Happy Independence Day

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I second Helen’s good wishes. Have a happy Independence Day.

Even so, I should mention that I am still a little sore that you had to go and secede from such a nice German fellow as George III., of all people. I hope you won’t mind when I sulk a bit while you celebrate.

Fortunately, there’s a cure for that. Please excuse me while I withdraw to provide a substantial stimulus to the American bourbon industry in your honor…

9 thoughts on “Happy Independence Day”

  3. Speaking of Germans and the American Revolution, I recommend Howard Fast’s short novel “The Hessian”…set in Connecticut during the Revolution, the commander of a small Hessian detachment decides that a retarded local man is actually a spy and hangs him. The local militia sets an ambush and kills all of the Hessians, with the exception of a drummer boy…who is now put on trial for his (entirely indirect) part in the murder of the retarded man. A very tightly-written and impressive work.

  5. Tatyana,

    [in my case you might want to add to the list nice German fellow Nicholas II Romanov)

    If Russia had decided to regain the territory and harbors ceded to Japan after the Russo-Japanese war instead of going after you know whom, things would have turned out differently. Not that Nicholas had sole control of Russian foreign policy. If only the Russian government had listened to Count Sergei Witte…

  6. David,

    thank you, I did read it. It really is a book worth reading.

    Being rented out by their sovereign to the British to finance his luxurious lifestyle had put the Hessians in a crabby mood, I am afraid.

  8. “If Russia had decided to regain the territory and harbors ceded to Japan after the Russo-Japanese war instead of going after you know whom, ”

    Well, not backing the Serbians against the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum would have meant backing down from Russia’s entire Balkan policy. Now, that would have been a good thing, in general, but I don’t think it would have been a conceivable move in 1914 given Russian politics.

    Perhaps cousin Nicky could have telegraphed cousin Willy and promised not to mobilize if they would just lean on Vienna a little, but that didn’t happen.

  9. The Russian government wanted war, and so did the Czar. The Serbian crisis was just one of many possible occasions for it. Pan-Slavism trumped familial ties, unfortunately.

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