Friday, March 22, 2013

The King Is Dead

Death of George VI was a grim sign for Coalition troops fighting in India. Two and a half months later, in April 1952, the Supreme Command announced a ceasefire.
 
Ровно за четыре месяца до увольнения в запас мы выстроились на плацу под мокрым снегом. Холодная вода текла по лицу, барабанная дробь во влажном воздухе звучала нестерпимо громко. Два флага – наш и "Юнион Джек" – ползли вниз через косой белый пунктир. Последний император Индии, известный в узких кругах как мистер Джонсон, а всему миру как Георг VI, отдал Богу душу. А нам пришлось отдавать союзнический долг его памяти. Через два с небольшим месяца, волшебным апрельским вечером, мы снова стояли по периметру асфальтированной пустыни, а из репродукторов звучал приказ Верховного союзного командования о прекращении боевых действий. Ни один истребитель танков нашей армии так и не попал на ту войну.
 
Image: Royal Musings
 
 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Omaha Beach Demotivational

Why wait for D-Day if we can post it right now?

And in Russian:

Enjoy - and don't forget to visit our Facebook page to get all the updates!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Another Tower

The Palace of Culture and Science (Polish: Pałac Kultury i Nauki, also abbreviated PKiN) in Warsaw is the tallest building in Poland, the sixth tallest building in the European Union. The building was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science. In the Strangers' World, it simply doesn't exist.
Откуда в Варшаве взялся ступенчатый небоскреб с игривой лепниной и огромным шпилем?
Photo by Nnb @ Wikimedia Commons

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

1930: Real Art

The Telephone by Tamara de Lempicka. 1930

Art Deco, a classical, symmetrical, rectilinear style that reached its high point between 1925-1935, drew its inspiration from such serious art movements as Cubism, Futurism, and the influence of the Bauhaus. In Paris, it was a dominant art form of the 1920-1930 period. Of all the artists pursuing the style "Arts Decoratifs", one of the most memorable was Tamara de Lempicka. <...> She became a well-known portrait painter with a distinctive Art Deco manner. Quintessentialy French, Deco was the part of an exotic, sexy, and glamorous Paris that epitomized Tamara's living and painting style. Between the wars, she painted portraits of writers, entertainers, artists, scientists, industrialists, and many of Eastern Europe's exiled nobility.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Charing Cross Hotel, London

In London, Mark stays at the Charing Cross Hotel. Here it is, photographed in 1940s, 1960s, 1970s and 2000s (as a Thistle hotel, now it belongs to another chain, Guoman):
В двадцать минут десятого мы остановились во дворе гостиницы "Черинг-Кросс", в двух шагах от Трафальгарской площади. Сидней передал портье мои чемоданы, назвал номер заказа, проследил за тем, как я заполняю графы в книге постояльцев – и сообщил, что в половину одиннадцатого меня будут ждать в холле. Развернулся на каблуках и пропал.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

1930: Iron Felix

On July 20, 1926 OTL*, Soviet leadership suffered a heavy loss - Felix Dzerzhinsky, the OGPU (secret police) chief and the head of People's Economics Supreme Council, suddenly died.

He passed away immediately after delivering a two-hour long speech full of personal attacks on the United Opposition led by Leon Trotsky.

In the Strangers' World (1930) a man nicknamed 'Iron Felix' for his ruthlessness is still alive and kicking.
 
 How comes? You'll see. Stay tuned.
 
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* OTL = Our Timeline = real history