Pan Historia, and Other Nonsense

For Strategic Sheep Purposes: The Falklands War

Prior to April 1982, hardly anyone around the world had heard of the Falklands. Then, in an instant, it became a hotbed of global talk. Argentina, then under the crumbling military regime, had invaded the islands. They were some of the last pieces of the British Empire following decolonization. The Falklands were different, though. Located some hundreds of 8,064 miles from Britain, but were inhabited by mostly British persons known as Falklanders. Now, they were under a new leadership. After a century of back and forth finger pointing, Argentina had finally struck and were preparing to stay.

For the British, they would not back down easily. PM Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady herself, stood before parliament the day after the invasion and said "...the Falkland Islands and their dependencies remain British Territory. No aggression and no invasion can alter that simple fact." Soon after, a Naval task force set course for the Falklands. The confrontation had begun...

Music:

Rule Britannia, performed by Harry Völker

Himno Nacional Argentino

Clips:

"For Strategic Sheep Purposes," Eddie Izzard (Eddie, we love you!)

Thatcher's Speech to the House of Commons

In the Shadow of Tragedy: The September 11 Attacks and the War in Afghanistan

The September 11th Attacks sent shockwaves across the world. It brought about a mix of horror, sorrow and anger still felt twenty years on. As the watershed moment of its generation, the consequences of the tragedy continue to cast a shadow to this day. In fact, it is still hard to find the right words to convey the impact it has caused.

Join Lyndsay and Jonah as they discuss the timeline leading up to the attacks, the subsequent invasion, and the consequences of the September 11th Attacks and the War in Afghanistan.

Music

Summit by Johnny Easton

Clips

9/11, the Naudet Brothers

Barack Obama Announces the death of Osama bin Ladin

Welcome to Hell: The Wars in Chechnya

Trigger Warning: Discussions of graphic violence and use of battle sounds. 

A message written in red spray paint is sprawled across a collapsed wall. It reads: “Welcome to Hell, Part II.” An ominous message to the Russian forces returning to the remains of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. When the Soviet Union came to an end, Russia struggled to stabilize itself. Internal strife was brewing, and with all the former Soviet states having managed to obtain independence, several others hoped their time had come as well. Chechnya was by far the most vocal. A region with people who were forced into the Russian fold during the time of the Tsars. Having their language, Islamic religion, and unique culture repressed at every turn, they had enough of living under the Russian boot. Thus, they did what so many others had done in that time: they declared independence. However, Russia had no desire to give up the resource-rich region of the Northern Caucasus, and new president Boris Yeltsin was keen to prove himself a strong leader.

 

But the war did not end in his favour, nor really did it end well for the Chechens. The Russian government became filled with oligarchs hungry for power, and Chechnya found itself in ruins. New Chechen leaders would rise, ones who were either just as power hungry as their Russian adversaries or clouded by religious extremism. In the end, the wars in Chechnya would bring literal hell to the civilians who lived their, caught between the Russian Bear and Chechen Wolf.

The Devil We Came to Know: Rise of Saddam Hussein, Iran-Iraq War, and the Persian Gulf War

A lone figure fled across the Syrian desert in a bid to escape his potential fate. Days earlier, he attempted to assassinate the President of Iraq, the man who stood in the way of the Ba'athist Movement from taking power for themselves. Despite inflicting some damage on him, they failed to kill him. Now, the would-be assassin was en route to the safety of Egypt. The harsh environment burned him during the day, and blew harsh cold at night.

While his current situation seemed hopeless, this man is the future dictator of Iraq. Saddam Hussein would become a household name worldwide. To some, he would become the face of Arab unity and anti-imperialism. To others, he was a tyrant and murdered. Despite improving Iraq's infrastructure and welfare, he wasn't afraid to order the use of military force and even chemical weapons against any domestic dissent.

His notoriety would place him directly in the sights of the United States. Their excuse to intervene against him came in August 1990, when Saddam ordered the invasion of the small country of Kuwait to the south. The storm brewing over the desert for decades finally reached its peak.

Music:

Desert Combat Loading Theme

Clips:

H. W. Bush on Policing the World: Opposing Iraqi Aggression by The American Experience

"This Aggression will not stand, man!" The Big Lebowski

Margaret Thatcher on the Gulf War, Aspen, 1990

Tommy Douglas: The Greatest Canadian

It's the 1930s. The world is in the midst of the Great Depression. Stalin's grip on the Soviet Union has tightened, and fascism has come to power in Italy and Germany. The Stock Market Crash hit Canada particularly hard, as most of its trade was with the United States. This affected prices, and in some cases, halted exports completely as nobody could afford to buy. People were struggling with high unemployment, drought crippling agriculture, and lower wages for those who managed to keep their jobs. Discontent soared during this time, leading to calls for the Canadian government to take better care of its citizens instead of just the social elite. This growing sense of populism would ripple across the country with full force.

