The Irish Rebellion of 1798 lasted from May 23, 1798, to September 23, 1798. The uprising occurred when Irish rebels attempted to end British rule in Ireland. Irish rebels, also called United Irishmen, were part of an underground Republican society. Their goal was to establish the Irish Republic based on the principles of the French Revolution. An example of an oath that United Irishmen would take to join the society is, “By the virtue of my oath, I will from henceforth join, in the most active manner, The United Irishmen, as far as the strength, power, and exertions of an individual, with the firm resolution to depress that tyranny which we at present labor under.” (Committee of Secrecy, 1801). At the time, Ireland was primarily governed by a parliament that was significantly influenced by Britain. The Irish rebelled for freedom from what they saw as British tyranny, with the primary consequences being poverty and discrimination against Catholics due to a policy of colonization. The policy imposed greater control over Ireland and confiscated land predominantly from native Catholic populations as Protestant settlers from England, Scotland, and Wales were given the land instead. The war killed many soldiers, including the Irish revolutionary figure Theobald Wolfe Tone, who held major influence in The Society of United Irishmen due to his contribution of radical ideas (H. Ross, et. al, 1910). Overall, The Society of United Irishmen held core beliefs that focused on removing Britain’s influence on Ireland and uniting Ireland and its regions to take control of their own country.

The atrocities of The Irish Rebellion were documented by an Irish soldier, George Blennie, and published by A. J. Henderson. In his journal, Blennie states, "One thing I would particularly notice here, is the ferocity of war. It has barbarities, not now practi[c]ed in the national wars of Europe. Among those whom I saw lying dead, numbers had their foreskins cut off. In one spot, where seven had fled to a house, in which they were killed, their bodies had been brought out to the roadside, where they lay shamefully uncovered, and some of them greatly mangled…” (Henderson, 1974). This is one of many examples where the Irish soldier explains the cruelty forced upon him and his army by British soldiers. 

The mentality of the United Irishmen and the British army has been repeated throughout history. The British government sought out power and dominated Ireland’s economy. Once Irish residents spoke out against British rule and injustices, many of them were killed and tortured in the war. This mentality is an example of toxic patriotism. The British soldiers sought to promote their ideologies in Ireland with extreme prejudice and a complete lack of regard for the value of Irish lives. This is shown by the example of the Irish soldiers' foreskins being cut off and the desecration of Irish bodies, which can give us insight into the attitudes British soldiers had towards the Irish. The British soldiers felt so convinced in their country’s position that they quelled the Irish rebellion with inhumane and barbaric treatment of their opposition, denying them even dignity in their death.

While only 7 people were killed during the Capitol raid on January 6, 2021, the mindset of the Trump supporters was similar to the British soldiers. Trump supporters felt so convinced with their own ideologies that they put people's lives and democracy at risk. Additionally, many of the Trump supporters displayed their support for bigotry by carrying Confederate flags, Proud Boy flags, and Three Percenter flags. Most of all, they claim that their ideologies are rooted in patriotism and believe that Trump would "make America great." Knowing that the flags displayed were rooted in bigotry, their idea of "great" is centered around the oppression of marginalized communities, which is the epitome of toxic patriotism. 

Works Cited:

Ross, H., Parish, J., Rose, J. H., & Marsden, A. (1910). Papers Relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The English Historical Review, 25 (100), 748–752. www.jstor.org/stable/550063

THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1798: Two first-hand accounts
Author(s): A. J. Henderson, source: Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research , SPRING 1974, Vol. 52, No. 209 (SPRING 1974), pp. 34-46 www.jstor.org/stable/44223065?…

University of Southampton, & Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Secrecy on Papers presented by Chancellor of Exchequer [on Irish Rebellion], 1798. (1801). Committee of Secrecy on Papers presented by Chancellor of Exchequer [on Irish Rebellion, 1798] : second report and appendix [Documents]. HMSO. jstor.org/stable/community.299…;

