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L’horrible peste Perynte & Nicopolle,
Le Chersonnez tiendra & marceloyne,
La Thessalie vastera l’Amphipolle,
Mal incogneu & les refus d’Anthonie.
Nicopolis is on the west coast of Greece, along the Mediterranean Sea. The Chersonese are the people of Cherson, a large city in modern day Ukraine. It is harder to determine who the Marceloyne are, but I am hazarding a guess that it is the people of the city of Marceillise, a tiny village in Italy. Thessaly is one of the ancient regions of Greece. Amphipolis is a tiny village on the northern part of Macedonian Greece, very near along the Aegean Sea. The Anthony referred to in line 4 could be a Greek, in fact it almost certainly is.
Though the Russians have defended Greece by attacking the Ottoman Empire before Nostradamus, I must point out that since Nostradamus lived there has been no situation where the Russians or the Ukrainian people have attacked or defended any place in Greece. Therefore, unless this is a blown quatrain on Nostradamus's part, this has to refer to the future.
Le Roy voudra dans cité neufue entrer,
Par ennemys expugner lon viendra
Captif libere faulx dire & perpetrer,
Roy dehors estre, loin d'ennemis tiendra.
There are, as far as I can tell, only two possibilities for this quatrain. The first is that of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, who came from Europe to take up his seat in Mexico City. The second is that of Don João IV of Portugal. Lines 2 & 4 are the determinants. Maximilian was never far from his enemies, and the French troops that gave him the throne could not be called his enemies. Don João, however, was quite far from his enemies and it was the exertion of his enemies that caused him to pick up and leave. Therefore, this quatrain has to refer to him.
In 1808, due to assaults by Napoléonic France, the royal family of Portugal and the entire court fled Lisbon and settled in the new world city of Rio de Janeiro under the direction of Don João IV of Portugal, which explains the first two lines. The last line is obvious, the King, outside of Europe, was far from his enemies, the French of Napoléon.
This interpretation is, I freely admit, not complete. I cannot decipher line 3. But this quatrain so obviously refers to Don João that I think I can be forgiven declaring this fulfilled, regardless of whether I understand the third line or not.
Les ennemis du fort bien esloigner,
Pat chariots conduit le bastion,
Par sur les murs de Bougres esgrongnez,
Quand Hercules battra L’Hæmathion.
The Æmathion is the key that places the quatrain. The French kings had a vague tie to the Trojans and claimed to be descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneus. Æmathion stands for Louis XIV.
His opponent is the great British general, John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough. He is Hercules in the struggle, he won every battle he fought.
Bourges is a city in central France. My researches do not say what happened here during this war. Still, the enemies were very far from any forts near Bourges. It was only towards the end that Churchill started to invade France itself.
Foibles galleres seront unies ensemble,
Ennemis faux le plus fort en rampart:
Faible assailies Vratislave tremble,
Lubecq & Mysne tiendront barbare part.
Lübeck and Misnen are located in Germany. Vratislave does not exist, but is a misspelling of Bratislava, a city that was known by a different name in Nostradamus day. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. It is the historical and current capital of Slovakia. It was also the capital of Slovakia during the Second World War. The “weak galleys” represents the Italian fleet joined, at the critical time, with the German U-boat fleet in the Mediterranean. The false enemies of Italy were the British. Mussolini’s instincts were originally correct when he despised the German Fuhrer, yet in the end he sided with Hitler, an event that would bring down his government. The barbarian part indicates the placement of the German troops B Northern Africa, the land of the Barbary.
This has to refer to the Afrika Corps, under Field Marshal Rommel. The German contingent was the most powerful contingent. When it was properly supplied, it was able to trounce superior British forces which were usually inadequately led.
By 1942, it was becoming obvious that the Germans were going to lose the war. The British, halfway ably lead under Montgomery, had finally defeated the Afrika Corps at Alamein. The Russians had destroyed Von Paulus and the 6th German Army. The United Nations had landed in western Africa, prompting an increase in the strength of the Afrika Corps. However, it was too little too late, German assaults were too weak. Bratislava had every reason to tremble.
Le nouveau faict conduyra l’exercite,
Proche apamé jusques au pres du rivage,
Tendant secour de Milanoile eslite,
Duc yeux privé à Milan fer de cage.
Note on Translation: Apamé can be translated into Abruzzo, and (phonetically) Apennine. Both are correct in this case.
The key is the Duke in Milan. The fact is that the last true Duke of Milan disappeared in 1535 when Charles II of Spain took it over. Therefore, this cannot be a duke in the traditional sense. It is, instead, a direct reference to the one who called himself the equivalent of a duke. As a duke was in many ways the absolute prince of a specific region, we are talking about someone who has the powers of absolute government in the area of Milan. When one thinks of this, Italy's monarchs of the House of Savoy and the dictatorship of Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, suggest themselves.
The new fact that drove the enterprise was the downfall of Italy and its switching sides in the Second World War. Mussolini had been deposed and arrested by order of the King. The Badoglio government that succeeded Mussolini pretended to continue the war, but in the end signed an armistice with the Allies and declared war on the Germans.
The enterprise itself was the rescue of Mussolini, the Gran Sasso Raid. Mussolini had been transported around, but finally held up in Campo Imperatore Hotal, a ski resort in the Grand Sasso section of Italy’s Abruzzo region. It went off without a hitch and Mussolini, the leader of Milan, was rescued for the Milanese people. He was set up in Salo, a small town in the Lombardy district, as the Duce of the Italian Socialist Republic. Please note that Milan is the capitol of Lombardy.
However, he was a virtual prisoner. The real power now rested with Adolf Hitler. Mussolini’s eyes were metaphorically removed. The Germans told him what to do, usually without explaining why, and he did it. Compared to the power he used to have, the Salo government was a sham, for it was a cage of German Iron.
Dans cité entrer exercit desniee,
Duc entrera par persuasion,
Aux foibles portes clam armee amenee,
Mettront feu, mort de sang effusion.
Most commentators claim that it is an army that is denied entry into the city. While this is not what Nostradamus wrote, it certainly makes sense. The Duke is either a literal duke or a very important, powerful governor of a country, much like Benito Mussolini or Joseph Stalin were. Foibled is not necessarily weak, but it is a habitual way that can lead to weakness. The doors, maybe gates, are just the way the people of the city have them. The last line likely refers to what happens to the city.
De mer copies en trois parts divisees,
A la seconde les vivres failleront,
Desesperez cherchant champs Helisees,
Premiers en breche entres victoire auront.
The three parts may have ties to the three brothers of Nostradamus’ epistle. If so, then these are three naval forces from three different Islamic countries. One of them is insufficiently supplied. Still, the victory belongs to the Muslims. The Elysian is a metaphorical reference to a search for the final resting place for heroic and virtuous souls.
Les affligez par faute d’un seul tainte,
Contremenant à partie opposite,
Aux Lygonnois mandera que contraint
Seront de rendre le grand chef de Molite.
I admit to stretching things a bit here, but I am convinced that Lygonnois stands for Lyonnais, or the people of Lyons. I cannot decipher Molite though. Most likely, this refers to the future.
Vent Aquilon fera partir le siege,
Par murs geter cendres, chauls, & pousiere :
Par pluye apres qui leur fera bien piege,
Dernier secours encontre leur frontiere.
Most commentators claim this refers to Napoléon’s defeat at the hands of Russia and the Russian Winter in 1812-1813. While lines 1 & 4 do seem to agree with this, lines 2 & 3 seems to refer to chemical warfare, especially the word chauls (lime).
I therefore think that this refers to a fourth invasion of Russia. And, like the three prior invasions by Sweden's Karl, France's Napoléon and Germany's Hitler, this fourth invasion will end in disaster for the attacker. The big difference is that this time the Russians will really suffer.
Navalle pugne nuit sera superee,
Le feu aux naves à l Occident ruine :
Rubriche neufue la grand neuf coloree,
Ire à vaincu & victoire en bruine.
This refers to the beginning actions of the Japanese as they joined the Second World War. Operation Ai, the attack on Pearl Harbor, occurred just as the dawn started, right when the night was superseded by the day. The battle of Pearl Harbor saw explosions and fires in the great battle fleet of the United States. The United States was a victim of the new naval weapon, the aircraft, which became the primary naval weapon. The Americans, the vanquished in the battle, were stunned and furious. The American leadership knew that the war was as good as won, the victory being guaranteed by the inevitable application of the immense industrial and military power of the United States. Yet, the inevitable victory was shrouded in the fogs of time and the many obvious setbacks that the U.S. would have to endure before the power could be brought to bear.
Note: This quatrain was included because of its importance to the future of France and the French people. France was a conquered country, chaffing under Nazi rule in the north and the government of Petain's collaborateurs in the south. Only the United States had the power to both liberate France from Nazi and collaborateur tyranny as well as keep it from being turned into a Communist state by Soviet actions. This attack marked the entry of the United States into the war dedicated to the eventual liberation of France.