LiveJournal is educational

[redbird]

Thanks to a question by polyfrog, leading to a Wikipedia article <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/declarations_of_war_in_the_united_states>, I now know when the peace treaty ending World War II was signed. It's officially the "Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany," and may be the last significant thing the German Democratic Republic ever did. The treaty was signed in Moscow in September 1990, a few weeks before the reunification of Germany.

I also found myself wondering why, after a few dozen members of Congress voted against war with Germany in early 1914, only Jeanette Rankin voted against war with Austria-Hungary a few months later. Also why she voted against war with Japan in 1941, but not against war with Germany three days later. The Wikipedia article doesn't list who voted how, so I'm guessing she abstained rather than voting in favor. (Rankin served exactly two terms in Congress; one beginning in 1917, the other beginning in 1941.)

No, this has little to do with anything, except for my general desire to know about everything. I'm already working on it, hence the digression about Rep. Rankin, not mentioned in any of what I read tonight.

Comments

[ckd]

I have pointed out the 1990 date in reference to MIT's building 20, which was a temporary building granted a permit with specific language:

"We received the decision for the Cambridge Board of Appeal on May 5, 1943 allowing us to construct the building as a war measure, the life of said building to be for the duration of the war and six months thereafter."

It lasted more than six months after the end of the war. The 1990 end of the war.

Rep Rankin

[bschilli.livejournal.com]

She made a campaign promise in 1940. She would not vote for war. She kept her promise, making her one of the very few at least somewhat honest politicians.

Ben

[alanro.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, the Soviet Union never signed a peace treaty with Japan, and negotiations between Russia and Japan over the status of the Kurile Islands are still ongoing.

It's not over till it's over...

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to research Rep. Rankin; thanks for the nudge. My family has been active in Montana Democratic politics for three generations and they speak of her with the same reverence they use when discussing the brilliant statesman Senator Mike Mansfield. Please let me know what you find out.

[redbird]

I'm not actually researching Rankin; what I posted about her is stuff I learned years ago.

[beginning.livejournal.com]

On a related note, I wrote one of my recent scholarship essays on Rankin. I had to pick someone pre-1980 whose leadership and activism I admire.