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by Nikita Baker

The Crimean War took place between October of 1853 and lasted until February of 1856. The conflict only lasted a few years. However, this does not exclude the severity of the war and the devastation it caused for many. Most of the war happened on the Crimean Peninsula, and was between the Russians, the Ottoman Empire (Turkish), the French, and the British. “The war arose from the conflict of great powers in the Middle East and was more directly caused by Russian demands to exercise protection over the Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman sultan. Another major factor was the dispute between Russia and France over the privileges of the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in the holy places in Palestine” (Ray 2022). While both sides were motivated to win the war to neutralize the Baltic Sea, war efforts were managed poorly from all sides. Diseases were one of the biggest causes of death during the three years and resulted in approximately 250,000 casualties per side. Nurses like Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale are well-known for their efforts in helping during this war. The war did many things and affected people across the world in varying ways. However, some businesses like The Illustrated London News benefited from such coverage. Through glorifying British success in the war and from the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the newspaper company was able to double their reader’s coverage and boosted their popularity. They fed the people what they wanted to here and contributed to spreading the concept of toxic patriotism. In a publication made in London on July 12, 1856, we see the newspaper highlighting the returning home of the soldiers from the Crimean War, and affectively honoring the conquest of the war. The name of the publication is Return of Troops From The Crimea. On the front page of the newspaper, we see “The Return Of The Guards. The remnant of as gallant and as glorious an army as ever drew sword or discharged rifle in the cause of England has returned home­ – laden with glory” (London News 25). This is significant to the event of January 6, 2021, the storming of the United States Capital Building, because it shows the glorification of war and the overuse of pride towards one’s own nation. Through the extensive prideful propaganda that was spread by The Illustrated London News throughout the entire Crimean War and to the end with this specific newspaper page that I have linked here, we see how desire for war, conflict, and further conquering of other places was spread and emphasized. This is toxic for others and caused war and death and gives people the mindset and motivation to do events like January 6, 2021. We see this pridefulness in the soldiers during the war from a firsthand accounting in letters from Fanny Duberly, who was in Crimea with her husband Henry Duberly in 1854. In the quote, “In contrast to her stinging criticisms of British leadership, Fanny’s accounts of the courage of British regulars amidst enormous physical suffering were heartfelt and moving” (Kelly 3), we see how soldiers continued onward, no matter what, in any condition to conquer the world and serve in war for Great Britain.

Related Links:

Russian Empire First Acquires Ukraine. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

The Crimean War. editions.covecollective.org/ch…

The Charge of the Light Brigade. editions.covecollective.org/ch…

2014 Russian Invasion of Crimea and Ukraine. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

The Crimean War and its Afterlife. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Mary Seacole During the Crimean War. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Primary Source:

The Illustrated London News, 1856 (vol 29). books.google.com/books?id=uJc0… 

Secondary Sources:

Ray, Michael. The Crimean War. Britannica, 2022. www.britannica.com/event/Crime…  

Kelly, Christine. Mrs. Duberly's War. H-Albion, 2022. www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.…

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by Matthew Armstrong

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a poem written by Lord Alfred Tennyson on December 2, 1854, and published December 9, 1854. The poem was inspired by the Crimean war, which Great Britain and France were heavily involved in against Russia. The poem refers to the infamous battle of Balaclava, where virtually the entire British light brigade calvary was killed while charging directly at the Russian line and defensives that were waiting, ready with heavy artillery. Throughout the war, both sides had an issue with giving correct commands and conducting the war. They dealt with massive deaths due to disease, which happened from a combination of lack of supplies, bad living conditions, lack of nutritional food, and lack of necessary clothing and protection from the elements. The charge of the British light brigade happened because of a miscommunication of an order. When the order was given by higher-ups, the information was passed down incorrectly by the chain-of-command and was misinterpreted. When the order reached Lord James Cardigan, leading commander of the British light brigade, he followed it without question and led his men to certain death. Not only did he never stop to question the absurd order and chose to charge defenselessly at the Russian line, but his men also did not question the order and followed him into a blaze of heavy artillery fire that was rained down upon them. This blunder with an order that led many British soldiers to their death, along with the unquestioned following of this order by the entire Brigade, is commonly viewed as an example of one of the most heroic and disastrous events of military conquest in the history of Great Britain. The Charge of the Light Brigade poem commemorates, idolizes, and glorifies the actions of the soldiers and Lord Cardigan. In this quote from the poem, “when can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wonder’d. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!” (Tennyson), we see how Tennyson is glorifying the actions of the light brigade and of the war in Crimea. Ignoring the blatantly stupid error of judgement by the commander of the light brigade and of the error in giving orders in the British army, the event is still glorified for the “heroism” that the soldiers portrayed. Another example of glorifying the event and the results of it is this quote "Plunged in the battery-smoke. With many a desparate stroke. The Russian line they broke; Then they rode back, but not. Not the six hundred" (Tennyson). We know that majority of the light brigade was wiped out and the attack was deemed unsuccessful, yet Tennyson portrays the light brigade as successful and of breaking the Russian line. In fact, they did nt even come close to breaking the Russian line. This shows how Tennyson is hyping up the event to portray Great Britain as being successful. This inability to view one's own country as unsuccessful with something shows toxic patriotism. The concept of toxic patriotism is one that has been around forever. Because the soldiers and the commander had so much pride for the war cause of Great Britain in Crimea, they will literally die without questioning anything. This shows a brainwashing that all of them were victims to. Not only was the war causing death, but it was also advancing British colonialism onto other places in the world. This is not unique to the war in Crimea, but many other wars and colonization efforts that Great Britain took a part in. This poem targeted British citizens and inspired them to honor the sacrifice those soldiers gave, all the while ignoring how they were killed for nothing. It was reviewed as such, and further spread this idea of glorifying the war in Crimea, all the way ignoring the horrors that many were going through as a result of this brainwashed mindset and toxic pride in Great Britain and its continuing war efforts. This is similar to the January 6 event of the storming of the United States Capital Building because it shows how the spreading of ideas through media and other societal information outlets can lead to terrible events that many consider to be necessary. Both the poem and the January 6 event show us toxic patriotism playing out.

