The Pantheon and Napoleon´s tomb at Les Invalides

Last day I made a mistake about Napoleon´s tomb: it´s not located at the Church of Sainte Geneviève, transformed in the Pantheon for illustrious French citizens, but at the Church of Les Invalides.  The Church of Les Invalides was built by Mansart in French Late Baroque style and the Church of Sainte Geneviève was built by Soufflot in New Classicist style. 

Former Church of Sainte Geneviève, Soufflot, (1758-1790)

This is the former Church of Sainte Geneviève, transformed into a secular mausoleum in 1791. Some of the distinguished French figures buried there were Mirabeau, Voltaire, Marat, Rousseau,  the explorer Bougainville, the mathematician Lagrange and the writers Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. Here you have the complete list of men buried there (not even one woman): 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panth%C3%A9on,_Paris#Full_list_of_people_interred

Napoleon´s tomb is located in the Hôtel National des Invalides, a complex of buildings related to the military history of France that includes the Museum of the Army and a hospital for war veterans. Napoleon´s remains are there since 1840, when King Louis Philippe of Orléans and his prime minister Adolphe Thiers decided to bring his corpse back to France from the island of Saint Helena, where Bonaparte had been exiled in 1815 and died in 1821. The process of bringing back Napoleon´s remains to France was called the retour des cendres (return of the ashes). Napoleon didn´t rest in his definitive tomb until 1861, when the works ended in the Church of Les Invalides. Here you have a short history of he tomb: 

http://www.invalides.org/pages/anglais/dome_a.html

And this is a complete list of the military men buried together with Napoleon: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Invalides#Tombs_and_vaults

And these are some pictures of Les Invalides complex: 

Aerial view of Les Invalides complex

Chapel of Saint Louis of Les Invalides, built by Mansart at the end of the 17th century

Napoleon´s coffin

All the pictures from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Invalides

Charles III´s colonies in Andalusia

The new populations in Andalusia and Sierra Morena

Source: http://www.cosasdeandalucia.com/web/index.php/identidad-topmenu-48/sede-identidad-topmenu-50/1064.html 

The colonization of new lands was one of the reforms made during Charles III´s rule. Charles III decided to repopulate some sparsely populated regions of Spain, such as Sierra Morena and the Guadalquivir Valley. He wanted to enlarge the cultivated areas and end with banditry. New settlements were created and the consequences of this repopulation are still evident in these places even today.

Pablo de Olavide, Charles III´s intendant for Andalusia, was in charge of this project. Villages such as La Carolina in Jaén, La Carlota in Córdoba, La Luisiana in Seville were created and around 6,000 colonists from Austria, Germany and France settled down there. Many of them were blond and blue-eyed. Every family of colonists received 50 fanegas of land, 5 hens, 5 goats, 5 sheep, two cows and a sow, were tax-exempt for ten years and protected by a special law until 1835.  The remains of this colonization are still evident at present: some of the people of these towns have blond hair, blue eyes, names such as Smith, Aufhinger, Ruff, Neff, Alpert and preserve some German traditions, such as the Fasnachto Karnevales in La Carolina or the painted eggs day in Cañada Rosal 

Painted Easter eggs, a German tradition in Cañada Rosal

Source: http://www.canadarosal.es/opencms/opencms/canadarosal/turismo/cultura/fiestas_canada_rosal.html

Esquilache, the scapegoat

Marquis of Esquilache

Source: http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/Buero.html

Yesterday we studied a little bit the program of enlightened reforms Charles III started when he became king of Spain, after 20 years of experience as king of Naples. Charles III brought some Italian ministers, who were in charge of putting the reforms into practice. Leopoldo di Gregorio, Marquis of Esquilache, was one of Charles III´s most trusted secretaries. Firts he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury and later he became Secretary of War and Navy and finally Secretary of State, the highest rank post in the Bourbons´ bureaucracy. In this post he implemented several reforms on Charles III´s behalf: 

- He reduced the privileges of the Church (revision of the decisions of the ecclesiastical courts of justice by the Royal Courts of Justice)

- He created the first lottery in Spain

- He created a fund for widows and orphans of the members of the Army

- He modernized the city of Madrid, one of the dirtiest capital cities in Europe: some municipal ordinances prohibited throwing garbage of dirty water to the streets, many streets were paved and 5,000 lampposts were installed in Madrid. 

