Manchester Historian Issue 16

M H

Issue 16: November 2014

Manchester Historian

Interview with Dan Snow Terrifying Torture Devices Used for ‘Justice’

Geishas -

Prostitutes or Artists?

Revolution in Hong Kong The Fight for Universal Suffrage www.manchesterhistorian.com

@themcrhistorian

A Note From the Editors

Issue 16: November 2014

In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued the summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that recognised the existence of witches and gave full papal approval to hunt them. In the early modern period, between 40,000 and 50,000 people were accused of being witches, and were executed for their alleged crimes. Coincided with this, early modern Europe in particular gave rise to popular stories and superstition, making people believing in anything from witches to changelings, demons to vampires. As a result, some of the most unimaginable torture devices were created in this era and used on those accused of being heretics. These tales,and events have been passed down through the centuries, changed and skewed, and are seen in many of our modern traditions, Halloween being the most obvious example. These horrifying stories however are not confined to the premodern era. Modern history also contains some fearful events that seem unimaginable to the modern mind, for example the Ku Klux Klan’s violent actions again African-Americans, and the less well-known Lebensborn Programme run by the Nazis. This month we set out to explore the truth behind these popular stories and legends, and to uncover how fear has changed and developed through the ages.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, we’ve put in the latest topical issues and the history that goes behind them plus, some cultured history with an exclusive look at Charlie Chaplain, a review of BBC’s new hit TV series Peaky Blinders, and the truth behind the work of Japanese geishas. We’ve also managed to track down Dan Snow, UK’s celebrity historian, for an exclusive interview where he reveals all about his passion for history from his childhood, to his TV work.

In our History You Should Know we have covered a range of topics. Constantinople was once the centre of the known world, the gateway between East and West until 1204 when it was besieged by the 4th crusade and ruined forever. The My Lai Massacre, one the most iconic events of the Vietnam War saw a village of innocents lay victim to the consequences of war. We’ve also looked at the Taiping rebellion, and the IRA split, history we have all heard of, but don’t necessarily know the ins and outs of.

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If you have any suggestions for our next issue please get in contactmanchesterhistorian@gmail.com We hope you enjoy issue 16! - Xan and Zoey ‘Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom’. – Bertrand Russell 1950 The

Manchester Historian 2014/2015 Team

Editors Zoey Strzelecki Xan Atkins Head of Design Jamie Brannan Head of Copy-Editing

Hebe Thorne

Head of Marketing

Stephanie Haszczyn

Head of Online James Schoonmaker Design Team Laura Robinson Laura Callard

Melanie Fernandes Copy-Editing Team Sophie Brownlee Thomas Learmouth Helen Chapman Natalie Sharpin

Charlotte Munday Marketing Team Kate Ayling Sabrina Kenth Caitlin Ovenden Online Team Evie Hull

Mandy Poon

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Contents

Women in History • Page 3 - Prostitute or Artist? The Truth about Geishas • Page 4 - Series Review: Peaky Blinders • Page 5 - Staff Interview: Dr Linda Briggs History in Features • Page 6- Terrfiying Torture & The Inquisitions • Page 7 - Halloween: A History • Page 8 - Castration & Dracula and all things Vampire • Page 9 - Down to the Depths • Page 10 - Ku Klux Clan • Page 11 - Changelings, Possessions and Exorcism • Page 12 - Undiscovered Heroes of History: David Kitson • Page 13 - Battle of the Month: The Battle of Gettysburg • Pages 14-15 - 1928 in 10 Pictures • Pages 16-17 - Dan Snow Interview History You Should Know • Page 18 - Lebensborn • Page 19 - The IRA Divided • Page 20 - The My Lai Massacre & The Sack of Constantinople • Page 21 - The Taiping Rebellion & Printing Witchcraft History in the Headlines • Page 22 - Kim Jong-Un’s Dissapearing Act • Page 23 - Referendum Time for Catalonia & The Black Dahlia Murder • Page 24 - Revolution in Hong Kong?

History in Manchester • Page 25 - The Edible Cone & Hulme Hall: A History • Page 26 - History in Culture: Silence in the Theatre • Page 27 - Half Time Team Talk • Page 28 - Peer Mentoring Update & History Society Update • Page 29 - Careers Column & On this Day

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Women in History

Issue 16: October 2014

Prostitute or Artist? The Truth about Geishas

By Zoey Strzelecki

Geishas, whilst iconic for their beauty, elegance, and performance skills, also carry with them the stigmatisation of being prostitutes.

Popular views on geishas are informed by stereotypes. Without knowledge of the culture, viewing geishas as artists over prostitutes has proved problematic. Their unique way of life and long traininghas seen them act as skilled entertainers, performers, and hostesses; only some sell sexual services.Geishas traditionally are not high-class prostitutes; this label is not a fair characterisation of their work.

Geishas have their roots in Japanese history as early as the 7th century. They acted as performers for the nobility and the emperor. Sexual pleasure was not shied away from in Japan as it was in other East Asian countries. Confucian ideology preached the good mother and the faithful, modest wife but men were not constrained to be faithful in return. Men would look to their wives as protectors of the home and mothers to their children; love and sex were not essential to this and often came second. To satisfy this disconnection between marriage and sex, courtesans came into being. The Shogunate in 1617 Japan built walled-in pleasure quarters within which, prostitution was legal. They became an enclosed fantasy world of hedonistic pleasure. Courtesans, within these walls evolved into high-class, performing prostitutes. Here is an early distinction between geisha and courtesan.

