Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Debliey Chuck Awardy. And by
Speaker 1: the time this publishes, it's going to be a little
Speaker 1: bit after St. Patrick's Day and just a little bit
Speaker 1: before Easter, So I figured that is perfect timing to
Speaker 1: discuss the Irish revolutionary and English trader Sir Roger David Casement,
Speaker 1: and casement story really involves much more than just treason
Speaker 1: or patriotism, which are of course interesting subjects on their own.
Speaker 1: The listener who suggested it to us wrote that it
Speaker 1: also includes quote war, espionage, adventure, gay history, and worldwide
Speaker 1: first and human rights on three continents. And then add
Speaker 1: to that friends like podcast regular Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Speaker 1: enemies like podcast regular King Leopold the Second and ex
Speaker 1: friends like Joseph Conrad, plus an exhimation and a reputation
Speaker 1: that's still debated today nearly one hundred years after his execution.
Speaker 1: So that's a lot of stuff, it is. So in
Speaker 1: this episode we'll talk about the dual identities of Roger Casement,
Speaker 1: his career as a crusading diplomat of Britain, his disgrace
Speaker 1: as a German collaborator in World War One, and the
Speaker 1: secret diaries that very likely cost him his life. The
Speaker 1: interesting thing to me about Casement, though, is that the
Speaker 1: duality that characterizes his life really started quite early. He
Speaker 1: was born September one, eighteen sixty four, near Dublin, to
Speaker 1: a family with a very long history of military or
Speaker 1: civil service to the British Crown. His father, for example,
Speaker 1: with a pensioned army captain who had moved the family
Speaker 1: around Ireland, England and Europe, just kind of looking for
Speaker 1: cheap rent and a good climate because he was in
Speaker 1: poor health. Casement's father was also Church of Ireland and
Speaker 1: he raised his sons to be Protestant, but caseman mother
Speaker 1: was Catholic, and when he was only three years old,
Speaker 1: she had him and his brother's baptized Catholic in secret though,
Speaker 1: so that's the first main duoity I think in Casement's
Speaker 1: upbringing and eventually his life. By his teens, Casement was
Speaker 1: orphaned and he spent the rest of his youth in
Speaker 1: Ulster and in Liverpool, where he began working as a
Speaker 1: clerk for an English based shipping company at nineteen. His
Speaker 1: work first took him to West Africa, which is where
Speaker 1: he joined the falsely benevolent African International Association run by Leopold,
Speaker 1: the second King of the Belgians. And that was just
Speaker 1: to remind you, Empress Carlotta's brother and Queen Victoria's cousin.
Speaker 1: So he popped up in podcasts from time to time too,
Speaker 1: yes you may remember him. And this job had Casement
Speaker 1: reporting to a governor general installed by none other than
Speaker 1: Henry Morton Stanley, So a lot of regular names of
Speaker 1: the Kevin Bacon I think of our podcast at things Um.
Speaker 1: Casement's later work in Africa involved all sorts of work
Speaker 1: British consular bisin this surveys of the Lower Congo organizing
Speaker 1: shipping transportation, and that last job, the shipping transportation organization,
Speaker 1: was something that introduced Casement to the writer Joseph Conrad
Speaker 1: in Conrad has had, of course arrived in the Congo
Speaker 1: to captain and Belgian steamer and Casement was there arranging
Speaker 1: the transport service, and the two wound up spending several
Speaker 1: weeks together. And Conrad's initial almost awe struck assessment of
Speaker 1: Casement was one that really stuck one that you'll see
Speaker 1: referring to Casement pretty frequently. It was I can assure
Speaker 1: you that he has a limpid personality. There is a
Speaker 1: touch at the conquistador and him too, for I've seen
Speaker 1: him start off into an unspeakable wilderness, swinging a crook
Speaker 1: handled stick for all weapon. He could tell you things,
Speaker 1: things I have tried to forget, things I never did know.
