The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) lasted 15 years and by most estimates killed 150,000-250,000 people. It was a brutal, extended mess of a war, not unlike the one currently going on next door in Syria. And today happens to be the anniversary of the event that started it, the massacre of 27 Palestinians by Christian … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Lebanon’s Bus Massacre (1975)
Tag: history
Today in European history: the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople (1204)
The Fourth Crusade is for me, in many ways, the Crusadiest of all the Crusades. Sure, the First Crusade actually achieved its goal, which you can’t really say about any of the others in any serious sense, and other Crusades produced quintessential Crusading heroes like Richard the Lionheart and Saint Louis. But overall the Crusades … Continue reading Today in European history: the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople (1204)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Fariskur (1250)
Here is the eagerly (?) awaited conclusion to February’s story of the Seventh Crusade’s Battle of Mansurah. When last we left our plucky yet doomed Crusaders, under the command of the very willing but not really able Louis IX of France (d. 1270), they’d suffered a decisive defeat at Mansurah and were sent scrambling back across … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Fariskur (1250)
Today in European history: the (third) Siege of Algeciras ends (1344)
Modern Algeciras is the main city on the Bay of Gibraltar and one of the busiest commercial ports in Europe. It's pretty old, too, having been founded by Berber-Arab invaders all the way back in 711. "Algeciras" is a European corruption of the city's original name, al-Jazirah al-Khadra ("the green island"). And, if we're being … Continue reading Today in European history: the (third) Siege of Algeciras ends (1344)
Today in South Asian history: Nader Shah sacks Delhi (1739)
The story of the late middle/early modern Islamic world is dominated by the three so-called “Gunpowder Empires”—the Ottomans with their vast empire circling the Mediterranean; the Safavids in Iran and, at various times, parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia; and the Mughals in South Asia. They're called “gunpowder empires” because two former University of … Continue reading Today in South Asian history: Nader Shah sacks Delhi (1739)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Iran becomes “Iran” (1935)
I know that title seems too cutesy and I apologize for that. It is both a historical oddity and a signifier of our general Orientalist indifference toward the peoples of the Middle East that the nation (kingdom, empire, whatever it was at any particular point in history) of Iran was never officially called “Iran” by … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Iran becomes “Iran” (1935)
Today in Iranian history: the Shahnameh is completed (1010)
Obviously there are a lot of important works of literature that have been created over the years and across the many cultures of the world, so if I were to describe Abu'l-Qasim Ferdowsi's Shahnameh as simply a great work of literature I would be doing it something of an injustice. It is a great work … Continue reading Today in Iranian history: the Shahnameh is completed (1010)
Today in North African history: the Battle of Kasserine Pass ends (1943)
The Battle of Kasserine Pass, on February 19-25, 1943, was the second part of the Battle of Sidi Bouzid earlier that month. Or more to the point, Sidi Bouzid—along with a smaller battle between German and Allied forces at Tunisia’s Faïd Pass in late January—served as the opening act of this much larger engagement. Both Sidi Bouzid … Continue reading Today in North African history: the Battle of Kasserine Pass ends (1943)
Today in South Asian history: the Battle of Karnal (1739)
Nader Shah (d. 1747) is often considered the last of the great (in the sense of “impressive,” not “good”) Central Asian conquerors, after Genghis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), and (depending on who’s making the list) assorted other figures like the first Mughal Emperor Babur. He’s also the man who kept Iran more or less intact … Continue reading Today in South Asian history: the Battle of Karnal (1739)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the 1966 Syrian coup
Syria’s road from French colony (er, I mean “mandate”) to the mess it is today was littered with coups d’état: three in 1949, one each in 1951, 1954, 1961, 1963, and 1966, and finally the 1970 Corrective Movement that brought Hafez al-Assad to power. I’m probably missing a couple somewhere along the way. Through it all, … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the 1966 Syrian coup
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 