12 Days: Jean-Bédel Bokassa and the memory of pandemics

概览

This episode closes The Rest Is History in 2021 by using New Year’s Eve as a hook for two grim historical anniversaries: Jean-Bédel Bokassa’s 1965 coup in the Central African Republic and the first WHO notification of viral pneumonia cases in Wuhan on 31 December 2019.

The first half follows Bokassa from his French army career to his seizure of power, imperial self-coronation, violent rule, alleged cannibalism, and eventual fall. The hosts stress both the absurd theatricality of his regime and the real brutality behind it.

The second half asks whether COVID-19 will be remembered as a major historical rupture or fade from memory like Spanish Flu. The discussion argues that COVID is likely to be remembered less for the disease alone than for lockdowns, state intervention, digital life, global interconnection, and changing views of China.

分段落总结

[00:33] A New Year’s Eve Episode With Two Dark Anniversaries

[事实] The hosts introduce this as the final episode of The Rest Is History for 2021, recorded for 31 December.

[事实] They say both chosen historical dates are not cheerful.

[事实] Dominic chooses Jean-Bédel Bokassa, while Tom holds back his own subject until after the break.

[01:17] Bokassa as a Post-Colonial African Strongman

[事实] Bokassa is introduced as one of the notorious rulers of post-colonial Africa.

[事实] The hosts compare him jokingly with Roman emperors such as Caligula and Nero, while also noting the Napoleonic flavor of his later imperial ambitions.

[事实] His coup began on 31 December 1965 and eventually led him toward declaring himself emperor.

[01:52] Origins and French Military Career

[事实] Bokassa was born in 1921, one of 12 children, in what was then French Equatorial Africa.

[事实] He became orphaned young and joined the French army, which the hosts describe as a common path for ambitious men in colonial Africa.

[事实] He fought for France in World War II, later fought in Indochina, and received the Legion d’honneur.

[事实] After his homeland became the Central African Republic in 1960, his cousin Daco became its first president.

[04:23] Command of the Army and Tensions With Daco

[事实] Bokassa returned from the French army and became commander of the Central African army, which had only around 500 soldiers.

[事实] The hosts describe him as proud of his medals and highly sensitive about ceremonial status, especially seating next to his cousin the president.

[事实] Daco reportedly dismissed the risk of a coup by saying Bokassa only wanted medals and was too stupid to organize one.

[推测] The discussion presents personal vanity, status anxiety, and weak institutions as part of the setting that made the coup possible.

[06:09] The 1965 Coup

[事实] Bokassa launched his coup on 31 December 1965 after Daco began building up a presidential guard.

[事实] Daco was arrested but not killed, and the coup is described as relatively bloodless by the standards of the period.

[事实] Bokassa announced on Radio Bangui that the army had taken control, the Daco government had resigned, and “the bourgeoisie” was abolished.

[事实] The hosts say France was not displeased by the coup because Bokassa had served in the French army, while Daco had been seeking aid from China.

[07:53] Early Modernization and Early Violence

[事实] Bokassa initially pursued several policies the hosts call modernizing, including banning polygamy and female circumcision, creating bus and ferry services, and subsidizing national orchestras.

[事实] He also restricted tom-tom playing to evenings and weekends.

[事实] The hosts say there was violence connected to a disagreement with his finance minister in 1968, though the exact details are presented as uncertain.

[推测] The episode frames Bokassa as a ruler whose early administrative reforms coexisted with arbitrary and brutal personal rule.

[09:13] The Imperial Coronation

[事实] On 4 December 1977, Bokassa crowned himself emperor of Central Africa.

[事实] His coronation was modeled on Napoleon’s and included a throne shaped like an eagle.

[事实] The hosts say the ceremony cost around a third of the country’s annual budget and roughly matched the amount of annual French aid.

[事实] Bokassa gave diamonds to French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, which later became politically damaging for Giscard.

[10:53] Cannibalism Allegations and the Schoolchildren’s Killings

[事实] After Bokassa’s fall, Daco gave evidence claiming he had seen butchered bodies in cold storage rooms at Bokassa’s palace.

[事实] Bokassa’s security chief testified that he had cooked human flesh and served it to Bokassa, but the hosts treat cannibalism rumors with skepticism.

[事实] The hosts say Bokassa was cleared of cannibalism at trial.

[事实] They identify the killing of schoolchildren as the act that truly brought him down: after students protested uniforms made in a factory owned by one of his wives, he ordered many children rounded up and killed.

[12:52] French Withdrawal of Support and Bokassa’s Later Life

[事实] The hosts say France eventually decided Bokassa had become an embarrassment and helped remove him in 1979.

[事实] He was tried in the Central African Republic for treason and murder.

[事实] He was convicted over the murder of schoolchildren, sentenced to death, had the sentence commuted, was later pardoned and released in 1993, and died in 1996.

[事实] The hosts say he had 17 wives and 50 children.

[14:08] COVID-19 as the Second New Year’s Eve Subject

[事实] After the break, Tom chooses COVID-19 as his subject.

[事实] He says that on 31 December 2019 the World Health Organization was first informed of viral pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

[事实] The hosts say COVID helped shape the podcast itself, since without COVID they might not have started it in the same way.

[事实] They pose the question of whether COVID will be remembered as a seismic global event or fade like Spanish Flu.

[15:24] Spanish Flu as a Historical Comparison

[事实] Dominic discusses Laura Spinney’s book Pale Rider and says Spanish Flu killed more people than World War I.

[事实] The hosts say Spanish Flu came in waves and was probably not Spanish in origin.

[事实] They discuss the possibility that it began in the United States and spread through soldiers and wartime troop camps.

[事实] They note that Spanish Flu affected young people and children much more severely than COVID has so far.

[17:35] Why Spanish Flu Faded From Popular Memory

[事实] The hosts say Spanish Flu left surprisingly little imprint on popular memory compared with World War I.

[事实] They suggest its impact was blunted because it came after the visible destruction of the First World War.

[事实] Tom notes that traces of illness may appear in works such as The Waste Land, even if people did not talk about Spanish Flu directly for decades.

[推测] The discussion implies that cultural memory depends not only on death tolls but also on images, narratives, and competing historical events.

[19:29] Why COVID May Be Remembered Differently

[事实] Tom argues that COVID will be remembered as a seismic historical event.

[事实] His first reason is that the world was far more connected than in the early 1920s, so border closures and lockdowns were more dramatic.

[事实] His second reason is technology: Zoom, digital communication, and visual footage of empty cities made lockdown more possible and more memorable.

[事实] The hosts say images of silent streets in major cities will remain powerful visual markers of the pandemic.

[20:45] China, Wuhan, and International Suspicion

[事实] Tom says China behaved disgracefully in the early months of the pandemic.

[事实] He says the idea of a possible Wuhan laboratory leak had shifted from being seen as fringe to being accepted as a possibility by more people.

[事实] He says he does not think the truth will ever be known.

[事实] The hosts connect COVID with darker global views of China, also mentioning the Uighurs and Hong Kong.

[21:33] Government Response and Long-Term Consequences

[事实] Dominic argues COVID may be remembered mainly because of the government response rather than the disease itself.

[事实] He cites lockdowns, test and trace, apps, economic effects, furlough, and public debt.

[事实] The hosts say COVID accelerated trends already underway, including podcasting, online shopping, new media, and the digital economy.

[推测] They suggest a future biosecurity age could involve routine vaccine records or health credentials on phones, especially if more pandemics occur.

[23:16] Closing the Series

[事实] The hosts reflect that the recent “12 days of Christmas” episodes have turned out less cheerful than intended.

[事实] They say upcoming episodes will include births, deaths, and calamities affecting the Roman Empire.

[事实] They close by wishing listeners a happy new year and saying they will return in 2022.

播客点评/总结

[推测] The episode’s main value is its pairing of two very different kinds of historical darkness: the grotesque personal rule of Bokassa and the impersonal global disruption of COVID. That contrast gives the discussion more shape than a simple anniversary roundup.

[推测] Its strongest passages are the ones that use detail well: Bokassa’s eagle throne, the uniform law, the French diamond scandal, and the empty-city imagery of COVID. These examples make abstract themes like dictatorship, memory, globalization, and state power feel concrete.

[推测] A limitation is that the tone often moves quickly between comedy and atrocity, especially in the Bokassa section. Listeners looking for a sober or deeply sourced account of the Central African Republic may find the treatment too brisk.

[推测] The episode is best suited to listeners interested in lively historical conversation, political absurdity, and big-picture comparisons between past and present, rather than those seeking a full academic treatment of either Bokassa’s regime or the COVID pandemic.