Eid Mubarak to those who are celebrating!
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TODAY IN HISTORY
May 27, 1644: A Qing army under the Shunzhi Emperor’s regent, Dorgon, along with a Ming Dynasty army under general Wu Sangui, defeats the forces of the Shun Dynasty under Emperor Li Zicheng at the Battle of Shanhai Pass. During the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchurian Qing began to threaten China’s northern borders, while rebels under Li attacked the Ming from within the empire. Wu commanded one of the gates through the Great Wall, and faced with threats from either side he opted to allow the Qing through the gate to deal with Li. Wu initially seems to have meant for the Qing to help him restore the Ming Dynasty once the rebels were dispatched, but instead Dorgon continued on to Beijing, toppled the Ming, and claimed the Mandate of Heaven for the Shunzhi Emperor.
May 27, 1942: In “Operation Anthropoid,” two Czechoslovakian soldiers successfully assassinate the head of the Reich Main Security Office and the Nazi governor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, in Prague. The soldiers and their fellow conspirators had been trained and advised by operatives from Britain’s Special Operations Executive. They initially believed that their attack had failed, but Heydrich later succumbed either to his wounds or to an infection that was brought on by his wounds. By some estimates the Nazis killed roughly 5000 people during the collective punishment campaign (their idea of an “investigation”) that ensued.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
France 24 has a new report on what residents in southern Syria say is a pattern of “arbitrary detention” by Israeli military (IDF) personnel. Under the guise of targeting “suspected terrorists,” the IDF has arrested at least 197 men since it extended its occupation in southern Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It’s still holding at least 43 of those detainees. Some of those who have been released have made allegations of mistreatment (to the level of torture) by their IDF captors. Residents also say that Israeli soldiers have been mistreating them, possibly aiming to drive them from their homes.
