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History is not always made at the pace set by great personalities and important events, but is often made up of a mosaic of tiny pieces that make up the past. Little things that, however, tend to be very revealing.
What did the USSR smell like? Maybe in the immensity of history, talking about perfumes may seem irrelevant, but there was a time when smell was another front in the fight between revolution and capitalism, and when the Red Moscow brand competed (or tried to) with Chanel Nº5. Behind the first mark was the matriarch of Soviet perfumery, Polina Zhemchuzhina Molotova, wife of Vyacheslav Molotov, who was purged by Stalin despite being the spouse of the Foreign Minister.
Leisure and business. In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, employee leisure did not enjoy very good press because owners equated it with laziness. However, as the 19th century went by and especially in the early 20th century, the capitalist system – which is anything but obtuse – understood that leisure was good… because it increased productivity. And it could even be business, as it turned out later.
History of the napkin. What would be of us without the humble and long-suffering napkin? Without a doubt, we should look for substitutes that, by the way, already existed in Antiquity, when diners used bread crumbs to clean their hands. Although their creation has been erroneously attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, it was not until the French culinary renewal of the 19th century when napkins, one of those inventions that once created seem obvious, began to become popular.
The Eurovision front. Within European history, a place should be made (even if it were at the bottom of the page) for the Eurovision Song Contest, which next week will celebrate its 68th edition. Aside from iconic moments such as the victory of Abba (1974) or Massiel ( 1968), the contest has traditionally witnessed geostrategic struggles and the philias and phobias of Europeans.
Work and revolution. This Wednesday was celebrated Labor Day, a holiday that has traditionally had important political and social connotations. The latest installment of the History and Life podcast reviews the labor movements, more or less revolutionary, that have peppered human history since Antiquity.
The decline of the Colosseum. The Flavian Amphitheater, also known as the Colosseum, was the largest and most sophisticated building in the Roman Empire. However, as the times of Rome’s splendor were forgotten, the building experienced a slow and random decline, during which it was a palace, castle or den of bandits. He explains it in this Told in Stone video on his YouTube channel. (in English, but with automatic Spanish subtitles)
Life and death on board. The epic of Magellan’s expedition is well known, which ended the life of the Portuguese explorer while he was trying to circumnavigate the world. The conditions his sailors had to endure were extreme even by the standards of the time. This article published by the Spanish edition of The Conversation explains how he lived and died on board.
Leaders who are not very traveling. The Israeli government fears that in the coming days the International Criminal Court will issue arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of his Administration, who would be accused of having committed war crimes. Israel does not recognize this institution, but the problem is that 123 countries do and, therefore, would be forced to stop it. Thus, any trip by the Israeli prime minister could become a high-risk operation that could land him in court. A little over a year ago, an order of these characteristics was issued against Vladimir Putin also for war crimes, in this case in Ukraine, so his trips abroad are technically limited. Another thing is the interest that the Russian leader has in traveling to countries that may represent a risk for him.
The International Criminal Court is relatively recent, so in the past rulers did not face such an institutionalized international system. However, they did risk hostile governments acting against them. One of the reasons that have been given for Francisco Franco to travel so little abroad, especially after the Second World War, is the isolation of the regime due to its collaboration with the Axis first and the low popularity of the dictatorship later. The shadow of the Nuremberg trials (1945-46) or the execution of Mussolini (1945) was very long.
The reality is that Franco only traveled abroad three times: Hendaye to meet with Hitler (1940); Bordighera, to do it with the Duce (1941), although on his return he saw Pétain; and Lisbon (1949) to meet Salazar. In the last 40 years of the generalissimo’s life he was only away from Spain for a week and when he traveled he always did so very close to its borders. “He was aware – this article explains – of the number of enemies he had both outside and inside” the country.
However, perhaps there was another powerful reason for Franco to travel rarely abroad: a possible allergy to airplanes. Although this phobia is not well documented, and despite the fact that even at the beginning of the war he had used this means of transportation, some researchers point out that the accidents of Mola, Sanjurjo and that of his brother Ramón, would not have precisely predisposed him in a positive way. .
