• Aboriginals in North America
  • Beast Literature
  • Canadiana.1
  • Dances & Music
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Fables by Jean de La Fontaine
  • Feasts & Liturgy
  • Great Books Online
  • La Princesse de Clèves
  • Middle East
  • Molière
  • Nominations
  • Posts on Love Celebrated
  • Posts on the United States
  • The Art and Music of Russia
  • The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Ukraine
  • Voyageurs Posts
  • Canadiana.2

Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Genocide

Ukraine: … a Genocide?

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Autocracy, Ukraine, Ukraine War

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Battle of Poltava, Charles XII, Complicity, Genocide, Great Northern War, Sweden

Charles XII and Mazepa at Dnieper River after the Battle of Poltava by Gustaf Cederström (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Great Northern War

  • Sweden and “Ukraine” were Allies at the Battle of Poltava (8 July 1709).
  • Both Sweden, under Charles XII, and Ukraine, under Ivan Mazepa, fell to Peter I, Peter the Great, at the Battle of Poltava.
  • Poltava was a decisive step in the rise of the Russian Empire, which began in 1721.

The image above is confusing. It shows Charles XII of Sweden and Ivan Mazepa of Ukraine, also called Ruthenia, at the Battle of Poltava, fought on 8 July 1709. Sweden and Ukraine were allies in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). Ivan Mazepa was the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, a Cossack Hetmanate, in 1687–1708. A Hetman was a leader. Tsar Peter’s wish for near supremacy over Hetmanates threatened what has become present-day Ukraine.

Sweden’s defeat at Poltava was a turning point in the history of Europe. After the Battle of Poltava, Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa fled to Turkey for protection. Ivan Mazepa died in Turkey at the age of 70. In 1721, Sweden ceased to be an Empire, and Ukraine remained under Russian control until 1991, or the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ukraine had also been autonomous for a few years after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

A Nation

Under the control of Sweden, Ukrainians were likely to gain more independence and escape brutality. It did not during World War I (See Alchetron.com). Cruelty toward Ukrainians did not start with the current invasion of Ukraine. When Tsar Nicholas II ordered the quelling of riots at Odessa, it was a blood bath. But Ukraine always remained a nation. Many Ukrainians speak Russian, but they have retained their own language, and they are the Petits Russes who commandeered the Potemkin.

Complicity …

Ukraine has survived as a nation, so a nation is not necessarily a country. Ukraine did not have territorial integrity until 1991, but its territorial integrity is now threatened by Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Ukraine has been attacked, and it is defending its territory. So, what we are witnessing isn’t altogether a war. It is an invasion, and it seems a genocide. I read and heard that Russians did not know what was happening in Ukraine. This could be the case, but I wish they knew Putin has invaded Ukraine and could help send their President to an international court of justice. The more prolonged Putin’s attacks and destruction, the more substantial the bill, assuming Putin fails to annihilate Ukraine. He must not be successful. Sanctions may not suffice, and various ententes to prevent war could turn the world into Vladimir Putin’s accomplice.

RELATED ARTICLES

A Brief Disappearance (6 April 2022)
Ukraine: The Battle of Poltava (5 April 2022)
The War in Ukraine: la petite Russie (1st April 2022)
The Great Gate of Kiev [sic] (21 March 2022)
Sweden’s Age of Liberty, Part Two (9 November 2018)
Sweden’s Age of Liberty, Part One (8 November 2018)
Europe (page)

Love to everyone 💕

Peter the Great by Alexandre Benois (WikiArt.org)
Ivan Mazepa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
8 April 2022
WordPress

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Algeria: second-class citizens

29 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Middle East, Migrant Crisis, Terrorism

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Évian Accords, De Gaulle, Genocide, Harkis, Marine Le Pen, Second-class citizens, The Algerian Civil War, The Algerian War, The Code of the Indiginate, The Crémieux Decree

800px-La_prise_de_Constantine_1837_par_Horace_Vernet

La Prise de Constantine, 1837, Horace Vernet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Code de l’indigénat: Algerian Muslims

  • Tocqueville’s Report (1847)
  • the Code of the Indiginates (Indigenous; 1887
  • two classes

The Crémieux decree had an adverse effect on the inhabitants of Algeria. Muslims could apply for French citizenship, but most of these applications were rejected. A previous Code de l’indigénat was implemented in Algeria on 14 July 1865, but the naturalization regime in French Algeria was confirmed in the Code de l’indigénat, Decree 137, in 1887, an official date. In 1887, it applied to all native citizens of French colonies.(See Indigénat, Wikipedia.)  One wonders. What had happened to Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité? A text authored by Alexis de Tocqueville, dated 1841, may have influenced the French government. In 1841, Alexis  s reported that He reported that Algeria’s Muslims were cruel, as cruel as the Turks, a view that may have spread, except that he looked upon the French as the greater barbarians. (See French Algeria, Wikipedia)

Tocqueville submitted a Report FR, dated 24 May 1847. This text is online. It was posted by Simon Pierre in Culture d’Islam (see Sources and Resources). In Algeria, a first Code de l’indigénat went into effect in 1865, before the disastrous Franco-Prussian War.

