Latest news with #French-occupied
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What's in a name? The history of the papal name Leo
Leo is now tied for the fourth most common name chosen by popes, along with Clement. Only John, Gregory and Benedict have proven more popular. But we haven't had a Pope Leo in more than a century. The last Pope Leo was Leo XIII, who was born in French-occupied Rome in 1810. He served as pope from 1878 until his death in 1903, making his 25-year papacy the fourth longest in the church's history. Leo XIII is remembered as a pope of Catholic social teaching. He wrote a famous open letter to all Catholics in 1891, called 'Rerum Novarum' ('Of Revolutionary Change'). The pamphlet reflected on the destruction wrought by the Industrial Revolution on the lives of workers. In a press briefing Thursday after the conclave, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the choice of name 'is a clear reference to the modern social doctrine of the Church, which began with Rerum Novarum.' Bruni said the name Leo was a deliberate reference to 'men, women, their work, and workers in an age of artificial intelligence,' seeming to link the pace of technological change of the current era to that of the nineteenth century. The first Pope Leo, who served in the fifth century, is known as 'Leo the Great,' and is remembered for persuading Attila the Hun to halt his invasion and spare the Roman Empire from destruction. Their meeting was rendered in a 1514 painting by Raphael. The Renaissance work is now displayed in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, which the 133 voting cardinals – including Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Leo XIV – passed through as they proceeded into the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday for the start of the conclave. In the painting, an unarmed Pope Leo – watched over by St. Peter and St. Paul – calmly confronts Attila and his army. Their meeting is celebrated by Catholics for showing that peaceful agreements can be reached without violence. Leo XIV used his first words as pope to call for peace. 'Peace be with you,' he called out from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. 'This was the first greeting of the risen Christ,' he said. The name Leo derives from the Latin for 'lion,' suggesting strength and courage. In his address from the balcony, Leo XIV said the church can still hear 'the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis,' his predecessor. CNN's Sharon Braithwaite contributed reporting.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Vietnam War 50 years later: A timeline of events
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — April 30 will mark 50 years since the Fall of Saigon. It was the day South Vietnam's capital city was captured, bringing an end to the Vietnam War. As we approach the anniversary, News Channel 11 is delving into the history, sharing the stories of those who served and discussing the issues those veterans still face today. In the first part of our series, we learn more about the war, what led up to it and why it still shapes American military decisions today. Stuart Frye is an assistant professor of history and humanities at Northeast State Community College. He teaches several lectures on the Vietnam War, along with classes on military science and history. The conflict in French-occupied Indochina started well before the Vietnam War. The French had colonized Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in 1858 for rubber and tea plantations. 'They began armed conflict. That was a popular uprising. The Cong Viet, as they were called, began fighting the French and sort of at a low level,' Frye said. (The Cong Viet were later referred to as the Viet Cong). The French were defeated and left. That's when Paris signed the Peace Accords with the North Vietnamese, which allowed them to create a military presence in South Vietnam. 'South Vietnam was essentially created at that point,' Frye said. 'And they had to almost immediately start building up a defense network, a military.' The Kennedy Administration gave them special forces in 1961, which Frye describes as a 'force multiplier,' where a certain number of men are trained, they train more, and so on, eventually creating an army. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson took the Oval Office. In August of 1964, Johnson told the nation American ships had been attacked twice near the Gulf of Tonkin, which is on the northern part of the country. 'Johnson went to Congress and received what was called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and that allowed him to put U.S. military personnel, active boots on the ground in South Vietnam,' Frye said. Frye says it was part of the Truman Doctrine from the Cold War to stop communist expansion at any cost. 'There was a lot of communist involvement in Southeast Asia. The Korean War had occurred in '51-'52, and there was this belief at the top level of the American government of what they called the domino theory, that if one of these Southeast Asian countries would fall and they would just all fall,' Frye said. By the mid-60s, there were 650,000 American soldiers in Vietnam. Young men were drafted and sent into the battlefield. 'The draft really changed, though, under the Kennedy and Johnson administration[s]. They made certain exemptions. So if you could go to college or you could get into a National Guard Reserve unit, you were exempt from service over in Vietnam,' Frye said. 