TRAX, No. 1

TRAX is a new feature I’m adding to my blog as a way to share ideas and resources that, for lack of time, I can’t develop into a longer, single-themed post (though sometimes I might pick them up later). Every week or so I’ll collect a few resources that have fired up my neurons. I hope that you will enjoy them and find them useful. This feature will also allow me to update previous posts with the occasional stray item.

Here’s what HistoryLynx has tracked down for this week:

• In Memory of Anthony Shadid
• Documents for Sale  [Black History Month topic]
• History, Hockey, and the Holocaust

Sadly, this post begins with the passing of a talented journalist, whose dispatches from the Middle East I’ve listed many times in the RESOURCES and NOTES sections of previous posts.

In Memory of Anthony Shadid (1968-2012)

Thank you, Anthony, for all your great work.

My heartfelt sympathy to your family, especially to Nada and your children.

May all who mourn find peace and comfort.

Anthony Shadid was a hero, with a true calling. Intrepidly, to the very end, he reported from the frontlines of history--for the benefit of all of us. We could not ask for a more reliable witness. A hundred years from now historians will still probing the corners of the tragic conflicts, thwarted hopes, inspired awakenings, and amazing resilience of the people of our era. They will slip into the archives and find deeply moving stories of ordinary people, stories preserved only because Anthony Shadid listened to them. Then he shared their stories with us, planting seeds of empathy. His depth of knowledge about the peoples, cultures, and histories of the Middle East has enriched all who care about the heritage and the future of this region, where deep traditions converge and replenish each other.

  

"For the first time in a long time, we have the ability to imagine and, of course,

more importantly, to forge a new reality through that imagination."
 

Anthony Shadid, Address at the American University in Beirut (June 2011)

Eventually, I intend to write an extended essay about Shadid’s journalism–his storytelling, reporting, and analysis–and the debt future historians of the Middle East will owe to him. In the meantime, here are a few selected resources. Tributes abound on the Web–just Google "Anthony Shadid." Sample these and share excerpts with your students, or better yet, send your students to explore what Shadid’s friends and colleagues are saying about his work and its impact on their own endeavors.

　

RESOURCES: "Remembering Anthony Shadid." New York Times (Interactive): http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/17/world/middleeast/Anthony-Shadid-Remembrance.html?hp

• Tributes from friends and colleagues
• Links to Shadid’s articles in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe

TIMES TOPICS: "Anthony Shadid (1968-2012). New York Times: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/anthony_shadid/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=shadid&st=cse

Gladstone, Rich. "At Work in Syria, Times Correspondent Dies." New York Times (16 February 2012): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/world/middleeast/anthony-shadid-a-new-york-times-reporter-dies-in-syria.html?ref=middleeast

"Anthony Shadid." Editorial. New York Times (17 February 2012): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/anthony-shadid.html?scp=2&sq=shadid&st=cse

Farhi, Paul and Mary Beth Sheridan. "Correspondent Anthony Shadid, 43, Dies in Syria." Washington Post (16 February 2012): http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/correspondent-anthony-shadid-43-dies-in-syria/2012/02/16/gIQAo2NyIR_story.html?sub=AR

• Access to photo gallery (10 slides, links to discussion of Shadid’s work and to tributes from colleagues

Goodwin, Michele. "Goodbye, Anthony Shadid …" Chronicle of Education (17 February 2012): http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/goodbye-anthony-shadid%e2%80%a6/44130?sid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

• Heart-warming account by a close friend, who recalls t their undergrad days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Johnson, Kayla. "Reporting Giant Anthony Shadid Dead at 43." Daily Cardinal (17 February 2012): http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/news/reporting-giant-anthony-shadid-dead-at/article_97a15b16-5941-11e1-9a0a-001871e3ce6c.html?tw_p=twt

• For photo of Shadid at work at the Daily Cardinal in the 1980s

Balaghi, Shiva. "Our Friend Anthony Shadid’s Stories." Jadaliyya (17 February 2012): http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4417/our-friend-anthony-shadids-stories

• Nada Bakri (Shadid’s widow, also a New York Times reporter), responded to this piece: "Shiva, what you wrote is beautiful. I take so much solace in your words."
• "Jadaliyya is an independent ezine produced by ASI (Arab Studies Institute), the umbrella organization that produces Arab Studies Journal (www.ArabStudiesJournal.org)" and "combines local knowledge, scholarship, and advocacy with an eye to audiences in the United States, the Arab world, and beyond."  Published in Arabic and English.

Anthony Shadid’s memoir, House of Stone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), will be released early, on February 28th. You can read an excerpt on the New York Times web site (published in the Sunday Review section on 18 February 2012): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/opinion/sunday/house-of-stone.html

• It begins with the immigration of the Shadid family to America as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing–so a valuable primary source to use at that point in a WORLD HISTORY course or to bring the story of Arab immigrants into a UNITED STATES HISTORY classroom.

Also of special interest is the transcript of the speech he gave when awarded an honorary doctorate by the American University in Beirut: "Honorary Doctorate Recipient Anthony Shadid’s Address" (June 2011):
http://www.aub.edu.lb/commencement/program/Documents/Anthony-Shadid.pdf


Documents for Sale  
Whenever I hear that priceless historical documents are being foisted onto the auction block, I get a chill. Where will they end up? Will the integrity of a set of related documents be preserved for future historians and curators? Or will they float off to many different homes, making the work of future historians more difficult? If they land in the hands of private collectors, will they be misplaced or perhaps even forgotten?

On March 1st Swann Auction Galleries will offer for sale a treasure trove of documents collected by civil rights activists Clarence Mitchell, Jr., his wife Juanita Jackson Mitchell, and her mother Lillie Jackson. One folder of 200 documents is focused on the "Red Summer of 1919." There are also news releases and other items relating to the Joint Committee to Secure Equal Justice for Colored Riot Defendants and the National Conference on Lynching.

