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7 helpful habits that veterans forget
How these guys make the weapons from our favorite video games
Eric Milzarski
Posted On January 28, 2019 18:41:15
Video games are known for over-the-top weaponry. In the universe of games, a seemingly tiny blonde dude can easily swing around the giant Buster Sword (see: Final Fantasy VII) and a kid with a mask is given free reign to swing around a ridiculously shaped, dual-bladed sword (see: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask).
In real life, getting your hands on these incredible weapons is a much more painstaking endeavor than simply showing up at a store and dropping a few rupees or a couple hundred gil. Tony Swatton of Burbank, California's Sword and Stone and the crew over at Baltimore Knife and Sword take pride in forging authentic, legitimate versions of pop-culture's finest weaponry. Together, they formed the web series, Man at Arms: Reforged, which you can find on YouTube.
Let's set the bar extremely high right off the bat with a look at their work on a Warhammer 40K Chainsword:
Swatton is a self-taught blacksmith who got his start working on Steven Spielberg's Hook and has been creating weapons and armor for film and television ever since. His work can also be seen on the official World of Warcraft channel in a series called Azeroth Armory.
The show expanded to Maryland and added Baltimore's Knife and Sword crew at the start of the second season. Since then, the channel has achieved internet stardom by bringing the viewers along for the ride as they create some of the most interesting weapons from film, television, and gaming. Behind each weapon is a very long, methodical process. Each weapon takes as long as 200 hours to forge, which is distilled down into a single 10-minute video segment.
They're also not afraid to take on historical recreations, such as a 400-year old Chinese Dandao:
Each project requires a unique approach but, in general, they employ plasma cutting to get the desired shape out of steel, mold the intricate details out of clay for a bronze cast, spend days perfecting every minute detail, and then finally assemble, sharpen, and test their new weapon.
They create content based off of YouTube comments, so if you can think of an awesome weapon that isn't in their nearly 150-video-long catalog, leave a suggestion!
Man at Arms: Reforged - Mark Leisher Productions Mark Leisher ...
Man At Arms
Latest 'Call of Duty' game sparks backlash for its depiction of Russia
Activision Blizzard's latest "Call of Duty" game is facing a fierce backlash in the Russian media for its depiction of the Eurasian country.
Despite being praised by many Western video game publications since its release last week, the title has not gone down well in Russia, which features heavily in the game.
The game has received thousands of negative user reviews on the review aggregator Metacritic, with users — many of whom wrote in Russian — variously accusing it of misrepresenting and even slandering the country.
On Metacritic, the average rating given by users to the PlayStation 4 version of the game at the time of writing stood at just 3.4 out of 10.
One user, writing in both English and Russian, demanded that Activision "return me my money," another accused it of "Russophobia," while a third accused Activision Blizzard of "demonizing Russia."
Russian media outlets have also reportedly criticized the game. According to the BBC, the state TV channel Rossiya 24 released a four-minute report criticizing "Call of Duty," while a prominent Russian blogger branded the game "too much" in a tweet Oct. 29, 2019, and called for Russian gamers to "boycott it and show some respect for themselves."
The game has received positive reviews from professional critics in spite of the backlash.
("Call of Duty: Modern Warfare"/Activision)
Most of the controversy seems to stem from the game's "Highway of Death" mission, which sees players advance along a highway while sniping at Russian forces.
Users have said the highway depicted in the mission resembles a real-life road called Highway 80, which links the Iraqi city of Basra and the Kuwaiti town of Al Jahra. The road was dubbed the "Highway of Death" in the 1990s because of its prominent role in the Gulf War.
This isn't the only controversy Activision Blizzard has faced in recent weeks. The firm is receiving ongoing criticism for its decision to bar the esports professional Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai after he voiced pro-Hong Kong sentiments during a livestream.
Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on the "Call of Duty" backlash. In a blog post last week, the firm described the game as "a fictional story that does not represent real-world events."
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8 Marvel super heroes that served in the US Army
With three of the four largest names at Timely Comics (which would eventually become Marvel Comics) being U.S. Army veterans, it shouldn't come as a surprise that many of the biggest names in their story lines center around U.S. Army veterans. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Syd Shores all served in World War II. (The fourth? Joe Simon. And he was in the Coast Guard).
Related: These military veterans created you favorite comic books.
Whether they gained their powers through a Super Soldier project, magic, or even just skill — these Marvel super heroes proved to everyone the enduring strength of Army values.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) – World War II
In case you didn't already know, the $12 billion film franchise and the most patriotic hero, Steve Rogers, was in the U.S. Army. Being a frail and weak soldier who still wanted to protect his people, he enrolls in the Super Soldier project. This grants him super strength, healing, and reflexes. He is also a master strategist and Earth's greatest martial artist.
And if you've been reading the headlines and not the actual new comic storyline, no, the real Captain America is not Hydra, nor a Nazi.
Isaiah Bradley (Captain America) – World War II
(Panel via Truth: Red, White & Black #2)
Following the success of the first Captain America, Marvel tried to experiment again with another super soldier serum through an analogy of the real world Tuskegee experiment.
Isaiah Bradley was the only survivor. His powers mimic that of Steve Rogers, but his mind is constantly deteriorating and he became sterile (much like the effects of syphilis).
In the short lived but phenomenally written story "Truth: Red, White & Black" and then "The Crew" Bradley takes on the mantle of Captain America while Rogers was frozen in ice. Through it, the series ends with a man who saved countless lives, saved the world, and is now forgotten to history.
Josiah X "Bradley" (Justice) – Vietnam War
(Panel via The Crew #2)
The apple didn't fall far from the tree with Isaiah Bradley's son when the story of "The Crew" shifts. Josiah's story takes place in the backdrop of the Vietnam War and then '70s violence in Brooklyn. His powers are still the same of the other Captain Americas, and he's armed with his father's shield.
Writer's Note: Seriously, I can't recommend Christopher Priest's work on this series enough. It's one of the best damned comics I've ever read.
Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) – World War II
(Screen grab from Captain America: The First Avenger)
Thought killed in the same issue that Captain America joined the Avengers, James Buchanan Barnes was unveiled as the Winter Soldier. The once sidekick to Captain America became a coldblooded assassin and spy. He later regained his humanity and joined his old comrade and friend on the Avengers.
The name "Winter Soldier" is from Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis" and an organization of Vietnam Veterans against the war. "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country."
Nick Fury (The Unseen) – World War II
(Panel via Wolverine: Origins)
From leading his Howling Commandos to become the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to transforming into the silent observer of Earth, Nick Fury has done it all without any actual abilities — and with only one eye. He has the Infinity Formula which kept him from aging, but it was with his mind and skill on the battlefield that allowed him to take down nearly every superhero in the Marvel universe.
Nick Fury — in both the main universe and "Ultimate Universe" (where he's redesigned to look like Samuel L. Jackson) — many of his Howling Commandos, as well as his son Nick Fury Jr., all served in the U.S. Army.
Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Cain Marko (Juggernaut) – Korean War
(Panels from Uncanny X-Men #12)
The story of both Professor X and Juggernaut's time in the Korean War go hand in hand, with the stepbrothers both serving in the Army during the Korean war.
Charles had earned his Ph.D. in genetics before he was drafted and assigned to the same unit as his brother. When Cain deserted under fire, Charles went to retrieve him. He found himself in an ancient temple and gained magical powers of strength and immortality — making him an unstoppable force.
Charles, of course, has always had mutant powers.
Charles Xavier has been portrayed in the movies by Sir Patrick Stewart. The son of a regimental sergeant major in the British Army who's unit was present in the Dunkirk evacuation, Stewart cites his father for inspiration for many of his roles on screen and stage.
Eugene 'Flash' Thompson (Agent Venom) – Iraq War
(Panel via Amazing Spider-Man #574)
The former bully turned friend of the high school student Peter Parker (Spider-Man) enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in Iraq where he lost his legs on the battlefield saving his squadmate.
Dealing with depression, alcoholism, and post-traumatic stress, Flash became the new host of the alien Symbiote "Venom." Mixing the military knowledge of Thompson with the alien abilities of Venom, Agent Venom became one of the newest heroes to Marvel's line-up in 2008.
I couldn't tell you what Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have in mind for Agent Venom after Tom Hardy's turn as Eddie Brock (Former host of Venom). But I can tell you that I would be 100 percent supportive of Tony Revolori's depiction taking the oath of enlistment.
Related: 6 superheroes who were also Air Force officers
What other superheroes from the U.S. Army or military do you love? Let us know in the comment section.
*Bonus* Hal Jordan
(Panel via Sub-Mariner Comics #16)
He has no super powers, was only in one issue, and only helped Namor the Submariner fly a plane because he became a pilot for the Army Air Service. The only reason why this one-off character is even remembered is because his looks and military pilot background are the same as another character named Hal Jordan created 10 years later by DC.
Watch how the US Army sinks ships
Harold C. Hutchison
It's been decades since the United States Army attacked a ship on the high seas. The last time it happened was when an AH-6 "Little Bird" with what eventually became the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (better known as "the Nightstalkers") caught an Iranian vessel, the Iran Ajr, laying mines in the Persian Gulf in 1987.
Well, the Army has now sunk another vessel — with an assist from the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. This took place during RIMPAC 2018, when both forces fired ground-based, anti-ship missiles during a SINKEX, an exercise in which a decommissioned ship is towed to a designated location and then hit by live anti-ship missiles, gunfire, and torpedoes.
In February, 2018, the Army announced their plans to use a truck-mounted version of Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile, also known as the NSM, during these exercises. A few months later, in June, the United States Navy selected the NSM as its new beyond-visual-range, anti-ship missile.
The Army fired a truck-mounted version of the Kongsberg NSM.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary D. Bell)
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force has also been using truck-mounted, anti-ship missiles for a while. Their mainstay in this department is the Type 88, also known as the SSM-1. A slightly modified version of this missile is widely used by Japanese ships, called the Type 90.
The Type 88 has a range of just under 112 miles. The Type 90's range is a little over 93 miles. The service is soon introducing the new Type 12 truck-launched missile, which will replace both the Type 88 and the Type 90 and has a range of 124 miles.
Japan's latest truck-mounted anti-ship missile is the Type 12, with a range of 124 miles.
(Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force)
During RIMPAC 2018, these militaries tested their missiles on a decommissioned Newport-class tank-landing ship. Their target, the USS Racine (LST 1191), could carry 29 tanks and 400 troops, was 522 feet long, and displaced almost 8,800 tons. A total of 20 Newport-class ships were built, all of which served at least 20 years with the United States Navy.
Watch the U.S. Army and the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force launch their missiles in the video below!
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Fighting intensifies between nuclear-capable India & Pakistan
India on Feb. 26, 2019, launched airstrikes across its border with Pakistan in a military escalation after a terror attack in Kashmir left 40 Indian troops dead, and Pakistan immediately convened a meeting of its nuclear commanders.
Gun fighting on the ground broke out along India and Pakistan's de facto border after what Vipin Narang, an MIT professor and an expert on the two country's conventional and nuclear forces, called "India's most significant airstrike against Pak in half a century."
The strikes happened after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashed the military to respond however it saw fit after the terror attack, which India blames on Islamic militants based in Pakistan.
India and Pakistan, which have been engaged in a bitter rivalry for decades, have fought three wars over the disputed territory, and analysts are closely watching the crisis for clues about whether it could escalate from airstrikes to a heightened nuclear posture.
Pakistan denies any involvement in the terror attack but swiftly "took control" of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant camp in question.
India said its airstrikes killed as many as 300 Muslim separatist militants, but it is unclear whether the attack had any effect. Pakistan said its air force scrambled fighter jets and chased India off, forcing the jets to hastily drop their bombs in an unpopulated area, and Pakistan's prime minister called India's claims "fictitious."
Political map of the Kashmir region districts, showing the Pir Panjal Range and the Kashmir Valley.
For the mission, India flew its Mirage 2000 jets, which it uses as part of its nuclear deterrence. The jets dropped more than 2,000 pounds of laser-guided bombs, according to News18.com. As a branch of India's nuclear forces, the Mirage 2000 fleet has some of the most ready aircraft and pilots, India Today reported.
The strike took place about 30 miles deep into Pakistan's territory in a town called Balakot, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at a press conference.
"The existence of such training facilities, capable of training hundreds of jihadis, could not have functioned without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities," Gokhale said. The US has similarly accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists and backed India's right to self-defense after the terror attack.
Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson for Pakistan's military, said Pakistan successfully scrambled jets and scared off the incoming Indian Mirage 2000s. He also tweeted pictures of craters and parts of what could be Indian bombs.
"Payload of hastily escaping Indian aircrafts fell in open," Ghafoor said of the images. It's unclear if India hit their targets, actually killed anyone, or simply dropped fuel tanks upon leaving Pakistan.
India's airstrikes hit relatively close to Pakistan's prominent military academies and the country's capital, Islamabad, raising concern among the military that it's under the threat of further Indian strikes.
