Legacies of War
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, December 4, 2011
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6 comments
The BBC provides an example of the long reach of war: WWII bomb in Rhine near Koblenz successfully defused
Bomb disposal experts in the German city of Koblenz have successfully defused two bombs from World War II found in the riverbed of the Rhine.
[…]
The bigger of the two bombs weighed 1.8 tonnes and was dropped by the Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1945.
Nearly half the city’s population – 45,000 – has been evacuated, including the inhabitants of two hospitals, seven nursing homes and a prison.
It is the biggest bomb disposal operation in Germany since 1945.
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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It is kind of amazing how WW II refuses to be forgotten in Europe, while over here it recedes ever more into the fog..
Our strategy worked. The war was fought there rather than here.
@OxarkHillbilly: History has a way of waking up when munitions are discovered. Just ask the folks around American U. in DC. They’re having not-so-fond memories of WWI!
The people across the river, though, are rather more delighted to discover Civil War relics in their backyards.
@John Burgess:
John, I have limited exposure to Europe. Yet I was much impressed with the bullet holes on innumerable buildings in Palma de Mallorca (my wife is from there) from the Spanish Civil War.
It is different over there in a way we can not understand. If it was 1883? maybe we could….
@OzarkHillbilly:
There are still Gothic scorch marks left on some Roman buildings. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where historical consciousness leaves off and being casual about maintenance begins.
It was interesting to see private homes on the beach in Normandy.