World roundup: March 28 2025

Stories from Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

March 28, 845: A Viking raiding party possibly under the command of the maybe real/maybe mythical hero Ragnar Lodbrok sacks Paris. The Vikings were bought off by Frankish King Charles the Bald to leave the city, but they didn’t come cheap. Charles had to give them 7000 French pounds of gold and silver, which works out to over 2550 kilograms. If you assume that the “Ragnar” mentioned in Frankish sources about the sack is in fact Ragnar Lodbrok, this is one of the strongest genuinely historical attestations for a figure who isn’t all that well attested otherwise. Unfortunately for Ragnar Lodbrok fans, to my knowledge there’s no historical consensus as to whether this Ragnar actually was that particular Ragnar.

March 28, 1737: The expanding Maratha Empire deals a significant defeat to the past-its-peak Mughal Empire in a battle near Delhi. The outcome wasn’t decisive, as the Maratha Peshwa (think grand vizier or perhaps prime minister) Baji Rao I subsequently withdrew in the face of a large Mughal relief army, but it stands as one of the first definitive signs that the Mughals were being eclipsed as the dominant power in India. Subsequent battles would see the Mughals forced to cede territory and pay tribute to the Marathas.

March 28, 1939: Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces successfully capture Madrid after a nearly two and a half year siege. Franco’s initial assault on the city began in November 1936 and was beaten back by its Republican defenders, so he settled in for a long siege and steady bombardment that eventually wore the defenders down. Franco entered the city and declared victory just days later, on April 1, bringing an end to the Spanish Civil War.

MIDDLE EAST

TURKEY

There’s no indication that the ongoing protests over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu are going to effect İmamoğlu’s release, but some analysts believe that they may be interfering with the rest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plan for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). In particular, Erdoğan’s prosecutors appear to have pulled back from charging İmamoğlu with involvement in “terrorism,” which would have allowed the Turkish leader to put his own custodian in control of the very large and very lucrative Istanbul government. Now there is speculation that Erdoğan wants to appoint a custodian for the CHP, neutering it as an opposition party. But the public outcry over what he did to İmamoğlu may force Erdoğan to reconsider that as well—at least until the protests start to peter out.