Mitchel Stuffers
Assistant Editor at CIGH Exeter & PhD Candidate in History, University of Exeter

From Europeanists who aim to revive Latin to the history of today’s Sino-Japanese “war of words”, here are this week’s top picks in imperial and global history.

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Ad Bruxellam: Making Latin the EU’s next language

Martina Monti
Euroactiv

It hides in Brussels more than you think, even in the EU’s motto. Latin is not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Europe’s next common language. Isn’t it a dead language carved into Roman statues, only preserved in Vatican encyclicals and remembered mainly by traumatised adults who still wake up sweating over their Latin homework, rosa, rosae? A new pan-European movement called Via Nova wants to revive Latin to give Europeans a shared spoken language with historical weight, one that, in its words, carries “civilisational baggage”.

The aim is not to replace German, Czech, or Maltese, but to give the continent a lingua franca that can act as a source of identity for pan-Europeanism, and eventually become an official EU language. The EU already has 24 languages, and adding another one would require unanimous agreement from member states. For Via Nova President Timi Celcer, the bloc has spent decades building political institutions and an integrated market, but has never quite found a common cultural language that carries identity and memory. “Of course, we are not naive to the point that Latin can be revived tomorrow,” Celcer tells Euractiv. [Continue reading]

Who Are the Owners of These Nazi-Looted Masterpieces—and Could Displaying Them at One of France’s Most Popular Museums Help Track Them Down?

Ellen Wexler
Smithsonian Magazine

A new permanent display at the Musée d’Orsay showcases artworks that may have been stolen or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. Officials are still hoping to find the families of their rightful owners. Here’s what scholars know about The Dinner at the Ball: Painted by Edgar Degas in 1879, the scene depicts a crowd dressed to the nines beneath lavish chandeliers. The French artist owned the piece until his death in 1917. Two years later, a Jewish art collector named Fernand Ochsé purchased it.

But why, exactly, did Ochsé, who died at Auschwitz in 1944, part with the painting? “What we don’t know is how it goes from Mr. Ochsé to Mr. Coutot,” François Blanchetière, a curator in charge of sculpture at the Musée d’Orsay, tells the New York Times’ Ségolène Le Stradic. “Was it a forced sale?” These kinds of mysteries are at the heart of a new permanent display at the French national museum. The one-room exhibition—titled “Who Owns These Works?”—is dedicated to artworks that may have been looted or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. [Continue reading]

Global heritage group offers to work with Peru’s government on improving conditions at Machu Picchu

Maurico Muñoz
AP News

A global heritage foundation that works to improve conditions at famous archaeological sites offered on Tuesday to work with Peruvian authorities on the famed Machu Picchu, where tourists often face hours of lines, overcrowding and unreliable local transport. The announcement by the New7Wonders foundation comes months after it warned last September that a designation of one of the New Seven Wonders of the World — given to Machu Picchu in 2007 — was at risk because of numerous problems visitors face at the site.

Jean Paul De la Fuente, the foundation’s director, said he had seen “no progress” at the archaeological site since last year’s warning, attributing it to Peru’s “political paralysis.” De la Fuente, currently in Peru for talks with tourism officials, added that he was willing to meet with the next Peruvian administration to “explore solutions” to the poor services at the site. Jean Paul De la Fuente, the foundation’s director, said he had seen “no progress” at the archaeological site since last year’s warning, attributing it to Peru’s “political paralysis.” [Continue reading]

Once-confidential documents reveal Scalia’s role in Supreme Court taking up famous Dick Cheney case

Joan Biskupic
CNN

In late 2003, Supreme Court justices were prepared to reject a case involving then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s attempt to keep private politically sensitive records from his energy policy task force that had recommended opening more federal lands to oil and gas drilling. But then-Justice Antonin Scalia launched into action – in moves concealed from the public at the time.

Scalia has long been linked to the dispute. He went on a long-planned duck hunting trip with Cheney three weeks after the court announced it would hear the case, generating one of the most enduring controversies over Supreme Court ethics. Once-confidential materials reviewed by CNN show how Scalia drove the decision to hear the Cheney appeal in the first place. [Continue reading]

The Militarism War of Words: Why China and Japan Are Facing Off Again

Mehwish Abbas
Think Tank Journal

A new war of words between Japan and China is exposing deeper geopolitical tensions across Asia. While Tokyo insists it is only strengthening its defenses in response to growing regional threats, Beijing argues that Japan is slowly abandoning its post-World War II pacifist identity and returning to a path of militarization. The latest confrontation emerged after Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi rejected Chinese accusations of “new militarism” and instead accused China of rapidly expanding its military power without sufficient transparency. The exchange highlights a broader struggle over security, history, Taiwan, and the future balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.

What appears to be a diplomatic argument is actually part of a much larger geopolitical contest between Asia’s second- and third-largest economies. Why China Is Accusing Japan of “New Militarism”: For China, the term “militarism” carries powerful historical significance. Memories of Japan’s military expansion before and during World War II remain deeply embedded in Chinese political narratives. Beijing frequently references Japan’s wartime actions to warn against what it sees as a revival of Japanese military influence in Asia. [Continue reading]