Initially, geishas were men who would greet clients and entertain them before they were permitted to view high-class courtesans in their areas of expertise. The re-emergence of the female geisha came after these pleasure houses were established. ‘Odoriko’, or dancing girls, became popular paid entertainers to feature alongside these houses. They often had financial difficulties and thus became dependent on illegally selling their bodies. They did not want to be defined in such a manner however, and as a result they were not officially referred to as prostitutes.

(Wikimedia Commons)

After licensing issues came into being around prostitution, and these odorikowere discovered, many sought to rebrand themselves in a way that did not label them prostitutes. Some referred to themselves as ge-iko, ‘arts-child’, and a popular motto emerged in nineteenth century: ‘we sell art, not bodies’. The name geisha first made its appearance alongside a female in 1750, who was a Fukagawa prostitute. Her success allowed the name to thrive across Japan throughout the 1760s and 1770s. Many were hired for their skills outside the sex industry: dancing, singing, musical instruments, poetry or calligraphy, and many worked alongside male geishas. While the term geisha was originally used to steer away from the strings attached with the term prostitute, geishas evolved into icons of beauty and were hired solely for entertainment.

It is important to remember also that there is a hierarchy within the geisha profession, as there are in most professions. They are able to move up the professional ladder with age and experience and, despite sexual services having crept into this profession, it was never led to define it in Japan. As popular notions have it, a true geisha shows commitment to her profession and does not show any real emotions. Prostitutes sell their bodies in exchange for money. A geisha did not sell her body or rely on sex for her income; rather, she sold her skills and company.

Geishas were not prisoners of their profession; they exercised free choice in their life.

They could take lovers, stay single or get married. They could quit their profession or have children if they desired. There is a counter argument however for girls who were unable to financially support themselves and had to remain in anokiya house under the Mother’s charge. Mother’s looked after girls within the house and made decisions on their accounts, limiting their freedom.

(Wikimedia Commons) increased during World War 2. Girls and women had to perform other jobs to aid Japan’s The decline of the geisha dramatically war effort. Many prostitutes began to refer to themselves as ‘geisha girls’ to American military soldiers and thus, the term geisha for males lost popularity and the traditional geishas reputation was lost. The geisha profession lives on today working still as entertainers as well as being icons for tourists.

A distinct cultural difference has led Western countries to view geishas solely as high-class prostitutes. Without a full understanding of exotic Japanese culture and, with no comparison, viewing geishas as entertainers is difficult. Whilst sex has come alongside the geisha profession in some cases, it should not define it. Geishas were performers, trained in the art of dancing, singing, performing, playing instruments and the art of conversation. They should not be branded prostitutes.

@TheMcrHistorian

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Others

Issue 16: November 2014

Series Review: Peaky Blinders

By Tilly Embling

The BBC has long been famed for the quality of its dramas but the star-studded Peaky Blinders, which has recently returned for its second series, is one of its best. 1920s Birmingham is beautifully stylised with effortless cool continuously exuded by the characters.

The drug, alcohol and violence fuelled hedonism of their business all makes for a fantastically watchable program.

Part of the show’s underlying appeal is its roots in the untold stories of Britain’s working classes. Series one sees the Shelby family, the gang’s leaders, look to reassert themselves and expand into legal activities following the First World War. The real Peaky Blinders were, however, not quite such enterprising businessmen. They were part of the proliferation of gang culture in the late nineteenth century. Like the Manchester ‘Scuttlers’ or Liverpool’s ‘High Rip’ gangs, the Peaky Blinders were inner city delinquents – hooligans involved in petty crime, territorial wars and, above all, gratuitous violence.

In the series, the Peaky Blinders’ progress is significantly hindered by a newly appointed Irish police chief, Inspector Campbell. In actuality Birmingham had a Northern Irish police chief from 1899-1935. Charles Houghton Rafter, a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, was recommended for his abilities to keep peace in troubled districts. He lived up to his reputation; within a few years of his appointment the Peaky Blinders were no longer a threat to Birmingham’s peace.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The BBC’s version is expectedly romanticised, however, it should be noted that the Peaky Blinders did take pride in their stylish attire used to distinguish themselves from other local gangs. Their name allegedly derives from their peaked caps, in which razor blades were sewn as weapons, to cause temporary blindness. Professor Carl Chinn, however, disputes this claim due to a lack of evidence. In any case, as can be seen from photographs recently unearthed by the West midlands Police, the gang’s ‘look’ was a pivotal part of their identity.

The second series delves into London’s criminal underbelly. The story seems to resemble that of the Brummagem Boys, headed by Billy Kimber. Kimber, in the BBC’s telling, was killed by Thomas Shelby at the end of series one. In reality Kimber threatened London’s Jewish Bookmakers and their powerful allies, the Sabini Gang, led by Darby Sabini, king of London’s underworld. Kimber’s war with the London gangs ended when he was murdered following a meeting with Sabini. All that remains to be seen is how far Thomas Shelby’s story will mirror that of his real life counterpart.

Peaky Blinders romanticises British gang culture but it uncovers the fascinating world of the British gangster, underrepresented in popular culture. It also gives us insight into the lives of Birmingham’s working class families and the strong women that headed them.

Peaky Blinders is currently available on BBC iPlayer.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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Staff Interview

Issue 16: October 2014

Interview with Dr. Linda Briggs

By Thomas Barnett

An acquaintance of Prince William; a member of a choral choir that has regularly appeared on the BBC - what else don’t we know about Dr Linda Briggs?

