[Marxism] Re: Taiwan and Kuwait ... and Goa

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Every government of Iraq, at one time or another, has claimed that
Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. There is much greater legitimacy
to this claim than the Kurdish province of Iraq being party of Iraq.

Kuwait exists as an independent nation only because of its relation
with Great Britain. Britain's machinations against the "sick man of
Europe" extends back to the middle of the 19th century. Britain's
interest at the time was due to its extraordinary position on the
Persian Gulf. Check these maps* to see why every ruling group of Iraq
has claimed that geographically and historically (as well as
culturally) was part of Iraq.

Kuwait's position in the world is comparable to that of Goa, held by
various princes, Turkey, and finally Portugal before its conquest by
India under Nehru in 1961. See below for one of several Internet
histories. The capitalizations are mine.

Brian Shannon
______________

*
http://makeashorterlink.com/?R57C211AA
AND http://encarta.msn.com/map_701515350/Persian_Gulf.html

Here are 3 separate descriptions from the Internet
(1)
Iraq, meaning the land between two rivers, is one of the ancient
countries of the world. It is here that the Mesopotamia Civilization,
which had heavy influence on European and Asian civilizations, cradled
and grew. The country has to its credit enormous deposits of petroleum
and natural gas and is endowed with large quantities of water, supplied
by its two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and their
tributaries.

(2)
Location of Iraq
Nearly a landlocked country, Iraq is situated at the northern tip of
the Persian Gulf. Its coastline along the gulf is ONLY 30 KM LONG. The
country is bound by Turkey on the north; by Iran on the east; by Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf on the south; and on the west by
Jordan and Syria.
        
(3)
Present-day Iraq occupies the greater part of the ancient land of
Mesopotamia, the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The two
rivers flow through Iraq from northwest to southeast. THEY MEET 160 km
(100 mi) north of the Persian Gulf to form the Shatt al Arab, WHICH
DRAINS INTO THE GULF.  The chief tributaries of the Tigris are the
Great Zab, the Little Zab, and the Diy~{(!~}l~{("~} rivers. Level terrain
separates the Tigris and the Euphrates in their lower courses. In
ancient times the two rivers were joined by a network of canals and
irrigation ditches, which directed the water of the higher-lying and
more westerly Euphrates across the valley into the Tigris. In modern
times irrigation canals remain important, and the Iraqi government has
built a series of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates for irrigation and
for flood control.


    
Goa
History

Goa's history stretches back to the 3rd century BC, when it formed part
of the Mauryan empire. Later, at the beginning of the Christian era, it
was ruled by the Satavahanas of Kolhapur. Control eventually passed to
the Chalukyans of Badami, who ruled from 580 to 750 AD. Goa fell to the
Muslims for the first time in 1312, but the invaders were forced out in
1370 by Harihara I of the Vijayanagar empire, whose capital was at
Hampi. Over the next 100 years, Goa's harbours were important landing
places for ships carrying Arabian horses to the Vijayanagar cavalry at
Hampi.

Blessed as it is with natural harbours and wide rivers, Goa was the
ideal base for the seafaring Portuguese, who arrived in 1510. They
aimed to control the spice route from the east and had a strong desire
to spread Christianity. Jesuit missionaries, led by St Francis Xavier,
arrived in 1542. By the middle of the 16th century, Portuguese control
had expanded beyond Old Goa to include the provinces of Bardez and
Salcete.

Goa's golden age came with the eventual ousting of the Turks, who
controlled the trade routes across the Indian Ocean, and the resultant
fortunes made from the spice trade. The colony became the viceregal
seat of the Portuguese empire of the east, which included various East
African port cities, East Timor and Macau. But competition from the
British, French and Dutch in the 17th century, combined with Portugal's
inability to adequately service its far-flung empire, led to a decline.
The Marathas almost vanquished the Portuguese in the late 18th century,
and there was a brief occupation by the British during the Napoleonic
Wars in Europe.

The beginnings of a Goan independence movement were felt as early as
the late 19th century, but began in earnest when the Portuguese
monarchy collapsed in 1910. The new Portuguese elite, however, were as
determinedly imperialist as their predecessors and countenanced no
internal dissent or external Indian approaches until Indian PM
Jawaharlal Nehru finally ordered an invasion on 17 December 1961,
meeting little resistance despite the exhortations of the Portuguese
dictatorship under Salazar.

Goa has, since independence, struggled to define its role within India
on its own terms. Initial moves to assimilate the region into
neighbouring states and to drop Konkani as the official regional
language were resisted. Instead, in May 1987, Goa became India's 25th
state and Konkani was recognised as one of the country's official
languages.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/indian_subcontinent/goa/
history.htm




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