Today in History: January 17-20
Patrice Lumumba is executed, the Siege of Rouen ends, and more
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As I mentioned a few days ago I abruptly needed to take a few days away from the newsletter this weekend for reasons that could not be avoided. Thanks again for indulging me on this impromptu interruption. I truly appreciate it. We will resume our regular schedule tomorrow.
January 17, 1915: The Battle of Sarikamish ends with a very decisive Russian victory over the decimated Ottomans. The Russian army exploited an overly complicated attack plan drawn up by Turkish War Minister Enver Pasha and derailed by harsh Caucasian winter weather. It surrounded and nearly obliterated the entire Ottoman Third Army, winning a victory so decisive that the Russians were able to push the Ottomans back through the Caucasus and into Anatolia before the 1917 Russian Revolution changed the course of the war. Enver Pasha returned to Istanbul and, to paper over his manifest errors, blamed his defeat on Armenian treachery. That claim contributed directly to the forthcoming Armenian Genocide.
January 17, 1961: Former Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is executed within hours of being handed over to secessionist forces (and Belgian mercenaries) in the breakaway “State of Katanga.” Future dictator Joseph Mobutu had removed Lumumba from office in a military coup in September and was under pressure both internally and externally (from the Belgian and US governments) to remove him altogether. Mobutu had Lumumba arrested in late November 1960 as the latter tried to make his way east to join an opposition movement based in Stanleyville (modern Kisangani). Mobutu turned him over to the Katangans for execution. Lumumba’s murder was very much a US-supported project and there is significant evidence that the CIA had at least considered a more direct approach before convincing Mobutu to undertake his coup.
January 17, 1991: The US military begins “Operation Desert Storm,” its offensive intended to push the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. The initial weeks of this campaign consisted primarily of airstrikes to soften the Iraqis up for the eventual ground operation, though the Iraqi military did try to seize the initiative by attacking the Saudi coastal town of Khafji in late January. It occupied the town for all of one night before being driven back. The ground operation began on February 15 and was over within two weeks with the Iraqis fully routed. The war marked a triumphal start to the post-Cold War “Unipolar Moment” and kicked off an obsession with toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein among elements of the US foreign policy establishment.
January 18, 1871: A group of 25 German states jointly issues the “Proclamation of the German Empire” from the Palace of Versailles in France. The proclamation marked both the by then inevitable German victory in the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War (hence the location) and the enactment of the Constitution of the German Confederation, forged by an agreement between the Prussian-led North German Confederation and several South German states, which had been adopted on January 1. It is often considered to mark the unification of Germany, though technical work on that process would continue through May.

January 18, 1976: Christian militias linked to Lebanon’s Kataeb Party rampage through the poor and predominantly Palestinian Karantina neighborhood in east Beirut. They’re estimated to have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 people, making the Karantina Massacre one of the first major atrocities of the Lebanese Civil War.
January 18, 2002: The Sierra Leone civil war, which had begun in 1991, ends with the victory of the British-backed Sierra Leone government over the Revolutionary United Front rebels backed by Liberian President Charles Taylor. The conflict was known largely for its atrocities, from the copious use of child soldiers to the mass killing and rape of civilians. For his involvement, the International Criminal Court convicted Taylor of war crimes in 2012 and he’s currently serving a 50 year prison term.
January 19, 1419: The Siege of Rouen ends with the English army in control of the city. Seizing Rouen helped English King Henry V cement his conquest of Normandy and the city became an important launch point for his invasions of the rest of France. The siege itself is perhaps most famous for the tragic story of 12,000 civilians who were kicked out of Rouen in December as the city was running out of food. Henry refused to allow them to pass through his lines and they died of starvation outside the city walls.
January 19, 1817: Argentine rebel leader José de San Martín leads his army, along with a group of Chilean rebels led by Bernardo O’Higgins, across the Andes Mountains into royalist-controlled Chile. Although San Martín lost by some counts as much as a third of his army in the crossing, the combined force emerged in Chile and won the decisive Battle of Chacabuco on February 12, forcing royalist forces to withdraw north into Peru. The crossing is considered a milestone in the course of the Latin American independence movement.
January 19, 1883: The borough of Roselle in New Jersey becomes the first community lit entirely with electric lighting via overhead wires. The wiring system was designed by Thomas Edison as proof that an entire town could be electrified in this way. Needless to say the concept caught on.
January 20, 1265: A parliament called by rebel baron Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, meets in the Palace of Westminster under the nominal auspices of English King Henry III. Montfort had the previous May captured Henry at the Battle of Lewes, one of the seminal engagements of the Second Barons’ War, so when I say “nominal auspices” that’s because Henry was effectively a figurehead at this point. In hopes of broadening the support for his war against the royalists, now led by Henry’s son Edward (the future Edward I), Montfort summoned not only nobles, knights, and clergy but also burgesses, marking his as the first parliament in English history with a pretense toward general representation. As such it is sometimes regarded as the forerunner of the modern House of Commons, though Edward’s 1295 “Model Parliament” also lays claim to that status.
January 20, 1981: The Iranian government celebrates Ronald Reagan’s inauguration by ending the 444 day Iran Hostage Crisis with the release of 52 US hostages. The release was the result of months of negotiations between the Iranians and the Carter administration, which produced the Algiers Accords, but Reagan got most of the credit for cowing the Iranians. The timing of the release has fed “October Surprise” conspiracy theories about secret talks between the Iranians and the Reagan campaign but may simply have been a final insult to Carter, who was largely reviled in Iran due to his perceived support for the ousted Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
January 20, 2001: The nonviolent Second EDSA Revolution ends with the resignation of Philippine President Joseph Estrada and the accession of Vice President Gloria Arroyo to the presidency (not, it should be noted, in that order). The Philippine Senate was holding an impeachment trial for Estrada over charges of corruption. On January 16 it voted narrowly to suppress the contents of an envelope that would allegedly have proven the allegations, sparking protests at the EDSA Shrine in Manila. By January 19 the Philippine military and national police had abandoned Estrada and joined the protesters, and that was pretty much that. The following day Arroyo took the oath of office at the shrine and Estrada subsequently issued a statement announcing that, while he questioned the legality of Arroyo’s accession, he would leave office. Estrada was eventually convicted on corruption charges in 2007. Arroyo pardoned him.