Troop 39 Matthews: Fill & Download for Free

Here's a few. Pardon the redundancies.France:France simply didn’t take the war seriously. It was complacent when it should have been alarmed, and when it came to preparations it behaved in a desultory and unimaginative fashion. It played defense hoping this war would simply go away while it should’ve been opportunistically playing offense. There’s a saying that the defeated plan on winning the next war while victors plan on repeating their success in the last one.In WW1 France had begun the war with grandiose dream of a quick invasion of Germany in the Vosges, taking back Alsace-Lorraine, and reversing the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War…perhaps even driving deep into Germany with great elan and threatening the kaiser in Berlin. It was thought by Belle Epoque war planners in France that a quick, Napoleonic victory with modern, industrial mobility was assured.Instead in August 1914 France quickly had their collective ass handed to them by an overwhelming mechanized assault through neutral Belgium, and then ended up fighting a desperate, existential struggle on their own territory to defend Paris and with it the French nation. With 4yrs of meat grinding, attritional trench warfare France was utterly devastated—northern France was ruined and any appetite for future wars against Germany were quenched. Only reluctantly did it join with high-minded British principles to finally draw a line in the diplomatic sand by standing up for Polish sovereignty. But Polish sovereignty, like Belgian sovereignty a generation earlier, was not a cause the average French soldier was enthusiastic to die for, or to send their husbands and sons to die for—and unlike the British across the Channel—it was abundantly clear who would do most of the dying for this cause if in fact a “real” war with Germany occurred.France was deeply fragmented internally in the 30s—this was true generally in Western democracies but was especially pronounced in France. France was divided between a Soviet funded/intellectually promoted socialist and anti-militarist camp constantly wooing the working class that was being increasingly agitated against the bourgeoisie and capitalist politicians that cared little for them, jingoistic, and archaic colonial military officers that looked to the Nazis and Fascists as models the French should emulate, apathetic pacifists that simply didn’t want to get dragged into any more wars, and a shrinking political center decreasing in relevance. Politics were extremely contentious and petty on the eve of war. Vast sums had been invested in the Maginot line, leaving French military planners confident that Germany would think twice about A) repeating their attack through neutral Belgium or B) directly attacking French soil along their shared border. Either way the safety of the Maginot fortifications would leave the French the luxury of massing in northern France if Germany decided to go around the Line, or piecemeal to plug any gaps if Germany assaulted the Line. An entire generation of French military thought had turned decidedly defensive in nature—how to inflict the greatest casualties on an overwhelming invasion or how to suppress colonial uprisings—while in Germany a new generation of thinkers were investigating the offensive possibilities of massed tanks and mobile infantry and artillery tightly coordinated with air power.So when an unpopular war that most French had no appetite for whatsoever was declared most were content to simply sit back in hopes that the diplomats would paper over this impasse so that this silly war could be forgotten about. Unlike 1914, Germany didn’t seem to want to attack France. For the entire winter of 39–40 France awaited (after a very tentative “Saar offensive” which was too small and slow to help Poland), some sort of blitzkrieg German attack—and none having occurred convinced everyone that this was a “Phony War”. Socialist propaganda helped further a notion that this was an example of Fascists and Capitalists forcing a profiteering war on working people with no vested stake in the conflict but everything to lose. Many officers were wary of fighting the Germans again, especially for the sake of Britain and the Poles, and considered French military resources best spent in the colonial territories. Meanwhile France was sitting on its hands with something like 110 divisions and armor superiority to the 23 German divisions, a preponderance of force at least on paper, and looking at a poorly defended Western Germany across the Line, its military being tied up in Poland, Norway, and the Balkans.Had France taken the war seriously and fought the war they wanted to fight in 1914, instead of the 1917 one they wanted to avoid repeating, they could’ve invaded Germany and forced it early on into a defensive struggle on its own territory. Hitler correctly judged French reluctance to fight and thus felt comfortable doing things like invading Norway and Greece which dazzled the world while France looked on dejectedly.An invasion into Germany might’ve gone badly for France, but it certainly would’ve dramatically altered the course of WW2 in Europe and taken any initiative out of German hands. The waiting for German opening moves ceded all initiative to Germany and assured that the French would be playing defense on their own land again. The USSR probably would not have been invaded and could deal with Japan in Manchuria. The BEF wouldn’t not have been pushed off the continent. France would not have been occupied. SE Asia wouldn’t have fallen into Japanese hands and the Mediterranean wouldn’t have become the Axis sea that it very nearly did.Germany:Primarily diplomatic mistakesGermany got itself into a war against the largest industrial powers on earth: the British Empire, the US, and the Soviet Union. The only ally of any significant military power, Japan, was too