- He liberalized the prices of wheat and some other basic products, in order to stop hoarders´ speculation

But the most unpopular decision was the one related to clothes and public order: Esquilache ordered replacing long cloaks and broad- brimmed hats (chambergos) for short cloaks and three-cornered hats, because many criminals took advantage of the usual Spanish clothes to hide their faces and escape justice.

Sheriffs cutting cloaks and brims in the street

Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:El_mot%C3%ADn_de_Esquilache.png

 The privileged, who didn´t like Esquilache´s power, used popular discontent by this public order ordinance and the increase of prices of bread and other staple food to instigate the revolt against the hated secretary. The riot started on the 23th March 1766 in different cities of Spain, but was more serious in Madrid: the rioters destroyed the 5,000 streetlights, burnt Esquilache´s residence, the House of the Seven Chimneys (a very curious building, with several legends behind), and demanded Esquilache´s dismissal to the king. Charles III gave up and dismissed Esquilache, who was appointed ambassador in Venice. The revolt finished after three days. Apparently the rioters got what they wanted, but the enlightened reforms didn´t stop. Charles III continued his reform program in some fields (economy, administration and education) and went on with the idea of imposing the royal authority over the Church. The last consequence of the Esquilache Riots was the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. The king accused them of having been responsible for the riots, but the truth was that the Jesuits were an important power in the kingdom and the king wanted to take control over their possessions. 

The first Bourbons´ mental problems

Last day we talked very slightly about Philip V and Ferdinand VI´s mental problems. Although the first Bourbons were Absolute Monarchs, they went through periods of total inability to be in charge of the government and this gave an increasing role to secretaries, such as Ripperdá, Grimaldo, Patiño, Carvajal or Wall. 

Inbreeding also affected the Bourbons and the first representatives of this dynasty in Spain suffered from mental problems that made life in the Royal Palace difficult  and obliged the secretaries to look after everyday decisions. Philip V probably suffered from bipolar disorder and he had an eccentric behavior, with long manic-depressive episodes. In 1724 he abdicated on his son Louis, but had to return to the throne when Louis I died seven months later. If you want to read more  about him, click on the following link: 

http://madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl/madmonarchs/philip5/philip5_bio.htm

Philip V and his wife Isabella of Farnese

Source: http://portraittimeline.com/1740's%20Group%20-%20f.htm

Philip V´s son, Ferdinand VI, was completely dependent on his wife, Barbarta of Bragança. They were both neurotic and subject to melacholia. When Barbara died, King Ferdinand Vi lost reason completely and spent his last year among his own excrements. If you want to read more about him, click on the link below: 

http://madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl/madmonarchs/ferdinand6/ferdinand6_bio.htm

Ferdinand VI

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferdinand_VI_of_Spain.jpg

Symbology of dollar banknotes

There is a lot of controversy about the different symbols that appear in USA banknotes. The lovers of conspiracy theories have explained many of the symbols as related to Freemasonry and the Illuminati sect (the same one of the famous Da Vinci Code). In fact, many of the symbols of USA dollars refer to the origin of the country: number 13 appears in different places: 13 vertical stripes, 13 olive leaves, 13 arrows, all related to the 13 colonies which rebelled against Great Britain. If you want to learn more about the symbols on USA dollars banknotes, visit the following links: 