What makes these documents so special is that they have the potential to shed new light on events that occurred nearly 100 years ago. For example, original press releases may have hand-written notes or the published versions may not have survived.

Also for sale is a special "poster" created by Clarence Mitchell. He had received a copy of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from Senator Claiborne Pell, one of its sponsors. Mitchell cut it into strips, then turned these into a collage for his office.   Art and politics and history–all hanging right on the wall.

Do your students think that the civil rights movement began in the 1950s? If they haven’t heard about the tumultuous events of 1919, send them to the Web to find out what transpired during the "Red Summer of 1919." Their research might focus on Chicago, Washington, DC, or Elaine, Arkansas (where the tenor to the times was explosive) or any of the nearly 40 cities where riots or outbreaks of violence occurred. Here is an opportunity to delve into local history so encourage research in local archives, copies of local newspapers, and documents residing in public libraries or historical societies. A project initiate now (after all, it is Black History month) can extend right to the end of the school year (research, drafting, revising, "publishing" the final product).

This is a topic for the WORLD HISTORY classroom, too, an excellent opportunity to link American history to a global context. Cameron McWhirter, in his recently published book Red Summer, argues that the awakening of 1919 was the birth of the civil rights movement. The global context is the dissatisfaction of black veterans after World War I and increasing tensions that had begun during the war years–when sharecroppers in the south had benefitted from higher cotton prices. Students can learn a great deal from listening to McWhirter talking about his book and from online book reviews. Teachers and advanced students may profit from listening to the longer Book TV program in its entirety.

RESOURCES:

"Papers Tell History of Civil Rights Era." New York Times (16 February 2012):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/arts/design/documents-of-the-civil-rights-era-all-about-rich-dogs.html?scp=1&sq=papers%20tell%20history%20of%20civil%20rights%20era&st=cse

"Red Summer (1919)." Part of the PBS webpage, "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_red.html

• Good place for students to start their research
• Box on right reminds teachers that Claude McKay’s poem, "If We Must Die," was inspired by the fatalities of 1919–so this is a topic for LITERATURE as well as HISTORY teachers (an excellent example of the relationship between history and the fine arts)
• Check out links to related pages (lower right-hand corner)
  　

  
"Red Summer of 1919." Wikipedia (last modified 31 January 2012): http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Summer_of_1919&oldid=474245268

• Scroll down to "Chronology" section for list of cities where riots/confrontations occurred (then students can select any of these for more intensive research).
• "References" section includes links to large set of New York Times articles from 1919 (more convenient than searching the paper’s online archives–though such a exercise would sharpen students’ digital skills).
     

McWhirter, Cameron. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. New York: Henry Holt, 2011). Check out these reviews:

• Armstrong, Ken. The Seattle Times (16 July 2011): http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2015601697_br17redsummer.html
• Arnesen, Eric. Chicago Tribune (18 November 2011): http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-18/entertainment/sc-ent-books-red-summer-mcwhirter-20111118_1_black-labor-black-people-racial-violence
• Yardley, Jonathan. Washington Post (14 July 2011): http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/red-summer-by-cameron-mcwhirter-is-about-racial-violence-in-the-year-1919/2011/07/05/gIQAAfCmEI_story.html
• Taylor, Michael. Richmond Times-Dispatch (18 September 2011): http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/2011/sep/18/tdbook01-a-bloody-season-for-black-americans-ar-1309756/

"How the 'Red Summer' of 1919 Sparked the Civil Rights Movement." John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee interview with Cameron McWhirter. The Takeaway (19 July 2011): http://www.thetakeaway.org/2011/jul/19/how-red-summer-1919-sparked-civil-rights-movement/

• AUDIO: Just a few seconds over 9 minutes, so easily inserted into a lesson plan (for students a welcome change of pace)
  

"Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America." Book TV (2011?; 1 hour, 4 mins.): 
http://www.booktv.org/Watch/12746/Red+Summer+The+Summer+of+1919+and+the+Awakening+of+Black+America.aspx

• McWhirter, speaking in Atlanta at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
• Too long for most typical classrooms but the first few minutes could introduce the topic (the author begins with Claude McKay’s poem and the experience that it encapsulates)–for example, in an American literature or history class

Especially for English/literature teachers: a new book of poems, Red Summer, by Amaud Jamaul Johnson (Tupelo Press, 2006): http://www.tupelopress.org/books/redsummer

• Five are poems reproduced on this page–for students to discuss along with Claude McKay’s classic

History, Hockey, and the Holocaust

In the sports section of Sunday’s New York Times there's a fascinating article about Evan Kaufmann, a young hockey player on the German national team. If you teach in any of the hockey-crazy communities of the US and Canada, you’ll hit the puck right into the net when you ask students to discuss Evan’s story. With this article you can craft a lesson about hockey, the Holocaust, identity, and forgiveness. (I’m recommending it for young people’s classes in synagogues and churches, not just for social studies and history in ordinary schools.)

 

Born in Minnesota, Evan Kaufmann played hockey for the University of Minnesota. When he didn’t get a spot on a National Hockey League team, he pounced on the chance to go pro in Germany. For Kaufman this was a return to the land of his ancestors–his Jewish ancestors. A great-grandfather and a great-grandmother died in the Holocaust, but his grandfather and great-aunt survived and emigrated to America.