As those of you with an ear for accents will already know, and have had the pleasure of meeting her, Dr Briggs hails from Scotland (I feel sorry for those students whom apparently thought she was Canadian). She has close ties to Edinburgh, St Andrews and Glasgow, although undoubtedly she would prefer to keep the first and former in separate rooms at any future New Year’s Party.

Dr Briggs joined the Manchester History Department during the last academic year in the 2nd semester as an Early Modern Historian specialising in French History during said period. As a native Scot, she was able to vote in the recent Scottish referendum in September; as for the nature of her vote, this author cannot divulge – though she has told me she is happy to answer any who ask.

Moving on to what can be told, first and foremost I broadsided Dr Briggs with the most important question for any historian: Of any historical figure, who would you be and why? The answer emerged after some clarification that the figure she would be would be unable to be altered by her, “Emperor Constantine. His decision to allow tolerance for Christianity was monumental, and I'd like to see if he had any idea that the Council of Nicaea would retain such influence down the millennia.”

When asked to explain further she replied “Historians continue to disagree over whether his conversion was politically or religiously motivated, so I'd like insight there. His achievements as a military commander are equal to his achievements as a political leader, so I would experience the best of life on campaign. Finally, it would be great to see the old and new architecture of Rome before it crumbled and lost its colour.”

Indeed, the issues surrounding power, religion and society are consistent themes in Dr Brigg’s work and the multifaceted interest in Constantine is also something that carries over into her work. Dr Briggs was recently the assistant editor of an essay collection entitled ‘Waterborne Pageants and Festivities in the Renaissance’, “it was a lot work, as an assistant editor I was told to format everything! I also ended up translating French and Italian as it was a multinational piece,” she says. Any future students or indeed presents ones should take heed, as she admits this experience has hardened her attitude toward any grammatical mistakes on their part.

While working as assistant editor she also had her work own published as part of the essays in the third book of the series; for any of you that are feeling rich her essay entitled ‘Representations of Power in Royal entrees’ - i.e. the entrance of monarchs into cities at the head of procession of sorts – as a part of the whole the collection will cost you around £70.

It was during her studies at St. Andrews where Dr Briggs crossed path with Prince William. During a shopping trip he was spied down the cheese aisle and later would come out of the store to witness Dr Briggs’s friend parking: “she stalled the car right in front of him and his friends, he let out a barking laugh and moved on.” While this may be interesting in itself, ‘one’ does wonder what type of cheese he bought.

Since St. Andrews Dr Briggs completed her PhD at the University of Warwick where she worked until her job at Manchester, “I really love the department at Manchester; the breadth of study at the University is truly marvellous. I also love getting to know the city. I’ve been to the museum last year, John Ryland’s and Chetham's library. I’ve been on Canal Street a couple of times but I much more prefer going home and reading a book. What I love most is the Manchester Cathedral; the late medieval and early modern architecture within it is beautifully carved.” Her clear love of history extends into the play she was to see shortly after our interview, “Hamlet is obviously early modern but that’s purely a coincidence” she says with a smile.

As a final remark, Dr Briggs offered some advice for students: “Read everything. And I don’t mean just on your course. Anything you can get your hands on! It will help you develop your own style of writing.”

We wish Linda a very happy time here in Manchester!

@TheMcrHistorian

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History in Features

Issue 16: November 2014

Terrifying Torture

By George Scrafton

In our modern world we are, to an extent, still scarily familiar with the barbarism and ingenuity that brought many to ‘justice’, over previous centuries. The latter half of the 20th century has seen the international community come to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with the United Nations convening against torture and, ‘inhuman degrading treatment’ in the late 1980s.

Adversely the tail end of the last millennia also presents us with a disturbing reminder that instances of cruelty, abuse and human degradation are still ever-present – from the camps of Auschwitz to the Civil War pillaged streets of Guatemala, the Baath’ist torture throughout the Hussein years in Iraq, to the ongoing mistreatment in Saudi Arabia.

Comparisons with medieval torture are telling. States’ and smaller power groups’ methodology with regard to technique has evolved to complement the rise of new technologies – becoming more sophisticated and nuanced. However, the morality attached to instances of human mutilation and humiliation, archaic and new, is as vague as ever.

Here are some examples of the most appalling medieval torture techniques and devices applied: Chair of Torture – Used in various parts of the world and appearing in various guises, the ‘torture chair’ is most easily recognizable by its spikes, which would often pierce the skin of the victim to the extent that they bled slightly, but did not usually sustain any real life threatening injury. Death by the chair could often take up to a couple of days and usually a confession could be yielded just by presenting the concept of the device to any prospective victim.

Breaking Wheel – Used in Germany as late as the 19th century, the ‘Breaking Wheel’ was a popular medieval torture device across Europe that lent itself to public exhibitions of brutality. The victim, whose limbs would be tied to a large wheel, would then be spun around slowly and battered until his/ her bones were broken, before being left out in front of the crowds and open sky to die.

Pear of Anguish – Mainly applied to homosexuals, those accused of thought crime, and women who had the misfortune of miscarrying, the bulbous end of the ‘Pear of Anguish’ would be inserted into the relevant orifice before expanding, causing immeasurable pain often genital disfigurement.

Heretics Fork – Used both during and after the Inquisitions to determine heretics, one end would be rested underneath the chin and the other at the lower neck/upper chest area. The victim would have to ensure he/she kept their head held high or they would inflict pain on themselves.

