The Goat on top of the Faculty of the Arts Bus

Today I saw something that is unusual in Legon. But, perhaps it is not so unusual in most of the world. It was a very nice new bus with Legon Faculty of the Arts painted on the side. Inside the bus were nice seats and curtains for the window. On top of the bus, however, was a goat. Who in the Faculty of the Arts felt the need to transport their goat with them in the nice new bus to the main campus of one of the largest universities in West Africa?  Modern buses carrying educated people through institutions of higher learning usually do not carry goats on their roofs. Or at least not in Legon. Perhaps things will get desperate enough in the US that adjuncts will have to bring their goats to campus to forage, but Ghana is considerably more advanced than that.

Small data base of Volga German victims of repression

Every so often people ask if I can track down what happened to their Russian-German relatives in the USSR. Normally, I can not. But, I just found a list of a little over 1000 deportees from the Volga German ASSR in 1941 and a  list of several hundred labor army conscripts in the Urals. So I now have access to a small data base of actual names of people subject to this repression.

Yesterday in Ghana nothing bad happened. :-)

The weather is great in Ghana. The country is stable. There are no mass protests in the streets like in a number of other countries in the world. We have plenty of food. In short things are good.

Jobs (No not Steve), Debt Relief, and Health Care

I realized a while ago that there was no hope of me getting a decent job in the US. It now appears that this is true for a lot of other people as well. Fortunately, I liquidated all my debt over a decade ago and never had any student loans. I have also secured a good job complete with medical coverage in a country with a rapidly growing economy. Nevertheless it is very sad to see my homeland descend into the type of economic misery that gripped Ghana in the 1970s. Jobs, debt relief, and health care appear to have become for at least a substanial minority of young people in the US today what peace, land, and bread were to the Russian Empire in 1917.

Is it really that bad in the US now?

Granted my knowledge of current events in my home country is limited and seems to be getting smaller every day. But, the little pieces of information I do get lead me to believe that things in the US keep getting worse not better. We have been fighting in Afghanistan for ten years now and I am seeing projections that the US will continue active combat missions there for at least another decade. The economy appears to be in the worst shape it has been since the 1930s. Now evidently there are mass protests erupting throughout the US. Honestly the US is starting to look like the Soviet Union during its last days. An endless war in Afghanistan, an economy that has so many structural problems that successful reform looks impossible, massive and open discontent by the population, and a weak leader unable to effectively deal with these problems. I am not sure how accurate this impression is of the situation in the US. But, it is certainly the image that I am getting from the bits and pieces of news I do receive.

Cult of Personality

I do not have anything against Steve Jobs. But, I have also never owned any Apple products. I did not know, however, that he had such a strong cult of personality in the US. Looking at the Internet it seems that many Americans consider him infallible and view him the way many people in the former USSR view Stalin. I find this odd because while he was alive and I was in the US I never sensed that this cult existed.

Request for sources

Does anybody know any good sources on the Ga State in the early 17th Century? A good introduction to the political history of the Ga during this time would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance to anybody who lists any relevant sources in the comments.

More on Working in Africa

I have accepted the fact that I may be living and teaching in Ghana for a very long time. It is very unlikely that I will ever get an academic job in the US no matter what I do. But, given what I see on the Internet about American academia, being exiled to Ghana may be a far better fate than working at a US university.

Wow I actually got three comments in two hours!

This is a very rare occasion. Normally, I rarely get any comments. Sometimes this blog goes for weeks without any comments. But, in the few hours I went to Accra to teach I got three. It says four, but one of them is a duplicate. On the downside I suspect those three comments represent at least half of my total readership.

What's Happening in the US?

Africa is a long way away from the US and trying to follow the news on the Internet is not easy. But, I keep seeing references to some sort of mass protest movement developing in the US. The center point of the demonstrations appears to be in NYC. But, other than that I have been able to learn very little about this movement. If anybody knows anything about it please leave a note in the comments. Thank you very much for your time and effort in this matter. Not that I believe anybody will leave a comment, but one should never give up hope.

Winneba Conference Part II

I am still a bit tired from my three day trip down the coast to Winneba, Elmira, and Cape Coast. I learned a lot at the conference. Of course I was starting at a pretty low level of knowledge about the subject, so a lot of basic information on German colonial rule in Togoland and Kamerun was new to me. In particular I was not aware of the fact that almost all violent ethnic conflict in Ghana during the last couple of decades can trace its roots back to the changes made in the appointment of chiefs by first the Germans and then the British in the area that used to be part of German Togoland. Like in South Asia, Ireland, and Palestine partition has also had long term negative effects in West Africa.

Slave Castles

Yesterday, I saw two slave castles here on the coast of Ghana. The first one was Elmina, the oldest one in the country, established by the Portuguese and later captured by the Dutch and then finally taken over by the British. The second one was the much larger and more recent Cape Coast Castle. This castle was originally built by the Swedes, then came briefly under Danish rule, and finally ended up in the hands of the British. The experience of actually seeing the slave dungeons was well worth the trip out west. May those who died there rest in peace.

Winneba Conference Part I

The conference on German colonialism in West Africa at Winneba went fairly well. My first paper on an African topic was not a disaster as I feared it might be. Instead it appears I got all the basics right although the paper still needs a lot of revision to flesh it out before publication. I approached my presentation in the spirit of somebody new to the field and was quite open about the fact that my knowledge of African history was considerably less than the other participants in the conference. Everybody has to start at the bottom. Some people just start later than others. The African scholars did not hold any of this against me and were quite accepting and helpful. I seriously doubt that I would have gotten anything other than a very hostile reception in the US. Africa has given me the academic career I have wanted for a long time. A very large number of people spent a lot of time and effort to deny me that career elsewhere, especially in the US. I have been amazed at just how open and accepting people in Ghana have been. The contrast between my treatment in Africa and my treatment elsewhere is extremely stark. Here I am respected as a fellow scholar and human being. In other places I have been treated very poorly. In terms of moral development Ghana is far ahead of the US.

Photographs from the History Department Party

Politically Correct Racism

While most US academics strongly deny that racial discrimination against anybody other than Jews ever existed as an official policy in the USSR it is hard to reconcile that opinion with empirical data. During the Great Terror the Communist Party Secretary of Krasnoyarsk Kray, Sobolev had the following eloquent words to say about people who really were victims of racial discrimination in the USSR.

Stop playing internationalism, all these Poles, Koreans, Latvians, Germans, etc. should be beaten, these are all mercenary nations, subject to termination...all nationals should be caught, forced to their knees, and exterminated like mad dogs. (1)

Claiming that Poles, Koreans, Latvians, and Germans are not racialized groups in this context is pure sophistry. American academics would never accept similar excuses for the persecution of minorities in the US or Germany. So why does the USSR under Stalin still get a free pass in the US today?

