Ho Chi Minh: The Price of Freedom

Very recommendable! Why was he a communist?

However, the documentary is e.g. silent about how much Communist China or the Soviet Union supported him.

(6) Ho Chi Minh: The Price of Freedom | Historical Documentary | Lucasfilm - YouTube

Bengal Famine 1943: How Churchill Starved 3 Million Indians. Really!

Very recommendable!

However, it was neither orchestrated by the British empire nor Churchill's fault!

It was World War II going on and Japan invaded Burma.

Caution some imagery might be disturbing to some viewers.

(391) Bengal Famine 1943: How Churchill Starved 3 Million Indians | Independence Day 2026 | Vantage | 4K - YouTube

The West Said India Would Fail. They Were Wrong with Palki Sharma

Recommendable, but with qualifications! Palki tells a very one sided story here.

From the British, the Indians e.g. learnt the rule of law, classical liberalism and the English language.

Palki forgot/omitted to mention e.g. that Mahatma Gandhi was a British trained lawyer from South Africa.

(1204) The West Said India Would Fail. They Were Wrong | Bharat Bioscope with Palki Sharma | IGR - YouTube

British ‘First Fleet’ brought smallpox to Australia—and may have killed millions and new estimates of Australia's population at the time. Really!

Possibly, two more junk science studies trying to malign Western colonialism?

One of the two studies seems to have relied heavily on computer modelling! This is not evidence!

The abstract of both studies are loaded with dubious ideological language indicating a bias on the part of researchers.

Why did the indigenous people of Australia not protect themselves? Did these people not know anything about contagious diseases?

What if the smallpox did not only arrive from the northern coast by other seafaring populations?

"On a hot summer day in January 1788, 11 ships filled with British convicts and sailors landed in Australia’s Sydney Harbor. There, naval Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack and claimed the continent for the British crown.

The arrival of this so-called First Fleet preceded a catastrophe that befell the continent’s Indigenous people. More than a year after the first landing, “there are a significant number of Aboriginal people perishing in horrible, ghastly circumstances [???] from what sounds like smallpox,” says Lynette Russell, a historian at Monash University. “By 1789, a horrendous depopulation has occurred.” ...

Some historians put forward an alternative hypothesis: that the disease entered the continent from the north through contact with seafaring populations in Indonesia, where smallpox had been circulating for centuries. ...

The team used computer models to test both hypotheses, incorporating mortality rates, potential travel pathways based on the availability of water, data on Aboriginal language groups, and estimates of population densities between Sydney and Australia’s northern coast. The modeling showed that any smallpox epidemic originating on Australia’s northern coast would have petered out before making it thousands of kilometers over land to Sydney Harbor.

“No matter how bad we assume the disease to be, it couldn’t have made it from the north to Sydney at the right time,” says Flinders University ecologist Corey Bradshaw, a co-author of both papers. “It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt” that it came with the fleet. ...

The study sidesteps the question of whether members of the First Fleet knowingly exposed Indigenous people to smallpox. Although there’s no record of any such plans from Australia, British colonists are known to have deliberately infected Indigenous groups in North America, where smallpox also took a catastrophic toll. ...

In the other preprint, members of the same research team calculated how large of a population was exposed to those impacts. Based on ethnographic reports gathered in the late 1800s, previous researchers had suggested there were between 200,000 and 800,000 people in precolonial Australia, mostly living in tiny, isolated bands of hunter-gatherers. “There’s been an assumption that Aboriginal populations were quite low and their activities were ephemeral and transient,” says archaeologist Alan Williams, a consultant who co-authored both papers.

Analyzing thousands of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites across Australia, Williams tracked when people first reached different parts of the continent, beginning more than 50,000 years ago. He then extrapolated population growth over time, based on fertility and survival rates in other parts of the world and the rate at which artifacts proliferated across the landscape as a proxy for population growth. “If you start with a population of 1000, and it goes up even 1% a year, you end up with a population of millions,” Williams says. ..."

