On Monday, The Guardian published an article claiming that climate change is to blame for extreme weather is false and based on flawed “attribution studies” that lack rigorous peer review. Attribution studies […]

by Leo Hohmann, Leo’s Newsletter: First the Biden regime lifts the restrictions on Ukraine using U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia, making America a direct party to the nasty border war between Ukraine and Russia, and now Sky News reports that the U.S. is sending anti-personnel landmines to blow up Russian soldiers. These landmines are banned […]

  After almost six long years of horrific destruction across the continent of Europe, the Nazi regime crumbled. Rather than surrender, Hitler was obsessed with fighting until the very end. His sentiments were echoed by many of the people of Germany, who saw death as a preferable alternative to capitulation.   The Germans made their stand in Berlin, where Soviet armies had tightened the noose and advanced with vigor as their prize was finally within their grasp. Possessed by zealous devotion to their Führer, ardent Nazis refused to give up. Women, children, and older men took up arms and resisted till their very last.   Advance to Berlin Hitler with Hitler Youth in March 1945. Photograph by Heinrich Hoffman. Source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin   Along the entire Eastern Front, Soviet armies were advancing. On January 12, the Vistula–Oder Offensive began, and the Soviets crossed the Narew River, pushing deep into Poland directly towards their final target of Berlin. Meanwhile, in the South, Budapest, the capital of Germany’s ally, Hungary, was taken.   On the Western Front, the Germans were under immense pressure, too, as the Allied armies pushed through France and into the heartland of the Reich.   Thirty-seven miles east of Berlin, the Soviet armies ended the Oder-Vistula offensive for an operational pause to reassess their supply lines and gather forces for the final assault on the German capital. The rapid advance had stretched the supply lines to breaking point, and time was needed to bring more supplies from the rear. Any further advance would have left the Soviet northern flank open to a German counterattack from Pomerania.   This gave the Germans time to prepare a more effective defense.   The Battle for Berlin started on April 16 when the Soviets resumed their offensive and attacked the city from the east and the south.   The advance on Berlin. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Meanwhile, the Western Allies had decided not to interfere with the Soviet plans to take Berlin. They were of the view that since the city would fall under Soviet influence after the war, there was no point in risking the lives of British, American, and other Western Allied forces. Doing so increased the chances of friendly fire incidents, so the Western Allies restricted operations to bombing raids in preparation for the Soviet advance.   Several German armies surrounded Berlin. Of significant importance was Army Group Vistula, which held the center. Under the capable command of Colonel General Gotthard Heinrici, German forces were ordered to pull back from the Oder River towards Seelow Heights, where better defenses could be prepared.   He then ordered the destruction of a dam to turn the floodplain of the Oder River into a swampy morass to slow down the Soviet advance, buying precious time for the German defenders.   Meanwhile, against the advice of his generals, Hitler remained in Berlin, convinced that a miracle would save the city from the Soviet offensive.   Soviet soldiers in April 1945. Photo by Yevgeny Khaldei. Source: МАММ / МДФ via russiainphoto.ru   The Germans had a total of 766,750 soldiers, supplemented by 40,000 Volkssturm militia, as well as the Berlin police force and the Hitler Youth. Estimates on the total number this provided are hard to determine. Throughout this force, morale was low. The threat of complete defeat was in the air while the soldiers suffered from food shortages. To add to their woes, relying on any formidable armored and aerial support would be impossible due to the critical lack of fuel that the Third Reich was suffering.   The Soviets, in contrast, had 2,300,000 soldiers split into the First and Second Belorussian Fronts and the First Ukrainian Front. Fighting at their side were the First and Second Polish Armies.   The Fight for Berlin Begins Portrait of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov by Andrey Mironov. Source: Wikimedia Commons   From April 16-19, the fighting concentrated around Seelow Heights, and the Soviets pushed into the city. This was the last pitched battle of the war, and both sides fought with bitter determination.   