Pakistan's nuclear threat
At a press conference in response to the airstrikes, Ghafoor issued a veiled nuclear threat to India.
"We will surprise you. Wait for that surprise. I said that our response will be different. The response will come differently," Ghafoor said at a press conference.
Ghafoor added that Pakistan had called a meeting of its National Command Authority, which controls the country's nuclear arsenal.
"You all know what that means," Ghafoor said of the nuclear commanders' meeting in a press conference he posted to Twitter.
But India has nuclear weapons and means to deliver them, too. Additionally, both countries maintain large conventional militaries that have become increasingly hostile in their rhetoric toward each other.
Best case scenario? Conventional skirmishes
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the border and have nuclearized to counter each other's forces. With China closely backing Pakistan and the US supporting India, Pakistan and India's rivalry has long been seen as a potential flash point for a global nuclear conflict.
Reuters' Idrees Ali reported after the strikes that gunfights had broken out along Pakistan and India's border. The two countries have fought three wars over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both countries claim but administer only in part.
Both India and Pakistan now appear out for blood after the fighting. Reuters reported that all around India people were celebrating, and Modi praised the military as "heroes."
Meanwhile, Pakistan's denial that the airstrikes hit anything may give them some deniability and wiggle room to not respond with escalation, but hardliners within Pakistan will likely call for action.
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This British sub shows the resiliency of the Royal Navy
When it comes to military history, the Guinness Book of World Records – like the rest of the public – only knows what it's allowed to know. For the longest time the Guinness Book gave the award for the longest continuously submerged patrol to the HMS Warspite – one of the Royal Navy's storied names.
While there have been longer patrols the mission of the Warspite happened at the height of the Cold War, prowling the waters around the Falkland Islands after the end of the UK's war with Argentina.
This Warspite was the eighth vessel to carry the name.
The Warspite had a number of innovations that made it perfect for its 1983 submerged mission. It was the first Royal Navy vessel navigated entirely by gyroscope. Its nuclear-powered engines, along with air conditioning, purification systems and electrolytic gills allowed it to be submerged for weeks at a time. The longest time below the waves wasn't even its first record. During a 6,000-mile journey in the far east, the submarine did the entire run submerged, earning the then-record for longest distance submerged. But breaking records wasn't the Royal Navy's mission, it was countering the Soviet Union.
No naval force on Earth was better at penetrating the USSR's maritime boundaries than the Royal Navy. Warspite was specially suited for spy missions in the cold waters of the Arctic. Its ability to sneak into the areas undetected allowed them to watch the Soviet Navy at work and listen to their uncoded communications. But its record-breaking underwater patrol didn't come against the USSR, it came while watching Argentina.
The now-decommissioned HMS Warspite.
The ship had just completed a complete, three-year refit after a massive fire nearly caused the captain to scuttle the ship. It was finished just in time for the United Kingdom to go to war with Argentina over the latter country's invasion of the Falkland Islands. In a rush to get into the action, the crew of the Warspite shrugged off the six-month trial period and dashed for the war.
She didn't see much action in the war, but its patrol afterward was the stuff of legend at the time. The ship and its crew spent more than 112 days aboard ship and underwater, keeping the Argentine Navy at bay.
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Army garners new award thanks to sustainable energy
A solar power plant with energy-storage capability that went online in 2018 at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, and a biofuel power plant at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, were among projects that helped the Army gain recognition in 2018 with an award from the Federal Energy Management Program.
"This was recognition for a tremendous amount of teamwork," said Michael McGhee, executive director of the Army Office of Energy Initiatives. His office oversees and facilitates privately-funded, large-scale energy projects on Army land.
OEI has facilitated 7 million in such projects on 17 Army installations over the past five years. Many of the projects allow utility companies to use Army land in exchange for developing electricity projects more affordably. Some of these projects will save the Army money over the long-term, states the Department of Energy award, but more importantly, they also improve energy security and resilience.
Increasing threat
Energy resilience is a top priority for the Army, said Jack Surash, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability.
"Uninterrupted access to energy is essential to sustaining critical Army missions," Surash testified at a House energy subcommittee hearing Dec. 12, 2018. He went on to say such uninterrupted power is becoming more challenging "as potential vulnerabilities emerge in the nation's utility-distribution infrastructure."
This 1-megawatt utility battery that stores energy from Redstone Arsenal's solar array in Alabama is the first of its kind for the Army.
(US Army photo)
Threats to the grid include more sophisticated cyberattacks and more frequent severe storms, earthquakes and tsunamis, McGhee said. In consideration of these threats, current Army policy requires critical mission activities to be provided with a minimum of 14 days of energy, which McGhee emphasized is focused on the mission-critical infrastructure that must anticipate the potential for long-term power outages. He added a couple of Army installations currently also have the ability to keep the whole base operating for more than three or four days if the grid goes down.
One of them is Schofield Barracks with its biofuel plant that became operational in May.
Paradise partnership
The Oahu project exemplifies a partnership with a utility company that helps maximize the value for another party's investment while also serving the needs of the Army, McGhee said.
Hawaiian Electric needed to build a new power plant. The older ones were typically built along the coastline because most of the people lived there and that's where the fuel shipments came in.
"Unfortunately, that's also where the strongest effects of a storm surge would be felt in a tsunami or other extreme-weather event," McGhee said. So the company was looking to place its new plant on higher ground with more security and less risk.
Behind the secure perimeter of Schofield Barracks was an obvious choice, McGhee said.
The biofuel plant provides power to Oahu during peak-demand periods. It has the capability to be decoupled from the grid in case of a grid emergency, McGhee said, and Schofield Barracks has the first right to power from the plant in such an emergency.
The 50-megawatt power plant can provide 100 percent of the power needed to keep Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield and Field Station Kunia running during a grid power emergency, according to OEI.
Several days of biofuel are stored on site at the plant and 30 days are available on the island, McGhee said. The plant also uses regular fuel oil and could even be operated on liquefied natural gas, providing what he termed as even more resilience.
For emergency power design, a reliable source of fuel and the ability to use more than one type of fuel is the key to long-term sustainability of operations, he said. In the case of severe weather, resupply of fuel for back-up power often becomes a problem, he added, so having the ability to resupply from multiple sources with multiple types of fuel is desired.
"We need something more than just your standard backup of diesel generators, in order to have a more resilient solution," McGhee said.
Compelling technology
One of the problems with energy resilience from renewable-power sources, such as solar or wind power, has been the lack of ability to store the power for use when the wind stops or the sun goes down.
Until recently, storage options have not been affordable.
"It's not so much the technology has gotten cheaper as it is that the manufacturing has gotten to be more extensive, lowering the unit cost," McGhee said of large-scale battery storage units.
"It's very exciting for us, because we've been looking forward to this moment to couple large-scale, utility-size batteries with our existing large-scale, energy-generation projects that we helped develop," he said.
The Redstone Arsenal project was OEI's first foray into large-scale utility batteries, McGhee said, but added several more "are in the works" and could be part of projects in the coming year.
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment Jordan Gillis stands in the center of those who helped the Army earn recognition with a 2018 Federal Energy and Water Management Award, including to his left, Michael McGhee, director, Office of Energy Initiatives. Jack Surash, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army for energy and sustainability, is to the right of Gillis.
"It's happening very quickly," he said, "Companies are better understanding the technology, but they're also better understanding the value proposition." More developers are now actively seeking partners for battery-storage projects, he said.
"That technology at an affordable price enables so many other technologies and so many design options that weren't available before.
"Large-scale affordable battery storage … provides the most compelling new option paths available that are intriguing to improving resilience on Army installations," he added.
The 1-megawatt battery that became operational on Redstone in February can provide power for 2 megawatt hours, McGhee said, and added that future battery projects are likely to be much larger
Additional components must be added to the Redstone project to enable long-term backup power, he said. But planning is underway for a potential microgrid that could provide sustainable power at the arsenal for a long-term emergency.
Large-scale batteries are being evaluated to possibly be added to existing projects at other installations, McGhee said.
For instance, 30-megawatt alternating-current solar photovoltaic power plants have been operating for a couple of years now on Forts Gordon, Benning and Stewart in Georgia.
Fort Rucker and Anniston Army Depot in Alabama have 10-megawatt solar projects that are part of microgrids providing energy to the installations.
Fort Detrick, Maryland, has a 15-megawatt solar project with 59,994 panels that have been providing electricity to the post since 2016.
Fort Hood, Texas has both a 15-megawatt solar array on-post and a 50-megawatt wind turbine farm off-post that have been providing electricity to Fort Hood since 2017. All of these projects could potentially benefit from large-scale battery storage, according to McGhee.
"The batteries we are looking at have a relatively small footprint and require little maintenance," he said, adding, "they're a very low-touch kind of technology that has tremendous benefit."
2019 trends?
Natural Gas may be a trend for the coming year, McGhee said. The cost of natural gas has come down, he explained, making it more economical to build smaller utility electrical plants fueled by gas.
A utility company in Lawton, Oklahoma, is looking at investing in a natural gas plant along with a solar array on Fort Sill, he said. His office is working with the utility on a design and they are beginning environmental reviews. If approved, the project would utilize an "enhanced-use lease authority" where the utility company would be allowed to use the land for siting the natural gas and solar plants in return for providing a backup power capability to the installation.
This biofuel power plant at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, became operational in May 2018 and in the case of an emergency can provide all the electricity needed to operate the installation.
Most of the OEI projects have used either the enhanced-use lease authority or power purchase agreements to provide energy sustainability, but McGhee said he looking at other options to enhance microgrids. Controls that enable energy from plants to be more efficiently applied to installation facilities could merit direct Army funding he said.
Energy Savings Performance Contracts are another option. ESPCs involve privately-financed design and installation of equipment that provides energy savings over time and those savings then enable the government to pay back the private investment.
Utility Energy ServiceContracts, or UESCs, can also provide services to improve installation power equipment reliability, or McGhee said with more creative thinking, create microgrids.
"We're weaving together a collection of authorities that very often are not considered in concert," McGhee said. OEI helps garrisons that that may not have the experience or resources to be working with all the different types of authorities.
"Our office tries to bring a more integrated solution," he said.
Teamwork for readiness
OEI actually received the FEMP Federal Energy and Water Management Award on Oct. 23 from the Department of Energy. McGhee said he accepted the award on behalf of the many commands and garrisons that helped coordinate the 11 projects above. The Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters and Districts and Centers of Expertise, Installation Management Command, Mission and Installation Contracting Command and Army Materiel Command, along with the Defense Logistics Agency, were among organizations that McGhee said deserve credit for the team award.
The award states the projects generate a total of 350 megawatts of distributed energy that help stabilize and reduce the Army's costs while improving its security, resilience and reliability.
"Supporting Army readiness is the No. 1 priority," McGhee said. "Our systems are being designed to improve the Army's installation readiness.
"In addition we are helping to modernize the Army's energy infrastructure, adding new technologies, and adding new protections that help us be ready for the needs of tomorrow, to include things like cyber intrusion."
This article originally appeared on the United States Army. Follow @USArmy on Twitter.
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Thousands more died so World War I would end at 1100
Logan Nye
"I may be one of the few people in this room who remembers when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day, commemorating the armistice that ended the First World War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year in 1918," Reagan said in 1982, repeating the memorable line about the end of World War I, a war so horrible that it was known for decades as "The War to End All Wars."
British troops man their artillery piece while defending against German attacks during the Spring Offensive, a failed German advance.
(Imperial War Museum)
But that tidy line, "the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year in 1918," came at a cost. Thousands more soldiers, 1,100 of them in one unit, would die during the morning before the Armistice took effect.
See, the end of World War I, like the end of most large wars, was clear for months before it actually came. With the introduction of the tank in 1916 and of American troops in 1917, the stalemate in Europe turned slowly but inexorably in favor of the Allies. The Central Powers, including Germany, were doomed to eventually drown under the industrial might it faced.
But they would fight on for over a year after America entered the war, attempting counter attacks and bloody defenses in order to improve their position at the bargaining table. It was a messy and futile business. The creeping crush of American and Allied steel slowly slaughtered its way east.
British troops hold the southern bank of the River Aisne in May 1918 during Germany's Spring Offensive.