From the abstract (2):

"The impact of smallpox (variola) on Aboriginal communities in Australia beginning in 1789 was catastrophic and continues to cause intergenerational trauma. [???]

Historically biased perspectives [???] and contemporary misinformation of the disease’s introduction and spread impede modern-day truth-telling [???] and efforts towards reconciliation and national healing.

Understanding whether the disease entered and spread from pre-colonial Makassan (Indonesian) trade along the northern coast, or from the British First Fleet’s arrival in southeastern Australia in 1788, is necessary to estimate the demographic impact.

Here we developed stochastic, multipatch epidemiological models supported by systematic evaluation of historical observations to test hypotheses regarding possible disease entry points, spread rate and demographic impacts.

Our models support the hypothesis that entry of the disease was in southeastern Australia. Even under ideal conditions and with higher-than-probable infection rates, simulations show that smallpox was unlikely to reach Sydney from a northern entry.

We found no evidence that the 1789 epidemic was Australia-wide. Assuming 60% lethality based on global data, the loss of approximately 220,000 people would have occurred in these regions. While catastrophic to traditional Indigenous lifeways in the southeast, the disease also provided the catalyst for population decline and marginalization of Indigenous people in the face of expanding European populations. Our models indicate that it is unlikely that other parts of Australia were affected by the initial epidemic. We warn readers that the content of this study might be distressing."

From the abstract (4):

"Estimating the size of Indigenous populations in Australia prior to European colonial invasion [???] is essential to truth-telling [???] and reconciliation.

Robust estimates of the population dynamics of pre-colonial Indigenous Australians are poor due to lethal diseases, frontier violence, and no systematic censuses.

We review ethnographic observations, archaeological and genetic reconstructions, and modelled carrying capacity, to infer Indigenous population size prior to colonial invasion. This allows an estimate of the number of excess deaths in post-colonial times.

Congruency of the modelled (not historical accounts) estimates suggests a bootstrapped pre-colonial median of 2.51 million, or 0.33 people km -2 . For a median pre-colonial population of 2.51 million, ~ 32,500 excess deaths year -1 (2.39 million deaths in total) would have had to occur over the late 18 th and early 19 th Centuries from colonial invasion-related mortality.

These findings highlight the major impacts of invasion experienced by Indigenous Australians, and demonstrate their survival, resilience, and recovery over the past 235 years."

British ‘First Fleet’ brought smallpox to Australia—and may have killed millions | Science | AAAS "Two papers pin the deadly disease’s introduction on British colonists and suggest the continent held far more people than previously believed"

(1) Stochastic models indicate rapid smallpox spread and mass mortality of Indigenous Australians after colonial exposure (preprint, open access)

(2) Stochastic models indicate rapid smallpox spread and mass mortality of Indigenous Australians after colonial exposure (no public access)

(3) Large size of the Australian Indigenous population prior to its massive decline following European invasion

(4) Large size of the Australian Indigenous population prior to its massive decline following European invasion

Fig. 1 The 49 ethnographic entries from the Binford29 hunter-gatherer database (red dots — darker red indicates relatively higher densities) overlaid on the HadCM330 net primary production-derived estimates of human carrying capacities (expressed in people km-2). States and territories indicated. Legend indicates relative densities (greyscale). Also shown are several place names mentioned in the text.

Algeria Declares French Colonial Rule a Crime, Seeks Reparations with Palki Sharma. Really!

Algeria was involved in the slave trade for several centuries before being colonized by France. What about reparations from Algeria for the slave trade?

The imperialist and colonial power Russia Must Be Broken Up by Michael Rubin

Food for thought! A very provocative headline! Rubin's short summary of Russia's imperialism and colonialism is very recommendable!

In general, are many smaller, homogenous countries more peaceful than some large countries?

It is odd that Rubin did not mention Stalin and his invasion of Poland, the Baltic States and Finland.

