The only people I've ever met who know who this person is IRL outside of Mongolia are Kaiserreich players. You can imagine what it's like interacting with such people...
Ungern features as a prominent persona in Victor Pelevin's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapayev_and_Void - so any Russian-reading person who read this (one of the most famous) works of Pelevin at least heard the name (though Pelevin's Ungern, of course, has as little to do with the real-life prototype as the rest of the people featured in this work, specifically very little). But for some it prompted further inquiry into the biography of this very, very un-ordinary man.
Oh, man. Ungern-Sternberg was absolutely batshit. I mean, I'm sure the communists told stories about him, but even his fellow anti-communists regarded him as a bloodthirsty psychopath: Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski's Beasts, Gods & Men is a firsthand account of Ungern-Sternberg's lunacy, and it seems likely that Ossendowski would be more disposed to downplay what a whacko he was rather than make up stories. I've never actually seen or heard of anyone admiring the old basket case before, it's actually kind of impressive. While I was reading this I just kept hearing Dennis Hopper's voice in my head: "What will they say about him? That he was a kiiiind maaaan? That he was a wiiiise maaaan? That he had plaaaans, maaaan?" :-D
So, what is the worst thing he did? I mean from what I know he wanted to be a conqueror of sorts, liked Buddhism (that doesn't imply pacifism), restored monarchy and independence of Mongolia and tried to institute some measure of modernization.
Yes, he did have people executed. But he never got close the the numbers accomplished by Lenin and his bolsheviks.
Raging anti-semite, wanted to exterminate all the Jews, rode across Asia under a red banner with a white circle containing a swastika (in 1920!) -- where have we heard this before?
He used to ride into villages and round up all the men. Those who were of an age to fight, he conscripted: the rest he put to the sword -- "they'll fight for us in their next incarnation".
He was a proto-Nazi monster with genocidal ambitions.
What in the holy fuck is the person behind this blog smoking?
> "I don’t think I’ve been very ambiguous about the fact that I am a monarchist who thinks revolutionaries should be drug out into the street and shot..." - The Mad Monarchist
Well he is a monarchist.
And revolutionaries have proclaimed exactly this sentiment in the past toward monarchists in the past, and put it in practice on mass scale.
This sort of performative outrage, telling people to "have a normal one", to "touch grass", to inform them that this is, in fact, a Wendy's upon encountering something they don't read 24x7 on Reddit - whats this supposed to add to the discussion? Are you telling us you're "a decent person"? Inform us exactly how wide your Overton Window is? This type of Aggressively Conventional tone policing is befitting of a schoolmarm hall monitor, not HN.
Yeah, the "about" section is quite the rollercoaster too. I think that's the first time I've read "reactionary" as a positive self-identity.
And if anyone still had questions about the guy's personal opinion of Ungern-Sternberg, that tagline in the blog title is in fact a quote from him [1] - and after reading the article, I suspect it's meant exactly how it appears.
It's really interesting (in a morbid curiosity kind of way) to learn that communities like this exist on the web. But yeah, bit of a friendly reminder too that only because a blog has a pleasant writing style or interesting content, it doesn't tell you anything about the actual people behind it, their affiliation or whether or not they are in fact batshit insane.
And yeah, gotta admit, I learned about Ungern-Sternberg too, because I had never heard of that guy before. Though I wonder what kind of horrible things he must have done if even an outspoken monarchist who is perfectly ok with shooting "revolutionaries" on the streets admits that he was a "colorful character"...
As mentioned, this is not even that long ago. In a somewhat related perspective, (former) aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss was a leading figure in a plot to start a monarchistic/fascist coup d'état in Germany just last year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_XIII_Prinz_Reuss
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 79.1 ms ] threadhttp://madmonarchist.blogspot.com/2011/05/monarchist-profile...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheLaundry...
https://www.google.com/search?q=corto+maltese+ungern+sternbe...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhtB7VYXdqY&t=38s
Yes, he did have people executed. But he never got close the the numbers accomplished by Lenin and his bolsheviks.
He used to ride into villages and round up all the men. Those who were of an age to fight, he conscripted: the rest he put to the sword -- "they'll fight for us in their next incarnation".
He was a proto-Nazi monster with genocidal ambitions.
If this is the best “not that bad” comparator you can come up with, I will submit that thing you are using it for is, ipso facto, pretty bad.
Great book, by the way. And not only the part about Ungern was interesting but also the part about buddhists and their "miracles".
> "I don’t think I’ve been very ambiguous about the fact that I am a monarchist who thinks revolutionaries should be drug out into the street and shot..." - The Mad Monarchist
This is very similar to one of Dugin's "long-running" and proactive projects.
And if anyone still had questions about the guy's personal opinion of Ungern-Sternberg, that tagline in the blog title is in fact a quote from him [1] - and after reading the article, I suspect it's meant exactly how it appears.
It's really interesting (in a morbid curiosity kind of way) to learn that communities like this exist on the web. But yeah, bit of a friendly reminder too that only because a blog has a pleasant writing style or interesting content, it doesn't tell you anything about the actual people behind it, their affiliation or whether or not they are in fact batshit insane.
And yeah, gotta admit, I learned about Ungern-Sternberg too, because I had never heard of that guy before. Though I wonder what kind of horrible things he must have done if even an outspoken monarchist who is perfectly ok with shooting "revolutionaries" on the streets admits that he was a "colorful character"...
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/16358340.Baron_Roman...
Talentless and lazy. These will wash out during training.
Talentless and energetic. These will form the backbone of your officer corps.
Talented and lazy. These are destined for high command.
Talented and energetic. These are dangerous and much be watched very closely.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord#...
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https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-White-Baron-Extraordinary-Nobl...