Pillory Stocks – Although designed for public humiliation, often physical crowd participation could result in the death of victims. The Victim’s head would be placed in hand and head stocks and they would be paraded in front of the local community.

The Inquisitions

By Nina Khan

The phrase ‘The Spanish Inquisition’ which is so often used as an everyday colloquialism actually finds its roots in the twelfth century surprisingly in France rather than Spain. For many parts of Europe the Inquisition ran into the nineteenth century. The Inquisition began as a sect of the Church which sought to seek out heretics and in particular the Cathar and Waldensian groups within the Kingdom of France. In the subsequent centuries however, the inquisition expanded across the continent and was an institution which enforced orthodox conversions from Judaism and Islam into Christianity, this occurred predominantly in Spain, thus the coining of the term.

The Spanish inquisition which was established in 1478 saw a movement away from the Papal inquisition from the late medieval period with a greater emphasis on the movement and expulsion of religious minorities. Ferdinand II decreed in 1492 that all minorities either convert or leave. The reasoning behind the origins of the Inquisition in Spain can be traced to growing monarchic power and the increased desire to supress conversos: coverts into the faith. The inquisition was called upon to control a number of sacrilegious acts, including most famously witchcraft, sodomy and heresy in the broadest sense but also as stated, with a primary focus on the expulsion of Jews. The latter is an aspect which truly reached its peak in the early sixteenth century, when the greatest levels of migration occurred and has been focussed on most heavily in popular culture as evidenced by Phillipa Gregory’s The Queen’s Fool.

During this time, it is estimated half of the minority groups chose migration and to other Christian nations, rather than Muslim lands as would be assumed, again highlighted in The Queen’s Fool. As for witchcraft, in Spain, unlike the rest of Europe there was a greater degree of scepticism behind the orthodoxy of true witchcraft and was predominantly labelled superstition. One case however which merits consideration is that of Logrono, where 11 people, notably all women were burned.

A more pressing concern for the crown was sodomy however which really did bear the brunt for some of the harsher and crueller forms of torture and punishment. Starvation and water torture were not uncommon methods used to get confessions, but once convicted castration, public burnings and executions were the most common forms of punishment, where the accused could not seek penance.

Going back to popular culture, it is important however to dispel certain myths regarding the popularity and dependency on the use of some forms of torture, namely the open coffin pecked at by birds which is cinematised in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. It is also important to note that Spain was in many ways more relaxed and far more cautionary in using torture as a means of gaining information or punishment, despite popular perceptions.

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History in Features

Issue 16: October 2014

Halloween: A History

By Olivia Havercroft

‘[Halloween] is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings…hold a grand anniversary.’

Robert Burns, Halloween, 1785 Although the entomology behind the word ‘Halloween’ is Christian – derivative of All Hallow Even, or the eve of All Saint’s Day – Halloween’s roots go back to the Gaelic festival of Samhain. Irish sagas written between the 9th and 12th centuries make reference to this festival, which marks a period of ‘supernatural intensity’, where the ‘veils between this world and the otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest, when the spirits of the dead could most readily mingle with the living once again’. It was a time of year where there was no stigma surrounding fraternising with the deceased. If the dead visited your house during Samhain, you were obliged to feed them. As a result of this, ‘mumming’ and ‘guising’ trends that consisted of going door-to-door in costume, reciting poetry, playing tricks, dancing or singing in exchange for food became popular.

Mass graves in Ireland containing bones of both animals and humans suggest sacrificial rites during Samhain to call on the gods to help people survive the winter. In Keating’s History of Ireland, demands are made for two-thirds of newly born children to be sacrificed on Samhain. As such, Halloween has been linked to devil worship and sorcery. However, ‘links between Halloween and Satanism are tenuous at best’. Belief in satanic cults did not arise until the late medieval era, by which time Samhain was little celebrated.

Although there are hints towards contemporary notions of Halloween in 18th and 19th century literature, it was not until much later that the commercialised Halloween as we know it today emerged.

Halloween had been celebrated in the US since the arrival of Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century, but it was not until the 20th century that the holiday became assimilated into popular culture. The growth of mass consumerism in the 1950s saw clothing became cheaper and more disposable, and affordable costumes became readily available. In 1950 ‘Trick-or-treat for UNICEF’ started as a local event in Philadelphia and expanded across the US, bringing ‘trick-or-treating’ into the vernacular.

The birth of Halloween as a consumer-driven holiday meant it became less about the afterlife, and more about entertainment and parties.

Despite this move away from death towards dollars, Halloween’s nature remains controversial. Honeyman argues that Halloween upholds patriarchal and bourgeois social structures, leading to the commodification of childhood. Mueller uses Bakhtin’s notion of carnival, a ‘temporary suspension of hierarchies’, to argue that that the act of dressing up at Halloween can construct negative roles and promote ethnic stereotypes.

However, the same argument has been used to demonstrate that, through the celebration of difference, Halloween was instrumental in the acceptance of LGBT groups.

Although tenuous links to Samhain remain, Halloween has developed from this Gaelic feast celebrating the dead to a commercial, consumer driven holiday, surrounded by critical unease. However, one thing remains: Halloween still has the power to shock.

@TheMcrHistorian

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History in Features

Issue 16: November 2014

Castration

By Jess Wilkes The practice of castration dates way back to before recorded human history, and has been used by various societies for mainly religious and social reasons ever since. Many countries are familiar with cases of castration but in particular, countries in Southern and Eastern Asia, as well as Africa. Both female and male castrations have been recorded and it appeared gender impacts the circumstances surrounding individual cases. Castration by certain civilizations has created new attitudes and perspectives with regards to its practice, but why have so many societies adopted the practice of castration and is it still being used today?