 

Yet Evan Kaufman is proud to wear the German jersey, a jersey with the German flag on it. The Germans placed him on a fast-track to citizenship so, even though he admits to feeling more American--having lived in Germany for only four years, he is also committed to his new identity. That doesn’t mean he wants to forget the past: "Obviously, you never want to forget." But he can forgive: "I’m not going to hold it against a whole country for what happened long ago. You’re never going to move forward if you keep doing that."

 

RESOURCE: Jeré Longman, "A Jewish Hockey Player at History’s Indelible Crossroad," New York Times (18 February 2012): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/sports/a-jewish-american-hockey-player-at-historys-indelible-crossroad.html?scp=1&sq=longman%20history's%20crossroad&st=cse

 

DISCUSS: What is life like for Evan and other Jews living in Germany? Is there a conflict between Evan’s Jewish identity and his German citizenship? What do other Jews think about his decision (play hockey in Germany, accept German citizenship)? What does Evan think his grandfather would approve or disapprove? What did his teammate Patrick Reimer mean when he said, "There is still a barrier in the head" ? Point out that Reimer doesn’t use the term Holocaust but refers to it as "what happened 70 years ago."

 

RESEARCH: The article mentions several Jewish athletes of the past and present (Germans or players on German teams): hockey player Rudi Ball, whose team won a bronze medal in 1932; soccer player Julius Hirsch, killed at Auschwitz; champion high jumper Margaret Bergmann Lambert, who was kept off the team in 1936 (now 97 and living in Queens, New York); swimmer Sarah Poewe (born in South Africa); soccer forward Itay Schechter, an Israeli. Send students to the web to find out about their stories and sports careers and then publish what they’ve learned on a class bulletin board (real or virtual). HINT: In additionto Googling, go directly to the New York Times site and search the archives (you’ll find several items about Margaret Bergmann Lambert).

   

Finland: The Mouse That Roared?

(Here’s another Baltic-oriented post, but its purpose is much broader. By calling attention to a small country’s ability to "roar" and make the world listen, I’m making a pitch for bringing the so-called periphery into the mainstream. I encourage history teachers to use this example of a small country’s supersized ability to shape events--at a specific juncture when the global economy’s recovery is still fragile–to help students understand what we expect when we ask them to consider the "bigger picture," a.k.a. "the world historical context." For Finland’s place in the world economy see the sections on Nokia and Rovio in my ... post,"Thanks, Finland!")

INTRODUCTION

Finland held a parliamentary election on April 17th and the results have stirred up plenty of anxiety among Europe’s worry-worts, and in particular among bureaucrats in the eurozone (the seventeen countries using the euro as a common currency). All previous Finnish governments have been staunch supporters of the European Union. Until now the EU could count on Finland–but a new coalition government must be formed and it is expected to include the True Finn Party, which represents a decidedly anti-EU and Euro-skeptic bloc of voters.

The True Finn Party’s success at the polls indicates a weakening of support for the euro that, depending on what compromises it extracts during the coalition-forming process, may have a very negative impact on the soundness of the euro as a global currency. This is scary because what’s at stake, ultimately, is the future existence of a common currency zone in Europe. This shift in attitude in Finland comes at a critical time, when the terms of a bailout for Portugal are being negotiated. If Finland refuses to go along with the bailout, "the whole support mechanism for the euro could unravel" (1). And the worst case scenario (though rather unlikely) would be severe damage to the EU that might bring about its dissolution.

This election produced "a big, big bang in Finnish politics" (2). As predicted, there was a backlash against the three parties that have been running the show in Finland for decades. Since no party won a majority in Finland’s 200-seat parliament, the party with the most seats, the National Coalition Party (NCP),will need to form a coalition with parties that up to now have been in the opposition. The biggest loser, the Centre Party (whose leader is the current prime minister), had been a strong supporter of the EU. Now it will voice its support as the main opposition party. The True Finns came in third, with nearly 20% of the votes, giving them 39 seats in Parliament, but compared to their showing in 2007, this was a dramatic increase, generally seen as a sign that more and more Finns are having serious doubts about "the European project."

As soon as the election results were announced the leader of NCP tried to reassure his fellow Finns as well as the outside world: since Finns are such reasonable people, "solutions always will be found" (3). Given Finland’s tradition of conducting politics by consensus, it was hope that a coalition, based on compromises, would emerge. There will be compromises–but not on the issue of the Portugal bailout. Today (May 3rd) the breaking news from Helsinki is that the True Finns have rejected the bailout–and no way it could be modified to make it acceptable. Moreover, they are adamantly opposed to the creation by the EU of a "permanent stability mechanism" (i.e. bailout funding agency) (4). Evidently, the True Finns don’t think that jeopardizing the euro, in the long-run, might be detrimental to Finland’s national interests. (Yesterday I thought that perhaps EU and European Commission bureaucrats, as well as euro-leaning economists and financiers, had gotten too worried too quickly? I was wrong.)

The source of all this anxiety stems from the fact that in Finland (unlike other eurozone countries) the Parliament gets to vote on EU policies, including bailouts. So the True Finn Party, with its anti-European Union and especially its anti-euro position, could "roar" if it wanted–and sabotage a bailout.  Right now Finland’s pledge to the EU bailout fund is 8 billion euros. The fund total is 440 billion euros ($639 billion), but that amount is expected to increase and, if Spain and/or Italy had to be bailed out, it would have to increase substantially (5). Since any bailout requires a unanimous vote, Finland can effectively veto any proposal. Already, euro countries are thinking about how to get this roadblock. One path would be a series of bilateral agreements though a consensus

During the recent campaign the True Finns said they would block any bailouts. Nevertheless, speaking right after the election results had came out, their leader suggested that they were aiming at changing the terms of Portugal bailout–not totally nixing it. The outgoing prime minister, explaining that the bailout issue is too important for any interim government to decide, announced that he would not put it to a vote in Parliament. Moreover, the incoming prime minister also pledged to get push for tougher loan terms for Portugal. Since the EU wanted Finland’s position to be clear by May 16 (when euro zone finance ministers will be meeting in Brussels), pressure was building on the new coalition partners to resolve the issue. The True Finns still intend to join the coalition, despite their rejection of the bailout. Their position is totally in line with a recent poll in which nearly 80% of the party voiced opposition to loan guarantees (6).

