The Future of Europe

Does that 32 million include Russian losses? Gorbachev in 1990 admitted that Stalin knew that Russian losses stood at 26 million, which includes both military and civilian. In the area of military deaths it would have been even greater for the Russians had the Japanese in Manchuria resisted as doggedly and fanatically as they had against the US on Iwo and Okinawa. 1945 for the Russians in Manchuria was a total reversal of what happened to them in Manchuria ( and Korea) in 1905 when the Tsarist armies lost every single engagement and battle to the Japanese.

1945 for the Russians in Manchuria was a total reversal of what happened to them in Manchuria ( and Korea) in 1905 when the Tsarist armies lost every single engagement and battle to the Japanese.

But not in 1939. The Russians soundly trounced the Japanese in Mongolia, and making the rep of a certain Russian general named Zhukov. It convinced the Japanese that they would have a much easier time taking on the British and Dutch colonial powers along with the Paper Tiger, America.
http://thediplomat.com/2012/08/the-forgotten-soviet-japanese-war-of-1939/

I think that as things stand at present that the UK will vote to leave the EU. That will lead to years of uncertainty in the financial markets and an unknown future for all parties.

At the moment the polls are suggesting a remain vote, though these polls should be taken with a bucket load of salt. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in one poll produced the same figure, 77 remain, 23 leave, so again the pinch of salt is needed. England was more split 55/45 remain with the don't knows stripped out.

Now that the campaign has unofficially started more polls will come out and trends spotted. With the independence referendum the polls were pretty close to the final result for most of the final month.

steven, yes that is a very interesting essay. A united Europe perhaps only a goal if it promised prosperity and security. Now that it is showing neither, unity no longer looks like a stable situation. My first thought is was this really the European Dream to begin with? I'd like to hear from our European friends on this.

My intent in posting this piece was not meant to engender a political back and forth , but only to consider the possible direction of the continent . I , as everyone else here , have my own views of the politics , but what made the essay interesting for me was looking at this in light of my reading and studying history over the years . Considering the effects of the two wars and the myriad causes thereof , the piece gave me pause for thought .

True, the about events in 1939 in Mongolia and also in 1938 in Manchuria ...don't forget that battle...where the Japanese lost decisively to the Russians. What caused the reversal in Russian troop quality in Mongolia and Manchuria in 1939 and 1938 that produced these dramatic lop sided victories in contrast to their dismal quality in 1905? But the point stands that Japanese resistance to the Russians in 1945 was nowhere as formidable, fanatical as was against the US in the Philippines, Iwo , and Okinawa.

That is a thought provoking article. Unfortunately, Europe has suffered some events recently which weren't envisioned when the E.U. was formed, and regional differences in attitude have surfaced as a result of that. Hopefully the politicians can sort this out, but it's likely that some changes and compromises will be necessary.

Personally, I do agree with you MrsEB. But remember that Europe is a large and varied continent and i think for the foreseeable future there will be places where you will find interest, education, enjoyment.

MrsEB, when people read something they agree with they tend to view it as objective; when they disagree with it they tend to place derogatory labels on it. So you will find half of those reading it will see it as informative and the other half will see it as ignorant and biased (at best). Truth is we are all political animals and as such we are all biased one way or another. It's only when we hold hatred or contempt for those that disagree with us that we are in error.

I didn't know that political threads were welcomed here.

"Welcomed" is a strong word. :) We find that political topics typically devolve into a string of Community Guideline violations. While this is a forum meant for travel, we can allow political topics if it pertains to European travel and if everyone remains polite and civil. Otherwise, I'll remove the whole thread. The OP doesn't quite make it obvious as to how the subject pertains to travel, but I'll leave it open so that others can make it so with this topic. I'm also trying not to be too heavy handed in what we take down given the volume of other political topics we've taken down recently.

So, please relate this to travel.

Thanks!

Sorry for the confusion . My judgment to link this as pertinent to travel , stemmed from my interest in European history and I felt that the writer's comments shed appropriate light on some of the issues affecting the continent at this point in time . While I have personal opinions about what was written in the article , I didn't feel a discussion about subjective perspectives was in order here , and I was surprised that some ( not all ) took this personally .

Well , nobody bats 1000 ;--)

Actually the webmaster does a pretty good job...............................even if he does delete about half my posts. So far I think we are in safe grounds on "theory" but that's about the limit of the latitude he gives. So, up to you guys.......

http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/weekly-czech-news/czech-republic-to-leave-eu/
well the Czechs might be considering an exit too.

A very interesting article and thanks for posting it. At this point though it's pretty hard to tell what effect (if any) the possible break up of the EU would have on travel. If it truly dissolves and we go back to different money, border checks, etc. it would surely have an effect on the ease of travel but, just as before, it wouldn't have much effect on travelers' choices of where to go or what to do.

@ Steven....Bravo! Good analogy. I prefer no one bats 1,000 here

emma, it refers to baseball batting averages, in other words how frequently a batter gets a hit when batting. An average of .260 is fairly normal, at .300 they take notice, and nobody hits 1.000 (aka batting a thousand).

May I ask you a Cricket question, now? ;-)

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bat_a_thousand

@ emma.... There was a birthday card I saw once that used that American baseball analogy obviously meant for a woman. The card stated: "When it comes to staying young, you're batting a thousand !"

I too was perplexed by "no one bats a thousand" reference
But I also had to look up who Brian Johnston was, and I'm from a big cricketing family in a big cricketing nation.
I did enjoy some of his quotes...
"Welcome to Worcester where you've just missed seeing Barry Richards hitting one of Basil D'Oliveira's balls clean out of the ground".
John Snow hit Glen Howarth in the box with the fifth ball of an over causing some distress to the batsman and several minutes delay. When play resumed, Johnners said " ... and Howarth takes his guard with one ball left".
"Ray Illingworth has just relieved himself at the pavilion end".
On Dennis Lillee bowling to John Edrich after he'd hit him in the groin: "And it's Lillee to Edrich, just one ball left".
"Neil Harvey at leg slip, crouches, legs apart, waiting for a tickle."
"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey". (but there is doubt over this actually having been said in commentary)

I don't think the European Union is so much a case of France and Germany sharing a vision and being in balance. I think it's more a case of the rest of Europe placing a brake on either one being in the ascendancy.

I think Schengen will probably disappear, because in these security heightened times, everyone has the right to know who is a guest in their own home. Will this mean passport checks at national frontiers? Probably, as it's already started to happen. Will this mean the re-introduction of visas? Hopefully not.
However, I don't think there is a case for the EU to completely dissolve because the ideals that gave rise to it are admirable and still valid today.

..and exactly how do you bowl a googly?
This isn't ending well.

^ ^ Indeed.

But check out this primer on the "googly":

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uO6QzCZSu5s

Thanks anyway emma!

They play cricket in Brisbane?

Finally a decent cricket thread. Much more interesting than 4 months of debate about in-and-out.

Jonners was fabulous, but I must say that there was very little better in the world than a Sunday afternoon on a sunny day in a deck chair watching village cricket and listening to fluid and smooth tones of Blowers.

Googly is so 20th century. There are a few wrong-uns out there that are much more dangerous. And then there is whatever Malinga the slinga is serving up, or just a few New Zealanders. Or Broadie.

Couple of half decent batsmen (and women) out there....

But 1,000? Nah. But then how many runs, how many centuries? Makes just a mild thousand look a bit weak.

Oh - to stay on topic - what a sad little country the UK will become if Out wins, then Scotland decides to stay in Europe, and Northern Ireland decide to go with them or Ireland, then it will just be the sheep farmers to make up the Empire....

Ah, Blowers, now I am aware of him. Henry Blofeld was the first guest of the Brisbane Hilton when it opened in 1986, and I was on the staff.