(1) Marc Jansen and Nikita Petrov, Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 (Stanford, CA, 2002) , 60.

Today's events

This morning the power went out a little after 8 am. This gave me about five minutes to check my e-mail. The power did not come back on until about 6:30 pm. In the meantime I discovered that I had about 1000 more US dollars in my bank account then I thought I did. That is always nice. I also finished grading the last 20 midterms for Aspects of World History 1914-1945. I couldn't get much else work related done without electricity. But, I did finally buy a flashlight right before the power came back on. So the next time the power is out after dark I will be ready.

Grading

I have now graded 46 midterm exams for my Aspects of World History 1914-1945 class. I have 20 left to grade. I am going to go home soon and then find some dinner.

Busy

I have a whole bunch of midterms to grade right now. I also have to make the final revisions before the conference on my cotton paper. The conference is this Thursday.

The Running of the Vandals

This morning as I left to go to work I witnessed a large and noisy parade of Vandals go down the street. Vandals is the popular name of residents of Commonwealth Hall, the University of Ghana's only all male dormitory. Half of them were wearing the traditional red colors of the Vandals and the other half had no shirts on. They were chanting, singing, banging on drums, and lighting off cherry bombs. They also waved a number of flags, one of which had a rather large phallic symbol drawn on it. I am told they do this every Saturday. But, I must have already been at work during the previous weeks. I will have to make sure to stay at home until around 8:00 am on Saturdays from now on so I can watch the parade.

Is anything good happening in the US?

The news I am getting from the homeland on the Internet has not been real good recently. It looks like things in the US are just getting worse everyday. But, I have to account for the fact that negative news always gets priority over positive news. This is the primary reason most Americans think Africa is a land of nothing but famine, civil war, and corruption. None of the good things about Africa ever make it to American television screens. So if you know of any good news from the US please note it in the comments below, thank you. Although realistically I expect I will get exactly zero comments.

For their freedom and ours

Yesterday, Ghana celebrated Founders' Day. At the departmental party there were a couple of things done to mark the event. One was to replay Nkrumah's speech on 6 March 1957. Another was to have us foreign guests reenact the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 and the carving up of Africa. But, it is clear that Ghana today is a free country. Palestine is still not free from colonialism and looking at the recent speeches by Obama and Perry it appears the US is no longer independent as well. The complete surrender by almost all US politicians to the most extreme elements of the Zionist movement is almost enough to make me lose my fufu.

Ghanaian Thanksgiving

Evidently Founders' Day is the Ghanaian equivalent of Thanksgiving. You eat until it hurts in order to give thanks to Kwame Nkrumah for making Ghana free forever. I also learned that Ghanaians find the spectacle of white people eating fufu to be a celebratory event in itself. No sooner had I dipped my hand in the palm nut soup to start eating the fufu then a half a dozen people broke out their cameras to photograph me.

Happy Founders' Day

Today is a new holiday in the Republic of Ghana. It is Founders' Day. I am not sure exactly what it entails, but the history department is going out to lunch to celebrate. Any free lunch is a good lunch.

Review of The Russian Conquest of Bashkiria 1552-1740

I just finished reading Alton S. Donnelly, The Russian Conquest of Bashkiria 1552-1740: A Case Study in Imperialism (New Haven: CT, Yale University Press, 1968). It is a pretty good and concise history of the Russian subjugation of the Bashkirs during the 16th to the 18th centuries. At parts it is a bit difficult to follow as there are lots of personal and place names thrown out as part of the description of various military actions. I wish he had taken more time to make these parts clearer to people without an extensive knowledge of the history of inner Asia before the 19th century. His conclusion has some interesting parallels with colonial expansion in North America and the book would have definitely benefited from a greater exploration of these similarities and differences. He notes that the Russians conquered Bashkiria primarily by co-opting natives into their military forces, something that the British and Americans largely failed to do in North America. I did like the fact that he did not pull in any punches in describing the Russian annexation of Bashkiria as an act of conquest and colonialism. The book also notes that the violence entailed in this expansion led to the deaths of about 30,000 Bashkirs out of a total population of around 100,000. Too many books written by American academics on Russian history tend to take an openly pro-Russian line excusing Russian colonialism and genocide.

When statistical information is worthless

I still can not figure out why I get so few comments on this blog compared to the number of people my site meter says visit here. I know that the vast majority of people active on blogs strongly disagree with just about everything I write on here. But, I do not even get trolls. I am starting to think that the number of people that actually read my blog is much, much smaller than the numbers indicated by the site meter. I am guessing I have maybe six regular readers that are real people. I am not sure about the composition of all the remaining hits. Some are undoubtedly from various intelligence agencies doing key word searches. Others are probably commercial bots doing the same thing to collect marketing data. I have no idea how to account for the remaining visits.

Thursdays

Yesterday was my busy day. I teach a class at Legon and then have to go to Accra to teach the same class again. If I am lucky I can get home before 9:30 pm. On the bright side I do not have to teach any classes on Fridays.

Cotton paper finished

It is a couple days later than I initially planned but, I finally finished a draft of my paper on cotton in German Togoland. I also got the official program for the conference today. I am looking forward to going to Winneba, Cape Coast, and Elmina. I have not been outside the greater Accra area and it is time I saw some more of Ghana.

I wish Nkrumah had built a subway

I had to teach in Accra today. The class went well, but traffic as always was awful. There is not a day that goes by that I do not wish that Nkrumah had built a subway. Maybe if the clowns in the military had not overthrown him in 1966 he would have gotten around to building one. Then Ghana would be pretty close to a utopia.

Thoughts on Palestine

The  Palestinians have an inalienable right to resist military occupation, colonialism, and apartheid. They have the right to use violent armed struggle against the agents enforcing this oppression. The lives of Israeli soldiers, Shin Bet torturers, and the armed thugs that have illegally settled in the West Bank are not sacrosanct. I know this opinion is only held by a very small number of Americans and that the vast majority of politicians, academics, and journalists in the US support Israel in everything it does. But, Israel's war against the civilian population of Palestine is not my war. I don't care if I am the only person with US citizenship with this opinion. I do not care if people think I am an anti-Semite because I oppose Israeli racism and brutality. It has become a meaningless term. I do care that I can say to myself that I am not a hypocrite supporting human rights for some groups of people and opposing it for others because their oppressors consider themselves to be "The Chosen People."

Ten Year On

I have spent most of the ten years since 11 September 2001 living outside the US. Much of the time I did live in the US since this time I was literally on the most extreme geographical edge of the US. I was just a few miles north of the Mexican border in the small town of Arivaca, AZ. So my first hand knowledge of the US during the last decade is more limited than most other American citizens. However, what I have surmised is that life today in America is not better than it was ten years ago. I wish I could say that the terrorist attack on this day ten years ago ultimately resulted in a recovery to make the US a better place to live for the vast majority of Americans for the foreseeable future. But, I can not say that the US economy, culture, or political climate are better today than they were on 10 September 2001. My impression is that they are all significantly worse. I do not know went wrong, how it went wrong, or why it went wrong. I do know that life for a very large number of Americans is worse today than it was ten years ago and it should have gotten better for them.