far away and too concerned with its own geopolitical aspirations to effectively coordinate with the German war effort. The most powerful neighboring Axis ally, Italy, ended up being more a liability than anything else.Instead of making a reasonable peace with Britain, after the defeat of France, the Werhmacht instead exhausted the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain--a prelude to an amphibious invasion of Great Britain that the Germans (like Napoleon earlier) were never really serious about pursuing. The Germans seriously underestimated British tenacity, American industrial power, and Soviet resilience in the face of seemingly hopeless defeat. The declaration of war on the US was pure folly. The decision to attack the USSR was premature and in the end, suicidal. Once the Germans' brutality became apparent (and it did from day 1 of Barbarossa) the Russians were committed to destroying Nazi Germany, and any chance of rallying the Ukrainians or the people of the Baltic republics, irrevocably lost: there could be no negotiated peace.Naval neglect--the German U-boats were extremely effective but always short on material and manpower. The surface fleet proved (like Napoleon's) largely useless, other than to draw large numbers of British ships to a particular area.R&D. Germany had amazing scientists and engineers (even after the most brilliant fled). However instead of devoting its efforts to one or two breakthrough technologies, Germany focused on many disparate technologies and ended up only producing the first major guided missile, the V2, en masse. Jet technology, modern submarines, nuclear weapons...all were within German grasp but they fell just short. Generally the Germans emphasized complex, spectacular machines that could only be produced in small quantities and were a nightmare to fix in the field, instead of mass producing simple, adaptable platforms like the Soviets had in the reliable T34.Questionable counter-offensives and defense lines. Hitler felt compelled to constantly overrule the advice of his superb staff and micromanage operations--which was another big mistake for Germany. Stalingrad, the Falaise pocket, battle of the Bulge, the entire Lake Balaton offensive, and numerous instances of "last stands" on the Southern Front in the East wasted a lot of precious manpower and resources. Failure to take Malta always meant N Africa would never be logistically secure. Rushed preparation and an impromptu intervention in the Balkans and Greece right before Barbarossa left the biggest invasion in human history short material, motorized transport, and engineering personnel. The Waffen SS units created late in the war were a politically motivated (paranoid) idea that had no good military rationale--all they did was siphon off the best men in the regular army and concentrate them into smaller units--accomplishing nothing in the process.Japan:Same basic diplomatic mistakes as Germany although the Japanese were extremely anxious to avoid provoking the Soviet Union (especially after Nomonhan) even though their army in Manchuria had plenty of golden opportunities.Even though they considered it, the Japanese underestimated US industrial power...and they critically underestimated US popular support for the war. The unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor, instead of demoralizing the American public and forcing them to desire a quick peace—a repeat of the Russo-Japanese War—instead instantly created an adversary determined to go to any length to force an unconditional surrender on Japan.In terms of military mistakes...clearly the commitment to Guadalcanal was one of them. Like Germany, the Japanese developed an elite military but neglected to establish the basic supply chain necessary to fight a prolonged modern war. The US submarine fleet in the Pacific was phenomenally successful against the Japanese merchant marine shipping (much more successful than the U-boats of the Kriegsmarine), which was already stretched to begin with. Once the Japanese began to lose critical numbers of supply vessels, oil tankers, and troop transports their island-based army units were left to rot out on the vine.Japanese intelligence was relatively sloppy. This lead to the loss of Yamamoto, the senior naval officer of the IJN...and the ambush at Midway which has to rank amongst the worst naval catastrophes in history. The battle of Midway is the most obvious suite of operational mistakes the Japanese made the whole war--4 fleet carriers sunk in a single day. It still astounds me.The Japanese didn't, or I should say couldn't, successfully evolve their technology much throughout the war. At Pearl Harbor the Japanese basically outclassed the US in every way--at the war's end the opposite was true. The US simply got better tactically and technologically throughout the war and had the resources and industrial flexibility to quickly adapt its production. The Japanese on the other hand ended up in 1945 with concrete decked carriers they couldn't complete (and probably didn't have fuel to run) and programs to arm civilians with bamboo spears to defend against the US invasion and potential nuclear holocaust.A short-sighted training program for naval aviators. The Japanese naval aviators were among the greatest the world had ever seen--but their training advanced slowly and the exclusivity and competitiveness of their craft meant few could follow in their footsteps. After the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Japan lost nearly all of its experienced naval pilots, so even the remaining naval aircraft it had were manned by almost complete novices that were belatedly rushed into the cockpit sometimes with only a few hours training--this of course was the beginning of the kamikaze. In contrast the US had training programs that had a steady stream of relatively experienced pilots coming on line.In terms of grand strategy, Japan