In 1995 Sri Lanka’s deputy defence minister, Lieutenant Colonel Anuruddha Ratwatte, raised the Sri Lankan flag in the northern city of Jaffna. Jaffna was the heartland of the opposition forces the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This was a major victory for the Sri Lankan forces in a war that has torn through the country for the previous 12 years. Unfortunately the war continued after this victory and a cease fire is not agreed until 2002 which only lasted till 2008. The war finally ended in May2009 after 26 years.
In 1991 Administrators were called in to look at salvaging the Maxwell Business Empire believed to be £1 billion in dept. It was also revealed that Robert Maxwell (whose dead body was found at sea off the coast of Tenerife on the 5th of November 1991) removed £350 million from the company’s pension fund without authorisation.
In 1977 The Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat severed all ties with Syria, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen. This was in response to the ‘Declaration of Tripoli’, an agreement by the four nations and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to impose sanctions and have a unified military front against Egypt and any individual that has business with Israel. The following September, President Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met with U.S. President Jimmy Carter and signed the ‘Camp David Peace Accords’ earning President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1955 Mrs Rosa Parks’ court case took place and Civil rights leader Martin Luther King arranged for a bus boycott in Alabama that would last from the day of the trial until the 20th of December 1956
In 1950 the North Korean capital, Pyongyang was taken by Chinese forces, driving UN forces back towards South Korea.
South Korea was invaded by the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) in June 1950, but after UN intervention they had been forced back into their own country pursued by UN Forces. When the NKPA’s defeat seamed certain the Chinese Communist Forces (CFF) joined the North Korean forces for this counter strike.
In 1940 Hitler’s military plans for the invasion of Russia were complete
In October 1940 Germany and the Soviet Union began talks regarding the possibility of them joining the fourth member of the Axis Powers against the Allies. But Japan had always been firmly opposed to Communism and their military pact with Germany was based on their mutual opposition to it. In December 1940 Germany ceased communication with the Soviet Union on the matter. But even during these talks Hitler had been planning his invasion of Russia. In fact Hitler’s wish to invade Russia, as explained in Meine Kampf, had always been on his mind and additionally Hitler wanted their oil and a new labour force. On the 5th of December 1940 Hitler’s military plans for the invasion of Russia were complete. On the 22nd of June 1941 “Operation Barbarossa” began as the largest invasion force ever seen, some 4 million troops, began their invasion of Russia. On the 8th of September 1941 the German forces began the siege of Leningrad, a hugely symbolic city to the Soviets as it was named after the founder of the communist movement in Russia and the people of Leningrad would not give it up without a fight. The Siege of Leningrad continued until the 27th of January 1944. The remainder of this huge attack force pushed into Russia and in less than six months German forces were within 30 kilometres of Moscow. The “Battle of Moscow” began on the 2nd of October 1941 when the Desperate Soviets began throwing all they had at the Invading German forces. On the 5th of December 1941 (exactly one year after Hitler’s plans for the invasion were complete) the Russians began to stop the advance of the German army ending Operation Barbarossa. Russia had nearly 4.5 million casualties of war by this point but this would be the beginning of the end for Hitler. Despite his many further attempts to defeat the Russian’s, they continued to repel the Germans right back to Berlin, causing Hitler to take his own life and Germany to loose the War. The Battle of Moscow continued until the 7th of January 1942 when the Russian army forced a German retreat.