http://www.creditsesame.com/blog/dollar-symbols-05192011/

http://money.howstuffworks.com/question518.htm

The Reapers´ War and the Catalan anthem

Corpus of Blood, 1640

Source: http://blogs.sapiens.cat/socialsenxarxa/etiqueta/guerra-dels-segadors/

As we studied last Friday, the Count-Duke of Olivares´ projects for all the territories of the Hispanic Monarchy provoked generalized revolts, which were more serious in Catalonia and Portugal. In Catalonia the revolt started in January 1640, when the population revolted against the royal order of accomodating 10,000 soldiers. The protests, headed by peasants, were strongly repressed by the royal army. Armed peasants occupied the city of Barcelona, killed the lieutenant of the royal army and the Generalitat broke up with the Monarchy. The Count -Duke of Olivares planned the invasion of Catalonia and the representatives of the Generalitat contacted Louis XIII, the king of France. Although France had always been Aragon´s enemy, Louis XIII decided to support the Catalans in order to take advantage  of political instability in the Hispanic Monarchy and open a new front against Philip IV (remember, "my enemy´s enemy is my friend")

The Reapers´ War  lasted for almost 19 years. It ended in 1659, with the signature of the Peace of the Pyrenees:  Catalonia lost the territories of Roussillon and Cerdanya and a marriage alliance was established: Louis XIV would marry María Teresa of Austria, Philip IV´s daughter and Charles II´s sister. This marriage would be decisive some years later, when Charles II died without direct successors. The French branch of his family got rights to the Hispanic Monarchy, but Charles II´s testament wadn´t accepted by the Habsburg branch and other European powers. 

The Reapers´ War belongs to the events Catalans consider part of their national history of fight for independence. In fact, the Catalan anthem takes its name and music from those events. Its´called  Els Segadors (The Reapers), because peasanst had an important role in the uprising against the royal troops and the beginnig of the Corpus of Blood , in June 1640, was related to an incident with a reaper. The music of the anthem was composed by Francesc Alió in 1892, drawing inspiration from a 17th century folk song. The lyrics were composed by Emili Guanyavents in 1899, for a song contest organized by Unió Catalanista, a political group which demanded self-government (not independence) for Catalonia. Guanyavents draw inspiration from a 17th century popular ballad collected by Manuel Milà i Fontanals on a book called Romancerillo Catalán. On the following video you can listen to the old version, with the lyrics of the old ballad compiled by Milà i Fontanals: 

The song was adopted by the Catalan Parliament as anthem in 1993. This is the modern version, with Emili Guanyavents´ lyrics:

If you want to read the translation in Spanish, click here.

And here you have the score:

Source: ://nonsoloflauta.blogspot.com.es/2010/11/popular-catalana-els-segadors.html

Corruption at Philip III´s court: the Duke of Lerma´s case

The Duke of Lerma (1602), painted by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz

Source: http://es.wahooart.com/@@/8Y3ELV-Juan-Pantoja-De-La-Cruz-Duque-de-Lerma

As we learnt yesterday, political corruption and influence peddling are not a 21st century invention. The Duke of Lerma, Philip III´s favourite, is a good example of political abuse on his own benefit. His influence over Philip III was such that he convinced him to move the capital city from Madrid to Valladolid in 1601 only because he had bought a lot of land on the outskirts of the city. When the capital city was moved to Valladolid, the Duke sold these properties at a very high price. He did the same some years later: he bought a lot of cheap properties in Madrid. These properties considerably increased their price when Lerma "convinced" the king to move the capital city back to Madrid in 1606. Lerma was an ancestor of many land speculators. 

In 1618 an enquiry about the Duke of Lerma´s way of administering the royal finances was opened. The Duke of Uceda (his own son), father Aliaga, a Dominican monk and the Count-Duke of Olivares denounced corruption and headed a conspiracy against the all-powerful Duke of Lerma and some of his collaborators started being removed from their posts. When the Duke started fearing from being prosecuted, he convinced the Pope to ordain him cardinal and escape civil justice. After this he asked the king permission to leave the court and retired to his palaces in Valladolid and Lerma (Burgos). The people of Madrid started singing a folk song with these lyrics: In order to avoid being hung, the biggest Spanish thief, wears red clothes. (Para no morir ahorcado, el mayor ladrón de España, se viste de colorado, as cardinals did)

