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General: HITLER MADELEINE FRANCE
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Utah Beach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named landing beaches in Normandy, Utah is on the Cotentin Peninsula, west of the mouths of the Douve and Vire rivers. Amphibious landings at Utah were undertaken by United States Army troops, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided by the United States Navy and Coast Guard as well as elements from the British, Dutch and other Allied navies.
The objective at Utah was to secure a beachhead on the Cotentin Peninsula, the location of important port facilities at Cherbourg. The amphibious assault, primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion, was supported by airborne landings of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division. The intention was to rapidly seal off the Cotentin Peninsula, prevent the Germans from reinforcing Cherbourg, and capture the port as quickly as possible. Utah, along with Sword on the eastern flank, was added to the invasion plan in December 1943. These changes doubled the frontage of the invasion and necessitated a month-long delay so that additional landing craft and personnel could be assembled in England. Allied forces attacking Utah faced two battalions of the 919th Grenadier Regiment, part of the 709th Static Infantry Division. While improvements to fortifications had been undertaken under the leadership of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel beginning in October 1943, the troops assigned to defend the area were mostly poorly equipped non-German conscripts.
D-Day at Utah began at 01:30, when the first of the airborne units arrived, tasked with securing the key crossroads at Sainte-Mère-Église and controlling the causeways through the flooded farmland behind Utah so the infantry could advance inland. While some airborne objectives were quickly met, many paratroopers landed far from their drop zones and were unable to fulfill their objectives on the first day. On the beach itself, infantry and tanks landed in four waves beginning at 06:30 and quickly secured the immediate area with minimal casualties. Meanwhile, engineers set to work clearing the area of obstacles and mines, and additional waves of reinforcements continued to arrive. At the close of D-Day, Allied forces had only captured about half of the planned area and contingents of German defenders remained, but the beachhead was secure.
The 4th Infantry Division landed 21,000 troops on Utah at the cost of only 197 casualties. Airborne troops arriving by parachute and glider numbered an additional 14,000 men, with 2,500 casualties. Around 700 men were lost in engineering units, 70th Tank Battalion, and seaborne vessels sunk by the enemy. German losses are unknown. Cherbourg was captured on June 26, but by this time the Germans had destroyed the port facilities, which were not brought back into full operation until September.
The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion of continental Europe within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference, held in Washington in May 1943. The Allies initially planned to launch the invasion on May 1, 1944, and a draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all of the land forces involved in the invasion.
On December 31, 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions and two-thirds of an airborne division. The two generals immediately insisted that the scale of the initial invasion be expanded to five divisions, with airborne descents by three divisions, to allow operations on a wider front. The change doubled the frontage of the invasion from 25 miles (40 km) to 50 miles (80 km). This would allow for quicker offloading of men and materiel, make it more difficult for the Germans to respond, and speed up the capture of the port at Cherbourg. Eisenhower and Lieutenant General Omar Bradley selected for Utah the VII Corps. Major General J. Lawton Collins, who had experience with amphibious operations in the Pacific Theater of Operations (though not in the initial assaults), replaced Major General Roscoe Woodruff as commander of VII Corps.
The coastline of Normandy was divided into seventeen sectors, with codenames using a spelling alphabet—from Able, west of Omaha, to Roger on the east flank of Sword. Utah was originally designated "Yoke" and Omaha was "X-ray", from the phonetic alphabet. The two names were changed on 3 March 1944. "Omaha" and "Utah" were probably suggested by Bradley. Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include Utah. Sectors were further subdivided into beaches identified by the colors Green, Red, and White.
Utah, the westernmost of the five landing beaches, is on the Cotentin Peninsula, west of the mouths of the Douve and Vire rivers. The terrain between Utah and the neighboring Omaha was swampy and difficult to cross, which meant that the troops landing at Utah would be isolated. The Germans had flooded the farmland behind Utah, restricting travel off the beach to a few narrow causeways. To help secure the terrain inland of the landing zone, rapidly seal off the Cotentin Peninsula, and prevent the Germans from reinforcing the port at Cherbourg, two airborne divisions were assigned to airdrop into German territory in the early hours of the invasion.
The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft and troop carrier aircraft for the expanded operation meant that the invasion had to be delayed to June. Production of landing craft was ramped up in late 1943 and continued into early 1944, and existing craft were relocated from other theaters. More than 600 Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft and their crews took a circuitous route to England in early 1944 from Baer Field, Indiana, bringing the number of available troop carrier planes to over a thousand.
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Para otros usos de este término, véase Austerlitz.
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| Battle of Austerlitz |
| Part of the War of the Third Coalition |
Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805, romanticized painting by French artist François Gérard, c. 1810 |
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| Belligerents |
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 French Empire
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| Commanders and leaders |
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| Units involved |
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| Strength |
| 65,000–75,000[a] |
73,000–89,000[b] |
| Casualties and losses |
- Total: 8,852
- 1,288 killed
- 6,991 wounded
- 573 captured[7]
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- Total: 27,000–36,000
- 15,000–16,000 killed or wounded[7]
- 12,000–20,000 captured[7]
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Las desventuras de Pedro de Mendoza: de los sueños de riqueza al canibalismo, la sífilis y la muerte en alta mar
De su propio bolsillo armó una expedición con la idea quedarse con grandes extensiones de tierras. Pero cuando partió de España ya estaba enfermo y nada saldría según lo planeado. La crónica de un sueño que terminó en desastre
23 Jun, 2024 00:16 a.m. AR
 Pedro de Mendoza estuvo al frente de una importante expedición al Río de la Plata, que él costeó de su bolsillo (Ministerio de Cultura) Sabía que tenía los días contados cuando abordó la carabela La Magdalena. Junto al galeón Santantón y 150 hombres partió del Río de la Plata el 22 de abril de 1537. Enfermo, sin poder abandonar su camastro, Pedro de Mendoza había decidido regresar a España. Detrás dejaba una expedición en la que no encontró civilizaciones con inmensas riquezas para saquear ni tampoco pudo dar con una ruta hacia el Pacífico.
Eran tiempos en que se jugaba una carrera contrarreloj entre españoles y portugueses para hacerse de los territorios de ultramar, que pensaban que explotaban de riquezas de todo tipo. Mendoza le propuso al rey Carlos I lanzarse a la conquista.
Nacido en 1499 en el seno de una familia aristocrática, había empezado como paje en la corte y fue gracias a su padre que Pedro fue nombrado caballero.
 Ulrico Schmidl era un soldado alemán que escribiría un sorprendente relato de esos años de conquista (Grabado de la edición de Levinus Hulsius, 1599) Supo hacerse de una posición y de fortuna después de participar del saqueo de Roma en 1527 en el marco de la guerra entre los Estados Pontificios y el Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico.
El monarca español estaba en una encrucijada: era consciente que no podía quedar atrás respecto a los portugueses en la conquista de tierras de ultramar, pero los fondos escaseaban. Por eso recibió con los brazos abiertos la propuesta que Mendoza le hizo en 1534. El navegante se ofreció a costear de su propio bolsillo una expedición.
A través de la Capitulación de Toledo del 21 de mayo de 1534 el rey lo nombró adelantado con atribuciones militares y de fundador.
Mendoza estaba en una excelente posición económica que esperaba superar. Con derechos a quedarse con la mitad de los tesoros que encontrase, debía tomar posesión de las tierras que se distribuían entre lo que hoy es Buenos Aires y Asunción del Paraguay.
 Paisaje irreconocible. La artista Léonie Matthis recreó el reparto de tierras durante la segunda fundación, llevada adelante por Juan de Garay La noche del 24 de agosto de 1535 partió de Sanlúcar de Barrameda con 16 barcos, cerca de 2000 hombres y un centenar de caballos y yeguas. Fueron de la partida una decena de sacerdotes, el médico Hernando Zamora y el cirujano Pedro Gómez. Viajaban muchos parientes de Mendoza y otros personajes como Carlos Dubrín, hermano de leche de Carlos I y Rodrigo de Cepeda y Ahumada, hermano de Santa Teresa de Jesús.
La mayoría de la tripulación estaba conformada por alemanes, neerlandeses y sajones, y según las crónicas iban seis mujeres.
Mendoza ya estaba enfermo, de lo que entonces se conocía como “mal napolitano” o “morbo gálico”, que es como se conocía entonces a la sífilis, que había contraído en sus correrías por Roma. Con su cuerpo cubierto de llagas, padeció el cruce del Atlántico encerrado en su camarote.
