-Caveat Lector- Kris Millegan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <<----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce H.G. Calder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Your History has Arrived <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 3:31 PM Subject: Bruce H.G. Calder's THIS-DAY-IN-HISTORY 1905-05-27 Bruce H.G. Calder's May 27-28, 1905 THIS-DAY-IN-HISTORY -Russo-Japanese War- The Baltic Squadron of Russia, underway since October of 1904 arrives too late on its Pacific Coast to help the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, so it is ordered north to Vladivostok. The large Russian force, (which includes eight battleships, eight cruisers, and four coast-defense ships is nonetheless of mixed quality and includes also many storeships and colliers,) move into the Tsushima Strait between Japan and Korea and are confronted by a Japanese force of four battleships and eight armoured cruisers.>> <remainder snipped for bandwidth> See Pynchon's account of the "battle" (more like a slaughter) of Tsushima Strait in *Gravity's Rainbow*. When the Baltic Squadron was ordered to proceed to Port Arthur, because the Suez Canal was closed to them, they were forced to sail around Africa. The squadron put in at Windhoek, South-West Africa (technically "Windhuk", since the territory was still a German colony in 1904) just before Christmas, 1904, to resupply.(The SWA connection provides one of the major plot lines of Pynchon's book, and echoes in both *V* and *Mason & Dixon*.) The operation was one of the bravest, and stupidest, naval campaigns in the history of modern warfare. As Pynchon puts it, "Tojo was waiting to hand [Rozhdestvensky] his ass." The repercussions of the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (for the mediation of which Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) are still being felt: one of the Japanese acquisitions in the wake of the war was the island of Sakhalin. The Soviet decision to declare war on Japan in 1945 was almost certainly based in large part by a desire to recover Sakhalin, which subsequently became a major base for the Soviet Far East Fleet and the Soviet Rocket Forces. The efforts of Japan to recover at least part of the island, and (now) Russian resistance to those efforts, are almost the only thing standing in the way of a final peace treaty between Russia and Japan (ending WW2, although one can perhaps be forgiven for getting confused as to which war is which). ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. RECEIPT OF SPAM WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION OF THE SENDER'S ISP. ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