got way too involved in China, Burma, Borneo, Manchuria to realistically engage in the biggest naval struggle on earth at the same time in the central pacific. Furthermore the treatment of the Chinese people was a profound human tragedy that alienated Japan from much of the civilized world.The inability of the weak political leadership to transcend the petty rivalries between the army and navy, and moreover--the domination of the political leadership by each faction in turn--meant that there was no effective centralized control over both, integrating them into one military that furthered Japanese political interests (which as Clausewtiz would tell you is the whole point of war). So Japan ended up with an Army pursuing its own wars, a Navy going off on a series of separate wars, and an industrial base unable to support both simultaneously--that's the biggest mistake.Italy:Mamma mia...where to begin. Mussolini's delusions of neo-Roman Imperial grandeur lead him to repeatedly get Italy into situations it had to be bailed out of. At Keren the Italians were first routed by the Ethiopians, and throughout N Africa they were repeatedly bested by a motley, ad hoc force of British colonial and ANZAC forces. Even during the collapse of France their belated invasion was crushed by a skeleton French force. The whole war was a total mistake for Italy.Soviet Union:Stalin's purge of the Red Army high command in the late 30s was the first mistake, and coupled with the Red Army's pathetic invasion of Finland, tempted Hitler to attack in the first place.Trusting Ribbentrop and Hitler probably wasn't a good idea either, although it isn't clear Stalin who was eager to secure the Baltic republics, had better options diplomatically.Countless military mistakes, particularly at the outset of the Barbarossa...too much emphasis on front-line positions and holding defensive lines. The Soviet Union lost most of its experienced, well-trained troops in the first few weeks of Barbarossa while Stalin was still in denial it was actually happening. Much of the actual resistance to the Wehmacht was civilian/partisan behind enemy lines. Carelessness with its aircraft--the Luftwaffe destroyed much of the Soviet airpower while it sat on runways. General lack of preparedness, and a woeful initial lack of good commanders that could coordinate operations at high levels--not unit 6mos after Barbarossa did Zhukov and Konev come to the fore.At horrific cost the Soviets learned from their repeated drubbings, and, like the US in the Pacific, they slowly got more and more effective. At Kursk they absorbed the German armored pincers and won the largest armored engagement in history (perhaps the recent invasion of Iraq surpasses Kursk in numbers). By the war's end, when the Red Army declared war on Japan and invaded Manchukuo and Korea, the once feared Kwantung army practically evaporated in the face of heavy Red armor.Great Britain:An almost endless litany of military fiascos that essentially ended the British Empire...Overestimating French resistance nearly lost the BEF at Dunkirk. Churchill's penchant for special operations and daring amphibious landings--lead to Gallipoli in WW1 and lead to Dieppe & Anzio in WW2. The complete capitulation of Singapore and Hong Kong without hardly a fight was a stupendous blow the Empire arguably never recovered from, and then there was the routing of the British navy from the South Pacific leaving Australia unprotected and Indonesia easy prey for the Japanese. Montgomery: stalled at Caen, later launched Operation Market Garden, which also ended up being something of a disaster. (In his defense he stopped the German tide in N Africa.) The seeming inability to protect India and its possessions in the Near East (the Germans advanced to El Alamein which is near Cairo and the Suez, the Japanese advanced into India at Imphal) lead to an explosion of anti-colonial/nationalist sentiment in the colonies after the war's end.But they have plenty to be proud of...The British were somewhat slow to organize effective convoys and anti-sub patrols but were nonetheless way ahead of anybody else in that regard. The British were critical in cracking codes and coordinating Allied intelligence activities, their Navy completely neutralized the threat of Axis surface ships, and single handedly fought in Mediterranean for some time. The RAF single handedly destroyed the flower of German air power in the Battle of Britain. Had Britain not kept fighting its seems plausible that W Europe might have accepted a 'German peace' of some sort before Germany expanded to the East at its leisure.To the British credit, they didn't fight because they were jingoistically jealous of the pretensions of other Imperial rivals, they didn't fight to engineer a new balance of power on the continent, and they didn't fight because they were invaded and had no choice. The British chose to fight to honor their agreements to a weak and prostrate nation--Poland--and they had practically nothing to gain from it. In a sense declaring war on Germany was a mistake in that it lead to a much weaker UK after the war--but I would argue it was the most honorable mistake made throughout the war.Of all the powers the UK fought what I consider the good fight--they sincerely tried to peacefully acquiesce to spread of aggressive Fascism, and eventually came to the reluctant conclusion that they must take a stand and fight even if they had nothing at all to gain, and much to lose, in the fight. British suffering was not comparable to the unimaginable scale of devastation suffered by the Russians, the Chinese, the Koreans, and the Poles--but their sacrifices were largely voluntarily.United States:Lack of preparation: particularly at Pearl Harbor. Only by a stroke of luck were the only two Pacific carriers out on exercises that morning--but the loss of nearly all Pacific battleships left the US on the ropes right as the opening bell rung. Loss of Wake, Guam, and Philippines turned the PTO into both an army and navy theater as opposed to just naval--greatly complicating the war effort.Early on the US had some unimaginative and mediocre commanders, poor infantry discipline and coordination, operational incompetence, plenty of friendly fire incidents, a slowness to embrace carriers and naval airpower as decisive. No protection at all against Uboats at the beginning--and an outstanding but perhaps under-utilized submarine program of its own. Poor tank design rushed into production--US tanks (except maybe for the obscure Pershing that showed up at war's end) were always pathetic in comparison to German and Soviet peers (ironic as the T34 used a US designed suspension and chassis exported to the USSR via lend-lease).The US bungled several operations or undertook many with little purpose--the retaking of Kiska and Attu had little importance militarily and yet it consumed vast resources, like the Alcan highway. Complacency and overconfidence lead to several close calls--one of the first being at the Kesserine Pass, later at the Bulge. Got into some silly military adventures like Anzio and the advance on Rome, or the paratrooper schemes before D-day which mostly failed. The single biggest mistake the US made strategically would've been at Leyte when Halsey took the bait and chased Ozawa's (decoy) fleet thereby exposing the Philippine landing forces to Kurita's center force--a situation only retrieved by desperate fighting on the part of a screen of destroyers. To this day the US carpet bombing and fire storming raids are of controversial value: Speer himself mentioned that German production was most compromised by a single small raid on ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt--not by the wholesale civilian slaughter committed at Dresden or Hamburg. Cheannault's Flying Tigers in China, spectacular as they were may have done more harm than good in terms of Japanese reprisals in their wake.But still the US did plenty right--probably the best example of government/industry cooperation. Accomplished miracles of production like Liberty ships, and Jeeps. Rapidly adopted new technologies and tactics, and had probably the best supply chain management and logistics. While US infantry didn't command much respect, US artillery was particularly feared by the Germans for its accuracy and firepower ("magic fire" they called it), to the point where Germans in Sicily and Italy avoided firing on a US gun for fear of reprisal. Of course there's the Manhattan Project too. Midway was probably the US's greatest victory of the war--with the ferocious Coral Sea and Guadalcanal and the Bulge coming second. The US built the world's biggest navy in just 3yrs (I read somewhere that it did in 1864 too) and won the world's largest naval battle (Philippines).China:To point out any one “big mistake” made by China isn’t exactly fair as China was a dysfunctional, mostly premodern country in the midst of ongoing civil wars when the ruthless Japanese military machine singled it out for conquest. Poland at least had a central government in firm control over its territory and armed forces in 1939 and a highly literate population, something which cannot be said for 1935 China. So calling out Chinese mistakes is a little like blaming the victim. But certainly China could’ve conducted their war somewhat more effectively and the KMT’s management of the war can be criticized.But to start with some context military power in 1920s China was divested to regional warlords who treated with the Japanese and the KMT government informally almost as separate states. The KMT never enjoyed total, unilateral control over China (though it had made some progress in the 30s centralizing power) and had no close allies. The Soviet Union had been not-so-secretly stripping territory from China throughout the 20–30s (Mongolia and Xinjiang being obvious cases), was arming the Communist insurgency, had signed a neutrality pact in 1939 with the Nazi’s, and had mostly looked the other way at Japanese aggression in China. Any intervention by Stalin would be to help the CCP and keep Japanese pressure off of Soviet interests.The British empire had long wanted to carve out a sphere of influence in Tibet and take treaty ports when Chinese fortunes were down, and had shown alongside all the European powers a willingness to military intervene in Chinese politics if it suited their financial interests. The French were another, poorer colonial power with little naval power. America was another faraway power that might’ve been mostly friendly to the KMT, and broadly sympathetic to China, but didn’t show much willingness to intervene directly against Japan until years after Japanese attacks on Chinese cities and people—throughout the 30s the USA decidedly pacifist and non-interventionist. So KMT China was diplomatically isolated and didn’t really have a clear ally when it fought its own struggle against Japan. When it was eventually brought into the camp of Allied powers now fighting a “World War” it wasn’t accustomed to any outside advice or international coordination. American-British-French and even Norwegian & Polish militaries had war gamed and planned together but China was an odd man out.The KMT was never prepared to fight Japan from a military and industrial perspective. While the Soviets were behind Germany technologically the Soviet industrial complex had the resources and know-how to quickly scale up to match them. Nationalist China was probably a few generations behind Japan in industrial and technical development and couldn’t simply build or relocate more factories after Japan seized the little industrial capacity China did have in Manchuria—it didn’t have the energy, fundamental industries, and trained personnel to build factories, with the little it did have being generally foreign set-up and run. In the late 20s the KMT courted the Wehrmacht to help in modernizing their military and as a reaction to the Comintern influenced CCP that Chiang was obsessed with suppressing. But that German help proved tentative and transitory when Nazi Germany and Japan decided to make common cause as Axis powers. Instead of sincerely seeking advice Chiang was notoriously stubborn and often instead plead for supplies that would be squandered or mysteriously lost to corrupt subordinates he had little control over. Chiang may have understood the internal political dynamics and realities of 1930s China well, but he was not a great military mind and his nepotistic clique of trusted subordinates were not either, and the KMT simply wasn’t successful enough against the Japanese to earn any legitimacy from Chinese people on the fence about the future of the country.The KMT simply didn’t have much of a military to defend China with. Heavy armor, planes, radio communications, artillery were in very limited in supply and not replaceable, but what it did have was not always conserved and used efficiently. There were many extremely brave Chinese defenses against overwhelming technological odds, but so often lack of adequate transport and medical care doomed what could’ve been effective fighting units. Lack of shells and fuel would leave idle badly needed guns and transport. As mentioned before, the military arms that Chiang did manage to get, which were incredibly difficult for the Americans and British to get to him, were often lost for stupid reasons.The KMT being the “major” Chinese power was the target of large-scale Japanese military operations and had to fight major battles defending population centers. Its reputation was constantly on the line whether it fought and inevitably lost, or retreated. The Communists generally raided, harassed, and committed guerrilla actions behind Japanese lines, and were well-accustomed to fighting suppression tactics having been doing it for over a decade behind KMT lines. In their own manner of fighting the CCP might’ve been somewhat superior simply because it matched the low-level insurgency they were already committed to before the war. The KMT on the other hand was thrust on the battlefield with officers out of their depth leading poorly trained men equipped with little more than light arms against a state-of-the-art combined arms Japanese field armies lead by a highly motivated and well-educated officer corps.So single-minded was Chiang’s persecution of the war against the Communist Party that warlords had to kidnap him and force him to agree to make common cause with the Communists to defeat the Japanese. Chiang always perceived the war as a three-way fight for China between the KMT-CCP-IJA each with its own international backers and a need to court various regional warlords. He never seemed to believe, or simply thought he had time to wait, to work on winning over the hearts of the Chinese people by pushing through meaningful reforms. Battlefield triumphs might’ve gone a long way to bolstering KMT’s legitimacy with the people but those were not forthcoming. The KMT often kept inept and corrupt officials in office, or generals in the field, simply because of their loyalty to him or regional influence or record of faithful Communist persecution. This compromised the little effectiveness he could muster and didn’t do much to inspire the people to rally to the KMT.Had his time besieged in Chongqing been spent building up a well-educated, meritocratic cadre of advisors and officials as well as investing in fundamental industrial development he might’ve created a shining example of Nationist’s vision for future China, and been well-situated in the post-war recovery period to counter the Communists who had done well in Yanan and in control over Soviet-liberated industrial parts of Manchuria.

By the time Dwight D. Eisenhower ran for President in 1952, many African-Americans had already drifted away from the Republican Party. The previous two Presidents, Harry Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (both Democrats) had both issued executive orders prohibiting racial discrimination in employment and in the military.Eisenhower was not a racist, and enjoyed the support of traditional African-American Republicans who felt that Roosevelt’s New Deal policies had not helped their communities. In fact, no Republican presidential candidate has received a higher percentage of African-American votes since Eisenhower’s 39 percent in the 1956 election.That does not mean that Eisenhower was thought of as a civil rights hero, however. He was mainly slow on responding to racial issues, such as school desegregation. Though he vowed to uphold the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, he was also an opponent of radical change. In one news conference, he stated his belief that laws alone could not change people’s hearts. Link: The President's News ConferenceIt would not be until 1957, after several years of southern states blatantly ignoring the court’s decision, that Eisenhower was forced into action. That September, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to obey the order of a federal judge to integrate a high school located in the state capitol of Little Rock. Eisenhower would meet with Faubus to request that the school be integrated, but the negotiations would end with the Governor refusing to allow African-American students to be enrolled.At the time, the most influential African-Americans were in the entertainment industry, such as famous trumpet player Louis Armstrong. Upon hearing of Eisenhower’s inability to convince Faubus to obey the law, Armstrong declared the President had “no guts” and cancelled a State Department-sponsored tour to the Soviet Union. Previously known for his reluctance to stray into politics, Armstrong’s words received national attention and put additional pressure on Eisenhower, who finally sent in federal troops a week later to enforce the court order, which allowed the African-American students (known as the Little Rock Nine) to deliver a blow to segregation in the south.Eisenhower also became the first President since Reconstruction to sign civil rights legislation into law, mainly to protect voting rights for African-Americans in the south. However, the powers to enforce the bills were weak, and states were able to continue the practice of disenfranchisement and other forms of racism well into the next decade. It would not be until 1964, when Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, that real legal protections would be given to African-Americans. That year, the Republican party, which 19th-century Democrats had referred to as the “Party of the Negro”, received just 6 percent of the African-American vote.