With one million men and 20,000 tanks, the Soviets, under the command of Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, and Konstantin Rokossovsky, outnumbered the Germans. Zhukov’s First Belorussion Front led the attack to break through Seelow. Thousands of rockets and artillery shells pounded the German defenses in a stunning bombardment that shook the ground. While this preparation softened the German defense, it also worsened the terrain for the Soviet armored thrust, and traffic jams formed as the Soviets tried to move their vehicles across the Oder River on hastily built pontoon bridges and onto ground pock-marked with craters.   Marshal Ivan Konev. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Nevertheless, by April 19, the Soviets had broken through, sustaining 30,000 casualties in the process and inflicting 12,000. Zhukov drove a wedge between Army Group Vistula and Army Group Center, and after this breakthrough was achieved, nothing but fragmented resistance existed between his army and the streets of Berlin.   The Soviets had lost almost 800 tanks in just three days in securing the breakthrough at Seelow Heights, but they still had far more than they needed to finish off the Third Reich completely.   Meanwhile, Konev’s First Ukrainian Front had experienced considerably easier success, crossing the Spree River and advancing on Berlin from the South.   On April 20th, Hitler celebrated his last birthday. On the same day, artillery from the First Belorussian Front opened fire on the city. The bombardment did not stop until the city fell more than two weeks later.   Berlin Soviet soldiers in Berlin. Source: russiainphoto.ru   The size of the Soviet attack was overwhelming. Within days, the city was completely encircled, and Soviet armies continued their push towards the American lines to the west. Between these two forces, the German troops had nowhere to retreat.   Attempting to break the plans for encirclement, the Germans Army Group Center, under the command of Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, attempted a counterattack against the First Ukrainian Front. Hitler made plans for counterattacks, expecting the Germans to be able to defeat their foes in a series of envelopments and pincer movements, but these expectations were unrealistic at best.   The last known photograph of Adolf Hitler. He stands at the door of the bunker, surveying the damage with Julius Schaub. Source: rarehistoricalphotos.com   On April 22, when he was informed that his armies did not have the manpower or ammunition to carry out such a plan, Hitler flew into a fit of rage, blaming his generals for failing him and the German people for being too weak to live up to his expectations. He declared that he would remain in the bunker and take his life when the time came.   General Alfred Jodl informed Hitler at this point that General Walter Wenck’s Twelfth Army, battling the Americans to the west, could be disengaged as the Americans were unlikely to move further eastwards for fear of overstepping their agreement with the Soviets. It was possible that the Ninth Army and the command of Theodor Busse could move westwards and link up with the Twelfth.   Ultimately, this plan would come to naught. The Soviet forces were just too numerous. On the morning of April 22, the center of Berlin was within range of Soviet field artillery, and key buildings and structures were targeted. Two days later, the Soviet armies had linked up, and the encirclement was completed. Around 100,000 German troops were trapped in the cauldron while all around them, over two million Soviet soldiers tightened the noose.   Volkssturm poster. Source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin   In charge of these 100,000 men, which included the Volkssturm militia, Hitler Youth, and Berlin police, was General Helmuth Weidling. His task was unenviable and ultimately pointless. Nevertheless, the Germans would fight on. Many German soldiers preferred death to capture by the Soviets. Over the years, German propaganda had instilled the belief that the Soviets were brutal monsters that would offer no mercy.   Indeed, the revenge taken on Germany by the Soviets played into this propaganda. The Soviets had suffered well over 20 million dead at the hands of the Germans in a war of genocide—in fact, the biggest genocide in history. The Soviets were certainly in no mood for any kind of mercy at this point.   Suicide. Source: МАММ / МДФ via russiainphoto.ru   As such, many Germans felt it would be better to die in combat than to surrender. Many Germans even committed suicide rather than have to deal with Soviet vengeance. Those women who committed suicide were spared the indignity of rape. It is estimated that as many as 1.4 million women were raped by Soviet soldiers throughout Germany at the end of the war.   To make matters worse, any German suspected of trying to surrender risked being caught and executed by the SS.   