@Mictorrani 30 June 2020

Mata Hari, the Romanovs, & the War against Hitler

Mata Hari was executed by the French in 1917. While she pursued a career as a dancer and a courtesan, she had also been a spy for Germany during WW1. Her life, 41 years, was adventurous and complicated, and still to this day, there are doubts whether she was really guilty of the accusations that caused her death sentence. History describes her as a master spy and double agent; however, released documents from the British counter-intelligence give another impression, namely that she was a quite insignificant spy who was chosen to become a scapegoat for the French failures in the war. Whatever the truth is, Mata Hari is a legend, a proverbial *femme fatale*, and her life has inspired to many films.

A quite recent TV series about Mata Hari was made in Russia in 2016. It's a good dramatization of her life in 12 episodes. I strongly recommend it to everyone having an interest in the history of the time around and during WW1. Perhaps not historically accurate in every detail, after all it is a dramatization, it still provides insight into the spirit of the times. This might sound exotic to many readers here, but the Russians actually produce a lot of TV series and movies of high quality. A good selection can be found in a YouTube channel, StarMediaEN, which provides a large number of Russian TV series and Documentaries with English subtitles or dubbed to English. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSx-lf2ft7hPceGVNHybOw Apart from *Mata Hari*, other gems are *The Romanovs**, The History of the Russian Dynasty* who ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917; *The Rurik Dynasty* in 8 episodes, about the first Russian ruler dynasty, which first held various part of Russia from about 862, and finally established the Tsardom of Russia, which they held until the death of Feodor I in 1598; and *Soviet Storm**, WW2 in the East*, which describes the war against Hitler, from a Russian perspective; a masterful documentary in 18 episodes. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPBP_HJw2-HM-TxkT3gM_Nqy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPBfaoOR3pXw3VyBvmXljeio https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPCSwYHWZ150SUcFMcdx3GFO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPC_SsXFcIH-ba0nWuNbHOM6 Apart from historical dramatizations and documentaries, StarMediaEN also shows Russian TV series described as melodramas, action, detective stories, and military drama. There is something for every taste. Take this chance to discover the quality of Russian film and television, which has never before been so available for non-Russian speakers. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSx-lf2ft7hPceGVNHybOw Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved. (If you liked this, please consider leaving a tip, either here or via CoinTr.ee) https://cointr.ee/mictorrani You find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic, here. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/my-available-writings-at-readcash-8faf12d8