By October, 1918, the writing was on the wall. Germany hadn't achieved a major victory since February, and the Spring Offensive that was supposed to shift the tide back in their favor had been utterly defeated. Berlin was starving under a British blockade and the front lines were quickly approaching the German border. Turkey surrendered at the end of the month and Austria-Hungary did so on November 3.
On November 7, 1918, the Germans sent a three-car delegation to the front lines and played a loud bugle call through the forest. The Germans informed some very surprised French troops that they were there to discuss terms of surrender with the French commander.
This is the first point where the top French and American officers, Field Marshall Ferdinand Fochs and Gen. John Pershing, could have slowed their advance. They could have ordered subordinate commanders to avoid costly advances against terrain or defenses that favored the Germans. In a war that generated over 2,000 deaths per day, a relatively calm November 7-11 could have saved thousands.
But Pershing and Fochs didn't know, for sure, that Germany would actually go through with the surrender. The Germans had already committed a number of acts during the war that would've been beyond the pale before the conflict. They had introduced chemical gasses to the conflict, killed thousands of innocent, civilian ship passengers with their U-boats, and ignored multiple treaties and other legal agreements in their prosecution of the war.
So, the leaders resolved to continue fighting until the last legal moments and then see whether German forces actually stopped fighting. Fochs and the German delegation met in train cars in the Ardennes Forest, and Fochs quickly made it clear that he wasn't looking to negotiate nicely. When the German delegation approached his car he ordered his interpreter to ask what the gentlemen wanted.
They said they had come to hear the Allies' proposal for surrender. Fochs replied that he had no proposals. Count Alfred von Oberndorff of the German foreign ministry told Fochs in French that his men sought the conditions for the Armistice. Foch replied, "I have no conditions to offer."
The German and French delegation pose at Field Marshall Ferdinand Foch's rail car after the November 11, 1918, armistice ending World War I was signed.
The Germans would have to beg, or Foch was prepared to push the front on to German soil. And so the German delegation, with added urgency as riots broke out in Berlin amid the ever-worsening food situation, begged. And it turned out that Foch did have conditions, and they were tough.
First, Germany had to cede dozens of ships, hundreds of submarines, and massive tracts of land to France including land then under control of German troops. And, Germany would have to give up massive amounts of transportation equipment, from planes to train locomotives to railway cars. When it came to the submarines and railways cars, France was actually asking for more than Germany physically had.
And the German government had to agree to the deal before November 11 at 11 a.m., or the offer would be withdrawn.
But Foch was unmoved by German pleas. In his and Pershing's minds, the idea of stopping the war short of German soil was insane. If Germany was allowed breathing room, it could only serve German interests. Either they would be allowed to quit the war without suffering at home the way the French people had, or they would simply use the armistice to re-organize their forces and then resume their attacks without agreeing to a full treaty.
Finally, just after 5 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the German delegation agreed to the terms. They would later seek, in some cases successfully, to negate the most onerous terms of the agreement during the treaty process, though many of them stuck.
But that left the long morning from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m., Foch's original deadline for an agreement and the legally binding time that the agreement would go into effect. Until then, the war was still raging.
If the ceasefire had taken place immediately after the agreement was signed, then hundreds would have still died as word made its way to the trenches — but the alternative was worse. Commanders were told that an armistice had been signed and that it would take effect at 11 a.m. They were given little or no instructions on how to spend the remaining hours.
For some, the answer was obvious: you don't get your men killed to capture ground that you can walk safely across in a few hours or days. But for others, this was one last chance to punish the Germans, one last chance to improve France and America's place at the peace table, one last chance at glory, awards, and promotions.
And so, after the armistice was signed, some Allied forces launched new attacks or decided to continue ongoing ones. Marine Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall ordered the 5th Marine Regiment to conduct a contested crossing of the Meuse River, acknowledging, as he briefed his officers, that he would likely never see them again.
Two American soldiers run towards a bunker in a classic photograph that may have been staged after the actual fighting.
(Library of Cogress)
When word came down that the armistice had been signed, the general left his men on the attack, notifying them only that they must cease attacking at 11. And so they continued. Eleven-hundred Marines died at the crossing before the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month arrived. The artillerymen on each side reportedly increased their fire when they learned, at 9 a.m., that the war was almost over.
The 157th Brigade kept fighting, as well, when they learned about the armistice at 10:44. With only 16 minutes left in the war, the American brigade still had a chance at taking a tiny, insignificant French village back. The general gave the order that attacks would continue until 11.
A supply soldier assigned to the brigade went forward with the 313th Regiment and took part in an attack through the fog against a German machine gun. Most of the Americans stopped short as the first German rounds zipped overhead, but Pvt. Henry Gunther pressed on.
A captured German machine gun team moves their weapon.
(National Library of Scotland)
The German gunners, aware that the war would end in mere minutes, attempted to wave him off. They yelled, but Gunther came on. So, finally, the German gunner gave one, last tug on his trigger, sending a burst into the charging private. Gunther was killed, the last official American casualty of the war.
Another town was attacked, and successfully captured, in the final minutes. Stenay was taken by the 89th U.S. Division at the cost of 300 casualties.
Up and down the front, artillery batteries fired until the last seconds. All-in-alll, the belligerents suffered an estimated 2,738 deaths on the final morning. American forces are thought to have suffered over 3,500 casualties of all types. Congress would later look into the "inefficiencies" of American troops being sent to their likely deaths in the final hours of fighting.
Americans celebrate the signing of the armistice that ended World War I.
(Chicago Daily News, Public domain)
But, it's important to remember that military leaders couldn't be sure the war was actually over, and they saw Germany admitting weakness as a sign it was time to press home the final attack in order to guarantee peace. If the Allies had rested, it might have allowed Germany to solidify their forces and improve their defenses.
The Allied leaders had heard only rumors or nothing at all about the events eating Germany from the inside. The Kaiser had abdicated and fled into exile. German sailors were in mass mutinies that crippled the already under-powered fleet. The aforementioned riots in Berlin were threatening to overwhelm the new republic, only days old and formed in crisis.
But that doesn't restore to life the thousands lost in the final days to ensure victory, men whose brave sacrifices didn't gain a much ground, but did cement the peace that ended mankind's worst conflict up to that point in history. Their sacrifice may feel more tragic, but is no less noble than the millions lost before November 11.
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November 11th 1918 - History Learning Site
Nov. 11, 1918: Wasted Lives on Armistice Day
World War I: Wasted Lives on Armistice Day | HistoryNet
10 awesome celebrities who served in the military
There are many famous people who served in the United States Military. Some were drafted, some had the choice between jail or service, and some felt the call and volunteered.
From World War II to 9/11 and beyond, these celebrities served their country before they became famous — except for Elvis. Elvis was always a star.
Note: There are some celebrities who are already well known for their military service (like everyone's favorite Gunny, R. Lee Ermey). You won't see them on this list, since our goal was to point out celebrities whose military service isn't as well known.
In no particular order, these are ten awesome celebrities who served in the U.S. Armed Forces:
Rob Riggle Is Golfing For Veterans
1. Rob Riggle, United States Marine Corps
Rob Riggle served in the United States Marine Corps for over 20 years. After graduating from the University of Kansas, he went through Officer Candidate School. Though he originally had the intention of becoming a pilot, he realized that he wanted to pursue comedy, so he became a Public Affairs Officer instead. After his Active Duty service commitment was complete, he transitioned into the reserves, where he served for 14 more while doing comedy and acting full time.
Riggle served in Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan during his time in service. Now retired, he continues to help the veteran community through initiatives like his Rob Riggle InVETational Golf Classic, a veteran-celebrity golf tournament that raises money and awareness for veteran non-profits, like Semper Fi Fund, an organization that assists service members and their families.
Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
(Photo by Bob Sandberg)
2. Jackie Robinson, United States Army
Jackie Robinson was drafted to the United States Army in 1942, where he was assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit before applying to Officer Candidate School. His application was delayed due to the color of his skin, but, after protests by heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, he was accepted. He commissioned as a second lieutenant in January, 1943.
In August, 1944, he faced court-martial for refusing to give up his seat on a bus near Camp Hood, Texas, a segregated location known for its racism.
On July 6, 1944, Robinson took a seat on a civilian bus next to a white woman on Camp Hood and the driver ordered him to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused and the military police were called to arrest him. Angry from the way he was treated and frustrated at the rampant discrimination on the post, Robinson refused to wait for the MPs in the provost marshal's office and was escorted to the hospital under guard and under protest.
He was charged with two accounts of insubordination. His defense would win out, however, and Robinson was freed. He medically retired from service due to a bone chip in his ankle and went on to become the first African American to play Major League Baseball.
It looks like a mug shot, but that's an OG CAC picture on the left.
3. Bea Arthur, United States Marine Corps
The late Bea Arthur served as a truck driver in the U.S. Marine Corps. She enlisted into the Women's Reservists during World War II at the age of 21 under her maiden name, Bernice Frankel. A handwritten letter of hers states,
"I was supposed to start work yesterday, but heard last week that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so decided the only thing to do was join."
She was stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. She was honorably discharged after the war at the rank of Staff Sergeant. She would marry a fellow Marine, Private Robert Aurthur, and go on to have a successful career in the arts.
Any fan of Arthur's incisive Dorothy on Golden Girls won't be surprised to hear that Arthur's enlistment interviewer described her as "argumentative" and "officious — but probably a good worker — if she has her own way!"
4. Bob Ross, United States Air Force
Robert Norman Ross, better known as the friendly painter Bob Ross, enlisted in the Air Force at age 18 and went on to serve for 20 years. While stationed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, Florida-native Ross saw snow and mountains for the first time, which would influence his serene landscape choices as he began his prolific painting career.
It might be surprising to know that while in the Air Force, Ross became a Drill Instructor.
"I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it. I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way anymore."
True to his word, he developed The Joy of Painting, his famous program where he taught others to paint with an uplifting and soft-spoken demeanor that has become famous around the world.
Semper Fi,
5. Adam Driver, U.S. Marine Corps
Adam Driver, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars franchise, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and became an infantry mortarman after the 9/11 attacks. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton with 81s (eighty-ones) Platoon, Weapons Co. 1st Battalion 1st Marines and was training for his first deployment when he sustained an injury that would result in a medical discharge.
After his service, Driver founded a non-profit organization called Arts in the Armed Forces, which brings high-quality arts programming to active duty service members, veterans, military support staff, and their families around the world free of charge with the intention of bridging the divide between civilians and the military.
Of his military career, Driver once said, "In the military, you learn the essence of people. You see so many examples of self-sacrifice and moral courage. In the rest of life you don't get that many opportunities to be sure of your friends."
Montel Williams at the premiere of 'War, Inc.'
(Photo by David Shankbone)
6. Montel Williams, United States Marine Corps and United States Navy
Talk show host Montel Williams enlisted in the United States Marines Corps after high school and completed basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, before going to the Desert Warfare Training Center at Twentynine Palms, California. After impressing his superiors with his leadership skills, he was recommended for the Naval Academy Preparatory School at Newport, Rhode Island. He was then accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Upon graduation, he became a cryptologic officer for the United States Navy. He served in Guam before transferring to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, where he studied Russian for a year before putting his linguistic skills to use for the National Security Agency. He served aboard submarines for three years before he decided to separate from the military and pursue public and motivational speaking full time.
Elvis Presley inventing 'Blue Steel' during his military service in Germany.
7. Elvis Presley, United States Army
After one deferment to complete the film King Creole, Elvis Aron Presley reported for U.S. Army basic training at Fort Hood on March 24, 1958, where he was assigned to the Second Armored Division's 'Hell on Wheels' unit. His induction was a major event that attracted fans and media attention.
After basic, Presley sailed to Europe aboard the USS General Randall to serve with the 3rd Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany. By March, 1960, Sergeant Presley finished his military commitment and received an honorable discharge from active duty.
Reflecting on his service, Presley once told Armed Forces Radio and Television that he was determined to go to any limits to prove himself — and he did, though his career as an artist was never too far from reach. Shortly after returning to the United States, he shot the film G-I Blues, a musical comedy where Presley played a tank crewman with a singing career.
8. Jimi Hendrix, United States Army
