January 2, 2019
One hundred years ago, the month of January began with hope. Nations across the world met in Versailles for a Peace Conference, to deal with the catastrophic results of the down-fall of major empires after World War I. The reign of the Russian Tzars was finally over, as was that of the Ottomans; the German and Austrian-Hungarian Empires were done.
President Woodrow Wilson was a rising star, riding on proclamations for self-determination of nations. Non-Whites, both from the colonies exploited by Europe and in the U.S. called for emancipation in the wake of their military service contributions in the Great War.
Women, who had taken on major labor roles replacing those who had gone to fight, were unwilling to go home meekly and be but sheepish housewives again.
So much hope, all around, that the Treaty of Versailles would ring in true change. We know how that ended. The US did not ratify the treaty and abstained from joining the League of Nations. The Middle East was nilly-willy partitioned by the Brits and French, with disastrous consequences. Colonies abroad and Blacks here at home were given the middle finger. China was shorted in favor of Japan, leading to the justified assumption that the West could not be trusted. And the Germans, well, they felt betrayed and humiliated, economically with a boot on their neck, but more importantly psychologically abased, paving the way for the rise of Hitler and his minions.
Here we are, a hundred years later, wondering if democratic hope will be abandoned for good in favor of the reign of autocratic systems. For this first week of the year I will try and summarize some of the things I’ve read to see if we can learn from history. Perhaps that helps to plan action for change beyond whipping out a checkbook, or (wo)manning phone banks, although I suspect both will be needed.
Photographs today are of graffiti in Paris, as close as I got to Versailles…..
The blurb in this photograph says: Those who are born to obey will obey even when on the throne – it is a citation from Les Chants de Malador, the single book published by 19th century author Isidore Ducasse, under the alias of Comte Lautramont. It was a strange volume by a strange author on the phenomenology of evil, later taken up by the Surrealists, particularly Max Ernst who used quotes from it to explain his paintings. Let’s hope evil can be at least held in check in 2019!
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/library/2014/08/01/surrealists-inspired-by-lautreamont-2/
For music, it shall be Poulenc who fragmented his music segments and built layer upon layer, as did the surrealist painters (even though they declared music anathema…..) something I’ve never understood.