Final Victory Postcard depicting the raising of the flag over the Reichstag. Source: Tram Travels   Soviet forces fought their way to the center of Berlin: the Reichstag. Although it had not been in use since 1933, Stalin saw it as the spiritual center of the Third Reich, and it needed to be taken to put an end to the Nazis symbolically.   Resistance was stiff, especially at Tempelhof Airport, and the advance was slowed as bitter urban combat provided good defensive positions for the Germans still holding out. Many of the city’s bridges had also been destroyed on Hitler’s orders, making it difficult for the Soviets to bring artillery into position.   Eventually, however, nothing could stop the Soviets from achieving final victory.   On April 30, Hitler gave his last will and testament, married Eva Braun in a small ceremony, and then, along with his wife, committed suicide in the bunker. Other officials and officers committed suicide immediately upon hearing the news. Hitler’s body was taken outside, doused in gasoline, and burned.   The Soviet flag hoisted above the Reichstag. Photo by Yevgeny Khaldei. Source: Creative Commons via Anne Frank House   What remained of the German garrison attempted a breakout, but only a handful of soldiers made it through the Soviet lines. By this time, defense of the city was limited to a few tiny pockets, isolated and shrinking.   On the evening of April 30, Soviet troops entered the Reichstag, and desperate hand-to-hand fighting erupted. Entrenched SS fought until May 2, when the Soviets finally managed to get to the roof and raise the flag. After this happened, General Weidling ordered the German defenders of Berlin to surrender.   Aftermath Evacuees returning to Berlin in May 1945. Source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin   In the space of just over two weeks, the Soviets had brought their final assault to an end, concluding the war in Europe. In this battle, the casualty rate was enormous. From April 16 to May 2, the Germans lost as many as 100,000 soldiers killed, 220,000 wounded, and 480,000 captured. One hundred twenty-five thousand civilians also lost their lives.   The Soviets suffered 80,000 dead and missing and 280,000 sick and wounded.   The refusal to surrender turned Berlin into a bombed-out shell. Artillery and aerial bombing had wrought their vengeance on the Reich capital and its inhabitants, turning the once powerful city into a pile of rubble.   Despite the surrender of the garrison on May 2, German armies continued to fight in other parts of Germany for several days after. On May 8, Germany officially surrendered to the Western Allies, and on the following day, officially surrendered to the Soviets in a separate ceremony.   Soviet soldiers in Red Square throwing captured German banners to the ground in front of the Kremlin. July 24, 1945. Source: russiainphotos.ru   The Battle of Berlin was the last major battle of the European Theater of the Second World War. It was here that Hitler died, and the Third Reich finally came to an end. With this golden prize in the hands of the Soviets, it also ushered in a new era, free of the Nazis, that would develop into the Cold War.

  The search for the real King Arthur has occupied the pages of countless books. Often, this investigation is focused on any hidden traces of Arthur’s existence. A method used by some other researchers, however, is to try to identify the legendary figure of Arthur with a known historical person. Athrwys of Gwent, the son of King Meurig, is one such historical person. In the late eighteenth through to the early twentieth century, he was an extremely popular candidate for the real King Arthur. Is this old theory worth another look?   Who Was Athrwys of Gwent? Wooden sculpture of Tewdrig grandfather of Athrwys, St Tewdric’s Church, Mathern, Wales. Source: Shortwalkslongpaths.com   Athrwys of Gwent was the son of a king named Meurig. This dynasty ruled over much of southeast Wales. Although the borders were not always consistent it generally included the historic regions of Glamorgan and Gwent.   Athrwys also inherited the kingdom of Ergyng, since he was the eldest son of Onbrawst, the daughter of that kingdom’s ruler, Gwrgan the Great. The kingdom of Ergyng encompassed a large portion of what is now Herefordshire and Gloucestershire along the Welsh border. Thus, Athrwys was the heir to a large kingdom covering the entire southeast corner of Wales and some of what is now England.   Athrwys’ father, Meurig, was the son of Tewdrig. Tewdrig was a famous, powerful king and later religious figure of the area. He is remembered in Catholic tradition as a saint. The members of this dynasty feature prominently in an important document called the Book of Llandaff. This is a record of various grants of land from the kings of southeast Wales to the church.   