The cult of Cybele, Skoptsy and the Valesians are all religions that have adopted castration into their beliefs. Although Castration is a central theme to these particular religions, this is not to say all religions are encouraging of castration such as Judaism, which strongly opposes castration cults.

Female castration or female genital mutilation has occurred in different societies at different times for a number of reasons. During the Victorian era when there were huge gender inequalities, young girls caught masturbating or believed to be insane were often castrated. More recently, in places such as Africa and Asia, female castration is used to control a women’s sexuality regarding concepts about purity, modesty and aesthetics. As well as this, it is often used on woman in poorer regions of the world as a method of birth control.

Over time, the practice of castration has often been highly symbolic; it was commonly used to demonstrate power. When the Normans won their battles they often castrated their surviving and dead defeated opponents in order to demonstrate their power. Meanwhile, in Empires such as the Byzantine Empire, due to the high chance of death when total removal of all genitalia occurred, often castration was used as a death sentence. In this way we can see how the practice of castration served as a form of punishment by certain societies. Today in society, medical castration is widely used to save the lives of men or women who have cancer of the prostate or ovaries. This form of (Wikimedia Commons) castration is consented and carried out legally by professionals. The practice of castration on both men and woman, has raised difficult questions regarding human rights and morality. The illegal practice of female genital mutilation, which is still performed today in many African countries, is slowly building up a larger opposition base. Female genital mutilation is often used in countries where gender inequality still largely exists and is used as a way of sexually controlling woman. Illegal male castration is globally less common but does still exist. The restriction of castration in many countries has been a positive move towards creating equality between both genders, unfortunately though it is still an issue in many countries where law enforcement is more lax.

Dracula and all things Vampire

By Laura Robinson

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has become a staple of Gothic horror literature since its publication in 1897, and you would be hard pressed to find someone who has not heard of it. The novel and its eponymous character are arguably responsible for many of the modern depictions of vampires seen today, thanks to the staggering 217 films featuring Dracula in a leading role. Scores of children take to the streets on Halloween dressed as witches, devils and, of course, vampires.Superstitions regarding vampires in Western Europe increased in the early eighteenth century, as legends surrounding vampires arrived from areas where they were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe. It has been said that these legends let to mass hysteria across Europe and it led to a phenomenon similar to medieval witch-hunts; people were occasionally accused of vampirism and corpses were staked.This staking of corpses can be seen in areas such as Bulgaria, where archaeologists have recently uncovered what they believe to be a vampire burial site. The skeletons were discovered with metal stakes in their chest cavities where their hearts would have been, which demonstrated the fact that contemporaries believed that vampires could rise from the dead if they were not staked after death or buried properly.

In Eastern European folklore, it was believed that common criminals such as thieves and murderers may have a disposition to become vampires. Some people believed that vampires were created from the souls of outlaws who died away from a civilised society, while others believed that those who died violently were destined to become vampires. Perhaps the most unusual superstition was that a cat jumping over a corpse’s body before burial would lead to vampirism.

It is interesting to note that the belief in vampires increased massively despite being the Age of Enlightenment, during which many superstitious and folkloric legends were quelled. Sightings in Eastern Europe increased a large amount during the eighteenth century and led to increased vigilance against vampire suspects, so much so that even government officials were involved in the hunting and staking of suspected vampires. There were also occasions of village locals digging up bodies and occasionally staking them, along with so-called epidemics of reported vampire attacks. The area most affected by this hysteria was East Prussia, as this was where the panic surrounding vampire attacks is said to have originated.

Ultimately, the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria commissioned her physician to investigate the supposed vampire attacks, and it was concluded that vampires did not exist. Laws were passed to prevent further grave digging and damage of the deceased, but the legend of the vampire continues to thrive even in modern popular culture.

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History in Features

Issue 16: October 2014

Down to the Depths

By Jordan Booth

If I were to say the Kraken, The Flying Dutchman, the Sirens or mermaids you would be forgiven for mistaking this for a Pirates of the Caribbean article! However, history is full of various sea myths and monsters many of which are still popular today. This article sets out to explore exactly what these stories are, where they came from and why they are so scary!

(Wikimedia Commons) The Kraken is arguably the most famous sea monster, this giant squid is said to inhabit the coasts of Norway and Greenland (so no need to worry!) and at 50 feet in length it is no surprise why this sea monster is so well known. Some stories even state that the Kraken can easily be mistaken for a small island! Legend has it that the Kraken doesn’t like to be disturbed and is known for attacking ships by causing giant whirlpools! Stories of the Kraken can be traced as far back as the early 13th Century and many historians believe that this myth originated from sightings of a giant squid. It is clear to see from the picture not only why this beast is so scary but why the myth of the Kraken is still popular today.

Another famous sea myth is that of The Flying Dutchman; a legendary ghost ship that never makes port and is doomed to sail the seas forever. Other stories say that the ship houses all those who have died at sea and descends on lost ships to take them over! The Flying Dutchman is presumed to have originated from 17th Century folklore with actual sightings recorded in both the 18th and 19th Centuries. However, there are those who suggest that the ship is simply an optical illusion, a mirage in the sea. But the popularity and spookiness of this legendary ship indicates that these people are in a minority and that there are still plenty of people who are extra cautious when sailing alone!

