On 4 December 1980 a secret message was conveyed to the CIA by Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, a high-level informant within the Polish general staff, to the effect that fifteen divisions of the USSR (with support from Czechoslovak and East German units) were scheduled to invade Poland on the eighth of the month. Kukliński had been … Read more
The massive industrial unrest in Poland in August 1980, centred on the famous strike in the Gdańsk shipyard, had led to the creation of Solidarność, the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc. Led by the charismatic Lech Wałęsa, the union had expanded rapidly, to a point where, by late 1980, it could count … Read more
Among the most serious public order issues facing the Irish government in the 1930s were the disturbances that annually occurred on and around Armistice Day in November. The IRA and other republican groups often seized the opportunity presented by the presence of British flags and symbols to put a significant presence on the streets, obstructing … Read more
Jellicoe’s visit on 12 October went ahead on its new schedule, with a heavy Garda presence and no real problems. The next day, however, the story took a strange turn. Responding to a complaint from the public, two Gardaí discovered a post office mailbag at Little Denmark Street, which led them to a yard in … Read more
Over 3,000 volunteers enrolled at the Rotunda Rink on 25 November 1913, and by June 1914 the Irish Volunteers had 180,000 members. In the space of seven months a massive volunteer army was created, but without the necessary access to the paraphernalia of a professional army—uniforms and weapons. It was up to the individual volunteer … Read more