Speaker 1: So we need to stop and talk about this Conrad
Speaker 1: association for a second, because there are probably already alerts
Speaker 1: going off in your head with the mention of both
Speaker 1: the Congo and Joseph Conrad, and that quote probably set
Speaker 1: off a few more. Actually the end, they're right. According
Speaker 1: to Julie F. Codal, author of Imperial co Histories, some
Speaker 1: of those trips into the interior directly inspired scenes in
Speaker 1: Conrad's book Heard of Darkness. Some have even speculated that
Speaker 1: Casement partly inspired the character of Curts, although to be fair,
Speaker 1: apparently there are a lot of inspirations behind Kurts. But
Speaker 1: you can see certain comparisons between that character and this man.
Speaker 1: But we shouldn't make Casement sound too much like a
Speaker 1: tough guy though, because according to an article by Robert
Speaker 1: Burrows and the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. His
Speaker 1: writings from these early years in Africa, you know, before
Speaker 1: he was working as a consul, really set him apart
Speaker 1: from guys like Stanley. And there are a few reasons
Speaker 1: behind that. One is that he freely acknowledges his misadventures, like,
Speaker 1: for instance, when he was attacked by a form of bees,
Speaker 1: not just a natural swarm of the beas used as
Speaker 1: a as a biological weapon. I suppose another main difference,
Speaker 1: and this is when Conrad emphasized too, is that Casement
Speaker 1: kind of relished his lack of firearms almost and it
Speaker 1: was something that he believed made him more popular with
Speaker 1: the local people. And then a final reason, which, having
Speaker 1: read a little bit of Stanley's work too, something that
Speaker 1: really makes Casement stand apart is he freely acknowledged help
Speaker 1: he received from people and how much how much he
Speaker 1: was reliant on that help. Another thing that set him
Speaker 1: apart he seemed to have left his various posts in
Speaker 1: Africa sort of jumping around, partly because of the violence
Speaker 1: that he saw inflicted by his colleague, because he wasn't
Speaker 1: willing to stay put after he saw something exactly by
Speaker 1: nineteen dred. He was put in charge of setting up
Speaker 1: a British consulate in the Congo. By this point, King
Speaker 1: Leopold the Second and his Congo Free State were on
Speaker 1: worldwide watch due to charges of human rights atrocities and slavery.
Speaker 1: Part of Darkness had recently been published as a serial,
Speaker 1: and more than a few people were noticing that considering
Speaker 1: how much was exported from the Congo, there really wasn't
Speaker 1: much besides weapons going in. So finally public attention got
Speaker 1: hot enough for the British Foreign Office to send Casement
Speaker 1: on a trip to the interior in nineteen o three,
Speaker 1: and he outlined those atrocities that were taking place. Women, children,
Speaker 1: elders and chiefs all being held hostage, for example, while
Speaker 1: young men were sent into the jungle to collect rubber,
Speaker 1: and there were massed shootings of those who refused to
Speaker 1: do the work and mutilations. I mean, I think that's
Speaker 1: probably the most famous atrocity associated with the Congo. You'll
Speaker 1: see pictures of little children who have had hands, arms
Speaker 1: and feet cut off to force their parents to go
Speaker 1: into the jungle and collect rubber. When his report went public,
Speaker 1: it caused a huge stir. Eventually Leopold was forced to
Speaker 1: sell his private interests to Belgium in nineteen o eight
Speaker 1: and that marked the end of the worst atrocities. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: though across the globe, Newspaperman was starting to publish all
Speaker 1: these stories about similar atrocities committed against another indigenous rubber
Speaker 1: gathering population, this time in the Putumayo River region of
Speaker 1: the Amazon Rainforest. And the landing question where these atrocities
Speaker 1: were supposedly taking place was controlled by the London based
Speaker 1: Peruvian Amazon Company, which exported rubber from Peru to Britain,
Speaker 1: so that was kind of buzzing. People were getting concerned