My week

The week went pretty well. I taught two classes in Legon and the same two classes again in Accra. I made a little bit of progress on my Cotton in German Togoland paper. I hope to have rough draft finished by Monday. Finally, I got to reconnect with some people I have not communicated with in a long time.

This is the type of thing I am talking about

Okay I got a message today asking who these academics were that supported ethnic cleansing of Germans. Well this guy teaches at some university in New York. If somebody wrote something similar about Jews they would be banned from teaching at any university in the US forever. They would probably be banned from working anywhere at all including McDonald's or Starbucks.

"Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders, Gott helfe mir, Amen."

Appropriately enough I covered Martin Luther in class yesterday. Because evidently my conviction that ethnic cleansing is morally wrong is not shared by a very large number of American academics. In fact it appears that supporting ethnic cleansing against ethnic Germans might be a requirement to get hired at many US universities. Those arguing that these victims deserved their fate appear to be the overwhelming majority of American academics active on blogs. Of course it is hard to know for sure since most of them hide under pseudonyms.  Still I am not wavering from my position which Luther expressed so well with the words, "Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders, Gott helfe mir, Amen." It is far better to have a clear conscience in Africa than to be an apologist for murder, rape, and theft in America.

She had it coming

The continued justification and support of the brutal ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans from Central Europe by people who would never condone such crimes against other white people such as Jews is just unbelievable. Their claim is that most Germans supported Hitler therefore all ethnic Germans in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic including anti-Nazis, women, children, the infirm without exception deserved to be forcibly expelled from their ancestral homelands and die of material deprivation. I know that I am an extremely small minority in thinking that the expulsion of ethnic Germans from Central Europe after World War II had no moral justification what so ever and that collective punishment is always wrong. I am well aware that most American academics in the blogosphere think that caring about the human rights of ethnic Germans in 1945 is "perverse." But, I still maintain that human rights should be for everyone regardless of ethnicity, race or religion and that includes stigmatized groups such as Germans, Arabs, and Muslims not just groups that have powerful political lobbies in the US.

Another Reason I am Happy to Work in Africa

The constant refrain by American Academics that some victims of ethnic cleansing such as the Germans expelled from Central Europe in 1945 or the Palestinians in 1948 deserved their fate is really irritating. Imagine if they applied the same logic to other ethnic groups such as Jews or Hispanics? No you can not imagine it because it is an inconceivable idea. But, certain forms of bigotry are still perfectly acceptable in the US academy.

"MAKE FUFU NOT WAR"

I think I am going to try and update my wardrobe soon. I think I need some Ghana themed t-shirts. I am thinking of getting one with a portrait of Kwame Nkrumah on it and if I can find them one of the "MAKE FUFU NOT WAR" shirts. Two shirts should be enough.

City Campus

Yesterday I finally got everything straightened out to teach at City campus in Accra. I think I can make up for the lost time by condensing the information in the first couple of lectures. The fact that they provide me with a car and driver is a great benefit. Otherwise I do not think I could make it into Accra twice a week to teach. On the way to the campus we passed a huge mural that was an Indomie ramen noodle advertisement. It had the various nutrients depicted as superheros.

Random scenes from the life of an Obruni in Ghana

Obruni is the Twi word for White man, but it is sometimes applied to African Americans as well. At any rate it is the standard greeting you will receive in the market place if you have white skin. Unlike most racially specific terms it does not seem to have any derogatory connotations.

Today Wiltex finally had tilapia. So I had tilapia, banku, and pepper for lunch. I figure I need the calories because later today I have to go to Accra to teach at the City campus. I also now have a TA for each of my classes. So I will no longer fret about any technical problems.

Yesterday's experience with technology

I got the projector to work. Or rather I found somebody with the technical skills to make the projector work. I do not do well with technology. Young people here in Legon on the other hand are very adept with modern electronics. But, the acoustics of the rooms in JQB are very bad. To make matters worse, about a half an hour into the film, a huge crowd of loud students gathered outside my class room for about forty minutes, making it very difficult to hear anything. I think it went okay, however. The film only took up part of the class and I used the rest for lecture and questions.

Technophobia

I am going to try and show Through the Red Gate to my class this afternoon. But, I am worried about the technical aspects of getting all the equipment to work. Last semester I had a TA take care of all of this for me. This time it looks like I am going to have to find a student to assist me with this task. I have enough to talk about if I can not get the movie to work. But, it never looks good to fail in front of an audience.

A controversial observation

I have noticed that a lot of American pundits, politicians, and academics who spend a lot of time denouncing Palestinian "terrorism" which they define as any and all resistance to the Israelis are fervent supporters of the earlier terrorism of the Irgun and Stern Gang. Which further reinforces my belief that these people actually have no principles what so ever. It is purely a matter of identity politics.

Teaching or Transfering Knowledge to Young Minds

The semester is now underway and I am enjoying teaching classes. The students here in Ghana are very good. They are much better than American students if the information posted on academic blogs is to be believed.  Next week I am having the students in my Aspects of World History 1914-1945 class read the article I co-wrote with Eric Schmaltz and Ron Vossler, "'In Our Hearts We Felt the Sentence of Death': Ethnic German Recollections of Mass Violence in the USSR, 1928-1948," Journal of Genocide Research, vol. 11, nos. 2-3 (June-September 2009), pp. 323-354. This is the first time I have assigned my own work to students at the University of Ghana. I am hoping that it works out well.

Lost Relatives?

I noticed that Memorial's list of Victims of Political Terror in the USSR has 75 people listed with the surname of Pohl. Since the Pohl side of my family came from Ukraine I am wondering if any of them are related to me. My now deceased grandmother used to work on genealogy , but she had very little on the Pohls that remained in Ukraine, especially after 1917. To be honest it would not surprise me if some on the list were indeed related to me.

New publication on Kalmyks

It is not a very big publication. But, I wrote the entry on Kalmyks for Jeffrey E. Cole, ed., Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2011). Go check it out.

After the Deportation: The Labor Army

Below is a translation of the first part of the decree ordering the first mass mobilization of Russian-Germans into the forced labor detachments of the labor army during World War II.

Resolution GKO USSR No. 1123 ss

10 January 1942

On the Orderly Use of German-Resettlers Between the Ages of 17 and 50

1. All Germans - Men the ages 17 to 50, capable of physical labor, exiled to Novosibirsk and Omsk oblasts, Krasnoiarsk and Altai Krais and the Kazakh SSR, are to be mobilized in the amount of up to 120 thousand into work columns for the entire time of the war and handed over in the following numbers:

a) NKVD USSR - For lumber preparation 45000 people. NKVD USSR - For construction of Bakal and Bogoslov factories 35,000 men;

b) NKPS USSR - For construction of the rail roads Stalinsk - Abakan, Stalinsk - Barnaul, Akmolinsk - Kartaly, Akmolinsk - Pavlodar, Sos'va - Alapaevsk, Orsk - Kandagach, Magnitogorsk - Sara 40,000 men.