Jimi Hendrix, one of rock's greatest guitar players, served a brief, thirteen-month stint with the famed U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division — nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles" — just a few years before his epic rise to rockstardom in the late 60s. Hendrix wanted to enlist as a musician but had no formal music training, so he opted for the 101st Airborne Division.
Months after joining the Screaming Eagles, life as a paratrooper began to wear on Hendrix's morale. He was constantly reprimanded for dereliction of duties.
Jimi just wanted to play his guitar. His days as a paratrooper came to an end on his 26th jump when he broke his ankle.
Hendrix began exploring the Fort Campbell area nightlife before venturing down to nearby Nashville where he began jamming with local bluesmen. It was in that vibrant music scene that he met fellow service member and bassist Billy Cox. In September, 1963, after Cox was discharged from the Army, Hendrix and Cox formed a band called the King Kasuals, but it was later in New York City where Hendrix would catch the break that would help him become the rockstar he's remembered as today.
9. Kurt Vonnegut, United States Army
Kurt Vonnegut enlisted in the United States Army during World War II. In 1944, then-Private First Class Kurt Vonnegut was captured by the Nazis during the Battle of the Bulge. He, along with boxcars full of fellow POWs, were taken to the German city of Dresden and forced to work – until the city was firebombed by the Allies. Vonnegut and a few others survived the devastation, in what looked like a different, horrifying new world.
Slaughterhouse Five is named after the underground bunker in which he waited out the bombing. The book is the story of a man who became "unstuck in time," floating back to the past at seemingly random times. It has become one of the most famous PTSD flashback stories and one of the most banned books of all-time.
10. Kris Kristofferson, U.S. Army
Before he was a recording artist, Kris Kristofferson, under pressure from his family and following in the footsteps of his Air Force General father before him, joined the U.S. Army.
Kristofferson trained as a Ranger and a helicopter pilot, eventually reaching the rank of Captain while stationed in Germany. But then he received orders to West Point to teach English.
He chose to separate from the Army to pursue a music career instead, but served in the Tennessee National Guard when he needed to make ends meet. It was during that time when he infamously stole a helicopter and landed it on Johnny Cash's lawn, a bold move that would pay off when Cash, a fellow veteran, recorded Kristofferson's song and began an epic musical friendship.
In 2003, he was presented with the "Veteran of the Year" Award at the 8th Annual American Veterans Awards.
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The unknown Army aircraft that flew a tank
When you think 'sherpa,' the first thing that comes to mind is probably the folks who help people climb Mount Everest, not an Army aircraft. Unless you're a pro, you're probably not thinking about the Army's C-23 transport plane.
Wait, the Army has a transport plane? That's right. You see, the Army operates unarmed, fixed-wing aircraft. After the Army and Air Force split, the Air Force got the armed aircraft in the divorce settlement.
One of the unarmed transports the Army flies is the C-23 Sherpa. According to MilitaryFactory.com, the Sherpa was acquired to serve as an intra-theater transport between U.S. Army bases in Europe. However, the plane soon took on responsibilities beyond that limited role. The C-23 can haul up to 30 troops or three pallets of cargo. The plane is also capable of using smaller runways than the C-130 Hercules and is cheaper to operate than a CH-47 Chinook. With a top speed of 281 miles per hour and a range of 771 miles, this particular aircraft soon found work outside Europe as well.
A C-23 Sherpa over Europe in the 1980s. (Photo from USAF)
According to a 2014 United States Army release, the C-23 was used in the American peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula. The plane was also a valuable asset during Operation Iraqi Freedom, moving cargo to places where C-130s couldn't land, which was particularly valuable in humanitarian relief missions.
Related: This is what happened when a C-130 aircraft and a C-17 had a baby
Ultimately, the United States bought 62 airframes and, aside from losing one in a crash, the planes remained in service until it was retired in 2014 to be replaced by the C-27J Spartan. Still, the C-23 isn't going away just yet. Ethiopia, Djibouti, and the Philippines are receiving some of these short-haul airlifters as second-hand assets. As for the C-27J, it was retired by the Air Force and Air National Guard without replacement.
A US Army (USA) C-23B Sherpa aircraft assigned to Company H, 171st Aviation Regiment unloads Soldiers at an undisclosed airfield in Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. (USAF photo)
To learn more about this aircraft, check out the video below:
The hilarious reactions to Germany getting knocked out of the World Cup
Despite a visibly less dominant string of qualifying matches and a questionable performance early in the group stage, as the reigning World Cup champions, when it came to the 2018 tournament, Germany could not be written off by any means. When you think about it, after handing Brazil a sound 7-1 whooping in the semi-finals in 2014, how could one even imagine that they wouldn't even make it out of the group stage this year? Well, after a stunning 2-0 loss to South Korea — of all the teams — Germany is going home and the internet is going nuts.
For starters, Fox Sports Brazil's reaction is both petty and priceless. Still, that 7-1 L Brazil took in 2014 is by no means better than going out in the first round. It's better to go out early than be a world-renowned team that chokes and gets smashed in the semi-finals, especially considering the fact that Brazil had beaten Germany when it really really mattered so many times in the past, but I'm digressing here.
The American Outlaws, a band of next-generation US Soccer fans are actually offering Germany a seat on the couch of embarrassingly crippling defeat.
Maybe Americans were just generally elated that someone else besides them blew it when they didn't have to?
Speaking of couches.
But, South Korea still isn't even that good!
When you think about it, Germany deserved this, they just didn't seem to play that hard.
The fans are pissed.
The fans are shocked.
But, it's been a weird week in general anyway.
Meanwhile, everyone who stood to benefit from their elimination *cough cough* England and Mexico, are turning all the way up right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiK1whjBOrs
Still, it's not like Germany's exit is unfounded. This is the third World Cup in which the reigning champs have gone out in the first round. Italy did it in 2010 and Spain did it in 2014. Plus their exit gives less experienced but talented teams like Mexico and South Korea a chance to prove themselves in the round of 16 and that's something to be excited about.
This article originally appeared on Fatherly. Follow @FatherlyHQ on Twitter.
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'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' is a funny war memoir that will make you want more
Team Mighty
Posted On February 05, 2020 19:03:05
"She's Kim Baker, I'm Kim Barker," Kim Barker tells me. She's the New York Times metro reporter and author of The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, on which the new Paramount Pictures film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is based. Barker is referring to Tina Fey and her performance as Barker's embedded journalist in Afghanistan.
"I think she did a really good job," Barker says. "I've seen a lot of her performances. Obviously I saw 30 Rock, and this is, I think, the most nuanced performance that she's ever given. And I'm not just saying it because it's supposed to be me."
In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Fey is a television news copywriter living an ordinary life when her network opts to send a correspondent to Afghanistan. An executive gathers potential reporters fitting a certain profile – those with little to lose – to offer them the position. Fey's Kim Baker accepts and is quickly in country learning the ropes. She's green, doesn't speak any foreign languages, and has no knowledge of Afghan customs.
There she meets photographer Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), fellow reporter Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie), and her restrained, cautious guide Fahim (Christopher Abbott). Baker quickly learns the ropes about reporting on an "embed" (embedding with a military unit) and life in the "kabbuble" (a play on words describing how life for foreign civilians in Kabul is life in a bubble). She also meets Afghan power broker Ali Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina) who takes an immediate liking to Fey's Kim Baker.
Though there are some combat sequences when Baker embeds with U.S. Marines (led by a Marine officer played by Billy Bob Thornton), Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF for short) is not a war movie. The movie is a dramatization of the book, but still remains true to Kim Barker's wartime experiences. Fans of Barker's book will find plenty to love in the film.
"They make Tina Fey way braver than I ever was," Barker says. She adds that adequately recreating the book would be unnecessarily difficult. The narrative arcs are the same. Her interaction with supporting characters are the same. Robert Carlock, a regular 30 Rock writer, and WTF screenwriter, did a lot of independent research on top of Barker's book.
"All the events depicted in the film happened to me or to someone I know," Barker says. "I think the movie is a great representation and that's what I care about most. I want people to see the movie, enjoy the movie, and then think about what the real story behind it was."
The choice to depict Fey's Baker as a broadcast journalist — as opposed to Kim Barker's print reporting for the Chicago Tribune — is an apt choice. The movie tells the broad story of a reporter's time in Afghanistan, hitting all the significant events, influential characters, and memorable moments in a quick retelling of the real Barker's experience. The book is written by a print journalist, full of detail, nuance, and explanation, a great primer for truly understanding the tribes and conflicts in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a funny, sharp, yet glossy look at the life of a war reporter covering a very real conflict. It depicts the troubles women have as war reporters and the inequalities women face in the region. The movie shows a journalist's first ever encounter with U.S. Marines and touches on moments that are at times funny and at times trying, just like many war zone experiences. Viewers may leave the theater wanting something more, and they will be able to get that something from the Barker's book, which the reporter wanted all along.
These important tools are made from sunken warships
Posted On August 07, 2020 21:06:49
Let's say you need to make a very sensitive tool to detect radiation. Maybe you need to use it for medical purposes, detecting specific isotopes as they move through a human body. Or perhaps it's for the tools to detect radiation to prevent dirty bombs and nuclear smuggling. Wherever your radiation is, if you want super accurate measurements of it, you have to make your tools out of low-background steel, and that's hard to get.
U.S. Navy divers extract oil from the World War II German cruiser Prinz Eugen to prevent it leaking into the environment. The steel of the hull would be worth billions for use in scientific experiments and medical instruments.
(U.S. Navy)
Here's the problem with new steel: It's made in a radioactive environment. The very air we breathe contains little molecules leftover from the approximately 2,000 nuclear tests conducted since 1945. Irradiated coral from Bikini Atoll tests, snow melted by the Tsar Bomba, and air particles in the wrong spots during the development of the Genie air-to-air rocket are all still radioactive.
It's not enough to be a big threat to life around the world, but disasters like those at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island have created background radiation in the atmosphere that will last for centuries. And making steel requires that air is passed through molten steel. If that air has any radioactive molecules in it, which it often does, then the steel will be slightly radioactive.
That doesn't make it useless for detecting radiation. But any radiation in the steel makes the resulting device less sensitive. It's like if you're trying to listen for a distant sound while a band plays. The louder and closer the band is, the harder it will be for you to hear a distant or faint sound. A radiation detection device with radioactive steel in it will never be able to detect radiation that's beneath the threshold its own components put out.
But steel can last. And any steel manufactured before the first nuclear tests in July 1945 is filled with low-background radiation steel. Basically, since it has much fewer radioactive particles in it, it can detect radiation at much lower levels. So, if you need to run a radioactive dye through a medical patient, you can use a much lower level of radiation if the detector is made with low-background steel.
Same with scientific and law enforcement instruments.
But how to get low-background steel today? If you mine ore now, melt it down, and mix it with limestone, you'll be most of the way through making low-background steel. But you also have to pass air through it. And the only air available has radiation in it.
So, instead, you could go find steel manufactured before 1945. Preferably steel that wasn't exposed to the air during the testing or in the years immediately afterward.
Medical scanners often require low-background steel, a material most easily obtained through World War II and earlier salvage.
(U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Miles Wilson)
You read the headline. You know where this is going.
Sunken warships have literally tens of thousands of tons of steel in them, and the water has shielded them from radiation for decades.
So, with the consent of governments, some warships have their steel removed. It's done carefully both to prevent contaminating the metal as well as to avoid disturbing the dead. And it's not just steel. A British warship from before the Revolution had a large amount of lead that is now maintained by the University of Chicago.
There's even speculation that the Voyager 1 or Explorer 1 satellites may contain World War I German warship steel.
It's even been suggested that some illegal salvage efforts were conducted by black market outfits looking to make millions by stealing entire ships off the ocean floor. And at least two British ships lost in World War II have disappeared, though some researchers think it was more likely straight steel salvage. It doesn't appear the thieves had the wherewithal to properly protect the salvage from modern radiation, so it was probably sold as normal scrap.
So the thieves disturbed the grave of thousands of sailors and contaminated tens of thousands of tons of rare low-background steel.
And some artifacts from long before World War II are now being used for scientific experiments. Historians and scientists have a tense tug of war when it comes to lead from ancient Chinese and Roman sites and wrecks.
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Viacheslav Mijáilovich Mólotov (;  - 8 de noviembre de 1986) fue un político y diplomático soviético, un viejo bolchevique y una figura destacada en el gobierno soviético durante la década de 1920, cuando ascendió al poder como un protegido de Iósif Stalin, hasta 1957, cuando fue despedido del Presidium (Politburó) del Comité Central por Nikita Jrushchov. Se desempeñó como presidente del Consejo de Comisarios del Pueblo desde 1930 hasta 1941 y como ministro de Asuntos Exteriores entre 1939 y 1949 y desde 1953 a 1957. Mólotov trabajó varios años como primer vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros del gabinete de Iósif Stalin y se retiró en 1961 tras varios años de oscuridad.