Why Has Athrwys Been Rejected as the Real King Arthur? A map of medieval Wales showing the commonly accepted date for the death of Tewdrig, Athrwys’ grandfather. Source: Wikimedia Commons   For a long time, Athrwys was an extremely popular candidate for the real King Arthur among scholars who studied southeast Wales. It appears that this proposal first appeared in 1747, in Thomas Carte’s A General History of England. However, after the early twentieth century, scholars in general turned away from this theory. Why did this happen?   There are two main reasons why this identification has been rejected as untenable. Firstly, the name “Athrwys” is obviously quite dissimilar to the name “Arthur.” Some arguments have been made that this name really comes from “Antres.” However, the more significant objection to this theory about the real King Arthur is to do with chronology. Although various earlier historians placed Athrwys in the 6th century, it came to be more widely accepted that he actually lived thoroughly in the 7th century. This would place him about a century after Arthur’s time. On this basis, he obviously cannot have been the real King Arthur.   Recent Archaeological Evidence Demands a Reconsideration Defensive walls of Dinas Powys, once thought to be Norman, now dated to the 6th-7th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In conflict with this trend over the past century, recent archaeological evidence suggests that a re-examination of the evidence is justified. The hill fort of Dinas Powys is right in the heart of southeast Wales. In recent years archaeologists have discovered that it was a political and tribute center of immense status. The grand stone walls which look like something out of the Norman era (and were formerly interpreted as such) are now known to have been constructed in the 6th or 7th century. Given that there was only room for a single household to live here, these massive defensive works point to very high status kings.   Regarding the material culture found at this site dating to this era, Doctor Andrew Seaman has written that “the quality and quantity of the early medieval material from Dinas Powys is thus far unparalleled in Wales.” The presence of high status material culture as well as the massive display of power in the form of defensive works is very conspicuous. Given Arthur’s legendary high status in Britain in this very era, we are justified in looking for him again in this part of Britain.   Revised Chronologies of Athrwys’ Dynasty Tewdrig’s genealogy in the Harleian MS 3859, folio 195r, 12th century. Source: The British Library   The archaeological research is very interesting. It suggests that the center of power in Britain (excluding the Anglo-Saxon territory) in the 6th century may have been in southeast Wales. Of the dynasty that ruled over that area, the only one whose name bears any similarity at all to “Arthur” is Athrwys. Yet, he is not generally placed in Arthur’s time.   Independent of the issue of Athrwys potentially being connected to the Arthurian legends, some scholars have recently supported a return to the earlier chronology for his dynasty. Welsh historian Brian Davies, in New Welsh Review, supported reducing the dates of this dynasty by about a century. More recently, scholar David Farmer, editor of The Oxford Dictionary of Saints: Fifth Edition, presented a similar chronology, placing Athrwys in the 6th century. Historian Timothy Venning also writes favorably of this chronology, although without any definitive statements one way or the other. Even Patrick Sims-Williams, who favors the later chronology, explained in 2019 that the key foundation for the late dates for this dynasty is far from definitive.   When Did Athrwys Really Live? Annales Cambriae in the Harleian MS 3859, folio 190r. Source: The British Library   But what is the key foundation for the late dates? The evidence comes from the Annales Cambriae, a chronicle from the 10th century that records the death of Ffernfael son of Ithel in 775. His father Ithel is widely assumed to be the same as Ithel the grandson of Athrwys, who did have a son named Ffernfael. With Ithel’s son Ffernfael dying in 775, Ithel’s grandfather Athrwys cannot have lived any earlier than the 7th century.   However, as Sims-Williams himself explained in 2019, this argument assumes that there were no repeated pairs of names. Yet, we know that both “Ithel” and “Ffernfael” were popular names in this dynasty. In fact, the Harleian MS 3859 (the earliest genealogical record for the kings of medieval Wales) records another Ithel of the same line who lived a few generations later. There is no reason why the Ffernfael mentioned in the Annales Cambriae cannot have been the son of this later Ithel. An examination of more evidence can help to clarify this issue.   St Cadoc’s Church, Llancarfan, Wales. Source: The National Churches Trust   One example of such evidence is the fact that the Book of Llandaff shows that Athrwys was a contemporary of bishop Oudoceus early in his tenure. Oudoceus was the son of King Budic of Brittany, dated by scholar Peter Bartrum and others to about 500. Therefore, Oudoceus is unlikely to have been born any later than 540. If Athrwys was his contemporary early in his tenure as bishop, that places Athrwys in the 6th century.   