Since February 1, according to the Chinese horoscope, we have the Year of the Tiger. In the past, these were often very turbulent years that brought about major changes. You can believe in it or not,
but here is a small, incomplete selection of the last 120 years:
1902: The Second Boer War rages in South Africa. In April and May there are volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in Guatemala and on the Antillean island of Martinique. Tens of thousands of people died.
On October 24, the Santa María volcano largely destroys Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala. The city has not really recovered from this catastrophe. But 1902 is a rather quiet year compared
to other Tiger years.
1914: World War I begins. This was the primordial catastrophe and the great gamechanger of the 20th century.
1926: A relatively quiet year of the Tiger, but with major labor struggles and a general strike in England. In May, Pilsudski usurps the political power in Poland; in the same month established General Gomes da Costa
in Portugal through a coup d'état a conservative, authoritarian regime.
1938: On March 12, Hitler annexed Austria. The Sudeten crisis follows and on September 30, 1938, the Czechoslovak Republic had to give up the Sudetenland to Germany in the Munich Agreement. At that time,
the Spanish Civil War and the Japanese-Chinese War were also raging.
1950: In June of that year, the Korean War begins, one of the largest proxy wars in the 20th century. In the U.S., Senator Joseph McCarthy becomes a central figure of his era. On July 7, Julius Rosenberg is arrested.
1962: On February 16 and 17, Germany and Holland experience the worst storm surge of the last 100 years. In October, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurs between the USA and the USSR. The world stands before the
nuclear explosion.
1974: Europe is hit hard by the effects of the 1973 oil crisis. In July, officers of the National Guard in Cyprus put down a coup against the government of Archbishop Makarios. Turkey then occupied the northern part of the island.
The threat of war with Turkey leads to chaos in Greece; the Greek regime of the colonels collapses on July 23, and the puppet government in Cyprus is also overthrown. Portugal experiences the Carnation Revolution and the dictator
Marcelo Caetano is removed from power. In Germany, Willy Brandt resigns as chancellor because of the spy Günter Guillaume. In the USA, the climax of Watergate has been reached. On July 27, formal investigations begin into the
impeachment of Richard Nixon. On August 9, Nixon avoids impeachment and resigns as president. Before that, he had prayed together with Henry Kissinger.
1986: On April 26, the Chernobyl reactor disaster occurs. Under the code name Operation El Dorado Canyon U.S. forces launched airstrikes on the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. (This is good, old tradition to the present day.
That' s all for freedom and democracy.)
1998: On April 29, the Kyoto Protocol is signed by 34 countries. The climate change agenda has reached its first major milestone. In retaliation for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S. Air Force
unexpectedly attacks targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. Cruise missiles fired from warships also destroy the Ash-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in al-Chartum Bahri, Sudan. This happened on August 20. The European Central Bank is established
as the legal successor to the European Monetary Institute. Under its president, Wim Duisenberg, it prepares the third and final stage of European monetary union, the introduction of the Euro as a common currency. On June 3, the ICE
"Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen" derails near Eschede due to a defective wheel tire. 101 passengers die in this accident.
2010: An earthquake in Haiti kills about 220 000 people and leaves 1.3 million homeless. The ash cloud following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland leads to closures of the European air traffic. The explosion
of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico leads to the worst oil disaster in the history of the United States.
What will this year of the tiger bring? It seems to me that the signs are pointing to a storm. We could be in a roller coaster ride of change. But will everyone like it? I have my doubts about that.