Mólotov fue el principal soviético firmante del pacto de no agresión nazi-soviético de 1939 (conocido como Pacto Ribbentrop-Mólotov), también estuvo involucrado en las negociaciones de la posguerra donde se hizo notar por sus excelentes habilidades diplomáticas. A raíz de las secuelas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial (Gran Guerra Patria) Mólotov mantuvo su lugar hasta 1949, como líder diplomático y político. En marzo de 1949, tras perder el favor de Stalin, perdió el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores para Andréi Vyshinski. La relación de Mólotov con Stalin se deterioró aún más, con Stalin quejándose acerca de los errores de Mólotov en un discurso ante el XIX Congreso del Partido. Sin embargo, después de la muerte de Stalin en 1953 se opuso firmemente a la política de la desestalinización llevada a cabo por Jrushchov. Defendió sus políticas y el legado de Stalin hasta su muerte en 1986 criticando duramente a los sucesores de Stalin, especialmente a Nikita Jrushchov.

Primeros años y carrera (1890-1930)

Mólotov nació como Viacheslav Mijáilovich Skryabin  en la aldea de Kukarka de la gobernación de Viatka (ahora Sovetsk en el óblast de Kírov), siendo hijo de un empleado de una tienda. Al contrario de un error que se repite comúnmente, no estuvo emparentado con el compositor Aleksandr Skriabin. Fue educado en una escuela secundaria en Kazán y se unió a la facción bolchevique del Partido Obrero Socialdemócrata de Rusia (POSDR) en 1906. Tomó el seudónimo de Mólotov (del ruso молот mólot, "martillo") por su trabajo político. Su otro apodo de partido fue 'trasero de piedra', debido a sus largas horas en el escritorio. (En una ocasión anunció que estaba tomando una siesta 13 minutos y se despertó exactamente 13 minutos después). Fue arrestado en 1909 y pasó dos años exiliado en Vólogda. En 1911, se matriculó en el Instituto Politécnico de San Petersburgo y también se unió a la redacción de Pravda, el periódico clandestino bolchevique del que Iósif Stalin era editor. En 1915, Mólotov fue nuevamente detenido y deportado a Irkutsk, pero en 1916 se escapó y regresó a la capital.