'People may be from the poor, working class, people that couldn't get into college, those were the people that tended to be drafted.' The war raged on, and the casualties grew. The American public was on board with the war effort at first, but what happened during the Lunar New Year in early 1968 was a turning point in shifting opinions. The TET Offensive shocked the American people. General Westmoreland told leaders that the war was being 'successfully prosecuted.' That event proved the opposite, and that the North Vietnamese were fully capable of conducting military operations in South Vietnam. 'Anti-war and counterculture movements sort of coalesced together in the sixties, and [it] was quite a divisive war here in the United States politically,' Frye said. 'Many people thought of this as an example of American imperialism. That we were going there to colonize South Vietnam. And they thought, well, this is a war that has nothing to do with American political interests. Why are we sending American soldiers over there to die?' There were anti-war protests, sit-ins on college campuses and Hollywood was getting in on the movement too. 'It wasn't uncommon for US soldiers, especially later on after the Tet Offensive. 68, 69, for them to be treated quite poorly,' Frye said. 'When they came back, they weren't heroes–looked upon as heroes defending the nation from communist aggression, but rather as imperialists conducting an evil foreign policy overseas. And that's regrettable because they did deserve much better than what they received.' Politics played a major role in the war. In 1973, Nixon had the opportunity to use air power to push back. 'We were not allowed to attack North Vietnam per se. So what we were left with then is essentially trying to guard thousands of locations all over South Vietnam. And what we did then is we seeded the enemy [in] the field. They were able to concentrate forces at a specific area. And we just had to constantly guard all of these different strategic locations. And it just took that many troops to be able to do it effectively,' said Frye. 'The United States had exited militarily in 1973. The North Vietnamese immediately broke their treaty obligations. They had formally recognized South Vietnam and agreed not to attack. Of course, as soon as we left, they did exactly that. They attacked South Vietnam… Congress essentially cut off all the money. And Nixon has used up all of his political capital. There was nothing that we could do essentially by 1975 to stop the North Vietnamese, and they just simply rolled through South Vietnam.' Frye describes South Vietnam as a 'political basket case.' 'You had pro-South Vietnamese government, South Vietnamese, and then you had anti-South Vietnamese government, South Vietnamese,' he said. 'So it was an internal civil war struggle even within South Vietnam.' On April 30, 1975, South Vietnam's capital was captured. 'There was nothing that we could do essentially by 1975 to stop the North Vietnamese, and they just simply rolled through South Vietnam,' Frye said. 'The collapse really happened very, very quickly… so quickly that the ability to remove American personnel, civilians, especially a lot of civilian personnel were still in South Vietnam, it was quite difficult.' What happened during the Fall of Saigon and throughout the Vietnam War still shapes American policy overseas. 'Any time the US military is proposed to be engaged in overseas conflict, the first thing that is said is that 'do we have an exit strategy, something that we didn't have in Vietnam?'' Frye said. 'So there's always a reference back to the end of the Vietnam War and how we don't want to make that same mistake again today.' You can watch an extended interview with Professor Frye on the WJHL+ app. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Arab News
13-04-2025
- General
- Arab News
Erased identity: Post-war adoptee seeks German roots
CHAVILLE, France: Claudine Spire pointed to a group of toddlers in a black-and-white photo. 'I thought I recognized myself,' she said, indicating a girl with curly hair and a short coat. But it was not her. As part of the 78-year-old Frenchwoman's relentless search for her roots, Spire found the photo a few days ago in the archives of the French ministry of foreign affairs. 'I felt as a child that I didn't quite belong,' she said. 'I didn't look like anyone in the family.' Spire is among the post-war children from the French-occupied part of Germany who had German mothers and French soldiers as fathers. About 1,500 of them were brought to France, presumably illegally, by French authorities between 1946 and 1951 and handed over to adoptive families. 'The French authorities actively sought these children and pressured the mothers to give them up,' said Yves Denechere, a historian at the University of Angers. 