When I first read about the possible European repercussions of Finland’s election--that a party coming in third in an election in a country of 5.4 million–could pose such a threat to the eurozone and perhaps even damage the global recovery--what leapt to mind was "the mouse that roared." This phrase comes from a 1950s satirical novel, The Mouse That Roared, with Cold War themes that were very relevant in the 1960s, when high school teachers encouraged their Boomer students to read it (7). The "mouse" is the imaginary Duchy of Fenwick, a tiny mini-state in the Alps that gets into a spat with the United States and then, with great bravado declares war. Amazingly, by accident, Fenwick’s invading army (a Field Marshall and twenty-odd men) lands in New York and obtains a mighty bomb. Thus, a tiny country manages to intimidate all other countries into accepting its terms (the inspection of all nuclear weapons, a ruse to effectively disarm them).  Today, it seems that Finland is roaring, in the context of increasing resentment in the euro zone, where economically stronger countries keen to impose austerity measures on those requesting assistance. 

Here’s my general point: Whenever a mouse roars, we ought to tune in and listen to the global channel–rather than dismiss that roar as background noise. We can tune in by asking: What is the global context? What is the "mouse" trying to accomplish by making such a racket? This applies to world history, too, where students taking the AP World History exam are expected to write about the "world historical context." . Whenever historians ignore a mouse that roared or simply do not hear it (because its roar is being drowned out by the roaring of history’s lions and tigers), we may miss a critical piece of the puzzle. This is a vulnerability in the field of world history--where, in my opinion, there is too much emphasis on the numerically, territorially, culturally dominant so-called "civilizations."

So Finland is roaring now--at least the Euro-skeptic portion of the electorate. During the campaign the True Finn message was loud and clear: Stop! We can’t keep bailing out the "squanderers" of the Euro zone (8). But most of those in charge of Finland’s industrial sector don’t agree. They argue that the country’s export-driven economy (one million jobs depend on exports) could be severely harmed by another financial crisis (9). And the Social Democrats (the other coalition partner), though they too would like to modify the plan for Portugal, have a record of strong support for the EU and the euro. Thus, Finnish pragmatism may still win out–if the new government decides, however reluctantly, that rescuing Portugal is in their own country’s national interest. Of course, the two coalition parties favoring a bailout would have to find additional votes–since the True Finns say they won’t vote for it.

Another aspect of the larger context is the anti-immigrant stance of the True Finns, a party perhaps better described as populist rather than right-wing party. Although name "True Finns" seems to echo claims made by the Tea Partiers in the US (we are the true Americans, the real patriots) and by the propagandists of Ivoirité (we are the real, natural-born Ivorians), I’d rather not (yet) jump to such a conclusion . From comments I’ve read I’ve gotten the impression that it is not a party of raving fanatics (aren’t Finns just too calm to rave?). It doesn’t seem so very right-wing by American standards (10). Yet, its stunning gains in this election suggest it may be another harbinger of a European shift to the right, motivated by concerns over immigration policy, the status of immigrant communities, and a failure to sufficiently integrate immigrants into the national milieu. To the extent that Americans are even aware of immigration issues in Europe, their attention is focused mostly on Britain, France and Italy (since the influx from North Africa is in the news). But debates about immigration policies are also a factor in the politics of Sweden and Belgium, too–indeed across much of Europe. As these debates continue, they bring forward nationalistic sentiments that seem to strike a chord with more and more voters (11). 

Well, if the right-wing mice raised their voices in the recent election, they were amplified by those of the Euro-skeptics (or vice versa). There are good reasons to think that much of this roaring was in two-part harmony. Just as certain right-wing voices in the US are typically raised in two (or three or four)-part harmony.

In any case the most immediate threat is to the proposed plan to rescue Portugal. Like Finland, Portugal is a small country and in other circumstances it might (or has) played the role of the roaring mouse. Alas, Portugal is in no position to roar back.

Portugal and Bailout Politics

Looking at a map of Europe, it is obvious that Portugal’s size and location put it on the periphery. Geographically, it is on the southwestern edge, a position that, back in the 15th century (when the Atlantic world was opening up), was an advantage. Compared to its larger neighbors Spain and France, Portugal is a relatively resource poor country (this partly explains why it took to the seas five centuries ago). After joining the EU in 1986, it received EU subsidies that transformed its economy. 

Is the Portuguese economy really facing a severe crisis? Taking into consideration how quickly Portugal emerged from the financial crisis of 2007-2008 (largely explained by the fact that its banks had not sponsored a housing boom), it is puzzling to see what has happened to its credit rating. With a level of accumulated debt below that of Italy, why should Portugal (and not Italy) have its rating downgraded to the point where its government has had to ask for relief? And, though its budget deficit has been revised upward, to 9.1% of GDP, it is still below that of several other Euro zone countries. Robert Fishman has pointed a finger at speculation and the bias of market fundamentalists among bond traders and credit analysts (12). In any case, the Portuguese sovereign debt crisis might have been prevented (or forestalled) by an EU bridge loan but no EU country was interested in a bilateral loan. The European Cental Bank might have averted a panic by quickly buying more Portuguese bonds.