There is another curious story about the Duke of Lerma. It seems that Baroque sculptor Gregorio Fernández portrayed him in one of his most famous procession floats: the Deposition with the Two Thieves on the Cross. The Duke of Lerma had been Gregorio Fernández´s patron when the sculptor started working in Valladolid and Fernández might have wanted to thank the Duke for his help. But the fact is that he portrayed the Duke of Lerma as Dismas, the good thief. Was this made on purpose? We don´t really know. But the truth is that the Duke of Lerma is reminded as one of the biggest thieves in power. He became very rich by using influence peddling and selling official posts and used power to escape justice. Nothing to envy to many current corruption cases with politicians!

Here you have a picture of the Duke of Lerma´s bronze statue and Gregorio Fernández´s Good Thief: 

Source: http://domuspucelae.blogspot.com.es/2010/03/historias-de-valladolid-dimas-el-buen.html

Sovereign defaults during Philip II´s reign and later

The Invincible Fleet to invade England in 1588 increased the debts of Philip II´s Monarchy

Source: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7968761101230823169#editor/target=post;postID=5006476513259969246

Yesterday we talked about the consequences of maintaining big empires: huge armies to subjugate the different peoples and defend the territories, high administration costs... Philip II´s heritage entailed a lot of responsibilities and huge expenses. During his rule the Hispanic Monarchy went bankrupt four times: in 1557, 1560, 1576 and 1596. Although big quantities of precious metals arrived from the Indies every year, this was not enough to cover the war expenses and the State couldn´t pay its debts. The Fuggers, a familiy of German bankers who worked with the Hispanic Monarchy since Charles V´s times, went also bankrupt when Philip II couldn´t pay his debts. The creditors had to accept that they couldn´t receive all their money (debt deduction). This is what we call debt restructuring: reducing the money the debtors had to give back, changing the period of payment, giving them more time to pay...

The Hispanic Monarchy was the first State to go bankrupt. During Philip III´s rule, there were two more defaults in 1598 and 1607. The same happened during Philip IV´s rule in 1627, 1647, 1652 and 1662. There was a last Habsburg default in 1666 during Charles II´s reign, which led to a monetary reform to control inflation and stabilize prices. The first Bourbons controlled the economic situation during the 18th century, but expenses rocketed in the 19th century, due to several wars, and sovereign defaults came back in 1809, 1820, 1831, 1834, 1851, 1867, 1872 and 1882. The last Spanish default took place during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Spain holds the historical record of sovereign defaults. 

If you think about the present situation in Greece, you can imagine how things were here everytime the State went bankrupt. So, what do you think? Are Empires worth it?

Here you have some interesting links to learn more about sovereign defaults:

- List of countries which went bankrupt and had to restructure their debt: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_default#List_of_sovereign_debt_defaults_or_debt_restructuring

- A Financial Times article which compares Philip II¨s defaults with the present situation in Greece: 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e71596d2-5482-11df-8bef-00144feab49a.html#axzz29TTbRZV5

List of the historical sovereign debt defaults of some European countries

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-complete-history-of-european-sovereign-defaults-from-1340-1939-2010-6

The Spanish Road and the Dutch Lion

The Spanish Road

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Camino_Espa%C3%B1ol.PNG

As we studied last Wednesday, Charles I inherited a lot of territories in different parts of Europe. France continued to be the Hispanic Monarchy´s main enemy and it was difficult to keep all the territories connected. During Philip II´s rule a route was established to connect the Iberian Penindula (through the Aragonese ports of Valencia and Catalonia) with the North of Italy and the Low Countries. This route was known as the Spanish Road and it was used for trade, but also for military supply, especially during the Revolt of the Low Countries (1568-1648). This road was safer than the sea route which linked the Cantabrian ports of Castile with the Low Countries. 