El médico Hernán Zamora no se despegó de su lado y tenía el dato que en América crecía la planta Guayacán, para tratar esta enfermedad. Lo que ignoraba el doctor es que crecía en zonas tropicales, no en el Río de la Plata.
 Recreación de uno de los tantos enfrentamientos entre los españoles y los querandíes, tal como lo vio Schmidl El hombre no la pasó bien. Frente a las costas de Brasil, en noviembre de ese año, enfrentó un violento temporal. Uno de los barcos se hundió muriendo toda su tripulación, y algunos hombres aprovecharon para desertar. Su hermano Diego, a quien había nombrado almirante y era el responsable de guiar a la flota, se las arregló para volver a reunir a los barcos y continuar viaje hacia el Río de la Plata, adonde llegó previa escala en las costas uruguayas.
Hasta recuperarse, el Adelantado había delegado el mando a su segundo, Juan Osorio, el jefe de la infantería. Este hombre, de 25 años quien, al ver que el jefe no estaba en condiciones de mandar, pretendió desplazarlo. Luego de una dura disputa con Diego Mendoza, Osorio terminó asesinado.
El 2 o el 3 de febrero de 1536 Mendoza estableció un asentamiento en las cercanías de lo que hoy es Paseo Colón y Humberto 1°, aunque otros autores dicen que fue mucho más cerca de la Vuelta de Rocha, pegado al Riachuelo, por la actual avenida Almirante Brown, al que tomó como puerto natural y como un sitio adecuado para proteger a sus naves.
Mendoza levantó un modesto fuerte que llamó Real de Santa María del Buen Aire, nombre que aludía a una cofradía de marineros de la isla de Cerdeña. Para algunos historiadores fue la primera fundación de Buenos Aires, aunque otros no lo interpretaron así.
El español desmanteló algunos barcos para modificarlos a bergantines para navegar el curso del río. Creía que al final del viaje llegaría al Pacífico.
 En los festejos por los 400 años de la primera fundación, realizados en la Vuelta de Rocha el 2 de febrero de 1936, uno de los protagonistas fue Pedro de Mendoza (Caras y Caretas) Pero con el buen aire no podía alimentar a su tripulación. En los primeros días los querandíes, que se mostraron amistosos, les llevaron carne y pescado. Los españoles los llamaron indios pampas.
Según las crónicas de Ulrico Schmidl, miembro de la expedición, el hambre era tal, que comían toda clase de animales, insectos e incluso el cuero de los zapatos. En una oportunidad, tres hombres robaron un caballo, lo mataron y se lo comieron. Cuando fueron descubiertos, se los ahorcó. A los cuerpos aún colgados de la horca, les cortaron los muslos y los brazos y los cocinaron.
Un día los indígenas dejaron de enviar comida. Entonces Mendoza comisionó al alcalde Juan Pavón y a dos soldados a que recorrieran las cuatro leguas que los separaban de las tolderías para reclamar los alimentos.
No se sabe qué ocurrió. Aparentemente los españoles no se comportaron con corrección porque los indígenas los molieron a palos. Mendoza ordenó darles un escarmiento.
El 15 de junio de 1536, día de Corpus Christi, el adelantado comisionó a su hermano Diego con 300 soldados de infantería y una treintena de jinetes bien armados. Llevaba la orden de matar a los indios y apoderarse de sus tierras.
Pero los indígenas los estaban esperando. Ya no era un grupo reducido. Habían reunido a tribus amigas y, según Schmidl, eran cerca de cuatro mil hombres armados con flechas con punta de piedra y lanzas.
Durante el combate, unos veinte españoles de infantería y media docena de caballeros murieron a flechazos, y cerca de mil indígenas cayeron por las armas de fuego de los europeos. Al caballo de Diego de Mendoza lo derribaron con unas piedras sujetas a un cordel y, ya en el piso, lo mataron.
Siempre según la historia oficial, los indígenas huyeron y los españoles, que no pudieron tomar cautivos, se apoderaron de esas tierras. En el lugar hallaron cueros de nutrias, pescado, harina y manteca de pescado. En el río de la zona descubrieron que la pesca era abundante.
