I suppose they at least had the entertainment of putting the Romanovs up against a wall.Probably more fun than watching Norwich this season.
When did I apologise for anything? Sorry you don't get irony. Typical of the right, bourgeois or otherwise
That's irony, is it? would you say "all power to the Nazis" in the same casual manner? Of course not, but Stalin killed more Russians than Hitler did.
And just how many black Africans did those grand capitalists of yours kill to maximise the profits from their overseas plantations? You have a bit of a cheek suggesting it was capitalism that created democracy. The Greeks may have something to say about that. I also seem to remember that it took centuries for the common people to get the right to participate in elections in this country. Do you remember the Rotten Boroughs? Ordinary men have enjoyed the right to vote for a little over a hundred years and women even less. The one thing capitalists are very good at is manipulating the political situation to retain their control and their wealth.
The trade in African slaves coincided with the transition from feudalism to capitalism (you really should read Marx), and was sustainable under the former but not the latter. Much of the wealth that came to Britain from the slave trade still resides with the old landed gentry. That's what pays for those big houses in Belgravia. The process of enfranchisement in Europe took a couple of centuries to reach one-person-one-vote, though in the USA it happened more quickly. Call it social evolution if you like, but show me one country anywhere in the world, now or historically, where democracy has flourished without capitalism? And before you bring up ancient Greece again, bear in mind that slavery was widespread in those city states.
Sorry to bang on about history again,after all I support Norwich,not Ipswich.But something motivated Russia to fight Hitler in the way that they did.Their defence of Stalingrad made the Taliban look like part timers.Communism undoubtedly became a religion for many of them.
The Red Army appeared willing to make any sacrifice and endure any hardship in defence of Mother Russia. Not sure it was Communism they were defending though, any more than it was Tsarism their ancestors were defending in 1812. At the battle of Borodino the Russian army stood up to a sustained day long bombardment from Napoleon's forces that would have caused any other European army to turn and flee the field in terror. Russians appear to have an almost mystical attachment to their soil and homeland. Stalin certainly recognised this. Tolstoy, previously rejected as a despised bourgeois, was rehabilitated, and a silent movie of "War And Peace" was shown in theatre's throughout the Soviet Union. WWII in Russia is still referred to as "The great Patriotic War". No mention then or now of communism.
Not only that but the way in which the Nazi's treated those they defeated on the Eastern front would have generated a lot more resilliance. I would imagine everyone would fight to the death for every inch as the other option was torture then death for soldiers and civillians a like. Not so much anything to do with Communism but more an return to the state of nature. However it was Stalin's refusal to leave Moscow that did instill further determination to hold their lines and not give up anymore ground.
This is simply not true. The Merchant Venturers in Bristol were predominantly up and coming middle class businessmen who funded the ships which carried out the slave trade which made Bristol the second city in the country for many years. The landed gentry were involved, yes, but they weren't the main component.
You lot do realise that Godders is a bloke his twenties pretending to be a pensioner. Some sort of weird effort to add credibility to his out of favour views. Plus it allowed him to reinvent himself on these boards after spending months childishly winding Pompey fans up....
I seem to remember that at one point Mr Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (published in 1813) is in his study going through his overseas investments which would have included plantations etc. so he would have benefited financially from slavery (the abolition of slavery was about 1830 I think). I know it is fiction but it did reflect the social mores of the time so we can assume that even the middle classes were benefitting from the slave trade.
Ok, time to confess; Godders is my Great, Grandfather and although able to use a keyboard with the use of a stick to tap the keys, he does spend part of the day looking for his marbles. Please don't abuse him though as the family find his cantankerous manner quite endearing and he genuinely loves the Saints. He has supported them since first watching the working men's church group play just round the corner from St Mary's in 1885!
Godders is a "Cove". Amongst my coterie Coveism is a much admired quality.Why some of us have even come to terms with the 20th century!