"Key Points and Summary 

– ... that forcing Ukraine to cede territory for peace rewards Russian aggression and entrenches imperial ambitions.

-He portrays Russia as a long-running colonial empire whose leaders deny the legitimacy of non-Russian identities.

-The only durable solution, he contends, is Russia’s dissolution into its constituent republics—much as the fall of Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Yugoslavia ultimately enabled more stable politics.

- ... the West to recognize Russia’s ethnic republics as occupied nations, prepare for population shifts, and secure nuclear weapons during any breakup.

-The goal: shrink Russia to its historical core and permanently remove the engine of revisionism.

...

President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, continue to discuss a peace settlement in Ukraine that would have the former Soviet state cede territory in exchange for peace. 

It is a shortsighted move that is more likely to spark conflict than extinguish it. 

After all, in both 1991 and 1994, Russia had recognized the territory it now demands as Ukrainian. [Plus, the Ukraine gave up all its nuclear weapons for Russian guarantees of territorial integrity and security.]

By forcing Ukrainian concessions under fire, Trump not only rewards aggression but also endorses Putin’s imperialist narrative. ...

The Russian Empire, in contrast, relied upon its armies and expanded along its borders. 

In the 16th century, Russia expanded, conquering khanates such as Astrakhan and Kazan, both of which were successor states built on the fragmented remains of the Mongol Empire. 

Russian forces then continued into Siberia itself. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk set Russia’s land border with Qing dynasty China, confirming Russian control over the Lake Baikal region.

In the 18th century, Russian forces turned west, conquering the Baltic, Poland, and seizing territory from Sweden. Only the strength of the Prussians stopped Russia’s westward expansion. 

In the early 19th century, Russian forces wrested the Caucasus from Persia, seizing control over Georgia, Armenia, Daghestan, and what later became Azerbaijan.

Russia’s defeat in the 1853-1856 Crimean War stymied its southward expansion into Ottoman domains, and so its forces drove eastward instead, erasing numerous states and kingdoms from the map. Gone today are the khanates of Khiva, Samarkand, and Bukhara.

In 1860, Russia seized the Amur region from China, reaching the Pacific Ocean.  

While the Russian Empire was smaller than the British Empire in total landmass, Russia’s colonial possessions dwarfed those of France. 

Russia also distinguished itself with its brutality. It enslaved conquered people like the Aleuts, and displaced or killed more than 95 percent of the Circassians during Russia’s conquest of their territory between 1863 and 1878. Nor were the Circassians alone: Russian troops forcibly displaced Chechens, Tatars, and indigenous Siberians. Cultural suppression was rampant. ...

The subsequent collapse of Yugoslavia into more homogenous units unleashed an era of opportunity if not affluence, once they defeated the rapid nationalism and irredentism of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević. In 1990, Yugoslavia’s per capita income (in current dollars) was approximately $3,700; today, Serbia’s average per capita income is four times that; it is even higher in Slovenia and Croatia. While American officials may see in Yugoslavia’s downfall a cautionary tale about the fracturing of states, the real lesson is opposite: The key to peace is the defeat of irredentism. War was not inevitable when Yugoslavia collapsed; Milošević precipitated it. Putin today is analogous to Milošević. ..."

Russia Must Be Broken Up | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

The Kenya Emergency of the British Empire Explained. Really!

Recommendable! However, this video tries maybe too hard to whitewash the brutal Mau Mau insurgency! It appears to have become a leftist dogma that the casualties and atrocities inflicted by the British were far higher than the civilians killed or mutilated by Mau Mau. However, there was the the lack of means by the Mau Mau to do more killings.

Then there is the issue that the Mau Mau despite the many civilian casualties did not give up, the rebellion lasted from 1952-1960. Why did the Mau Mau  not opt for a more peaceful resistance a la Mahatma Gandhi?

I think, further research is needed.