Tales of sea myths, creatures and monsters have no limits and are prevalent across the world. In Greek mythology the Sirens are said to be one of the most ferocious and beautiful creatures to haunt the sea. Legend has it that they are femme fatales, ranging from two to five in number, that use their enchanting music to attract sailors ashore, then they feast on their helpless prey. What makes the Sirens so dangerously scary is that they are impossible to resist and even though many sailors would have been warned, they simply couldn’t help themselves when they heard the Siren’s song. The appearance of the Sirens has caused much interest, they are said to be a mixture of women and birds. Whether you are scared by them or not, the next time you are approaching land and you hear beautiful music, cover your ears and run!

The final sea creature is perhaps is one that everyone will have heard of, mermaids.

Stories of mermaids appear in many different cultures across the world from Europe to Asia with the first mermaid story appearing in Ancient Greek mythology in 1000 BC. Due to the many different cultural tales of mermaids their appearance varies but perhaps the most common is that they have the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a female human. Mermaids divide opinion as to whether they are good or bad, some folklore states that mermaids appear when events such as floods, shipwrecks or a drowning occurs and other stories suggest that they are good and beneficent. Regardless of this dispute, there can be no argument that mermaids are a classic sea creature and it is no surprise that many countries across the world have their own versions and stories of mermaids.

Overall, it is fascinating that variations of sea myths, monsters and creatures appear all over the world and go back centuries. I have my own view as to why these are so popular and that is because the sea is unknown and there are many various creatures that inhabit the sea, many of which are unknown, so when people see these animals/creatures they let their imagination take over and allow themselves to think that they have actually seen The Flying Dutchman or the Sirens and while this may be unlikely, these stories and myths are fascinating and I for one, hope that they stay popular for years to come!

(Wikimedia Commons)

@TheMcrHistorian

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History in Features

Issue 16: November 2014

Ku Klux Klan

By Jennifer Birdsall It is probable that very distinct imagery comes to mind when the Ku Klux Klan is mentioned. They were frequently pictured in their pure white robes, masks and conical hats. The colouring of their outfits is noteworthy to their cause. Predominately, they were designed to scare but were also to hide their identities. There have been three substantial Ku Klux Klan (KKK) movements. In 1866, the Protestant KKK formed in an attempt to secure white supremacy. They were established in the post-civil war Reconstruction era. This period was a vital footing for the civil rights movement. The core aim of the organisation was to remove African-Americans from the South.

Eventually, the movement infiltrated virtually every Southern state in America. The movement regained popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century and continued until the 1960s. Finally, there were still records of relatively high membership numbers in the 1990s. As a matter of fact, there are still people following the ideology of the KKK to this very day.

The influx in endeavours of the KKK in the nineteenth century was in large part due to the fact African-American participation in governmental activities increased hugely. White supremacists were not accepting of their new roles in local, and national, level politics. Their violence began by targeting those, of any race, who voted for one, or indeed were one, of the black members of government. They sort to restore what they deemed as order via threats, violence, and murder. Eventually, to the group’s satisfaction, by 1877 the white Democrats had gained political power. Nonetheless, politics was not the limitation of what was transpiring. Black institutions, schools and churches, for example, were also targets for attacks. In January 1875, 500 members attacked the Union County jail in South Carolina and lynched 8 prisoners. Lynching is defined as the practice of killing people by mob action. From this, it is clear to see the extent of the brutality that the victims of the KKK endured.

After a slight decline in popularity, what is known as the ‘second generation KKK’ emerged in 1915. This generation flourished until 1965 and at its peak had 4 million members. This secondary emergence did not limit it’s terror to blacks. They were extremely hostile towards immigration in the early twentieth century which meant they additionally advocated expulsion of Roman Catholics, Jews and foreigners. It can be said that a large percentage of their passionate hate towards these social groupings came from observation of what was simultaneously occurring in Europe. Europe was engulfed by different political ideologies towards the end of the First World War. The KKK was encompassed by a fear of communism created by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia, despite the fact they were located across the Atlantic. The group took part in many activities to promote their cause - rallies, marches and protests for example. Furthering this, the Klan would often burn crosses near the houses of people they wished to intimidate. The burning cross became symbolic of the KKK. The second generation had quite a significant downturn in membership numbers throughout the 1930s due to the Great Depression.

However, the 1960s African-American Civil Rights movement saw a surge in people affiliated with the group. New activities were carried out in this time. For example, there were beatings, bombings and shootings of activists. In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech condemning the KKK. A white female was fighting for equal rights in Alabama when she was murdered by four men.

This was the catalyst for Johnson’s condemnation speech.

1965 did not see the immediate end of the KKK that many would have hoped for. Post-speech, the cases of Klan-related violence did become more isolated but did not completely stop. From the 1970s, some members became aligned with other right-wing extremist organisations. In the early 1990s, the KKK was estimated to have had between 6,000 and 10,000 active members. This is known as the third generation.

What is even more shocking is that even now, in 2014, people are still able, and proud for that matter, to call themselves a member of the KKK. They have a functioning website where they claim that “America, Our Nation is Under Judgement from God” for allowing equal rights amongst citizens. Hopefully, with steady membership decline the KKK will soon come to an end.

The end of the Ku Klux Klan would be a significant step in the fight against racism.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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History in Features

Issue 16: October 2014

Changelings, Possession and Exorcism

By Xan Atkins

It is the stuff of horror films everywhere: A changeling switched by evil fairies to wreak havoc in the human world. A woman gone mad, possessed by an evil spirit and the ritual of exorcism used to rid her body of it. But these common Hollywood themes have deep historical origins. They are rooted in folklore and legends from cultures all over the world.

