ecosophia: (Default)
John Michael Greer ([personal profile] ecosophia) wrote2021-07-23 12:40 pm

Extra! Extra! Old Political Scandal!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!One of the things I'm doing just now in the mundane astrology project is looking over colorful past events and casting the relevant mundane charts for them, in order to do some retrospective analysis and see how the events in question showed up in advance in ingress and other mundane charts. The first of these, an astrological analysis of the assassination of US president William McKinley in 1901, is already up on my Patreon and SubscribeStar accounts. Yes, it's old news, but studying a chart like that is among other things a good way to see how political events such as assassinations might be signaled in the charts that show our own future. 

To do that, I need a good stock of lurid, scandalous political events from the not too distant past. I want to avoid events that are still hot-button issues today, in the hope of keeping the yelling quotient as low as possible, but they should be recent enough that the details (including exact times) are well documented: broadly speaking, let's say the middle of the 19th through the middle of the 20th century. I'd like to focus mostly on American and British events but I'm certainly willing to consider suitably dramatic events from elsewhere if it's possible to get accurate details. 

Also, the scandals in question need to be events of political importance. If Lady Blatherskite was caught having a scandalous affair, even if Victorian society was convulsed by the news, that won't necessarily show up on a mundane chart.  If the affair included details that brought down the government of Lord Bilgewater, forced a new election, and caused a dramatic change in England's policy toward Africa, that's going to be visible in the ingress and other charts that were in effect at that time. By studying how it was visible, we can figure out what to expect from future charts. 

McKinley's assassination is one good example of the sort of thing I'm looking for.  The abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, and the constitutional crisis that surrounded it, is another, and yet another is the impressively lurid Profumo scandal that brought down British prime minister Harold Macmillan's government in 1963. I'm planning on doing charts on the latter two -- but there must be more political dirty laundry from the past that deserves a good airing in the light of the stars. So, dear reader: what are your favorite political crises from the era before you were born? Mundane astrologers want to know. 

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 02:22 pm (UTC)(link)
What about the failed "Business Plot" to overthrow FDR in 1933?

Definitely a scandal in the correct time period, and definitely one with political implications (had it succeeded or in its failure). The only problem might be fixing exact times and dates?

-El

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-07-25 18:23 (UTC) - Expand

[personal profile] tarian 2021-07-24 04:23 pm (UTC)(link)
For a modern political crisis, how about the fall of the French Fourth Republic in 1958, and the return of de Gaulle?

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, March 13 to May 7, ‘54?

That ended French colonization in French Indochina and resulted in the north-south division of Vietnam, which led to you know what ...

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-07-25 21:11 (UTC) - Expand

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I haven't seen mentioned the atom bombing of Japan, ushering in the nuclear era. Would that be too controversial? Designated time frame and politically significant at least.

Spy Scandals

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps the affair of the Cambridge 5 who penetrated deep into MI5 and passed info to the USSR. When did the truth become apparent within the govt and when did it reach the general public?
open_space: (Default)

[personal profile] open_space 2021-07-24 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Not sure if something like this is what you are looking for but the Mexican-American war, probably with its own scandals, happened in the latter half of the 19th century. Perhaps it would be interesting to see what signaled those tensions to see if future tension between the countries might show up.

Possibly worthwhile examples from Russian/Soviet history

[personal profile] sun_lion 2021-07-24 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Some possibly worthwhile events from Russian/Soviet history:

- Bloody Sunday 1/22/1905

- Lenin embarks sealed train in Zurich for insertion into Russia, sponsored by the German government 4/9/1917

- Attempted assassination of Lenin by Fanny Kaplan in Moscow. One of the bullets stuck him in the neck. This event is cited by some as the beginning of Lenin’s decline and eventual death, setting the stage for Stalin’s rise to power 8/30/1918

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I know of one good example from my own country, Poland. I don't know how much infromation is in english speaking internet about it so I will quickly summarize.

It's about assasination of first president of inter-war Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz. He was killed five days after his inauguration, on 16 XII 1922. He was assasinated by radical right-wing activist.

Why he was killed? Because he was chosen by votes of socialists and ethnic minorities (in this time president was supposed to have very limited power and to be chosen by parliment, not in general elections). He was also mason so national democracy hated him- they called him "president of Jews" and other similar names. He was also friend of Józef Piłsudski- hugely popular man which national democracy also hated.

It was huge scandal but long-term consequences were very dire. This event probably soured Piłsudski against democracy. He and his followers in military overthrowed democracy 4 years later and created authoritarian government which ruled in Poland until Hitler's invasion.

