Authors:Jongseok Woo Abstract: North Korea remains the only nonmonarchic regime that has successfully completed three-generation hereditary successions, i.e., Kim Il-sung (1948–1994) to Kim Jong-il (1997–2011) and to Kim Jong-un (2011–present). The North Korean case is an outlier in the world of personalist dictatorships, which typically suffer frequent political crises and regime failure due to the degeneration of political institutions, political whims by single dictator, and frequent coups. The Korean People’s Army (KPA) has been the backbone of the three generations of Kim family rule. This article analyzes the political influence and role of the military in North Korea from state-building to the early 1970s, during which Kim Il-sung consolidated his personalist dictatorship through power struggles with different factions and initiated the first hereditary succession to his son, Kim Jong-il. The analysis suggests that the KPA’s self-defined mission transformed from the people’s army (1948–1950s) to the party’s army (1960s) and to Kim Il-sung’s army (1970s–1994). Such transformations were in parallel with Kim Il-sung’s political rise, struggles with rival factions, and the establishment of a personalist dictatorship in North Korea. The analysis reveals that the military has been a mere servant to the Kim family regime and its challenges to the current leader Kim Jong-un will remain doubtful. PubDate: 2024-06-05 Issue No:Vol. 23, No. 2 (2024)
Authors:Brian Pascas Abstract: This article tracks the Canadian Corps advance from northern France into Belgium, pursuing the retreating German army during the last week of the First World War on the Western Front. The 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade’s battalions approached the city of Mons aiming to liberate it with minimal loss of life. As patrols infiltrated Mons in the early hours of 11 November, city officials welcomed the Canadians and invited their officers to add their signatures to the pages of the Golden Book of Mons in the Hôtel de Ville. To achieve a relevant context for these signings, the daily operations of the Canadian Corps in the last week of the war are analysed. These reveal that the war diaries and regimental histories of these units contain mistakes and inconsistencies when compared to each other, the written accounts of Mons officials, and post-war veterans interviews. PubDate: 2024-06-05 Issue No:Vol. 23, No. 2 (2024)
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