Tea at Trianon: Robbery and Murder During the Blitz

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Robbery and Murder During the Blitz

From War History Online:

London suffered a total of 71 raids during this period which was known as ‘The Blitz.’ In London alone, more than a million houses were damaged or destroyed; approximately 28,000 civilians were killed, with about 25 000 more injured. By the end of the war, over 100 tons of explosives had been dropped on 16 different cities and a total of 40 000 civilians killed. The Blitz caused enormous damage to Britain’s infrastructure, housing and lives.

As the raids continued, ordinary citizens offered their services as unpaid Defence Volunteers. Some people became volunteer firefighters, many joined teams which helped to search for survivors in bombed houses, and there were many who joined first aid groups. People began to help one another to reach the bomb shelters (mostly the underground stations) where they slept, night after night. Volunteers became storytellers, readers or entertainers and helped to keep these displaced people amused. With the hardships they faced each night, a ‘Blitz Spirit’ developed amongst the Londoners – everyone would lend a hand when and where they could. Some people even made tea for the volunteer helpers or for anyone else in need – they were “All in this together!”

While “the majority of civilians pulled together for the war effort… some used the situation for their own criminal ends” (D. Leatherdale.) Statistics show that crime figures rose from 303 771 cases in 1939 to 478,000 in 1945 – a dramatic upswing. A look at some of the crimes reported during this period gives an idea of the varied nature of the criminal acts committed.

As the bombing continued, the number of badly damaged buildings and bomb-sites grew, attracting plenty of looters. In spite of preventative measures and the patrolling of sites, looting went on unabated, sometimes even during the air-raids. One report tells of a man who returned to his home after such a raid to find that looters had stripped his house – even ripping up the carpets. (Read more.)