Saturday, 24 August 2019

Special Update 25/08/2019 Some Earlier Augusts.


Baltic Dry Index. 2168 +50   Brent Crude 59.34  Spot Gold 1527

Never ending Brexit now October 31, maybe. 67 days away.
Trump’s Nuclear China Tariffs Now In Effect.
USA v EU trade war postponed to November, maybe.

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

Charles de Gaulle

While we await the outcome of the G-7 meeting in Biarritz, France, this weekend time for a little, mostly forgotten history of some earlier 23rd, 24th 25th of August. 

 “I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

Charles de Gaulle

1914.

August 23, 1914 - Japan declares war on Germany. The Japanese then prepare to assist the British in expelling the Germans from the Far East. German possessions in the South Pacific include a naval base on the coast of China, part of New Guinea, Samoa, and the Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands.

Battle of Tannenberg

August 26, 1914 - On the Eastern Front, German troops in East Prussia under the new command of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff oppose the Russian 2nd Army. Aided by aerial reconnaissance and the interception of uncoded Russian radio messages, the Germans effectively reposition their troops to counter the initial Russian advance. Five days later, after surrounding the Russians, the battle ends with a German victory and the capture of 125,000 Russians. Following this success, the Germans drive the Russians out of East Prussia with heavy casualties. The impressive victory elevates Hindenburg and Ludendorff to the status of heroes in Germany.
More
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/firstworldwar/index-1914.html

1939

German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

On August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. With Europe on the brink of another major war, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) viewed the pact as a way to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, while giving him time to build up the Soviet military. German chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. The pact also contained a secret agreement in which the Soviets and Germans agreed how they would later divide up Eastern Europe. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union.

On August 22, 1939, German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946) flew from Berlin to Moscow. He was soon inside the Kremlin, face-to-face with Stalin and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986), who had been working with von Ribbentrop to negotiate an agreement. (The Soviet minister is also the namesake for the incendiary device known as a Molotov cocktail.) Ribbentrop carried a proposal from Hitler that both countries commit to a nonaggression pact that would last 100 years. Stalin replied that 10 years would be sufficient. The proposal also stipulated that neither country would aid any third party that attacked either signatory. Finally, the proposal contained a secret protocol specifying the spheres of influence in Eastern Europe both parties would accept after Hitler conquered Poland. The Soviet Union would acquire the eastern half of Poland, along with Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

During the Kremlin meeting, Ribbentrop several times telephoned Hitler, who was nervously awaiting news at his country estate in Bavaria. Finally, in the early hours of August 23, Ribbentrop called to say that everything had been settled.

----The public part of the Moscow agreement was announced with great fanfare on August 25, 1939, the day Hitler had planned to launch his “blitzkrieg” (quick, surprise attacks) strike east into Poland. Earlier this same day, however, Great Britain and France, knowing the Nazi-Soviet agreement was pending, reacted by formalizing their pledge to Poland in a treaty declaring each would fight in Poland’s defense if it were attacked.

Hitler was incensed by this counterthrust but quickly cancelled his order for the invasion. Then, in a wild gamble that France and Great Britain would not meet their treaty obligations to Poland, and knowing he had nothing to fear from the Soviet army, Hitler ordered his troops to strike east into Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later, on September 3, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. And less than two years after that, Hitler scrapped his pact with Stalin and sent some 3 million Nazi soldiers pouring into the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
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Agreement of Mutual Assistance between the United Kingdom and Poland, August 25, 1939.

THE Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Polish Government:

Desiring to place on a permanent basis the collaboration between their respective countries resulting from the assurances of mutual assistance of a defensive character which they have already exchanged:

Have resolved to conclude an Agreement for that purpose and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

The Rt. Hon. Viscount Halifax, K.G., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;

The Polish Government:

His Excellency Count Edward Raczynski, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Polish Republic in London;

Who, having exchanged their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed following provisions:-

ARTICLE I.

Should one of the Contracting Parties become engaged in hostilities with a European Power in consequence of aggression by the latter against that Contracting Party, the other Contracting Party will at once give the Contracting Party engaged in hostilities all the support and assistance in its power.

ARTICLE 2.

(1) The provisions of Article I will also apply in the event of any action by a European Power which clearly threatened, directly or indirectly, the independence of one of the Contracting Parties, and was of such a nature that the Party in question considered it vital to resist it with its armed forces.

(2) Should one of the Contracting Parties become engaged in hostilities with a European Power in consequence of action by that Power which threatened the independence or neutrality of another European State in such a way as to constitute a clear menace to the security of that Contracting Party, the provisions of Article I will apply, without prejudice, however, to the rights of the other European State concerned.

ARTICLE 3.

Should a European Power attempt to undermine the independence of one of the Contracting Parties by processes of economic penetration or in any other way, the Contracting Parties will support each other in resistance to such attempts. Should the European Power concerned thereupon embark on hostilities against one of the Contracting Parties, the provisions of Article I will apply.
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1939 in the United Kingdom 

July–September

·  1 July – Women's Land Army re-formed to work in agriculture.[12]
·  8 July – the Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat Yankee Clipper inaugurates the world's first heavier-than-air North Atlantic air passenger service between the United States and Britain (Southampton).
·  26 July – the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham, designed by Robert Atkinson, is officially opened by Queen Mary.[13][14]
·  5 August – weekly transatlantic flights scheduled by Imperial Airways; suspended in September.[5][verification needed]
·  15 August – first personnel of the Government Code and Cypher School move to Bletchley Park.
·  19 August – Sir Malcolm Campbell sets the water speed record in Blue Bird K4 on Coniston Water.
·  23 August–2 September – most paintings evacuated from the National Gallery in London to Wales.[15]
·  24 August – Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 gives full authority to 'defence regulations'.[5] Parliament recalled, Army reservists called up and Civil Defence workers placed on alert.
·  25 August – an Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Coventry, killing 5 and injuring 70.[16]
·  30 August – Royal Navy proceeds to war stations.

·  1 September "Operation Pied Piper": 4-day evacuation of children from London and other major U.K. cities begins.[17]
·  2 September – British Expeditionary Force headquarters formed.

·  3 September – World War II
More.

You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.

Charles de Gaulle

75 years ago, Paris freed from Nazi occupation

Date created : 23/08/2019 - 04:25

In August 1944 ordinary Parisians rose up, led by Resistance fighters supported by workers, women and even priests to throw off the Nazi yoke after four years.

Following six days of street clashes, random attacks and armed barricades, they were joined by French and US soldiers and victory was confirmed.

"Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyred!" General Charles de Gaulle declared outside the city hall on August 25.

"But Paris liberated! Liberated by itself. Liberated by its people."

- Almost bypassed? -

The landing of tens of thousands of American, British and Canadian troops on the beaches of Normandy on June 6 launched the final pushback against Adolf Hitler's forces.

After being bogged down in Normandy for weeks, the Allies were finally able to advance eastwards, taking Orleans and Chartres, south of Paris, on August 17.

They planned to head straight for the German border without a detour to the capital where there was a risk of difficult and damaging urban warfare.

American General Omar Bradley wrote in his memoirs that Paris was "nothing more than an ink spot on our maps to be bypassed as we headed toward the Rhine."

- Call to action -

But Parisians were impatient. Defying calls from the French government-in-exile headed by de Gaulle for them to hold on a bit longer, the Resistance sprang into action.

On August 18, French Forces of the Interior (FFI) communist chief Henri Rol-Tanguy gave the order for a general uprising.

The faction behind de Gaulle issued the same call the following day.

It was the start of a week of anarchy.

On August 19, trains and metros ground to a halt in a general strike.

Around 3,000 policemen, already on strike, occupied their headquarters, re-hoisting the French tricolour. Fighting there over the following days claimed the lives of nearly 170 policemen.

Men in small groups attacked German soldiers and vehicles. There were bloody street clashes.

About 16,000 German soldiers and 80 tanks were in the city under the command of General Dietrich von Choltitz, who was holed up at the central Hotel Meurice.

The Swedish consul general, Raoul Nordling, managed to convince von Choltitz to accept a 45-minute ceasefire on August 19 and again the following day.

It enabled the Resistance to organise.

From August 22 barricades started going up, made out of burned-out vehicles, manhole covers and even Paris' infamous street urinals.

----The Resistance gradually extended control over whole neighbourhoods and took city hall, confining the disorganised Germans to certain areas.

---On August 22, the overall Allied commander, US General Dwight. D. Eisenhower, was persuaded that French troops needed to go to Paris.

The following day French commander General Philippe Leclerc and his 2nd Armoured Division were en route, backed by the US Fourth Infantry Division.

The first French armoured tanks penetrated the city on the evening of August 24, reaching city hall around 9:00 pm.

"The French are arriving! They are here!" Parisians exclaimed, as related in AFP reports of the historic events.

Three more columns arrived the next morning, flanked by Resistance fighters on bicycles, with Leclerc making his official entrance at 9:45 am.

By midday on August 25 the French flag had been raised over the Eiffel Tower, replacing the Swastika after more than 1,500 days.

German soldiers, haggard and terrified, emerged from their hideouts, hands on their heads, insulted, spat on and in some cases assaulted.

At the Meurice, von Choltitz -- who famously disobeyed Hitler's orders to blow up the capital's monuments and bridges -- surrendered a little after 2:30 pm.

On the French side, the losses were minimal for an operation of its size: about 1,000 Resistance fighters, 600 civilians and 156 French soldiers.

The Germans counted 3,200 dead.

De Gaulle arrived in the afternoon, heading to the city hall for his famous speech.
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“When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We are angry at each other much of the time.”

Charles de Gaulle

This weekend’s musical diversion. In honour of France this special weekend, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1636 - 1704)

Charpentier - Marche de Triomphe H.547


The monthly Coppock Indicators finished July

DJIA: 26,864 +53 Up. NASDAQ: 8,175 +65 Down. SP500: 2,980 +53 Up. 

The S&P and Dow remain up, but in very unconvincing fashion. The NASDAQ remains down.  Like the Fed, I would await a better data driven signal.

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