Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence (11 page)

brought to their cause. Anti-Catholic hysteria went into overdrive and Parliament declared its full acceptance of the Popish Plot,

resulting in the eventual trial and execution of 15 Catholic lords, noblemen or archbishops, and further oppression of the remaining

Catholic population.

Yet, underlying all of this, there remained a lingering

uncertainty in some quarters, with a faint discomfort at the

dogmatic zeal and obviously fevered imagination of the man at

the centre of all the disruption. As executions went ahead in the face of very flimsy evidence (general y based on overly suspicious misunderstandings, or invented allegations fronted by obviously

paid ‘witnesses’), wiser heads began to ask questions, especial y when Oates – who by 1680 had been given his own apartments in

Whitehall – pushed too far with his fantasies. Outlandish claims

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such as those which stated that assassins were planning to shoot

the King using silver bullets to inflict unhealable wounds were

indicative of the hubris Oates had fallen into (although such ideas are no less strange than some of the conspiracy theories adhered

to today). Doubts grew and the justice system turned against

believers in the Popish Plot as, one by one, supposed conspirators began to be acquitted.

Titus Oates final y made the mistake of turning against the

King himself (who had never been convinced by the plot) and

was consequently convicted of perjury and sedition under the

new and, as feared, Catholic-leaning King James II in 1681.

Oates was imprisoned for three years and publicly whipped and

pilloried on an annual basis, before eventual y being pardoned

under the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 (a virtual y bloodless

Dutch invasion instigated on the invitation of Parliament itself), which saw off James and restored England once and for all to its

Protestant course through the accession of William of Orange and

Queen Mary. Oates’s reputation never recovered, but the whole

episode had neatly demonstrated the unnerving willingness of the

population to go down a dark avenue of imagination on the word

of a tiny and prejudiced minority.

A Lasting Damage?

The Titus Oates catastrophe seems to have marked a turning

point for blanket public belief in conspiracy theories, in England at least, and damaged the credibility of those who continued to

support them without good evidence. Conspiracy theorizing

would never go away, and has grown to prominence once more

in our times, but never again would the nation allow itself to be quite so susceptible. Indeed, talk of conspiracies would instead

be gradual y driven underground into the unhealthy twilight

existence it appears to inhabit today, whereby many people believe 60

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historical conspiracies

in them, but public expression of that belief is frowned upon and ridiculed by the mainstream. Surely there is a healthier balance to be struck. Unfortunately, Nazi-ruled Germany in the 1930s would

fall victim to the same corrupting furrow of conspiracy paranoia

ploughed by the likes of Oates, allowing blatant lies and ethnic

hatred to give consent to oppression and scapegoating, bringing

down even further the reputation of the conspiracy theorist in

modern society.

As for prejudice against Catholicism, although lessons were

learned from the fallout of the Popish Plot, this didn’t see an

end to some of the more fanciful accusations. Shortly before

being ousted by the Glorious Revolution, the by-then Catholic

sympathizer James II had thus far produced two adult daughters.

They were seen as less threatening heirs to the throne because

both had been brought up Protestant, and many were accepting

of James seeing out his uncomfortably Rome-friendly reign in

the hope that normal service would be resumed with the next

generation. However, when James’s wife, Mary of Modena,

suddenly gave birth to a
male
heir in 1688 – who by law jumped the accession ladder – panic ensued, as this time it was likely

that the boy would be raised a Catholic, threatening a further

divided nation and yet another reversal of the official faith.

Unable to accept the uncomfortable reality, a new conspiracy

theory swept the nation which insisted that the boy had, in truth, been still-born and that a substitute male child had been secretly smuggled into Mary’s chamber inside a bed-warming pan, to

masquerade forever more as the new heir to the throne. In the

event, James fled the country on the arrival of William and Mary, and this seemingly bizarre theory, which might otherwise have

become a potential flashpoint further down the line, was never

pursued further. (This has curious resonance with the claims that President Barack Obama was not real y born a US citizen, and

was thus an illegitimate ruler;
see
p. 235. Public concern about such things has a long historical thread.)

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There are many more religious conspiracies, theories or claims

that could be included here as precedents for the kind of situations still arising today, but enough has been presented to show that

conspiracies of one kind or another have always been, and

probably always will be, an ingrained part of the social and political landscape. Others might argue that the passing of the centuries

has changed things, and that no one would dare enact such tactics in our more enlightened civilization. Unfortunately, even recent

history demonstrates that this is very much not the case.

In Summary . . .

Historical Conspiracies: Arguments Against

History may not have been recorded accurately, therefore basing
conspiracy theories around what we are today told occurred might
not be reliable – People ‘were simpler’ in former centuries, and
therefore might have had to resort to conspiratorial behaviour in
a way no longer required in our more enlightened times – Some
claimed conspiracies, as with the Titus Oates plot, turned out not
to be true – Given the enormity of history, by the law of averages
certain events can be plucked out as conspiracy examples, but does
focusing on them create a disproportionate impression?

Historical Conspiracies: Arguments For

If history is considered reliable enough that children can be taught
it as fact, then the clear signs of conspiracy embedded within it
must be equal y valid – There is no substantial difference in the
basic social structures of today compared to those which appeared
to be present in earlier centuries; therefore it is likely that the same
kind of undercurrents which generate conspiracy are still present
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historical conspiracies

– The recurring patterns of deception and false-flag tactics, from
ancient times to more recent centuries, all exhibit the same basic
components.

ConClusion

Conspiracy theories of one kind or another have long been with

us, and there is clear evidence, even at this historical distance, to give substance to a significant number of them. Some examples

are not even so far back in time as to allow that they might have taken place in an environment of notably lesser conscience.

Whilst not automatical y supporting the reality of every con-

spiracy speculation, these episodes, along with the hundreds of

others that could have been included, provide plentiful evidence

that today’s mainstream implication that such things couldn’t

possibly happen today is almost certainly mistaken.

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CONSPIRACIES

If history is littered with numerous examples of likely or proven
conspiracy, a more recent century alone provides a notable upsurge.

The 20th century was rich in probable cases of false-flag attacks or
manipulated incidents for military gain, events which might have
paved the way for the widespread al egations that the 9/11 attacks at
the beginning of the 21st fol owed the same pattern.

i) The sinking of rMs
LuSItanIa

One of the recurring themes of modern conspiracy thinking is

that of wars being started, or misdirected, by false-flag attacks and engineered atrocities. Perhaps the most discussed potential

case of this kind is now 9/11, but the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor may have been an earlier model (below). However, others look

back still further – to the 1915 sinking of RMS
Lusitania
. Indeed, questionable events of this kind often seem to involve maritime

activities, as we shall see.

On 7 May 1915, in the early stages of the First World War, and

with nearly 2,000 passengers aboard, the British ocean liner RMS

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Lusitania
was passing along the south coast of Ireland on its return to Liverpool from the USA. At 2.10pm, the ship was torpedoed by

a German U-boat. Amidst panic and a chaotic evacuation, only 764

survivors were left when the vessel disappeared beneath the waves just 18 minutes later. Women, children and a large number of dignitaries never stood a chance of escape, trapped in black corridors and cabins by the almost instant electrical failure after the impact.

International outrage followed the sinking, and the horror

became emblematic of the evils of the German Empire, which now

had to be defeated across the network of trenches being dug in

western Europe. An impressionistic image of a mother and baby

trapped underwater soon appeared on posters bearing the simple

word ‘ENLIST’. It was a powerful tool in galvanizing support for

the struggle, and was especial y influential in bringing a previously reluctant USA into an active combat role. This seems fair enough, given the enormity of the atrocity against civilians, particularly at a time when killing non-military personnel, without warning at

least, was greatly frowned upon. Why, then, has
Lusitania
become the focus of so many conspiracy theories over the years, casting

doubt on its apparently indiscriminate targeting?

Given the importance of the
Lusitania
incident as a propaganda coup, it is easy to see why some believe it was no mere coincidence that such a sensitive event took place so early in the conflict,

asserting that it was specifical y contrived to help escalate the first of two globe-encompassing conflicts which numerous theorists

hold were in themselves huge moves on the New World Order

chessboard (
see
chapter 8).

The official position is that
Lusitania
was a purely civilian liner, but other claims suggest its hold was in fact loaded with

shel s and high-explosives bound for Europe, making it a prime

target for German U-boats and dooming its mostly unwitting

passengers to an almost guaranteed watery grave. Arguments

over the ordnance onboard
Lusitania
remain unresolved to

this day, although large amounts of rifle rounds and other

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small munitions were clearly being carried. As for the presence

of larger explosives, it is apparent from German records that

its vessel
U-20
fired just one torpedo, yet many surviving witnesses described
two
vast explosions – one following almost immediately after the other. If not another torpedo (as was

thought at the time), then what caused the large secondary blast, which tore
Lusitania
’s hull wide open? It is widely thought that this may have been evidence of something more deadly than

non-explosive rifle ammunition going up in the cargo hold,

although the more orthodox view sees a breaching of the high-

pressure steam generating plant as being a more likely cause.

Either way, and most importantly, the German government

clearly
believed
that the ship was being used for secret military cargo and had decreed that it saw
Lusitania
as a legitimate target even before it
left the USA. Aware that several German-Americans would be onboard, the German embassy had advised

citizens about the dangers with this warning:

Notice! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage

are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and

her al ies and Great Britain and her al ies . . . travelers sailing
in the war zone on ships of Great Britain . . . do so at their
own risk.

The notice was submitted as an advertisement to at least 50 US

newspapers well before
Lusitania
sailed. However, perhaps tel -

ingly – due, according to some, to interference from the US State Department – all but one of the papers failed to run the notice,

and most passengers set off in blissful ignorance, never thinking a civilian liner would be vulnerable, even in a time of combat. Not, at least, until the torpedo struck, when it was realized that the rules of war had suddenly changed.

The conspiracy view contends that the German government