There might be little information about this event, you also said that you will prioritize anglo-saxon world, but i just wanted to give you my suggestion because this event fit your criteria.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-07-25 08:15 (UTC) - Expand

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Recommendations (I hope these are not hot button issues):
1) Hitler and Third Reich, though I expect that they have been astrologically analyzed ad nauseum, January 30, 1933 - May 8, 1945
2) Operation Overlord - D-Day Invasion of Normandy starting June 6, 1944
3) Operation Barbarossa by Third Reich, started Sunday June 22, 1941
4) Bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, December 7, 1941
5) FDR's inaugurations, particularly January 20, 1941 and January 20, 1945
6) Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Aug 6, 1945 and Aug 9, 1945, respectively)

Found the analysis of the McKinley assassination to be fascinating. Looking forward to the book.

(OT, just finished Voyage to Hyperborea, great fun, especially the sailing and piratical parts. Please, can we have more of the Terrible Old Man and his crew?)

Will1000

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-07-25 05:31 (UTC) - Expand

Albert Fall, Teapot Dome Scandal

(Anonymous) 2021-07-24 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Another political scandal, don't know if this one counts, since it preceded the election: Grover Cleveland's secret son (1884, Buffalo Evening Telegraph). This news broke after he had been nominated, but before the general election - he still won his first term in office.

I know why the Lincoln County War (NM Territory 1878-1881) came to mind: Albert Fall (Teapot Dome Scandal). By the way, Fall was a gambling buddy of Harding.

Some links that might be of interest:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-is-no-stranger-to-crimes-committed-by-officials-but-is-it-worse-here/article_13bd63e8-1284-5b37-9cd1-f760c337718f.html
https://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/opinion/columns/texas-history-minute-businessman-albert-fall-part-i/article_24689ea6-9a6e-5d9f-ba98-1057c25beb6a.html
https://www.elpalacio.org/2012/03/albert-fall/

[personal profile] brenainn 2021-07-24 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
What about the assassination of Haitian President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in 1915? He faced a revolt, fled to the French embassy, was dragged out by the rebels, and brutally killed. The US response was to invade and occupy Haiti for 19 years. Until the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, he was the last Haitian president to be assassinated.

(no subject)

[personal profile] brenainn - 2021-07-25 17:22 (UTC) - Expand

[personal profile] lunarapprentice 2021-07-25 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
The Reichstag Fire

Sacco and Vanzetti

(Anonymous) 2021-07-25 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
My vote goes for Sacco and Vanzetti trial and execution in 1927.

-Coleman

Canada's Black Friday (cancellation of the Avro Arrow)

(Anonymous) 2021-07-25 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
This may seem to be rather geeky, but bear with me, JMG. Besides, Canada doesn’t have a lot of juicy scandals to choose from. But this one is close to the heart of quite a few Canadians (or, at least, the older ones). On 20 February 1959, the federal (Diefenbaker) government cancelled the Avro Arrow – a fighter aircraft that made a joke of anything other fighter aircraft in the world at that time (on its first flight, on 25 March 1958, the Arrow broke four different speed records). This cancellation resulted in the loss of at least 25,000 direct and indirect jobs – an event that is believed by many (myself included) to be a betrayal of Canada’s aerospace industry. To add insult to injury, by July 1959, all aircraft had been cut apart with blowtorches, while blueprints, models, designs and machines used to make the planes were destroyed. And the two full-scale models were sunk in Lake Ontario. While many claim that this ‘scorched earth’ policy regarding the Arrow was an act of spite on behalf of the prime minister, there has long been suspicion that there was influence from the US government (after all, it would be embarrassing if the Yankees had to buy its fighter planes from the Canucks!). Sadly, the Diefenbaker government stayed in power for another four years.

Ron M

What about controls?

(Anonymous) 2021-07-25 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
JMG,
I wonder if you are also trying random dates to confirm that nothing weird shows up in the charts?
That would be the control for the experiment.

The difficulty I think is to decide what is NOT important - any small event could have happened that had big consequences later.

Just curious what are your expectations.

A few other possibilities

[personal profile] brenainn 2021-07-25 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
What about the founding of the League of Nations and the United Nations? The League was an utter failure and the United Nations is hardly a beacon of democracy and good governance. Perhaps they were "born" on a bad day. A third suggestion, and it is a bit of a stretch, is the convening of the Second Vatican Council. Not really political in the sense being used here (or so I think) but it was held in a sovereign nation (Vatican City-State) under the direction of a sovereign (pope as ruler of Vatican City) and has had a major impact, including politically, throughout the world. But that might be too much of a stretch.
Edited 2021-07-25 19:04 (UTC)

Jameson RAid

(Anonymous) 2021-07-25 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
The Jameson Raid (end of 1895) was a botched attempt to "export democracy" as we would now call it. Big scandal in British foreign policy and considered a leading indicator of the second Boer War.

