Category: History

We have discussed the deleterious effects of extremism and autocracy in the 21st century.  Let’s go back several centuries to review three experiments in which brave people found ways to break the chains of tyranny instead of remaining attached to the umbilical cord of a freedom-sucking autocracy. As individuals, we tend to be drawn to…

Speaking of the alignment of people, the Dutch Revolt, which started in 1566, is a prime example of the unpredictable nature of political magnetism.  The Spanish Netherlands, which today consists mainly of the Netherlands and Belgium, was controlled by the House of Habsburg and the Holy Roman Emperor in 1566.  The independent-minded and disunited subjects…

The first question arising from the phrase “the English Civil War” is which one?  Scholars may debate what constitutes a discreet English civil war, but there have been around eleven since the Norman Conquest in 1066.  Most of the civil wars were between rival barons and royal houses.  A succession crisis typically sparked conflicts after…

The American Revolution was the first successful, large-scale revolt against autocratic rule.  There have been small-scale examples of people who ruled themselves, but nothing on the size of the 13 American colonies.  The Dutch Revolt in 1566 and the English Revolution in 1640 were uprising against oppressive autocratic rule, but both were half-measures.  While they…