Mólotov se convirtió en miembro del Comité del Partido Bolchevique de Petrogrado en 1916. Cuando se produjo la Revolución de Febrero en 1917, fue uno de los pocos bolcheviques que permanecieron en la capital. Bajo su dirección Pravda llevó a la "izquierda" a oponerse al Gobierno provisional ruso formado después de la revolución. Cuando Iósif Stalin regresó a la capital, revirtió la línea de Mólotov; pero cuando el líder del partido, Vladímir Lenin, llegó, invalidó a Stalin. A pesar de ello, Mólotov se convirtió en un protegido y estrecho adherente a Stalin, una alianza a la que debe su fama posterior. Mólotov se convirtió en miembro del comité militar revolucionario que planeó la Revolución de Octubre, y que efectivamente llevó a los bolcheviques al poder.

En 1918, Mólotov fue enviado a Ucrania para participar en la guerra civil que se estaba desatando en ese momento. Pero como no era un militar, no participó en los combates. En 1920, se convirtió en secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de la República Socialista Soviética de Ucrania.
En 1921 se casó con Polina Zhemchúzhina, quien servía en el Comisariado del pueblo (Narkomat) de la Industria Alimentaria bajo Anastás Mikoyán y más tarde fue nombrada Comisario del pueblo (Narkom) para la Pesca, fue la primera edil femenina que desempeñó el cargo de Narkom en el gobierno de la Unión Soviética y también  fue elegida como candidata al Comité Central del PCUS. Lenin lo llamó a Moscú en 1921, elevándolo a miembro de pleno derecho del Comité Central y del Orgburó y poniéndolo a cargo de la secretaría del partido. Fue elegido como miembro sin derecho a voto del Politburó en 1921, y ocupó el cargo de Secretario Responsable. Su Secretaría responsable fue criticada tanto por Lenin como por León Trotski, con Lenin señalando su "burocratismo vergonzoso" y comportamiento estúpido. Siguiendo los consejos de Mólotov y Nikolái Bujarin, el Comité Central decidió reducir las horas de trabajo de Lenin. En 1922, Stalin se convirtió en secretario general del Partido Bolchevique con Mólotov como segundo secretario de facto. Como un joven seguidor, Mólotov admiraba a Stalin, pero estaba abierto a la crítica de él. Bajo el patrocinio de Stalin, Mólotov se convirtió en miembro del Politburó en 1926.

Durante las luchas por el poder que siguieron a la muerte de Lenin en 1924, Mólotov siguió siendo un partidario leal de Stalin contra sus diferentes rivales: primero León Trotski, posteriormente Lev Kámenev y Grigori Zinóviev y finalmente Nikolái Bujarin. Mólotov se convirtió en una figura destacada en el centro "estalinista" del partido, que también incluía a Kliment Voroshílov y Sergó Ordzhonikidze. Trotski y sus seguidores subestimaron a Mólotov, así como muchos otros. Trotski lo llamó de "mediocridad personificada", mientras que el propio Mólotov corregía a sus camaradas con pedantería cuando se referían a él como 'trasero de piedra' diciendo que en realidad Lenin lo había apodado de 'trasero de hierro'. Sin embargo, este embotamiento exterior ocultaba una mente astuta y un gran talento administrativo. Operó principalmente detrás de las escenas y cultivó una imagen de burócrata incoloro – por ejemplo, fue el único líder bolchevique que siempre llevaba traje y corbata. En 1928 Mólotov reemplazó a Nikolái Uglánov como Primer Secretario del Partido Comunista de Moscú y mantuvo esa posición hasta el 15 de agosto de 1929. En un largo discurso ante Comité Central en 1929, Mólotov dijo a los miembros que el gobierno soviético iniciaría una campaña de colectivización obligatoria para resolver el atraso agrario de la agricultura Soviética.

Jefatura de Gobierno (1930-1941)

Durante un plenario del Comité Central del 19 de diciembre de 1930, Mólotov relevó a Alekséi Rýkov como presidente del Consejo de Comisarios del Pueblo (equivalente de un jefe de Gobierno occidental). En este puesto, Mólotov supervisó la colectivización de la agricultura del gobierno de Stalin. Siguió la línea de Stalin mediante una combinación de fuerza y propaganda para aplastar la resistencia de los campesinos a la colectivización, incluyendo la deportación de millones de kuláks (campesinos con propiedades) a campos de trabajo. Un número enorme de los deportados murieron por exposición y exceso de trabajo. Firmó la Ley de las tres espiguillas (Закон о трёх колосках)  y condujo personalmente la Comisión Extraordinaria para la Entrega de Granos en Ucrania, que confiscó unas 4.2 millones de toneladas de granos de los campesinos desaparecidas durante una extensa hambruna artificial (conocida en Ucrania como Holodomor). Los historiadores contemporáneos estiman que entre siete y once millones de personas murieron, de hambre o en campos de trabajo, en la transición para colectivizar las granjas. Mólotov también supervisó la aplicación del Primer Plan Quinquenal para la rápida industrialización.

Serguéi Kírov, jefe de la organización del partido en Leningrado, fue asesinado en 1934; algunos creyeron que su muerte había sido ordenada por Stalin. La muerte de Kírov desencadenó una segunda crisis, la Gran Purga. En 1938, de los veintiocho Comisarios del Pueblo presentes en el gobierno de Mólotov, veinte fueron ejecutados bajo las órdenes de Stalin y Mólotov. Las purgas se llevaron a cabo por los sucesivos jefes del NKVD, la policía secreta de Stalin. Nikolái Yezhov fue el principal organizador y Kliment Voroshílov, Lázar Kaganóvich y Mólotov estuvieron íntimamente implicados en los procesos. Stalin frecuentemente solicitaba que Mólotov y otros miembros del Politburó firmaran las sentencias de muerte de las víctimas más prominentes de la purga, y Mólotov siempre lo hizo sin lugar a dudas. No hay ningún registro de que Mólotov haya intentando moderar el curso de las purgas o incluso salvar a personas, al igual que algunos otros funcionarios soviéticos. Durante la Gran Purga, aprobó personalmente 372 listas de ejecución documentadas, más que cualquier otro funcionario soviético incluyendo a Stalin. Es conocido que Mólotov fue uno de los pocos con quien Stalin discutió abiertamente acerca de las purgas. Si bien Mólotov y Stalin firmaron un decreto público en 1938 que los desvinculó de la Gran Purga, en curso en ese momento, en privado e incluso después de la muerte de Stalin, Mólotov apoyó la Gran Purga y los asesinatos cometidos por su gobierno.

A pesar del gran costo humano, la Unión Soviética bajo la jefatura de Gobierno nominal de Mólotov hizo grandes avances en la adopción y aplicación generalizada de tecnología agraria e industrial. En un documento escrito por Mólotov observó cómo el canibalismo y el hambre aún seguían siendo problemas graves en 1937 en la Unión Soviética. Andréi Vyshinski, el fiscal general, incluso le dijo personalmente a Mólotov sobre incidentes relacionados con madres comiendo a sus hijos recién nacidos. El ascenso de Adolf Hitler en la Alemania nazi precipitó el desarrollo de una industria de armamento moderno a las órdenes del Gobierno soviético. En última instancia, fue esta industria de armas, junto con la asistencia estadounidense mediante la ley de Préstamo y Arriendo, que ayudó a la Unión Soviética a prevalecer en la Segunda Guerra Mundial (Gran Guerra Patria). Frente a esto, las purgas de los líderes del Ejército Rojo, en las que Mólotov participó, debilitaron la capacidad de defensa de la Unión Soviética y contribuyeron a los desastres militares de 1941 y 1942, que en su mayoría fueron causados por la falta de preparación para la guerra. Las purgas también condujeron al desmantelamiento de la agricultura privatizada y a su sustitución por la agricultura colectivizada. Esto dejó un legado de ineficiencias agrícolas crónicas y  baja producción que el Gobierno soviético nunca rectificó totalmente.

Mólotov fue descrito como vegetariano y abstemio por el periodista estadounidense John Gunther en 1938.  Sin embargo, el comunista yugoslavo Milovan Djilas afirmó que Mólotov "bebía más alcohol que Stalin" y nunca notó su vegetarianismo a pesar de tener varios banquetes con él.

Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores (1939-1949)

En 1939, tras los acuerdos de Múnich y la invasión subsiguiente de Hitler a Checoslovaquia en 1938, Stalin creía que Gran Bretaña y Francia no serían aliados confiables contra la expansión alemana y entonces trató de conciliar con la Alemania Nazi. En mayo de 1939 Maksim Litvínov, el Comisario del Pueblo de Asuntos Exteriores de origen judío, fue despedido y Mólotov fue designado para sucederlo. Mólotov fue reemplazado de su puesto como presidente del Consejo de Comisarios del Pueblo por Stalin.

Al principio, Hitler rechazó las sugerencias diplomáticas soviéticas de que Stalin deseaba un tratado, pero a comienzos de agosto de 1939, Hitler autorizó al ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Joachim von Ribbentrop para comenzar negociaciones serias. Se firmó un acuerdo de comercio el 18 y el 22 de agosto, Ribbentrop viajó a Moscú para firmar un tratado de no agresión formal. Aunque el tratado es conocido como el Pacto Ribbentrop-Mólotov, en realidad fueron Stalin y Hitler y no Mólotov y Ribbentrop, quienes decidieron el contenido del tratado. La parte más importante del acuerdo fue el Protocolo adicional secreto, que preveía el reparto de Polonia, Finlandia y las repúblicas bálticas entre la Alemania Nazi y la Unión Soviética y la anexión soviética de Besarabia (que entonces formaba parte de Rumania, ahora Moldavia). Este protocolo le dio a Hitler la luz verde para la invasión de Polonia, que comenzó el 1 de septiembre de 1939, y también a Stalin para la invasión soviética de Polonia el 17 de septiembre.
El 28 de septiembre de 1939, Alemania nazi y la Unión Soviética firmaron el Tratado Germano-Soviético de Amistad, Cooperación y Demarcación que ajustaba la fronteras de las zonas de influencia de ambas potencias.

El 5 de marzo de 1940, Lavrenti Beria le dio a Mólotov, junto con Anastás Mikoyán, Kliment Voroshílov y Stalin, una nota ordenando la ejecución de 25.700 oficiales polacos, en lo que se conoce como la masacre de Katyn.

Bajo los términos del pacto, Hitler estaba, en efecto, recibiendo autorización para ocupar dos tercios del oeste de Polonia, así como Lituania. Mólotov recibió carta blanca en relación con Finlandia. En la guerra soviético-finlandesa que produjo, una combinación entre la feroz resistencia finlandesa y la mala gestión soviética resultó en la pérdida de partes del territorio de Finlandia, pero no su independencia. El pacto fue modificado posteriormente para asignar a Lituania en la esfera soviética a cambio de una frontera más favorable en Polonia. Estas anexiones llevaron a enormes sufrimientos y pérdidas de vidas en los países ocupados y divididos por los dos Gobiernos.

En noviembre de 1940, Stalin envió a Mólotov a Berlín para reunirse con von Ribbentrop y Adolf Hitler. En enero de 1941, el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores británico Anthony Eden visitó Turquía buscando que los turcos entraran en la guerra del lado de los aliados. Aunque el propósito de la visita de Eden era más antialemana en lugar de antisoviética, Mólotov supuso lo contrario y en una serie de conversaciones con el embajador italiano Augusto Rosso, Mólotov afirmó que la Unión Soviética pronto se enfrentaría a una invasión anglo-turca de Crimea. El historiador británico D.C. Watt argumentó que, sobre la base de las declaraciones de Mólotov a Rosso, parecería que a comienzos de 1941, Stalin y Mólotov veían a Gran Bretaña en lugar de Alemania como la principal amenaza.

El Pacto Ribbentrop-Mólotov rigió las relaciones soviético-alemanas hasta junio de 1941, cuando Hitler, habiendo ocupado Francia y neutralizado Gran Bretaña, giró hacia el este y atacó la Unión Soviética. Mólotov tuvo la responsabilidad de decirle al pueblo soviético del ataque, cuando él en lugar de Stalin anunció la guerra. Su discurso, transmitido por radio el 22 de junio, caracterizó a la Unión Soviética en un papel similar al articulado para Gran Bretaña por Winston Churchill en sus discursos durante los comienzos de la guerra. El Comité de Defensa del Estado fue establecido poco después del discurso de Mólotov; Stalin fue elegido presidente y Mólotov, vicepresidente. Tras la invasión alemana, Mólotov, llevó a cabo urgentes negociaciones con Gran Bretaña y, más tarde, con los Estados Unidos para establecer alianzas de guerra. Tomó un vuelo secreto a Glasgow, Escocia, donde fue recibido por Eden. Desde allí tomó un tren hacia Londres para discutir con el Gobierno británico la posibilidad de abrir un segundo frente contra Alemania. Después de firmar el Tratado anglo-soviético el 26 de mayo de 1942 Mólotov fue a Washington, D.C., Estados Unidos y se reunió con el presidente de los Estados Unidos, Franklin D. Roosevelt y ratificó un Tratado de Préstamo y Arriendo entre la URSS y los Estados Unidos. Los británicos y el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos, se comprometieron, aunque vagamente, a abrir un segundo frente contra Alemania. En su vuelo de regreso a la URSS, su avión fue atacado por cazas alemanes y luego por cazas soviéticos.

Cuando Beria informó a Stalin acerca del proyecto Manhattan y su importancia, Stalin escogió a Mólotov para ser el hombre a cargo del proyecto de la bomba atómica soviética. Sin embargo, bajo el liderazgo de Mólotov la bomba y los elementos del proyecto, se desarrollaron muy lentamente y Mólotov fue reemplazado por Beria en 1944 con el asesoramiento de Ígor Kurchátov. Cuando Harry S. Truman, el presidente estadounidense, le dijo a Stalin que los norteamericanos habían creado una bomba nunca antes vista, Stalin le relató la conversación a Mólotov y le dijo que acelerara la velocidad de desarrollo. Por órdenes de Stalin el Gobierno soviético incrementó sustancialmente la inversión en el proyecto.

En colaboración con Kliment Voroshílov, Mólotov contribuyó musical y líricamente a la versión del himno nacional soviético de 1944. Mólotov pidió a los escritores la inclusión de una o dos líneas sobre la paz. El papel de Mólotov y de Voroshílov en la realización del nuevo himno soviético fue, según palabras del historiador Simon Sebag Montefiore, actuar como jueces de música para Stalin.

Mólotov acompañó a Stalin en la Conferencia de Teherán en 1943, en la Conferencia de Yalta en 1945 y, tras la derrota de Alemania, en la Conferencia de Potsdam. Representó a la Unión Soviética en la Conferencia de San Francisco, que creó las Naciones Unidas. Incluso durante el período de alianzas de los tiempos de guerra, Mólotov fue conocido como un duro negociador y un decidido defensor de los intereses soviéticos. Entre 1945 y 1947 Mólotov participó en todas las cuatro conferencias de ministros de Relaciones Exteriores de los Estados victoriosos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En general, se distinguió por una actitud poco cooperativa hacia las potencias occidentales. En la dirección del Gobierno soviético, condenó al Plan Marshall como imperialista y afirmó que estaba dividiendo a Europa en dos campos, uno capitalista y el otro comunista. En respuesta, la Unión Soviética, junto con las demás naciones del bloque del Este, iniciaron lo que se conoce como el Plan Mólotov. El plan creó varias relaciones bilaterales entre los Estados de Europa oriental y la Unión Soviética; y más tarde se convertiría en el Consejo de Ayuda Mutua Económica (CAME).

En el periodo de la posguerra, el poder de Mólotov comenzó a declinar. En 1948 fue obligado a divorciarse de su esposa, quien fue detenida en diciembre de 1948 bajo cargos falsos de traición. Ella fue sentenciada a cinco años trabajos forzados. Esto fue un signo claro de la situación precaria de Mólotov,  su incapacidad de evitar la detención  de su esposa judía, Polina Zhemchúzhina, de quien Stalin había desconfiado mucho.  Mólotov nunca dejó de amar a su esposa, y se dice que cada noche ordenaba a sus mucamas hacer una cena para dos personas para recordarle que, según sus propias palabras, "ella sufrió por mi culpa". La pareja fue reunida por Beria tras la muerte de Stalin. En 1949, Mólotov fue reemplazado como ministro de Relaciones Exteriores por Andréi Vyshinski, aunque conservó su posición como primer vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros y como miembro del Politburó.

Carrera después de la guerra (1949-1976)
En el XIX Congreso del Partido en 1952, Mólotov fue elegido para el reemplazo del Politburó, el Presidium, pero no fue incluido entre los miembros del órgano secreto recién establecido, conocido como la Oficina del Presidium; indicando que había perdido el favor de Stalin. En el XIX Congreso, Mólotov y Anastás Mikoyán, fueron señalados por Stalin por haber cometido errores graves, incluyendo la publicación de un discurso de guerra de Winston Churchill favorable a los esfuerzos de la Unión Soviética en la guerra. Tanto Mólotov como Mikoyán fueron perdiendo el favor rápidamente, con Stalin, Beria, Jrushchov, Malenkov y Nikolái Bulganin sin querer ver más a Mólotov y Mikoyán alrededor. En su cumpleaños número 73, Stalin trató a ambos con disgusto. Jrushchov, en su discurso secreto ante el XX Congreso del Partido le dijo a los delegados que Stalin tenía planes de "acabar" con Mólotov y Mikoyán tras el XIX Congreso.

Tras la muerte de Stalin, se solicitó un reajuste de los dirigentes, en el curso del cual se fortaleció la posición de Mólotov. Gueorgui Malenkov, el sucesor de Stalin en el puesto de presidente del Consejo de Ministros, designó a Mólotov como ministro de Relaciones Exteriores el 5 de marzo de 1953. Si bien Mólotov fue visto como un posible sucesor de Stalin inmediatamente después de su muerte, nunca intentó convertirse en líder de la Unión Soviética. Una Troika (triunvirato) se estableció inmediatamente después de la muerte de Stalin, conformada por Malenkov, Beria y Mólotov,  pero terminó cuando Malenkov y Mólotov engañaron a Beria. Mólotov apoyó la remoción y la posterior ejecución de Beria por órdenes de Jrushchov. El nuevo Secretario del Partido, Jrushchov, emergió rápidamente como el nuevo líder de la Unión Soviética. Presidió una gradual liberalización doméstica y una distensión en la política exterior, demostrada por la reconciliación con el gobierno de Josip Broz Tito en Yugoslavia (que Stalin había expulsado del movimiento comunista). Mólotov, un estalinista de la vieja guardia, parecía cada vez más fuera de lugar en este nuevo entorno, pero representó a la Unión Soviética en la Conferencia de Ginebra de 1955.