Related Links:

Russian Empire First Acquires Ukraine. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

The Crimean War. editions.covecollective.org/ch…

The Charge of the Light Brigade. editions.covecollective.org/ch…

2014 Russian Invasion of Crimea and Ukraine. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

The Crimean War and its Afterlife. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Mary Seacole During the Crimean War. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Tennyson, Alfred. The Charge of the Light Brigade. The Examiner, 1854. 

studio.covecollective.org/anth… 

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by Matthew Armstrong

1857- The East Indian Rebellion was an uprising from Indian soldiers against the British rule that was taking place at the time. Long before the Gandhi movement, this revolution was extremely bloody in terms of engagement. Before going into the actual actions that occurred during this bloody period, we must first look at the beginning actions that lead to this moment in Indian history. British laws were becoming more taxing towards Indian citizens both economically and societally. What was more frustrating is that the British parliament weren’t the ones originally in control, but The East India Company instead.

The company slowly gained control over all of India from the originally Indian princes that had a majority of land under their rule. As they gained more power, the company began to employ private armies to help ‘safeguard’ the lands they acquired by force and money. These armies were made up of mostly Hindu and Muslim combatants, along with a few select British forces as well. The native soldiers, called sepoys, were better than British soldiers in every physical aspect, ranging from height to muscular build. Of course this wasn’t enough for the British soldiers, referring to the sepoys as their racial inferiors. 

What was the turning point in these private armies began with a new rifle manufacturer that used beef and pork products to create the paper cartridge for the ammunition. Hindus do not believe in eating beef as it goes against their religion, as Muslims do not believe in eating pork for religious purposes as well. The British company, at first, tried to deny the usage of beef and pork products for the new cartridge. The reason this upset the Hindu and Muslim soldiers due to the fact that the cartridges, in the time period, were supposed to be bitten off to use in the rifles. This would mean an unwilling consumption of meat that is forbidden in both religions. 

The sepoy were outraged at this attempted mockery towards their belief systems, since the racist belief that the British had about Muslims and Hindus were very known. The news spread across all the military forces in India, since this only affected the sepoy forces. As such, many attempted a mutiny against British rule. In turn, many of the punishments against sepoy forces were deemed too cruel and unjustified to continue without a proper response. Thus, the sepoy began to lead the revolution that disbanded the East Indian Company.

The conflict was met with extreme violence from both parties. Many people were killed in the ensuing bloodshed, with women and children also being a part of the casualties. While sepoys and bands of Indian citizens targeted anything British (people, land, buildings, etc.) in their violence, the British retaliated with their own mindless violence against random people. With tension growing rapidly, more violence besieged in most areas of India as the East Indian Company fought for control still. This effort was futile in the autumn of 1858, when the company was forced to disband all control of India to the British parliament. Even with this win, Great Britain still had an iron fist over the citizens of India until Gandhi began his non-violence teachings.

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by Meckhi Patty

The White Man's Burden

by Rudyard Kipling

Take up the White Man's burden—

Send forth the best ye breed—

Go bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives' need;

To wait in heavy harness,

On fluttered folk and wild—

Your new-caught, sullen peoples,

Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden—

In patience to abide,

To veil the threat of terror

And check the show of pride;

By open speech and simple,

An hundred times made plain,

To seek another's profit,

And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden—

The savage wars of peace—

Fill full the mouth of Famine

And bid the sickness cease;

And when your goal is nearest

The end for others sought,

Watch Sloth and heathen Folly

Bring all your hope to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden—

No tawdry rule of kings,

But toil of serf and sweeper—

The tale of common things.