The Code de l’indigénat was equally disastrous as it created a lower class in French Algeria. Sephardi Jews were model citizens, but not in a million years should France have declared Muslim Algerians, native Algerians, second-class citizens. This was a prelude to war, the War of Independence. If native Algerians were cruel, the Code de l’indigénat, could only result in resentment and greater cruelty. However, a certain group, called évolué (evolved) were Europeanised because of education and assimilation. They were an élite. The aim of French colonialism was assimilation.

Prise de la Smalah d’Abd el-Kader, 1843, Horace Vernet

Évian Accords

A cease-fire leading to independence

Assassination attempt at Clamart, France

Mistakes were made in Algeria, but de Gaulle ruled in favour of self-determination. When he first went to Algeria, French Algerians thought de Gaulle would save them. Algeria was part of France. His first speech was misleading. He seemed to favour the French colonists. However, Charles de Gaulle changed his mind. It is as though he suddenly realized that colonialism was a thing of the past, not to say a mistake, but no one expected de Gaulle would act as he did.

The Évian Accords are the context within which a cease-fire was declared. It took place on 18 March 1962 and, in a referendum held on 8 April 1962. The French approved self-determination, or the Évian Accords, with almost 91% in favour. On 1 July 1962, a second referendum took place in Algeria, with nearly everyone approving. As I wrote in an earlier post, Algeria was pronounced independent on 3 July 1962 and celebrates its independence on 5 July, Algeria’s National Day.

However, the French Algerians, the Pieds-Noirs, loved their homes, and Algeria was part of France. I doubt that French Algerians had the time to prepare. We saw that the Organisation de l’armée secrète (OAS) fought de Gaulle. I have also referred to assassination attempts. There were approximately ten, but the attentat most people remember took place on 22 August 1962, at Clamart, France. Le grand (tall) Charles claimed that his Citroën DS 19 had saved his life. Bullets from machine guns hit the car, but de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne were not hurt.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/citroen-helps-de-gaulle-survive-assassination-attempt

The Évian Accords are the context within which a cease-fire was declared. It took place on 18 March 1962 and, in a referendum held on 8 April 1962. The French approved self-determination, or the Évian Accords, with almost 91% in favour. On 1 July 1962, a second referendum took place in Algeria, with nearly everyone approving. As I wrote in an earlier post, Algeria was pronounced independent on 3 July 1962 and celebrates its independence on 5 July, Algeria’s National Day.

However, the French Algerians, the Pieds-Noirs, loved their homes, and Algeria was part of France. I doubt that French Algerians had the time to prepare. We saw that the Organisation de l’armée secrète (OAS) fought de Gaulle. I have also referred to assassination attempts. There were approximately ten, but the attentat most people remember took place on 22 August 1962, at Clamart, France. Le grand (tall) Charles claimed that his Citroën DS 19 had saved his life. Bullets from machine guns hit the car, but de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne were not hurt.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/citroen-helps-de-gaulle-survive-assassination-attempt

The Crémieux Decree, 1870

  • France and Sephardi Jews
  • France and native Algerians
  • Algerian Islamism

On 24 October 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, the Crémieux decree granted  French citizenship to 35 thousand Sephardi Jews living in French Algeria. The decree was named after French-Jewish lawyer and Minister of Justice Adolphe Crémieux. The Crémieux decree was abolished by the Vichy government from 1940 to 1943 but it benefited Algerian Jews when Algeria won its independence. They were French citizens and most chose to move to France. (See Crémieux Decree, Wikipedia.) However, initially, Sephardi Jews hesitated to accept double citizenship. They lived in a Muslim country and feared being accused of apostasy, but native Algerians were, as Ahmed Ben Bella described himself, Islamist of a “mild and peace-loving flavour.”

During the Algerian Civil War (1992-2002), which began when the Islamic Salvation Front appeared to be winning an election causing the election to be cancelled, the government believed it had disabled the Islamic movement, but armed groups emerged to fight jihad. (See Algerian Civil War, Wikipedia.) 

In 2003, Ben Bella was elected President of the International Campaign Against Aggression on Iraq. At its Cairo Anti-war Conference,“[h]e described the militant voice rising in the Islamic world as having developed from an incorrect and faulty interpretation of Islam (my bold characters).” (See Ahmed Ben Bella, Wikipedia.) It seems Ben Bella was a moderate Muslim. Islam was his faith. I should also note that Algeria did not participate in the Arab Spring (2010).

The Code de l’indigénat: Algerian Muslims

  • Tocqueville’s Report (1847)
  • the Code of the Indiginates (Indigenous; 1887
  • two classes

The Crémieux decree had an adverse effect on the inhabitants of Algeria. Muslims could apply for French citizenship, but most of these applications were rejected. A previous Code de l’indigénat was implemented in Algeria on 14 July 1865, but the naturalization regime in French Algeria was confirmed in the Code de l’indigénat, Decree 137, in 1887, an official date. In 1887, it applied to all native citizens of French colonies.(See Indigénat, Wikipedia.)  One wonders. What had happened to Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité? A text authored by Alexis de Tocqueville, dated 1841, may have influenced the French government. In 1841, Alexis  s reported that He reported that Algeria’s Muslims were cruel, as cruel as the Turks, a view that may have spread, except that he looked upon the French as the greater barbarians. (See French Algeria, Wikipedia)

Tocqueville submitted a Report FR, dated 24 May 1847. This text is online. It was posted by Simon Pierre in Culture d’Islam (see Sources and Resources). In Algeria, a first Code de l’indigénat went into effect in 1865, before the disastrous Franco-Prussian War.

The Code de l’indigénat was equally disastrous as it created a lower class in French Algeria. Sephardi Jews were model citizens, but not in a million years should France have declared Muslim Algerians, native Algerians, second-class citizens. This was a prelude to war, the War of Independence. If native Algerians were cruel, the Code de l’indigénat, could only result in resentment and greater cruelty. However, a certain group, called évolué (evolved) were Europeanised as a result of education and assimilation. They were an élite. The aim of French colonialism was assimilation.

Prise_de_la_smalah_d_Abd-El-Kader_a_Taguin_16_mai_1843_Horace_Vernet (1)

Prise de la Smalah d’Abd el-Kader, 1843, Horace Vernet

Évian Accords

A cease-fire leading to independence

Assassination attempt at Clamart, France

Mistakes were made in Algeria, but de Gaulle ruled in favour of self-determination. When he first went to Algeria, French Algerians thought de Gaulle would save them. Algeria was part of France. His first speech was misleading. He seemed to favour the French colonists. However, Charles de Gaulle changed his mind. It is as though he suddenly realized that colonialism was a thing of the past, not to say a mistake, but no one expected de Gaulle would act as he did.

The Évian Accords are the context within which a cease-fire was declared. It took place on 18 March 1962 and, in a referendum held on 8 April 1962. The French approved self-determination, or the Évian Accords, with almost 91% in favour. On 1 July 1962, a second referendum took place in Algeria, with nearly everyone approving. As I wrote in an earlier post, Algeria was pronounced independent on 3 July 1962 and celebrates its independence on 5 July, Algeria’s National Day.

However, the French Algerians, the Pieds-Noirs, loved their homes, and Algeria was part of France. I doubt that French Algerians had the time to prepare. We saw that the Organisation de l’armée secrète (OAS) fought de Gaulle. I have also referred to assassination attempts. There were approximately ten, but the attentat most people remember took place on 22 August 1962, at Clamart, France. Le grand (tall) Charles claimed that his Citroën DS 19 had saved his life. Bullets from machine guns hit the car, but de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne were not hurt.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/citroen-helps-de-gaulle-survive-assassination-attempt

Second-Class Citizens

When it became independent, Algeria had been under foreign control for more than a thousand years[1] and the Code de l’indigénat had made Muslim Algerians second-class citizens in their own country (territory). Such classification is humiliating, and it lingers. The Algerian War liberated the mostly Muslim Algerians, but did anyone apologize for the Code de l’indigénat, so it coud be put to rest. Muslims may have forgotten, but not necessarily the French. If elected to the presidency of France in 2017, Marine Le Pen will not accept immigrants, which probably means that she will not let Muslims enter the country. On 14 May 2012, under Nicolas Sarkozy, France recognized its “historical responsibility” for leaving its Harkis behind.[2] (See Harki, Wikipedia.)

Again, one wonders. What does Marine Le Pen plan to do with Muslims who have lived in France for decades? The Nice attack was a victory, albeit gruesome, for France’s Front National because Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a Tunisian and a Muslim. Marine Le Pen can use the attack as “proof” that Muslims are “cruel.” Doesn’t cruelty also reside in rejecting Muslim migrants. Being rejected could lead to despair and it could also lead to radicalization.