In 1580 in Germany, a woman who had recently given birth, was sent back to work the fields of her lord. Her baby was too young to leave at home so she had to take it with her. She left it upon a mound and went about her work but when she returned to feed it, it sucked so greedily that she knew it was not her child. It began making the most ungodly sounds and couldn't be a human baby. After several days, she went to the nobleman and told him what had happened. He instructed her to take it back to the mound and beat the baby. She did this and it screamed so loud that suddenly the devil appeared and said, “There have it!” and with that, he replaced the creature with the real child and took his own away.

The general idea of Changelings was that the offspring of a fairy or another mythological creature would be swapped with the offspring of a human, but the reasons for the change as well as the methods for reversing it differed from culture to culture.

Sometimes it was thought that the elderly of the fairies would be replaced with the babies, so that they could live a life of comfort with their human parents. In Norway, children were taken by trolls to prevent inbreeding and (Wikimedia Commons) to give humans and trolls some fresh blood. In Scotland, children were taken by fairies as an offering for the devil, a tax for hell. Other cultures believed that the offspring of fairies required human milk to grow, thus the purpose for the change.

There were differing methods for both preventing the switch and reversing it. Many believed that small spells would prevent it such as leaving a pair of iron scissors next to the baby. For reversing the switch, one idea was to put the baby in the fire; the changeling would then shoot up the chimney and return the human child. In Ireland, another idea was to trick the changeling into speech. The mother would boil egg shells over a fire and the ridiculousness of this act would cause the changeling to laugh and speak.

The idea of possession is one of the oldest supernatural legends and inscribed in hundreds of different cultures. The earliest references to it date back to the Sumerian culture who believed that sickness was caused by demons and even had priests who performed early version of exorcisms. Two main types of possession were identified: Demonic and spiritual.

Demonic possession occurs when a demon inhabits a human body and most cultures attributed sickness and disease to this. This possession formed a key part of Christianity, especially during the Middle Ages, the belief being that the devil or one of his demons would rise to earth to cause chaos through possession. Under the Catholic Church, there were four characteristics that identified possession: superhuman strength, speaking in tongues or Latin, presence of knowledge that the possessed could not typically know, and a hatred of holy objects.

The best way to rid a human of a spirit was through an exorcism. This was used widely in the Catholic Church for hundreds of years and the methods were set down in the Rituale Romanum, the guidelines for all the rituals a priest can perform. The process was complex: the victim would be restrained and the priest would begin reciting incantations as set down in the Rituale Romanum.

The most important part was that once an exorcism had begun, it couldn’t stop as it was believed that the demon would chase the priest down. These exorcisms were still occurring in the 20th century, a notable case being when a young boy identified only as Roland Doe was exorcised by Jesuit priests in the US in the 1940s.

Countless films have dealt with exorcisms and, although all those horrific tales might be left behind on the cinema screen for you, they form an integral part of cultures the world over. So next time you’re watching one of them, you can decide for yourself what to believe!

@TheMcrHistorian

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Undiscovered Heroes of History

Issue 16: November 2014

Undiscovered Heroes of History: David Kitson

By Matt Burden

David Kitson (1919 – 2010) was an important anti-apartheid campaigner born in South Africa who demonstrated a lifelong refusal to compromise on his principles, even at great personal cost. After training as an engineer, Kitson served during the war as a ‘sapper’ in the South African army, an experience that was to facilitate his later position of bomb making instructor to the African National Congress during its sabotage campaign of 1961. Before then though, he moved to England, where he became involved in trade unionism and the Communist Party.

An early sign of his stubborn sense of personal conviction was demonstrated by his refusal to accept a promotion made conditional on the end of his union activities – he was sacked as a result. Subsequent difficulties in finding employment led him to return to South Africa in 1959. Kitson’s anger at the Sharpeville massacre of protestors by police the following year drove him to take on an active role in the anti-apartheid struggle that would define the rest of his life.

His participation was primarily in his capacity as a member of the (banned) South African Communist Party. Initially, Kitson played a relatively minor role in the campaign, but a combination of arrests and the retreat of leading Communists into exile abroad left vacancies in the movement’s leadership, and he took on a more prominent organisational position. This made him more vulnerable to arrest and he was captured relatively quickly.

However, Kitson was able to conceal the importance of his role, and thereby avoided a death sentence. Instead, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, a sentence that he appears to have accepted stoically for the most part. As a white political prisoner, his conditions were better than most, and he used his time productively, studying for several different degrees. However, the enforced separation from his family took a toll, and he and his wife temporarily divorced. Throughout this period he remained unrepentant and was dismissive of those who wanted the ANC to use less aggressive tactics.

Upon his release in 1984, Kitson moved to London to continue campaigning. Despite initially receiving a hero’s welcome from activists, Kitson soon fell afoul of the ANC and SACP leadership as a result of his wife Norma’s aggressive campaigning outside the South African embassy. His refusal to disassociate himself from her methods resulted in his suspension from the ANC, and eventually the couple left the UK once again, this time for Zimbabwe.