The ports ye shall not enter,

The roads ye shall not tread,

Go make them with your living,

And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man's burden—

And reap his old reward:

The blame of those ye better,

The hate of those ye guard—

The cry of hosts ye humour

(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:—

"Why brought ye us from bondage,

Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden—

Ye dare not stoop to less—

Nor call too loud on Freedom

To cloak your weariness;

By all ye cry or whisper,

By all ye leave or do,

The silent, sullen peoples

Shall weigh your Gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden—

Have done with childish days—

The lightly proffered laurel,

The easy, ungrudged praise.

Comes now, to search your manhood

Through all the thankless years,

Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,

The judgment of your peers!

Rudyard Kipling was born in Mumbai, India on December 30, 1865. This is just over six years after the East Indian Rebellion of 1857. When the United States invaded the Filipino people on February 4th, 1899, Kipling decided to write ‘The White Man’s Burden’ in response to this major event. In the poem, Kipling is in agreement on the ideas of imperialism and supports the United State’s attempt to ‘civilize the savages’ in the Philippines. During a senator debate on the situation of the Philippines, US senator Benjamin Tillman uses the poem as the reason why the United States should not interfere with the Filipinos culture and way of living.

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by Meckhi Patty

On the twenty-eighth of June, 1914, a young man toppled the fragile structure of world order with two bullets—one for Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, the other for the Archduke’s wife, Sophie. 

The royal couple were invited to the Bosnian capital of Saravejo, which was annexed by the Austrian empire in 1908, by General Oskar Potoirek to attend a speech in the city hall and inspect imperial military personnel. The shooting occurred just hours after a botched bombing attempt, about which the Archduke is recorded to have said to the military governor, “What is the good of your speeches? I come to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs thrown in my face. It is outrageous” (The Times). After the failed bombing, the speech and the inspection of Sarajevo’s military parade, riding in the back of a roofless motor-car—as was common for the time—through the streets of Sarajevo among a crowd of thousands gathered to see the royal couple, they were shot dead (The Times). 

After the two shots were fired, the young gunman swallowed a cyanide pill but somehow survived (Jay 19). He was promptly pointed out by the crowd and arrested by Bosnian officials. That young gunman was nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip, misidentified by The Times in London as Nadjeliko Cabrinovitch just a day after it happened. Gavrilo Princip was one of three men involved in the assassination plot directly, and a member of the Black Hand, a group of Serbian nationalist extremists (Jay 19). He was too young to be executed by Austria-Hungarian law, so he was instead sentenced to life in prison in Theresienstadt, where he wasted away in solitary confinement (Jay 19). The Black Hand’s actions, carried out by Gavrilo Princip’s hand, is often considered to be the straw that broke the camels back with regards to stoking the flame of the first world war (Schmitt 70). 

This event is important to highlight when exploring historical examples of “toxic patriotism”, as Gavrilo Princip’s nationalistic mindset is ultimately what led to his involvement with the Black Hand and eventually to his shooting of the Archduke. Moreover, although Princip ultimately died for his actions, he was hailed as a martyr by many who viewed the annexation of Sarajevo and Bosnia as a bad thing, thus further stoking a ravenous nationalistic mindest which spiraled into WW1 (Jay 20). Similarly, this sentiment was mirrored in the attitudes of many of the nations which then involved themselves in the war—this idea of the romanticisation or the idealization of one’s homeland. To Princip, his homeland was under siege by a foreign power, infected and otherwise beautiful, and that is a state of mind which mirrors many contemporary examples of toxic patriotism—namely the January 6th insurrection at the United States capitol building.

In both this event and the insurrection of the U.S. capital building, the party responsible for the violence believed they were engaging in a fight to rid their homeland from an occupying force which tainted its natural goodness.  

Primary Source:

 "Austrian Heir and his Wife Murdered." The Times, 29 June 1914, p. 8. Gale Primary Sources, go-gale-com.

Other Works Cited:

 Jay, Martin. "The Manacles of Gavrilo Princip." Salmagundi, no. 106/107, 1995, pp. 14-21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40548800. 

Schmitt, Bernadotte E. "The Origins of the War of 1914." The Journal of Modern History, vol. 24, no. 1, March 1952. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1871982. 

Associated Places

by Samuel Pickett

Associated Places

by Samuel Pickett

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria more. (Owen, 1917).

The poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen was written as a response to pro-war poems during World War I. Owen is largely equated to Britain’s greatest war poet. His overall goal with his work was to tell the truth about war and the sadness that entails it (The British Library). Owen was killed in action at the age of 25, one week before the Armistice. Only five poems were published in his lifetime—three in the Nation and two that appeared anonymously in the Hydra, a journal he edited in 1917 when he was a patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. Shortly after his death, seven more of his poems appeared in the 1919 volume of Edith Sitwell's annual anthology, Wheels: a volume dedicated to his memory, and in 1919 and 1920 seven other poems appeared in periodicals (Poetry Foundation).