Speaker 1: about that. But when further claims of abuse from workers
Speaker 1: from Barbados who were working in Peru but were of
Speaker 1: course British subjects started to trickle in, the Anti Slavery
Speaker 1: and Aborigines Protection Society got involved in the whole thing,
Speaker 1: and the organization eventually pressured the British government to form
Speaker 1: a team of corporate investigators head down to the site
Speaker 1: where the atrocities or the region where the atrocities are
Speaker 1: believed to be taking place, and examine the claims find
Speaker 1: out if there was truth behind them. So Casement with
Speaker 1: his already stellar human rights record, he seemed like the
Speaker 1: perfect man to represent the government in this investigation. So
Speaker 1: in nineteen o eight he had been made console in
Speaker 1: Rio de Janeiro and in nineteen ten he started work
Speaker 1: on exposing the atrocities of the Peruvian Amazon Company and
Speaker 1: its president, the incredibly wealthy Julio says are Arana. What
Speaker 1: he found was as bad, if not worse than what
Speaker 1: he found in the Congo forced cannibalism, gang rape, beheadings
Speaker 1: and floggings just for minor infractions. Children were regularly put
Speaker 1: into stocks in case it gathered all this information and
Speaker 1: he backed up his work with photos even plus affidavits
Speaker 1: from the Barbadian workers who were basically treated as indentured servants,
Speaker 1: And just like with the Congay Report, he put it
Speaker 1: all together and it was eventually published as the Putumayo
Speaker 1: Report or the Blue Book. And when it was public
Speaker 1: there's had a long delay actually, while officials in England
Speaker 1: were trying to figure out what they were going to
Speaker 1: do about it, since this, after all, was a London
Speaker 1: based company. Um But once it did finally get out there,
Speaker 1: it had a similar effect as the Congo Report, at
Speaker 1: least initially, the company was forced into liquidation, and Casement
Speaker 1: even told a friend quote, I have blown up the
Speaker 1: devil's playground in Peru. I told you I should, and
Speaker 1: I have done it. He was knighted after that, and
Speaker 1: then he resigned from service due to his health, and
Speaker 1: after that it was back to Ireland. So while Casement
Speaker 1: was accepting these honors, he was also publishing anti British essays,
Speaker 1: So you might find that a little bit confusing. But
Speaker 1: the disconnect between his service on behalf of the Empire
Speaker 1: and his increasing desire for Irish independence really isn't quite
Speaker 1: as great as it seems. He simply saw the Irish
Speaker 1: as another oppressed people. He even wrote the quote white
Speaker 1: Indians of Ireland are heavier on my heart than all
Speaker 1: the Indians of the rest of the earth. And I
Speaker 1: read an article by Richard Kirkland in the Irish Studies
Speaker 1: Review that even noted the sympathetic understanding of oppression may
Speaker 1: have been what motivated him in his diplomatic or his
Speaker 1: human rights work. In the first place. He quotes Casement
Speaker 1: is saying, the more we love our land and wish
Speaker 1: to help our people, the more keenly we feel we
Speaker 1: cannot turn a deaf ear to suffering an injustice in
Speaker 1: any part of the world. So the other way you
Speaker 1: look at it, the UM work with people in the
Speaker 1: Congo and the Amazon influencing his later feelings about Ireland,
Speaker 1: or the other way around. He certainly turned into a
Speaker 1: ardent Irish republican. Initially, though Casement kept to the focused domestic,
Speaker 1: helping to form the Irish National Volunteers in late nineteen thirteen.
Speaker 1: He also wrote open letters urging Irish not to fight
Speaker 1: and what seemed like an approaching World war. But by
Speaker 1: July nineteen fourteen, he was looking for even more aggressive
Speaker 1: ways to put Ireland against England, and so he traveled
Speaker 1: to New York City to meet with the German consular officials.
Speaker 1: There he hoped to secure by doing this UM German
Speaker 1: support for an Irish revolt, something that would divert England's
Speaker 1: attention from the continent and create a two front war.
Speaker 1: So from that point Caseman actually traveled on to Germany
Speaker 1: by way of Neutral Norway for further talks. So from
Speaker 1: that point, once he was in Germany, it was agreed
Speaker 1: that the German government would help support Irish independence and
Speaker 1: even allow Casement to raise an all Irish brigade from
Speaker 1: Irish prisoners of war who were detained in Germany. Um
Speaker 1: So Casement was enthusiastic about that. Unfortunately for him, though,
Speaker 1: the Irish POWs were not so enthusiastic. He could only
Speaker 1: get fifty three volunteers interested. And um, I mean, I
Speaker 1: was trying to imagine how this would have gone down,
Speaker 1: And to me, it doesn't really seem that surprising that
Speaker 1: after you were being held a prisoner of war by
Speaker 1: the German you might not want to join them. But
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure there were other concerned that play
Speaker 1: for these POWs. So raising troops eventually turned into another enterprise,
Speaker 1: and that was gun running. And by mid February, when
Speaker 1: the Germans got word that the Irish we're going to
Speaker 1: plan arising on Easter nineteen sixteen, they agreed to send
Speaker 1: some weapons to help, twenty five thousand Russian rifles and
Speaker 1: one million rounds, maybe even some German trained officers, all
Speaker 1: of course to support the Irish, and again, like you
Speaker 1: just mentioned, to create a two fronted war, divert England's attention.
Speaker 1: But the problem was rifles. Sounds like a lot. But
Speaker 1: Caseman realized at the time that it was the most
Speaker 1: of Germans were going to be able to do, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't going to be enough to support their rising,
Speaker 1: so he asked the German authorities to send him back
Speaker 1: off to Ireland on a U boat, and he was
Speaker 1: hoping to stop the rising before it was too late,
Speaker 1: except the British had already been aware of a lot
Speaker 1: of what was going on all along, and upon landing,
Speaker 1: Casement was arrested. That same day, the Royal Navy captured
Speaker 1: the arm ship, which had missed its rendezvous point as well.
Speaker 1: So at this point Caseman is looking at gun running,
Speaker 1: negotiating with Germany, trying to raise troops against England, all
Speaker 1: signs which clearly point to treason, and there really wasn't
Speaker 1: that much of a defense for him, except that Casement
Speaker 1: believed Ireland was an independent country and he had been
Speaker 1: acting as an ambassador. Basically England had no rights over him.
Speaker 1: So of course, just days after his capture that the
Speaker 1: rising had taken place anyway, so it really looked bad
Speaker 1: from from his perspective. It looked more like he had
Speaker 1: come home to help lead the rising rather than try
Speaker 1: to stop it, so not good at all for his defense.
Speaker 1: According to John Campbell in History Today, Casement initially didn't
Speaker 1: even want to offer a defense, but he was ultimately
Speaker 1: convinced to do so and argue the case on technicalities.
Speaker 1: Campbell for they suggest that during peacetime, casement stellar record
Speaker 1: of service might have actually made this tactic work, or
Speaker 1: at least result in a lenient sentence. As it was,
Speaker 1: though after a famous defense speech that took place from
Speaker 1: the doc Casement was found guilty of treason and sentenced
Speaker 1: to die. But that's where things started to get a
Speaker 1: little bit messy. All the controversy comes in. So Casement
Speaker 1: understandably had a lot of friends, a lot of supporters
Speaker 1: from this long career as a British diplomat, you know,
Speaker 1: a very celebrated British diplomat, and many influential people didn't
Speaker 1: want to see him die. Through Arthur Conan Doyle, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, organized a petition to appeal for clemency. So
Speaker 1: that's a good name to have in your corner. There
Speaker 1: was also a wild card among all of these high
Speaker 1: profile appeals and that was Irish American. So Britain was
Speaker 1: deeply concerned that influential Irish American politicians and businessmen wouldn't
Speaker 1: look so favorably on joining the war. You know, the
Speaker 1: US was still neutral at this point, wouldn't look favorably
Speaker 1: on joining the war effort if case met were executed.
Speaker 1: So this was serious business. You know, there was a
Speaker 1: lot at stake here, and it was decided to bring
Speaker 1: in some dirty tactics to deal with it. And these
Speaker 1: dirty tactics were made possible by something they had actually
Speaker 1: had in their back pocket for a little while since
Speaker 1: casements arrest. Actually, British authorities had had in their possession
Speaker 1: a set of secret diaries that had been left behind
Speaker 1: in a trunk in his London flat. And those diaries
Speaker 1: covered a span of years and it contained lots of
Speaker 1: day to day notes, but they also contained sexually explicit
Speaker 1: entries that outed Casement as a homosexual who regularly pursued
Speaker 1: anonymous sex with young men and sometimes even teenagers. So
Speaker 1: both the defense and the prosecution knew of the so
Speaker 1: called Black Diaries, But after the sentence in Scotland, Yard
Speaker 1: and the Foreign Office began circulating them among casements more
Speaker 1: prominent supporters, many like the Archbishop of Canterbury, quickly withdrew
Speaker 1: their support. Journal lists also received experts, American politicians and
Speaker 1: diplomats got copies. The American ambassador to London warned the
Speaker 1: Secretary of State to avoid the diaries for their quote
Speaker 1: unspeakably filthy character, So the diaries really had their intended effect.
Speaker 1: Casements support pretty much vanished, and he was executed August third,
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, in London, his body interred in a pit
Speaker 1: of quicklime. But debate over the diaries use and their
Speaker 1: authenticity started almost immediately. Even the London Times, which supported
Speaker 1: the sentence, complained of the quote irrelevant, improper and un
Speaker 1: English campaign of inspired innuendo. A lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of eyes in that complaint. But you know, there were
Speaker 1: people raising issues about the very use of the diaries.
Speaker 1: Others thought that releasing the diaries was more than just
Speaker 1: improper and in no way related to the crime of treason.
Speaker 1: They thought that they were actual forgeries that had been
Speaker 1: cooked up purposely to discredit case sment. And it didn't
Speaker 1: really help build confidence that after Casement's execution, the Home
Speaker 1: Office kept those diaries and almost total secrecy, even denying
Speaker 1: their existence in nineteen sixteen. Plus few could offer any
Speaker 1: indication other than the diaries that Caseman had been a homosexual.
Speaker 1: Friends and family started offering a possible theories regarding the
Speaker 1: diaries origins, even suggesting that they were crafted somehow from
Speaker 1: notes Casemen had taken while preparing has put to my report.
Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty nine, however, the British Home Secretary allowed
Speaker 1: scholars to examine the diaries and most agreed that the
Speaker 1: passages in question were written in Caseman's hand. In two
Speaker 1: thousand two, a further study was done, led by Dr
Speaker 1: Audrey Giles and jointly funded by the BBC and the RTE,
Speaker 1: which is Ireland's national TV and radio broadcaster. After forensic
Speaker 1: examination in handwriting analysis, she concluded that the five documents
Speaker 1: were in fact written by Casement, which had been the
Speaker 1: common assessment by that point. Anyway, some people do still
Speaker 1: believe the documents are fake. I mean, we have a
Speaker 1: lot of angles to cover here and some that we're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to cover. But some do
Speaker 1: still believe that documents are entirely fake. Some believe that
Speaker 1: parts are faked, especially those that seem more predatory focus
Speaker 1: more on what today we might consider sexual tourism, or
Speaker 1: that some of the entries were written by Casement, but
Speaker 1: they were written as kind of a fantasy. There's another
Speaker 1: side to this too, though, people who have fully embraced
Speaker 1: that Casement did write the diaries, and according to Brian
Speaker 1: Lewis in the Journal of the History of Sexuality, many
Speaker 1: gay activists in Ireland have embraced their authenticity and almost
Speaker 1: taken up Casement as a second Oscar Wilde, a famously
Speaker 1: Irish and famously gay man in the nineteen sixties. Casements remains,
Speaker 1: which for some reason hadn't been dissolved by that quicklime yet,
Speaker 1: were returned to Ireland in a good wild gesture from
Speaker 1: England Prime Minister Harold Wilson called it a quote satisfactory
Speaker 1: end to an unhappy chapter, and Casement was reinterured with
Speaker 1: full military honors and a state funeral. In March two
Speaker 1: thousand eleven, London Metropolitan Police returned casement sword and hatch
Speaker 1: shortly before Queen Elizabeth's historic state visit to Ireland. They
Speaker 1: had been seized when Casement was arrested, and were ironically
Speaker 1: the same sword and hat used when he was knighted
Speaker 1: by George the Fifth Over time too, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think they're returning the body, returning the hat suggests that
Speaker 1: there has been sort of the change in feelings about Casement,
Speaker 1: but over time it also seems like that traitor patriot
Speaker 1: debate has gotten a lot less rigid. And one of
Speaker 1: Casement's own relatives, Patrick Casement, talked with the BBC Northern
Speaker 1: Ireland about how his family had dealt with their famous
Speaker 1: kinsman's legacy and he said that at the time, at
Speaker 1: the time of Casement's trial and execution, his actions were
Speaker 1: considered by the family a real dishonor since many of
Speaker 1: his relatives were at the time serving in World War One,
Speaker 1: and he said quote for them, it was an appalling
Speaker 1: disgrace on the family, very very difficult for them to
Speaker 1: live with. And I think that carried on for another generation.
Speaker 1: But my own generation, I think, are coming more to
Speaker 1: terms with it, looking at it in a much more
Speaker 1: objective way, and seeing Sir Roger as the remarkable and
Speaker 1: interesting character that he was. And I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that that much is pretty hard to deny. He's certainly remarkable,
Speaker 1: he's certainly interesting, with such a varied career and obviously
Speaker 1: with such strong opinions and passions. Yeah, it's interesting how
Speaker 1: time changes are perspective on things. And I think it
Speaker 1: will be cool to see how his legacy kind of
Speaker 1: develops throughout the years after this too, certainly will so
Speaker 1: I think that's probably a good time to transition to
Speaker 1: kind of a lighter listener. Mail. Yes please. So this
Speaker 1: message is from Sarah, who is a PhD candidate in
Speaker 1: art history and archaeology, and I chose this one because
Speaker 1: she is writing to us about the bronte Is, another
Speaker 1: famous family of Irish descent. So, Sarah wrote, you mentioned
Speaker 1: that the girls were sort of amateur artists, and although
Speaker 1: drawing was a skill that had been practiced by women
Speaker 1: for centuries, a late eighteenth century development made art making
Speaker 1: available to a much wider audience the mass production of
Speaker 1: watercolor kit. These kits were small and inexpensive. People could
Speaker 1: take them out to the countryside and paint landscapes or
Speaker 1: use them in their homes. This is in stark contrast
Speaker 1: to the grand academies of art that traditionally excluded women,
Speaker 1: but still give a broader audience more tools for making art. Um. So,
Speaker 1: I thought that was a really neat thing, and you don't.
Speaker 1: It's it's at least hard for me to imagine a
Speaker 1: time when watercolor kits don't exist. That's true, but it
Speaker 1: reminded me a little bit of our Van Go episode
Speaker 1: where Vango is like toting all these paints and his
Speaker 1: easel and his canvases out to paint his sunflowers, and
Speaker 1: the local kids are messing with him and thinking how
Speaker 1: practical a watercolor kit does sound. So it was nice
Speaker 1: to imagine the bronte Is, after so much tragedy in
Speaker 1: their lives, just maybe roaming the moors with their watercolored kids. Well,
Speaker 1: thank you for sending that, Sarah and Sarah Downy. I've
Speaker 1: noticed that you often pick listener mail with your from
Speaker 1: people with your own name. I never do that. I
Speaker 1: just want to point that out. We did have that
Speaker 1: one listener name to Blina Went. She spelled it differently
Speaker 1: than you, that's true. But did we read her letter?
Speaker 1: But I mean, I'm pretty sure that we both commented
Speaker 1: on it because it's a rare occurrent, It's true. I
Speaker 1: promise I'm not purposely packing out emails from Sarah's. It's
Speaker 1: just a cool high will. If there are any need
Speaker 1: to blein is out there, you can send me a letter,
Speaker 1: I'll purposely pick it out and read it. We'll make
Speaker 1: sure you send her something good then yes. But regardless
Speaker 1: of what your name is, of course, you're always welcome
Speaker 1: to write to us where History Podcast at Discovery dot com,
Speaker 1: or you can look us up on Facebook, which we
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