Sardarapat, and Great-Uncle Geraseem

Geraseem Hovhannessian is the name of my great-uncle, who died at the Battle of Sardarapat exactly 102 years ago; the battle in which Armenia came within an inch of being destroyed at the hands of Ottoman Turkey, but prevailed in victory, afterwards declaring a short-lived independence which lasted until 1920 when the Soviets conquered Armenia. The Hovhannessian family (later renamed Oganessian when my grandfather Suren was drafted into the Soviet army in World War II) is from the village of Shvanidzor at the southern border of Armenia, near Iran. Two of my other great-uncles, Nikolai and Yeprem, died in World War I battles between 1914-1918, which ones exactly I do not know. My great-grandfather Hagopjan died of pneumonia around 1910, and my great-grandmother Nubar, according to my grandfather, reportedly died of fright when she learned the Turks were invading the area. My grandfather Suren was left an orphan by age 11 after Sardarapat, and went to live with relatives in Yerevan. He had a sister named Mariam who also survived to old age (I met some of her descendants when I was in Armenia), and two other siblings that didn’t survive infancy due to scarlet fever. That’s as far back as my family tree goes on my paternal grandfather’s side, as far as I’m aware. I can go much further back with my three other grandparents. My aunt Knarik gave me this information a few years ago. But I wanted to take the time to remember them all today, as I do every year.

My grandfather Suren is on the right. On the left is one of his brothers. But, I don't know which brother.

I am fortunate to even have the names of these great-uncles and great-grandparents. I didn’t until about five years ago, courtesy of my aunt. But aside from their names and appearances in one photograph, I don’t know who they were, what kind of lives they led, what their worldview was. I suppose that’s what happens as time passes. You become a name on a family tree. Perhaps my descendants will have the books I wrote, but eventually, I’ll just be a name too. A name is still a powerful remnant. The ancient Egyptians for example believed that as long as someone’s name was remembered they weren’t truly dead. Being forgotten was the second death. I like this belief. So, I’m keeping my relatives alive by remembering their names.

Geraseem fought so that what happened in Western Armenia, the Armenian genocide, didn’t happen in Eastern Armenia too. There wouldn’t even be an Armenia today had the battle of Sardarapat been lost. It’s a worthy reason to put your life on the line. I don’t think a lot of wars these days are actually worth that, but Sardarapat was. It’s still a pity that the war had to happen in the first place. Geraseem couldn’t have been much older than his early 20’s at the time, and maybe not even that old. I’ve outlived him at this point. Who would he have become if he had survived the battle? Or if the battle had never taken place?  

I went to Sardarapat once in 2014 and again in 2015. There I paid my respects. They have a grandiose memorial of two winged bulls at the site of the battle now, which looks ancient despite being completed in 1968. There’s also a museum nearby which actually I would consider one of the best in Armenia, containing not just artifacts from the battle itself but a lot of ancient Armenian artifacts from elsewhere.

Bonus picture of my favorite Vishapakar (dragon stone), in front of the Sardarapat museum.

On the concept of borders

            Recently a photo was cross-posted in the Armenia subreddit from some other subreddit. A picture of Khor Virap with Mt. Ararat in the foreground, captioned something like “Armenia in the foreground, Turkey in the background”. This area is at the modern-day Armenia-Turkey border. Now I, in a moment of nationalism, commented “All I see in the picture is Armenia.” Because until the early 1920’s, Mt. Ararat was in Armenia. It’s still the central symbol of Armenia. And someone, likely Turkish, replied “All I see in the picture is Turkey”.  Implying of course that what little land Armenia does still have is rightfully “Turkey”. Now, I have better things to do than argue with trolls on the internet, especially nationalist Turks. I hate arguing in general. So I ignored it. But, upon turning this unpleasant interaction over in my head, I had another thought. All I really see in the picture is some land, and a mountain. That’s all it is. Human beings created borders and nations. It’s not real. We’re like territorial monkeys. When are we as a species going to overcome this animalistic behavior? Just like the concept of money, humans decided to give something meaning where there objectively is none. What is Turkey? What is Armenia? Neither are objectively real. In admitting that, I have to let go of something I don’t like letting go of. It makes me feel somehow insecure. What is it, that feeling? Pride? Ego? Identity? Is there a word for it? So many people never ask themselves these questions. They never question nationalism. And they never question themselves.

             

That borders are just subjective lines drawn on the ground that have no actual meaning beyond what humans decide is significant is hardly a mind-blowing realization, nor the first time I thought this. I’ve been going back and forth on this for a long time. The first time the idea was really put in my head was when I heard Serj Tankian’s song “Borders Are”, which essentially postulates that borders are nothing but lines drawn in the sand, “the gallows of our national egos”. The music video features a world map where one by one the borders disappear. It’s a beautiful song. I want to agree with it. Humanity would be better off without the entire concept of nations and nationalism. In Armenia’s case though, they can’t afford to part with the concept, because their neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan believe in it so deeply, they’d take the soonest opportunity to wipe Armenia off the map and commit genocide. They dream of “Pan-Turkism”, a mono-ethnic Turkish state stretching from Greece to Central Asia, and in this unrealistic pipe dream there is no room for the existence of Armenians, Kurds, Georgians, or any other ethnicity other than Turkish. Nationalism is a game we’re all forced to play. Nationalism is a necessary evil for Armenians. It’s self-defense. History has shown what happens when Armenians give up this nationalism. However, nationalism is a completely useless and unnecessary concept in countries that are under no existential threat whatsoever, like the United States. There it often leads to bigotry and racism.

            I can get behind the idea of cultures and ethnicity, as long as you’re not saying your culture and ethnicity are superior to others and trying to impose your values on other cultures. I suppose collective identities can be comforting, even fun.  But I don’t like the concept of nationalism. After losing so much territory thanks to imperialist bureaucrats in the early 20^th century, and having an internationally unrecognized country (the Republic of Artsakh) in modern times, I think any Armenian who is honest with themselves can agree that the concept of borders and territory is inherently meaningless and something humanity would be better off without. The war of independence Artsakh fought was really a rebellion against these concepts. Azerbaijan had already demonstrated that they intended to commit genocide against the Armenians on their internationally recognized territory with the pogroms in Sumgait and Baku, as well as the complete erasure of Armenian culture in the exclave of Nakhichevan. This made the rebellion against the modern concept of nations and borders a necessity for the Armenians of Artsakh. The “territorial integrity” that Azerbaijan whines about when it comes to Artsakh is hollow, and ultimately meaningless. Borders have changed in the past, they will change in the future, they are not static. The idea of rigid, strict borders covered in barbed wire fences and patrolled by guards is relatively new in history. Would someone have been arrested for crossing the border of the Persian Empire into the Roman Empire without a visa or passport? Was there ever a such thing as an illegal immigrant before the 1800’s? Why is modern humanity so invested in this concept? “Why can’t we all just get along?” as the old quote goes. Egos and pride. Humanity’s biggest enemy. Everyone acts like this is just “the way it is”, as if it’s the only possible way for the world to be, as if it’s always been this way and is going to be forever. I’m sure people thought this way when feudalism was a thing too. And it’s this defeatist attitude that keeps things the way they are. It's just like with the two party system in the US. If enough minds became critical of the status quo things could change overnight.

            I share these thoughts not because I want to argue with anyone, but because I don’t think enough people take them into consideration. Not enough people think outside the box or look at the big picture. Another social norm I dislike is the idea that if you state any kind of opinion you should be prepared to have some long, drawn out, mentally exhausting argument with someone in order to defend it. I hate arguments. I’d rather put my energy towards creating, not arguing. And who knows, maybe a year from now I'll have changed my mind about all this or had some other realization. I'm still figuring out how the world works.

An Article on Artsakh via TV Tropes

            I’ve been on the website TV Tropes since 2009. The site mainly exists to catalog tropes used in works of fiction, but it has a section of the site called “Useful Notes” in which a number of informational topics are covered, in a style reminiscent of “Wikipedia-lite”; not even requiring the citations that would be required on a Wikipedia page. They have a page on each country as well. I’ve contributed to their page on Armenia, of course only to have many parts of it deleted over the years due to the website’s ever-changing rules on what’s acceptable. I was particularly sad to see my list of tropes related to Armenia go when they decided to no longer allow tropes on Useful Notes pages, but that’s just an example of what often happens on the site. You never know what their rules are going to be month-to-month and year-to-year. But, the website also has Useful Notes pages on unrecognized countries. I wrote one for The Republic of Artsakh some years ago; no one else has really edited it besides me, other than to make minor adjustments. The article is a brief synopsis of the history of the country and the conflict that surrounds it.

            I think the article has flown under the radar thus far. Given the fickle nature of TV Tropes, and their tendency to bend under the slightest pressure whenever the threat of a “flame war” (aka an internet argument) presents itself, I’ve long feared the day a nationalist Azerbaijani discovers the page and takes issue with it, causing it to be either heavily edited or deleted altogether. I won’t be able to do much when/if this happens. You have to sacrifice control of your writing when you put it on any kind of wiki. But, I would like to at least preserve the article on my blog in case worse comes to worse. I did my best to present the facts in a non-biased manner, although when covering such a divisive topic, remaining completely unbiased is a tall order. It ultimately isn’t even the best thing to do when you’re talking about a conflict that has a clear aggressor. I’m not going to say my little article here is very scholarly. I could dig up sources to cite if pressed, but as previously mentioned, it’s not really a Wikipedia article, nor is it an essay for school. So just keep in mind I’m coming at it from a certain perspective (as an Armenian who’s been to Artsakh and spoken to people who live there) and I’m not really striving to be scholarly.

Here is the article, as it appeared as of May 2020:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/RepublicOfArtsakh

The Republic of Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախի Հանրապետություն Arts'akhi Hanrapetut'yun), also known as simply Artsakh and formerly the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, is a breakaway de-facto republic in the South Caucasus recognized only by three other non-UN states^note Those states are fellow de-facto republics Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. It is also recognized by one Australian state, the Basque province in Spain, and nine US states. Still recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan, the predominantly Armenian-populated region voted to break away from Azerbaijan with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, leading to a bloody ethnic conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia between 1991 and 1994, which ended in an uneasy ceasefire, with the region controlled by Armenian troops and local militia, and the border periodically patrolled by Russian peacekeepers. Peace talks, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, have stalled over the years, unfortunately. Ceasefire violations are an everyday occurrence, more often coming from the Azeri side, and every now and then there are still casualties. In order to not disturb the peace process, no member of the United Nations has recognized the state yet, including Armenia. Despite this the country went ahead and declared independence anyway during the war, forming its own democratic republic and constitution. After using the names Nagorno-Karabakh and Artsakh interchangeably, it elected to change its name to the Republic of Artsakh (a name with Armenian roots and an old medieval name for the region) after a referendum in 2017. Freedom House ranks its government above both Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of political and civil rights. The Artsakh situation is a textbook example of two conflicting concepts in international law; territorial integrity, and the right to self-determination. It is a contradiction that doesn't look like it will solve itself any time soon.

There was of course a long history of dispute over the land before it culminated into a war; Armenia and Azerbaijan, both rarely independent in their respective histories, had previously fought over it when both countries became independent from the Russian Empire in 1918. When Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia declared independence, their declared boundaries contradicted one another, leaving contested lands like Nagorno-Karabakh, Javakh, South Ossetia and Nakhichevan in a sort of gray area and leading to wars between all three countries. After the Soviet Union annexed the South Caucasus, the Bolsheviks mulled over what to do with the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia's Zangezur (modern Syunik) province was experiencing a rebellion from 1920 to 1921, and the original idea was to give the Armenian SSR control of Karabakh in order to quell it. They were all set to change the boundaries, but by June of 1921 the rebellion fizzled out, and the Bolsheviks, among them a young Josef Stalin (who usually gets blamed for this decision), decided to do an about-face, and instead created the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the Azerbaijani SSR in an attempt to please everyone, despite protests from Nagorno-Karabakh's citizens who would rather it have been part of the Armenian SSR. This occurred, not-so-coincidentally, when the Soviet Union was trying to lure Azerbaijan's ally Turkey toward communism. There were also economic reasons it was not made part of the Armenian SSR, since access to the area is much easier from the Azerbaijan side (although if this same logic had been applied to Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan's exclave to the south-west of Armenia, they would have given it to Armenia), and part of it could have been to weaken Armenian nationalist movements that would aspire for a unified Armenia, but the short story is it seemed like a good solution at the time; the Soviet Union expected to be around for a very long while, no one knew what would happen seventy years later. The fact still stands though that Artsakh was never under Azerbaijan's direct control, though an Azeri minority did exist there up until the war.

Things were relatively peaceful until the 1980's when the Soviet Union began to collapse, and Artsakh's citizens saw their chance to bring the issue of either joining Armenia or becoming independent to the Soviet Union's attention again. In February 1988 the Karabakh Council of People's Deputies passed a resolution requesting secession from Azerbaijan and an annexation to Armenia, with a 110-17 voting margin. Moscow, however, rejected their request. The Azerbaijani SSR loudly protested the secession movement, and anti-Armenian pogroms erupted across Azerbaijan, only spurring their push for independence. The Soviet Union, bogged down by other troubles, quickly lost control of the situation after failing to stop Artsakh’s independence movement with military crackdowns such as Operation Ring. Then of course, the Soviet Union collapsed, its republics declared independence, and with no one to stop them, war broke out. Russia played both sides of the conflict for its own profit at first (and still sells weapons to both parties), but eventually more or less sided with Armenia, while Turkey passively sent weapons and support to Azerbaijan. With the war becoming increasingly ugly, and fears of a much larger conflict erupting between Russia and Turkey, eventually a ceasefire was brokered; this being after Armenia had largely gained the upper hand in the war. As stated earlier it was never much of a ceasefire, as the truce was violated on a regular basis.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia over the conflict to show solidarity with its ally, despite its many parallels with the North Cyprus conflict. It is one of the main hurdles (besides the obvious genocide issue) in Turkish-Armenian relations, as Turkey demands Armenia at least cede the buffer zones around Artsakh ^note (out of necessity the Armenian army also occupies some territory not a part of Artsakh's Soviet boundaries for defensive purposes, otherwise Azerbaijan would surround it, and even this territory was part of Artsakh before Stalin separated it in 1923), if not all of it, before the borders can be reopened. It is presumed by most observers that Turkey was pressured into adding these conditions by Azerbaijan. Armenians both inside and outside of Artsakh fear a major humanitarian disaster should Azerbaijan ever succeed in annexing Artsakh, and this is not helped by warlike and racist statements regularly issued by Azerbaijan's president (who on more than one occasion has laid Azeri claim to all of Armenia, even the internationally recognized bit), not to mention lingering memories of the anti-Armenian pogroms such as those in Sumgait and Baku. In April 2016, amidst controversy surrounding the Azerbaijani president's off-shore hidden wealth revealed by the Panama Papers, Azerbaijan launched the first major offensive against Artsakh since 1994, briefly capturing some villages and positions and committing atrocities against civilians before being driven back and a ceasefire being reinstated by the Azeri side; this provided everyone involved with a sobering taste of what an all-out war would look like. Since then, attempts have been made to return the two countries to the negotiating table; however, the OSCE's proposal for Artsakh to sacrifice some surrounding territories to Azerbaijan in exchange for peace has been rejected by the Armenian side because of how vulnerable that would leave Armenia and Artsakh if Azerbaijan decided to unleash an offensive once claiming these territories. As of yet, the conflict is at a standstill.

It's because of this conflict that Armenia (and by association, Artsakh itself) has to rely on its borders with Iran and Georgia to survive. Luckily the US and its allies have usually looked the other way with regards to Iran's international trade sanctions in this case (although the US has tried to put pressure on Armenia to stop doing business with Iran). On the other side, despite that the land itself doesn't have much monetary worth and most of their money comes from Caspian oil deposits anyway, Azerbaijan's government has used the Karabakh issue to instill a national unity by demonizing the Armenians as a common enemy, thus helping the Aliyev dynasty stay in power. It is feared by the Azeri government that if Artsakh were to become recognized by the UN, many of Azerbaijan's other disenfranchised minorities would want independence as well.

The name of Republic of Artsakh refers to the ancient Armenian province that existed in the area from around the 1st century B.C. into medieval times, and is used interchangeably with Nagorno-Karabakh (a name which only came about in the 1600-1700's). The population is predominantly Christian, with most Christians being affiliated with the Armenian Apostolic Church. Several historical monasteries are popular with tourists, mostly from the Armenian diaspora, as most travel can only take place through its border with Armenia. Also popular is the recently excavated ancient city of Tigranakert, one of four cities given that name during the reign of Tigran the Great in the 1st century B.C. It provides a powerful counter to the Azeri claim that Armenians are new to the region. Functionally, Artsakh operates almost like an extra province of Armenia, even using the same currency, the dram, although it has a separate government. Traveling to Artsakh is relatively safe as long as one stays away from the ceasefire lines, and doesn't mind being banned from traveling to Azerbaijan afterward and added to their black list (Azerbaijan sees it as unauthorized trespassing into their borders; though if you're an ethnic Armenian you're automatically banned from entering the country anyway). This happened to Anthony Bourdain in 2017, although he likely expected it. An airport has been built in the capital city of Stepanakert to make the country more accessible, though it remains out of use due to threats from Azerbaijan, which prompted the countries in the OSCE Minsk Group to convince Armenia to hold off on it. The war destroyed a lot of the country's infrastructure, and there are still land mines here and there, but in all the citizens have done their best to carry on since the ceasefire. Efforts to de-mine the country and rebuild toppled buildings are still on-going, but have come a long way in the last two decades.

Top 3 Songs of the Month – May 2020/Մարերի 4512 – Cabaret Grey, Ministry, Buzz Kull

          

            It seems to have been a long month since my last such entry. Probably due to being quarantined, 30 days ago feels more like 60 days ago. The flow of time is strange. But it is usually better when it flows more slowly. Anyway, I’ve been listening to a ton of new music which has made choosing a top 3 this month a tough choice. With concerts cancelled everywhere this is the time to buy music. I recently purchased albums from Buzz Kull, Silent EM, and a host of others. But before I get into this, here are some blog updates.

            As I mentioned recently, I’m trying to prioritize all of my artistic projects, as I’m currently developing a webcomic as well as working on some novels, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to quit blogging altogether, just that it’s taking a backseat to other things. I might do “1987 in Music” this month, maybe, if I have the time. I’m basically only doing those for my own amusement at this point though. This month I want to write reflections on my time visiting the Republic of Artsakh from May 8 to 13^th, 2015, and later this month write about the Battle of Sardarapat in 1918. There might also be a review of an Oz book or two. And whatever else I feel like writing about, if I find the time.

            Anyway, here’s what I’ve been listening to.

Cabaret Grey – Almost Frantic

             

First up we have a band from Poland called Cabaret Grey. The song “Almost Frantic” has an ominous feel to it, making it a perfect soundtrack to what’s going on in the world right now. And I don’t quite feel frantic about it; just “almost”. I suppose that’s why this song has been running through my head lately. Also, they get bonus points from me for doing a VHS-quality music video. I can’t explain really why I love VHS tapes so much, but I do. The song was released back in 2018 on their Freezing Point single. This band doesn’t appear to have a huge discography to their name yet, but they have been around since around 2011. This is a band worth keeping an eye on.

https://cabaretgreyofficial.bandcamp.com/album/freezing-point-single-2018

Ministry – Alert Level (Quarantine Mix)

 

I already featured this song in one of my recent blog posts. As much as I prefer synthpop Ministry and rarely have liked anything they’ve done after 1986, I found myself liking this song when I heard it. It gets points for relevance. I’m not sure how relevant it will be after this pandemic is over, but society will still be sliding toward its doom after the pandemic too, so maybe it will stay relevant. The voice samples “How concerned are you?” and “Young people are starting to understand your betrayal. We will not let you get away with this.” are powerful in my opinion. I like a song with good voice samples. Try listening to this song while driving through an abandoned downtown during a quarantine lockdown. You won’t be disappointed.

The YouTube video has a bunch of links in the description to where to listen and buy the single, I’ll just direct you there.

Buzz Kull – Existence

             

One thing I spent my stimulus check on was Buzz Kull’s 2018 album A New Kind of Cross (I’m two years behind this month I guess). I was not disappointed. Buzz Kull is a darkwave band out of Australia. I already loved the song “Avoiding the Light” so that’s how I chose the album to buy. Like many albums these days you can get it either as a collection of mp3’s or as a vinyl record. I’m starting to miss CD’s, seems like even cassettes are becoming more common than CD’s. I always end up burning the mp3’s onto blank CD’s anyway. But that’s just as an aside. The song “Existence” is my current favorite on the album, as I’ve been gravitating toward anything existential in recent months.  The video linked above isn’t official, but the Youtuber did a pretty good job on it.

https://buzzkull.bandcamp.com/album/new-kind-of-cross

Honorary Mention – Vitas – Opera #2

             

I accidentally discovered this famous Russian pop singer recently through his bizarre and outlandish stage performance of his song “The 7^th Element”, and have been getting hooked on his music. He’s just so strange and unique I can’t help but love his music. “Opera #2” is probably my favorite song of his overall, thanks to the accordion and Russian riffs, but I like them all. Russian pop isn’t what I usually listen to, obviously, but part of it makes me nostalgic for Armenia, because a lot of people listen to it there and it gets played everywhere. I definitely think it’s better than American pop, which I generally despise. It’s nice to kind of step out of my musical boundaries every now and then.

            Vitas is extremely talented, able to achieve this powerful falsetto that even many women wouldn’t be able to reach. He does all these weird and funny vocalizations in most of his songs too, best seen in “The 7^th Element” “Roll with the Beat” and “Dreams”. The video for “Opera #2” appears to be about how Vitas is a man with gills on his neck, who falls in love with a woman who he thought also had gills on her neck, but she doesn’t, and she rejects him, causing him to scream so loud glass breaks. Ah, what a tragic tale. We can all relate to rejection.

Observations Upon Rereading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

            I recently finished rereading L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Now I’ve read this book a handful of times throughout my life, going back to my childhood, but this was my first time rereading it since I binged all the sequels I could get ahold of; which I had not read before. And once you’ve read into the rest of the Oz series, you start to look at the first book in a different way. You may be familiar with the feeling of watching a long-running television series to the end and then later returning to season 1, only to find things odd and disorienting because of how different the series became later. A good example would be something like Star Trek: The Next Generation. Another might be The Simpsons or South Park. You can get that same feeling with the Oz books.

During this reread I noticed a few things I didn’t before, and the ways in which the first book contradicted later installments became more apparent. I felt like just going through some observations I made. I don’t really feel up to the task of actually reviewing and critiquing such a timeless classic, so I’m doing this instead. I’m aware that 120 years has been quite enough time for everything that can be said about the story to be said, for the most part, so I’m probably not saying anything new, but, that said, maybe I can offer a unique perspective on the story.

Oz was Definitely Originally Supposed to be on Earth

The International Wizard of Oz Club's map of Nonestica

Dorothy gets to Oz via a cyclone (and it is never actually referred to as a tornado; I thought cyclones were basically hurricanes?), and she gets back by crossing the Deadly Desert with the Silver Slippers. Oz is supposedly someplace you could actually physically travel to if you knew where to go, and probably somewhere in North America. (And no, it’s NOT all just a dream Dorothy had either). This is still true to varying degrees in the second book, but it definitely evolves. Later we find out Oz is at the center of a fantasy continent known now as Nonestica, which also contains every other fantasy country Baum wrote about, but Dorothy does get to this continent after being washed overboard on a boat in the third book, so it’s still presumably on Earth somewhere, just undiscovered. There was also a newspaper comic around this time called Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz (yes, the early 1900’s were a different time) that had Oz characters touring the United States, but I’d rather think of that as non-canon. The 4^th and 5^th books have Dorothy getting to Oz through more magical means, so it’s almost like being teleported to another dimension or parallel universe. By the sixth book, the Wizard is worried about Oz being discovered by newly-invented airplanes, so Glinda magically cut Oz off from the rest of the world. After this point Oz arguably becomes like a separate fantasy land, similar to Wonderland, Neverland and Narnia (luckily without any kind of age limit for getting there, unlike the ageists in Neverland and Narnia who ban you when you hit puberty). Whenever someone from the outside world gets to Oz it tends to be via some kind of magic, rather than by a physical journey.  The magical barrier separating Oz from the outside world proves progressively flimsier as the series goes on, but it still seems more like a parallel world of some sort. Modern Oz authors who aren’t looking to stick to canon often make Oz some kind of parallel universe. In my own little headcanon, which I’m not saying is better than actual canon or anyone else’s interpretation of that canon, Oz is part of a hidden continent that may have once been a part of our world, perhaps somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, but shifted into a higher plane of existence when the Fairy Queen Lurline enchanted it, no longer existing in the physical, material world. Almost like a part of the astral realm. It’s wherever the fairies exist; having it be in a shared universe with Neverland, another fairyland but one which follows different rules, would make sense. Maybe it’s in some kind of pocket universe too, or something similar to that. Wherever it is, I sure wish I knew how to get there. 

Munchkin Height Issues

Thanks to the 1939 film everyone thinks of the Munchkins as dwarves. It might surprise you to learn that this isn’t universally the case in the books! The lone member of Oz’s army, the Soldier with the Green Whiskers (aka Omby Amby aka Wantowin Battles…it’s complicated) is a pretty tall man, and he was born in Munchkin Country. Even the Tin Woodman was originally a Munchkin (something you wouldn’t know watching the movie), and he’s about the height of a normal adult. After Dorothy’s house crushes the Wicked Witch of the East, she meets four Munchkins, three men and one woman (not a whole village of singing Munchkins, you’re thinking of the movie). Baum describes them thusly: “They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.”

So, going by this description, these Munchkins, at least the ones Dorothy first met, were about her size, and she was a well-grown child. So probably between four and five feet high. Short, but hardly dwarves or Hobbit-sized people. Besides that, Munchkin Country is a pretty big place as revealed in later books; we can’t judge an entire nationality on these four people. Dorothy meets more Munchkins that night at the residence of the wealthy Munchkin Boq, but heights aren’t mentioned. The original illustrations by W.W. Denslow show them as being about Dorothy’s height, but the text doesn’t say anything to that effect, so it depends how much stock you want to put into the canonicity of the illustrations. When you've got characters randomly changing hair color throughout the series and looking older in one illustration and younger in another, the illustrations might not be all that reliable. As far as I’m aware, Munchkins are never mentioned to be especially short in later books.

Maybe this assumption that all Munchkins are short just annoys me because I’m 5’2.

The Scarecrow’s Origin Story in Ruth Plumly Thompson’s The Royal Book of Oz Can’t Possibly Be Right

The 15^th Oz book was the first to be written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after L. Frank Baum’s death. What her first book sets out to do is explain why the Scarecrow came to life, which Baum never explained. Later on in the series various non-living objects are brought to life via a magical Powder of Life, but this was never mentioned to be the case for the Scarecrow. According to Thompson, the Scarecrow came to life as soon as he was placed on a pole in a cornfield. This pole extended down through the Earth to the opposite side, in a kingdom known as the Silver Islands, a politically incorrect parody of China. When the emperor of the Silver Islands died decades prior, his soul traveled up the pole, and entered the first thing that was placed on the pole, that being the Scarecrow, who is this emperor’s reincarnation.

But there’s a problem when you go back and read the first book. The Scarecrow clearly describes to Dorothy having witnessed the Munchkin farmers painting his face and clothing him before he was placed on the pole. So, he was already alive before being placed on the pole. The reincarnation story can’t explain why the Scarecrow is alive. Now I don’t think the events of The Royal Book of Oz really prove that the Scarecrow was a reincarnation of the emperor anyway, even taking the book on it’s own, because for all we know the entire story could be bogus superstition and the locals just end up convincing the Scarecrow that it’s true, because even with his placebo brain from the Wizard he can be a bit gullible. The Scarecrow has no memories of this supposed past life, after all. This is the explanation I’m personally settling on. Maybe the paint on the Scarecrow’s face has Powder of Life mixed in, I don’t know. An opportunity was wasted with The Royal Book of Oz. No one can write a worthy origin story for the Scarecrow and have it universally considered canon now. I don’t blame people who don’t consider her books canon.

Retcons in The Tin Woodman’s Backstory

This is kind of a minor one. The Tin Woodman’s origin story may be one of the most twisted aspects of the Oz books, as he was once a flesh and blood woodman who raised the ire of the Wicked Witch of the East, and she enchanted his axe to cut off one limb at a time, which he had replaced by tin ones, until he was purely tin. In the first book it’s stated that he was in love with a beautiful Munchkin woman, who lived with an old lady that hired the Wicked Witch to get rid of him. However, in The Tin Woodman of Oz, in which the Tin Woodman’s origin is retold, the old lady is retconned out, and instead the Tin Woodman’s lover, Nimmie Amee, was a servant of the witch herself. This works better in my opinion, as the Wicked Witch was supposed to be more of a ruthless dictator, not an assassin for hire. This time it was Baum himself changing up the plot, which he did quite often. I didn't really notice the change until I went back and read the first book again though.

The Micro-Kingdoms in Oz Thing Started in the Very First Book

Oz gets divided into infinitely more city states and micronations as the series go on. We have Jinxland, Oogaboo, Bunnybury, the Skeezers, and a slew of others. Thompson did it all the time to pad out her stories. But the first book has the Queen of the Field Mice, who rescues the Cowardly Lion from the Poppy Field. The first independent monarch mentioned to be in Oz. Her Queendom seems to be somewhat nomadic, although later maps place it in Winkie Country (not all that close to the Poppy Field, strangely). So, all those added kingdoms to Oz were being true to the original version of Oz all along.

The “Wacky Wayside Tribe” Filler Chapters Started in the First Book

If you really love that skippable, filler chapter where Dorothy and her friends visit the Dainty China Country where everyone and everything is made of porcelain, wait until you get to the 5^th Oz book, The Road to Oz, which is an entire book like that! Anyway, I’ve noticed people who often critique the later Oz books for relying on this trope may neglect to mention that this was part of Oz from the very beginning. I think sometimes having the main characters stop in some town with a strange gimmick can be acceptable as a world-building technique, but it shouldn’t be abused or overused, and there’s certainly a right way and a wrong way to do it. One of the things I liked about the later Oz book by Baum, The Lost Princess of Oz, is that most of the strange gimmicky communities the heroes encounter on their journey actually do impact the plot in some way; the villain even later turns out to be a native of one of these communities. And Glinda of Oz, Baum’s final book, has the main focus of the plot be on two of these strange communities of Oz going to war with one another and Princess Ozma trying to stop the war. This leads me to believe Baum was trying to reign in the overuse of filler chapters in the Oz books, signifying his growth as a writer. But Thompson didn’t really ever learn this lesson.

Emerald City Inconsistencies

This will be obvious to anyone who reads into the sequels. In the first book everyone is forced to have spectacles with green lenses locked onto their heads before entering the Emerald City so that everything looks greener than it actually is when you get in. The Emerald City is actually built of white marble. Another illustration of the Wizard’s fakeness, I suppose. But why does it still look shiny and green from a distance, before anyone puts the spectacles on and enters the city? Am I overthinking it? The spectacles are still in use in the second book under the rule of the Scarecrow, but in later books the green spectacles are forgotten; the Emerald City actually is green and covered in emeralds, and no one has to wear the special glasses to see it. Did Princess Ozma have that done later on in the Wizard’s absence? Probably.

Glinda Really Was Behind Everything

           

Glinda the Manipulative

            The short story The Puppet Mistress of Oz by Andrew Heller, which was included in the short story collection The Lost Tales of Oz (which I've reviewed), goes into this theory in great detail, but I had an idea like this before reading that story. Reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz after having read that short story was fun though. Now Glinda the “Good” is a powerful witch and ruler of the southern province of Oz known as Quadling Country. She has a book called The Book of Records which tells her what’s going on anywhere in the world at the moment it happens, and uses this as a surveillance tool in many books. She must have known that Dorothy was coming to Oz. Or, more likely, was the one who brought her to Oz. What were the chances of Dorothy’s house landing right on top of the Wicked Witch of the East? Astronomically small. There had to have been magic involved. Dorothy is first visited by the Good Witch of the North in the book, likely an accomplice of Glinda, who gives Dorothy the Silver Slippers. Glinda could have, at any given time, teleported over to Dorothy and told her how to use the shoes to get home, but no; she needed someone to assassinate her political rivals first so she could have complete rule over Oz! Who really decided that Glinda was “good” and the witches of the east and west were “wicked”, anyway? Objective morality doesn’t exist. She was probably manipulating the Wizard behind the scenes, knowing full well he didn’t have any real powers, and forcing him to send Dorothy on an assassination mission. Why did the Wizard disappear for days on end when Dorothy and her friends arrived at his palace? Probably he was busy meeting with Glinda to plan their strategy, which included freeing Ozma from Mombi and putting her back on the throne. To do that, the Wizard needed to be out of the picture. The Wizard either decided himself to return to Nebraska, or perhaps more likely, Glinda was kicking him out of Oz. He later returns, only after Ozma decides to forgive his past wrongdoings and act as if it never happened. Maybe Dorothy was supposed to go back home with the Wizard in the hot air balloon according to their plan, but anyway, the Silver Shoes were a backup plan in case that went awry. The Silver Shoes never show up again in the sequels, having been lost in the Deadly Desert. Are they truly lost? Or does Glinda still have them stashed somewhere?

            Alternative character interpretations are fun. In all seriousness I think Glinda is mainly benevolent, although undeniably authoritarian, power-hungry and controlling. She did make Oz a near-utopia, after all, got to give her that. You just do not want to be on her bad side. She is a serious master at 4D chess. The puppet mistress.