When Portugal requested assistance from the EU on April 6th, it became the third country to do so, following Greece and Ireland. The European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are also participating in the rescue, in the form of loans, for which the estimate is 80 billion euros ($118 billion) over three-years. What brought Portugal’s sovereign debt crisis a tipping point was an impasse in Parliament, reached when a much needed austerity package was voted down for the fourth time. The Socialist government of Prime Minister José Sócrates fell and an election was scheduled for June 5th.  But the Social Democrats, who are expected to head a new coalition, also accept the need for deficit-lowering budget cuts (13).

For Greece, Ireland, and now Portugal, aid in the form of bailouts is alarming because it can become a "debt trap." Tough terms, forcing a government to drastically cut spending, can make it impossible for a government to generate growth and so "the pile of debt gets bigger with every passing day" (14). If a country uses it own currency, it can escape by devaluing it. Members of the euro zone do not have this option.

UPDATE: Yesterday (May 3rd) Portugal agreed to an a plan, for aid amounting to 78 billion euros ($116 billion), with terms more favorable than expected (and less onerous than those imposed earlier on Greece and Ireland). Outgoing Prime Minister José Sócrates, pleased with the longer timetable for cutting the deficit, called it "a good deal that defends Portugal" (15). Opposition parties will have to endorse it, but since the terms are reasonable this should not be a problem. The European Union must also approve the plan, which will be discussed at the May 16^th meeting. The major obstacle will be Finland, Europe's roaring mouse.

During the bailout negotiations, a critical issue was whether the donors will allow Portugal to defer the targets being set for cutting its budget deficit. Such a deferral would mitigate the economic impact of the necessary austerity measures and, since drastic cuts in both Greece and Ireland have seriously damaged their economies, there are good reasons for agreeing to more lenient terms. In addition, it was feared that harsh terms, stimulating a flow of money out of the country, would lead to the "Zombie bank" phenomenon. This has already happened in Ireland, where investers are putting money in safer external banks because they suspect that the Irish government might suddenly secede from the euro zone (16).

Anxiety and resentments over member countries debts, deficits, and stagnant or shrinking economies will continue to plague the euro zone.  The governments of Greece and Ireland, although they have received bailouts, have almost no cash to spend in ways that would help to grow their economies. And there are large deficits and weak economies in several other euro zone countries, particularly Spain, Italy, and Belgium. As Tyler Cowen points out, "All the ways forward look ugly" (17). But choices must and will be made. Will those choices bring forth new growth, stagnation, or a new economic crisis? What’s at stake is the viability of the European Union.

Other Examples

Are there other recent or historic examples that fit the "mouse that roared" scenario? Finding these might be a challenging assignment for students in economics and history classes.

In the euro zone, the governments of Slovakia and Hungary are also critical of bailouts, both passed and pending. Exploring their positions would fit well with any discussion of the True Finns rejection of the Portugal plan.

A closely related topic would be the 2008 Irish referendum in which voters rejected the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, deemed critical for European integration. Since all 27 EU states had to ratify it–before it could be implemented–and Ireland was the only country where ratification depended on a public vote, Ireland’s voters had great leverage. When the Irish anti-EU faction roared, there was angst in Europe. But a second Irish referendum passed late in 2009 and the Treaty came into force on December 1, 2009 (18).

A 2009 editorial in the Washington Times identifes another credible example–this time from Central Asia (19). This region’s spinoff republics (formerly part of the Soviet Union) seem remote (to most Americans) but very occupy strategic positions. From an American perspective its geopolitics are tied closely to the Afghan war, extending southwards to Pakistan and India, but Russia and China are players, too. Kyrgyzstan is one of the regions’ spoorest countries. In 2009, when the Kyrgystan mouse roared, the big lion blinked. That lion was the US, stunned when the Kyrgyzstan government decided to close the US air base at Manas, from which the US was ferrying troops and supplies to Afghanistan. It was fairly obvious that Russia--concerned about American influence in its backyard-- was the instigator here, having just agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan with a $2 billion aid package. In subsequent negotiations the US agreed to pay a much higher rent and to call the base a "transit center" so it remained open. The Kyrgyzstan mouse, with some help from the Russian bear, got a very good deal.


ACTIVITIES

Some of these topics, such as the mock meeting, would be suitable post-AP exam projects (AP World History, Ap/European History, AP/Economics).

EXPLAIN how a parliamentary system works and why Finland’s political parties must now form a new coalition.

RESEARCH: Can you think of other mice that have roared recently? How about historical examples?

SHOW the video "Portugal Seeks E.U. Bailout" (only 2:15 mins.) to introduce the bailout topic and its importance in the larger context of the European debt crisis. Then READ/DISCUSS Erlanger’s article about "Europe’s ‘Debt Trap.’" Why are economists pessimistic about the ability of Europe’s weaker countries to grow their economies? What does Erlanger mean when he says "We have a banking crisis interwoven with a sovereign debt crisis"?

READ/DISCUSS: Students read Cowen’s article about "Zombie banks." ASK: Why does Cowen think creating the euro was a mistake? Does he make points that Finnish voters
　
DISCUSS news articles that link Finland’s recent election results, the Portugal bailout negotiations, and the implications of both for the well-being of the euro zone.  EXPAND the this discussion by asking students to imagine how Finnish voters from different parties might respond to views of Erlanger, Cowen, and/or Fishman in their respective articles.

GEOGRAPHY of European Debt: Send students to "Debt Rising in Europe" to do map work or answer questions based on this set of interactive maps (see Resources). Begin by having students use Map 1 to make two lists: 1) EU countries in euro zone; 2) EU countries not in the euro zone.

RESEARCH: Students (individually or in small groups) research the economic health of countries that are key players in the European debt crisis, their policy options with respect to bailouts, include the option of remaining or exiting the euro zone. Then hold a mock meeting of the European Commission in Brussels, with students representing different countries, to discuss policy issues and options.


RESOURCES: FINLAND

Helsingin Sanomat-- International Edition: http://www.hs.fi/english/

• Short, easy to read news articles–in English
• Archive is excellent resource for all kinds of information about Finland!
• Click "Old Archive" and go back to 2000, then "Old Daily Archive to go back to September 14, 1999

"True Finns Reject Portugal Bailout." Helsingin Sanomat (May 3, 2011):
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/True+Finns+reject+Portugal+bailout+/1135265848625

"Poll: Portugal Bailout Splits Finns." Helsingin Sanomat (May 3, 2011):
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Poll+Portugal+bailout+splits+Finns/1135265848718
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13107620

"Truly Amazing." The Economist (April 18, 2011): http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/04/finlands_election

"A Suomi Shake-Up." The Economist (April 20, 2011): http://www.economist.com/node/18587287

"Eurosceptic Parties Make Gains in Finland." news24 (April 18, 2011):
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Eurosceptic-parties-make-gains-in-Finland-20110418#

"Finland Leads Rise of the Fair Right Across the EU."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8458477/Finland-leads-rise-of-the-far-right-across-the-EU.html

• Recommended for its SIX links to other articles about the European debt crisis
• Link to blog of Carl Bildt (Sweden’s foreign minister)

Daley, Suzanne and James Kanter. "Finland’s Turn to the Right Sends Shivers Through Euro Zone." New York Times (April 21, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/world/europe/22finland.html?ref=europeansovereigndebtcrisis

FEATURE FILM DVD: "The Mouse That Roared." (Walter Shenson; Jack Arnold; Roger MacDougall; Stanley Mann; Peter Sellers). Culver City, CA: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2002, 2003. (Also check the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com)


RESOURCES: EURO ZONE AND THE PORTUGAL BAILOUT

European Commission: Home: http://ec.europa.eu/
English Welcome: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org

European Center for International Political Economy: http://www.ecipe.org/

Times Topics: Euro: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/currency/euro/index.html?scp=3&sq=cowen%20euro%20vs%20invasion%20zombie&st=cse

Times Topics: European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010-)
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/european_sovereign_debt_crisis/index.html?scp=2&sq=cowen%20zombie%20banks&st=cse

VIDEO: "Portugal Seeks E.U. Bailout." Reuters Business (2:15 mins). New York Times (April 7, 2011): http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/04/07/business/100000000763313/portugal-seeks-eu-bailout.html?scp=2&sq=portugal%20bailout&st=cse

NYT INTERACTIVE: "Debt Rising in Europe." New York Times (December 20, 2011):
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/04/06/business/global/european-debt-map.html?ref=global-home

Erlanger, Steven.  "In Portugal Crisis, Worries on Europe’s ‘Debt Trap,’" New York Times (April 8): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/europe/09portugal.html?scp=1&sq=erlanger%20debt%20trap&st=cse

Minder, Raphael. "Bailout for Portugal Will Put Politicans in a Vise." New York Times (April 10, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/business/global/11iht-bailout11.html?scp=2&sq=minder%20bailout%20vise&st=cse

Cowen, Tyler. "Euro vs. Invasion of the Zombie Banks." New York Times (April 16, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/business/17view.html?scp=1&sq=cowen%20zombie%20banks&st=cse

Armitstead, Louise.  "Finland Leads Rise of the Far Right Across the EU."  The Telegraph (April 18, 2011):

"Bailout May Ease Portugal Budget Targets, No Consensus Yet." Reuters (May 2, 2011):
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/02/portugal-bailout-idUSLDE7410U420110502

Shorto, Russell. " Marine Le Pen, France’s (Kinder, Gentler) Extremist."
New York Times Magazine (May 1, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/magazine/mag-01LePen-t.html?scp=2&sq=shorto%20russell&st=cse:

NOTES

1) Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Center for International Political Economy, as quote in Suzanne Daley and James Kanter, "Finland’s Turn to Right Sends Shivers" (April 21, 2011): see Resources.

2) Jan Sunderland (University of Helsink), as quoted in Louise Armitstead, "Finland Leads Rise of the Far Right," Telegraph (April 18, 2011): see Resources. Confirmed by the observation that it is "a watershed moment in Finnish politics" (news24). To make this post more accessible to students (who might be overwhelmed by too many names) I refer to political parties rather than their leaders. Timo Soini, head of the True Finns, is described as charismatic and fairly moderate relative to others in the party.

3) Quoted in news24 (April 18, 2011): see Resources.

4) "True Finns Reject Portugal Bailout," Helsingin Sanomat (May 3, 2011): see Resources.

5) "Political Situation in Finland Problematic for EU," Helsingin Sanomat (May 3, 2011):
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Political+situation+in+Finland+problematic+for+EU/1135265848913

6) Terhi Kinnunen, "Finland PM-Elect Says 5 Days to Decide On Portugal," Reuters (April 29, 2011): See "Poll: Portugal Bailout Splits Finns," Helsingin Sanomat (May 3, 2011): see Resources.

7) Leonard Wibberley, The Mouse That Roared (Boston: Little, Brown, 1955). Used paperback editions are still widely available. Translated into Korean (2005, 2010 editions) and Romanian (2009) according to information at www.worldcat.org. DVD of the 1959 movie (see Resources). Also check public libraries for older VHS videotapes (early 1990s). Christopher Segal, The Mouse That Roared (1963), a stage adaptation of the original novel, appears in searches and bibliographies.

8) See news24 (April 18, 2011); also Armitstead, Telegraph (April 18, 2011); see Resources

9) See news24 (note 3).

