On September 11, we will commemorate the fateful events of five years ago. But I wonder how many people will reflect on what occurred 323 years ago on that date.
In 1683, the Islamic forces of the Ottoman Empire were threatening Central Europe, having already conquered Hungary and Transylvania in a conflict that had been raging for 300 years. By July 14th of that year, the Ottoman forces, led by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, already had Vienna under siege. Without reinforcements, Vienna would most certainly fall, and with it, most likely the rest of Europe.
The Poles, led by King Jan III Sobieski, came to the rescue, joining forces with troops from Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Franconia and Swabia, as well as the Austrians under Emperor Leopold. The alliance, known as the Holy League, routed the Ottomans in the Battle of Vienna, which began on September 11 and concluded on September 12, 1683.
It took another 16 years, but the Europeans finally succeeded in pushing the Turks out of Hungary and Transylvania. The Great Powers of Europe at the time (Austria, Prussia, and Russia) showed their gratitude to the Poland by gradually carving up Polish territory among themselves until by 1795, Poland disappeared as a sovereign nation. It would take another 123 years and a World War before Poland regained its independence.
So what does this have to do with the 9-11 of five years ago, you might ask? I can think of three things: 1) Just like 17th Century Europe, Western civilization is being threatened by a form of radical Islam that wants to spread its religion and influence by force throughout the world; 2) Like the Poles, we Americans can expect about as much gratitude from the rest of the world for our efforts as Sobieski received for his; and 3) As was the case more than 300 years ago, there is no quick fix; the current conflict will not be won in five, or even ten, years. But we must continue to both resist and take the offensive if we expect our way of life to survive.
For more details on the Battle of Vienna, check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna
You forgot to add that we are also being carved up by other countries such as Mexico, a slew of Islamic countries, a slew of African country. and many Asian and South Asian countires. The only difference being that the carving is not being done by force of arms but willingly handed to them by liberals and those afraid of being called racists.
Your comment reminds me of a similar difference between the Islamic threat pre-Vienna vs. today. Although the 21st Century jihadists will never occupy Europe or the United States, their ultimate goal is to control our behavior from afar. The prime example in recent years is the Danish cartoon controversy.
If, through real or implied intimidation, the Islamofascists can force us to give up the freedoms that Western society enjoys, or if they can dictate our foreign policy (e.g. force us to withdraw support for Israel), they will have succeeded.
As far as the cultural and linguistic hijacking of America by other groups, I got into it with our friends at PTS about a year and a half ago. Spacedark likened the Spanish invasion of Texas to Switzerland, where everybody gets along so wonderfully despite the fact that they speak four different languages.
This is another example of liberal field dependence I discussed awhile back – not being able to see that Switzerland’s cohesiveness is based on a common culture, heritage, and history that transcends language (Unlike Americans, most Swiss are practically born bilingual, or even trilingual).
If you’ve never read my exchange with the PTS crowd on this subject back in April of 2005, I think it’s worth a visit:
http://panhandletruthsquad.blogspot.com/2005/04/pendejo.html
I like the English+ idea. But If I had my way the government with my tax dollars would not spend a dime encouraging or facilitaing the speaking of anouther language for everyday use. Quite the opposite, I would require that all speak English.
Having worked for nine years in strategic intelligence in Germany back in the 70’s and 80’s, bilingualism (German and English) was a given; the more Slavic languages you knew (Russian, Polish, Czech, etc.), the more valuable you were.
Mastering a non-Indo-European language (Arabic, Chinese, etc.) is another matter altogether. We should encourage people with native fluency in more exotic languages to maintain their skills and teach it to their kids, but not to the exclusion or detriment of English, which must remain the lingua franca of our country.