Owen makes readers aware of the atrocities that wars are responsible for. The words "Dulce et Decorum Est" are the words "it is sweet and fitting" in Latin. It is followed by "pro patria mori", which means "to die for one's country." Owen makes readers aware that this Latin saying is a lie. His work can be compared to the journal of the Irish soldier, George Blennie, who documents his time during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 as barbaric. Blennie went on to write about the Irish soldiers who had their foreskins forcibly removed. Owen refers to similar horrendous experiences such as incurable sores on tongues, blood gargling from one’s lungs, and men choking and drowning in gas. Gas was a popular weapon used in war from 1914 onwards. The gas injured the soldiers horrendously and left some with permanent disabilities. Some records declare that soldiers could suffer the injuries for up to four months before dying (The British Library).

Throughout the poem, Owen is expressing his concern with toxic patriotism. He is warning readers that those who go to war in order to “fight for their country” are not ready for the horrible disasters they will witness. The idea of risking people's lives for the country in which one resides is a consequence of the toxic patriot mindset. This mindset has been modeled throughout history, leading up to the U.S. Capitol riot conducted by Trump supporters. During Trump's speech before the Capitol riot, Trump encouraged his supporters to incite violence. During the speech he stated, "And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," towards the end of the speech Trump stated, "The Democrats are hopeless — they never vote for anything. Not even one vote. But we're going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country" (B. Naylor, 2021). Trump's speech is similar to the political propaganda distributed during World War I. Pictured below is an original World War I poster depicting an Uncle Sam figure that states, "I am telling you on June 28th I expect you to enlist in the army of war savers to back up my army of fighters" (J. M. Flagg, 1918). These political figures encouraging citizens to "fight for their country" fuels the toxic patriot mindset that has lead to the death of billions throughout history. 

Works Cited:

Dulce et decorum est - synopsis and commentary. (n.d.). Crossref-It.Info. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from crossref-it.info/textguide/wil…

I am telling you on June 28th I expect you to enlist in the army of war savers to back up my army of fighters. (n.d.). [Posters]. jstor.org/stable/community.282…

Naylor, B. (2021, February 10). Read Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, a key part of impeachment trial. NPR. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from choice.npr.org/index.html?orig…

Poetry Foundation. (1921). Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from www.poetryfoundation.org/poems…

Wilfred Owen. (n.d.). The British Library. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from www.bl.uk/people/wilfred-owen

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by Nikita Baker

World War II lasted from September 1, 1939,  to September 2, 1945. It was the most destructive war in history and lead to the death of millions. It is estimated that 45-60 million people were killed during the war. Among those killed were 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Nazi concentration camps as part of Hitler’s diabolical “Final Solution,” now known as the Holocaust. Additionally, over 110,000 Japanese Americans, including over 66,000 U.S. citizens, were forced into internment camps, and 1,862 Japanese Americans died as a result (History.com editors, 2021). This entry focuses on the exclusion and detention of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Japanese Americans were forced into concentration camps on February 19, 1942 when Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which demanded the forced removal and incarceration of individuals of Japanese ancestry. Congress implemented Roosevelt’s action without a dissenting vote, in the name of military necessity, since most Americans agreed that it was a necessary implementation due to their reactions to the Pearl Harbor attacks. Canada soon followed suit, forcibly removing 21,000 of its residents of Japanese descent from its West Coast. Mexico enacted its own version, and eventually, 2,264 more people of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from Peru, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina to the United States. (History.com editors, 2021).

According to a journal published in Oxford Universtiy Press by Roger Daniels, “There was not one case of espionage or sabotage by a Japanese person in the United States during the entire war" (R. Daniels, 2002). One West Coast law enforcement officer, California Attorney General Earl Warren, admitted to a congressional committee on 21 February 1942 that there had been no such acts in California, but found that fact "most ominous." It convinced him that "we are just being lulled into a false sense of security and that the only reason we haven't had a disaster in California is because it is timed for a different date... Our day of reckoning is bound to come," he testified in arguing for incarceration. Of course, if there had been sabotage by Japanese Americans in California, Warren would have used that to argue for the same thing (R. Daniels, 2002). 

According to a pamphlet created in 1942 that voiced the objections to the exclusion and detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, “The Joint Immigration Committee, most active anti-Japanese group, is motivated by 'the determination of the Caucasian to keep their blood white,' and feels 'a grave mistake was the granting of citizenship to the Negroes after the Civil War.' Such discrimination against people because of their ancestry affects all Americans.” (Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1942). 