10) See Historylynx post, "Birther Bigotry–in American and Ivory Coast" (April 29, 2011). Also based on reading online comments, especially on Armitstead, Telegraph (April 18, 2011).

11) Armitstead, Telegraph (April 18, 2011); Daley and Kanter, "Finland’s Trun to Right," New York Times (April 21, 2011); Russell Shorto, " Marine Le Pen, France’s (Kinder, Gentler) Extremist," New York Times Magazine (May 1, 2011); see Resources.

12) For comparative data, based on 2009 figures, see "Debt Rising in Europe" (esp. Maps 2, 5, 6), New York Times (December 20, 2010): see NYT INTERACTIVE in Resources. Steven Erlanger, "In Portugal Crisis, Worries on Europe’s ‘Debt Trap,’" New York Times (April 8); Robert Fishman, "Portugal’s Unnecessary Bailout," New York Times (April 12, 2011); also David R. Cameron’s letter-to-the-editor rejoinder to Fishman, New York Times (April 18, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/opinion/l19portugal.html?ref=europeansovereigndebtcrisis; see Resources

13) Raphael Minder, "Bailout for Portugal," New York Times (April 10, 2011):http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/business/global/11iht-bailout11.html?scp=13&sq=minder%20portugal&st=cse

14) Erlanger (see note 12).

15) Raphael Minder, "Portugal Agrees to a $116 Billion Bailout," New York Times (May 3, 2011):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/business/global/04portugal.html?scp=1&sq=minder%20portugal&st=cse

16) Tyler Cowen, "Euro vs. Invasion of the Zombie Banks," New York Times (April 16, 2011); see Resources.

17) See note 16).

18) Tom Peterkin, "EU Referendum: Ireland Rejects Lisbon Treaty," Telegraph (June 2008, 2010): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/2122654/EU-referendum-Ireland-rejects-Lisbon-Treaty.html

19) "Editorial: The Mouse That Roared," Washington Times (February 11, 2009): http://www.washingtontime.com/news/2009/fed/11/the-mouse-that-roared;  "In Reversal, Kyrgyzstan Won't Close a U.S. Base," New York Times (June 23, 2009):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/world/asia/24base.html?ref=transitcenteratmanaskyrgyzstan

Wisconsin and the 1848 Revolutions in Europe

In a recent post ("Mideast: Resource Round-Up") the Lynx strongly recommended Ann Applebaum’s article suggesting that the current wave of upheavals in the Arab world is more like the revolutions in Europe in 1848 than any other era of unrest. For teachers this is potentially a "double-duty" article because there is also a link between Wisconsin in 2010 and Europe in 1848.

This connection is not simply comparative or inferential. It is real and indisputable because the historical chain begins with real people, mostly Germans, who participated the 1848 revolutions and then emigrated to America. Those who settled in Wisconsin, and in Milwaukee in particular, brought their ideas and ideals with them–their brains weren’t empty suitcases!

In Germans in Wisconsin, Richard Zeitlin explains that German immigration to Wisconsin occurred in three waves. The first wave included some farmers and artisans, but it was the Forty-Eighters who passed on a special legacy–for among them were a large number of "intellectuals, radicals, religious dissidents, advocates of Free Thought, and reformers of all kinds" (1) These free-thinkers dominated Milwaukee’s cultural and intellectual life for more than a generation, turning the city into the "German Athens" of America (2). The result was an intellectual infusion that is still detectable today. Fortunately, if you want to read more about this topic, Hani Holzman’s thesis, "The German Forty-Eighters and the Socialists in Milwaukee: A Social Psychological Study of Assimilation" is available online (3).

For the general context in which the ideas of European revolutionaries took root in Wisconsin--where they contributed one way or another to the Republican Party, the Progressive movement, and Milwaukee’s "Sewer Socialism" see the Turning Points page of the Wisconsin Historical Society web site. These are short articles, handy as references or for reading in class, but each has an ample collection of printable primary sources. While not focusing on the Forty-Eighters, they sum up Wisconsin’s labor history and progressive political tradition:

• 19th-Century Immigration http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-018/?action=more_essay
• Wisconsin and the Republican Party http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay
• Progressivism and the Wisconsin Idea http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-036/?action=more_essay
• The Birth of the Labor Movement http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-030/?action=more_essay
• Milwaukee Sewer Socialism http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay

　
For links to episodes in Wisconsin labor history and other protests see articles posted on the "Odd Wisconsin Archives" (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/

• "Striking Out"  http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/001946.asp
• "The Ghosts of Protests Past." http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/004468.asp

　
Carl Schurz

On the national stage the most famous Forty-Eighter was Carl Schurz, whose Wisconsin connection is well-known to teachers and students in Wisconsin. In 1848 he was just 19 years old, a student in Bonn, when he joined a German revolutionary movement. In his Reminiscences Carl recalled the exhilaration that overtook him when he learned, in February 1848, that the French had toppled Louis Philippe (4). An excerpt is part of Internet Modern History Source Book. This primary source fits the life history approach as it illustrates so well how a young man became caught up in events.

In 1848 German was a collection of principalities and states. Carl’s group of revolutionaries had as their primary goal a unified nation-state. Their actions resulted in the detention of Carl’s teacher and mentor, Gottfried Kinkel. Though Carl and his friends managed to rescue Kinkel, the movement’s defeat forced them into exile. Among Carl’s fellow revolutionaries was Fritz Anneke, who would emigrate to Wisconsin with his wife Mathilde and settle in Milwaukee. Mathilde Anneke is revered in Wisconsin as one of the state’s foremost feminists (5).

