If the Germans could free up a million of their troops tied down fighting the Czar's Russian army on the Eastern Front, victory was still possible. They decided to employ a deadly secret weapon languishing for several years in Switzerland. Hopefully, this weapon would knock Russia out of the war, allowing the Germans to consolidate their army for one last all-out offense in the West. They had to win the war before America, with her overwhelming supply of men and material, was drawn into the European Calderon.
The weapon was placed aboard a train and, with an escort of thirty people, clandestinely delivered to the Eastern Front. In less than a year this weapon caused widespread mutiny and the eventual collapse of the Russian army as well as a revolt of industrial workers. It also ended the 200 year autocratic reign of Emperors and Czars. Russia withdrew from the war in March of 1918.
The secret weapon was not a product of the 20th century technology that had created the stalemate on the Western Front. It was instead, a single dedicated Anarchist named Vladimir Lenin, the lead organizer of the Bolshevik Revolution.
The allies, with American assistance, still prevailed in 1918 but, because of Lenin's actives, the outcome was closer than most had anticipated . Many historians feel Lenin's anarchist activity may have caused the most significant impact by an individual, during WWI.
100 years later, a series of domestic disturbances tear at the fabric of American culture and race relations. The recent deaths of African American men involved in confrontations with police officers or civilian neighborhood watchmen: Trayvon Martin in Sanford Florida, Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island, have reversed substantial gains made in race relations during the past sixty-five years.
Many feel the cause of the unrest are controversial ethnic group leaders like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson. Personally I feel these race baiting parasites are only a manifestation of the problem, not the root cause.
The main stream media, academia, celebrity athletes and Hollywood elites, represent institutions saturated with well intention liberal folks, driven by emotion rather than an examination of the facts. Here again, this group only represents a manifestation of the problem.
My vote for the root cause of deteriorating race relations is a small number of well trained anarchists lurking in the shadows of each event. These anarchists fuel the flames of discontent by providing distorted information and baiting the protesters, beyond their constitutional rights of assembly and peaceful protest, toward riots and acts of violence. They are the catalysts of deteriorating race relations.
Are the coat-tails of law enforcement and the courts perfectly tailored for today's events? Of course not, but these groups appear to learn from each incident and are improving with time. National race relations have always been , and will continue to be, a work in progress. However, in the last six years they have taken a giant step backwards. Why?
Racial tensions occurred throughout the twentieth century but strong leadership by elected officials and leaders of ethnic groups turned discontent into a learning experience. They continued to make progress, working toward a national goal of better race relations despite ever present anarchists hiding in the shadows. The actions and attitudes of strong leaders like Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Kennedy come to mind for elected leaders. As for ethnic leadership, Dr Martin Luther King's work was outstanding.
Strong leadership in the past fended off ever present anarchists fermenting social discontent to bring down our government. Hopefully, strong leadership is waiting in the wings to save our Ship of State from today's Perfect Storm created by weak leadership , ethnic and elected.
Stratton Schaeffer is a retired consulting engineer and farmer who lives on Joe Hill.