The eponymous Leander STarrJameson was celebrated in Kipling's poem If.

Nixon in China?

(Anonymous) 2021-07-26 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think it was particularly scandalous, and it may have been too recent, but that seems to've been a relatively unexpected event, from hearing my folks talk about it, that seems like the sort of event that ought to show up.

BoysMom

(Anonymous) 2021-07-26 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
Hello JMG,

Here is a list that might be of interest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States

Sapienter Si Sincere

Scandals and the scandalous

[personal profile] adwelly 2021-07-26 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
You’ve mentioned both the Abdication and the Profumo affair and for my money nothing much that happened in the UK in the decades following had such an impact as these two. Both the Thorpe and Stonehouse affairs really only led to the downfall of individuals. One rather unexpected longer term outcome of the Profumo affair was the immense amount of charity work Profumo undertook afterwards. So much so that he eventually got an honour for it. So I guess the Establishment forgave him.

If you haven’t already considered him, I’d like to suggest someone who I only recently heard of who pretty much embodies scandal. That would be Charles Tyson Yerkes; jailed in the US for embezzlement. Then successful but highly shady Chicago financier. Moving the the UK when Chicago became too hot to hold him, where he was instrumental in building significant parts of the London Underground!

None of this is political in the sense of falling governments but the change in London’s transport system in the pre WW1 era seems so significant that it might show up in a mundane chart.

snaegl: (Default)

[personal profile] snaegl 2021-07-26 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't say it's my favorite, but I was very annoyed at the Iran-Contra hearings for preempting Sesame Street when I was a child. :p

[personal profile] troyjonesiii 2021-07-26 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
The Nullification Crisis of 1832-33 might be worth a look. It involved a bitter dispute between President Andrew Jackson and his VP, John C. Calhoun, culminating in Calhoun resigning. Also Congress passed a bill authorizing use of military force against the state of South Carolina if they didn't back down. SC backed down, so I guess all's well that ends well, but all the same it was still quite a serious crisis; the Civil War almost began 30 years early.

Speaking of Andrew Jackson, the bitterly contested election of 1824 with the (alleged) "Corrupt Bargain" and the break-up of the old Democratic-Republican Party might be another possibility.

A few people have also requested "uneventful" years to see how they compare with the big crisis years. The so-called Era of Good Feelings, the decade or so between the end of the War of 1812 and the disastrous 1824 election might have some good prosperous and largely uneventful years to choose from, though that is starting to get a little far from the "mid-19th century" limit.

(Anonymous) 2021-07-27 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure your list is growing long, but I hope this suggestion is different enough to pique your interest: the two Russian revolutions in 1917 - the so-called 'February' and 'October' revolutions, though of course we'd need to transpose from the Julian to Gregorian to work with most modern ephemerides. For the February revolution perhaps you could use the abdication of Nicholas II (3 p.m. 15 Mar Gregorian), for October you could use the capture of the Winter Palace (8 November Gregorian) for which various times present themselves, but I would be tempted to use the time the Aurora fired from the harbour - 9.45pm. But IIRC the palace itself wasn't surrendered until a bit later.

Building on the Vatican II suggestion above - perhaps the Lateran Treaty of 1929, between the Papacy and Mussolini's government, which effectively brought the modern Vatican city-state into existence?

Hope you're flourishing, JMG.
-888

Italian politics

[personal profile] peter_van_erp 2021-07-27 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
The murder of Aldo Moro on May, 1978. He was a former Italian Prime Minister, and had worked to bring the Communists and Socialists onto the Italian government, much to the displeasure of the Americans who had spent lots of dollars ensuring that the Christian Democrats remained in charge. His kidnapping and murder was attributed to the Red Brigades, but the ultimate beneficiary was Giulio Andreotti, possibly the most corrupt politician ever. Andreotti is widely though to have been behind the murder of the magistrate leading the Mafia trial referred to above.
Fun fact: I was brought in for questioning by the police in Rome in January 1982, when i was an architecture student sketching in the piazza which turned out to be just around the corner from Andreotti's home,

Italian politics

[personal profile] peter_van_erp 2021-07-28 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
The murder of Aldo Moro on May, 1978. He was a former Italian Prime Minister, and had worked to bring the Communists and Socialists onto the Italian government, much to the displeasure of the Americans who had spent lots of dollars ensuring that the Christian Democrats remained in charge. His kidnapping and murder was attributed to the Red Brigades, but the ultimate beneficiary was Giulio Andreotti, possibly the most corrupt politician ever. Andreotti is widely though to have been behind the murder of the magistrate leading the Mafia trial referred to above.
Fun fact: I was brought in for questioning by the police in Rome in January 1982, when i was an architecture student sketching in the piazza which turned out to be just around the corner from Andreotti's home,

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