Tag: history

It Actually is Their Land

Ron Unz realizes that the Zionists really held the original claim to the land all along:

America’s tens of millions of Christian Zionists regard themselves as the champions of the Israelis whom they identify with the Israelites of the Bible, and I suspect that many of them may vaguely consider the Palestinians to be the descendants of the accursed Canaanites. But the actual facts seem to be the other way round, with the Israeli Jews having heavy Canaanite ancestry and today’s suffering Palestinians probably being the closest direct descendants of the ancient Israelites.

It would appear Miles Mathis knew what he was doing when he described the primary moving force behind Clown World as “the Phoenician Navy”. And no doubt the shape of the next temple in Jerusalem, will surprise everyone when it is eventually built.

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When Change is for the Better

When I was in high school and college, it was a regular ritual of fall for the Golden Gophers to get absolutely crushed by the nation’s top college football teams. Particularly memorable was the 84-13 defeat at home in 1983, which was part of a 16-0 run by Nebraska from 1963 to 2012.

Somehow, the Gophers are still in the lead in the series, 38-25-2, a lead to which they added last night by upsetting the #25 Cornhuskers 24-6 thanks to no less than nine (9) sacks by an aggressive, bruising defensive front seven and excellent coverage in the secondary.

In other sports news, I don’t pay much attention to baseball, but the historic performance by Shohei Ohtani merits a mention, considering that it was arguably the greatest baseball game by a single player in the history of the sport. He hit three home runs – including the first leadoff home run as a pitcher in the history of the major leagues – and struck out 10 batters and gave up only two hits while leading the Dodgers to a 5-1 victory over the Brewers to sweep the National League championship series.

We never got the chance to see Babe Ruth or Ted Williams play, but we can watch Shohei Ohtani in action, which may actually, incredibly, be to our advantage.

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The Art of War in the Middle Ages

The Art of War has been very simply defined as ‘the art which enables any commander to worst the forces opposed to him.’ It is therefore conversant with an enormous variety of subjects: Strategy and Tactics are but two of the more important of its branches. Besides dealing with discipline, organization, and armament, it is bound to investigate every means which can be adapted to increase the physical or moral efficiency of an army. The author who opened his work with a dissertation on ‘the age which is preferable in a generalissimo,’ or ‘the average height which the infantry soldier should attain,’ was dealing with the Art of War, no less than he who confined himself to purely tactical speculations.

Today marks the launch of the new serialization at the Castalia Library substack. The work being serialized is the Oxford edition of Sir Charles Oman’s original 1884 Lothian Prize-winning essay: THE ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES A.D. 378–1515.

The essay is the precursor to the work being published by Castalia Library as the Sep-Dec 2025 subscription book, which is an expanded version of the essay that was published in 1898 by Methuen & Co. as A HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR: The Middle Ages From the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century.

In my humble opinion, this book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in either history or war. If you haven’t subscribed to Castalia History yet, this is a book that should make you seriously considering doing so, because it’s going to be an instant classic and will almost certainly sell out before it’s even available.

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A Special Interview

This is a real treat! Big Serge interviews Dr. Sean McMeekin, the author of the excellent book STALIN’S WAR:

Big Serge: “One of the first things that stands out about your work is that you have found success writing about topics which are very familiar to people and have a large extant corpus of writing. World War One, the Russian Revolution, World War Two, and now a broad survey of Communism – these are all subjects with no shortage of literature, and yet you have consistently managed to write books that feel refreshing and new. In a sense, your books help “reset” how people understand these events, so for example Stalin’s War was very popular and was not perceived as just another World War Two book. Would you say that this is your explicit objective when you write, and more generally, how do you approach the challenge of writing about familiar subjects?”

Dr. McMeekin: “Yes, I think that is an important goal when I write. I have often been called a revisionist, and it is not usually meant as a compliment, but I don’t particularly mind the label. I have never understood the idea that a historian’s job is simply to reinforce or regurgitate, in slightly different form, our existing knowledge of major events. If there is nothing new to say, why write a book?

Of course, it is not easy to say something genuinely new about events such as the First World War, the Russian Revolution, or World War Two. The scholar in me would like to think that I have been able to do so owing to my discovery of new materials, especially in Russian and other archives less well-trodden by western historians until recently, and that is certainly part of it. But I think it is more important that I come to this material – and older material, too – with new questions, and often surprisingly obvious ones.

For example, in The Russian Origins of the First World War, I simply took up Fritz Fischer’s challenge, which for some reason had been forgotten after “Fischerites” (most of them less than careful readers of Fischer, apparently) took over the field. In the original 1961 edition of Griff nach der Weltmacht (Germany’s “Bid” or “Grab” for World Power, a title translated more blandly but descriptively into English as Germany’s Aims in the First World War), Fischer pointed out that he was able to subject German war aims to withering scrutiny because basically every German file (not destroyed in the wars) had been declassified and opened to historians owing to Germany’s abject defeat in 1945 – while pointing out that, if the secret French, British, and Russian files on 1914 were ever opened, a historian could do the same thing for one of the Entente Powers. I had already done a Fischer-esque history on German WWI strategy, especially Germany’s use of pan-Islam (The Berlin-Baghdad Express), inspired by a similar epigraph in an old edition of John Buchan’s wartime thriller Greenmantle – Buchan predicted that a historian would come along one day to tell the story “with ample documents,” joking that when this happened he would retire and “fall to reading Miss Austen in a hermitage.” So it was a logical progression to ask, if Fischer can do this for Germany’s war aims, why not Russia?

Both the interview and the book are highly recommended.

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Another Sign of the Inevitable

Turkey’s nationalists are beginning to openly push for a break with NATO and the Clown World West:

For decades, Turkish nationalism marched under the NATO flag. But now, one of Türkiye’s most influential right-wing leaders is calling for a turn East – toward Russia and China. His proposal may mark the country’s clearest ideological break with Atlanticism since joining the Alliance.

In September, Türkiye’s political landscape was shaken by a statement that many experts called sensational and potentially transformative. Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a long-time ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the People’s Alliance, proposed the establishment of a strategic trilateral alliance involving Türkiye, Russia, and China to counter the “US-Israel evil coalition.”

Bahceli emphasized that such an alliance is “the most suitable option, considering reason, diplomacy, the spirit of politics, geographical conditions, and the strategic environment of the new century.” The proposal extends far beyond the usual nationalist agenda, positioning Türkiye as a player capable of initiating new formats of international cooperation.

To grasp the importance of this statement, we must note the historical context. Turkish pan-Turkism has traditionally been oriented toward the West, and nationalists were seen as staunch defenders of the pro-Atlantic course. In this light, Bahçeli’s call for an alliance with Moscow and Beijing marks a symbolic break from that tradition, reflecting growing distrust toward NATO and the US within Türkiye’s political landscape.

Bahceli’s comments are not random. Over the past few years, he has steadily ramped up his criticism of the West, advocating for Türkiye’s sovereign development “beyond blocs and alliances.” But this is the first time he has explicitly named Russia and China as preferred partners.

This obviously isn’t even remotely surprising, considering that I predicted it was going to happen over a year ago. But cooperation with an increasingly irrational and aggressive NATO is obviously not in Turkey’s best interests, given its past history of military conflict with Russia, and Turkey also has very serious reason to doubt that its allies will take its side in its coming conflict with Israel.

One thing that has escaped the notice of the mainstream analysts is the way that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria has set up an inevitable conflict between Turkey and Israel. Turkey clearly has a stronger historical claim to Jerusalem than the modern Jewish state, which was only held by the right of conquest by the Davidite dynasty for 270 years, less than the Romans (700 years), the Caliphates (332 years), or the Turks (401 years).

The elimination of Syria as a functional buffer state between Turkey and Israel means that war between the two states is inevitable. And both Erdogan and Turkey know that an AIPAC-dominated USA is going to side with Israel, which explains why the Turkish nationalists are now openly favoring an alliance with Russia and China, neither of whom are particularly enamoured of the Israelis in light of how Israel has been a) destabilizing the entire Middle East and b) attempting to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from the region.

The fact that NATO has been comprehensively defeated by Russia almost certainly factors into the new Turkish perspective as well. What use is an alliance that can’t effectively defend you and is more likely to take the side of one of your primary enemies than yours? Logic dictates that the break will come, but it’s impossible to say when it will come. But the fact that the Turkish nationalists are now openly calling for it suggests that it will come sooner rather than later.

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A Lesson from Spain

The Nationalist Right in Spain was divided into two camps. One of them read the Republican Left correctly. One of them didn’t:

There were two schools of thought on the Spanish Right in the lead-up to the civil war: Accidentalism and Catastrophism. Accidentalists believed that the serious issues facing the Spanish Republic were not baked into the institution itself, but rather an accident that could be attributed to the early Marxist bent of the first government. The Republic had gotten off on the wrong foot, but Conservatives could and would steer the ship in the right direction once they peacefully won political power through the electoral process and formed a government capable of addressing the Right’s concerns regarding government attacks on the Church and private property. They were strictly committed to following the rule of law and operating within the constitutional framework.

The second group believed the Republic was a catastrophe from the start, and that there could be no saving the Republic from itself. They asserted that the Left would never recognize any non-Leftist government, no matter how much they claimed to uphold the rule of law, because the problem was not with the Republic’s legalistic procedures but rather with the fact that the entire system was merely a facade to facilitate a Socialist and eventually Communist state that would permanently exclude Conservatives from power.

These two camps were largely united in their politics but divided in how to engage in politics. One pursued reform, while the other waited for an opportunity to overthrow the system itself once enough of the Right realized that there would be no voting their way out of this mess.

Most American Republicans are still Accidentalists. And like their Spanish forebears, they are both a) wrong and b) irrelevant. If even an American rump state is to survive the eventual breakup of the USA, it will be the Catastrophists who will be running the show.

Fortunately for Americans, Trump is increasingly showing signs of having embraced Catastrophism.

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The Lesson of Lepanto

A reminder that God loves His warriors and helps those who help themselves:

In 1571 as the Muslim fleet threatened Europe, Christendom was deeply divided. Protestants fought Catholics. France fought the Holy Roman Empire. Christian princes even allied WITH the Muslims against their Christian brothers.  They were all too self seeking to see the threat and and answer the call. 

But one man—a bastard with no lands and barely even a title—takes weapons from the wall and rides to the sea.  Don John of Austria.

Who was Don John? He had no throne. He was the bastard son of Charles V and a burgher’s daughter from Regensburg. Raised in obscurity, not even told who his father was. When his half-brother Philip II finally acknowledged him, it wasn’t with lands or title, just a name and a small allowance. Among the princes of Christendom he was the last man you’d pick: No inheritance, no wealth, no claim to rule.

Yet when the Ottoman fleet gathered in the waters just beyond Italy, this forgotten son was the one who answered. Because no one else would.

Yes, the Pope called for the defense of Christendom, and that is more than we have today.  But no one sent Don John personally. No one gave him the wealth to outfit an army. The most likely outcome was that they’d all die.  Don John went because someone had to.

That’s the pattern of every important battle in Christian history. One man, alone, often betrayed by his Christian brothers, under resourced, with only a small band of bedragged warriors, standing in victory against the pagan hordes.

No Crusader victory was ever a triumph of Christian unity. Most of Christendom sat Lepanto out. France stayed home. Protestant Europe stayed home. Even most of Italy stayed home. The Holy League was a minority of the willing. A handful of ships and a handful of men who made the decision to go. And that’s the truth.

History turns on the ones who go. Not on the ones who wait for orders. Not on the ones who whine about the hierarchy. The ones who go. Western man today stands on another shore. The pagan fleets are at pur shores again.  Our clergy are cautious, our politicians are compromised, our institutions asleep.

So what now?

The Churchians aren’t going to save the civilization they despise. The foreigners, immigrants, migrants, and refugees aren’t going to save the nations they hate. The governments aren’t going to defend the peoples they have betrayed. The priests and pastors aren’t going to defend the faith they subverted.

And yet, all we need are twelve.

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On Motorcycles

There have been 3 motorcycle fatalities in my area recently. I’m pretty sure they’ve all been college aged guys. Really sad. Motorcycles are insanely dangerous.

There are good risks, bad risks, and dumb risks. For the most part, motorcycles fall into the latter category.

I understand motorcycles are a) fun and b) cool. I bought a red Suzuki GS 750 when I was 24. It was very cool, and matched beautifully with my leather jacket that had our dojo’s big dragon logo airbrushed on the back. It was also a big, heavy, and rather challenging bike for a beginner. I rode it on the backroads for a summer and had just gotten comfortable enough to ride it on the highway a few times when a much more experienced rider who was an acquaintance from the gym was killed on his Kawasaki 1100 by an old lady who didn’t see him as he was turning into a parking lot in a 25-MPH zone.

I sold it the next week and never rode a motorcycle again. There was no way I ever wanted to do anything that made me so vulnerable that a Iittle old lady driving about 20 MPH could do me in.

Buy a cheap old convertible instead. It’s only half as cool, but very nearly as fun and most girls will prefer the convertible.

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Fighting the Previous War x4

President Trump wants to bring back the battleship:

US President Donald Trump suggested that he’s considering bringing back US Navy battleships, vessels that were retired decades ago, long after the kind of naval combat they were built for had become a thing of the past.

Battleships were heavily armed naval powerhouses built to slug it out with other warships. During the World Wars, they dominated the seas, but by the end of the Cold War, these once mighty warships were completely obsolete.

Speaking at a high-profile summit with top US military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday morning, Trump said battleships are on the table.

“It’s something we’re actually considering,” he said, “the concept of battleship, nice six-inch side, solid steel, not aluminum, aluminum that melts if it looks at a missile coming at it. Starts melting as the missile’s about two miles away. No, those ships, they don’t make them that way anymore.”

T”I look at those ships, they came with the destroyers alongside of them, and man, nothing was gonna stop them,” he said. “Some people would say, ‘No, that’s old technology,’ I don’t know, I don’t think it’s old technology when you look at those guns.”

I can only assume this is some sort of joke. Battleships have been outdated and little more than floating targets since 1941 at the absolute latest. The aircraft carriers that replaced them are already outdated. But instead of seeking to catch up on the hypersonic missile technology that has rendered traditional sea and air war alike irrelevant, Trump wants to go back to pre-WWI gunboat diplomacy.

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Mailvox: The World We Lost

Request to the GenX crowd — what is your best anecdote or memory or description of “how things used to be”? The before time, that we millennials and younger have no memory of.

The entire suburban 20-house neighborhood of 20-30 children between the ages of 5-11 playing outside, all day, every Saturday during the school year and every weekday too during the summers. My favorite was the huge Capture the Flag games the older kids would organize sometimes in the evenings after dinner. We’d play until it got too dark to be able to see very well, then everyone would go home.

In the summer, the people with the big house and the pool would put out a red flag on Saturdays to announce an open pool after lunch and half the kids on the street would play there all afternoon. In the winter, the open rink about a mile away would be one big pick-up hockey game and my parents would just leave me there after lunch and pick me up before it got dark. Usually some moms would show up with cookies and hot Russian tea in the warming hut.

The freedom and sense of community was entirely different than today. Many of the neighborhoods look more or less the same from the outside, but since the mid-1990s, one no longer sees large packs of kids playing outside together like they previously did.

And if you want conclusive evidence that immigrants to America will never, ever, understand the world of the 1950s-1980s that we lost, consider the perspective of one immigrant from Portugal who still doesn’t know what we’re talking about despite having spent most of her adult life in the USA.

Well, excuse me, I lived in a village growing up. And while I miss some things, sometimes, if you think for a little very Odd kid it was an ideal environment, you’re out of your ever loving mind. In fact, it wasn’t an ideal environment for anyone, judging by the epic fights and factions. Because people in point of fact had very little in common, and were together by utter necessity, which means that the group enforced absolute conformity and you couldn’t escape.

Whoever said anything about poor rural villages full of inbred Iberian peasants? That was never our world and it certainly isn’t the loss that we’re lamenting. These days of diversity and immigration are most certainly not “the good new days” in the eyes of any genuine American.

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