Paul Foster
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Paul Foster
@pfhistory.bsky.social
190 followers 580 following 28 posts
Retired lawyer. MA(SWW:Conflict, Societies, Holocaust)
Researching Italy 1943-45. Interests, Italy, German occupation policies, history of aviation and more things than I have time for!
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Paul Foster
thechiller.bsky.social
The pre-capitulation of the very institutions that should be fighting to protect society from this harm is utterly soul destroying.
November 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
royalhistsoc.org
Next Wednesday, we make our final Visit of 2025 to historians @lshtm.bsky.social and @ioe.bsky.social.

Our focus is on working as a historian outside 'traditional' history departments - something that's increasingly common. The RHS welcomes historians to join us, wherever they work bit.ly/3KBcnTy
Slide inviting historians to Join the Royal Historical Society, with the closing dates 15 December 2025 and 9 March 2026.
December 3, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
vandawilcox.bsky.social
My history, memory & popular culture seminar students have just submitted their final projects & they are SO GREAT, I am really thrilled. Topics include sectarian murals in Belfast, the Gettysburg Cyclorama, Mary Q of Scots on TV, local FWW memories in the Alps, Italian (neo)facism & FWW theatre
December 1, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
jaylyall.bsky.social
That bump you just heard was ADM Bradley being thrown under the Trump bus
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
REPORTER: Does the administration deny that that second strike happened, or did it happen and the administration denies that Hegseth gave the order?

LEAVITT: The latter. Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. He worked well within his authority and the law.
December 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
dankaszeta.bsky.social
This
jmittra.bsky.social James Mittra @jmittra.bsky.social · 5d
They think they can balance the country being totally hostile to a relatively small number of asylum seekers; marginally hostile to migrants needed to fill work in key sectors (health, care etc) and international students; and very attractive to high skilled migrants in high pay sectors. They can't.
November 28, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
epicww2review.bsky.social
This is my 2 hr+ presentation on Pre-war Red Army doctrine, why Soviet Red Army losses were so high, Deep Battle, and the rebirth of the Red Army 1941-1943.

#History #WWII #redarmy #WW2 #Tanks #tank #T34 #easternfront #worldwar2 #kursk

Check it out!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVMJ...
MYSTERY of the RED ARMY on Eastern Front in WW2 1941-1943 E10
YouTube video by EPIC FACTS REVIEW
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
crusaderproject.bsky.social
Regular reminder that the full set of German intelligence assessments for Operation CRUSADER is here, together with some explanations and background.

This is to my knowledge the most/only comprehensive resource in English covering German intelligence of their enemy in a specific operation in WW2.
Panzerarmee Intelligence Reports
The table below gives easy access to the daily reports. The background to these reports is as set out below. The reports were made daily to the High Command of the Army’s Foreign Armies West …
rommelsriposte.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
annettedittert.bsky.social
Excellent piece. Europe is losing time while still deluding itself over Trump not actually being on Putins side.
phillipspobrien.bsky.social Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 8d
Just sent out this free piece. When the stories of the 28-point plan were first written, too many people went into overdrive to try and make excuses for Trump (He was not informed! He was not involved!). open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
We Seem Intent On Making Excuses For Trump Until He Destroys Us
Phillips’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication.
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
markjacob.bsky.social
Someone needs to set up a camera so we'll know when Pete Hegseth orders this plaque removed from West Point.
jaimi.bsky.social jaimi.bsky.social @jaimi.bsky.social · 9d
Here’s the plaque at West Point with the relevant text highlighted
November 24, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
fascinatorfun.bsky.social
This is a lesson on how not to ask questions
Don’t ask him if he said racist things

Say “ This is just one example of what fellow school pupils say you said (to a Jewish pupil) : “Hitler was right” “Gas them” making hissing noises

Did you say that?
Did you make hissing noises?
pippacrerar.bsky.social Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 9d
“I would never ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”

Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school

@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
profmsinha.bsky.social
If the motto of the first Trump regime was the cruelty is the point (Adam Serwer) then the motto of the second is every accusation is a confession: the weaponization of the federal government against political opponents, the Trump crime family, and the torpedoing of the economy and U.S. hegemony.
November 21, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
lmbd1418.bsky.social
In a world of miserable companies and people who are horrible to work with, I want to praise my publishers @ospreypublishing.bsky.social for being bloody fantastic. The whole team are so kind, supportive and knowledgeable; it’s been such a pleasure working with them on Jungle Commandos.
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
liamthorp.bsky.social
This story is all Nigel Farage should be asked about by journalists for months
Ex-leader of Reform UK in Wales sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for taking pro-Russian bribes
The judge tells Nathan Gill his actions were a
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
handle.invalid
Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.
November 21, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
herreramilhist.bsky.social
Important piece by @markhertling.bsky.social

“What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders”
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders
And why it matters there are two military oaths.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
ldfreedman.bsky.social
The Witkoff-Dmitriev plan is even more amateurish than I imagined. It favours Russia although does contain elements that Russia will not like. Premature leaking means that it is no more than work in progress. Here is an annotated version (This is free). open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?
The Witkoff-Dmitriev peace plan annotated
We now know a bit more about the process which led to the new peace plan and we now have a copy of its contents, to which I will turn soon.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
markhertling.bsky.social
For what it’s worth, as a commander and officer it was my duty, moral obligation, and legal requirement to first question and then to not obey any illegal order I was given.

The same is true for everyone who swear their oath.

Hope that clears things up.
November 20, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
karenattiah.bsky.social
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
Audio recordings, intercepted phone calls and other intelligence link Mohammed bin Salman to killing that Saudis say was conducted by rogue elements.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
tanjabueltmann.net
Tried to get this published but no luck, so might as well ‘publish’ it here so it’s not a complete waste!

➡️ Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow

#asylum #Mahmood #history #humanrights
Stripping rights from refugees today endangers us all tomorrow   When I was 13, I visited a Nazi concentration camp for the first time, confronting my country’s dark history always—and rightly—a bedrock in my growing up.    One image from that visit has stayed with me ever since: a display of prisoners’ personal possessions.    It revealed a world in which those imprisoned were stripped not only of their freedom but of the last tangible traces of their humanity. That systematic erasure was the most important precondition for murdering millions.   Now, as a historian, I know that history does not flow into the present in a straight line, and direct comparisons are rarely appropriate. They certainly are not here.   But history is the one compass humanity has. Too often we choose to ignore it.    The Home Secretary’s proposals for changes to the UK’s asylum system represent such a moment of failure.    Yet the most troubling aspect of Labour’s frantic efforts to appear tough on immigration is not even the historical echoes that taking refugees’ possessions invokes. It is that cost recovery is not the real purpose of the rationale behind it.    The true aim is to appeal to a particular audience—those who take satisfaction in seeing people seeking refuge deprived of what little they have. It is hard to imagine a more troubling approach to policymaking, and that becomes even clearer when we consider the Home Secretary’s proposals in context.   As of June 2025, there were 42.5 million refugees globally. Over 70% are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The UK hosts 548,000 refugees; that is 0.78% of the UK population. Around 110,000 people are in receipt of asylum support; that is 0.15% of the UK population.   It is unconscionable that such a small and vulnerable population can be targeted with deliberate cruelty and weaponised for assumed political gain.   And that is all this will ever be. The core miscalculation is believing that adopting these positions will neutralise Reform.    Both historical knowledge and current research show the opposite. Mainstreaming extremist policies legitimises them further and aids only the original. Each step towards Reform’s territory simply gives Reform more power.   But our political discourse has been so degraded over the last decade that many no longer even recognise policies—or the language that frames them—as extreme.    That is how the Home Secretary can speak so casually of desperate people seeking sanctuary as recipients of a ‘golden ticket’ as though the context is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory rather than countries torn apart by war and starved by famine. Speak of her ‘moral mission’ to withdraw support, alleging that ‘illegal migration is tearing our country apart.’ And warn of ‘dark forces stirring up anger,’ oblivious to her own role: from the use of blurry, dehumanising images of refugees to spread falsehoods about their impact on communities, to the equally false description of refugee movements as illegal migration.    I suggest the Home Secretary find a mirror if she is keen to understand who is helping turn anger into hate.   Because it is the mainstreaming of far-right talking points that the Home Secretary’s proposals represent that is really tearing our country apart.   For when a policy looks like the far right, speaks to the far right and is hailed by the far right as being far right, it is far right. There is a reason Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is jubilant and speaks of ‘the Overton window having been obliterated.’   This makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s recent comments on the urgent need to tackle racism. But it also raises alarming questions about the impact this will have on communities around the country, many of which are already deeply divided.    The proposed policies will do nothing for these struggling communities, because their problems simply do not stem from people seeking sanctuary with us. In fact: for as long as politicians focus on immigrants and refugees as the cause of our problems, they will fail to deliver for the British people.   But it is important to grasp the impact of the Home Secretary’s proposals as they carry broader consequences for all of us. Suggestions for changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights is applied are particularly concerning. Requiring judges to prioritise ‘public safety’—falsely implying refugees pose a threat—would qualify human rights for a specific group.   And once one accepts that human rights can be qualified for one group, one creates tools that can be used against anyone.   So what these proposals really mean goes far beyond asylum policy. This is about the kind of country we will have in the future. If human rights are no longer universal, they become a means for exclusion and control.    That is why stripping rights from refugees today can only enable a system that endangers all our rights tomorrow.    And that is why our historical compass matters and why we have to use it now. Because that compass tells us without doubt that when first they come for one group that is never where it ends. 
November 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
stmupublichistory.bsky.social
We're looking for a Lecturer in US History, starting next Fall! The successful candidate will teach a 4-4 load, which can include survey and upper-level courses, as well as graduate courses. https://stmarytx.applicantpro.com/jobs/3916073
Lecturer of History - San Antonio, TX
The Department of History at St. Mary's University invites applications for a full time, non-tenure line Lecturer position in United States History to begin August 1, 2026. The successful candidate will teach a 4-4 load (four courses per semester). Teaching responsibilities include survey courses in US history, as well as upper division and graduate courses in the candidate's area of specializatio...
stmarytx.applicantpro.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
smsaideman.bsky.social
We had been hoping that the US military would not obey illegal orders. The boat strikes have now taught us that was wishful thinking. Here's a great post explaining where we are and how we got here www.latimes.com/opinion/stor... #CivMilSky
November 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
stevepeers.bsky.social
"We've dismembered a journalist by mistake"
Richard e grant and Paul McGann, going on holiday by mistake in Withnail and I
November 18, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
plashingvole.bsky.social
Jimmy Carr appalled that someone can be arrested at an airport for things they say.