Muslims should not be treated as second-class citizens. They are victims and this cannot be said often enough. If Europe is too crowded to welcome migrants and Donald Trump locks them out of the United States, forgetting that the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and did so illegally and with the help of Tony Blair, what will happen? The US may have an “historical responsibility.” It seems everyone has les mains sales (dirty hands, the title of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre).

Again, one wonders. What does Marine Le Pen plan to do with Muslims who have lived in France for decades? The Nice attack was a victory, albeit gruesome, for France’s Front National because Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a Tunisian and a Muslim. Marine Le Pen can use the attack as “proof” that Muslims are “cruel.” Doesn’t cruelty also reside in rejecting Muslim migrants. Being rejected could lead to despair and it could also lead to radicalization.

Muslims should not be treated as second-class citizens. They are victims and this cannot be said often enough. If Europe is too crowded to welcome migrants and Donald Trump locks them out of the United States, forgetting that the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and did so illegally and with the help of Tony Blair, what will happen? The US may have an “historical responsibility.” It seems everyone has les mains sales (dirty hands, the title of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre).

Yet, the world must demand that the countries of the Middle East end the violence perpetrated by ISIL and end the Syrian Civil War, because both force Syrians to leave their country. I cannot think of another option. Moreover, all Middle East leaders should respect human rights (i.e. no torture, etc.) including King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Migrants are fleeing ISIL and autocrats, but Europe hesitates to take them in as refugees, and Islamophobia is spreading rapidly. It is well-known that, as President of the United States, Donald Trump will not allow Muslims to enter the United States. Does he not know the facts?

At any rate, the crisis in the Middle East is, to a significant extent, retaliation, and retaliation is permanent war. Since 2011, the year Bashar al-Assad did not listen to protesters, 250,000 Muslims have died and 11 million have fled their homes. They need help. If they are denied a refuge, they too could resort to violence. Or, there could be yet another genocide. We must put on the emergency brake. Muslims are not second-class citizens.

Putting on the Emergency Brake

I read yesterday that if Theresa May puts on the emergency brake (my bold characters), she would come back to Britain, a hero.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/brexit-eu-referendum-theresa-may-letters-prime-minister-return-from-europe-heros-welcome-a7140806.html

Well, it seems that putting on the emergency brake is the order of the day. Bashar al-Assad should perhaps give it a thought…

RELATED ARTICLES

  • The Algerian War: the Aftermath (25 July 2016)
  • France in North Africa (21 July 2016)
  • Nice: a Carnage and Nativism (18 July 2016)

Sources and Resources

  • The Algerian War of Independence: Lessons for Today, 2015, Quintus Curtius
  • Algeria, a Human Rights Crisis is an Internet Archive publication
  • Barbarie française, Émile Pouget, 1890, Wikisource FR
  • Culture d’Islam, Aux Sources de l’Histoire, 1847 Alexis de Tocqueville FR
    (presented by Simon Pierre)
  • Les Grandes Heures de l’Algérie (Hérodote.net) FR

Love to everyone.♥
____________________

[1] Perhaps 2 thousand years. (Hérodote.net)

[2] De Gaulle was criticized for leaving the Harkis behind. The Harkis served during the Franco-Prussian War (1870), the two World Wars, the war in Indochine (Vietnam), and the Algerian War of Independence.

Horace Vernet Painter

Emile_Jean_Horace_Vernet_002

Horace Vernet, self-portrait (Photo credit : Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
29 July 2016
WordPress

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Europa

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,469 other followers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

Recent Posts

  • The Decline of Kievan Rus’
  • Ilya Repin, Ivan IV and his son Ivan on 16 November 1581, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
  • Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda …
  • Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a Cossack Hetman
  • Ruthenia vs Ukraine
  • Ukraine: … a Genocide?
  • A Brief Disappearance
  • Ukraine: the Battle of Poltava
  • The War in Ukraine: la petite Russie
  • The Art and Music of Russia

Archives

Calendar

May 2022
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Apr    

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • WordPress.org

micheline.walker@videotron.ca

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker

Social

Social

  • View belaud44’s profile on Facebook
  • View Follow @mouchette_02’s profile on Twitter
  • View Micheline Walker’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View belaud44’s profile on YouTube
  • View Miicheline Walker’s profile on Google+
  • View michelinewalker’s profile on WordPress.org

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker
Follow Micheline's Blog on WordPress.com

A WordPress.com Website.

  • Follow Following
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Join 2,469 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: