Jamaica. In the latter case he reported in his journal that Jamaica was 7 hours and 15 minutes from Cadiz in Spain - well on his way to China. However his site at Jamaica is actually at a longitude 4 hours 44 minutes from Cadiz. How Columbus could make such a large error of 2 and 1?2 hours remains puzzling, but D.W. Olson proposed a reconstruction.
Columbus presumably used the Calendarium from Regiomontanus. This almanac gives the time of mid-eclipse at Nuremberg, but if Columbus erroneously interpreted the listed time as that of the beginning of the partial eclipse, then his 2 and 1?2 hour error could be explained. One can imagine that such false evidence confirmed Columbus in his belief he had reached China, overlooking the fact that he had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse
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On This Day: Branch Davidians inadvertently tipped off, leading to death, standoff with ATF, FBI - Feb. 28, 1993
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373350
On This Day: Poet/Peer Byron speaks against death penalty for destroying industrial machines - Feb. 27, 1812
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373297
On This Day: 1,400+ soldiers attempt coup by assassinating series of Japanese gov't officials - Feb. 26, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373253
On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373206
On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373172
On This Day: Branch Davidians inadvertently tipped off, leading to death, standoff with ATF, FBI - Feb. 28, 1993
(edited from article)
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The Reporter That Waco Destroyed Has No Regrets
... on the morning of February 28, 1993, ... 29-year-old [TV reporter John] McLemore and KWTX cameraman Dan Mulloney followed a convoy of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives vehicles onto a 77-acre compound west of Waco known as Mount Carmel. The property was owned by the Branch Davidian church and controlled by its leader, a preacher named David Koresh. When they drove onto Mount Carmel, the two newsmen expected to see a by-the-books seizure of illegal weapons. Instead, they witnessed one of the most ferocious gun battles in the history of American law enforcement. Four federal agents and six Branch Davidians died that day, setting off a 51-day FBI-led siege that ended when a fire consumed the Branch Davidians’ multistory compound, Koresh himself, and 75 of his followers who remained inside.
McLemore narrated the action, with Mulloney occasionally pivoting his camera away from the building and training it on the young reporter. After a cease-fire between the ATF and the Branch Davidians had been brokered, McLemore stayed on the scene, and he and Mulloney volunteered their Bronco to transport three wounded agents, including one who had been critically injured and was laid across the front hood.
Over the next day, McLemore’s face appeared around the world, as reporters covering what was the beginning of the Waco siege sought him out as an eyewitness authority. On March 1, ATF director Stephen Higgins placed a call to KWTX and thanked McLemore for his bravery in helping to evacuate the wounded agents. McLemore figured this was his ticket to a big career. But on March 2, McLemore’s brief celebrity began to unravel. That night, Houston Chronicle reporter Kathy Fair—who would later serve as Rick Perry’s chief of staff under her married name, Kathy Walt—told Nightline anchor Ted Koppel that, according to her ATF sources, “reporters for, I believe, the TV station allegedly were hiding in the trees when federal agents arrived.” The sources, Fair continued, “have told me they think they were set up by at least one reporter” who had “tipped off the sect about [the raid].”
This early account would prove to be mostly untrue. No reporters were at Mount Carmel before the ATF arrived. No one was hiding in trees. And no one had deliberately tipped off the Branch Davidians. McLemore’s colleague Jim Peeler, a cameraman, had inadvertently aroused the suspicions of the Branch Davidians after getting lost on the way to Mount Carmel that morning and talking with a postman, who turned out to be Branch Davidian David Jones. But it was McLemore who caught the bulk of the early backlash. After Fair’s report and a follow-up segment on Dallas station WFAA, some viewers blamed McLemore for the catastrophic outcome of the raid. Suddenly, it wasn’t Higgins reaching out to KWTX to thank the station’s reporters, but viewers calling to demand that McLemore be fired. One, McLemore told the Dallas Observer in 1998, had said, “The blood of these ATF agents is on McLemore’s hands.”
"
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/reporter-waco-destroyed-no-regrets/
(edited from Wikipedia)
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Waco siege
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in unincorporated McLennan County, Texas, 13 miles northeast of Waco. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh and several of the group's members.
The ATF had planned a sudden daylight raid of the ranch in order to serve these warrants. Any advantage of surprise was lost when a KWTX-TV reporter [note - incorrect by above article - not reporter, but cameraman] who had been tipped off about the raid asked for directions from a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who was coincidentally Koresh's brother-in-law. Thus, the group's members were fully armed and prepared; an intense gunfight erupted, resulting in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians. Upon the ATF's entering of the property and failure to execute the search warrant, a siege was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during which negotiations between the parties attempted to reach a compromise.
After 51 days, on April 19, 1993, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out of the compound's buildings. Shortly thereafter, the Mount Carmel Center became engulfed in flames. The fire and the reaction to the final attack within the group resulted in the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children and David Koresh. In total, the 51-day siege resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and 82 Branch Davidians, 28 of whom were children.
The events of the siege and attack, particularly the origin of the fire, are disputed by various sources. Department of Justice reports from October 1993 and July 2000 conclude that although incendiary tear gas canisters were used by the FBI, the Branch Davidians had started the fire, citing evidence from audio surveillance recordings of very specific discussions between Koresh and others about pouring more fuel on piles of hay as the fires started, and from aerial footage showing at least three simultaneous ignition points at different locations in the building complex. The FBI contends that none of their agents fired any live rounds on the day of the fire.[16] Critics contend that live rounds were indeed fired by law enforcement, and suggest that a combination of gunshots and flammable tear gas was the true cause of the fire.
[Waco siege as a cause]
The Waco siege was cited by Timothy McVeigh as the main reason for his and Terry Nichols's plan to execute the Oklahoma City bombing exactly two years later, on April 19, 1995, as well as the modern-day American militia movement and a rise in opposition to firearm regulation.
[Branch Davidians]
The Branch Davidians (also known as "The Branch " ) were a religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff. Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon.
As the original Davidian group gained members, its leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel mentioned in Joshua 19:26 in the Bible's Old Testament.
A few years later, they moved again to a much larger site east of the city. In 1959, Victor's widow, Florence Houteff, announced that the expected Armageddon was about to take place, and members were told to gather at the center to await this event. Many of them built houses, others stayed in tents, trucks, or buses, and most of them sold their possessions.
Following the failure of this prophecy, control of the site (Mount Carmel Center) fell to Benjamin Roden, founder of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association (Branch Davidians). He promoted different doctrinal beliefs than those of Victor Houteff's original Davidian Seventh-day Adventist organization. On Roden's death, control of the Branch Davidians fell to his wife, Lois Roden. Lois considered their son, George Roden, unfit to assume the position of prophet. Instead, she groomed Vernon Wayne Howell (later known as David Koresh) to be her successor.
In 1984, a meeting led to a division of the group, with Howell leading one faction (calling themselves the Branch Davidians) and George Roden leading the competing faction. After this split, George Roden ran Howell and his followers off Mount Carmel at gunpoint. Howell and his group relocated to Palestine, Texas.
[fighting between the factions follows]
[Married couples separated]
On August 5, 1989, Howell released the "New Light" audiotape, in which he said that God told him to procreate with the women in the group to establish a "House of David" of his "special people." This involved separating married couples in the group, who had to agree that only he could have sexual relations with the wives, while the men should observe celibacy. Howell also said that God had told him to start building an "Army for God" to prepare for the end of days and a salvation for his followers.
Howell filed a petition in the California State Superior Court in Pomona on May 15, 1990, to legally change his name "for publicity and business purposes" to David Koresh. On August 28, he was granted the petition. By 1992, most of the land belonging to the group had been sold except for a core 77 acres. Most of the buildings had been removed or were being salvaged for construction materials to convert much of the main chapel and a tall water tank into apartments for the resident members of the group. Many of the members of the group had been involved with the Davidians for a few generations, and many had large families.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege
(edited from article)
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Trump vows retribution at Waco rally: “I am your warrior, I am your justice”
MARCH 25, 2023
WACO — Flanked by supporters waving “witch hunt” signs, former President Donald Trump turned in a signature incendiary performance Saturday in Waco, using his first 2024 campaign rally to frame himself as a victim of politicized legal investigations and vowing to be the MAGA movement’s “retribution.”
"I am your warrior, I am your justice,” Trump said in a nearly 90-minute speech, most of it focused on perceived political enemies and slights. “For those who have been wronged and betrayed … I am your retribution."
Trump positioned himself as the sole protector of American values, painting a grim future if he is denied a second four-year term.
“I will prevent World War III, which we’re heading into,” Trump said to a crowd of thousands gathered on the tarmac of the Waco Regional Airport.
"
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/25/donald-trump-waco-rally-retribution-justice/
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On This Day: Poet/Peer Byron speaks against death penalty for destroying industrial machines - Feb. 27, 1812
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373297
On This Day: 1,400+ soldiers attempt coup by assassinating series of Japanese gov't officials - Feb. 26, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373253
On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373206
On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373172
On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373130
On This Day: Poet/Peer Byron speaks against death penalty for destroying industrial machines - Feb. 27, 1812
(Edited from article)
"
On February 27th 1812, two week before the publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage brought him instant fame and considerably more wealth, Lord Byron delivered his maiden speech in the House of Lords at the age of 24. It was a stirring defence of the Luddites, the machine-breakers who smashed the textile machinery that threatened their jobs. They were an oath-based group who met at night, masked and in numbers, to break into Midlands textile factories and destroy the machines they housed.
Byron was opposing Perceval’s Frame Work Bill, which introduced the death penalty for that and related offences. His case was that the men who did this had no alternative but starvation. He said:
“nothing but absolute want could have driven a large, and once honest and industrious, body of the people, into the commission of excesses so hazardous to themselves, their families, and the community.”
Byron claimed that the machines destroyed the livelihood of the poor, simply in order to make the mill owners more rich.
"
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/lord-byron-defended-the-luddites
(edited from Wikipedia)
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The Destruction of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1812 was an Act of Parliament passed by the British Government in 1812 aimed at increasing the penalties for Luddite behaviour in order to discourage it.
The Act, as passed, made the destruction of mechanised looms – stocking frames – a capital felony (and hence a crime punishable by death). Similarly raised to the level of capital felony were the associated crimes of damaging frames and entering a property with intent to damage a frame.
Although approximately 60 to 70 Luddites were hanged in the period that the statute was in force, no death sentences seem to have been justified on [the grounds of this particular piece of legislation], with judges preferring to use existing legislation. The Act was officially repealed in 1814 [and replaced with another]. By [1817], however, Luddism had largely subsided as a movement.
[Luddite]
The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers which opposed the use of certain types of cost-saving machinery, and often destroyed the machines in clandestine raids. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods.
The Luddite movement began in Nottingham, England, and spread to the North West and Yorkshire between 1811 and 1816. Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed by legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites.
Over time, the term has been used to refer to those opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation, or new technologies in general.
[Worker protest]
Malcolm L. Thomas argued in his 1970 history The Luddites that machine-breaking was one of the very few tactics that workers could use to increase pressure on employers, undermine lower-paid competing workers, and create solidarity among workers. "These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made." Historian Eric Hobsbawm has called their machine wrecking "collective bargaining by riot", which had been a tactic used in Britain since the Restoration because manufactories were scattered throughout the country, and that made it impractical to hold large-scale strikes.
[Economic crisis in this period] led to widespread protest and violence, but the middle classes and upper classes strongly supported the government, which used the army to suppress all working-class unrest, especially the Luddite movement.
The Luddites met at night on the moors surrounding industrial towns to practice military-like drills and manoeuvres. They wrecked specific types of machinery that posed a threat to the particular industrial interests in each region. In the Midlands, these were the "wide" knitting frames used to make cheap and inferior lace articles. In the North West, weavers sought to eliminate the steam-powered looms threatening wages in the cotton trade. In Yorkshire, workers opposed the use of shearing frames and gig mills to finish woolen cloth.
Many Luddite groups were highly organized and pursued machine-breaking as one of several tools for achieving specific political ends. In addition to the raids, Luddites coordinated public demonstrations and the mailing of letters to local industrialists and government officials.
Government response
The British government ultimately dispatched 12,000 troops to suppress Luddite activity, which historian Eric Hobsbawm said was a larger number than the army which the Duke of Wellington led during the Peninsular War.
Legacy
In the 19th century, occupations that arose from the growth of trade and shipping in ports, also as "domestic" manufacturers, were notorious for precarious employment prospects. Underemployment was chronic during this period, and it was common practice to retain a larger workforce than was typically necessary for insurance against labour shortages in boom times.
Merchant capitalists lacked the incentive of later factory owners, whose capital was invested in buildings and plants, to maintain a steady rate of production and return on fixed capital. The combination of seasonal variations in wage rates and violent short-term fluctuations springing from harvests and war produced periodic outbreaks of violence.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Stocking_Frames,_etc._Act_1812
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
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On This Day: 1,400+ soldiers attempt coup by assassinating series of Japanese gov't officials - Feb. 26, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373253
On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373206
On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373172
On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373130
On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373046
On This Day: 1,400+ soldiers attempt coup by assassinating series of Japanese gov't officials - Feb. 26, 1936
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
February 26 incident
The February 26 incident was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.
Although the rebels succeeded in assassinating several leading officials (including two former prime ministers) and in occupying the government center of Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister Keisuke Okada or secure control of the Imperial Palace.
Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with Imperial anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February.
Unlike earlier examples of political violence by young officers, the coup attempt had severe consequences. After a series of closed trials, nineteen of the uprising's leaders were executed for mutiny and another forty were imprisoned. The radical Kōdō-ha faction lost its influence within the army, while the military, now free from infighting, increased its control over the civilian government, which had been severely weakened by the assassination of key moderate and liberal-minded leaders.
[Factions within the army]
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) had a long history of factionalism among its high-ranking officers. By the early 1930s, officers in the high command had become split into two main informal groups: the Kōdō-ha "Imperial Way" faction, and the Tōsei-ha "Control" faction.
The Kōdō-ha emphasized the importance of Japanese culture, spiritual purity over material quality, and the need to attack the Soviet Union (Hokushin-ron), while the Tōsei-ha officers supported central economic and military planning (total war theory), technological modernization, mechanization and expansion within China.
The Kōdō-ha was dominant from 1931 to 1934, occupying most significant staff positions.
The "young officers" [seek a purge]
A number of lesser-privileged [IJA] officers formed the young, highly politicized group often referred to as the "young officers".
The young officers believed that the problems facing the nation were the result of Japan straying from the kokutai (an amorphous term often translated as "national polity", it roughly signifies the relationship between the Emperor and the state).
To them, the "privileged classes" exploited the people, leading to widespread poverty in rural areas, and deceived the Emperor, usurping his power and weakening Japan. The solution, they believed, was a "Shōwa Restoration" modeled on the Meiji Restoration of 70 years earlier. By rising up and destroying the "evil advisers around the Throne", the officers would enable the Emperor to re-establish his authority. The Emperor would then purge those who exploited the people, restoring prosperity to the nation.
Almost all of the young officers' subordinates were from poor peasant family or working class, and believed that the young officers truly understood their predicaments and spirits.
The loose-knit young officers group varied in size, but is estimated to have had roughly 100 regular members, mostly officers in the Tokyo area.
Despite its relatively small size, the Kokutai Genri-ha faction was influential, due in no small part to the threat it posed. It had sympathizers among the general staff and the Imperial Family. The faction had also managed to secure irregular funding from zaibatsu leaders who hoped to shield themselves.
Planning and manifesto
The uprising was planned in a series of meetings held between 18 and 22 February. The plan decided upon was relatively simple. The officers would assassinate the most prominent enemies of the kokutai, secure control of the administrative center of the capital and the Imperial Palace, then submit their demands (the dismissal of certain officers and the appointment of a new cabinet led by Mazaki).
They had no longer-term goals, believing that those should be left to the Emperor.
The young officers believed they had at least tacit approval for their uprising from a number of important IJA officers after making a number of informal approaches.
The young officers prepared an explanation of their intentions and grievances in a document entitled "Manifesto of the Uprising".
Now, as we are faced with great emergencies both foreign and domestic, if we do not execute the disloyal and unrighteous who threaten the kokutai, if we do not cut away the villains who obstruct the Emperor's authority, who block the Restoration, the Imperial plan for our nation will come to nothing [...] To cut away the evil ministers and military factions near the Emperor and destroy their heart: that is our duty and we will complete it.
Seven [high-ranking government official] targets were chosen for assassination for "threatening the kokutai".
The Righteous Army
From 22 February on, [...] seven leaders managed to convince eighteen other officers to join the uprising with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were informed on the night of 25 February, hours before the attacks started.
The soldiers themselves, 70% of whom were less than a month out of basic training, were not told anything before the coup began, though many were (according to the officers) enthusiastic once the uprising began.
Including officers, civilians and men from other units, the total size of the Righteous Army was 1,558 men. An official count of 1,483 was given at the time.
The coup leaders adopted the name "Righteous Army" for this force and the password "Revere the Emperor, Destroy the Traitors". Allies were to display a three-sen postage stamp when approaching the army's lines.
[Attack]
The rebel troops, divided into six groups, assembled their troops and left their barracks between 03:30 and 04:00 [on Feb. 26]. The attacks on [leaders] Okada, Takahashi, Suzuki, Saito, the Ministry of War and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters occurred simultaneously at 05:00. The attack on Okada consisted of 280 men from the 1st Infantry Regiment.
The troops surrounded the Prime Minister's Residence and forced its guards to open the gates. Upon entering the compound and attempting to find the prime minister. He was taken into hiding by his brother-in-law, Colonel Denzō Matsuo. Matsuo, who was said to have resembled Okada, was then discovered and killed by the troops. Okada escaped the next day, but this fact was kept a secret.
160 men seize[d] control of the Minister of War's residence, the Ministry of War itself and the General Staff Office. Once this had been accomplished, they read their manifesto aloud.
At approximately 10:00, sixty men and traveled from the Prime Minister's Residence to the offices of the Asahi Shimbun, a prominent liberal newspaper. Charging into the building, the officers forced the newspaper employees to evacuate while yelling that the attack was "divine retribution for being an un-Japanese newspaper".
1st Lieutenant Motoaki Nakahashi of the 3rd Imperial Guard assembled 135 men and marched to Takahashi's personal residence. There he split his men in half and took one group to attack the residence while having the other stand guard outside. After the men smashed their way into the compound, confused servants led Nakahashi and Lieutenant Kanji Nakajima to Takahashi's bedroom. There, Nakahashi shot the sleeping Takahashi with his pistol while Nakajima slashed him with his sword. Takahashi died without waking.
1st Lieutenant Naoshi Sakai led 120 men from the 3rd Infantry Regiment to Saitō's private residence in Yotsuya. A group of the soldiers surrounded the policemen on guard, who surrendered. Five men, including Sakai, entered the residence and found Saitō and his wife Haruko on the second floor in their bedroom. They shot Saitō, who fell to the ground dead. His wife covered him with her body and told the soldiers, "Please kill me instead!" They pulled her off and continued to fire at Saitō.
Captain Teruzō Andō led 200 men of the 3rd Infantry Regiment to Suzuki's private residence. They surrounded and disarmed the police on guard, then a group entered the building. After Suzuki was discovered in his bedroom, he was shot twice. Andō then moved to deliver a coup de grace with his sword, when Suzuki's wife pleaded to be allowed to do it herself. Believing Suzuki to be mortally wounded, Andō agreed. He apologized to her, explaining that it was done for the sake of the nation.
As [soldiers] attempted to enter the front of the [Watanabe] residence, they were fired upon by military police stationed inside. The soldiers then forced their way in through the rear entrance, where they encountered Watanabe's wife standing outside their bedroom on the second floor. Shoving her aside, they found Watanabe using a futon for cover. Watanabe opened fire with his pistol, whereupon one of the soldiers fired a burst at him with a light machine gun. Takahashi then rushed forward and stabbed Watanabe with his sword. Watanabe's nine-year-old daughter, Kazuko, witnessed his death as she hid behind a table nearby.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters [seized]
Captain Shirō Nonaka took nearly a third of all the rebels' troops, 500 men from the 3rd Infantry Regiment, to attack the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, located directly south of the Imperial Palace, with the goal of securing its communication equipment and preventing the dispatch of the police's Emergency Service Unit. They met no resistance and soon secured the building.
Government response and suppression of the uprising
With Saitō dead and Suzuki gravely wounded, the Emperor's chief remaining advisors were Kōichi Kido, Chief Secretary to the Lord Keeper; Kurahei Yuasa, Minister of the Imperial Household; and Vice-Grand Chamberlain Tadataka Hirohata. These officials met after learning of the attacks from Suzuki's secretary. They took a hard line, advising the Emperor that he should demand that efforts be concentrated on suppressing the uprising and that he must not accept the resignation of the current government, as doing so would "effectively be granting victory to the rebel army". It was after hearing this advice that Hirohito hardened his position.
Kawashima met with the Emperor at 09:30 after his meeting with the rebel officers at the Ministry of War. He read the officers' manifesto and demands aloud and then recommended the Emperor form a new cabinet to "clarify the kokutai, stabilize national life, and fulfill national defense." The Emperor refused and demanded that Kawashima suppress the uprising. When the remaining members of Okada's government, unaware that he was alive, attempted to resign that afternoon, Hirohito told them he would not allow it until the uprising had been suppressed.
Despite the Emperor's order to Kawashima that the uprising be suppressed, Araki proposed that a message be drafted to the rebels. This message, which came to be known as the "Minister of War's Proclamation", has become a point of controversy (it was issued in Kawashima's name because of the unofficial nature of the SMC meeting). Araki and other participants argued later that it had been intended to persuade the officers to surrender. Others interpreted it as an endorsement of the uprising.
Martial Law
Two other developments deepened the rebel officers' impression that their uprising had succeeded. Kashii, acting as commander of the Tokyo garrison, ordered a state of "wartime emergency". This had the effect of formally placing the rebel troops within the chain of command. The officers were encouraged by the act and convinced that they were on the verge of success. The second positive development was the declaration of martial law.
Despite [these] developments, the position of the Righteous Army was less secure than it seemed. Most significantly the Emperor and his court officials had taken a hard line towards the uprising. In addition, the rebels also faced important opposition within the military as well.
Reinforcements [were called in] from outside Tokyo.
By the afternoon of 27 February forty warships were stationed in Tokyo Bay and the navy's land forces had been dispatched to defend naval installations in the city.
Negotiations and stalemate
[Various negotiations ensue].
The Emperor had, by the end of 27 February, become increasingly impatient with the failure of the Army to suppress the uprising as he had ordered on the previous day. The Navy's quick response satisfied him but the Army's hesitation was inexplicable to the Emperor. He summoned Honjō throughout the day, demanding to know if the rebels had been suppressed. When Honjō spoke in defense of the officers' motives, the Emperor angrily replied "killing my ministers is tantamount to strangling me with cotton wool" and added that the rebels deserved no leniency. At one point, Hirohito became so impatient he threatened to assume personal command of the Imperial Guard and order them to attack the rebels himself.
The General Staff and Martial Law Headquarters decided to release the imperial command at 05:00 on the 28th. At 08:00 the rebel officers' nominal superior, Major Kofuji, was told to inform the officers of the imperial command and order them to return to their units.
When 10:00 passed without any word of movement by the rebel officers, they approved the use of force. However, when Hori and Kofuji came to see Kashii at 10:40, the three agreed that it was too early to enact the imperial command. It has also been suggested that a lack of preparedness on the part of government forces was another factor. Either way, the action was delayed.
Yamashita visited the Ministry of War at 12:00 and told the rebel officers that the issuance of the imperial command was merely a matter of time and that they should "take responsibility". Hori joined the group at 12:30 and confirmed Yamashita's words. Shortly after, Kurihara, speaking for the group, asked that an Imperial messenger be sent. He said that the officers would commit suicide and the NCOs would take the soldiers back to their barracks.
[Request for Imperial suicide order denied]
Yamashita, joined by Kawashima, immediately went to the Imperial Palace, where he informed Honjō of the officers' request for the Imperial Command for their suicide, perceived to be the only honourable way out for them. Honjō, thinking this was a good solution for all parties concerned, asked his majesty that the request be granted, but to his surprise, the Emperor flatly refused. His fury was such that he blurted "If they want to die, do as they wish. Do it on their own. An Imperial Command is out of question".
[Final stages]
Soon after, at 16:00, Martial Law Headquarters announced that force would be used and the rebel troops were removed from Kofuji's command at 18:00. At 23:00 orders went out to begin preparations at 05:00 on 29 February for a general attack.
By the morning of 29 February, the Righteous Army, consisting of less than 1,500, was surrounded by more than 20,000 loyal government troops and 22 tanks. The general attack was planned for 09:00. By 05:30 all civilians in the surrounding areas had been evacuated.
Realizing the hopelessness, by noon all the officers except Andō had released their soldiers. Finally, at 13:00, Andō ordered his men to leave and unsuccessfully attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. The rest assembled at the Ministry of War. There they met Yamashita and Ishiwara, who suggested that they commit suicide. They allowed the men to keep their sidearms and left. Colonel Nobutoki Ide, a member of the General Staff and Nonaka's former commander, came to the building and called for Nonaka to come outside. Shortly afterwards, Nonaka shot himself. Isobe claimed that Nonaka was forced to commit suicide in an attempt to pressure the rest of the officers to do the same. The final rebel officer to commit suicide was Kōno, still hospitalized from the failed attack on Makino, who stabbed himself with a knife a week later. The remaining officers were arrested by military police at 18:00. They were all stripped of their rank.
[Trials]
The only significant military figure to be tried for involvement in the uprising was Mazaki, charged with collaborating with the rebel officers. Although his own testimony showed him to be guilty of the charge, he was found not guilty on 25 September 1937. This has been attributed to the influence of Fumimaro Konoe, who had become prime minister in June.
Fifteen of the officers were executed by firing squad on 15 July at a military prison in Shibuya. The execution of Muranaka and Isobe was delayed so that they could testify at Kita and Nishida's trial. Muranaka, Isobe, Kita and Nishida were executed by firing squad at the same location on 14 August 1937.
Change of government
Despite the failure of the coup, the February 26 Incident had the effect of significantly increasing the military's influence over the civilian government.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26_incident
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On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373206
On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373172
On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373130
On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373046
On This Day: Russians invade ill-prepared Sweden to take Finland - Feb. 21, 1808
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373022
On This Day: Lithuanian largest mass suicide in history to avoid death/slavery by Christian crusaders - Feb. 25, 1336
(edited from article)
"
Largest Mass Suicide in Human History (Pilénai)
On February 25, 1336, the 4,000 defenders of the medieval Lithuanian fortress of Pilénai thought they had no other choice but to make the horrible decision to kill themselves and their families after torching and destroying everything they had of value to deny their Teutonic besiegers the spoils of victory and the opportunity to kill or enslave them.
The number of women and children sacrificed is unknown, but even just the number of defenders, recorded at 4,000, is more than enough to rank as history’s largest mass suicide, eclipsing the 900+ dead at Masada in 37-31 B.C. and the 900+ dead at Jonestown in 1978.
These brave defenders are remembered in an epic poem by Wladyslaw Syrokomla titled Margier, in reference to the Duke of Margiris who commanded the defenders, and also in a 1956 opera by Vytautas Klova (with J. Mackonis) titled Pilénai.
Although Lithuanians remember the event as a glorious part of their history, the exact location of the fortress is disputed, with a few different locations laying claim to be the hallowed ground. As for the Teutonic Knights (Germans), they were Crusaders who were back from the Holy Land, and in their march across Europe, attempted to convert Pagans, such as those they found in Lithuania, to Christianity.
"
https://www.historyandheadlines.com/largest-mass-suicide-in-human-history-pilenai/
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Pilėnai
Pilėnai was a hill fort in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its location is unknown and is subject to academic debates, but it is well known in the history of Lithuania due to its heroic defense against the Teutonic Order in 1336. Attacked by a large Teutonic force, the fortress, commanded by Duke Margiris, tried in vain to organize a defense against the larger and stronger invader. Losing hope, the defenders decided to burn their property and commit mass suicide to deprive the Order of prisoners and loot. This dramatic episode from the Lithuanian Crusade has caught the public imagination, inspired many works of fiction, and became a symbol of Lithuanian struggles and resistance.
Attack and defense
The Teutonic Order waged the decades-long Lithuanian Crusade against the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania in hopes of converting it to Christianity. In early 1336, the Order organized another large campaign into Lithuania. Their force included nobles from France and Austria. In total, according to Wigand of Marburg, there were 200 nobles. Another German chronicle, known as Der Chronist von Wolfenbüttel, counted a total of 6,000 soldiers.
On the feast day of Saint Matthias (February 25), this large force attacked Pilėnai, where some 4,000 people from four different lands sought shelter from the invasion. Wigand's description of further events paints a chaotic and bloody scene. He claims that the people panicked as soon as they saw the Christian army and decided to burn their belongings and commit suicide.
Kurze Reimchronik von Preussen mentioned that 5,000 people were killed and only a handful escaped.
That is all of the information available from contemporary sources. Later historians and authors added many heroic and dramatic details. For example, they added a large pyre and murder of children and women; the 4,000 people seeking shelter in the fortress became 4,000 armed soldiers; Lithuanians bravely and determinedly defended the fortress but chose death over converting to Christianity and becoming slaves of the Order, etc. Possibly some of these details were inspired by similar events from the antiquity, including mass suicides in Astapa following the destruction of Illiturgis (206 BC), to "death or victory" defense of Abydos (200 BC), and mass suicide during the desperate siege of Masada (c.?74 CE).
It is difficult, if not impossible, to objectively evaluate the events as all that is known about Pilėnai comes from a single source, a German chronicler who saw Lithuanians as heathens and enemies. While there is written evidence about suicides in medieval Lithuania, Pilėnai is the only known instance where a ruler killed his own men.
Cultural significance
The heroic defense of Pilėnai inspired many artistic works, [including poems, novels, and operas].
The opera Pilėnai was written by the musical composer Vytautas Klova, and the libretto was written by Jonas Mackonis. The opera premiered in 1956, and is often performed in Lithuania. In 2001 the performances took place at the Trakai Island Castle. The Lithuanian Opera Company of Chicago performed the work in 2006 to commemorate its 50th anniversary.
Lithuanian Crusade
The Lithuanian Crusade was a series of campaigns by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order under the pretext of forcibly Christianizing the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Livonian Order occupied Riga in 1202 and in the 1230s they settled in Chełmno Land, a fief of Poland. They first conquered other neighboring Baltic tribes—Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Selonians, and Old Prussians—in the Livonian Crusade and Prussian Crusade.
The first raid against the Lithuanians and Samogitians was in 1208. From then on, the orders played a key role in Lithuanian politics, but they were not a direct threat until the 1280s. By that time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was already a centralized state and could mount defenses.
[Ethnic cleansing]
For the next century, the order organized annual colonialist reise (raids) into Samogitian and Lithuanian lands, without great success but at immense human cost. Border regions in Samogitia and Suvalkija became sparsely inhabited wilderness due to ethnic cleansing, although the order gained very little territory. The resulting wars between the Teutonic Order and Lithuania were one of the longest conflicts in the history of Europe.
The grand duchy finally converted to Christianity in 1386, when Grand Duke Jogaila accepted baptism from Poland before his wedding to reigning Queen Jadwiga and coronation as king of Poland. However, the baptism did not stop the crusade, as the order publicly challenged the sincerity of the conversion at the papal court. Lithuania and its new ally, Poland, defeated the order in the decisive Battle of Grunwald in 1410, which is often cited as the end of the Lithuanian Crusade and the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The final peace was reached by the Treaty of Melno (1422), ending 225 years of warfare.
[War against infidels]
At its peak, Lithuania was the largest state in Europe.
Crusaders claimed to wage war to convert non-Christian "infidels" to Christianity by force. In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote that the killing of pagans was also justified: "The Christian glories in the death of the pagan, because Christ is glorified." Only in the 15th century, with the Council of Constance, would that view be contested and a discussion on the rights of pagans begun.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pil%C4%97nai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Crusade
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On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373172
On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373130
On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373046
On This Day: Russians invade ill-prepared Sweden to take Finland - Feb. 21, 1808
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373022
On This Day: Big business plays a central role in rise of Nazi party via secret meeting - Feb. 20, 1933
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372945
On This Day: "Single most important" decision in Supreme Court history issued - Feb. 24, 1803
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find to violate the Constitution of the United States. Decided in 1803, Marbury is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law.
The Court established that the U.S. Constitution is actual law, not just a statement of political principles and ideals. It also helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government.
On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 4–0 decision against Marbury. The Court's opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall.
Judicial review in the United States
In the United States, judicial review is the legal power of a court to determine if a statute, treaty, or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution. While the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly define the power of judicial review, the authority for judicial review in the United States has been inferred from the structure, provisions, and history of the Constitution.
In 1803, Marbury v. Madison was the first Supreme Court case where the Court asserted its authority to strike down a law as unconstitutional. At the end of his opinion in this decision, Chief Justice John Marshall maintained that the Supreme Court's responsibility to overturn unconstitutional legislation was a necessary consequence of their sworn oath of office to uphold the Constitution as instructed in Article Six of the Constitution.
[How many Acts and Laws have been struck down]
As of 2014, the United States Supreme Court has held 176 Acts of the U.S. Congress unconstitutional. In the period 1960–2019, the Supreme Court has held 483 laws unconstitutional in whole or in part.
Laws limiting judicial review
Although the Supreme Court continues to review the constitutionality of statutes, Congress and the states retain some power to influence what cases come before the Court. For example, the Constitution at Article III, Section 2, gives Congress power to make exceptions to the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has historically acknowledged that its appellate jurisdiction is defined by Congress, and thus Congress may have power to make some legislative or executive actions unreviewable. This is known as jurisdiction stripping.
Another way for Congress to limit judicial review was tried in January 1868, when a bill was proposed requiring a two-thirds majority of the Court in order to deem any Act of Congress unconstitutional. The bill was approved by the House, 116 to 39. That measure died in the Senate, partly because the bill was unclear about how the bill's own constitutionality would be decided.
Many other bills have been proposed in Congress that would require a supermajority in order for the justices to exercise judicial review. During the early years of the United States, a two-thirds majority was necessary for the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review; because the Court then consisted of six members, a simple majority and a two-thirds majority both required four votes. Currently, the constitutions of two states require a supermajority of supreme court justices in order to exercise judicial review: Nebraska (five out of seven justices) and North Dakota (four out of five justices).
[Summary of Marbury v. Madison]
The case originated in early 1801 as part of the political rivalry between outgoing President John Adams and incoming President Thomas Jefferson.
Adams had lost the U.S. presidential election of 1800 to Jefferson. In March 1801, just two days before his term as president ended, Adams appointed several dozen Federalist Party supporters to new circuit judge and justice of the peace positions in an attempt to frustrate Jefferson and his supporters in the Democratic-Republican Party.
The outgoing U.S. Senate quickly confirmed Adams's appointments, but outgoing Secretary of State John Marshall was unable to deliver all of the new judges' commissions before Adams's departure and Jefferson's inauguration. Jefferson believed the undelivered commissions were void and instructed his Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver them.
One of the undelivered commissions belonged to William Marbury, a Maryland businessman who had been a strong supporter of Adams and the Federalists. In late 1801, after Madison had repeatedly refused to deliver his commission, Marbury filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court asking the Court to issue a writ of mandamus forcing Madison to deliver his commission.
In an opinion written by Marshall, who by then had been appointed Chief Justice of the United States, the Supreme Court held that Madison's refusal to deliver Marbury's commission was illegal. The Court also held that it was normally proper in such situations for a court to order the government official in question to deliver the commission.
In Marbury's case, however, the Court did not order Madison to comply. Examining the law Congress had passed to define Supreme Court jurisdiction over types of cases like Marbury's—Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789—the Court found that the Act had expanded the definition of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction beyond what was originally set forth in the U.S. Constitution.
The Court then struck down Section 13 of the Act, announcing that American courts have the power to invalidate laws that they find to violate the Constitution—a power now known as judicial review. Because striking down the law removed any jurisdiction the Court might have had over the case, the Court could not issue the writ that Marbury had requested.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_the_United_States
[Why Marbury v. Madison is important]
"
Landmark Cases - Marbury v. Madison (1803)
[The Court ruled that] By extending the Court's original jurisdiction to include cases like Marbury's, Congress had exceeded it authority. And when an act of Congress is in conflict with the Constitution, it is, Marshall said, the obligation of the Court to uphold the Constitution because, by Article VI, it is the "supreme law of the land."
As a result of Marshall's decision Marbury was denied his commission -- which presumably pleased President Jefferson. Jefferson was not pleased with the lecture given him by the Chief Justice, however, nor with Marshall's affirmation of the Court's power to review acts of Congress. For practical strategic reasons, Marshall did not say that the Court was the only interpreter of the Constitution (though he hoped it would be) and he did not say how the Court would enforce its decisions if Congress or the Executive opposed them. But, by his timely assertion of judicial review, the Court began its ascent as an equal branch of government -- an equal in power to the Congress and the president. Throughout its long history, when the Court needed to affirm its legitimacy, it has cited Marshall's opinion in Marbury v. Madison.
"
https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/landmark_marbury.html
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On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373130
On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373046
On This Day: Russians invade ill-prepared Sweden to take Finland - Feb. 21, 1808
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373022
On This Day: Big business plays a central role in rise of Nazi party via secret meeting - Feb. 20, 1933
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372945
On This Day: Betty Friedan draws large numbers of new supporters to feminist cause - Feb. 19, 1963
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372915
On This Day: First major slave revolt in South America starts; grows to 3,000 - Feb. 23, 1763
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Berbice slave uprising
The Berbice slave uprising was a slave revolt in Guyana that began on 23 February 1763 and lasted to December, with leaders including Coffy. The first major slave revolt in South America, it is seen as a major event in Guyana's anti-colonial struggles, and when Guyana became a republic in 1970 the state declared 23 February as a day to commemorate the start of the Berbice slave revolt.
[Population]
In 1762, the population of the Dutch colony of Berbice included 3,833 enslaved Blacks, 244 enslaved Amerindians or indigenous people, and 346 whites.
Revolution
On 23 February 1763, slaves on plantation Magdalenenberg on the Canje River in Berbice rebelled, protesting harsh and inhumane treatment. They torched the plantation house, and made for the Courantyne River where Caribs and troops commanded by Governor Wigbold Crommelin of Suriname attacked, and killed them. On 27 February 1763, a revolt took place on plantation Hollandia on the Berbice River next to Lilienburg, where Coffy was an enslaved man working as a cooper. He is said to have organized them into a military unit. From then on, the revolt spread to neighbouring plantations.
There were supposed to be 60 soldiers in Fort Nassau; however, at the time of uprising, there were only 18 men including civilian militia in the fort. As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the Dutch settlers fled northward and the rebels began to take over control of the region. For almost a year, the rebels held on to southern Berbice, while the whites were able to hold on to the north. Eventually only about half of the white population that had lived in the colony remained.
The rebels came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas. Coffy was installed as the political leader, and Accara was the military leader.
[Concern with starvation]
Coffy tried to keep the captured plantations operating to prevent starvation.
[Military assistance]
Governor van Hoogenheim asked the States General for military assistance. On 28 March 1763, the ship Betsy arrived from Suriname with 100 soldiers. The former slaves were driven back, and a camp was set up at De Dageraad ("The Daybreak " ). On 2 April, 300 to 400 rebels attacked, led by Accara, which drove them back.
Suppression
Coffy contacted van Hoogenheim and said that he regretted the attack, and started peace negotiations suggesting to split Berbice into a European and an African part. The Governor replied that Amsterdam should make the decision, and that it could take three to four months.
In April, 200 troops arrived from Barbados, because a message was sent to Gedney Clarke, who owned seven plantations in the Dutch colonies as well, and in May, Sint Eustatius provided military assistance. In the meantime, word had reached Amsterdam. On 21 May 1763, the Amsterdamsche Courant reported the revolt of the slaves. The merchants demanded action, and six ships with a total of 600 men set sail to Berbice. Field Marshal von Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was assigned to devise a plan to reconquer the colony.
On 19 October 1763, it was reported to the governor that Captain Atta had revolted against Coffy, and that Coffy had committed suicide. This cancelled the peace negotiations; however, the colonists had already been strengthened by the arrival of soldiers.
On 1 January 1764, the six ships arrived, providing the starting signal for expeditions against the rebel slaves. The insurgents were being defeated. Captain Atta and Accara were captured, at which time Accara changed sides, and helped the Dutch to capture Captain Accabre, the last of the insurgents, on 15 April 1764.
The Dutch executed many rebels for participating in the rebellion. The estimates vary from 75 to 128 (125 men and 3 women), leading to the colony’s recapture by the summer of 1764 and savage repercussions. Around 1,800 rebels died, with 24 burned alive Captain Accara was pardoned, and later served as a freedman with the marines under his former adversary Fourgeoud.
The population of the colony had decreased to 1,308 male slaves, 1,317 females, 745 children, and 115 whites in November 1764, which includes recently purchased slaves.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbice_slave_uprising
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On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373046
On This Day: Russians invade ill-prepared Sweden to take Finland - Feb. 21, 1808
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016373022
On This Day: Big business plays a central role in rise of Nazi party via secret meeting - Feb. 20, 1933
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372945
On This Day: Betty Friedan draws large numbers of new supporters to feminist cause - Feb. 19, 1963
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372915
On This Day: Mutiny of 10,000 sailors, 56 ships, begins - Feb. 18, 1946
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016372901
On This Day: Great White Fleet returns home from world-wide trip to demonstrate U.S. power - Feb. 22, 1909
(edited from article)
"
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet (1907–1909) was a fleet of 16 U.S. Navy ships — painted white — that sailed around the world for the purpose of displaying the naval power of the United States to Japan and other nations. The fleet was dispatched by President Theodore Roosevelt in an effort to ease tensions with Japan, which was rumored to be considering war with the U.S. over the treatment of Japanese people living in America. The fleet visited ports of call around the world and effectively demonstrated the naval power of the United States.
Great White Fleet and the Messina Earthquake
While the fleet was en route to Egypt, a strong earthquake struck the Strait of Messina in southern Italy. Soon after the fleet arrived in Egypt, the Connecticut and Illinois, along with some support ships were sent to Messina to provide support for the victims of the earthquake. While there, crewmen from the Illinois recovered the bodies of the American consul, Arthur S. Cheney, and his wife, Laura, who were killed in the earthquake.
On January 9, 1909, the fleet left Messina and made stops in Naples, Italy, and Gibraltar. The voyage concluded when the ships arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on February 22, 1909. President Roosevelt was there to greet the fleet and review it upon its return.
"
https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/great-white-fleet/
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships that completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909, by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various small escorts, and earned its moniker for the stark white paint on its hulls.
The fleet's primary mission was to make friendly courtesy visits to numerous countries while displaying new U.S. naval power to the world; Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military prowess and blue-water naval capabilities. Another goal was to deter a threatened war with Japan amid growing tensions around 1907. The voyage helped familiarize the 14,500 officers and sailors with the logistical and planning needs for extended fleet action far from home.
[Obsolete ships]
After long neglecting the Navy, Congress started generous appropriations in the late 1880s. Beginning with just 90 small ships, over one-third of them wooden and obsolete, the Navy quickly added new steel fighting vessels. The fleet's capital ships were already obsolete compared to the British dreadnoughts in 1907. Nevertheless, it was by far the largest and most powerful fleet that had ever circled the globe; the mission was a success at home and in every country that was visited, including in Europe (which was visited only briefly).
Background and purpose
The purpose of the fleet deployment was multifaceted. Ostensibly, it served as a showpiece of American goodwill, as the fleet visited numerous countries and harbors. In this, the voyage was not unprecedented. Naval courtesy calls, many times in conjunction with the birthdays of various monarchs and other foreign celebrations, had become common in the 19th century. Port calls showcased pomp, ceremony, and militarism during a period of rising prewar nationalism.
Additionally, the voyage of the Great White Fleet demonstrated both at home and on the world stage that the U.S. had become a major sea power in the years after its triumph in the Spanish–American War, with possessions that included Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. This was not the first demonstration of U.S. naval power; during the Algeciras Conference in 1906, which was convened to settle a diplomatic crisis between France and Germany over the fate of Morocco, Roosevelt had ordered eight battleships to maintain a presence in the Mediterranean Sea.
Since Japan had arisen as a major sea power with the 1905 annihilation of the Russian fleet at Tsushima, the deployment of the Great White Fleet was therefore intended, at least in part, to send a message to Tokyo that the American fleet could be deployed anywhere, even from its Atlantic ports, and would be able to defend American interests in the Philippines and the Pacific.
The most serious tensions between the United States and Japan came in 1907, leading to widespread speculation among experts that war was imminent between the two.
The voyage also provided an opportunity to improve the sea- and battle-worthiness of the fleet. While earlier capital-ship classes such as the Kearsarge, Illinois and Maine were designed primarily for coastal defense, later classes such as the Virginia and Connecticut incorporated lessons learned from the Spanish–American War and were conceived as ships with "the highest practicable speed and the greatest radius of action", in the words of the appropriation bills approved by the United States Congress for their construction. They were intended as modern warships capable of long-range operations. Nevertheless, the experience gained in the recent war with Spain had been limited.
Voyage
As the Panama Canal was not yet complete, the fleet had to pass through the Straits of Magellan. The scope of such an operation was unprecedented in U.S. history, as ships had to sail from all points of the compass to rendezvous points and proceed according to a carefully orchestrated, well-conceived plan. It involved almost the entire operational capability of the U.S. Navy. During the crossing of the Straits of Magellan, the U.S. ships were escorted by the Chilean Navy cruiser, Chacabuco.
Unlike the formidable obstacles that had faced the Russian fleet on its voyage from the Baltic to the Pacific, which eventually led to its destruction by the Japanese in 1905, the U.S. effort benefited from a peaceful environment, which aided the coordination of ship movements.
After taking nearly four months to round South America, the fleet made several stops in American waters on the Pacific Ocean. In port after port, thousands of citizens turned out to see and greet the fleet. In April 1908, 16 battleships anchored off of Coronado, California, in the San Diego area, and thousands of sailors and marines took part in a parade through San Diego's streets. The fleet also stopped in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. In May 1908, the fleet visited Monterey, California; the nearby Hotel Del Monte in Del Monte, California, hosted a grand ball for the officers of the fleet. After arriving in San Francisco on 6 May, most of the fleet took a side trip to Seattle and Tacoma, then returned to San Francisco.
On 7 July, the entire fleet left San Francisco for Honolulu, New Zealand, and Australia. In Australia, the arrival of the Great White Fleet on 20 August 1908 was used to encourage support for the forming of Australia's own navy. In Sicily, sailors helped in recovery operations after the 1908 Messina earthquake.
Experience gained
The cruise of the Great White Fleet provided practical experience for US naval personnel in sea duty and ship handling. It also showed the viability of US warships for long-range operations as no major mechanical mishaps occurred. However, while the cruise uncovered design flaws, it did not test the abilities to engage in battle fleet action. In fact, the success of the deployment might have helped obscure design deficiencies that were not addressed until World War I. These included excessive draft, low armor belts, large turret openings and exposed ammunition hoists.
According to Mark Albertson:
Theodore Roosevelt's battleships captured the imagination of the world. The cruise proved an immense public relation success for the Navy. Relations were fostered with nations that hitherto had been little more than names on a map; while relations with the familiar capitals were enhanced. The cruise highlighted such deficiencies in American battleship design as the placement of armor and ammunition hoists. The lack of American logistical support was also laid bare, ramming home the lesson that without an adequate homegrown merchant marine, control of the seas was all but impossible....It demonstrated America's ability to transfer power from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Valuable lessons learned in the projection of sea power would later pay handsome dividends in two global conflicts. But of greater importance is that Roosevelt's gambit elevated the United States to the ranks of a global powers.
The Times of London editorialized regarding the extremely enthusiastic reception in Australia: "A spectacular display has valuable uses in impressing the masses, who will remember the sight for years, and draw important political deductions therefrom."
Effects on US capital ship design
While the capital ships of the Great White Fleet were already obsolete in light of the "big gun" revolution ushered in by the construction of HMS Dreadnought, their behavior at sea furnished valuable information that affected future construction. For instance, in terms of seaworthiness, all the capital ships in the fleet proved wet in all but the calmest seas, which led to the flared bows of subsequent U.S. battleships, increased freeboard forward and such spray-reducing measures as the elimination of billboards for anchors and gun sponsons.
Deficiencies in seaworthiness in turn reduced the battle-worthiness of the fleet. Turret heights for main armament proved too low and needed to be raised. Secondary armament was useless at speed and especially in tradewind conditions and needed to be moved much higher in the hull.
Another discovery was that, even when fully loaded, the bottom of the battleships' side armor was visible—and the ships thus vulnerable to shells that might hit beneath it to reach their machinery and magazines—in smooth to moderate seas.
One other necessity the cruise outlined was the need for tactical homogeneity. Before the cruise, critics such as then-Captain William Sims (to whom President Roosevelt listened) had argued that American warship design had remained too conservative and precluded the level of efficiency needed for the fleet to function as an effective unit. The cruise proved the charge true. This would eventually lead to the building of standard-type battleships in the U.S. Navy.
Effects on fleet operations
Experience gained by the cruise led to improvements in formation steaming, coal economy and morale. Gunnery exercises doubled the fleet's accuracy. However, the mission also underlined the fleet's dependence on foreign colliers and the need for coaling stations and auxiliary ships for resupply.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_White_Fleet
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On This Day: Russians invade ill-prepared Sweden to take Finland - Feb. 21, 1808
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. Other notable effects were the Swedish parliament's adoption of a new constitution and the establishment of the House of Bernadotte, the new Swedish royal house, in 1818.
[War starts]
On February 21, 1808, 24,000 Russian troops crossed the border in Ahvenkoski and took the town of Lovisa.
The Russian advance was swift. On the first day of the war they besieged the Swedish sea fortress of Svartholm. Borgå was captured on 24 February and Helsingfors on 2 March. Abandoned Swedish fortifications on the Hangö Peninsula were taken and manned on 21 March and on the same day the Russian army took Åbo while a small detachment was sent to Åland. Before the end of March 1808 even Vasa was taken. In Savolax, Russians also advanced rapidly and took Kuopio on 16 March. Swedish forces had mostly just withdrawn before the advancing Russian often destroying usable materials. For example, the Swedish archipelago fleet's ships that been docked in Åbo (nearly 50 gun sloops) were torched to prevent their capture.
[War continues]
Date - 21 February 1808 – 17 September 1809 (1 year, 6 months, 3 weeks and 6 days)
Location- Finland and Sweden
Result - Russian victory
Territorial changes - Sweden loses Finland, Åland, a part of Lapland and a part of West Bothnia, from which the Grand Duchy of Finland was constituted, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.
Background
After the Russian Emperor Alexander I concluded the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon, Alexander, in his letter on 24 September 1807 to the Swedish King Gustav IV Adolf, informed the king that the peaceful relations between Russia and Sweden depended on Swedish agreement to abide by the limitations of the Treaty of Tilsit which in practice meant that Sweden would have been required to follow the Continental System.
[Britain as ally]
The [Swedish] king, who viewed Napoleon as the Antichrist and Britain as his ally against Napoleon's France, was apprehensive of the [Continental] system's ruinous consequences for Sweden's maritime commerce. He instead entered into negotiations with Britain in order to prepare a joint attack against Denmark, whose Norwegian possessions he coveted.
In the meantime, the Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen and the Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812) was declared. Referring to the treaties of 1780 and 1800, the emperor demanded that Gustav Adolf close the Baltic Sea to all foreign warships. Although he reiterated his demand on November 16, 1807, it took two months before the king responded that it was impossible to honor the previous arrangements as long as the French were in control of the major Baltic ports. King Gustav Adolf did this after securing an alliance with Britain on 8 February 1808. Meanwhile, on 30 December 1807 Russia announced that should Sweden not give a clear reply Russia would be forced to act.
Although most Swedish officers were sceptical about their chances in fighting the larger and more experienced Imperial Russian Army, Gustav Adolf had an unrealistic view of Sweden's ability to defend itself against Russia. In Saint Petersburg, his stubbornness was viewed as a convenient pretext for Russia to occupy Finland, thus pushing the Russo-Swedish frontier considerably to the west of the Russian capital and safeguarding it in case of any future hostilities between the two powers.
[Competing Swedish plans]
The situation was problematic for Sweden, since it once again faced both Denmark and Russia as potential enemies requiring the Swedes to split their forces. The king had thought it impossible to defend Finland should the enemy attack during the winter and chose largely to ignore the repeated warnings of the Russian threat he received in early 1808. Most of the Swedish plans assumed that warfare would be impossible during winter, disregarding the lessons from recent wars. In addition, several new good roads had been built into Finland greatly reducing the earlier dependency on naval support for any large operation in Finland.
The Swedish plan was to first passively defend and hold on to the fortifications in the southern coast of Finland, in which Sweden had strong garrisons, while the rest of the Swedish Army retreated to the north. Then in the spring, counterattack simultaneously from north and south, when the Swedish army would have naval support and the Russian army would be spread over Finland and thus have long supply lines. The basic reason for the plan was to avoid major decisive battles.
Some advocates existed for taking a more active approach immediately, namely Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Möller, who advocated for taking an immediate offensive and Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt who supported actively delaying the advancing enemies in co-operation with the garrisons in the southern coast.
In the end, instructions which the new Swedish commander in Finland, General Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor, received from the king were an unsuccessful and open-ended mixture of ideas from these very different plans.
[Russian spies key part of victory]
Russia had gathered a wealth of information from Finland using spies and other sources. The level of detail was so great that Russian maps of Finland were in many respects more accurate than their Swedish counterparts. The Russians used the services of General Georg Magnus Sprengtporten when forming their plans. Sprengtporten suggested going on to an offensive during the winter since Finland would be mostly isolated when seas were frozen. His ideas were further developed by General Jan Pieter van Suchtelen before General Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden was appointed as the commander of the Russian army in Finland in December 1807.
The plan involved using the series of fortifications built after 1790 as staging grounds for the Russian advances into Finland. In southern Finland, armies were to isolate the fortifications and first take control of the whole of southern Finland before advancing further to the north. Forces in Savolax were to press hard against the Swedes and reach the Gulf of Bothnia towards Uleåborg and Vasa to cut off the retreat of the main body of the Swedish army.
[Final Russian victory]
A British Royal Navy fleet under Admiral James Saumarez had arrived in Sweden in May and he concentrated his ships, 10 ship of the line and 17 smaller ships, to the Gulf of Finland. The presence of the British naval units kept the Russian battlefleet strictly confined to Kronstadt, and after the British constructed artillery batteries to the Porkkala cape they cut off the coastal sea route from Russian ships. Total British control of the Gulf of Finland was a large obstacle to the Russian supply network and required sizable garrisons to be posted all along the Finnish coast. The Royal Navy captured 35 Russian ships and burnt 20 others before leaving the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1809.
In August, Charles XIII, anxious to improve his position at a peace settlement, ordered General Gustav Wachtmeister to land in the north of Sweden and to attack Kamensky's rear. Engagements at Sävar and Ratan proved inconclusive and Kamensky succeeded in neutralizing this belated counter-offensive, following up with a final victory over the Swedes at Piteå.
[Peace negotiations]
Wachtmeister's action was only a prelude to the peace negotiations that opened in August and resulted in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn, in which Sweden ceded the whole of Finland and all of its domains east of the Torne river to Russia. Sweden then joined the Continental System and closed its harbours to British ships, leading to a formal declaration of war on Great Britain. A few months later, on 6 January 1810, the Russian government mediated the Treaty of Paris between Sweden and France.
Russia would create the Grand Duchy of Finland from the territory obtained from Sweden, and would attach the areas gained from Sweden in the 18th century (so-called Old Finland) to the new Grand Duchy in 1812. The Grand Duchy of Finland was to retain the Gustavian constitution of 1772 with only slight modifications until 1919. Almost all Finnish soldiers in Sweden (most of them in the Umeå area) were repatriated after the war.
Analysis
Sufficient stocks of supplies had not been prepared for the Swedish army, since King Gustaf IV Adolf thought it might be taken as provocative by the Russians. Furthermore, Swedish strategy relied on the outdated plans for Finland which took into account neither the advances in weaponry, mobility of the armed forces or the greatly improved road networks of Finland. Most of the fortifications in Finland had not been completed and those that were completed had mostly fallen into neglect and disrepair. Even the strongest of the Swedish fortresses, Sveaborg, still had several of its planned fortifications missing, most notably all the land side fortifications designed to protect against a besieging enemy.
In 1808 a British expeditionary force under John Moore arrived in Sweden, but after months of idleness departed for the beginning of the Peninsular War. Had the king accepted the landing of 10,000 British troops in Skåne, where the expeditionary force had been authorized to disembark, it would have enabled the Swedes to release at least 10,000 trained soldiers for the Finnish War. As it happened, the bulk of the Swedish army, including the best units, were kept out of the Finnish War by the king, who reserved them for his plans for conquering either Sjælland or Norway. Swedish landings were invariably made with poorly equipped and trained forces, often with troops who had very low morale. Landings were further complicated by the Swedish Navy's failure to tightly block the coastal sea route past Hangö.
Legacy [and Swedish reforms]
According to two 2015 studies by political scientists Jan Teorell and Bo Rothstein, Sweden's loss in the Finnish War led to reforms of the Swedish bureaucracy. Prior to 1809, Sweden had a reputation as one of Europe's most corrupt countries, but the loss in the war created the perception of an existential threat in the east for Sweden and motivated Swedish elites to reform its bureaucracy. The motivation behind the reforms were to make the Swedish state more effective and functional, and thus protect against the existential threat in the East.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_War
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