In other news, Jimmy Carr played a gig in Saudia Arabia where the penalties for saying things including crucifixion, torture and being murdered in an embassy.
hleehurley.com Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 15d
Graham Linehan in the papers again crying someone else he used to be friends with hates him [Telegraph]
Father Ted star O’hanlon is the latest to smear me, says Linehan The Daily Telegraph18 Nov 2025By India Mctaggart ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT Graham Linehan was arrested by five armed police officers GRAHAM LINEHAN has fallen out with a former Father Ted star over his views on single-sex spaces. The 57-year-old co-creator of the 1990s sitcom has accused Ardal O’hanlon, who played the inept Father Dougal Mcguire, of trying to “smear” him after the actor said he was “baffled” by Linehan’s “confrontational” gender-critical campaigning. Linehan, who was arrested at Heathrow in September by five armed police officers over gender-critical messages posted on social media, said O’hanlon had become “the latest ex-colleague to smear me in the press”. The Irish comedy writer, who has now been told he will face no further action by police, wrote on X: “I just called him and he apparently disagrees with me that women deserve single-sex spaces, fair sports, etc. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Of course when I pressed, he said it was the ‘way’ I did things. Like Amelia Bullmore, another actor I never did anything but support, blaming me for my own harassment.”
November 18, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Paul Foster
samfr.bsky.social
This has always been been argument against our fiscal framework. You need some kind of debt rule but this kind of last minute flailing around is toxic for policy development.
duncanweldon.bsky.social Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 19d
I know it’s always like this. But one striking thing from the budget kite flying and kite pulling back in, is how major policy decisions are constantly being buffeted around by iterative forecast changes.
All feels a bit of a silly way to be making major economic policy & political decisions.
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Paul Foster
leedon1982.bsky.social
At a rugby club in small-town Leicestershire. This was on the window ledge in the toilet. Fearing the worst, I scanned the QR & opened it in an incognito window…

It’s a link to Amnesty International’s explainer on asylum & refugees 😍
November 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM