#Emperor Bokassa

[deadpresidents]

This is a real message sent out on social media by Donald Trump and retweeted by the White House, amplifying the fact that it is an official statement from the President of the United States --- leader of the "free world".

Notorious dictators with insane personality cults like Turkmenbashi or Emperor Bokassa would see this and say, "Declaring yourself above the law is textbook authoritarianism, but the constipated glare in the portrait is a bit over-the-top."

I don't know about you guys, but it seems like allowing Trump to run out the clock and just walk away unscathed after being charged with 91 felonies might have given him the idea he's untouchable. Fortunately Congress is a co-equal branch of government and will strongly defend the powers granted to it by the Constitution in order to preserve the sacred separation of powers carefully constructed by the Founders, right? Hopefully there isn't some sort of Supreme Court decision that gives him broad immunity against prosecution for crimes he might commit as President.

[bellumsaur]

Fall of Freetown

Any More Claymores

Chant

A little something I had rolling around the back of my mind for a while now and had sketched the basic outline of months ago finally acted upon (or whatever); it's the city of Bata in Equatorial Guinea with helicopters and jets flying over while a giant smoke plume looms large. It's all supposed to be a big parallel to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the First Gulf War as a whole, as well as the Second to a lesser extent. I mentioned this in my description for the Congolese Fields drawing I did previously. Admittedly, I kind of screwed up with painting here, due to one or two of my Aquash brushes putting down too much water, causing it to overflow certain parts of the painting. Doesn't help that I left the original pencil strokes there instead of drawing them over with a Sakura pen like I did with my canyon painting, whoops.

So this is Imperial Centroafrican helicopters flying over the Bata rooftops amid scattered smoke plumes, ferrying commandos and other elite troops to designated locations within the city such as the Government Building (residence of Equatoguinean President Teodoro Obiang), as part of the Empire's desperate attempt to pay off the massive debts it has accrued through a decade of warfare and expensive projects Emperor Bokassa had initiated, such as the successful efforts to revitalize Lake Chad or the expansion of Bangui Airport to accommodate the Tu-144 supersonic airliner.

In the early morning hours of August 2, 1990, Imperial forces, on order from the Emperor himself, invaded Equatorial Guinea; some 50,000 ground troops, with supporting armor, artillery, and aircraft, entered Rio Muni (the mainland component of Equatorial Guinea) and swiftly occupied towns near the border such as Ebibeyin. At the same time, transport ships departed Douala, escorted by the few remaining Imperial warships, ferrying elite Imperial Guard troops and commandos. The transports landed at the port and their passengers disembarked, who swiftly occupied the city and the entire island was deemed secure. It would take almost a week to completely occupy the mainland side of the country, in spite of the poor state of the Equatoguinean Armed Forces. Scattered militia gave up some degree of resistance across the villages and dense jungles, giving the Imperial army more trouble than the supposedly-professional soldiers who mostly either surrendered in droves or dropped their weapons and fled in terror of their better-equipped and trained enemy.

By August 8, Equatorial Guinea was completely in Imperial hands and it was declared annexed as a territory of the Central African Empire, with Jean-Paul Ngoupande appointed as governor; President Obiang and all of his subordinates and lackeys were placed under house arrest. The Imperial military immediately began conscripting fit Equatoguineans in the hopes they would supplant losses sustained during the brutal war with Zaire (as well as replace the mercenaries who had left once the fighting was over). There was great public outcry and condemnations across the world in reaction to the invasion and occupation of Equatorial Guinea; more sanctions were heaped upon the Empire and both Russia and China placed arms embargoes against the ECA while member-nations of the Neutrality Protection Alliance (such as Odisha, Mirnapustny, and even neighboring Biafra) called for the Empire to withdraw its forces from Equatorial Guinea. 

Moreover by October, France, California, the Confederate States of America, and Great Britain had issued ultimatums: that the withdrawal should occur by January 15, 1991 or else the two nations would declare war. The League of Nations' Council passed Resolution 860 condemning the occupation and demanding that the ECA withdraw all forces deployed in Equatorial Guinea. After a series of failed negotiations, a coalition led by the CSA, California, France, and Great Britain (consisting predominately of Entente member-nations, as well as several neighboring African countries) launched a military assault on the Central African Empire and the Centroafrican forces occupying Equatorial Guinea in mid-January 1991. On January 16, a massive campaign of aerial bombardment was conducted by Coalition air forces against targets in Kamerun, Central Africa, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea while fighters engaged the Imperial Air Force, which had yet to recover from the costs sustained from the war with Zaire. By February 1, the Imperial Air Force had almost been completely annihilated, with many surviving aircraft fleeing to neutral Nubia, Ethiopia, and Congo-Brazzaville to be repatriated. The ground war had begun on January 18 with the Imperials launching Scud missiles against Nigeria and Gabon, with the latter being subject to ground invasion on the 20th, as several armored and mechanized division crossed the border east of the Muni estuary, using the N5 highway to travel south. Their intended target was the capital of Libreville, in the hopes that it would eliminate Gabon as both an ally and a staging ground for Coalition forces. By February 2, they would eventually be stopped in the eastern suburbs of Libreville by the Gabonese Army in conjunction with Kongolese, Santomean, and Moroccan soldiers as well as Brazilian Imperial Marines and Confederate State Marines and the air support of Gabonese, Royal Moroccan, Imperial Brazilian, French, Confederate, Royal Egyptian, Nigerian, and British Royal Air Forces.

[alfredlbrock]

Ahmet Zogu (Albania):

He was elected President of Albania.

In 1928, he proclaimed himself "King Zog I," establishing a monarchy.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa (Central African Republic):

He seized power in a coup and was president.

In 1976, he declared himself "Emperor Bokassa I," creating the Central African Empire.

Donald #Trump (Confederate States of America)

He attempted to seize power by attempting illegally to extend his #Presidency after four years of missteps and failures that left millions of Americans dead and disabled from #Covid. More millions succumbed to drug use during his misspent time in office.

After being rightfully ejected from office he apparently promised and sold away his second chance in office and immediately declared himself #King Donald. He then surrendered the sovereignty of the United States of #America to the #Russian Federation in 2025.

#KingDonald

[lboogie1906]

President Jean-Bédel Bokassa (February 22, 1921 - November 3, 1996) longtime dictator and military leader of the Central African Republic, was born in Bobangui, Oubangui-Chari. His father, a village chief of the Mbaka people, was murdered (1927) for refusing to provide labor from his village as required under French colonial rule. His mother committed suicide (1927). Missionaries took him and raised him until he joined the French colonial army, at the beginning of WWII. His part in the 1944 landings in Provence, France, and served with the French Army in Indochina and Algeria. He rose to the rank of captain. He won the Legion d’Honneur, the highest French military decoration, and the Croix de Guerre.

After Oubangui-Chari became the independent Central African Republic in 1960, he helped to establish its army and was named colonel by President David Dacko. Rising to Army Chief of Staff, seized power from President Dacko in a coup d’état and ruled the country autocratically for the next 14 years. His regime was supported by French military and economic aid. He proclaimed himself president for life. His political opponents were executed and the national economy was devastated to sustain his extravagant personal lifestyle.

In 1976, he renamed the country the Central African Empire and proclaimed himself Emperor Bokassa I. The coronation was backed by French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. He passed a regulation forcing high school students to purchase uniforms, only available from a factory owned by his wife. He ordered many of the protestors imprisoned. Over 100 children were massacred while incarcerated.

International organizations and foreign governments responded by condemning him for the murders and international organizations cut off aid. The French orchestrated another coup which returned David Dacko to power as the Central African Republic’s president in September 1979. He went into exile in Côte d’Ivoire and France.

He returned to the Central African Republic to be sentenced to death on the charge of murder. In 1993, President Andre Kolingba pardoned him and released him from prison. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.4 (1910-1980)

1917 – The Finnish Senate submits to the Parliament of Finland a proposal for the form of government of the Republic of Finland and issued a communication to Parliament declaring the independence of Finland. 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office. 1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is initiated, with an attempt to assassinate the high command of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. 1928 – Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years. 1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940. 1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends. 1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile. 1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States. 1945 – By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.) 1948 – Chinese Civil War: The SS Kiangya, carrying Nationalist refugees from Shanghai, explodes in the Huangpu River. 1949 – Sir Duncan George Stewart, governor of the Crown Colony of Sarawak, was fatally stabbed by a member of the Rukun 13. 1950 – Korean War: Jesse L. Brown (the 1st African-American Naval aviator) is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. 1950 – Korean War: Associated Press photographer Max Desfor photographs hundreds of Korean refugees crossing a downed bridge in the Taedong River: 1951 Pulitzer Prize winner Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea. 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time. 1964 – Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest of the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property. 1965 – Launch of Gemini 7 with crew members Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. The Gemini 7 spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed space rendezvous performed by the crew of Gemini 6A. 1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers. 1971 – The PNS Ghazi, a Pakistan Navy submarine, sinks during the course of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971. 1971 – During a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue. The incident served as the inspiration for Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke on the Water. 1974 – Martinair Flight 138 crashes into the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing 191. 1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire. 1977 – Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100. 1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.

[diamondnokouzai]

siefkes why didnt you tell me about emperor bokassa

[irnbraw]

Sturgeon and on and on and on...   

Loving the limelight, the Imperial Court broadcasts continue to be an almost daily occurrence.  Scotland is enraptured ..(ahem).. by the milf-lifluous tones of Her Imperial Majesty as she deigns to respond to 1 question a day (NO FOLLOW-UPS!) from her favorite performing poodles.✂️

It is, therefore, incumbent upon us all to do our part to support HIM in her every step.  That means being appreciative of HIM in giving so generously of her time, listening respectfully to HIM, not criticizing HIM, not encouraging any disrespect from the poodles for HIM.  Above all...  no speculating about HIM....✂️

This is a super-injunction for us all to live by.✂️

✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ 

[theimperialcourt]

Crown jewels of the Central African Empire used at the coronation of Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Emperor Bokassa I and Empress Catherine.

Their coronation cost $20 million, one-third of the annual budget and foreign aid of the Empire. His reign lasted from 1976-1979 before he was overthrown.

[deadpresidents]

What are you reading now and what was the last book you finished?

I had been jumping back-and-forth between two books that I basically finished at the same time. One was The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism (BOOK | KINDLE) by Mark Zwonitzer, and that was a GREAT read. John Hay has always been a fascinating figure and Mark Twain was Mark Twain, so I really got into it. I also enjoy that era of American history of post-Reconstruction/the Gilded Age/early-Progressive Era. It's a great book full of some very captivating characters. If I was able to time travel one of the main things I'd want to do is hang out with Henry Adams and John Hay and gossip about the wealthy and powerful of turn-of-the-century America.

The other book that I recently finished was Brian Titley's Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa. It's a much more obscure story, but no less interesting. It tells the story of Jean-Bédel Bokassa who became dictator of the Central African Republic in the 1960s after overthrowing his cousin, the President. Bokassa eventually declared himself Emperor and his cartoonish eccentricities and belief that he was a modern-day Napoleon would be funny if not for the fact that he was a murderous tyrant accused of cannibalism, feeding his opponents to lions, and personally torturing children. Titley doesn't simply rely on the colorful rumors and wild allegations, however, and wrote a balanced and well-researched biography that shoots down the myths and tells the whole story of Bokassa.

As for what I'm currently reading, I've tried many times over the years to read the unabridged version of Richard Francis Burton's notorious undercover pilgrimage to the Islamic holy sites at Mecca and Medina which was originally published in 1855. Since it's been in the public domain for a long time, I had previously downloaded it from archive.org, but just couldn't get into reading it on my laptop or Kindle. So, I finally just decided to try it the old-fashioned way and bought the Cambridge Library Collection of Burton's Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah, which was published in three paperback volumes in 2012. I'm only a few chapters into the first volume, but I'm glad that I bought the print copies because I feel like I'll finally be able to get through it this way.

[royaltyandpomp]

THE MILITARY

H.I.M. Emperor Bokassa I of  Central Africa, née Jean-Bedel Bokassa  (1921-1996)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

my man

my dude

why the fuck are you mourning queens death if monarchy is literally based on religious beliefs

mon·arch | ˈmänərk, ˈmäˌnärk | noun 1 a sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor: the reigning monarch | this followed an attempt by the deposed monarch to regain his throne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative, and judicial. The succession of monarchs in many cases has been hereditical, often building dynastic periods. However, elective and self-proclaimed monarchies have also happened. Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often serve as the pool of persons to draw the monarch from and fill the constituting institutions (e.g. diet and court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements. [..] Monarchies are associated with hereditary reign, in which monarchs reign for life and the responsibilities and power of the position pass to their child or another member of their family when they die. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern-day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a royal family (called a dynasty when it continues for several generations), future monarchs are often trained for their expected future responsibilities as monarch. [..] Some monarchies are not hereditary. In an elective monarchy, monarchs are elected or appointed by some body (an electoral college) for life or a defined period. Four elective monarchies exist today: Cambodia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are 20th-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient. [..] A self-proclaimed monarchy is established when a person claims the monarchy without any historical ties to a previous dynasty. There are examples of republican leaders who have proclaimed themselves monarchs: Napoleon I of France declared himself Emperor of the French and ruled the First French Empire after having held the title of First Consul of the French Republic for five years from his seizing power in the coup of 18 Brumaire. President Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in 1976. Yuan Shikai, the first formal President of the Republic of China, crowned himself Emperor of the short-lived "Empire of China" a few years after the Republic of China was founded

Did you spot the religious basis? Cause I sure didn't.

if monarchy is

That "if" is doing a lot of work. It isn't, so...

And what would it even matter if it was? I also acknowledged Betty White's death. I have no idea what her religion was, if any. Sidney Poitier was approximately a deist.

What is even your point?

She was a significant, globally known and recognized public figure, someone's mother, someone's grandmother, someone's great grandmother. She worked for 70 years for her country, something she stated on day one and fulfilled right up until the end, and did so with what has always appeared to me to be grace and dignity, in a manner which I can't imagine almost anyone currently alive replicating.

Betty White was America’s grandmother. Elizabeth II was the UK’s grandmother.

We tout the superiority of secular humanist morality over religiously motivated morality, and yet we get this. I put up 20 posts of pictures of Muhammad, and I don’t get a single word. I do two posts of EIIR and it’s a problem.

If you don’t want to recognize her life and acknowledge her passing, that’s fine. That’s your prerogative. But I do. And this is my blog. So either scroll past or, well, I don’t much care what you do.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.20 (after 1960)

1961 – Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece. 1962 – James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi. 1965 – Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. 1967 – The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland. 1971 – Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific. 1973 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome. 1973 – Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana. 1977 – Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations. 1979 – A French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I. 1982 – NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike. 1984 – A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people. 1989 – USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people. 1990 – South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia. 2000 – The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile. 2001 – In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror". 2003 – Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards. 2007 – Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate. 2008 – A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others. 2011 – The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time. 2017 – Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis. 2018 – At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. 2019 – Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.

[yu-gi-oh-slavia]

they call me jean bedel bokassa the second the way i be bankrupting my country to fund an unnecessary coronation as emperor

[aiiaiiiyo]

Jean Bedel Bokassa during his coronation ceremony to make himself Emperor Bokassa The First, Central African Republic 1977. The ceremony wasted a third of the CARs entire annual fiscal budget. (1920x1080) Check this blog!

[kittesencula]

The coronation ceremony of Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa or Bokassa I of Central Africa, 1977

[chat-chouage]

i think about jean bedel bokassa a lot like dude bankrupted his country to have himself crowned emperor only to be overthrown within like 4 years also there is a non-zero chance that he was a literal cannibal