These discriminatory actions that most Americans and leaders enacted upon Japanese Americans is an example of toxic patriotism. This mindset is responsible for the death of millions throughout history. While this entry is focused on the treatment of Japanese Americans, this toxic mindset has been detrimental to marginalized communities throughout history. In present day, Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol have a similar mindset. This is made more evident when we recognize the flags that were displayed during the storm. Some of the flags displayed were Confederate flags, Three Percenter flags, and Proud Boy flags. Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol believed that their actions would, "Make America great again," but history tells us that America has only been great to rich, straight, white men. This leaves many questioning when America was ever great. This idea of masking discriminatory practices and beliefs with "patriotism" is a paragon of the toxic patriot mindset.

Works Cited:

Daniels, R. (2002). Incarcerating Japanese Americans. OAH Magazine of History, 16(3), 19–23. www.jstor.org/stable/25163521

Associated Places

by Nikita Baker

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear detonation took place during the last year of World War Two. The names of the two bombs used are “Little Boy” (used on Hiroshima) and “Fat Man (used on Nagasaki). Many believe this to be a controversial moment in the history of the United States of America and the Allied forces near the end of the world war. The two common thoughts are that the bombings were necessary to quickly stop the fighting and further death on both sides and that the bombings were unnecessary and Japan would have surrendered anyways. The two bombs had a combined death toll of at least 200,000 civilian casualties and resulted in many slow and agonizing deaths for many years to come after the events. Considering that Japan was mostly defeated, and that the death toll was so high for civilian casualties through bombing, the idea that the bombs were used to limit the deaths of the war seems like a stretch and sounds like the United States trying to justify a horrible act and terrible order. It furthers this idea that we would rather kill thousands and thousands of other civilians than lose one more American or Ally. We put our lives over the lives of hundreds of thousands of other innocent civilians who did not participate in the war. While this is the case, many were celebrating this display of power and destruction and glorifying it. Take for example this newspaper story posting from The San Francisco Chronicle, titled “Japan Hit By Atom Bomb---Mightiest Weapon in History! Tokyo Admits Heavy Damage” (San Francisco Chronicle 1945). This title shows how we are proud about the nuclear attacks and idolizing their power. While we can conclude how these bombings murdered hundreds of thousands of people, news outlets were ignoring this and feeding the public with headlines like these that celebrate these killings and attacks. This further fires up people to the point that we start to believe we are better than all those other nations and people, who are simply just people living on earth like Americans. This mindset and narrative that these headlines put out contributes to toxic patriotism and is similar to how propaganda and news outlets were used to spread misinformation that led to the January 6, storming of the United States Capital Building riots. According to Gar Alperovitz and Martin Sherwin in an article that discusses how the nuclear attacks were unnecessary, “However, the overwhelming historical evidence from American and Japanese archives indicates that Japan would have surrendered that August, even if atomic bombs had not been used — and documents prove that President Truman and his closest advisors knew it.” We can see how there was evidence that Japan was going to surrender regardless of the attacks or not. Yet, without looking further into it, the United States and the Allies decided to kill hundreds of thousands of people. We can further see the terrible fallout of the attacks in Hayo Kromback’s The Meaning of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the quote “Many of us today who also survived face a harder task: that of imagining and internalizing an all-incinerating blast. It is difficult to manage such a mental leap” (Kromback 4). In this quote, we see how the terrors of the bombings went past the enormous death toll but have affected people mentally for years after the event. We see how toxic patriotism led to the horrible aftermaths of the nuclear bombings during World War Two. The mindsets that led to this happening are not much different than the minds that those who stormed the capital. Similar to how we see the Allied Forces justifying the horrible action of annihilating two major Japanese cities full of innocent people, we see how then President Trump causes his supporters to storm the Capitol Building, take it by force, and threatened the lives of many innocent people (law makers, police officers, civillians etc.). This 'false' justification that we see the Allied Forces make is similar in mindset to the justifications Trump made to basically order his people to take the Capitol Building, to try to overturn a lost election. 

Related Links:

WW2 Propaganda: Influence of Racism. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Park Street Riot 1944. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Exodus of Working Women After WW2. editions.covecollective.org/ch…...

Primary Source:

San Francisco Chronicle, Japan Hit By Atom Bomb---Mightiest Weapon in History! Tokyo Admits Heavy Damage. 1945. www.pinterest.com/pin/56112043…

Secondary Sources:

Alperovitz, Gar., Sherwin, Martin. Dropping Atomic Bombs On Hiroshima And Nagasaki Was Unnecessary. Common Dreams, 2020.

www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2008…

Krombach, Hayo. The Meaning of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 1997.

www.jstor.org/stable/resrep203…

Associated Places

by Matthew Armstrong

1996- There has been a buildup of discrmination against Muslims for quite some time at this rate. This is exactly seventeen, almost eighteen, years after the Iranian Hostage Crisis. This event is played off as a true turning point towards many people’s attitudes on Muslims. The Iranian people had taken the US embassy hostaged for exactly four hundred and forty-four days. Not only was this a traumatic experience for those involved, but also the ones who witnessed the events unfold for the other four hundred and forty-three days. 

Jimmy Carter was the President at the time of this great turmoil between Iran and the US. Due to the unexpected nature of the crisis, Carter made many questionable decisions in order to help the hostages while trying to convince American citizens to re-elect him for another four years. This failed as many Americans soon thought Carter was unfit of the role as President due to cracking severely under pressure for the hostages. Due to this, many people had begun to fear Muslims because of how quickly Iranian people were able to dismantle the order and peace that the Congress usually has for situations like this. After this event, many people worldwide had begun to blame Islam for many political, economic, and socieatly problems.

For starters in this long list of discrimination, Americans believed that any person affiliated with Islam or the Middle East were automatic enemies against the democracy we have established in America. Out of most religious groups, Islam and Judism are expected to be raising more in the diversity of America. In fact, Islam is supposed to be outnumbering Judism by a few more million people migranting from war stricken cities in the Middle East. Yet, as Ali A. Marzui states, American Jewish people are more than likely to be strategically placed in politics, the media, and other places of power instead of Muslim Americans. This is supposed to re-evaluate the foreign policies for Muslim immigrants ability to come to America for a better life. 

Since most people were still dealing with the crisis situation nearly two decades before 9/11, the main argument people had to counter Muslim immigrants was that very crisis. Many political groups banned together to stop Muslim immigrants from entering the country at all. This inspired other civilian groups to counter Muslim communities with violence to ‘remove the problems’ that the country was facing at the moment. A form of toxic patriotism started to form within Americans that Muslims were the root of all their issues at the moment; lack of jobs, more competition for homes and space, crime rates increasing at an alarming rate, other cultural changes they wanted no part of, and lastly, a new wave of diversity within the population that made people become aware of the privilege they had. 

Within Mazrui’s writing, there has been evidence claiming that both political parties do not favor Muslims as much as they claim to do. As Republicans (formerly) favor the migrant polices, Democrats were more favorable of domestic rights for Muslim and Muslim Americans. Yet, there was little talk about the discrimination that most Muslim communites had face trying to build a good life in America.

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by Meckhi Patty

In 2017, a referendum was held in the United Kingdom which was meant to determine its status within the European Union (EU). To many’s surprise, the resulting vote was to leave the EU and to once again be considered a completely sovereign state. The UK was a member state of the EU since 1973, making this decision the most significant one made by a European country in decades (Langfitt). The UK is the first country to have sought divorce with the EU since the union's founding, following a greater trend throughout Europe of countries seeking more and more national autonomy (Langfitt). While many questions as to how Great Britain will fair in Brexit’s aftermath still stand, nationalism as a motivation for it is quite evident, as it is a pushback against the globalization of world government (Langfitt).

The referendum was formally recognized as being about the pros and cons of EU membership—pertaining to trade, travel, etc.— though polling data suggests that the primary motivation behind the desire to leave the EU is related to immigration policy (McKees and Galsworthy 3). Freedom of movement is a key part of EU membership, which allows any citizen of the EU to travel to any other member country; and also to work and live in member countries while being treated as a citizen of said countries (McKees and Galsworthy 3). This became an issue as events like the war in Syria led to an increase in migrants from the Middle East within EU countries, and this became a primary motivation for the UK’s desire to leave. 

Many people developed a sense that the “openness” of the UK’s borders to migration should not be beholden to the rest of Europe, and so the resistance to globalization became more apparent (McKees and Galsworthy 4). 

Over the course of the last decade, especially within the wake of Brexit, the nationalistic tendancy of Great Britain has been apparent. In fact, the UK has traditionally dragged its feet with regards to its involvement in EU affairs. As the world becomes more globalized and countries become more diverse, the exchanging and changing of cultural norms may come as a shock to some people within majority white countries, especially since that is typically not the experience of a white person—as white people have historically done the changing of other cultures (Scuira 3). This may result in insecurity, and that  may quickly become an aversion to change all together.

The discussion surrounding Brexit has many parallels with president Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”, and is related to toxic patriotism in that it involves the romanticization of one’s homeland. Brexit sentiments can also scapegoat migrants as an “affliction” of sorts on their otherwise great country, which fuels the toxic mindset further. The desire to excise this affliction resulted in Brexit. In a similar way, the January 6th insurrectionists sought to excise an affliction within their otherwise great country. 

Related Links:

Muslim Discrimination Before 9/11

Ukrainian Independence

Primary Source:

Langfitt, Frank. “Brexit Day: What to Know when the U.K. Leaves The EU.” NPR, 31 Jan. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/01/31/8012892…\

Other Works Cited:

McKee, Martin and Micheal J. Galsworthy. “Brexit: A Confused Concept Which Threatens Public Health.” Journal of Public Health, vol. 38, no. 1, March 2016. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/48515744

Scuira, Leonardo. “Brexit Beyond Borders: Beginning of the EU Collapse and Return to Nationalism.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 70, no. 2, Summer 2017. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/90012623

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by Samuel Pickett

The January 6 riot and storming of the capitol building is an example of an event that could have and should have been avoided. On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the capitol building in Washington D.C. after Trump lost the presidential debate by electoral college vote to the current President Joe Biden. Considered controversial, many say that the event was instigated by then President Trump in tweets to his supporters and speeches leading up to the event. His words resonated with his devoted and stronger supporters, which were fueled up by them and chose to attack. The storming of the capitol building was dangerous, unnecessary, and is a modern-day example of toxic patriotism. In this quote from an article by The United States Department of Justice, “More than 225 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including over 75 individuals who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer,” we see how many people have been criminally charged for the event because of the dangers that happened and of what they did to the capitol building, to police officers, to civilians, and to law makers. According to The United States Department of Justice, “More than 725 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.” The violence and criminal offenses we see here are a result of misinformation and the leader feeding false information to his followers. This instigation led to multiple assaults, over 1.5 million dollars in property damages, and issues after the fact. Many events throughout history, like the Crimean War, The Irish Rebellion, The East Indian Rebellion, World War One and World War Two, 9/11, and Brexit, show what toxic patriotism can lead to and cause. These events continued a mindset that led to the January 6, storming of the capitol building. The urge to keep the power of president after losing by force, firing up the supporters into attempting to overthrow the government enough to take the presidency, and the damages and fallout that happened to the country are results of toxic patriotism by the people that was fueled by their leader. In the quote from Lonsdorf et al, “Tensions were high on Capitol Hill. Protesters swarmed lawmakers outside,” we can see the people becoming fired up and starting to attempt to take the Capitol.

Even after an entire year, people are still defending the actions the insurgents had taken on January 6th. They still hail them as ‘heroes’ and ‘true patriots’, even with the horrific crimes and disturbance they had caused. It is truly disturbing the amount of people that still believe in these people as being extremely righteous, along with some people that we know too commonly. Celebrities, Social Media stars, and even Politicians are still trying to find justifications that these so-called heroes had taken when they first stormed the capital. Some of these supporters are Republicans that are running for Oregon offices. The issue is even worse when you realize that one of the Republicans running for office participated in the storming of the White House. Reed Christensen, the Republican Oregon governor, was one of the individuals that joined in many insurgents storming the White House on January 6th. Christensen had compared himself and other participants to “Americans in the Boston Tea Party.”. While making this comment, the group known as ‘Look Ahead America’ applauded loudly for Christensen in utter support for his participation. Now one may ask themselves, “How does the January 6th attack connect together with these other heinous acts in history?”. January 6th was not just an event in American history. Like the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Americans during the Jan. 6th event displayed a truly disgusting side of patriotism. Like the East Indian Rebellion, acts of cruelty were displayed all in the name of ‘love and country’. Like the Crimean War, hope felt lost in the times that we faced. And lastly, like the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, all it had taken to topple a fragile government was one disgruntled man looking to force order within chaos.

Works Cited:

Lonsdorf, Kat, et al. “A Timeline of how the Jan. 6 attack unfolded – including who said what

and when.” The NPR Politics Newsletter, 5 January 2022. www.npr.org/2022/01/05/1069977…

“One Year Since the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol.” United States Department of Justice, 30

December 2021. www.justice.gov/usao-dc/one-ye…

Shumway, Julia. “Oregon man facing charges for Jan. 6 ends campaign for governor.” Herald

and News, 19 April 2022. www.heraldandnews.com/klamath/… mpaign-for-governor/article_effc054d-bb97-5ffb-a2de-7426783bb506.html

Associated Places

by Matthew Armstrong