When war and chance collide

The Hinge Factor - How Chance and Stupidity have Changed History

By Erik Durschmied

This is easily the most fascinating, most challenging book on military history I have ever read. This one is a ``must read'' for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of men in battle.

Durschmied, who as a kid survived the allied bombing of Vienna, went on to become a television war correspondent for the BBC and CBS. He covered every major crisis from Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Belfast, Beirut, Chile, to Cuba and Afghanistan. Le Monde wrote of him: ``He has survived more battles than any living general.''

With that wealth of personal experience of the ``fog of war'', he examines in this book key engagements through history from the Wooden Horse of Troy to the Gulf War. He shows - in a brilliantly readable and accessible way how many key battles - like Agincourt and Waterloo - have been decided by the caprice of weather, bad intelligence, individual incompetence or unforeseen heroism. These unaccounted for variables are called, in military circles, the ``Hinge factor''.

I have been reared in the Marxist school of ``Historical Materialism'', which in part rested on the cosy, disempowering inexorability of economic, and to an extent, technological determinism. Thus the challenging nature of this book.

In analysing the ``Hinge factor'' in these history-making engagements, Durschmied posits a series of `` What if?'' questions. The Hinge factor of Waterloo, for example, is laughable - but irrefutable. Early in the battle, French cavalry under Delort captured the British artillery. Had Delort's riders been in possession of a handful of headless nails and a hammer they could have spiked Wellington's artillery. Had this happened nothing - not-even Blucher and his Prussians, would have saved Wellington and Europe from Bonaparte.

Fantastic? Simplistic? That's what I thought until I read this book.

Which is what you should do.

BY MICK DERRIG

Crucible of thought

Left Republican Review (March 2001)
Ed. Eoin O'Broin
£2

This little magazine, now in its third issue, is an important publication that anyone interested in republican thinking should read and discuss.

As Jackie McMullan wrote last issue: ``The determination, courage and commitment of our activists, forged in the crucible of struggle, is a source of hope for freedom-loving people throughout the world. It is also the most powerful dynamic for change in this country.'' Left Republican Review is a part of the articulation of that dynamic.

What in the year 2001 do some republicans think about the current state of the peace process? What may follow the Winter of Discontent? Is it what editor, Eoin O'Broin calls ``The slow death of the Belfast Agreement?'' How does this peace process advance economic and social transformation of society, or progress the cultural transformation of society?

Evelyn Gilroy's ``I say what I like'' column, hits out hard about the lack of consulation in the Six Counties about the recent equality legislation, which, she says, ``has bypassed local communities''. The resources needed just to sustain the community sector, she warns, are now under threat.

Several contributors (David Carlin and Eoin Rooney) discuss how we can progress social and economic transformation of society through institutions established precisely to maintain the economic status quo. Denis O'Hearn, a sociologist from Queens, analyses the weaknesses of the Celtic Tiger and how these presage the need for the integration of the two economies, where, under real democratic institutions, economic policy can ``serve the needs of the most disadvantaged communities rather than bloating the profits of the largest corporations''.

In an important contribution, Douglas Hamilton outlines arguments against resorting to Public/Private partnership for funding, especially in the crucial areas of education and health.

There are two brilliant interviews, one with Robert McBride, former ANC political prisoner and elected member of the South African parliament, and the other with Strini Moodley, former Black Consciousness political prisoner, who both discuss, from quite different perspectives, redistribution and reconstruction in South Africa.

Stephen McCloskey was one of 4,000 delegates from 118 different states to Cuba's Solidarity Conference last November. He discusses the amazing achievements in health and education and the costs of the New Cuban Economic policies of dollarisation and the emphasis on tourism forced on Cuba by US sanctions and the blocade.

Finally, in one of the most useful sections of the magazine, there are annotated reviews of books by and about Noam Chomsky. They are books which provide an understanding of neo-liberalism and the rule of force, especially British and American, in world affairs today.

The magazine plants seeds for the discussion and dialogue which is so necessary for republicans today. LRR is a great opportunity that republicans shouldn't miss. Read, debate and contribute.

Subscribe: LLR. 13C Grainne House, Belfast BT152EH, or [email protected]

A history told in headstones

Milltown Cemetery, A Brief History
By Raymond J Quinn and Joe Baker
Glenravel Publications

As a Belfast man, I've always had an interest in Milltown cemetery. This mainly stems from a summer I spent working there on leave from university. Working in such a landmark, I became familiar with the importance of this burial ground. The history of a troubled city is documented by the endless rows of headstones, bearing testimony of sectarianism, abuse of power and the different shades of political and cultural life that prevailed in the city. This book encompasses periods of local, national and international unrest, from world wars to the conflict of the past 30 years.

Milltown opened in September 1870 as a Catholic burial ground. It is now known worldwide, mainly due to the televised coverage of the Belfast hunger strikers' funerals in 1981 and Michael Stone's attack on republicans burying their dead in March 1988. More recently, the cemetery was in the limelight, so to speak, during the reinterrment of the remains of Volunteer Tom Williams last January after 58 years in Crumlin Road Gaol.

The book covers all aspects of republicanism - IRA, Workers Party, IRSP/INLA and even IPLO .There are sections detailing relatively unknown volunteers from the 1930s and 1940s ,who kept republicanism alive in Belfast and paid for it with their lives. In this 20th anniversary year of the H-Block Hunger Strike, I read with vigour a paragraph on Lt Gen Seán Mac Caughey.

To his comrades of that era, I'm sure that his sacrifice is remembered, but to a younger generation, perhaps too young to even remember 1981, his death should act as a constant reminder of selfless sacrifice and heroism. MacCaughey died in Portlaoise Prison on 11 May 1946 after a hunger and thirst strike which lasted 23 days.

With a virtual Civil War ensuing in Belfast during the 1920s, Milltown bore witness to the burials of numerous tragedies - The McMahon family massacre, The Arnon Street massacre, The Halfpenny murders - unfortunately the list is endless. Perhaps the most horrific is the case of the McMahon family. This prosperous and well-known North Belfast family were slaughtered in the dead of night in March 1922. Four members of the licensed house owning family were shot down in cold blood.

All these atrocities occured during the reign of the notorious D.I John Nixon, who operated a murder gang of fellow RIC men called the ``Cromwell Club'', which killed and wounded scores of innocent Catholics. Nixon went on to join the RUC and enjoyed a successful political career.

The Second World War is well documented, reminding us of the Blitz, in which 745 people lost their lives. At this time, the Falls Baths and St Georges' Market were used as temporary morgues to house the dead. The story of five Polish airmen buried in Milltown is also an intriguing tale.

Milltown, according to the authors ``captures a wide diversity of history that makes the importance of the cemetery stretch beyond the Belfast conflict''. This book is a very worthwhile primer, but if you want to engage in a bit of practical history activity, I suggest the Tom Hartley Graveyard Tour that takes place during Féile an Phobail.

BY SEAN FENNELL

Lots of politics, some drugs, no rap

Spark (Spring 2001)
Ed. Mick Pierse
£2

It was a moment of epiphany in the An Phoblacht office. Young Mick Pierse handed me a copy of Spark to review. Here was the youngest member of the An Phoblacht team handing it to the oldest hack present. The significance was not lost on me and it was a reflective trip back to Donegal.

I sat down to review this inaugural effort thoroughly convinced that youth is wasted on the young. Grrrrr. He had passed it over the An Phoblacht counter to the Victor Meldrew of the office. But enough of my prejudices.

Magazines come and go, political magazines are fragile indeed, and new magazines for young people are generally a sure fire way to lose nest eggs. In these circumstances, promoting political magazines aimed at the youth market tends to be seen as something of a kamikaze trip.

The Spark crew argue, however, that many young people are interested in politics and want to change the society in which they live for the better. Such idealism is unfashionable in today's idiot-consumer global economy, unless it can be channeled into harmless, usually `green', channels, but the strength of Sinn Féin among students and young people shows that not all are willing to tread the road laid out for them.

Whether Spark's editorial team can sustain their effort remains to be seen, but the first issue is a corker. The articles range from a debate on the legalisation of cannabis to fascist/loyalist hate sites on the worldwide web to the discriminatory costs of car insurance for young males.

The layout and the pics are of the highest quality. The most apolitical youngster would find this a readable bargain. It is another example of the vibrancy of republicanism in Ireland today, North and South. Eoghan Harris will have a coronary when he sees it and Kevin Myers will hate it too. That's because it isn't some rubbish yoof mag. It is relevant, vibrant, refreshingly irreverent and unashamedly republican.

The struggle for freedom and democracy in Ireland - or anywhere - is nothing if it isn't generational and ongoing. It's part of human progress. Each generation has to speak to those issues with its own authentic voice.

My generation thought ``Safe Sex'' was the firm belief that your mam and dad wouldn't be back in the house for an hour at least! To say this fresh new generation is tackling a different world is to demonstrate that you have in your possession a PhD in understatement.

For the generation Spark is aiming at, Section 31 may be the bad guys on Deep Space Nine, but there is plenty out there to get angry about and this publication will play a part in taking on the forces of darkness.

A good first effort. More of the same please.

To subscribe contact [email protected]

BY MICK DERRIG


Chasing Shadows
By Chris Sheerin
Stg£7.99


It's not exactly an original idea, all told. A novel that sets out to demonstrate how futile violence is and how normal relations are impossible in a war situation. The fact that it's written by a ``security consultant'' in Derry indicates the moral tone that this book will take, and it has all the heavy-handed emotion that you'd expect. It even opens with the slow death of the main character, leaving another 340 pages to stockpile the emotions that will supply this `killer' punch at the end. Along the way, Seamus Doherty (the central character, with the most Irish name the author could summon) falls in love with Elaine, a Protestant, watches his childhood friends become IRA Volunteers, and learns that his father may have been a tout.

All the while Seamus, a self-described ``simple bastard'', remains aloof and, in a wide-eyed way, attempts to understand the violence unfolding around him. The novel is filled with caricatures, including the shady OC Dan McGready and the innocent young men who become involved in the conflict by default. The book lurches from violence to drama, full of musings on the nature of the conflict, reflecting the author's own views. In fairness, the IRA is not portrayed as a sectarian organisation, and the local ``Boys'' encourage Seamus' relationship with Elaine. Meanwhile, Seamus comes into conflict with the UVF and British Intelligence. I won't ruin the less than riveting results for you, but suffice to say, everyone loses and the moral is: violence doesn't solve anything.

This is Sheerin's first novel, and it shows. He clearly has yet to master the art of subtlety and some of the colloquial dialogue becomes irritating (``Aye, me ma sais, no problem'' for example).

Sheerin uses different characters as vehicles for republican and British opinions, and seems to believe he has a comprehensive grasp of both `sides', as it were, although he falls into the usual trap of viewing the British as frustrated chappies stuck in the middle rather than aggressive participants. His mission, like many before him, seems to be to champion the `humanist' cause, which is code for accepting the status quo. This may be the kind of book that SDLP voters will enjoy, being middle of the road and ultimately detached.

Maybe Sheerin is really the simple bastard after all.

BY BRENDAN HOGAN