Even more explicit evidence is the fact that the Book of Llandaff presents Athrwys as a king giving grants of land in the presence of clergy who were disciples of bishop Dubricius. Since Dubricius was born in about 465, this would likewise place Athrwys in the 6th century.   The Life of St Cadoc, dating to a few decades before the Book of Llandaff, identifies Athrwys’ grandfather Tewdrig with Cadoc’s great-great-grandfather Tewdrig. Since Cadoc was definitely born in the early 6th century (as all scholars acknowledge), this would definitely place Athrwys in the 6th century.   These pieces of evidence, and more, have traditionally been dismissed as mistakes in the records. However, this interpretation of the evidence has been determined by the accepted chronology, rather than the chronology being moulded by the evidence. Given the fragility of the foundation of the late chronology, the reverse would surely be preferable.   Was Athrwys Really Called Arthur? Book of Llandaff, 12th century, Llandaff, Wales. Source: National Library of Wales   For us to even entertain the idea that Athrwys might have been the real King Arthur, it is not enough to show that he lived at the right time. We also need to establish that he had the right name. Is this the case? Or does the evidence really show that his name came from “Antres”?   The idea that his name was originally Antres comes from a comparison between a land grant in the Book of Llandaff and a parallel version in the Llancarfan charters. In the latter, the name “Andres” appears in a list of witnesses immediately after “Meurig and his sons.” It is assumed that this is Athrwys, who appears in the parallel list in the Book of Llandaff. However, we cannot interpret “Andres” as being the name of one of Meurig’s aforementioned sons, because the name after Andres is made the son of a different person. It would not make sense for the list to mention Meurig’s “sons,” plural, and then name only one of them. More logically, the sons are simply left unnamed, and Andres is someone else entirely. Notably, the narrative leading up to this list of witnesses explicitly refers to a certain Andrus son of Morgan. This is undoubtedly the Andres who then appears in the witness list.   The Modena Archivolt, on which King Arthur’s name is written as “Artus,” 12th century, Modena, Italy. Source: Wikimedia Commons   If we reject this supposed origin for Athrwys’ name, what can we conclude? Well, this is not a name that appears in many other records from other dynasties, so there is no evidence that this was a legitimate name in its own right. It might be a corruption in every instance. As it happens, there are some other medieval documents that refer to individuals named “Arthwys,” with the “r” before the “th.” Other individuals appear as “Arthrwys.” In fact, there is at least one individual who appeared first as “Arthwys” but then as “Athrwys” in a later document.   With this in mind, it is quite possible that all of these similar names, some of which are directly seen to have been exchanged for each other, were all variations of the same name. Although there is no direct confirmation of it, perhaps they are all evolutions of “Arthurus” or “Arturus,” which were common Latin forms of the name “Arthur.” Alternatively, they could come from the form “Artus” which is seen on the Modena Archivolt (an early depiction of the Arthurian tales) and which seems to be a Breton form of the name “Arthur.”   Was Athrwys of Gwent the Real King Arthur? Stained glass depiction of King Arthur, Llandaff Cathedral, Wales. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In conclusion, we can see that the idea that Athrwys son of Meurig was the real King Arthur is a theory worth considering. Recent archaeological research has revealed that southeast Wales was the site of a very high-status dynasty in Arthur’s time. The material culture is “unparalleled in all of Wales.” Given the various traditions that place Arthur in that region, this strongly supports the suggestion that he really was based there.   Athrwys is the obvious candidate from that dynasty to have been the real King Arthur. Although scholarship over the past century has placed Athrwys a century too late to be the real King Arthur, we appear to be seeing a shift back to the previous chronology. Certainly, there is good evidence to place Athrwys in the 6th century rather than the 7th.   While it is not possible to confirm that his name comes from “Arthur,” it appears to be related to the attested forms “Arthrwys” and “Arthwys.” With this in mind, it could reasonably be an evolution of the attested Latin form “Arturus” or the Breton “Artus.”

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