The carrying out of the mobilization is to be entrusted to the NKO (c. Shchadenko), together with the NKVD and NKPS.

The mobilization is to commence immediately and finish 30 January 1942.

Document reproduced in A.A. German, T.S. Ilarinova, I.R., Pleve, Istoriia nemtsev Rossii: Khrestomatiia (Moscow: "MSNK - press", 2005), p. 272. Translated from Russian to English by J. Otto Pohl.

Exiled Forever

UKAZ


PRESIDIUM of the SUPREME SOVIET of the USSR

On the criminal responsibilities for flight from places of obligatory and decreed settlement of people exiled to distant regions of the Soviet Union in the period of the Fatherland War.

With the goal of strengthening the regime of settlement for those exiled by Supreme organs of the USSR in the period of the Fatherland War Chechens, Karachais, Ingush, Balkars, Kalmyks, Germans, Crimean Tatars and others, that at the time of their resettlement there was not a specified length of their exile, establishes that those resettled to distant regions of the Soviet Union by decrees of people in the high leadership are exiled forever, without the right to return to their previous places of residence.

For the voluntary leaving (flight) from places of obligatory settlement those exiles that are guilty will be subject to being prosecuted for criminal acts. It is determined that the punishment for this crime is 20 years of hard labor.

Cases related to the flight of exiles will be reviewed by Special Boards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

People, guilty of harboring exiles, fleeing from places of obligatory settlement, or assisting their flight, giving permission for exiles to return to their places of previous residence, and rendering them help in accommodations in their places of previous residence, are subject to criminal penalties. It is determined that the sentence for this crime is deprivation of freedom for a period of five years

Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

N. SHVERNIK

Secretary of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

A. Gorkin

Moscow, Kremlin

26 November 1948



Document reproduced in V.N. Zemskov, Spetsposelentsy v SSSR: 1930-1960, Moscow: Nauka, 2005, p. 160. Translated from Russian into English by J. Otto Pohl.

Moving on up

The History Department of the University of Ghana is set to reclaim its former glory. We now have eleven full time lecturers of which eight have PhDs. That is our tiny department has eight times as many PhDs as does the entire faculty of AUCA. But, we are not done yet. The goal in the next couple of years is to have 14 full time permanent faculty all with PhDs.I understand that the money to hire three more faculty has in fact already been earmarked. Unlike Central Asian universities the University of Ghana has very good human capital in the form of its scholars. It is only a matter of time before we start to move up the African rankings and then the international rankings.

Work or what they pay me to do.

Yesterday I taught my class on world history between 1914 and 1945. The students asked a lot of questions. This means they are paying close enough attention to think about the lecture and formulate an inquiry. Answering questions has long been my favorite part of teaching. I honestly believe that the human capital at the University of Ghana is as good as anywhere else in the world including Harvard and Yale. It is just a matter utilizing this resource to its full potential.

 I also got a little bit done on my cotton in German Togoland paper. It is difficult to write a paper on a new subject. My knowledge base of African history is much smaller than my expertise on Soviet history. However, I think it is important that I make myself much more knowledgeable about African history for a whole host of reasons. Not the least being I now live and work in Africa.

Legal Status of Special Settlers after 8 January 1945

The Stalin regime classified the deported Russian-Germans as special settlers and imposed a number of legal restrictions upon them. Later these restrictions also applied to other deported nationalities such as the Karachais, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Crimean Tatars and Meskhetian Turks. Up until 8 January 1945, the restrictions on the special settlers were ad hoc, mostly in the form of NKVD decrees. On this day, the SNK (Council of Peoples Commissariats) issued a succinct five point resolution listing the specific limitations imposed upon the rights of special settlers. This document became one of the most important pieces of legislation governing the lives of the special settlers.

Council of Peoples Commissariats Union of SSRs

Resolution No. 35

From 8 January 1945 Moscow, Kremlin

On the legal status of special settlers

Council of Peoples Commissariats Union of SSRs RESOLVES:

1. Special settlers enjoy all rights of citizens of the USSR, with the exception of restrictions, provided for in the present Resolution.

2. All able bodied special settlers are obliged to be engaged in socially useful labor. Towards this goal local Soviets of workers deputies in coordination with organs of the NKVD are to organize labor arrangements of the special settlers in agriculture, industrial enterprises, construction, and economic cooperative organizations and institutions.

The violation of labor discipline by special settlers is subject to punishment according to existing laws.

3. Special settlers do not have the right without the authorization of the NKVD special commandant to be absent from the boundaries of the region of settlement served by their special commandant.

Voluntary absence from the boundaries of the region of settlement, served by the special commandant, will be viewed as flight and treated as a criminal matter.

4. Special settlers – heads of families or people substituting for them are required within a three day period to report to the special commandant of the NKVD all events that change the composition of the family (birth of a child, death of a family member, flight, etc.).

5. Special settlers are obliged to strictly observe the established regime and social order of the places of settlement and obey all orders of the special commandant of the NKVD.

The violation of the regime and social order in the places of settlement by special settlers is subject to administrative sanction in the form of a fine up to 100 rubles or arrest up to five days.

Deputy Chairman

Council of Peoples Commissariats Union of SSRs

V. Molotov

Administrative Affairs

Council of Peoples Commissariats Union of SSRs

Ia. Chadaev

Document reproduced in V.N. Zemskov, Spetsposlentsy v SSSR 1930-1960, Moscow, 2005, pp. 120-121. Translated from Russian into English by J. Otto Pohl.

Remembering the victims 70 years ago

Today is the official day of remembrance for the deportation of the Russian-Germans from their homelands in the Volga, the Black Sea, the Caucasus and other areas west of the Urals to Siberia and Kazakhstan. It has been 70 years since the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued Ukaz 21-160 ordering the deportation of all ethnic Germans from the Volga German ASSR, Saratov Oblast, and Stalingrad Oblast. Please take a little bit of time today to observe a moment of silence in honor of the hundreds of thousands of innocent Russian-Germans that perished from Stalinist repression during the Second World War.

A collection of ealier posts on the deportation of the Volga Germans

Tomorrow is the official day of commemoration for the Stalin regime's deportation of the Russian-Germans in 1941. On this day the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued Ukaz no. 21-160 ordering the deportation of the Volga Germans to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The NKVD ruthlessly rounded up the Volga Germans in a brutal act of ethnic cleansing.  This sudden and violent expulsion took the Volga Germans almost completely by surprise. The Stalin regime quickly followed up this deportation with the systematic removal of Russian-Germans from other areas of the USSR west of the Urals. The exact number of people to suffer this fate is difficult to pinpoint due to inconsistencies in NKVD records.  The precise number of Russian-Germans to perish from Soviet repression during World War II is even more elusive, but the scale was certainly massive. What ever the exact number to perish, the suffering of individual Russian-Germans from the Volga and elsewhere is indisputable.

