The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory

Many scattered occurrences in Mexico bring to memory the 1926-1929 Cristero War, the contentious armed struggle between the revolutionary government and the Catholic Church. After the conflict ceased, the Cristeros and their legacy did not become part of Mexico’s national identity. This article explores the factors why this war became a distant memory rather than a part of Mexico’s history. Dissipation of Cristero groups and organizations, revolutionary social reforms in the 1930s, and the intricate relationship between the state and Church after 1929 promoted a silence surrounding this historical event. Decades later, a surge in Cristero literature led to the identification of notable Cristero figures in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, these occurrences continue to be scarce, and nonetheless, continue to create controversy in Mexican society

Battle on the Home Front: The Black USO on Requa Street 1942-1944

The intention of this paper is to explore what is currently known about the United Service Organizations (USOs) established for Black enlisted service members during the home front era of World War II (1941-1945). As USO locations provided recreational and support services for military personnel they simultaneously demonstrated steady resistance, resiliency, and agency facing segregation and discrimination. Through activism within the civic and community arenas, paired at times with civil disobedience and militancy, the USO support for Black enlisted members was secured. Though generally not well documented, this topic will concentrate on one USO for Black troops located in Indio, California on Requa Street in Southern California’s Inland Empire. While few resources illuminating this subject are available, primary source newspaper articles were relied upon extensively for Indio’s Requa Street USO as no formal historical submission to the national organization of the USO was found. These resources provide for analysis of designated USOs and Black troops roles, during an era of legislative protection for segregation. Broadening the legacy of Black troops’ military service to America defending democracy overseas while simultaneously fighting for a domestic victory stateside of freedoms for all Americans

An Analysis of American Civil War Strategy and Tactics, and the Significance of Technological Innovations

The American Civil War (1861-1865) is one of the United States’ most defining moments. It remains the deadliest war ever fought by the United States and involved many new military technologies. This paper seeks to disprove the narrative that the Union and Confederate militaries failed to utilize these new technologies to their advantage. Many primary sources from officers and enlisted men prove they were aware of the significance of these technologies and used them effectively. Furthermore, this paper will draw upon a number of secondary sources to support this argument. Repeating weapons, breech-loaded weapons, and rifling were all used efficiently and rationally, and the more archaic tactics which persisted throughout the war, such as massed-infantry formations, were born of necessity, rather than ignorance of these new technologies

Here and There, Now and Then: Portrayals of the Third Crusade in Film and How their Inaccuracies Encompass Contemporary Movements

This paper examines the relationship between films dealing with historical events and how they encompass events of the time the film was made. This work uses two film representations of the Third Crusade, from 1187 – 1192; the first is Youssef Chahines’ 1963 film Al Nasser Salah Ad-Din and the second is Ridley Scotts’ 2005 film, Kingdom of Heaven. Between the films’ narrations of events and the actual history, parallels are created between past and present, dealing with ideas such as tolerance and peaceful dialogue, as well as movements such as national, ethnic, or religious unity and inclusiveness

Iranian Ulama & the CIA: The Key Alliance Behind the 1953 Iranian Coup D’état

Much of the anger and hatred that is a part of US Iranian relations, which has exploded onto the world stage since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, stems from the 1953 coup d’état which removed Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq from power. A large field of scholarly work has been dedicated to the 1953 coup, specifically surrounding the participation of US and British intelligence. However, one interesting and surprising aspect of the 1953 coup which has not been sufficiently investigated is the role of Iranian religious clerics, known in Iran as the ulama, in assisting the CIA and their Iranian sub-agents in carrying out the overthrow of their own country’s democratically elected prime minister. As new documents are released, we can refine our understanding of the complex dynamics and array of participants in this event. Further illuminating this history is particularly relevant because it is the ulama that leads the 1979 Revolution and establishes a new government

Nationalism and Montesquieu’s Lettres Persanes

Nationalism as a subject has a long and convoluted history. Many historians and scholars of other fields have tried to explore and understand the arrival and evolution of nationalism. While the subject of how it arrived is under heavy debate, the clarity of its implications remains clear. Nationalism is a long standing and strong force in the modern world. This paper attempts to capture a specific moment in time when nationalism would be beginning its powerful ascent into the world. Through one of France’s most prominent intellectuals, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, this paper analyzes three popular theories of nationalism deriving from the modernist perspective. Montesquieu’s Lettres Persanes is analyzed with these three theories. Within the framework of the modernist’s perspective of nationalism, this paper attempts to analyze a period when the idea of the nation-state was growing in the minds of French intellectuals. When considering self-identity of the nation, it becomes critical to acknowledge the evolution of the “self” when paralleled against the “Other.” Edward Said’s work in “Orientalism” will be key in developing a further understanding of this self-identification. Lastly, this work will cover the strengths and weaknesses of all the varying theories when observed through Montesquieu’s work

Antietam: A Failure To Achieve Victory

The paper, "Antietam: A Failure to Achieve Victory," is an insight into the events that occurred during the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. It examines key events that altered both the course of battle and American history. The Battle of Antietam was a turning point in the course of the Civil War. Prior to the battle, Confederate troops were on the offensive in Northern territory and were hoping to achieve a decisive victory against their Union foes. If this victory occurred there was the potential that both Great Britain and France would recognize the Confederate States of America as a legitimate country and would intervene on behalf of the South. During the Maryland Campaign, chance events occurred that drastically altered the face of the Battle of Antietam. These events that occurred preceding the battle are an integral part in understanding both the outcome and the significance of the battle. Furthermore, the battle allowed for the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's Proclamation changed the tenor of war: the Union now required unconditional surrender to enforce the restrictions on slavery; and European nations were reluctant to support a Confederate nation increasingly isolated by its peculiar institution. The background, battle, and meaning of Antietam became one of the defining moments of the Civil War

Student and Youth Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1979-2018

In June 1979, Sandinista forces in Nicaragua successfully overthrew a decades-long multi-generational United States-backed military dictatorship. The vanguard, a diverse coalition of secondary and university students, youth, clergy, and peasants, defeated the highly-trained Guardia Nacional (National Guard) and ended the authoritarian Somoza regime. This paper examines how Carlos Fonseca and other Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) leaders resisted the liberal reformist model inherited by student-youth of the late 1960s to demand a more radical political platform. By bringing a relatively isolated student movement into the masses, this paper seeks to understand how a privileged class of university students became active participants in the revolutionary struggle. In addition, an analysis of contemporary student-youth activism in Nicaragua sheds light on how university organizing by the FSLN has shaped student activism outside the confines of the university space itself, particularly in examining the student-led mass mobilizations of 2018