 

Enter Tommy Douglas, a middle-aged man working on his PhD. While studying in Chicago, he saw the transient camps which housed nearly 75,000 people, with various institutions doing little to nothing to help these impoverished people. Once wishing to become a Baptist minister, his witnessing of the devastation the crash had caused brought him on a different road. He found himself within the ranks of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a new democratic socialist movement foiunded with the aim of uniting farmers and labourers, as well as protect their rights and improve their working conditions. From there, Douglas would rise through the ranks of the party to lead the first socialist government in North America, and later begin the process of forming Canada's medicare program. His legacy remains today, and culminated in his naming as the Greatest Canadian in 2004.

 

Looking for some more heartwarming content? Check out the new non-fiction Extraordinary Canadians by famed Canadian news anchor Peter Mansbridge. Extraordinary Canadians is a collection of stories of people who are working to make Canada a better place. Pan Historia host Jonah Petruic recently received it as a gift, and highly recommends it to anyone. From activists, to good samaritans, these tales are enough to bring light back into our lives. Follow the link above or right here to check out the special offer from Amazon, available in both Hard Cover and Kindle. Give Extraordinary Canadians a read today.

"Je croîs sous la rose": The History of the Quebec Nationalist Movement

Quebec has had a unique place in Canada: it is the location of the first successful European settlements, it is the largest province by area, and it is the only province whose official language is French. The Québecois have developed their own identity since the days the province was a French colony. Following transfer of sovereignty to the British, dissent amongst the population rose, culminating in the ill fated Lower Canada rebellion.

When the 20th Century rolled around, the national identity of the Québecois began to demand recognition, and soon calls for sovereignty became deafening. This resulted in two referendums, various controversial legislation proposals, and an armed resistance, resulting in the kidnapping of two government officials.

Music:

Gens de Pays

KKKanada: The KKK's Expansion into Canada

The Ku Klux Klan has imbedded itself in history as a destructive, poisonous organization. United under the common hatred of anything not white Anglo-Saxon protestant, the Klan has engaged in campaigns of terrorism, using intimidation, assault, murder, and even bombings in their crusade against equality. Their white robes bring about an image of fear to those who come across them. Today, they continue to march for many lost causes due to their refusal to accept they lost those wars long ago.

 

During the early to mid 20^th century, the Klan began to expand internationally to Canada, with chapters popping up most predominately in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and the largest membership residing in Saskatchewan. However, further efforts to gain a significant following here resulted in a series of events which boiled down into a comedy of errors. It wouldn't be a coordinate police effort, nor a united antiracist front who would bring them down, but greed, lack of organization, and overall lack of interest/necessity which brought about the downfall of the Kanada Klan.

Music:

Clip from Mississippi Burning (1988)

The KKK Took My Baby Away, The Ramones

COINTELPRO: Hoover's War on Common Human Decency

J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was a paranoid monster. So great were his delusions, he managed to convince the government to conduct one of the largest and most devastating domestic espionage rings in history, one which the FBI is still dealing with the consequences to this day. The Counter Intelligence Program, better known as COINTELPRO, was designed to spy on, infiltrate, and destroy groups and individuals suspected of going against the ordinary way of American life, whatever that means.

Thousands of lives were ruined, peaceful activists were targeted for threats and violence, and some of the greatest American heroes were attempted to be discredited by the project. Even Martin Luther King, Jr. and his fellow civil rights activists were not safe from Hoover's wrath. Furthermore, the actions of COINTELPRO soon devolved into political assassination.

Frustrated by years of unchecked violations, a group of ordinary academics decided to take matters into their own hands. Using similar intelligence gathering methods, these activists single handedly blew the whistle on the whole operation, and opened the larger can of worms of the American intelligence community as a whole.

#BlackLivesMatter

 

Music:

Stealing People's Mail, The Dead Kennedy's

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Always Get Their Man: The History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Along with beavers, maple syrup, and asshole geese, the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a renowned national symbol. The Red Surge, beige stetson, blue pants, and riding boots are what make up the image of the Mountie. Their legendary status is now global, as they are the only police force to be municipal, provincial, and federal. The force was romanticized in early black and white films as those bringing law and order to the wild frontier of Canada's west. And as the famous saying goes, "They always get their man."

Unlike the films, their history wasn't black and white. When it began as the North-West Mounted Police, it was used as a cheap militia to colonize the newly annexed western territories. This resulted in conflict with the First Nations and Métis populations as they were rounded onto reserves towards the dawn of the new century. When the First World War concluded, they acted as strikebreakers during the growing labour movement, and later as intelligence services at the beginning of the Cold War. They were even the ones at the front of one of the largest manhunts in world history.

Their history is long and varied, but not many know the full story. Thus, Pan Historia is proud to sit down and tell the full history

 

Music:

Dudley Do-Right Theme

Indian Love Call from Rose Marie

Two Historians and a Philosopher, and Other Nonsense

Another season is done, and a new one is beginning. In this season closer/opener, the pair have a chat with Dr. Annie St. John Stark, assistant professor at Thompson River University and former professor of Lyndsay's. The three sit down and talk politics, philosophy, the hardship of marking papers, and other nonsense.