More on the 70th Anniversary of the Deportation of the Russian-Germans

Sunday marks the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the Volga and other Russian-Germans from their ancestral territories in European areas of the USSR and the Caucasus to Siberia and Kazakhstan. According to one NKVD statistical compilation between September third and Christmas 1941, the Stalin regime ruthlessly uprooted 856,168 Russian-Germans from their homelands in the western USSR. Other Soviet documents give slightly different figures. On 25 December 1941, the NKVD issued a report on the number of Russian-Germans they had sent on trains headed for Siberia and Kazakhstan. This report provided a breakdown of the number of deportees by region of origin. Not all of these victims of ethnic cleansing made it alive to the eastern areas of the USSR. Many died en route.

Volga Region

Former Volga German ASSR - 446,480
Saratov Oblast -46,706
Stalingrad Oblast -26,245

Other Regions of Russia

Moscow - 3,524
Moscow Oblast - 4,925
Tula Oblast - 3,058
Kabardino-Balkar ASSR - 5,803
North Ossetia ASSR - 2,415
Rostov Oblast - 38,288
Ordzhonikidze Krai - 98,903
Krasnodar Krai - 37,300
Kubyshev Oblast - 8,787
Daghestan ASSR - 3,592
Chechen-Ingush ASSR - 420
Voronezh Oblast - 5,125
Gorky Oblast - 2,544
Kalmyk ASSR - 5,525
Simferopol' Crimean ASSR - 1,900 (Most of the Crimean German population was first forcibly evacuated to Ordzhnokidze Krai about 60,000 and Rostov Oblast about 3,000 starting on 15 August 1941. They are included in the figures for those two territories).

Ukraine

Zaporozhia Oblast - 32,032
Voroshilov Oblast- 9,858
Stalin Oblast - 35,477
City of Dnepropetrovsk - 3,250

Other Republics of the USSR

Armenia - 212
Georgia - 20,423
Azerbaijan - 22,841

Total

856,168

Source: O.L. Milova, Deportatsiia narodov SSSR (1930-e -1950-e gody. Chast' 2. Deportatsiia nemtsev (Moscow: RAN, 1995, pp. 47-56).

Yesterday

Things went pretty well this week. Yesterday I gave a presentation on the Russian-Germans entitled "The Transformation of the Russian-Germans from a Soviet People into an Enemy Nationality" in front of the history department faculty and graduate students. I think it was quite well received. I was surprised how smoothly it went since I only had three days to prepare for it.

70 Years Since the Deportation of the Volga Germans

The anniversary of the deportation of the Volga Germans and subsequently the other ethnic German communities of the western USSR is traditionally observed on the 28th of August. That is the date that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued Ukaz 21-160. This decree was published in the Volga German ASSR newspapers Bolshevik and Nachrichten. But, the actual decision to deport the entire ethnic German population of the Volga German ASSR, Saratov Oblast, and Stalingrad Oblast came two day earlier on 26 August 1941. This decree does not accuse the Volga Germans of any crimes. Instead it merely orders their mass deportation to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The first clause of the decree is reproduced below. The translation into English from Russian is my own.

26 August 1941 Moscow, Kremlin

Council of Peoples Commissariats of the Union of SSRs and the C[entral] C[ommittee] of the A[ll Russian]

C[ommunist] P[arty] (B[olshevik]) resolves:

1. Resettle all Germans from the Republic of Volga Germans and oblasts of Saratov and Stalingrad to the following krais and oblasts:

Krasnoiarsk Krai - 70,000
Altai Krai - 91,000
Omsk Oblast - 80,000
Novosibirsk Oblast - 92,000
K[azkah] SSR - 100,000
Of these
Semipalitinsk Oblast - 10,000
Akmola Oblast - 20,000
North Kazakhstan Oblast - 20,000
Kustanai Oblast - 16,000
Pavlodar Oblast - 18,000
East Kazakhstan Oblast - 16,000

Resettlement is to be applied to all without exception to Germans residing in cities, and also in rural areas.

Source: A.A. German, T.S. Illarionova, I.R. Pleve, eds., Istoriia nemtsev Rossii: Khrestomatiia (Moscow: "MSNC-Press", 2005), doc. 8.3.1., p. 254.

Russian-German Timeline

Timeline for the German minority in the Russian Empire and USSR

1763 – Manifesto by Empress Catherine II inviting Christian foreigners to the Russian Empire

1764 – First German colonies established along the Volga

1804 – Tsar Alexander I issues invitation for Christian foreigners to settle in the Black Sea region

1871 – Revocation of self government from German colonies in Russian Empire

1874 – Russian-Germans subjected to conscription into the Imperial Russian Army

1915 – Liquidation Laws

1918 – Volga German Workers’ Commune established by Lenin

1924 – Volga German Workers’ Commune upgraded to Volga German ASSR

1935-1936 – Deportation of Russian-Germans from Polish-Ukrainian border

1937-1938 – Great Terror including the “German Operation.”

1941 – Mass deportation of ethnic Germans from European areas of the USSR to Siberia and Kazakhstan

1942 – Mass mobilization of Russian-Germans into labor army detachments and columns

1943-1944 – Mass evacuation of Black Sea Germans from Ukraine to Warthegau

1945 – Forced repatriation of ethnic Germans with Soviet citizenship from Germany to USSR

1955 – Ethnic Germans in USSR released from special settlement restrictions

1964 – Partial rehabilitation of Russian-Germans

1965 – Two delegations of Russian-Germans go to Moscow seeking restoration of Volga German ASSR

1972 – Russian-Germans finally given same right to choose residency as other Soviet citizens

1973 – Emigration movement begins

1979 – Failed attempt to create a German autonomous oblast in Kazakhstan

1987 – Soviet government removes all restrictions on emigration

1988 – 2005 – Mass emigration of Russian-Germans to Germany

A Black Day in History. Today in 1939.

On 23 August 1939, Molotov and Ribbentrop signed a "non-aggression pact" dividing up Central Europe between the USSR and Nazi Germany. This act led to the subsequent subjugation and colonization of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, eastern Poland, and the Bessarabian province of Romania. The Sovietization of these territories involved a great deal of violence directed by the Stalin regime against civilians. In terms of sheer numbers of victims the greatest acts of Soviet terror in this region were the mass deportation of Poles, Jews, Belorussians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and Moldavians to eastern regions of the USSR. The NKVD forcibly uprooted and dumped over 400,000 people from these nationalities in the Soviet Far North, the Urals, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and Siberia during 1940 and 1941. The Soviet government placed these deportees under special settlement restrictions in order to confine them to their new areas of settlement. The material conditions in these settlements proved to be deadly. Unable to leave the settlements, tens of thousands perished from malnutrition, disease and exposure. For a statistical analysis of the human losses involved see this post. Unlike their Nazi counterparts the Soviet war criminals responsible for these acts have never been brought to justice.