If you want to learn more about this road, please click on the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Road

There is a classical history book about this road written by Geoffrey Parker in 1972: The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road (1567-1659). Here you have a small review: 

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1151445/?site_locale=en_GB

The cover of The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road (1567-1659) reproduces the Dutch Lion (Leo Belgicus), a map of the Low Countries drawn in the shape of a lion. This map was drawn for the first time in 1584, during the revolt of the Low Countries against Philip II´s authoritarianism. It symbolized the Dutch resistance against the king. The map included the territories of present Belgium and Hollans. Here you have more information about this strange map: 

http://www.raremaps.com/gallery/archivedetail/17272/Leo_Belgicus/Van%20Den%20Keere.html

The Dutch Lion

Source: http://www.24oranges.nl/2009/12/10/low-countries-map-in-shape-of-a-lion/

Charles V and beer

Yuste Monastery

Source: http://labuenavida.eventosdeautor.com/2012/04/cerveza-legado-de-yuste/

Last day we learnt that Charles V decided to abdicate in 1556 and retired in Yuste. As he liked eating and drinking well, he settled down in the monastery with 20 servants. One of them was a master brewer, in charge of producing beer in the Flemish style, as the Emperor liked. This was the origin of the first beer factory (rather manufacture) in the Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. 

The brewery continued to exist in the monastery in the following centuries. Nowadays Heineken, the big beer producer, has supported the production of a craft beer called Legado de Yuste. They follow the same craft process the monks used in the 16th century. If you want to learn more about the production process, click on the following link: 

http://www.legadodeyuste.com/pop_elaboracion.htm

Some links to end with Baroque art

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Source: http://www.diegovelazquez.org/home-1-96-1-0.html

If you like to learn about the hidden side of History, here you have an interesting link about Caravaggio´s life. This Baroque Italian painter was a brilliant artist, but had a very controversial personality. He killed a man on a fight, spent some time in jail and earned his living as a pimp (exploiting  prostitutes). If you want to read more about him, click on the link below: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/7840043/New-Caravaggio-biography-casts-light-on-Renaissance-hellraiser.html

And this link includes Velázquez´s biography and his complete works (244 paintings)

http://www.diegovelazquez.org/home-1-96-1-0.html

Venus at her mirror, (1647-1651)Velázquez

Source: http://admirersofbaroqueart.blogspot.com.es/2007/04/velazquez-venus-at-her-mirror.html

Modern Era art presentations

Here you have the presentations I prepared about Renaissance Art and Baroque. I´m also going to include some links to former posts about Renaissance Art, just in case you want to learn more about it:

Why did Moses have horns?

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2011/06/why-did-moses-have-horns.html

The Sistine Chapel as if you were there: 

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2011/06/sistine-chapel-as-if-you-were-there.html

Virtual tour to Saint Peter´s Basilica: 

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2011/06/virtual-tour-to-saint-peters-basilica.html

And this was a challenge I prepared to learn more about Michelangelo´s  The Last Judgement, one of the most known frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. It´s full of interesting stories: 

http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com.es/2011/06/challenge-number-21.html

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum

List of forbidden books in Castile in 1583

Source: http://www.uco.es/investiga/grupos/sigloro/lineas.htm

As we studied last Friday, one of the decisions made by the Catholic Church to stop the extension of Protestantism was the creation of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of the books forbidden for the Catholic believers. This list was created in 1559 and it existed until 1966, when Pope Paul VI decided to abolish it. The Index included all the books whose ideas were considered against the official dogma of the Catolic Church. Many works of thinkers and scientists were included on it, but also novels. Every book published in the Catholic countries had to pass the control of the Church and receive its aproval: Nihil obstat (nothing forbids) and Imprimatur (let it be printed). If the book belonged to a religious institution and was on questions of religion or moral, it should also get the Imprimi potest (it can be printed). 

Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur of a book published in New York

Source: http://cantuar.blogspot.com.es/2010/10/what-do-nihil-obstat-and-imprimatur.html

The institution in charge of the List of Forbidden Books was the Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition, later called the Holy Office. Owning forbidden books was considered to be heressy and the heretics were persecuted and punished. For example, Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher and scientist, was burnt at stake for his writings. Galileo Galilei had to recant many of his ideas about the universe, because this was the only way to save his life. 

At present the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the insitution in charge of watching books and overseeing the Catholic doctrine. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1981 until he was elected Pope in 2005. This institution still bans the books they consider theologically wrong. For example, they punished the books of some members of the Church who follow the Liberation Theology current, such as Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino or Hans Küng

On the following link you have a complete list of the books and authors forbidden for the Catholics until the list was suppressed

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_authors_and_works_on_the_Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum

The Opus Dei, a very conservative group of the Catholic Church, has a list of forbidden books for its members. They have created a list of more than 60,000 books and rated them according to religious and moral criteria. Here you have the list of forbidden writers: 

http://www.odan.org/index_forbidden_books_new.htm

On the same link you can upload the whole booklist and  watch the "mark" Opus Dei gives to every book. 

Louis XIV´s court portrayed on a film

Last week we talked about Absolute Monarchies and the Sun King. Louis XIV tried to keep the nobles apart from the government and he organized splendorous parties and banquets in order to entertain them. There is a 2000 film called Vatel, which depicts Louis XIV¨s court and all the entertainments the king prepared for his guests. The film tells the story of François Vatel, a famous cook who invented Chantilly cream. The parties organized by the king put so much stress on him that he decided to committ suicide when a seafood delivery arrived later than expected. On the following videos you can have an idea of Louis XIV´s court.

Swastikas all around the world

As we have studied today, the swastika is a very old symbol the Nazis used as an Arian and anti-semitic emblem. Before the Nazis started using this symbol, swastikas had been used in many places as a symbol of health and good luck, as well as to represent the idea of the eternal return or continuous flow. The oldest known swastikas belong to Prehistory and the Bronze Age. Some Germanic  tribes wore swastika amulets to keep bad spirits away.

Here you have an example of swastikas used to decorate a Greek Kantharos (780 B.C.): 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Geometric_kantharos_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_8501.jpg

This is an example of swastikas found in Spain. It´s located in the Roman villa of La Olmeda in Palencia, built in the 4th century

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Roman_Mosaics_Villa_Romana_La_Olmeda_007_Pedrosa_De_La_Vega_-_Salda%C3%B1a_(Palencia).JPG

The relation between the swastikas and anti-semitism was established in the 19th century. When many swastikas were discovered in the ruins of ancient Troy in Turkey and also next to the Oder River in Germany, a French philologist called Emile Burnouf stated that the swastika was a symbol rejected by the Jews, because it didn´t appear in places where they used to live. This idea is false, because swastikas can be found almost everywhere, but this relation between swastikas and anti- semitism extended. 

Before the Nazis, different nationalist associations in Germany used swastikas, such as the Teutonic Order and Thule Society and it was also the symbol chosen by the DAP (German Workers´Party), where Hitler inflitrated as an informant for the army. When the Nazis designed the NSDAP flag, they included the swastika on it.  They chose the red colour (meaning the social part of their movement), the white (which is related to their nationalism) and the swastika, which symbolized the struggle of the Arian man. Hitler preferred the left-facing swastika, which has been  related to decadence and death, but he identified it with a whirlwind and a solar symbol. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920%E2%80%931945).svg

The German Socialist Party (SPD) created a paramilitary group called the Iron Front to oppose the Nazis and they also designed a symbol to easily cover or cross out the Nazi swastikas. Their emblem consisted of three arrows pointing south-west and  their meaning was union, activity and discipline. 

