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Anniversaries are sometimes difficult to forget, eleven days ago (May 18th ), outside the Crimea's capital, Simferopol, 10,000 people participated in a rally, carrying placards calling for "self-determination" and commemorated the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tartars. Many of the 200,000 deportees suffered and perhaps 25% died - some during deportation and others in exile. The Mejlis, the Crimean Tatars' main representative body, has adopted a resolution calling for "territorial autonomy" for the community, Tatar representatives in the Crimean government, and "an end to discrimination against and the repression of the Tatars of Crimea." 

There was a heavy police presence in Simferopol, and military helicopters flying low over the rally. Earlier dozens of people gathered at a memorial near Simferopol’s railway station, the deportation point for thousands of Tatars sent into internal exile. President Putin (who is admired by Nigel Farage) met with Crimean Tartar representatives in Sochi (on May 17th) and stated that Russia would improve the lives of Crimean Tartars. Simultaneously several hundred people also marched in support and remember the deportations in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Incidentally the rally had been banned by the pro Moscow Crimean authorities.

REMEMBRANCE

As a historian / archaeologist and someone who has more than a passing interest in politics I have to find a happy medium between living in the past and living in the now. It is important that we remember what has been done (for good and for bad) and to use that knowledge to make intelligent sensible choices about our future. I am a big believer in ‘rememberance’, by that I mean we should never be selective when it comes to remembering history.

If you want to wallow in nostalgia about the ‘British Empire’ or the ‘Soviet Union’ that’s fine, but, while remembering the heroic and principled stand against fascism in 1940 then you should also chose not to forget about the Bengal famine (which killed six million) in the middle of the second world war or the million or so who starved to death in Ireland in the middle of the 19th century.

The remnants of Stalin's Artic Railway

For those who yearn for the strong man in Russian politics and days when the sound of ‘Soviet rockets made the world tremble’ don’t forget the millions who were murdered or imprisoned by Stalin and his cronies (not to mention the millions killed and imprisoned by the fascist regimes in Europe and Asia in the 1930’s and the 1940’s) and the repressive regimes that held sway across half of our continent until the early 1990’s.

The vast majority of the old brutal oppressive Communist dictatorships, save for Cuba and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have collapsed and been rightly cast into the dustbin of history. While both Cuba and the PRC have made real social achievements (particularly when it comes to health care and literacy) it is important to remember that these achievements have come at one hell of a price in broken Human lives and scattered bones.

In recent years the tide may well have finally turned against dictatorship, even though we may yet have some way to go before they are finally gone. Certainly the real courage shown by protesters against tyrannical (nominally Communist and other) regimes, particularly in the last 12 months has been impressive, it has however been matched by what can best be described as a failure of leadership on the part of the UN Security Council which appears tired, out of step and unfit for purpose.

TAKE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SECONDS...

Sadly, on Thursday there will be some people out there who will probably feel inconvenienced or put out by the two minutes or one hundred and twenty seconds silence that will be held at 11am. And no doubt come next Sunday there may even be some people who will actually worry about the disruption caused to the traffic by remembrance parades, that prevents them from going about their businesses.

I think that they would do well to remember on Thursday and on Sunday that their petty inconvenience comes at pretty high price. They would do well to remember that as well as remembering the actions of the veterans and survivors who served in Two World Wars, Korea, The Falklands and the Gulf Wars, and other conflicts, on Remembrance Sunday, we are also remembering those who never came back.

Those people, who as Lincoln said, most eloquently gave their last full measure of devotion, to comrades and country, for some of whom there is literally only some corner of a foreign field, a name on a war memorial, fading photographs and fading memories and sometimes no grave at all. Ponder on that on Thursday at 11 o'clock and on Sunday morning.

Two minutes silence and any disruption of traffic for a few hours on a Sunday morning once a year for a remembrance parade or the wearing of poppies in remembrance is the very least we the living can do to honour our veterans and the fallen.

DOING OUR BIT

What with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan it is only natural that people’s thoughts over Christmas turn to our service men and women who are currently serving overseas, especially at Christmas. One thing that all of us can easily do is sign up to the British Legion ‘Time to DO Your Bit’ campaign.

I have always supported the actions of the British Legion and supported the annual Poppy appeal, so am delighted to support the Royal British Legion. They play a very important all year round in actively highlighting and supporting the needs of the whole Armed Forces family. So I have pledged to do my bit and would encourage everyone to visit the website – http://www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk so that they can find out how to get involved in and support the campaign.

The website also features the charity’s general election manifesto, which sets out priorities for the next Government to improve conditions for Service Personnel and their families, the bereaved, veterans and their dependents.

The Royal British legion (Website: http://britishlegion.org.uk) is the nation’s leading Armed forces charity providing care and support to all members of the British Armed forces past and present and their families. It is also the national Custodian of Remembrance and safeguards the Military Covenant between the nation and its Armed Forces. It is best known for the annual Poppy Appeal and its emblem is the red poppy but is active all year round working to support our Service men and women, veterans and their dependents.

REMEMBERANCE

There are some sad people out there, some of whom actually worry about the disruption caused to the traffic by remembrance parades. I think that they would do well to remember that as well as remembering the actions of the veterans and survivors who served in Two World Wars, Korea, The Falklands and the Gulf Wars, and other conflicts, on Remembrance Sunday, we are also remembering those who never came back.

Those people, who as Lincoln said gave their last full measure of devotion, to comrades and country, for whom there is literally only some corner of a foreign field, a name on a war memorial, fading photographs and fading memories and sometimes no grave at all. The disruption of traffic for a few hours on a Sunday morning once a year for a remembrance parade or the wearing of poppies in remembrance is the least we the living can do to honour our veterans and the fallen.