'This was about replenishing the population after the war.' German women expecting a child from a Frenchman were required to report this to the occupying authorities. While still in the maternity ward, many were visited by 'research officers' who urged them to part with the child, claiming that their son or daughter would have a better future in France. The officers brought a form, ready for the mothers to sign: 'For personal reasons, I hand over my child to the French authorities,' it said. The mothers waived all rights to the child, and stated that they did so willingly. Claudine Spire's mother, who became pregnant at 19, was pressured by her parents to give up the 'child of the enemy.' Claudine was placed in a French children's home in Nordrach in the Black Forest when she was barely one and a half. The French occupying authorities had set up the home in a former 'Lebensborn' institution that had been run by the Nazis to promote the Aryan race. In selecting children for adoption, the French postwar authorities used racial selection criteria that were eerily similar to those applied by the Third Reich. 'The children sent to France were mainly white, with blond hair, and in good health,' said Denechere. Since about half of the French soldiers stationed in Germany were from North or sub-Saharan Africa, many children did not match the criteria and were either returned to their mothers or placed in German children's homes. 'I was on the list of children who were not to be proposed for adoption,' said Spire, whose father came from Morocco. But adoptive parents were found for her regardless, and she grew up in a loving family. Only in her early 50s did she feel compelled to search for her roots. 'I knew that I was adopted, but I didn't know the circumstances,' she said. The more she learnt about the past, the more she was shocked. 'It's absolutely disgusting what the French state did back then,' Spire said, also condemning postwar Germany for allowing the adoptions to happen. Spire eventually found her German mother. Their first meeting took place in the entrance hall of a hospital in Offenburg in southwest Germany, just across the border from Strasbourg. 'It was very strange. She hadn't told her husband and daughter anything about me,' Spire remembered. Her mother addressed her as Margarete, her birth name that was changed upon adoption. 'Our origins were erased,' Spire states. These adoptions took place in a legal vacuum, as Germany, having no government, was divided into zones occupied by various Allied countries. 'Those were irregular, illegitimate practices,' said Denechere. Yet been no legal challenges have been brought, the historian added. 'Against whom? And for what exactly?,' he said. In addition such cases would presumably be covered by statutes of limitations by now. 'This part of history is completely unknown to the public,' he said. This is gradually changing thanks in part to a 2022 documentary on the topic and a recent novel by author Anke Feuchter telling the story of a woman in a similar situation as Spire's mother. With criticism of the practice mounting, many adopted children of the occupation are still looking for their German roots. Their search, it turns out, has been facilitated by the French authorities' decision to repatriate all documents related to the adoptions in a bid to remove traces of the practices. Today, those very documents have allowed historians and interested parties to shed light on a dark chapter of German-French post-war history. This is how Claudine Spire found photos of children in Nordrach who, like her, were adopted. But she has yet to find any pictures of herself from back then.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Erased identity: Post-war adoptee seeks German roots
Claudine Spire pointed to a group of toddlers in a black-and-white photo. "I thought I recognised myself," she said, indicating a girl with curly hair and a short coat. But it was not her. As part of the 78-year-old Frenchwoman's relentless search for her roots, Spire found the photo a few days ago in the archives of the French ministry of foreign affairs. "I felt as a child that I didn't quite belong," she said. "I didn't look like anyone in the family." Spire is among the post-war children from the French-occupied part of Germany who had German mothers and French soldiers as fathers. About 1,500 of them were brought to France, presumably illegally, by French authorities between 1946 and 1951 and handed over to adoptive families. "The French authorities actively sought these children and pressured the mothers to give them up," said Yves Denechere, a historian at the University of Angers. "This was about replenishing the population after the war." German women expecting a child from a Frenchman were required to report this to the occupying authorities. While still in the maternity ward, many were visited by "research officers" who urged them to part with the child, claiming that their son or daughter would have a better future in France. The officers brought a form, ready for the mothers to sign: "For personal reasons, I hand over my child to the French authorities," it said. The mothers waived all rights to the child, and stated that they did so willingly. Claudine Spire's mother, who became pregnant at 19, was pressured by her parents to give up the "child of the enemy". Claudine was placed in a French children's home in Nordrach in the Black Forest when she was barely one and a half. The French occupying authorities had set up the home in a former "Lebensborn" institution that had been run by the Nazis to promote the Aryan race. In selecting children for adoption, the French postwar authorities used racial selection criteria that were eerily similar to those applied by the Third Reich. "The children sent to France were mainly white, with blond hair, and in good health," said Denechere. - 'Absolutely disgusting' - Since about half of the French soldiers stationed in Germany were from North or sub-Saharan Africa, many children did not match the criteria and were either returned to their mothers or placed in German children's homes. "I was on the list of children who were not to be proposed for adoption," said Spire, whose father came from Morocco. But adoptive parents were found for her regardless, and she grew up in a loving family. Only in her early 50s did she feel compelled to search for her roots. "I knew that I was adopted, but I didn't know the circumstances," she said. The more she learnt about the past, the more she was shocked. "It's absolutely disgusting what the French state did back then," Spire said, also condemning postwar Germany for allowing the adoptions to happen. Spire eventually found her German mother. Their first meeting took place in the entrance hall of a hospital in Offenburg in southwest Germany, just across the border from Strasbourg. "It was very strange. She hadn't told her husband and daughter anything about me," Spire remembered. Her mother addressed her as Margarete, her birth name that was changed upon adoption. "Our origins were erased," Spire states. These adoptions took place in a legal vacuum, as Germany, having no government, was divided into zones occupied by various Allied countries. "Those were irregular, illegitimate practices," said Denechere. Yet been no legal challenges have been brought, the historian added. "Against whom? And for what exactly?", he said. In addition such cases would presumably be covered by statutes of limitations by now. "This part of history is completely unknown to the public," he said. This is gradually changing thanks in part to a 2022 documentary on the topic and a recent novel by author Anke Feuchter telling the story of a woman in a similar situation as Spire's mother. With criticism of the practice mounting, many adopted children of the occupation are still looking for their German roots. Their search, it turns out, has been facilitated by the French authorities' decision to repatriate all documents related to the adoptions in a bid to remove traces of the practices. Today, those very documents have allowed historians and interested parties to shed light on a dark chapter of German-French post-war history. This is how Claudine Spire found photos of children in Nordrach who, like her, were adopted. But she has yet to find any pictures of herself from back then. kol/jh/sbk
Ya Biladi
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
France's secret role in Spain's atomic bomb plans for Western Sahara
After Morocco regained Tan-Tan and Tarfaya in 1958, Franco's Spain grew increasingly concerned that this wave of independence could eventually force it to relinquish Western Sahara, a territory it had occupied since 1884. To counter this threat, Franco sought support from another military leader-turned-politician: Charles de Gaulle, who had recently come to power in France. Both leaders shared a common distrust of Morocco's ambitions to restore its Cherifian Empire. This was evident in France's role in facilitating Mauritania's independence on November 28, 1960—a move that Morocco refused to recognize until 1969. According to Francisco Gómez Balcázar in The Secret of the Spanish Atomic Bomb, this Franco-French alliance extended beyond politics. In the early 1960s, De Gaulle and Franco struck a deal allowing Spain to develop nuclear weapons, including setting up a reactor outside the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the U.S. nuclear watchdog. This cooperation, which angered the United States, transformed Spain's nuclear ambitions from a fringe scientific initiative—started by a group of Spanish researchers in 1948—into a state-controlled project. Luck also played in Spain's favor. In 1966, an American military plane crashed into the waters off Galicia, carrying two nuclear bombs. Spanish authorities managed to seize one of them, gaining crucial insights into nuclear technology. As Balcázar notes, «This crash was a catalyst for Spain's nuclear energy officials, reigniting their program». The Loss of Sidi Ifni Accelerates Spain's Nuclear Plans By 1969, Franco faced growing pressure from Morocco's southern liberation army and was ultimately forced to cede Sidi Ifni. This loss only reinforced Spain's determination to develop an atomic bomb, which Franco planned to test in Western Sahara in the early 1970s—mirroring De Gaulle's earlier decision to conduct France's first nuclear test in the French-occupied eastern Sahara. However, Spain's nuclear ambitions never materialized. King Hassan II had made reclaiming Western Sahara a cornerstone of his reign, especially after surviving two coup attempts in 1971 and 1972. In the lead-up to the Green March on November 6, 1975, he mounted a strong international diplomatic campaign, even securing an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice to support Morocco's claim over the territory. Franco's death further sealed the fate of Spain's nuclear program. His successor, King Juan Carlos, had no interest in waging war against Morocco to maintain Spain's hold on the Sahara. Instead, he focused on reconciling the Spanish people with the monarchy after decades of division under Franco. Spain's nuclear ambitions officially came to an end when the Socialist Party took power in 1981. In 1987, Prime Minister Felipe González's government ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, closing the chapter on Spain's nuclear aspirations for good.