Carl Schurz,accompanied by his wife, arrived in New York City in 1852. By 1855 they had moved to Wisconsin, where they lived in Watertown. Finding a political home in the newly formed Republican party, Schurz went on to campaign for Lincoln in several states and briefly served the Lincoln administration as envoy to Spain. During the Civil War, as Brigadier General Schurz, he was charged with leading a cohort of the Army of the Potomoc’s German-speaking troops (6). After the war he turned to journalism. A decision to become part owner of a German-language newspaper in St. Louis brought him to Missouri. In 1869 he was elected U.S. Senator from that state. Later he served in the administation of President Rutherford B. Hayes.

During the years that Carl and Margarethe lived in Watertown, she opened the first kindergarten in America (7). In school, of course, we heard much more about Margarethe’s kindergarten than we ever learned about Carl’s reformist and liberal (in the 19^th century sense) ideas. (DISCLOSURE: I attended Watertown High School, where social studies teachers in the 1960s were very circumspect about their political views.)

So let me insert here a plea for teaching more Wisconsin history in the state’s US history classrooms. We now have a fine new textbook for teaching state history in fourth grade but that’s insufficient. Students need exposure to state history as part of national and world history; they need to re-study it when they are old enough to handle topics too abstract or complicated for fourth graders. I’m sure a few teachers are doing this already, but whenever I’ve voiced this concern most people agree--more needs to be done.

Resources for Carl Schurz

Mesaros, Glenn. "Carl Schurz, German American." This biographical sketch is fairly detailed. It is followed by a noteworthy set of links to local newspapers and excerpts from the New York Times (1861) and Watertown Daily Times (2001). http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/CarlSchurz.htm
　
Brief biographies of Carl and Margarethe Schurz are part of the "Dictionary of Wisconsin History" and from "Carl Schurz you can access a description of the Carl Schurz papers. Click on "Browse People" at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=browse&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=People

Read more about Carl Schurz in Wisconsin Magazine of History articles available on the Wisconsin Historical Society site. Perhaps the best item is the translation of a diary Schurz kept as a young revolutionary (a great primary source for European and world history).

To print these, find the left column where it is says "view: document description" and change this to "view: complete print version" and click on GO (this brings up a PDF file).

1) Schurz, Carl. "The Surrender of Ratstatt." Wisconsin Magazine of History 12 (March 1920): 239-70. http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/wmh&CISOPTR=6585&CISOSHOW=6475&REC=4

• ARTICLE ABSTRACT (WHS): This diary was kept by Carl Schurz (1829-1906) during the climactic events of the German Revolution of 1848-49. Across the German states in 1848, large numbers of citizens demanded freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and an elected parliament. Leaders and participants in the democratic movement, if caught, were executed or sentenced to long prison terms; many fled to the U.S., where they were known as "Forty-eighters." A short-lived democracy centered in Frankfort was easily overthrown by the armies of Austria and Prussia. When soldiers in Baden mutinied rather than suppress the movement, they were quickly crushed by the Prussian army in May of 1849 at Rastatt. Schurz was on the barricades at Rastatt, where he kept this personal account. It was unearthed in Germany in 1928 by Wisconsin Historical Society director Joseph Schafer and first translated here.

2) Fish, Carl Russell. "Carl Schurz–The American." Wisconsin Magaine of History 12 (June 1929): 345-58.
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/wmh&CISOPTR=6720&CISOSHOW=6590&REC=8

3) Schafer, Joseph. "Carl Schurz, Immigrant Statesman." Wisconsin Magazine of History 11 (June 1928): 373-94.  http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/wmh&CISOPTR=6331&CISOSHOW=6203&REC=9
　
Trefousse, Hans Louis. Carl Schurz, a Biography. 2^nd edition. Fordham University Press, 1998 (1^st edition 1982). Also at Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Xh88sn29RVwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=carl+schurz&ots=y9zuezPpZw&sig=A1C89MEkiByA_mRg9xK7adEcHiw#v=onepage&q&f=false

"Carl Schurz." Wikipedia. See for much detailed information and citations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz

For access to additional online material consult "Google: Timeline Results for CarlSchurz." http://www.google.com/#q=carl+schurz&hl=en&prmd=ivnsbo&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=buBnTYOdF8H38Ab5z_GsCw&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=17&ved=0CHcQ5wIwEA&bav=on.1,or.&fp=42ea6e12edc6080
　

Notes

1) Richard H. Zeitlin, Germans in Wisconsin. Revised and Expanded Edition (Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 2000), pp. 6-7. Later waves were dominated by farmers and laborers displaced by industrialization.

2) For Germans in Milwaukee, see John Gurda, The Making of Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Historical Society, 1999), especially Chapter 3 (for the Forty-Eighters, pp. 62-63, 96). For Milwaukee’s labor history (to which Poles and other immigrants made significant contribution), see Chapter 5. For Milwaukee socialism, see Chapter 6.

3) Hani M. Holtzman, M.A. Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1948. URL: http://minds.wiconsin.edu/handle/1793/7106?show=full

4) Schurz, Carl. Reminiscences. New York: Doubleday, 1908. The excerpt is from Vol. I, pp. 112-14, 116-17. URL: http://www.fordahma.edu/halsall/mod/1848schurz.html

5) "Carl Schurz" in Wikpedia. For brief biographies of Fritz and Mathilde Anneke, use the "Dictionary of Wisconsin History" (click on "Browse People"). http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=browse&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=People. See also Gurda (note 2).

6) Glenn Mesaros. He the fascinating detail that the officers of General Fremont’s corps, to which these troops were attached, wore Hungarian Forty-Eighters. To expand the Forty-Eighters in America theme, you might begin with Wikipedia’s "Forty-Eighters" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Eighters)

7) Whether this was actually the nation's first kindergarten is sometimes disputed. The people of Watertown and nearby localities, however, proudly make this claim.