Thursday, March 17, 2016

Today -100: March 17, 1916: Of ships, neutrals, grand admirals (grands admiral?), pro-German ghosts, and beards


Italy will seize the German ships in its ports. Which is the very action by Portugal that led Germany to declare war on it (Italy is currently at war with Austria but not Germany).

Germany will start considering anyone from a neutral country who has been living in Germany more than 5 years as having lost their previous citizenship and therefore liable for military service, although they won’t be sent to the front.

Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz resigns as head of the German navy. He didn’t get along with the kaiser and wanted unrestricted submarine warfare.

The Canadian Pacific Railway will give away 1,000 farms in Western Canada to soldiers after the war.

In Ireland, Sinn Fein has been campaigning against military recruitment. Some have been arrested and tried, but they were all acquitted by Irish juries.

The Women’s Social and Political Union’s newspaper Britannia reports that long-time organizer Annie Kenney met a “pro-German” spirit at a London séance.  The ghost (of an American doctor reincarnated from Voltaire) told her to stop criticizing the government and resume her suffrage work. She accused the medium (and the ghost) of working for pro-German pacifism.

Headline of the Day -100:


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