University Benefits

Yesterday, I got the anti-virus software subscription on my laptop renewed for free by the university. This is one of the great benefits I get here. Others include  free housing and medical coverage. The ICT people here are very good. They are friendly, competent, and prompt.

Faculty Meeting

Today we had our first faculty meeting of the semester. Last semester I was the only new person. This semester we have five new people. The new faculty consist of two Ghanaians, two Americans, and a Norwegian.

Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles are universal. We even have them in Africa. I have taken to preparing them in a mixture of tomato paste, shito sauce, and ketchup. I like the spicy tomato broth that results from this combination.

Under Jakob's Ladder hits the Big Time

Under Jakob's Ladder is getting amazing press in the UK. It is beyond anything I could ever have imagined. If you go see the movie just make sure you pay attention to the credits where it says historical consultant.

Frugality

I have decided there is no point in wasting money. For instance a 1.5 liter bottle of water here costs 1.30 cedis. But, you can buy the same amount of water in bags for 30 peswas. There is not any difference in the water quality. You just pay a lot to have a plastic bottle. So now I am buying all my water in bags. This saves me about two cedis a day. Eating at indoor restraunts as opposed to outdoor ones is also considerably more expensive. Meals at the Guest Center for instance average about eight cedis. In contrast jollof rice, chicken, salad, and sauce at the night market is less than three cedis. At the Bush Canteen you can get fufu and chicken or goat for two cedis. There is also a lot shorter wait to get your food at the outdoor places.

Syllabus for Aspects of Early Modern European History

HIST 309

Aspects of Early Modern European History

Fall Semester 2011

Department of History

University of Ghana

J. Otto Pohl, Ph.D.

Meeting Time: Thursday 3:30-5:25 Linguistics Lecture Theatre

Course Description: This is a survey class covering various aspects of European history from the 14th Century until the end of the 18th Century. The core section of the course will focus on the 17th and 18th centuries. In particular it will concentrate on political history, but it will also cover religion, economics, art and philosophy. The course will focus on the larger and more powerful European states such as England, France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Special attention will be given to the political history of these states during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Requirements: Students need to attend class regularly and do the assigned readings. Material from both the readings and the lectures will appear on the final exam. No mobile phones are to be visible during class. They are to be out of sight and turned off. Finally, I have a significant hearing loss and may have to ask people to repeat their questions or statements from time to time. You can minimize this by speaking loudly and clearly. This syllabus is tentative and subject to change.

Readings: The readings for this course come primarily from two sources. The first is Birdsall S. Viault, Modern European History (New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1990) and the second is R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World to 1815 Seventh Edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992). In addition to these two survey texts I have assigned a section from Andreas Kappler, trans. Alfred Clayton, The Russian Empire: A Multiethnic Empire (Essex, UK: Longman, 2001).

Grading: The grade for the class will be based upon a mid-term exam and a comprehensive final essay exam at the end of the semester. The mid-term will be worth 30% of the final grade and the final exam will constitute the remaining 70% of the grade.

Class Schedule:

Week one: Introduction and Review of Syllabus

Week two: Leaving the Middle Ages and Entering the Modern Era
Read Viault, chapter one, pp. 1-15 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 46-53.

Week three: The Renaissance
Read Viault, chapters 2-3, pp. 16-43 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 53-75.

Week four: The Reformation, Counterreformation, and Wars of Religion
Read Viault, chapters 4-5, pp. 44-77 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 75-93 and 126-149.

Week five: Imperialism and Mercantilism
Read Viault, chapter 6, pp. 78-90 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 120-126.

Week six: Mid-Term Exam. The exam is worth 30% of the total grade.

Week seven: England in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Read Viault chapter, pp. 7, pp. 91-105 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 169-182.

Week eight: France in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Read Vialut, chapter 8, pp. 106-118 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 182-197.

Week nine: Central and Eastern Europe in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Read Viault, pp. 119-133 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 210-249.

Week ten: Russia Moves into Europe during the 17th and 18th Centuries
Read Kappeler, pp. 60-113.

Week eleven: 18th Century Wars
Read Viault, pp. 134-144 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 250-285.

Week twelve: Science, Philosophy, Art, Literature, and Music in 17th and 18th Century Europe
Read Viault, pp. 145-176 and Palmer and Colton, pp. 286-326.

This Month is the 70th Anniversary of the Deportation of the Russian-Germans

Stalin began the deportation of the ethnic German population of the European USSR to Kazakhstan and Siberia in August 1941. The official day of commemoration is the 28th of August when the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued Ukaz 21-160. This decree falsely accused the Volga Germans of harboring tens of thousands of Nazi spies and saboteurs. It then ordered the deportation of all ethnic Germans from the Volga German ASSR, Saratov Oblast, and Stalingrad Oblast to Kazakhstan and Siberia. However, the actual deportation of ethnic Germans began on 15 August 1941 with the forced evacuation of the Crimean Germans to Ordzhonikidze Krai and Rostov Oblast. My posts for the 70th anniversary of this crime against humanity will not be as thorough as the ones I put up five years ago due to time constraints. However, I will be putting up some new posts and linking to some older ones.

Today's Accomplishment

This morning I got about 500 words written on my cotton paper. Most of what I wrote was on the section describing the relative success of the Russian Empire in making Turkestan a major supplier of raw cotton for its textile industry. They eventually got over half their cotton from their Central Asian territories.

Why?

Why do most American liberals support the continued existence of Israel as an apartheid state when they would never tolerate apartheid in the US or South Africa? Is it purely a matter of identity politics?

I am a lot thinner now

Cotton Paper Proposal

The Relative Failure of German Togoland as a Model Cotton Colony

J. Otto Pohl and Felix Longi

History Department, University of Ghana, Legon

The Germans established the colony of Togoland for the purposes of economic exploitation. It provided raw materials for German commercial interests. In particular the German colonial administration sought to cultivate cotton in Togoland for Germany’s textile industry. The Germans sought to encourage the Togoland natives to grow cotton instead of food on their own small holdings. The German colonial authorities aimed to make cotton growing a Volkskultur. This contrasted with the earlier failed attempt to establish cotton plantations based upon wage labor in German East Africa. The creation of commercial cotton growing in Togoland on this basis took place under the direction of the colonial state. A key component in this policy was the founding of a model farm and later an agricultural school by African American experts from the Tuskegee Institute. This innovation initially demonstrated great potential in fulfilling the economic goals of the German colonial administration in Togoland.