Emblem of the Iron Front

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eiserne_Front_Symbol.svg

Anti-NSDAP rally of the Iron Front in Berlin 1932

Source: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Timeline/Inter-war-period-1918-1939/Anne-Franks-birth/1932/An-anti-NSDAP-party-rally-of-the-Iron-Front-in-the-Berlin-Lustgarten-Pleasure-Garden-in-March/#!/en/Subsites/Timeline/Inter-war-period-1918-1939/Anne-Franks-birth/1932/An-anti-NSDAP-party-rally-of-the-Iron-Front-in-the-Berlin-Lustgarten-Pleasure-Garden-in-March/

The swastika is forbidden in Germany at present. The German government tried to extend the prohibition to all the European Union in 2005, but this proposition was rejected by some EU members. In Asia swastikas are very common, because they are related to different religions: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Here you have an example of swastika on a Korean temple: 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swastika-seoel_(xndr).jpg

Something more about Ellis Island and immigration

Yesterday we talked about Ellis Island, the gateway to the USA for millions of immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. Here you have some more information about this small island, located in New York harbor, very close to the Statue of Liberty. 

Its name comes from Samuel Ellis, the man who bought it at the end of the 18th century. Ellis sold it to the New York state at the beginning of the 19th. A fort was built there, but at the end of the 19th century the federal government decided to create there an immigrant centre to control the access to the USA. Around 12 million immigrants entered in the USA through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. The island was used as customs, medical examinations centre and also as a detention station for the immigrants who were rejected and later deported (around 2% of the total number of immigrants arrived).

Today Ellis Island hosts the  Immigration Museum and belongs to the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The website of the island allows the descendants of the immigrants to know their origins. Estimates say that the ancestors of around 100 million current citizens of the USA arrived in the USA through Ellis Island. 

Liberty Island in the foreground and Ellis  Island in the background to the left

Source: http://www.pateappliance.com/2011/10/22/family-owned-and-operated-since-1954/

In green, the original extension of the island, which was enlarged to build different facilities 

Source: http://www.theawl.com/2011/06/fun-with-maps-seven-peculiar-u-s-borders

Aerial view

Source: http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=330

An old image of Ellis Island

Source:http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/ImmigrantDocumentation/1923-EllisIslandHistoricalDocuments.html 

A Family of Russian immigrants arrived in Ellis Island in 1905

Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAErussia.htm

Ellis Island website, to learn more about the history of this place and look for immigrant ancestors: 

http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp

Lenin´s succession and the ice-ax

As we have studied today, after Lenin´s death there were some transition years in which Stalin and Trotsky were the main leaders of two factions in fight for power. This is what  Lenin wrote about them in 1922 about Stalin and Trotsky: 

24th December

Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary-General, has unlimited authority concentrated in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution. Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand (...) is distinguished not only by outstanding ability. He is personally perhaps the most capable man in the present Central Committee., but he has displayed excessive self-assurance and shown excessive preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work.

25th December

Stalin is too rude and this defect, although quite tolerable in our midst and in dealing among us Communists, becomes intolerable in a Secretary-General. That is why I suggest the comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post and appointing another man in his stead who in all other respects differs from Comrade Stalin in having only one advantage, namely, that of being more tolerant, more loyal, more polite, and more considerate to the comrades, less capricious, etc. This circumstance may appear to be a negligible detail. But I think that from the standpoint of safeguards against a split, and from the standpoint of what I wrote above about the relationship between Stalin and Trotsky, it is not a detail, or it is a detail which can assume decisive importance.

Lenin´s testament (1922)

Source: http://www.historyguide.org/europe/testament.html

In these transition years the President of the USSR was Alexei Rykov, who supported Stalin against Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev.  Rykov, Kamenev and Zinoviev were executed in 1938 during the Great Purge. Trotsky was assassinated by Stalin´s order in Mexico City in 1940. The killer was Ramón Mercader, a Spanish communist who worked as a Soviet agent. Mercader used an ice-ax to kill Trotsky and the story of this murder is very curious. Mercader visited Trotsky several times and gained his confidence. On the 20th August 1940 Mercader brought an ice-ax  hidden in his raincoat and waited for the right moment to kill Trotsky. Here you have a short video which reproduces the murder: 

And this is a picture of the famous ice-ax:

 Source: http://bohemiantraveler.com/2010/09/i-went-to-mexico-city-to-see-an-ice-axe/

On the link above you can find more information about the house where the murder was committed. Now it´s a museum about Trotsky. 

