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May 11th. For most people, the day would seem rather ordinary, and it is true in a sense. It’s not marked on the calendar as an official holiday, nor it is officially recognized by any other nations as a special day. However, we cannot assume that just because the date on the calendar isn’t marked red, doesn’t mean that the day is special. For example, it could be someone’s birthday, which would make today a pretty significant day. Honestly, it’s the day you were born. If you can’t cherish or celebrate your own birthday, then there is something wrong with you. Also, it could be that someone died on this day as well. A death-day could be something special as well, because it signifies the end of a person’s life on this earth. And then there are anniversaries, battles, and numerous other events that may mark May 11th as a significant day. The point I’m trying to get across is that we have at least thousands of years of history behind us. And within those years, there is bound to be at least hundreds of special events that happened on the 11th that can make today significant for some. Maybe those events weren’t so spectacular or unique that it warranted a holiday from whoever decides on holidays. Nonetheless, we must acknowledge that just because it isn’t a holiday, we shouldn’t assume that it is a special day today. So with that in mind, I shall now walk you through some of the events that happened today.
Let’s go back to the year of 330. What is so significant about May 11th of 330 A.D that I have to talk about it? Let’s cut to the chase. On this day, Constantinople officially became the capital of the Roman Empire. Why was this significant? Rome, not Constantinople, had been the main capital for the Roman Empire for years. All that changed ever since Constantine became the emperor. Constantine, after implementing Christianity as the main religion in the Roman Empire, and quelling the internal political conflicts, wanted to choose a new capital. It was unthinkable to move the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Rome had been the capital of the Roman Empire for thousand years. Yet, Rome was decaying from corruption and constant attacks from barbarians. Also, Constantine wanted to be near the frontiers where he could have easy access to defend it whenever Rome was under attack. Therefore, Constantine was built in six years, and in May 11th of 330, Constantinople was consecrated and officially became the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Let’s talk about something political that happened during today. Since I am a political science major with a concentration in international relations, I will be more than happy to talk about this event. This event is nothing too significant. On May 11th of 1953, Winston Churchill denounced and criticized the domino effect theory, which was proposed by John Foster Dulles, who was the Secretary of State back then. What was the domino effect theory? Recall back to the 1950s, when the Cold War first began. U.S was implementing the policy of containment. They did not want communism to spread throughout the rest of the world, so they did everything possible to contain communism to Eastern Europe. They would give financial and military aid to whichever country needed resistance from an imminent communist takeover. Originally, the policy of containment was only applied to Western Europe. However, the U.S government wondered at the time if containment should also be applied to Asia as well, where the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union was poised to convert nations into communism. Also, the domestic opinion was clamoring whether U.S should act as a fervent interventionist to communism. To justify for the U.S interventions in Asia, John Foster Dulles proposed the domino effect theory. Simply put, the theory stated that if U.S allowed a country to fall to communism, other countries would follow suit as a result, creating a domino effect of countries falling to communism. This theory is what Winston Churchill had a problem with, and he spoke out against it on May 11th of 1953.
Why would Winston Churchill have a problem with this theory? The theory in retrospective was somewhat sound. However, it was also the theory that compelled the U.S to brashly intervene in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. Churchill believed that such aggressive interventionist policies wouldn’t sit well with other Asian countries, and it would backfire on the U.S. Churchill was correct. The U.S mistakenly believed that Vietnam was turning towards communism when Ho Chi Minh and his guerillas were trying to overthrow the French who were occupying Indochina at the time. As it turns out, Ho Chi Minh wasn’t communist—he was just trying to get Vietnam liberated so that they could become an independent country. U.S went against Vietnam under its false pretenses, and supplied French with help to fight the guerillas and Ho Chi Minh. Ho was none too pleased about the U.S helping out the French. With no one to turn to, Ho Chi Minh got help from China and Soviet Union. If the U.S did not adopt the domino theory and let Vietnam liberate itself, there is a chance Vietnam War might not have happened. The U.S was too wrapped up in fighting communism and did not recognize that Ho wasn’t actually communist. The rest is history.
Works Cited
"Historical Events on 11th May." Today in History, Birthdays & History Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013.
"History of Constantinople." History of Constantinople. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013.
Let’s go back to the year of 330. What is so significant about May 11th of 330 A.D that I have to talk about it? Let’s cut to the chase. On this day, Constantinople officially became the capital of the Roman Empire. Why was this significant? Rome, not Constantinople, had been the main capital for the Roman Empire for years. All that changed ever since Constantine became the emperor. Constantine, after implementing Christianity as the main religion in the Roman Empire, and quelling the internal political conflicts, wanted to choose a new capital. It was unthinkable to move the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Rome had been the capital of the Roman Empire for thousand years. Yet, Rome was decaying from corruption and constant attacks from barbarians. Also, Constantine wanted to be near the frontiers where he could have easy access to defend it whenever Rome was under attack. Therefore, Constantine was built in six years, and in May 11th of 330, Constantinople was consecrated and officially became the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Let’s talk about something political that happened during today. Since I am a political science major with a concentration in international relations, I will be more than happy to talk about this event. This event is nothing too significant. On May 11th of 1953, Winston Churchill denounced and criticized the domino effect theory, which was proposed by John Foster Dulles, who was the Secretary of State back then. What was the domino effect theory? Recall back to the 1950s, when the Cold War first began. U.S was implementing the policy of containment. They did not want communism to spread throughout the rest of the world, so they did everything possible to contain communism to Eastern Europe. They would give financial and military aid to whichever country needed resistance from an imminent communist takeover. Originally, the policy of containment was only applied to Western Europe. However, the U.S government wondered at the time if containment should also be applied to Asia as well, where the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union was poised to convert nations into communism. Also, the domestic opinion was clamoring whether U.S should act as a fervent interventionist to communism. To justify for the U.S interventions in Asia, John Foster Dulles proposed the domino effect theory. Simply put, the theory stated that if U.S allowed a country to fall to communism, other countries would follow suit as a result, creating a domino effect of countries falling to communism. This theory is what Winston Churchill had a problem with, and he spoke out against it on May 11th of 1953.
Why would Winston Churchill have a problem with this theory? The theory in retrospective was somewhat sound. However, it was also the theory that compelled the U.S to brashly intervene in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. Churchill believed that such aggressive interventionist policies wouldn’t sit well with other Asian countries, and it would backfire on the U.S. Churchill was correct. The U.S mistakenly believed that Vietnam was turning towards communism when Ho Chi Minh and his guerillas were trying to overthrow the French who were occupying Indochina at the time. As it turns out, Ho Chi Minh wasn’t communist—he was just trying to get Vietnam liberated so that they could become an independent country. U.S went against Vietnam under its false pretenses, and supplied French with help to fight the guerillas and Ho Chi Minh. Ho was none too pleased about the U.S helping out the French. With no one to turn to, Ho Chi Minh got help from China and Soviet Union. If the U.S did not adopt the domino theory and let Vietnam liberate itself, there is a chance Vietnam War might not have happened. The U.S was too wrapped up in fighting communism and did not recognize that Ho wasn’t actually communist. The rest is history.
Works Cited
"Historical Events on 11th May." Today in History, Birthdays & History Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013.
"History of Constantinople." History of Constantinople. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013.