Este combate se habría desarrollado cerca del actual río Matanza que, cuando cruza la avenida General Paz, se transforma en el Riachuelo. Para algunos es el origen del nombre de lo que se transformaría en el partido más populoso del conurbano.
Pedro de Mendoza ya no sentía con fuerzas para seguir adelante con la expedición. Su enfermedad se agravaba cada vez más. Delegó el mando en Francisco Ruiz Galán y se embarcó para regresar a España. En estas tierras Galán y los hombres que quedaron -entre ellos un médico genovés, Blas Testanova- terminarían incorporándose a la colonización del Paraguay, al mando de Juan de Ayolas y Salazar, cuando éste llegó al Río de la Plata. Solo quedaron una docena de caballos que se dispersaron y se multiplicaron en el campo, y para 1541 solo quedaban ruinas de lo que había levantado Mendoza.
El viaje de regreso fue un martirio. No solo por su enfermedad, sino por la escasez de alimentos. Además, fuertes vientos hicieron desorientar al galeón Santantón que terminó en Santo Domingo.
 A los 400 años también se recreó la carabela La Magdalena, la nave de Mendoza (Caras y Caretas) Mendoza era atendido por su médico Hernando de Zamora, quien, a esa altura, se había transformado en su amigo y en un hombre de confianza con quien compartía las decisiones que tomaba.
En su camarote reunió fuerzas para redactar entre el 11 y el 13 de junio su testamento, donde estipuló el reparto de sus bienes entre su familia e iglesias. El 23 de junio, al suroeste de las islas de Cabo Verde, falleció. Al día siguiente, el día de San Juan, arrojaron al mar su cuerpo y sus sueños truncos de riquezas y gloria.
https://www.infobae.com/historia/2024/06/23/las-desventuras-de-pedro-de-mendoza-de-los-suenos-de-riqueza-al-canibalismo-la-sifilis-y-la-muerte-en-alta-mar/ |
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Are the Habsburgs Catholic?
As is so often the case, the answer is: “That depends.” While the Habsburg family guaranteed the presence of Catholicism in Europe for nearly a thousand years, there were ups and downs in their “Catholicity.” For example, after the death of Rudolph, archbishop of Olmütz (1788–1831), for almost two hundred years there were no priestly vocations in this “most Catholic of clans” until my own brother Paul became a priest in the 1990s—and not for a lack of young men.
nYet every now and then you discover a family member whose life is a shining example of Catholic faith. I recently learned that Blessed Emperor Karl is not the only Habsburg on the path to sainthood; we also have a sixteenth-century archduchess who is Venerable. The Archduchess Magdalena, born in 1532, was the fourth daughter among the fifteen children of Emperor Ferdinand I. The children were instructed in the Catholic faith from an early age. Magdalena’s mother, Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, entrusted her and several of her sisters to a governess, the devout Countess Thurn. She encouraged the countess to have little Magdalena carried to Holy Mass every day, even as a baby in her cradle. As Magdalena grew, she continued to attend daily Mass with her sisters. She exhibited great piety in her youth and regularly prayed in front of a crucifix that can still be seen today in the Spitalskirche in Innsbruck.
Anne died when Magdalena was only fourteen. From then on, Magdalena became like a mother to her two younger sisters, Margareta and Helena. Magdalena also loved to make pilgrimages to chapels and shrines dedicated to Our Lady, as well as to the site of a eucharistic miracle in Tyrol. Beautiful and bright, Magdalena was fluent in German, Italian, and Latin. This would come in handy later in life.n
Magdalena’s father, Ferdinand, intended to marry her off. But Magdalena and her younger sisters wanted to remain unmarried and create a community of pious women. Fortunately, Magdalena had a saint for an ally. In the early 1560s the famous Jesuit preacher Peter Canisius became Magdalena’s confessor and helped her spiritual vocation to mature. In 1563, through his intercession and that of her sister Anna (who had married the Duke of Bavaria), she begged for her father’s permission to found the new community. He twice refused. Undeterred, Magdalena continued to pray and write to Prague, where her father’s court resided. In the end, her father acquiesced. Around this time, the Italian master Arcimboldo painted his now famous portrait of the archduchess.n
After her father’s death in 1564, Magdalena and Helena made a vow of virginity. In 1567, Magdalena founded the Haller Stift, a royal convent in the Austrian town of Hall in Tyrol where both aristocratic and bourgeois women could serve God under Jesuit direction. Magdalena worked untiringly to help the poor and orphans in Hall, and to form and educate the youth (in part to combat the influence of Protestant thought).
Magdalena also wrote for her community a rule of life for growth in prayer and holiness. The ladies began an intense prayer regime from the moment they awoke each day. Those who could read prayed the Little Office of Our Lady, while those with lesser reading skills prayed the full Rosary (the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries). They assisted each day at three Masses, one of which was always offered for the poor souls in Purgatory. Magdalena was very strict about arriving on time to Mass; if she was ever late to Mass herself, she would spend the entire time kneeling outside. When they weren’t praying, the women cared for the sick and worked with their hands. Some of the priestly vestments and altar cloths embroidered by Magdalena can still be admired today.
n
 Magdalena at eighteen
But Magdalena’s greatest gift was her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. In the spirit of the Council of Trent, she spent many hours praying before our Lord. Through her personal piety she managed to win back many priests who, in the confusion of the Reformation, had abandoned their vocation. With her help, they returned to the right path.
Not all Habsburgs were pious Catholics. Magdalena’s brother Maximilian II was very tolerant toward Protestantism, stopped going to Holy Mass halfway through his reign, and even renounced Last Rites before his death in 1576. His son Rudolph II dabbled in astrology, alchemy, and esoteric arts in his castle in Prague, and rejected confession as he lay dying. Their politics in matters of faith were catastrophic from a Catholic viewpoint and led to a dramatic situation in the empire. By the mid-sixteenth century, up to 90 percent of the empire’s population had—in name or behavior—become Protestant, including priests and aristocrats. The famous monasteries along the Danube were closing left and right. Something had to be done.
When Papal Legate Jerome de Porcia arrived in Innsbruck on behalf of Pope Gregory XIII to convince the Habsburgs to embark upon the important work of the Counter-Reformation, he knew he could not rely on the lukewarm Emperor Maximilian II. He therefore went directly to Magdalena in Hall. This was the greatest moment in Magdalena’s spiritual life. First, she went to her brother, Archduke Ferdinand. He listened to her and in turn convinced Archduke Carl II, their brother, to take up the cause. With her sister Anna on her side, Magdalena was able to initiate the so-called Munich Conference in October 1579, which brought together archdukes Ferdinand, Carl, Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria, and the Papal Legate Porcia. Together they hammered out a fascinating agreement (Münchner Beschlüsse) that was a step-by-step plan on how to bring the Austrian countries back to the Catholic faith. Without this conference, there would be far fewer Catholics in Austria today.
Magdalena died in 1590. Years later, two more Habsburg nieces followed in her footsteps and entered the same house. The Haller Stift existed for 216 years. Unfortunately, on July 9, 1783, Emperor Joseph II dissolved it and left its church desecrated, as part of his campaign to eradicate monastic life (a total of 1,300 monasteries were suppressed). In the centuries that followed, the convent would eventually become a Sparkasse bank—until 1915, when Blessed Emperor Karl rededicated the monastery and invited a new order of nuns from Belgium—the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—to reside in the same sacred space where his saintly ancestor had lived 350 years before. Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament continues at this convent even today.
When the monastery was rededicated, the initial steps were also taken in Magdalena’s process of beatification. Sadly, this process is presently dormant, but perhaps, with the help of your prayers and with Magdalena’s intercession, we might get it moving again. I include a beautiful prayer for her beatification and intercession, translated from the original German, below.
Most kind and gracious Jesus,
nYou granted your servant Magdalena of Austria the grace to renounce all worldly honor and wealth and to long only for heavenly riches. Inspired and supported by your grace, she worked constantly for the salvation of souls, by fighting false doctrines and persevering in the true faith.
nShe instructed the young, cared for the poor and the sick, and above all promoted adoration of your true presence in the most holy eucharist. Beloved Jesus, your servant Magdalena assisted so many during her life by her actions and after her death continues to come to the aid of those who invoke her intercession. We beseech you to show forth the power of her intercession by granting miracles to those who call upon her. Hasten the day when your servant Magdalena will be counted among the blessed, and when our suffering fatherland will have a new intercessor, patroness, and protectress. Amen.
Eduard Habsburg is Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See.
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