During the 30 years of its existence German Togoland was commonly referred to as the “model colony.” Togoland consistently ran balanced budgets and required far fewer military resources than German East Africa or German Southwest Africa to control. While the success of the colony from the point of view of German imperialists is generally accepted by most scholars there has been considerable historical debate as to the overall treatment of the native population. Yet an examination of cotton cultivation in German Togoland reveals that it fell far short of providing a replacement for US cotton. Yields stagnated in 1909 and by World War I, all of Germany’s colonies in Africa and the Pacific only provided 0.5% of its cotton needs. Unlike British India or Turkestan in the Russian Empire, Germany failed to make Togoland into a major source of cotton for its textile industry.

This paper will examine the reasons why the colonial administration failed to make Togoland a major supplier of cotton to Germany’s textile industry. In particular it will take a comparative approach and look at the success of Russia in transforming Central Asia into the primary source of raw cotton for its textile plants during the same years Germany’s efforts in Togoland failed. It will also look at the later successes by the British Cotton Growers’ Association in the areas of Togoland annexed to the Gold Coast. Both external and internal factors will be looked at to determine these causes.

First Class of the Semester

Yesterday I taught my first class of the semester. Only six students showed up for the first day of class. I am tempted to make all the remaining students fend for themselves on getting the syllabus rather than passing it out again next week.

A Map of the Volga German ASSR from 1928

The History Department has gotten a lot bigger this semester

This semester we have a lot of new faculty in the History Department of the University of Ghana. There are five new lecturers joining us. In most of the rest of the world history departments are shrinking.

Groundnuts

Not only does Ghana have the best pineapples, mangoes and avocados in the world it also has the best groundnuts (peanuts) in the world.

Yesterday in Accra

Yesterday I went down to Accra and there was some kind of celebration in the region of the juncture of Jamestown and Usshertown. It included dancing, food, and really loud drumming. If anybody knows what the festivities were about could you leave a comment here?

My brain is still dead

I am still recovering from my marathon tricontinental journey back to Ghana. So I have not actually gotten any work done on my cotton paper, my book manuscript, or any other writing projects since returning. I hope to be able to rectify this soon.

Russian Publishing Trends

In Bishkek I noticed a large number of books imported from Russia praising Stalin and Beria. Every book store in the city had at least one whole shelf dedicated to this growing genre of popular literature. The development of a separate subordinate cult of personality around Beria seems to have grown considerably in the former USSR recently. Although Beria has not yet been officially rehabilitated by the Russian government there is a growing body of popular literature in Russia urging just such a course. The movement to annul Khrushchev's partial denunciation of Stalin of course has been around for a while and seems to grow stronger every day in the former USSR. The most disturbing aspect of this trend for me, however, is the appearance of Russian translations of American and other Western Stalinists and their frequent citation as supporting evidence in the popular literature written by Russian Stalinists. Almost all of the Stalinists in the above category hold tenured academic positions in the US. A particular favorite of the Russian Stalinists appears to be Grover Furr. Interestingly enough the literature does not generally deny the atrocities of Stalin and Beria, but instead seeks to justify them by portraying their victims as "traitors" to the USSR who deserved their fate. Nobody will ever be able to convince me that Volga German and Crimean Tatar children deserved to die the horrible and agonizing deaths they suffered during the 1940s. But, looking around the Internet it appears I am in a distinct minority.

Back to teaching

I am still recovering from jet lag, but I did finish writing up all my syllabi for classes this semester. Now I just need to get them photocopied. I start teaching again on Monday afternoon.

First we take Manhattan then we take the world

Under Jakob's Ladder recently won two awards  at the Manhattan Film Festival this year. It won "Best Film - Period Piece" and the leading man Jeff Stewart won "Best Actor." The movie is about Stalin's persecution of ethnic Germans in Ukraine during the 1930s. In decades past it would have been almost inconceivable that a film on this topic would ever be admitted to a film festival in New York, yet alone win two awards. For people that have been involved in preserving the memory of the Russian-Germans murdered by Stalin this is a huge event. I would describe it simply as totally awesome. I played a very small role in the making of this film as an historical consultant, but virtually all the credit for this movie's success must go to the Moon Brothers and their cast and crew. Very well done guys.

An old picture of me from Bishkek

It is a Beautiful Morning in Africa

Last night I arrived back in Ghana. This morning I went for a long walk and checked the ATM machine. While I was in Kyrgyzstan the university paid me my salary for July. I took out 100 cedis since the cab ride back to Legon from the airport had reduced the holdings in my wallet to 20 GH. I then checked my university e-mail and found they are ready to process my residence permit. So I will go up the hill later this morning. The weather here is nice and cool, but it has not rained yet since I got back. So far things are moving along much better than I expected. Although I miss my family I am happy to be back in Africa.

I Keep Moving Forward

I accomplished my main goal this summer with a week to spare. I hope I can keep up this record of success when I get back to Africa. I have a lot of work waiting for me in Ghana.

Nearing the end of my vacation

My vacation is almost over. Soon I will have to return to Africa and start working again. I did, however, recently receive a small grant to attend a conference in Ghana on German colonialism in West Africa. I will be presenting a paper on cotton in German Togoland. The conference will be in late September. I will post more on my proposed paper later.

The Embassy Called me on Monday

The US embassy called me on Monday and told me that my daughter's documents were ready. I went that afternoon and picked up her US birth certificate (CRBA) and passport.  I have now finished what I came to Bishkek to do this summer. My daughter now has ironclad evidence of her US citizenship and can enter the US without a visa.

Almost Done

I came to Kyrgyzstan this summer with one primary objective. This objective is to get my daughter a US birth certificate and passport. After four trips to the US embassy I have finished all the paper work. Now I just have to wait for the documents to be processed.

Third World Problems

I am getting closer to accomplishing what I came back to Bishkek to finish. I think there is some universal law that nothing in the third world ever works on the first try. Nothing ever works on the second try either. If you get really lucky you can get things to work on the third try. But, normally everthing takes four or more attempts before you can accomplish anything.

Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan is hotter than Ghana was when I left. Bishkek is a lot smaller and quieter than Accra. I have met with some old friends and not much seems to have changed in Central Asia since I left in December.

Back in the Former USSR

On Monday night I left Accra to go to Bishkek via London and Istanbul. I arrived in Bishkek on Wednesday morning. I do not recommend travelling from Africa to Europe to the middle of Asia in a single non-stop trip unless you are in a hurry. I will be here for about a month before I return to Ghana.

I have some things that need my attention

I know looking at this blog it looks like my personal life is rather limited. But, I actually do have a life outside of academia. Those of you who know me personally know what  I am talking about. I have not posted on it very much in order to protect the privacy of other people. At any rate I have to go take care of some matters pertaining to that personal life this month. So until the fall semester starts at University of Ghana blogging will be slow.

Five Non-Controversial Things I Believe

1. It is almost impossible to get a really good beef hamburger outside the US. You can find decent ones if you look hard, but not excellent ones.

2. There is nothing scientific about social science, political science, or any other like discipline.

3. The best library in the world is the Library of Congress.

4.  SOAS is the single best English language institution in the world for studying Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

5. Nobody will leave any comments on this blog post.

Half steps

Sometimes you can not accomplish everything in one attempt. You have to do it in two half steps. This is frustrating, but a half step is much better than no step. I am going by what I think is a Chinese proverb: "Fear not moving slowly, fear only standing still." Even if it is not a real Chinese proverb it still makes a lot of sense to me.

Pineapple and Watermelon

Today I came across a fresh fruit juice combination I had not seen before. It was pineapple and watermelon. It tasted pretty good. But, I still prefer pineapple and ginger.

Strategy for Progress

I have decided that the best strategy for getting through life is to accomplish a little bit each day. Days where I accomplish nothing are frustrating. Monday was such a day. But, since then I have been doing well. A little bit of progress each day means moving forward. It is days when nothing gets done that kill progress and hope.

Modernity and Genocide: The Circassians

Modernity is of course a relative term. But, for a while now many scholars have identified the German extermination of the Herero and Nama people in Namibia during 1904-1907 as the first modern genocide. However, it appears that all of the modern state technology and ideology necessary to commit genocide had been in place and used considerably earlier by another state. The Russian genocide against the Circassians during 1860-1864 appears to have all the elements at least in an embryonic form of more modern genocides such as the Holocaust and the Soviet mass deportations in the 1940s.

A good argument can be made that the US committed genocide against certain Native American nations earlier than 1860. I am thinking in particular of the forced relocation of the Cherokee and other peoples by Andrew Jackson. However, I think these earlier cases had not yet acquired all of the elements of modernity that are shared by genocides in the 20th century. They certainly had many of the same features as more recent cases of genocide, but the first fully formed case of an ideologically driven attempt to destroy a group of people as a distinct entity appears to be the Russian extermination of the Circassians. The emphasis on ideology rather than land I think is a key factor in modern genocides. The articulation of totalized exclusionary concepts of the state that did not allow for the survival of certain separate cultural groups within its territory had not yet fully evolved until the 1860s.

So while the forced relocation of the Cherokee certainly constituted a genocide in being a deliberate act that the US government knew would lead to large numbers of deaths, it lacked the modern ideological drive of dissolving them as a distinct group. The survivors were allowed to reorganize their national life in what became Oklahoma. The initial removal did not aim to liquidate the Cherokee as a coherent national group, but rather to violently displace them to a marginal territory of the US. Modern genocides driven by ideology in contrast have sought to eliminate the victim groups as national entities through various means. The Tsarist expulsion of the Circassians sought to completely annihilate the idea of a Circassian nation. There was no place within the Russian Empire for the Circassians, no matter how marginalized. The Tsarist government succeeded in permanently detaching the Circassians from their ancestral lands and deporting them to the Ottoman Empire. While Circassian communities continue to exist in Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine the dispersal prevented them from forming any large contiguous, coherent, and compact settlement from which to reclaim any political autonomy. It is only among the descendants of the small number of Circassians that avoided expulsion from the Caucasus that any territorial autonomy could be reestablished after the overthrow of the Tsarist regime.

Pocket Umbrella

Since it is the rainy season here in Ghana I have finally broken down and purchased a cheap umbrella. It is small enough that it fits in my pocket so I can carry it with me in case it starts to rain. I am not sure how much protection it will afford, but something is better than nothing.

Health Care: Ghana 1 US 0

Ghana routinely beats the US in football. But, it also seems to beat the US in providing health care to ordinary people. Timothy Burke, no stranger to Africa, reports that the waiting time to see a doctor at an ER in Fresno routinely averages nine hours. I have never spent more than two hours at the hospital in Legon. I went yesterday to see a doctor about renewing a script. I got there at 11:00 am. I saw a nurse and had my temperature and blood pressure taken by noon. I saw an actual doctor and got my script at 1:00 pm. This is the same pattern I have experienced here each of the last three times I have gone to the University of Ghana Hospital. Over all it seems amazingly efficient compared with Professor Burke's story out of Fresno. Now according to all the official statistics Ghana is a lot poorer than the US. So how come it can manage a working health care system and the US can not?

Moving on to my Second Semester in Africa

Now that I have entered my grades I am completely done with the academic work of my first semester at the University of Ghana. Now I have to prepare for next semester. I still have to complete a syllabus for Aspects of Early Modern European history. I already finished my syllabus for Aspects of World History, 1914-1945. I also have to teach each of these two classes twice, once at the main campus in Legon and once at the campus in Accra. In the research and publishing department I have one conference paper to co-write on cotton in German Togoland and a revise and resubmit for a journal article dealing with Soviet history. So it is more than the one class I taught last semester, but still a pretty reasonable work load.

My First University of Ghana Shirt

Yesterday I purchased a University of Ghana knit shirt. I had not seen them on sale before. However, yesterday I noticed that two men had set up a table with all kinds of University of Ghana paraphernalia at the main gate near the security office. I purchased a green one for 16.5 GH.

Grades Entered

Well I got some problems solved in the last two days. I got my grades entered today. The average for my class was a B, higher than a normal bell curve. I am not sure when I will next teach the class, but I think over all it went quite well. When I do teach it again I will change the readings somewhat. It makes sense to focus the class, Aspects of World History since 1945, on the Cold War. So I will probably remove the articles on collectivization in North Korea and the 1948 expulsion of the Palestinians. These events are only marginally connected to the conflict between the US and the USSR.

Busy

I am really busy this week. But, I should be able to moderate any comments you want to make on this blog. Consider this post an open thread post if you want.

Happy Independence Day

Tomorrow is American Independence Day. So to all my American readers happy Independence Day. I do not have anything special planned. I have a lot things I need to take of this week so I can not afford to take the day off. But, my thoughts will be with my fellow Americans.

A Walk in Legon

The weather today in Legon is beautiful. I took a walk this morning and ran into my Liberian friend. He is one of those people who can see the invisible sun. As much as I may feel sometimes that my life is not progressing right, I have never had members of my family murdered in front of me or been forced to live in a refugee camp. Yet, there are people who suffer from the fate above like my friend who manage to persevere and literally reconstruct their lives. He told me he is going back to Liberia at the end of this year where he still has some surviving family. Ghana is a very nice place to live in large part because it has been politically stable and peaceful for a relatively long time now. But, some of Ghana's neighbors such as Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have not been so fortunate in recent decades.

Comments made easier

I have made the comments function easier to use. I have enabled Open ID so you do not have to have a Blogger account to comment. I suspect, however, that my blog just does not have a large enough audience to garner any comments on a regular basis.