History Archives • Page 3 of 3 • Technical Politics

“We Need a Revival of Spirit, a New Unconquerable Resolve”

On 5 June 2019, in a speech in Portsmouth, HM the Queen led the British commemoration of D-Day. She recalled the "hundreds of thousands of young soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom. In a broadcast to the nation at that time, my Father, King George VI, said: “…what is demanded from us all is something more than courage and endurance; we need a revival of spirit, a new unconquerable resolve...” That is exactly what those brave men brought to the battle, as the fate of the world depended on their success." "Many of them…

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10 June 2019 - 11:00

Brexit and the US-UK Defence Relationship

This is the transcript of Lecture at the Heritage Foundation, “Brexit and the US-UK Defense Relationship” given by Professor Gwythian Prins on 1 May 2019. A summary is on the Briefings for Brexit blog page. Ted, colleagues at Heritage, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I am honoured and grateful for the hospitality of your platform this afternoon so that I can share with you some insights into the least well discussed and yet in many ways the most dangerous aspect of the strategies by which Mrs May and her close advisers have failed to execute the instruction that I and 17.4 million fellow…

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4 June 2019 - 09:08

Brexit / Culture / History / Industry and Manufacturing / Society

We Want Our Country Back

I had always thought that Gracie Fields’ great wartime song, ‘Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye,’ was written with the departing troops in mind, but it was actually sung by Gracie Fields in the 1939 film ‘Shipyard Sally’ to accompany her departure from Glasgow to present a petition from the men of the Clyde to the owners in London who wanted to close their shipyards. The film opens with Queen Mary launching The Queen Mary to the tune of ‘Rule Britannia’ and closes with Gracie Fields singing ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ superimposed on ships sliding down the slipways. Some…

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30 May 2019 - 16:08

History / International Relations / War and Peace

Trump Attacks Military Industrial Complex and Calls for Infrastructure Investments in the Middle East

For the first time in over half a century, an American President has actually come out attacking the Military Industrial Complex. Of course, everyone knows of President Dwight D. Eisenhauer’s famous outgoing 1961 speech warning the world (and the incoming President Kennedy) what sort of monster had arisen at the heart of America’s defense institutions. Very little on the matter was said on the frightening topic by decades of political leaders who rose to prominence in the shadow of JFK’s corpse. Instead, the beast grew like a malignant cancer over the ensuing years as a major branch of the British-run deep state that…

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23 May 2019 - 15:59

Economy / History

Striking Similarities: The Origins of the European Economic Community

David Blake discusses the Plan for a European Economic Community that was developed at the University of Berlin in 1942. There are striking similarities with the European Economic Community that was introduced in 1957 – and which became the foundation stone of the European Union. A Plan for a European Economic Community was first proposed in 1942 A conference was held in 1942 at the Berlin School of Economics – part of the University of Berlin – on the theme of a creating a ‘European Economic Community’. Speakers included academics, government ministers and industry practitioners. A conference volume was published. This…

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23 May 2019 - 14:00