And here you have another link about what happened to the ice-ax: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jun/16/past.russia

After killing Trotsky, Mercader was arrested by Trotsky´s bodyguards, later judged and sentenced to 20 years prison in Mexico. Stalin decorated Mercader with the Order of Lenin, the most valuable decoration bestowed in the USSR. Mercader died in Cuba in 1978.

More about the Spanish Flu

Sign warning about the number of cases caused by the Spanish Flu at a Navy factory

Source: http://history1900s.about.com/od/photographs/ig/1918-Spanish-Flu-Pictures/Sign-With-Number-of-Cases.htm

Yesterday we studied that the total number of casualties of WW1 increased due to the Spanish Flu. The flu virus was brought to Europe by the USA soldiers who started arriving in the battle fields at the beginning of 1918. After four years of war the population of the belligerent countries was weak, due to food rationing and famines, and the virus quickly spread across the continent and became a pandemic (world epidemic). But, why was this pandemic called "Spanish Flu"? As Spain was neutral during the war, there was no censorship about the number of dead and the Spanish press was the first to publish news about the effects of the pandemic. This is why the flu started being known as the "Spanish Flu". From Europe the virus extended to Asia and Africa. The Spanish Flu killed between 50-100 million people in two years. 

Map showing the expansion of the pandemics

Source: http://www.flucentre.org/media-library/p/detail/picture-the-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic

If you want to read more about the Spanish Flu, here you have some links: 

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/p/spanishflu.htm

http://flu.emedtv.com/spanish-flu/spanish-flu.html

http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/influenza.htm

Why do the USA have a naval base in Cuba?

Location of the U.S. Guantánamo Bay Naval Base

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guantanamo_Bay_map.png

The consequences of the Spanish-American War are still evident in some contemporary facts: 

- Puerto Rico continues to be under USA control. It´s an associated free State, but the USA decide on many aspects in Puerto Rico, although its citizens can´t vote in the USA presidential elections. 

- Although the USA and Cuba don´t have official relations since the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the USA still have a naval base in Cuba: Guantánamo. This is the explanation: after the signature of the Peace of Paris in December 1898, the USA army occupied Cuba. In 1902 Cuba became an independent republic and the Parliament wrote a Constitution. But in 1903 the USA government obliged the Cubans to add an amendment to the Constitution. This is was the Platt Amendment, which gave the USA the right to intervene in Cuba when they considered they had to do it. Also in 1903 the Cuban-American Treaty was signed. This treaty included the creation of a naval base in the southeast of the island. That was the origin of Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, the oldest USA base overseas. President Theodor Roosevelt signed a permanent lease of the base and a yearly rent was established (2,000 gold coins).

When the Cuban Revolution took place in 1959 and Fidel Castro reached power, the Cuban government denounced the lease treaty as illegal and refused to cash the cheques the USA government send every year. 

In 2002 Guantánamo Bay Naval Base became famous worldwide, because the USA government created a detention camp (GITMO) for the alleged terrorists and enemies captured in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Several human rights´ organizations have denounced the detention conditions of prisoners, the use of torture and the legal limbo of Guantánamo. President Obama promised to close the detention camp, but he hasn´t done it yet. 

Source: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/01/491112.html

Here you have some more information about Guantánamo Bay Base: 

http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/guantan.htm 

Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-guantnamo-bay-detention-camp.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4720962.stm 

Inside Guantánamo. Photo report: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/inside-guantanamo/2011/04/24/AFtqQJdE_gallery.html#photo=1 

Leap years

Although I´m on strike today, I´ve found this interesting video about leap years. I think it could be interesting for you to extract ideas for your next project and it´s also a tribute to our leapling, Mari Luz. Watch it and you´ll understand why. Happy 4th birthday, Mari Luz!