First, let’s get one one thing out of the way. The extremism in the Unite the Right march was evident from the beginning. The other answers implying that the original Unite the Right march was a “big tent” project that tricked mainstream conservatives into participating are, respectfully, wrong. It was advertised from the start as an extremist event with fairly explicit Nazi imagery; some Alt-right groups attempted to forbid their members from going for this reason. Social media analysis showed 64% of the groups involved have a direct connection to the extremist rightA couple of factors weakened the far right in America after Charlottesville.Other answers have identified a few of the reasons for the low turnout at this specific rally. There are also some ongoing trends within the extremist right that have affected their ability to organize:The largest white nationalist group in the Nationalist Front coalition behind the Unite the Right March, the Traditionalist Worker Party, imploded after Charlottesville.The head of the Trad Worker party, Matthew Heimbach, became a rising star in the far right for being able to sound reasonably personable in front of cameras while espousing race war and the destruction of America in front of their supporters. Even disregarding the content of what they say, most of the leaders of the other far right groups just simply sound nuts. Sol Invictus’s, for example, speech patterns and general demeanor are so bizarre that one journalist couldn’t decide if she was speaking to a troll or a potential serial killer.[1]I did sacrifice a goat. I know that’s probably a quibble in the mind of most Americans. I sacrificed an animal to the god of the wilderness … Yes, I drank the goat’s blood.Matthew Heimbach was different. He could sound like a normal person if he wanted to. [2]Perhaps I was getting a form of Stockholm syndrome. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that at some point along the way I had let myself get taken in by Matthew’s charm and gregariousness. The folksy, friendly qualities that made him so much more dangerous than your garden-variety white supremacist had gotten under my skin, and it dawned on me that the reason I hadn’t asked him about the Holocaust might be that I didn’t want to hear what he had to say about it.Combined with the TradWorker’s party’s unique politics (extreme right on social issues, leftist on economic ones), Matthew Heimbach was able to build a organization that included bookish college students as its public face and violent skinhead organizations as it strike force[3][4] This unique ability led many knowledgeable observers to consider the Trad Worker party the most dangerous white nationalist party in America, ahead of other groups like Vanguard America that are arguably more violent. It was the appearance of Matthew Heimbach at the original Unite the Right rally, rather than the organizer Jason Kessler or the the better known Richard B. Spencer , that generated the most excitement among the far right. Significantly, Heimbach appears to be one of the few speakers who physically fought in the ensuing conflict, ordering his followers to push down the barricades that separated them from the counter-protesters.[5][6]So What Happened?Matthew Heimbach slept with the co-founder of the group’s wife.[7][8] This was a major problem for the group, which espouses traditional Orthodox Christian values (the Orthodox Church never supported Heimbach and eventually excommunicated him)[9] . In the ensuing confrontation after Heimbach’s wife found out, Heimbach choked out the co-founder and struck his wife in the face.[10] This caused a split in the organization as the co-founder of the group left, deleting the membership information and website.After Charlottesville, the group’s rhetoric had also started to become more extreme:[11]This was a 1.0 crowd, and I was struck by the realization that Matthew, who had once spent a freezing March day outside the Conservative Political Action Conference happily arguing with conservatives, was now a completely different person from the one I met years ago.The transition had been gradual, and perhaps I had been too close to see it. Much like you don’t notice yourself aging, I had failed to see Matthew’s politics harden over time.Now, in the stark glare of the parking lot fluorescents, surrounded by what could only be described as troops, shaking hands with the Hammerskins, marching with the old guard of the movement, his transformation was obvious.Matthew was no longer “the affable, new face of organized hate” but rather someone who believed he was at war.From this (Feburary 2017)[12]this is the rule Spencer and his legion of fags are breaking(Resemblance of Plan A to any current Republican policy proposals is entirely coincidental[13][14][15][16][17] )to this:Trad Worker My Name is Hate August 2017[18]1 dead enemy, 35 injured & 2 dead cops is a win to any true revolutionary fuck your optics & your pr & your autistic memorization of MK. I'm here to fight a fucking war, you are rapidly stacking up as opposition.The Trad Worker party started forming links with Atomwaffen SS, an outright terror group [19]with what could charitably be called a questionable grasp on reality.[20] A Trad Worker named Taylor Wilson tried to derail a train,[21][22] which was foiled at the last moment because he decided geting high on LSD would be excellent preparation for the attack. [23][24] A militia member tried to blow up a bank in Oklahoma.[25] Another group of militia members opened fire on counter-protesters in Florida.[26] Things were accelerating fast.Heimbach also stopped paying their lawyer after the group was sued after Charlottesville.[27] Faced with all this new pressure, many members followed the time honored tradition of Achilles, declared the affair an insult to their honor, and simply quit. A similar, less publicized, split hit the other main far right group Vanguard America which then became the Patriot Front.[28]White nationalist sites on the web gotten taken down. How do we know all this information? The groups in the Unite the Right March had been using the gaming app Discord to communicate with each other.[29][30] As described in this answer, the leftist media collective Unicorn Riot and later ProPublica had infiltrated the groups and leaked all the chats. Although it can be difficult to distinguish trolling from serious threats in the conversation, members discuss killing journalists, planting bombs, and a whole host of other crimes of lesser illegality.[31]This leak had severe consequences for the far right. It formed a crucial part of the lawsuit against the Unite the Right organizers.[32][33][34] A few users posted pictures of car plowing through protesters prior to the event, although it cannot be established if James Fields saw them or was even on the server. Many of the messages do show that the organizers were ready and organized to commit to violence.With this information in hand,Discord banned some of the alt-right servers[35][36] More consequentially, GoDaddy took the highly unusual action of refusing to manage the domain registration for the The Daily Stormer website, taking them off the internet until they later found a new host in Russia.[37][38] The favorite site of the American far right, Stormfront, followed soon after the SPLC was able to show its members were linked to 100 hate crime murders in 5 years [39][40], roughly comparable to MS13 in America (35 per year[41][42] , there were at least 50 murders linked to right terrorism in the US in 2018[43] ).The Daily Stormer served as a key connection between the far right and the larger alt-right movement. With this connection gone, at least for a while, the movement shrank. An ongoing lawsuit threatens to expose the anonymous users on Discord to personal liability.[44][45] [46]The mass appeal of the far right in the US has decreased but extremism is picking upVanguard America, the other prominent American far right group, has renamed itself the Patriot Front and is now patrolling Trump rallies.[47]The Patriot Front is more aggressive now, using the cordon of cops and the cops' pushback as props for feints at aggression that might look good on a phone-filmed video. They're taunting a 22-year-old woman named Carly who's wearing a T-shirt from Bears Ears National Monument and has her hair buzzed at the sides and the top parted over like a man's. They assume she's a lesbian."I got a nice summer camp for you," says the goateed member of the Patriot Front, "with a nice shower." After she jeers back, he points to a lamppost behind her and implies that hanging her from it would suffice if she doesn't want to wait for America's future.There is evidence that the American far right, rather than Russia, may have been behind both the Macron email hack[48] and the social media campaign in the German election.[49]The far right has access to large pools of mysterious moneyThere is a bitcoin account worth $45 million that makes periodic donations to American neo-nazi groups.[50][51] This account, along with 12 others, apparently funds much of the far right’s activity, making donations as large as $60,000 at a time. Nobody knows for certain who is behind it. The money mostly flows outward first to weev, a hacker turned neo-nazi[52][53] who was Milo Yiannopoulos occasional collaborator (Milo’s manifesto[54] “Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right” was partially ghostwritten by weev),[55] and the Daily Stormer.Milo on weev:”“Great provocative guest.He’s one of the funniest, smartest and most interesting people I know. ... Very on brand for me.” Breitbart said no.[56]Weev is currently residing in the Russian satellite state of Transnistria.[57] Given the Stalinist level of control in Transnistria, [58]it’s safe to assume he has official permission to reside there. While the evidence is circumstantial, the close connection of Transnistria to Putin and Russia’s apparent interest in the Daily Stormer, the possibility of foreign involvement is pretty strong.[59]Epilogue and update: Since I wrote this answer, there has been a significant uptick in terror attacks from the far right before the 2018 midterm election.A massacre in a synagogue in Pittsburgh to fight Muslim immigration to America [60][61]Racially motivated shootings in Kentucky[62]An attempt to assassinate French President Macron[63]An extensive mail bombing campaign against Democratic Party Leadership[64]The movement is reorganizing from infiltrating mass culture through the alt-right into a more secretive and possibly more terroristic phase centered on The Base, a network of camps featuring survivalist paramilitary training including the manufacture of homemade chemical weapons. [65] The name is not coincidental (“The Base” is the usual translation of Al Qaeda in English).We don’t need to convert or transform every weak-willed white person into a great Aryan warrior in order for us to win. We just need to unite the best of us who are willing to fight to do what’s necessary. -Base Founder Norman SpearWith the US likely entering a period of political instability for the next few years, I don’t think this story is over (the arrest report of Christopher Paul Hasson, the coast guard officer who allegedly plotted to kill Democratic leaders and journalists , revealed he made “thousands of visits to pro-Russian, neo-fascist and neo-Nazi web pages”). [66]Related: What groups make up the Unite the Right?Footnotes[1] Florida candidate for U.S. Senate admits to sacrificing goat, drinking its blood[2] America's dark underbelly: I watched the rise of white nationalism[3] Golden State Skinheads Arrested, Fear More to Come[4] America's dark underbelly: I watched the rise of white nationalism[5] Meet The Neo-Nazi At The Heart Of The Charlottesville Rally[6] Meet the man in the middle of the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville[7] Leaked: A Year Inside The Failed Neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker Party - UNICORN RIOT[8] https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/59d01-1803-f6-000300_redacted.pdf[9] Deafening Silence[10] Neo-Nazi Leader Matthew Heimbach Arrested For Domestic Violence - UNICORN RIOT[11] America's dark underbelly: I watched the rise of white nationalism[12] Messages from @webdevanon (Discord ID: 276951281656922112)[13] Wisconsin voter ID law proved insurmountable for many voters[14] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a-photo-id-so-you-can-vote-is-easy-unless-youre-poor-black-latino-or-elderly/2016/05/23/8d5474ec-20f0-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html?utm_term=.1bcd1e65d420[15] How The GOP Tax Plan Scrooges Middle Class, Retired And Poor[16] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.310c57ac7a65[17] A Good Chunk Of GOP Field Wants To Repeal The 14th Amendment[18] Discord Leaks[19] Inside Atomwaffen As It Celebrates a Member for Allegedly Killing a Gay Jewish College Student — ProPublica[20] Satanism Drama Is Tearing Apart the Murderous Neo-Nazi Group Atomwaffen[21] Neo-Nazi who attacked Amtrak train revealed as Unite the Right participant[22] Amtrak Hijacker Participated In Neo-Nazi Chats with Charlottesville Organizers - UNICORN RIOT[23] Armed Neo-Nazi Attempted Terror Attack on Amtrak Train, FBI Says[24] Terrorism plea expected from man with white supremacy ties[25] Bombing Plot in Oklahoma City Is Thwarted With Arrest, F.B.I. Says[26] Three men charged with attempted murder of protesters at Florida white supremacist speech[27] Leaked: A Year Inside The Failed Neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker Party - UNICORN RIOT[28] "We're Americans, And We're Fascists": Inside Patriot Front - UNICORN RIOT[29] This Was the Alt-Right’s Favorite Chat App. Then Came Charlottesville.[30] Charlottesville Violence Planned Over Discord Servers: Unicorn Riot Reports - UNICORN RIOT[31] Inside Atomwaffen As It Celebrates a Member for Allegedly Killing a Gay Jewish College Student — ProPublica[32] Alt-Right Chat Logs Are Key to Charlottesville Lawsuits[33] Discord chats may be crucial to lawsuits over neo-Nazi violence[34] Leaked Chats Show Charlottesville Marchers Were Planning for Violence[35] Pro-Trump Discord Server 'Centipede Central' Says It's Being Monitored[36] Discord bans a number of alt-right servers[37] Inside Cloudflare's Decision to Let an Extremist Stronghold Burn[38] GoDaddy boots white supremacist site The Daily Stormer[39] Stormfront: 'murder capital of internet' pulled offline after civil rights action[40] White Homicide Worldwide[41] I’ve Been Reporting on MS-13 for a Year. Here Are the 5 Things Trump Gets Most Wrong. — ProPublica[42] MS-13 Resurgence: Immigration Enforcement Needed to Take Back Our Streets[43] All of the extremist killings in the US in 2018 had links to right-wing extremism, according to new report[44] Judge Upholds Subpoena for Personal Information of White Supremacists on Discord[45] Do digital service users have a right to remain anonymous?[46] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/07/subpoena-for-app-called-discord-could-unmask-identities-of-charlottesville-white-supremacists/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c3f9ace2dae2[47] What Goes on Outside Trump Rallies Is an American Nightmare[48] There is meddling in Germany's election — not by Russia, but by U.S. right wing[49] March of the Trolls: Right-Wing Activists Take Aim at German Election - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International[50] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/bitcoins-boom-is-a-boon-for-extremist-groups/2017/12/26/9ca9c124-e59b-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c4f53a89ecd4[51] Neonazi BTC Tracker[52] iPad Hacker and "Troll" Weev Is Now a Straight-Up White Supremacist[53] The Making of an American Nazi[54] An Establishment Conservative's Guide To The Alt-Right[55] Here's How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas Into The Mainstream[56] Here's How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas Into The Mainstream[57] Tech Companies Blacklist White Supremacist Site[58] Meet the People of a Soviet Country That Doesn't Exist[59] Who Is Weev, and Why Did He Derail a Journalist's Career?[60] 11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts[61] Jeffrey Brender's answer to Why did a white supremacist shoot up a synagogue in Pennsylvania today and killed 12 people?[62] Kroger Shooting Suspect Is Charged With Hate Crimes in Killings of 2 Black People[63] Arrests over far-right plot to attack Emmanuel Macron[64] https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/26/who-is-cesar-altieri-sayoc-what-we-know-about-suspected-mail-bomber-arrested-florida/[65] Neo-Nazis Are Organizing Secretive Paramilitary Training Across America[66] Christopher Paul Hasson had weapons, hit list of Democrats