Los hechos que condujeron a la caída de Mólotov comenzaron en febrero de 1956 cuando Jrushchov lanzó una inesperada denuncia contra Stalin en el XX Congreso del Partido Comunista. Jrushchov atacó a Stalin, tanto por las purgas de los años 1930 como por las derrotas de los primeros años de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, culpándolo por su exceso de confianza en Hitler y las purgas del Ejército Rojo. Dado que Mólotov fue el decano de los colaboradores de Stalin que continuaban vivos y que había desempeñado un papel destacado en las purgas, se hizo evidente que el examen de Jrushchov del pasado probablemente resultaría en la caída de Mólotov del poder. En consecuencia, se convirtió en el líder de una vieja guardia que intentó derrocar a Jrushchov.

En junio de 1956, Mólotov fue cesado como ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, y en junio de 1957 fue expulsado del Presidium (Politburó) tras un intento fallido de apartar a Jrushchov como Primer Secretario. Aunque inicialmente, la facción de Mólotov ganó una votación en el Presidium por 7-4, para apartar  a Jrushchov, este último rechazó renunciar a menos que un plenario del Comité Central lo decidiera así. En el plenario, que duró desde el 22 hasta el 29 junio, Mólotov y su facción fueron derrotados. Finalmente fue desterrado como embajador en la República Popular de Mongolia. En 1960, fue nombrado representante soviético en el Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica, algo que fue visto como una rehabilitación parcial. Sin embargo, tras el XXII Congreso del Partido en 1961, durante el cual Jrushchov llevó a cabo su campaña de desestalinización, que incluía la remoción de cuerpo de Stalin del Mausoleo de Lenin, y la remoción de Mólotov, junto con Lázar Kaganóvich de todos los cargos y su expulsión del Partido Comunista. En 1962 todo lo relacionado con Mólotov en los documentos y archivos del partido fue borrado por las autoridades.

En retiro, Mólotov permaneció totalmente arrepentido de su papel durante el gobierno de Stalin. Sufrió un ataque al corazón en enero de 1962. Pero después de la ruptura sino-soviética, hubo informes de que él estaba de acuerdo con las críticas formuladas por Mao Zedong al supuesto "revisionismo" de las políticas de Jrushchov. De acuerdo con Roy Medvédev, la hija de Stalin Svetlana recordó a Mólotov y su esposa diciéndole: "Tu padre era un genio. En la actualidad, no hay ningún espíritu revolucionario alrededor, solo oportunismo en todas partes. China es nuestra única esperanza. Sólo ellos han mantenido vivo el espíritu revolucionario".

Rehabilitación, muerte, creencias y legado

Los primeros signos de su rehabilitación se observaron durante el gobierno de Leonid Brézhnev, cuando la información sobre él pudo ser incluida nuevamente en las enciclopedias soviéticas. Su conexión, apoyo y trabajo en el Grupo Anti-Partido fue mencionada en las enciclopedias publicadas en 1973 y 1974, pero finalmente desapareció por completo a mediados y finales de la década de 1970. El líder soviético Konstantín Chernenko rehabilitó más a Mólotov; en 1984 se le permitió incluso conseguir una membresía en el Partido Comunista. Una colección de entrevistas con Mólotov de 1985 fue publicada en 1994 por Félix Chúiev como Mólotov recuerda: Política interior de Kremlin. Mólotov murió, durante el gobierno de Mijaíl Gorbachov, el 8 de noviembre de 1986. Tenía 96 años de edad en el momento de su muerte y fue enterrado en el Cementerio Novodévichi, en Moscú.

Mólotov, al igual que Stalin, fue patológicamente desconfiado de los demás, y precisamente por ello, despreció mucha información crucial. Como cuando Mólotov dijo una vez: "Uno debe escucharlos, pero es necesario investigarlos. El oficial de inteligencia puede llevarte a una situación muy peligrosa... Hay muchos provocadores aquí, allá y en todas partes". También al igual que Stalin, nunca reconoció a la Guerra Fría como un evento internacional. Mólotov la vio, más o menos, como el conflicto cotidiano entre el comunismo y el capitalismo. Es importante señalar que Mólotov dividió a los países capitalistas en dos grupos, los "imperialistas inteligentes y peligrosos" y los "tontos". Mólotov también fue un acérrimo nacionalista ruso, afirmando que a los rusos, a diferencia de los húngaros, les gustaba "hacer cosas grandes". Antes de su retiro, Mólotov propuso la creación de una confederación socialista con la República Popular China (RPC); Mólotov creía que los Estados socialistas eran parte de una entidad supranacional mayor. En retiro, Mólotov criticó a Nikita Jrushchov por ser un "desviacionista derechista".

El cóctel Molotov es un término acuñado por los finlandeses durante la Guerra de Invierno, como un nombre genérico para una variedad de armas incendiarias improvisadas. Durante la Guerra de Invierno, la Fuerza Aérea Soviética hizo un amplio uso de bombas incendiarias y de bombas de racimo contra las tropas y fortificaciones finlandesas. Cuando Mólotov afirmó en la radio que ellos no habían bombardeado, sino más bien que habían entregado alimentos a los finlandeses hambrientos, estos comenzaron a llamar canastas de pan de Mólotov a las bombas aéreas. Como respuesta,  los finlandeses atacaron a los tanques soviéticos con "Cócteles Mólotov", que eran "una bebida para acompañar la comida". Según Montefiore, el cóctel Mólotov fue una parte del culto a la personalidad de Mólotov que desaprobaba enormemente.

A finales de 1989, dos años antes de la disolución de la Unión Soviética, el Congreso de los Diputados del Pueblo de la Unión Soviética y el gobierno de Mijaíl Gorbachov denunciaron formalmente el Pacto Ribbentrop-Mólotov, reconociendo que la sangrienta anexión de los Estados bálticos y la partición de Polonia habían sido ilegales.

Winston Churchill en sus memorias de guerra enumeró muchas reuniones con Mólotov. Reconociéndolo como un "hombre de extraordinaria capacidad y crueldad de sangre fría", Churchill concluyó: "En el manejo de los asuntos exteriores, Mazarino, Talleyrand y Metternich, lo recibirían a su compañía, si hubiese otro mundo al cual los bolcheviques se permitieran a sí mismos ir."

Véase también
 Cóctel molotov
Polina Zhemchúzhina

Referencias
Notas

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos

 Bibliografía comentada de Viacheslav Mólotov de la Biblioteca Digital Alsos de Asuntos Nucleares (en inglés)
 Canción sobre la "Guerra de Invierno" (Nyet Molotov)

Comunistas de Rusia
Embajadores de la Unión Soviética
Diplomáticos de la Unión Soviética
Gobernantes de la Unión Soviética
Políticos de la Unión Soviética
Bolcheviques
Políticos de Rusia del siglo XX
Políticos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial
Héroe del Trabajo Socialista
Miembros de la Academia de Ciencias de Rusia
Soviéticos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial
Candidatos al Premio Nobel de la Paz
Secretarios Generales del Partido Comunista de la Unión Soviética
Fallecidos en Moscú
Enfermos de alzhéimer
Sepultados en el cementerio Novodévichi
Miembros del Partido Comunista de la Unión Soviética
Rehabilitaciones en la Unión Soviética
Genocidas
Holodomor
Galardonados con la Orden de la Insignia de Honor

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Rayalaseema University Kurnool is completed the RU Degree exams on April 11 2016 . Spot valuation completed on 28-4-2016 . Rayalaseema university degree Results 2016 for BA, B.Com, B,Sc, BCA, and BBA,UG will be announced on 2016 may 1st week. The Students who have appeared to those 1st, 2nd, 3rd or final year UG Examination in the Rayalaseema University the students Can check their 1st 2nd 3rd or II Semester wise and Re valuation Results at university website o the date of announcement.
Rayalaseema university (ru) degree results 2016 .Every year Students are appeared to the those BA, B.Com, B,Sc, BCA BBA, B.ED,Courses Various Private and Government Colleges under Rayalaseema University Kurool. The Students Can Check their Semester wise first Second 3rd final year UG and PG RU Degree Results 2016 with Providing their appeared Examination Hall Ticket at the bellow listed State Leading Educational and News Portals.


Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe. When we're able to appreciate this fundamental truth in our being, only then can we begin to appreciate the 'light' in all things.
The light never leaves us —no matter how profound the darkness seems, it is always right there for us…and waiting for that one moment to finally pierce through.


Michael Gannon started the year in India, but is reaching African soil again for sharing some Yoga love with his JoBurg peers!
Weekend workshop and master classes at Jozi Yoga and Ekam Yoga.
This Master Class at Ekam is for yoga teachers only.


Here's what the top ecommerce sites have in common.
Don't get caught in a cold shower! Replace your faulty water heater with one that's the most cost-effective and energy-efficient for your home.
Artwork is a great way to add interest to a room, but arranging art can be stressful. Relax -- with our expert advice on how and where to hang art (and how much to hang), your home will feel like a gallery in no time.
Would you rather snooze a few extra minutes in the morning or spend the time fussing with your hair? Yeah, we thought so. Here are our favorite low- to no-effort beauty tricks that will get you out the door fast -- and looking flawless.
View All Sewing Patterns, Fabricworm brings you a modern and curated selection of beautiful sewing patterns for all.


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Nila Aye
Nila Aye has been an illustrator for over twenty years, producing artwork for clients such as British Airways, Paperchase, Marks & Spencer and British ELLE. She lives in Brighton with her husband and two children. Follow her on Twitter @nilaaye, or visit her website at http://www.nilaaye.com
A joyful celebration of nature and the wonder of the world around us by legendary poet and performer Benjamin Zephaniah, one of The Times' top…
Early Reader: Mercy and the Hippo
A full colour Early Reader story about a little girl and her hippo friend, Mercy, from BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD-winning author, Lauren St John. Early…
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Real Bride Emma has sent us through some amazing images from her wedding day earlier this year, doesn't she look absolutely gorgeous in her Lyn Ashworth wedding dress?!
Emma found her dream wedding dress at Wedding Atelier in London and fell in love with our 'Somewhere in Time' gown, with French beaded ivory lace from head to toe and an ivory silk lining. She accompanied her wedding dress with a headpiece by Hermione Harbutt to complete her perfect look.