The Reason Cyprus is Divided

Very recommendable! Not the finest hour of British history! E.g. the British forces are accused to have used torture. 

Saviours of Sanskrit during British colonialism in India

Recommendable!

"‘Pundits’ kept Sanskrit scholarship alive in remote settlements as British control swept across India, a major new research project will show. The largely forgotten literary figures and their works – ranging from erotic plays to legal treatises – are neglected treasures of Indian intellectual achievement, its researchers argue.

English speakers are familiar with the word ‘pundit’ but few know that it comes from the Sanskrit word paṇḍita, meaning ‘learned’. Now a Cambridge University-led project is going in search of the pundits, Brahmin scholars, who kept writing poems, plays, philosophy, theology, legal texts and other forms of literature in Sanskrit as Britain tightened its grip on India.

It has long been assumed that the expansion of British power in India from the seventeenth century steadily suffocated Sanskrit scholarship. But the experts behind an ambitious new project argue that the two centuries leading up to the establishment of the British Raj in 1858 were, in fact, a golden age of Sanskrit intellectual thought, literature, and arts. They point to the scholarly activities of hundreds of pundits dispersed across the Indian countryside in Brahmin settlements (agrahāra) and monasteries (maṭha). ..."

Saviours of Sanskrit "Indian literary genius survived British imperialism in forgotten villages, new research reveals."

France’s New Caledonia Deal Collapses: What Next?

Recommendable!

Why Algeria-France Relations Have Collapsed

Very recommendable! Confirms one more time that President Macron is a fool!

India's colonial past revealed through 200 masterful paintings by Indian artists

This seems to be an interesting exhibition!

"... A Treasury of Life: Indian Company Paintings, c. 1790 to 1835, an ongoing show in the Indian capital put together by Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), features over 200 works that once lay on the margins of mainstream art history. It is India's largest exhibition of [English East India] company paintings, highlighting their rich diversity and the skill of Indian artists. ..."

India's colonial past revealed through 200 masterful paintings

A Treasury of Life Indian Company Paintings c. 1790-1835

Hindu Festival called Kali Puja

A female dancer or acrobat, with a male drummer, c.1882

How did Indonesia become Muslim?

Recommendable!

HERNAN CORTÉS: The Conquistador Who Brought Down the Aztec Empire

Recommendable!

Ho Chi Minh: The Price of Communism

Very recommendable with some reservations! He committed massacres against  Vietnamese people. He was a communist dictator.

Unfortunately, this video does not say anything about whether and how the former Soviet Union or China supported the Vietnamese communists.

Rubio Asked to Investigate Biden Admin Pushing unpopular Abortion on Sierra Leone

We are learning more about one of the worst 3-5 US Presidents ever, the senile, demented and corrupt 46th President! This pseudo catholic from Scranton, PA!

What a nasty intervention in an African country's domestic policies! A nice example of leftist/progressive colonialism!

"Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking him to investigate reports that a foreign aid agency pushed abortion on a black-majority country under the Biden administration.

The letter cites The Daily Signal’s Dec. 16 report that the Biden administration was pressuring Sierra Leone to pass an unpopular pro-abortion bill before Donald Trump took office. ...

It is common knowledge among nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, in Sierra Leone that a U.S. foreign aid agency called the Millennium Challenge Corporation is threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from a U.S. agreement with Sierra Leone unless the West African country’s parliament passes the bill decriminalizing abortion, a former senior U.S. government official who has worked in the West African region told The Daily Signal. Millennium Challenge Corporation denies this. ..."

Rubio Asked to Investigate Biden Admin Pushing Abortion on Africa

Why does Indonesia Own Half of New Guinea?

Recommendable!

Senegal demands truth as it marks 80 years since French colonial massacre at Thiaroye

Recommendable!

How the Dutch Colonized Indonesia

Recommendable!

India Backs Mauritius Bid to Reclaim "Stolen" Chagos Island with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable!