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78 Articles

50 EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

20 JULY 1969 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND The first Moon landing There was no way the United States was going to lose the Space Race. Although Soviet Russia seemed one step ahead at every turn, with Sputnik-1, Yuri Gagarin and Luna-2 – the first artificial satellite, the first man in space, and the first rocket to reach the Moon respectively – JFK told the American people on 25 May 1961 that the nation should “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon, and returning him safely to the Earth.” Using Saturn rockets and veterans of Projects Mercury and Gemini, the process of developing a safe rocket that could make the journey and a safe return began. However, in 1967…

50 EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

DEFINING MOMENT THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 14 OCTOBER 1066 The clash between Harold II of England and the victor, William, duke of Normandy, secured the Normans as rulers of England. Contenders For The Throne Harold Godwinson EARL OF WESSEX Harold was a powerful English magnate. He was present while Edward lay on his deathbed and bequeathed his throne to Harold. The Witan of Anglo-Saxon nobles accepted his coronation. William DUKE OF NORMANDY Before Edward the Confessor became king in 1042, he was forced to live in exile at the court of the dukes of Normandy. To show his appreciation, Edward supposedly promised to leave the throne to William. Harald Hardrada KING OF NORWAY The Norwegian king had the weakest claim and was merely attempting to exploit a great opportunity to…

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

1 Solid English phalanx The front lines of the English infantry were formed into an impressive shield wall upon Senlac Ridge. The steep incline of the hill helped the tight phalanx withstand a full frontal assault from the Norman infantry and cavalry. 2 William killed? The stalemate ended when panic rapidly spread throughout the Norman ranks because they believed William had been slain. The left flank broke in response so the Duke rode to the front with his helmet raised to rally the troops. 3 Unplanned feigned flight The English who pursued the fleeing Normans soon found themselves cut off and were easily picked off by the more mobile Norman cavalry. Witnessing its effectiveness, William continued to utilise the tactic several more times throughout the battle. 4 Death of Harold…

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

FRENCH CONTINENTAL RIVALS

Henry I KING OF FRANCE After helping William keep control over his duchy at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047, Henry soon became threatened by the new duke’s growing power. The king led two unsuccessful invasions of Normandy in 1053.4 and 1057. Fulk IV le Réchin COUNT OF ANJOU Once he seized the county from his brother, Geoffrey III, in 1068, Count Fulk of Anjou secured an alliance with King Philip against William. Beginning in the early-1070s, he attempted to reclaim Maine on several occasions, but failed. Philip I KING OF FRANCE Threatened by his vassal as king of England, Philip made alliances with Anjou and Flanders to counter the strength of Normandy. Philip’s insult infuriated William so much that his enthusiasm to seek vengeance at Mantes led to his…

FRENCH CONTINENTAL RIVALS

INSIDE A NORMAN CASTLE

“William did accomplish one last achievement with the Domesday Book” With Harold held hostage, William attempted to use a combination of flattery and threats to get the English magnate to not only accept his claim, but also help him attain the English throne upon the death of the ageing Edward. Therefore, Harold accompanied William on his invasion of Brittany in 1064, and when they returned to Normandy, Harold swore an oath of fealty to William. Certain he had achieved his goal, William let the Earl of Wessex return to his island. Upon Edward’s death, it became clear that Harold made his oath to William under duress and thus considered it completely invalid. He also quickly cemented his claim to the throne with the support of several witnesses to Edward naming…

INSIDE A NORMAN CASTLE

DEFINING MOMENT BLACK DEATH, 1346-53 One of the most devastating pandemics in human history, millions died and an entire continent was brought to its knees. After enjoying generations of sunshine and warmer climes, Europe had undergone an unprecedented population boom that saw more people living on the continent than ever before. At the turn of the first millennium there were 24 million people in Europe, and by 1340 this had reached 54 million. Entire countries were straining at the edges of their farmlands and eating into the forests, and the availability of food was beginning to reach the limits of population support. A dire evil, however, stalked the land, just as the Little Ice Age began, and a century later Europe’s population had plummeted to 37 million. The origins of…

A number of herbal treatments were thought to be effective against the Black Death. Sufferers were regularly prescribed, depending on their income, solutions of ground emeralds or potions made from the crushed shells of newly laid eggs mixed with chopped marigolds, ale and treacle. Treacle was, in fact, a leading remedy, though it had to be at least ten years old to have any potency. Another effective, if less appealing, curative was urine – two glasses a day was widely thought to strengthen the constitution and fend off disease. Treatment of the buboes was a trickier affair. In their terror, people believed they could draw out Pestilence by holding bread against the boils and burying it – or, more incredibly, by strapping a live hen to the swelling, rinsing and…

When Pestilence strikes…

Flu hits The Black Death begins like a bad cold, with aches, pains, chills and a fever setting in. God’s tokens Just a few hours later, circular red rashes appear around infected lymph nodes. Bubo breakout Within a day or two, the lymph nodes will start to blacken and swell to the size of oranges. Vomiting Severe fluid loss, including blood, accompanies and exacerbates the bloating buboes. Septic shock Two to three days after infection, septic shock and pneumonia often hit the victim. Respiratory failure Weakened under the assault of the infection, the body’s central systems begin to shut down. Death Usually within two to four days, up to two weeks after infection, Pestilence conquers the host.…

When Pestilence strikes…

WATERLOO THE FALL OF NAPOLEON

NAPOLEON MYTHS BUSTED He was short This myth comes from confusion over French inches as well as the fact that ‘Le Petit Caporal’ was always surrounded by his tall bodyguards. Napoleon was most likely about 5’6”, near average for his era. Napoleon was losing. He knew he was losing. But he had been so confident in his speeches that his troops were unaware of this fact that was so blatant to him. “Wellington is a bad general,” he had told his men, but that bad general had beaten him. Though it pained him to admit it, his own mistakes had played a part too. He heard a voice, it must have been his own, shouting encouragement as he rode between the ranks. His words were strong and firm, but his…

WATERLOO THE FALL OF NAPOLEON

Battle of Austerlitz 2 December 1805 Also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, Austerlitz sees Napoleon facing the armies of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Napoleon’s tactical genius during the battle is virtually unparalleled and leads his smaller force to a definite and crushing victory. The victory brings an end to the War of the Third Coalition, leads to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and paves the way for French domination of Europe. Battle of Rivoli 14-15 January 1797 Part of Napoleon’s campaign in Italy, his force of 23,000 easily defeat an Austrian force of 28,000. Using his military genius, Napoleon is able to take advantage of his enemy’s mistakes and destroys the opposing army. Widely upheld as his greatest…

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO

BELGIUM 18 JUNE 1815 After fi ghting back the advancing Prussians, it was time for Napoleon to face the might of Wellington’s troops. With 72,000 French men meeting 68,000 allies, the emperor found himself better equipped, but the coalition was better positioned. The sun rose to reveal the fi elds deluged; it was time for Napoleon to put his famous tactical genius to the test. La Haye Sainte falls For hours, waves of ferocious French soldiers attack Wellington’s stronghold of La Haye Sainte. Finally, at about 6pm, they are victorious, though the cost is heavy in both French and British lives. With his new position, Napoleon is able to use artillery to attack the British centre. Wellington struggles Although the Prussians are approaching, they are still a good while away…

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO

THE EMPEROR’S LEGACY

Napoleon’s legacy had already begun even before he passed away, and he sharply divided opinion the world over as soon as his conquests began. For his supporters, he was a force of justice, spreading the French values of freedom and liberty with the ultimate goal of peace and national unification. This continues today; Napoleon’s policies created the basis for a legal system used worldwide, allowing freedom of religion and judging on merit rather than birth. However, there are those who disagree. Although beginning with good intentions, many believe he was driven by selfish ambitions that resulted in the loss of millions of lives. The 200th anniversary of his victory of Austerlitz was not officially celebrated in France and the emperor is far from a national hero, such as the likes…

THE EMPEROR’S LEGACY

THE FIRST PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

DEFINING MOMENT INAUGURATION OF THE FIRST US PRESIDENT, 30 APRIL 1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States, now seen as one of the most powerful positions in the world. GEORGE WASHINGTON American, 1732-1799 Brief Bio Hailed by many as the greatest US president of all time, George Washington served as commander in chief of the US Continental Army during the American Revolution. He then went on to become the first US president, serving from 1789 to 1797. Today Washington remains an icon of liberty and freedom, and is one of the most recognisable faces in the world. Long Island was supposed to be a success. The enemy was stronger and greater in number but the rebels had got there first. The commander had prepared…

THE FIRST PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

1 Virtue Washington twice gave up the chance of ultimate power. First at the end of the Revolutionary War when he surrendered his role as commander in chief, and again when he refused to rule as president for a third term. When George III was presented with the idea of Washington doing this, he said, “If he does that he will be the greatest man in the world.” 2 Commitment to country Washington did not become involved in the hostile arguments and squabbling of political debates, but instead acted as a peacekeeper between the groups. A true non-partisan, his primary aim was always the betterment of the country, rather than any personal gain. 3 Persistence Washington was not the most gifted military leader; he suffered multiple losses and personal humiliations,…

The March To Revolution

French and Indian War The French and Indian War was part of a much longer conflict between Great Britain and France, known as the Seven Years War. The war was fought in the north of North America between the colonies of the two powers, ending with France losing its territory in North America. However, funding the war created a huge national debt in Britain and gave France a good reason to support American independence. Stamp Act The resulting national debt of the Seven Years War in Britain had reached £130 million by 1764. Britain also needed a way to pay for its army in North America and decided the colonies should subsidise it. The Stamp Act forced citizens to pay taxes on documents and paper goods and was immediately unpopular…

The March To Revolution

Rebels | Redcoats

Rebels Organisation There were 35,000 continentals in the United States with 44,500 militia. Their French allies increased their numbers with 12,000 French soldiers in America and 63,000 at Gibraltar. They also had 53 ships in service throughout the war. George Washington was commander in chief and Nathanael Greene served as major general. Weapons When the war began the colonies did not have a professional standing army of any kind, with many colonies only able to supply minutemen who were required to equip themselves – with most carrying rifles. The army’s weapon of choice was the flintlock musket and they also carried bayonets. Resources The Continental Army suffered from massive supply issues. Supplies were repeatedly seized by British patrols. They also had to combat a primitive road system, which resulted in…

Rebels | Redcoats

Washington myths cut down

Stephen Brumwell is a freelance writer and independent historian living in Amsterdam. His book, George Washington: Gentleman Warrior, won the 2013 George Washington Book Prize. He had wooden teeth George Washington was plagued with dental problems from his twenties, and by 1789, had just one of his own teeth remaining. He owned several sets of false teeth, but none was crafted from wood. Instead, Washington’s dentures incorporated a variety of materials – bone, ‘seahorse’, or hippopotamus ivory, and human teeth – fixed by lead, gold and metal wire. The belief that Washington’s false teeth were wooden probably originated in the brown-stained appearance of surviving examples – apparently owing to his fondness for port wine. He cut down a cherry tree and confessed to his father Perhaps the best known of…

Washington myths cut down

The Last Day of Lincoln

On 9 April 1865 one of the most brutal and fiercely contested civil wars the Earth has ever seen came to a formal close in small, nondescript courthouse in Virginia. General Robert E Lee – leader of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia – was meeting with General Ulysses S Grant, the commander of the Union Army, to sign papers of surrender. The American Civil War between the United States of the Union in the North and the Confederate States of America in the South was officially over. Four years of blood, destruction and wildly differing ideologies of how the newly colonised landmass of North America should be modelled were over. The Confederacy had collapsed; the infrastructure of its southern states lay in ruins. After signing the papers Lee left…

The Last Day of Lincoln

The life of Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 February 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. His youth was a troubled one. He had two siblings, an older sister Sarah and a younger brother Thomas, the latter of whom died as an infant. After a land dispute, the Lincolns were forced to move to Perry County, Indiana in 1817 and squat on public land. At the age of nine, his mother died of milk sickness. After the family again migrated, this time to Illinois in 1830, Lincoln started to make a living splitting wood and as a shopkeeper. In 1837 he was admitted to the bar and became a lawyer, practising across Illinois until the mid-1840s. In 1842 he married Mary Todd, with whom he had four…

The life of Lincoln

The sinking of the Titanic

DEFINING MOMENT SINKING OF THE TITANIC, 15 APRIL 1912 Believed to be unsinkable, the Titanic disaster came as a huge shock, and led to a number of new safety implementations for ships and ocean liners too. At 12.15pm on 31 May, 1911, the largest ship that had ever been constructed was launched into the water for the first time, causing a not-inconsiderable wake in the River Lagan in Northern Ireland as all 52,000 tons of it entered the water. Over 20 tons of soap and candle wax were spread on the shipway to help lubricate the great beast’s entry into its natural habitat where, like a seal labouring on the land before gliding in the water, all of a sudden the great monster changed from an inert piece of metal…

The sinking of the Titanic

“Women and children first”

Captain Edward J Smith (1850-1912) was one of the White Star Line’s most experienced captains. Aged 17 he travelled to Liverpool to begin his apprenticeship on the ship Senator Webber before he joined White Star as a Fourth Officer in 1880. He quickly rose through the ranks and seven years later was given his first command. Smith became commodore of the White Star fleet in 1904, after which it became routine for him to command the line’s newest ships on their maiden voyages and it is said that he gained such a reputation as a captain that some passengers would only travel on ships where he was in command. However, this is not to say that he had not had previous incidents; in 1911 while captaining of the Olympic, the…

“Women and children first”

Legacy of the Titanic

The ship was seen as the very embodiment of modern technology and that it sunk was a shock to everyone. The disaster ended the career of the White Star Line chairman, J Bruce Ismay, who was on board but survived on a lifeboat. Many believed he should have, like the captain, gone down with his ship and in 1913 the board of directors denied his request to continue as chairman. Separate inquiries were held in the US and Britain to identify the cause of the disaster. The US committee was seen in Britain as an attack on the British shipping industry but both committees reached similar conclusions and, as a result, improvements to safety were made. These included a decree that ships has to carry enough lifeboats for those aboard,…

Legacy of the Titanic

WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT WAR?

When Gavrilo Princip opened fire on Archduke Franz Ferdinand, he killed not just the heir to the Austrian throne, but sentenced to death over 9 million people in four years. But if assassination was the excuse, it wasn’t the cause… DEFINING MOMENT ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND, 28 JUNE 1914 The catalyst for WWI, this event led to four years of global conflict that resulted in millions dead, and caused major political changes. 1 February 1864 PRINCE EDWARD NURSES A GRUDGE British foreign policy is redefined after the Prussian invasion of Denmark Prussia and Austria’s devastating seizure of the ethnically mixed territories of Schleswig and Holstein, which separated Denmark from what is now Germany, shocked the young British Prince Edward – the future King Edward VII – who was only…

WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT WAR?

LENIN’S BLOODY REVOLUTION

DEFINING MOMENT RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917, 23 OCTOBER 1917 Following years of build-up of political and social factors, and amidst the First World War, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin take Saint Petersburg. Guns roared, thousands of voices yelled from the streets in defiance, and on 23 October 1917, the massed supporters of Vladimir Lenin laid siege to Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace, the site of an ineffectual government, and the capstone event of a socialist revolution. For Lenin and his troops it was both a political and an ideological victory: the triumphant end to years of secretive theorising and plotting, many of them spent by Lenin in exile, before he returned to Russia to “liberate” his people. If the celebrations were short lived, the inversion of society to replace an autocracy…

LENIN’S BLOODY REVOLUTION

THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION

May 1896 Nicholas II is crowned tsar, making clear he’ll continue the autocratic rule of Alexander III. July 1903 The Russian Social Democrat party splits into two factions: the Bolsheviks, under Lenin, and the Mensheviks. January 1905 Tsarist troops open fire on demonstrators in Saint Petersburg, causing widespread strikes. June sees a mutiny aboard Battleship Potemkin. October 1905 Nicholas II ends the unrest by promising increased civil liberties for the proletariat. The Duma is formed. July 1914 At the outbreak of war, Nicholas II assumes control of the Russian Army. His family come under the damaging influence of Rasputin. February 1917 Protests turn to riots in Saint Petersburg. The city falls to insurgents; the Duma collapses into chaos. March-April 1917 Nicholas II abdicates and the Provisional Government forms. Lenin returns…

Trudoviks – 10 seats The Labour Group or ‘Trudoviks’ were a breakaway from the Socialist Revolutionaries, since the SR had refused to participate in the Duma. They were a moderate socialist party (the name ‘Trudovik’ meaning ‘labour’) that grew out of small worker collectives. Bolsheviks – 15 seats Lenin’s faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party was committed to the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and the redistribution of power to the proletariat. Unlike the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks still believed that a small ruling elite was necessary. Progressists – 41 seats The Progressive Party consisted of moderate liberals who believed the time was right for the bourgeois, not the proletariat, to assume control of Russia. Two of the party’s prominent members would go on to be part of the Provisional…

BOLSHEVIKS Vladimir Lenin Leader of the Bolsheviks The revolutionary thinker and politician steered Russia to communist revolution and was its premier from 1917 until his death from a stroke in 1924, aged 53. His body lay in state for four days and was viewed by almost a million mourners. Leon Trotsky Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee Initially a Menshevik, Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks for the 1917 revolution and was instrumental in its success. He was later expelled from the Communist Party and exiled for his opposition to Stalin. He was assassinated in 1940. Joseph Stalin Member of the Central Committee A minor player in the 1917 revolution, Stalin rose through Bolshevik ranks until he took leadership following Lenin’s death. His rule turned Russia into an industrial power, but he was…

THE OCTOBER UPRISING

Aurora Anchored on Saint Petersburg’s Bolshaya Neva River, the cruiser Aurora was the ship from which the revolutionary troops fired blank shots at the Winter Palace, terrorising the people inside. Bridges As a city on a river, Saint Petersburg’s bridges were more key strategic points for the Red Guard, limiting access and exit. Central Telegraph Like the post office, control of the Telegraph was of significant use to the Bolsheviks and the Red Guard, cutting off the opposition from any means of summoning help or reinforcement. Main post office A key point for controlling communications, the post office was one of several similar sites seized by the Red Guard during the night of 23 October. Winter Palace The final site to fall in the October revolution. The storming of the…

THE OCTOBER UPRISING

In the seven years following the revolution in 1917, the new government issued dozens of legislative acts. They were known as decrees DECREE ON PEACE The document proposing the immediate withdrawal of Russia from World War I: a key Bolshevik policy since before the revolution. DECREE ON LAND Again, a central Bolshevik policy made law: private property was to be abolished and landed estates redistributed among the peasantry. DECREE SOCIALIST HOMELAND IS IN DANGER! A call for peasant forces to mobilise in Russia’s defence in the face of German advances. “Protect each position to the last drop of blood!” was the cry. DECREE ON THE RED TERROR An appeal for workers to crush any signs of counterrevolution against the Bolsheviks. “Anyone who dares to spread the slightest rumour against the…

THE MILITANT BATTLE FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS

DEFINING MOMENT WOMEN GET THE VOTE, 18 AUGUST 1920 (US) / 2 JULY 1928 (UK) The women’s suffrage movement had been a long-standing battle for equal rights, which eventually led to women being granted the right to vote. On 4 June 1913, the king’s horse was at the Tattenham Corner of the Epsom Racecourse, third from last in the flat-sprint race. As it rounded the corner, its huge limbs pumping back and forth like a piston, a woman ducked under the spectators’ barrier and darted onto the middle of the track, directly into the horse’s path. Her name was Emily Wilding Davison and her death would be the latest outrage in an ever-more violent struggle for women’s rights. The actions of the lone suffragette would create totally opposed but equally…

THE MILITANT BATTLE FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS

LEADERS OF THE SUFFRAGETTES

Emmeline Pankhurst 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928 After spending her youth attempting to open her own boutiques, Emmeline and her husband Richard became involved with the Labour Party. She grew frustrated with the lack of progress regarding women’s suffrage and dedicated herself to the cause. She created the WSPU in 1903, backed by her daughters, and directed the group toward an increasingly militant strategy. She did not hesitate to distance herself from anyone who opposed her, including her own daughters. Despite her fragile health, she worked tirelessly and was imprisoned several times. When WWI broke out she redirected her attentions to the war effort. After the war she travelled to Canada but struggled financially, before returning to England where her health finally failed her. Christabel Pankhurst 22 September…

LEADERS OF THE SUFFRAGETTES

Hunger strikes began in 1909, when Marion Wallace Dunlop refused to eat after she was not treated as a political prisoner. She was released 91 hours later, but the practice of forcible feeding began soon after. The first case took place in September 1909 and quickly became common practice. The suffragettes protested this savage treatment and arrests, but forcible feeding continued. The sanitary conditions of the equipment used and the marked differences between the treatment of wealthy and poor suffragettes was controversial. The government initiated a cat-and-mouse law in 1913, which freed hunger-strike prisoners whose health was in danger, but brought them back to complete their sentences once they were deemed healthy enough. The practice continued until the outbreak of WWI.…

WHAT WERE THE MOST MILITANT ACTIVITIES?

Glass smashing In July 1909, suffragettes threw stones at the windows of 10 Downing Street to express their rage at the arrests following the rush on the House of Commons. By October, with the first forcible feedings taking place, organised window-smashing raids had begun. These displays fulfilled the early militant aims of bringing attention to their cause and to ensure a swift arrest. They also brought disapproval from more peacefully minded campaigners who felt this was vandalism and would do more harm than good. Arson Beginning with Emily Wilding Davison setting fire to a pillar-box in December 1911, unsanctioned by the Pankhursts, arson would go on to be one of the most striking methods of militant protest. Following Davison’s death in 1913, arson attacks were carried out all over the…

WHAT WERE THE MOST MILITANT ACTIVITIES?

Davison’s crusade

Conciliation Bill torpedoed 21 November 1911 Lloyd George puts paid to any hope of the Conciliation Bill passing by announcing that he has “torpedoed” it. The truce agreed to by the militant suffragettes is over. Starting fires 15 December 1911 Emily Wilding Davison is arrested for putting a flaming piece of linen into a pillar-box. She had announced her plans and was waiting to be arrested. WSPU heads arrested 5 March 1912 Following a protracted window smashing campaign, the government arrests the heads of the WSPU, including the Pethick-Lawrences and Emmeline Pankhurst. Christabel Pankhurst flees to France. Davison attempts martyrdom 4 July 1912 During a commotion in Holloway Prison, a desperate Davison throws herself off a balcony – twice – in an attempt at martyrdom as “some desperate protest.” She…

Since the fall of the Third Reich in 1945, our verdict on Hitler’s leadership has mostly come from the pens and mouths of his generals. Many of these men had grown to resent their former leader, and with the fall of Germany they seized the opportunity to criticise and embarrass the Führer at every opportunity. But beneath the façade of slander and betrayal, was Hitler’s military leadership style truly so unpopular – and to what extent did his decisions determine the outcome of World War II? “So much of what we thought we knew about Hitler for many years came from his generals, and they have a lot of reasons to either consciously or unconsciously falsify what happened,” says Dr Geoffrey Megargee. “They more or less accused him of starting…

The invasion of Poland

1-27 September 1939 On 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and just two days later both Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. The campaign in Poland was devised by General Franz Halder, chief of the general staff, but it was ultimately Hitler who gave the order to invade. Germany employed Blitzkrieg (which translates as ‘lightning war’) tactics, denting Poland’s front lines with Panzer tanks and aircraft before troops moved through gaps this created. The approach was hugely successful, although it was not one that Hitler came up with. On 27 September 1939 Poland surrendered, albeit with a Soviet invasion from the east dividing the country. The effects of this campaign were felt across the globe and signalled the start of World War II.…

The invasion of Poland

The Fall of France

10 May – 22 June 1940 “ When you start talking about how many trucks a particular unit has at its disposal, that’s just ridiculous for a head of state to try to interpret” Resigned to the fact that both Britain and France had declared war, Hitler knew that he needed to nullify France to have any chance of fending off the Allies. So, on 10 May 1940, Germany invaded its Gallic neighbour. The campaign consisted of two operations. The first was Case Yellow (Fall Gelb), where German forces advanced into the Ardennes region and pushed the Allied forces in Belgium back to the sea. This ultimately resulted in the mass evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June. A second operation known as…

The Fall of France

The invasion of the USSR

22 June 1941 – 24 July 1944 The height of Hitler’s involvement with his army came in 1941 when he decided to invade the USSR. Germany’s battle with the Red Army began with the five-month-long Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, and culminated in the Soviets liberating Minsk (Belarus) and Majdanek (Poland) in July 1944. Hitler and his generals believed that the Soviet Union would fall if Germany mounted a sustained attack. They presumed, somewhat naively, that the Red Army would collapse and the Soviet people would surrender after a short military campaign, allowing Germany to occupy large portions of the USSR while focusing their efforts on Britain in the west. This, of course, was anything but what really happened, and Hitler’s underestimation of the Soviet Union was a major…

The invasion of the USSR

Attack on Pearl Harbor Eye Witness

DEFINING MOMENT JAPANESE ATTACK PEARL HARBOR, 7 DECEMBER 1941 A devastating strike aimed at crippling the US Pacific Fleet, it led to the US joining the war, helping turn the tide in the favour of the Allies. CHARLES E. EBEL Charles Ebel, from Guilderland, New York, was serving as a seaman first class aboard the USS Curtiss when Japanese warplanes attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. From his unique vantage point across Ford Island, Ebel saw many ships sunk in the most deadly foreign attack on American soil until 9/11. He passed away in 2014 aged 95. “We expected them to come back. I thought the Japanese would take over Pearl and probably the States” On the morning of 7 December 1941, Walter Charles Ebel and a friend…

Attack on Pearl Harbor Eye Witness

The day America was attacked

HST 3.42am The minesweeper ship Condor spots a sub 3.2km (2mi) from Pearl Harbor and sends a warning to the USS Ward 6.10am 183 fighters, bombers and torpedo planes take off from Japanese aircraft carriers north of Oahu 7.02am First sighting The Opana Radar Station on Oahu spots more than 50 aircraft bearing down on them, much to the incredulity of the two privates on duty 7.20am A lieutenant incorrectly believes the planes sighted by the radar station to be US B.17 bombers, and fatally dismisses the warning 7.40am Japanese planes bear down on Pearl Harbor as the clouds clear 7.55am Airfield attack The Japanese first bomb the US Air Force’s Wheeler Field, north of Pearl Harbor, destroying most of the US warplanes on the ground 8am Most of a…

The day America was attacked

Origins and aftermath

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a shock to America. Despite the country’s reluctance to enter into World War II, the Japanese had feared America would at some point join the Allies and, in an effort to quell their expected entrance into the global conflict, they intended to cripple the US Pacific Fleet to ensure they would not pose any threat to Japan in South-east Asia. The plan, however, failed to quell the US and instead only achieved the result of incurring the full wrath of the American military, which the Japanese would feel the brunt of culminating in the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. For all those at Pearl Harbor, it was a terrifying experience that has stayed with them ever since.…

Origins and aftermath

DEFINING MOMENT D-DAY, 6 JUNE 1944 The largest seaborne invasion in history, the Normandy landings began to claim back Western Europe for the Allies and led to the liberation of France. At approximately 6.30am he fell heavily, his pack lurching forward and with it his shoulders as the murky grey water hit him like a wall. He stumbled, the press of bodies behind him caring little for his lack of balance – only for their orders and whistling of bullets overhead, the steady crunch of artillery and the rattle of machine guns from the horizon where the sand became hillside. A hand took his shoulder roughly, scooping him up and pushing him forward in one smooth motion. He didn’t hear what was being shouted, but he understood the message. If…

Operation Bodyguard was the umbrella term for an elaborate, multi-pronged deception campaign that involved all branches of the armed forces and risked MI5’s most valuable double agents. Inflatable tanks and planes in the Kent fields fooled German reconnaissance planes into thinking that Allies would dash across the channel to Calais, as well as steady bombing raids to soften up a target that would never be hit, while a network of ‘trusted’ German agents secretly working for British intelligence kept up a misleading flow of information. Intelligence from double agents highlighted a planned invasion of the French Bay of Biscay, another fake army and convenient radio intercepts in Egypt teased a planned invasion via Crete and the Balkans. Right up to D-Day itself – and for days afterward – Hitler and…

GERMAN DEFENCES

Fortress Weapons: Connected to numerous smaller pillboxes by trenches or concrete tunnels, they could boast a huge array of artillery and machine guns, as well as firing positions for infantry. Strength: Heavily fortified networks of concrete and steel, they were impervious to tank and light artillery. Often manned by the fanatical Waffen SS rather than regular Wehrmacht soldiers, the defenders would often fight to the last man. Weakness: Being positioned where they could defend French ports left them exposed to attack. Pillbox Weapons: Most often used for machine guns, but they could also be designed for anti-tank guns or mortars, while firing slots existed for infantry riflemen. Strength: Encased in concrete and steel, they were the infantry’s worst nightmare – impervious to the small artillery and tank fire from the…

GERMAN DEFENCES

15 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT FD-DAY

D means… what? So innocuous an origin that it’s actually amazing – D-Day means simply ‘date’, which along with H-Hour – ‘time’ – were used by the US Army as far back as World War I as shorthand in briefings. Drone warfare The Germans fielded remote-control Goliath mini-tanks better known as ‘beetles.’ Small, tracked and laden with high explosives, they were steered by a joystick into tanks and tightly packed infantry. They were of limited effect. Friends in the air Although primarily concerned with the Pacific War in 1944, the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force both provided air support for the D-Day landings. The other allies One regiment of Free French and one regiment of Polish Armed Forces In The West also took part in…

15 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT FD-DAY

The first atomic bomb Eye Witness

DEFINING MOMENT BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA, 6 AUGUST 1945 In the hope of ending the war, the US dropped the first atomic bomb used for warfare onto Hiroshima, Japan, killing over 70,000 people. DUTCH VAN KIRK Having already served 58 missions in Africa and Europe during World War II, Dutch Van Kirk transferred to the 509th Composite Group. He was the navigator on the Enola Gay, which on 6 August 1945 dropped the first nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Here he recounts those events before his death in 2014 at the age of 93. “I didn’t feel too good about dropping the bomb – but I didn’t feel too bad about dropping it either. It could have been us…” Theodore Van Kirk, known to everyone as ‘Dutch’, was…

The first atomic bomb Eye Witness

Countdown to destruction

16 July 1945 5.29am First detonation US scientists successfully detonate the first nuclear device at the Trinity test site 28 July Japanese government rejects surrender terms put forward in the Potsdam Declaration 5 August 2pm Calm before storm Having been told they have the go-ahead to drop the atomic bomb, Van Kirk and the rest of the crew try to get some sleep 3pm The Little Boy bomb is loaded onto the Enola Gay 6pm Struggling to sleep, Van Kirk, Ferebee, Tibbets and others play poker 10pm The crew gets up to prepare for the flight to Hiroshima and eat breakfast 6 August 12am Van Kirk and the crew make their way to the Enola Gay, after a final briefing 1.37am Weather report The three weather planes leave North Field…

Countdown to destruction

Origins and aftermath

The US started developing the nuclear bomb following a warning from Albert Einstein and other physicists in 1939 that the Germans were close to constructing their own. Project Manhattan got underway in 1941 and by July 1945 had successfully detonated the first-ever nuclear device in the Trinity test. By this point Germany had already surrendered so the Allied forces’ sights were now trained solely on the last remaining Axis power: Japan. Having refused an ultimatum to surrender in the Potsdam Declaration, the Allies felt they were left with two options: a full-scale invasion or the use of nuclear bombs. They opted for the latter. It remains one of the most controversial military decisions ever taken, yet many argue that invading Japan would have claimed many more lives in the long…

Origins and aftermath

13 DAYS TO ARMAGEDDON

DEFINING MOMENT CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, 16 OCTOBER 1962 JFK is informed of Soviet missile bases being constructed in Cuba. Over the next week and a half the world came agonisingly close to nuclear war. In October 1962 the world almost ended. At the height of the Cold War, the United States of America and the Soviet Union found themselves in a tense standoff over Russian medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles being stockpiled in bases in the rebellious Republic of Cuba. Over a terrifying 13 days, the two superpowers came to the brink of nuclear war, with their mutually assured destruction looking alarmingly possible. To the Russia ns, this dark chapter of their history is referred to as the Caribbean Crisis. To the Cuba ns, it’s the October Crisis. But to…

13 DAYS TO ARMAGEDDON

KENNEDY V KHRUSHCHEV

KENNEDY JFK became president in 1960 for the Democrat Party. He aimed to end racial segregation in schools and public places and liberalised immigration laws. He strengthened unemployment benefits and called on the nations of the world to band together to fight poverty, hunger and disease. He also urged Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” With his presidency at the height of the Cold War, Kennedy was a vehement anti-Communist. He fought Communism in developing nations and introduced the Space Race as much from a perceived necessity to beat the Russians to the Moon as for the scientific achievement. As well as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy’s administration intervened in Vietnam against…

KENNEDY V KHRUSHCHEV

THE BAY OF PIGS

The failed invasion that led to the Crisis WHY IT HAPPENED • Concern in the US over the new left-wing direction of Cuba’s politics after the removal of dictator Fulgencio Batista by revolutionary Fidel Castro. • US concern over trials and executions of former Batista supporters. • Castro was an outspoken critic of the USA. WHAT WENT WRONG? A damning CIA report from November 1961 outlined a catalogue of points that made the attempted invasion doomed to failure. Its author, Inspector General Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, identified that there were no policies or contingency plans in place should the invasion have succeeded. Insufficient and poorly managed staff had been assigned to the project, relatively few of whom even spoke Spanish. US intelligence in Cuba had been improperly analysed. There had been…

THE LONGEST 13 DAYS IN HISTORY

16 October President Kennedy and his staff are briefed on reconnaissance photos of Russian missile bases under construction in Cuba. Kennedy maintains his public schedule while covertly discussing whether to launch air strikes or blockade Cuba’s coasts. 17 October Kennedy continues his official public engagements, feeling it important to keep up appearances rather than arouse concern. He has lunch with Crown Prince Hassan of Libya and visits Connecticut to support Democratic election candidates. 18 October Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko insists that Russia’s aid to Cuba is purely in the cause of defence and presents no threat to the USA. Kennedy warns Gromyko of grave consequences should Soviet nuclear weapons be found on Cuban soil. 19 October Kennedy heads out on the congressional campaign trail to Ohio and Illinois, as…

NUCLEAR STRIKES

TARGET: FLORIDA Troops in South Florida were poised for action as the Crisis intensified. Local soldier Henry Mack recalls these 13 days as “the loneliest of his life”, primed to launch a nuclear missile if any incoming aircraft failed to respond properly to a challenge. Thankfully, he never had to push the button! TARGET: WASHINGTON DC The political centre of the USA, Washington is home to both the White House and the Pentagon. A new exhibition of documents pertaining to the Crisis was opened in the city in 2012. TARGET: TORONTO The Cuban missiles could have reached Toronto, but Canada’s role in the Cold War was often slightly different to the USA’s. Several of its prime ministers advocated peacekeeping, diplomacy and support for non-NATO allied nations, rather than the USA’s…

NUCLEAR STRIKES

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“In our discussions and exchanges […] the one thing that has most concerned me has been the possibility that your government would not correctly understand the will and determination of the United States in any given situation, since I have not assumed that you or any other sane man would, in this nuclear age, deliberately plunge the world into war which it is crystal clear no country could win and which could only result in catastrophic consequences to the whole world.” Kennedy to Khrushchev, 22 Oct 1962 “You, Mr President, are not declaring a quarantine, but rather are setting forth an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force. Consider what you are saying! And you want to persuade me to…

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“I have a dream”

DEFINING MOMENT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S SPEECH, 28 AUGUST 1963 A defining moment in the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr’s speech to over 250,000 helped galvanise support for change. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR American, 1929-1968 Brief Bio Born in Atlanta and allegedly named after the German religious reformer Martin Luther, King was a bright student, skipping the ninth and 12th grades and enrolling at college without formally completing high school. The son of a reverend, King was initially sceptical of religion but changed his mind and entered the seminary. He fought for civil rights, with his “I have a dream” speech arguably his most iconic moment. He was assassinated aged 39. Martin Luther King, the pastor who believed in nonviolent protest, addressed the hundreds of thousands of…

“I have a dream”

GANDHI'S INFLUENCE

While the two never met in person, King derived a great deal of inspiration from Mahatma Ghandi’s success in nonviolent protest, and so in 1959, made the journey to Bombay (now known as Mumbai). King and his entourage were greeted with a warm welcome: “Virtually every door was open to us”, King later recorded. He noted that Indian people “love to listen to the Negro spirituals”, and so his wife, Coretta, ended up singing to crowds as often as King lectured. The trip affected King deeply. In a radio broadcast made on his last night in India, he said: “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice…

GANDHI'S INFLUENCE

THE LONG ROAD TO CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA

1619 First known slaves The first known instance of African slavery in the fledgling English Colonial America is recorded. 1712 New York Slave Revolt A group of 23 enslaved Africans kill nine white people. More than 70 blacks are arrested and 21 subsequently executed. After the uprising, the laws governing black people are made more restrictive. 1780 A minor victory Pennsylvania becomes the first state in the newlyformed United States to abolish slavery by law. 1790-1810 Manumission of slaves Slaveholders in the upper south free their slaves following the revolution, and the percentage of free blacks rises from one per cent to ten per cent. 1863 The Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln proclaims the freedom of blacks still in slavery across ten states – around 3.1 million people. 1865 Black…

THE LONG ROAD TO CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LANGUAGE OF THE SPEECH

Dr Catherine Brown, convenor and senior lecturer in English, New College of the Humanities • “The speech derives its power from a combination of disparate elements. On one hand, it is addressed to a particular time and place, and emphasises this fact: the situation is urgent; now is the time change must happen. On the other, the speech is dense with allusions to the Bible and foundational American documents and speeches. • King is explicitly saying that the Emancipation Proclamation is a ‘bad check’ that has yet to be honoured in regard to ‘the Negro people’, and the speech calls on that cheque to be honoured. • The other texts he refers to were not written by black people, but by using their phrases and rhythms he is asserting his…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LANGUAGE OF THE SPEECH

Newspapers around the country brandished mixed headlines following King’s speech. While many reported on the march’s orderly and peaceful nature, several complained of the event’s effects on traffic and transport in the area. Others, perhaps deliberately, gave the march only a few column inches, referring to it as a ‘racial march’ rather than a call for equality. This front page from the Eugene Register Guard reflects the apprehension felt by many at the time. “Massive Negro Demonstration ‘Only a Beginning’” is somewhat scare mongering, implying the US should be fearful of the black population. The strapline “No Evidence of any Effect on Congress”, meanwhile, seems to purposely undermine the efforts of those involved in the march.…

KENNEDY AND KING

King never publicly endorsed any political candidate, but did reveal in 1960 he “felt that Kennedy would make the best president”. Many claim Kennedy owed his presidency to King after securing his release from prison following a protest in Atlanta, Georgia – a gesture that helped gain a large proportion of the black vote. But when the pair discussed the possibility of a second Emancipation Proclamation, Kennedy was slow to act. Kennedy was caught between opposing forces: on one side, his belief in equality, and on the other, a preoccupation with foreign threats such as communism.…

THE SPEECH’S LEGACY

Despite the success of King’s speech, his address was largely forgotten afterwards, due to the speed of subsequent events, and to King’s increasing disillusionment with his dream. He said that it had “turned into a nightmare.” According to William P Jones, author of The March On Washington, in the mid1960s “most people would not have said it was the most powerful speech ever.” King’s assassination led the nation to rediscover his speech, yet remarkably the full speech did not appear in writing until 15 years later, when a transcript was published in the Washington Post. The original copy of the speech is currently owned by George Raveling. The then26yearold basketball player had volunteered at the last minute as a bodyguard during the march, and after King’s speech asked him if…

A HISTORY OF CONSPIRACY

At 12.30pm on 22 November 1963, the world stopped and gasped in horror. John F Kennedy, the man who many Americans saw as propelling their country into a new era of hope and freedom, was shot as his motorcade travelled through the streets of Dallas, Texas. There were three gunshots: the first missed, the second struck his throat, and the third hit his head. He was immediately rushed to the nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital and, as one news reporter said, “For 30 agonising minutes, Americans heard and waited and kept the death watch in unprecedented numbers.” Despite the prayers of an entire nation, Kennedy was pronounced dead soon after. In the aftermath, Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B Johnson, commissioned an enquiry into the assassination in an attempt to discover the truth…

A HISTORY OF CONSPIRACY

SUSPECTS OF THE JFK CONSPIRACY

JACK RUBY Jack Ruby was a Mafia affiliate who shot Lee Harvey Oswald before he could testify to the assassination of Kennedy in open court. It is possible that he was the second gunman, working in partnership with Oswald or that Oswald was working with the Mafia and Ruby was sent to kill him before he had a chance to testify in court. LYNDON B JOHNSON It was known that Johnson wasn’t in Kennedy’s inner circle of advisors; he was constantly left out of the loop, and it was rumoured that Kennedy wanted to get rid of him for the run up to the next election. Theories postulate that he could have paid Oswald to do the deed to usher in his ascension to the presidency. FRANK STURGIS Frank Sturgis…

SUSPECTS OF THE JFK CONSPIRACY

Apollo 11 lunar landing Eye Witness

DEFINING MOMENT MOON LANDING, 20 JULY 1969 Bringing an end to the Space Race, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the Moon, achieving something many thought would never be possible. JACK GARMAN John R ‘Jack’ Garman is a computer engineer who worked at NASA from 1966 to 2000. In 1969 he was a key figure in the Apollo 11 lunar landing, responsible for overseeing the primitive computer on-board the spacecraft. Now retired, Garman had a long and fruitful career at NASA, although perhaps no mission was as important as Apollo 11. “It was a very euphoric kind of atmosphere; by jove, we actually did it, they actually landed on the Moon” At 8.18pm (GMT) on 20 July 1969, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the…

Apollo 11 lunar landing Eye Witness

How the Moon landing unfolded

GMT 17:44pm The Lunar Module separates from the Command and Service Module in lunar orbit. 19:08pm Moon descent Armstrong and Aldrin begin their descent to the lunar surface. 20:04pm The Lunar Module is now just 15,200m (50,000ft) from the surface of the moon. 20:10pm The lunar module descends to 9,100m (30,000ft). 20:14pm Threat to mission The 1202 programme alarm flashes up, but Jack Garman realises it is safe to continue. 20:15pm Armstrong and Aldrin pick a new landing site having lost track of their location during the alarm. 20:16pm The low-fuel quantity light flashes on, meaning the crew has just seconds’ worth of fuel to land the Lunar Module. 20:16pm Finally dust is kicked up by the vehicle, meaning the landing is just seconds away. 20:17pm Armstrong and Aldrin successfully…

How the Moon landing unfolded

Origins and aftermath

The Apollo 11 lunar landing was the culmination of the space race between the USA and the Soviet Union that had begun with the Soviets launching the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957. For much of the Sixties it had seemed the Soviets were ahead due to the many ‘firsts’ they achieved, including the first human in space in 1961. But ultimately, the Soviets’ failure to build a capable manned lunar rocket saw USA claim victory. Five more lunar landings would take place before the Apollo programme was finished, but ultimately this competition would pave the way to cooperation in space exploration between the USA, USSR (now Russia) and other countries that we are still seeing the benefits of today, with programmes such as the International Space…

Origins and aftermath

DEFINING MOMENT THE WATERGATE SCANDAL, 17 JUNE 1972 Following a break-in at the Democratic headquarters, a cover up by the White House leads to the resignation of President Nixon. With beads of sweat forming at his brow, the president of the United States of America looks straight down the lens of a television camera and says defiantly: “I’m not a crook.” The president, Richard Nixon, is in the middle of an hour-long televised question-and-answer session with over 400 journalists. That the leader of the world’s foremost superpower is forced to make such an astonishing statement shows the scale of a scandal that has spread like wildfire through the White House. It will lead to the first and only resignation of an incumbent president to date and become the defining political…

The reason the Watergate burglaries remained shrouded in mystery for decades was the conflicting reports from the various parties involved. Certainly, those involved in the burglaries – including prominent members of the White House Plumbers, a covert intelligence group acting with the tacit approval of Nixon – were working on behalf of Nixon, whether the president was aware of the specific activities or not. That Nixon learned about Watergate and sought a cover-up is beyond dispute. Various sources indicate that government agencies believed that the Cuban government – one of USA’s greatest ideological foes of the time – was funding the rival Democratic Party or that people in the upper echelons of government were keen to smear or bug Democratic bigwigs or retrieve previously installed wires. What may have begun…

TIMELINE OF A SCANDAL

17 March 1973 Watergate burglar James McCord writes a letter to Judge John Sirica, claiming that he lied during trial and that the burglary had involved other government officials. 13 July 1973 Alexander Butterfield, a former presidential secretary, reveals that all conversations and telephone calls in White House offices have been covertly taped since 1971. 24 July 1974 Nixon is ordered to hand over tapes to investigators. Congress begins impeachment proceedings. 1 January 1975 John N Mitchell, John Ehrlichman and HR Haldeman are convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. All three serve prison sentences. 1972 17 June 1972 The White House Plumbers are arrested in the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel. 3 June 1973 John Dean tells Watergate investigators that he has discussed the cover-up…

TIMELINE OF A SCANDAL

NIXON’S WEB OF LIES

Whistleblower Mark Felt The identity of ‘Deep Throat’ was one of the greatest political mysteries – until 2005, when Felt announced that he was journalist Bob Woodward’s source. Felt had been the FBI’s associate director in 1973 and was repeatedly passed over for the job of director by Nixon. Attorney general Richard Kleindienst Kleindienst became aware of Watergate when G Gordon Liddy told him while playing golf that the break-in had originated within the CRP and that he should arrange for the burglars’ release. He resigned the same day John Dean was fired and Haldeman and Ehrlichman quit. Government agent Bernard Barker A Cuban emigrant who had served in the US armed forces and probably worked for both the FBI and CIA at various times, Barker was an early recruit…

NIXON’S WEB OF LIES

WHO WAS DEEP THROAT?

Bob Woodward of The Washington Post knew a source at the FBI who fed him regular information. When the Watergate scandal broke, the source was in a perfect position to observe the presidency and resulting investigation. His source was Mark Felt, an associate director at the FBI. Woodward referred to him as ‘My Friend’ but the Post’s editor, Howard Simons, renamed him ‘Deep Throat’ – a reference to a pornographic film of the time – to protect his identity. The pseudonym fired the public imagination: Woodward would move a flowerpot on the balcony of his apartment when he desired a meeting; Felt would respond by leaving a time written on the journalist’s daily newspaper. The pair would meet in an underground garage in Virginia. The source fed information about the…

WHO WAS DEEP THROAT?

Following his resignation Nixon cut a sorry figure. Inconsolable at losing the job he had coveted so deeply, wounded by the thought he had betrayed the American people and lost with little to do at his home in California, he quickly became ill and almost died. However, he worked to rehabilitate himself and by the time of his death was a respected political elder; sought after for his advice by sitting presidents and even former opponents like Hillary Clinton. When he died it was revealed that he had requested not to have a state funeral, as is the usual custom for deceased US presidents. In his resignation speech, Nixon made much of the advances he thought had been made in foreign policy – where many US presidents believe their legacy…

Fall of the Berlin Wall Eye Witness

ANDREAS RAMOS Born in Colombia and raised in the USA, Ramos lived in West Germany for seven years before moving to Denmark. He’s authored ten books, including a number of best-selling titles. He’s also a lecturer in Digital Marketing at the Silicon Valley Business School. He remains an outspoken commentator on the fall of the Berlin Wall and hopes future generations will remember its importance. “As we made our way into West Germany we could all sense that the whole continent was about to change forever” For 28 years, the Berlin Wall stood resolute, an imposing symbol of the Soviet Union’s cast-iron hold over much of Eastern Europe. For almost three decades, the citizens of the Wall’s Eastern side lived under the watchful eye of the German Democratic Republic, a…

Fall of the Berlin Wall Eye Witness

Timeline of a nation uniting

CST 19 August 1989 Prior to the Wall’s physical collapse, the political landscape regarding it is already falling apart. The opening of Hungary’s borders with Austria can be seen as the initial catalyst. 4 September Peaceful protest Following a similar influx of refugees into a now-open Czechoslovakia, a series of peaceful protests are organised across East Berlin. 18 October East German leader Erick Honecker is forced to resign by his own party following his refusal to change the city’s immigration policies. 4 November We are the people With Erick Honecker and his ‘shoot to kill’ edict removed, the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 reaches its height. The chant, “We are the people!” echoes through the streets of East German cities. 9.30am 9 November Crowds begin to gather all along the Berlin…

Timeline of a nation uniting

Origins and aftermath

Following the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was split into four distinct zones, with each one administered by each of the main Allied forces. Berlin itself was divided in two, with West Berlin existing as a free city and East Berlin absorbed into the increasing Soviet grip on Eastern Europe. In 1961, the semi-autonomous communist government the German Democratic Republic – under direction from the Kremlin – decreed that a new wall would be erected to physically divide the city in two, effectively cutting East Berliners off from the rest of the Western world. For 28 years, the Berlin Wall signified a city evolving in two very different directions. When the first East Berlin citizens passed the guard patrols into the free West Berlin, it was the…

Origins and aftermath

Mandela becomes president Eye Witness

DEFINING MOMENT MANDELA BECOMES PRESIDENT, 10 MAY 1994 Having served 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela – a man who fought for equality in South Africa – became President of the country. GILLIAN KERRUISH Gillian Kerruish was born in South Africa’s northern capital Pretoria in 1984 and has lived in at least half of the country’s provinces. Apart from a trip to Switzerland when she was aged seven, Gillian has not left the borders of South Africa. She lives in Johannesburg, where she works as a receptionist at a law firm. She’s also studying to be a sworn translator in Mandarin Chinese. “I knew with the absolute conviction of a child that this would be the greatest day of my entire life” South Africa was changing. After three centuries of…

Mandela becomes president Eye Witness

Mandela’s road to presidency

EDT 11 Feb 1990 Long-awaited release Nelson Mandela, aged 71, is freed from prison after 27 and a half years of imprisonment. Feb 1990 The ban lifts State president de Klerk also lifts the ban on Mandela’s ANC (African National Congress). 7 Aug 1990 Guerrilla campaign abates The ANC suspends its campaign of guerrilla warfare against apartheid after 30 years. 5 July 1991 Mandela leads After a successful global tour, Mandela is unanimously elected as the leader of the ANC. 17 June 1992 Devastation in Boipatong 300 armed men attack the settlement of Boipatong, killing over 45 people. 10 April 1993 Chris Hani is killed Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party is murdered by a white man. 15 Oct 1993 Shared Nobel Peace Prize De Klerk and…

Mandela’s road to presidency

Mandela’s lasting legacy

Mandela’s time as South African president may have only lasted five years, but his influence as a peace activist and a symbol for national unity not only left its mark on South Africa, but the rest of the world as a whole. Upon leaving the crowds at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, a mountain of a task lay ahead of him. Mandela not only had to prove South Africa was not another rogue African state ruled by gun runners and warlords, but reassure white South Africans that the country’s first black president would not spearhead a campaign of reprisals in the wake of apartheid. By appointing his predecessor FW de Klerk as deputy president, Mandela was able to initially appease white citizens, while his reluctance to follow the elitist land…

Mandela’s lasting legacy

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