Although he was personally praised by Nelson Mandela, and eventually rehabilitated by the ANC, Kitson’s role in the anti-apartheid movement was largely forgotten. He returned to South Africa but was not invited to Mandela’s inauguration as President, and received little public recognition during the remainder of his life.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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Battle of the Month

Issue 16: October 2014

The Battle of Gettysburg

By Will Davis-Coleman

The events leading up to the battle of Gettysburg on the 1st July 1863 were certainly in favour of the Confederate cause. After Charles Lee, the commander of the Confederate forces, was victorious at Chancellorsville he launched a new offensive on the North through Pennsylvania.

There were three crucial events in the preliminary stages of the campaign. The death of Southern General Thomas Jackson led Lee to promote Generals Ewell and Hill. Neither man had ever held such responsibility. Then prior to the initial skirmishes, Lee decided to allow his Cavalry commander, General Stuart, to lead three brigades of the elite division consisting of 5,000 men around the East flank of the Union forces meaning they missed the first two days of the battle.

These culminated in the third event that was effectively the beginning of the conflict. Hill, having been told that there were Federal forces on the outskirts of Gettysburg, sent two brigades on a reconnaissance mission to assess the size of the force. Hill was under express orders not to engage the enemy. The impromptu nature of the beginning of the battle meant that neither force was prepared, but especially not the Confederates. The Federal commander, General Meade, had only been appointed after the dismissal of General Hooker two days before the battle.

The first day began with Union General Buford deploying his small division on three ridges north of the town; these were held temporarily to give the main army time to assemble on Cemetery hill, south of the town. There were initial successes by the Southern forces and by the end of the first day the Confederates had pushed back the Union troops to Cemetery hill. Lee ordered Ewell ‘if practicable’ to assault the hill but Ewell decided against it; a great opportunity missed.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The second day saw the Confederates attacking Cemetery Hill from three sides. Lee’s plan was to engage the Union army on two fronts, led by Hill and Ewell, and then use Longstreet’s division to roll up the Federal line from the South West, whilst they were being engaged by Hill’s line. However, this failed due to the absence of Stuart’s cavalry. Lee believed the Union forces to be further east; so instead of attacking the Federal line side on, they were in direct line of fire and suffered heavy casualties. Once the attack was verified, Meade sent 20,000 reserves to bolster the left flank that secured it.

On the final day, Lee used the same strategy; Ewell’s division was to attack from the East and Longstreet and Hill were to attack from the West. However it became clear that Ewell’s offensive was repulsed, Lee ordered Longstreet to attempt to punch through the Union’s left flank in the centre on Cemetery Ridge. After ordering the largest artillery bombardment of the war known as ‘Pickett’s Charge’ where 12,500 Confederate troops charged at the left flank of the Federal line. This was the decisive event of the battle. The charge was met with flanking artillery fire from both the South and the North and from the centre where Meade had positioned the central battery. Meade had correctly guessed that Lee would attempt a charge and made sure not to deplete his artillery in case of such an attack.

If Lee had Stuart’s three brigades he would have used them to determine the size of the force he was up against, but his information on troop positions and numbers grew more outdated with every passing hour. If Lee had known the meagre size of Buford’s division he may have been able to press the offensive and gain Cemetery Hill; greatly altering the outcome of the battle and even the war. This cannot be deemed a tactical error because neither side anticipated the battle to occur when it did; nevertheless it was as significant as Napoleon’s decision to send General Grouchy after the Prussians prior to the Battle of Waterloo.

The aftermath of the battle is justly the reason why it was considered the turning point in the war. From a military perspective, the South had lost over 23,000 men and Lee had lost over a third of his General officers; this had the effect of disorganisation and loss of morale. From a political point of view, the defeat at Gettysburg proved enough evidence for the European powers not to invest in the rebellion. Had the South won the battle European intervention could have replaced Lincoln’s government with that of Jefferson Davis and the Union would have been no more than a footnote in history.

@TheMcrHistorian

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1928 in 10 Pictures

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris by 60 countries including France, Germany and the United States. The signatories agreed not to use war to resolve disputes. Countries began to wage war without declaring it instead. (Wikimedia Commons)

Issue 16: November 2014

Emelia Earhart greeting the Mayor of Southampton after becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger, four years before her solo flight. (Wikimedia Commons)

1928 in 10

By Patrick Bonner

The Summer Olympics in Amsterdam allowed women to participate in Athletics and Gymnastics for the time.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The St. Francis Dam in California failed, the resulting floods killed 600 people. (friendsofalarchives.org)

Republican Herbert Hoover comfortably defeated Democrat Al Smith to win the United States Presidential Election (Wikimedia Commons)

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1928 in 10 Pictures

Issue 16: October 2014

The Okeechobee Hurricane killed c. 2500 people in Florida, making it the second most deadly hurricane in US history. (Wikimedia Commons)

0 Pictures

Leon Trotsky and his supporters are expelled from the Bolshevik Party and exiled to Kazakhstan by the 15th Party Congress (Wikimedia Commons)

The first appearance of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Walt Disney’s ‘ Steamboat Willie’ (Wikimedia Commons)

Equal Franchise Act in the United Kingdom lowers the voting age for women from 30 to 21, giving them equal suffrage rights with men. (www.parliament.uk) Sir Alexander Fleming ‘accidentally’ discovered penicillin, marking the start of the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections.

(Wikimedia Commons)

@TheMcrHistorian

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Others

Issue 16: November 2014

Dan Snow Interview

By Cai Reaich

Your family has a well-document interest and passion for history and politics, was conversation around the dinner table dominated by these topics when you were growing up?

The conversation at the table was very historical, very political. My mum’s a journalist, my aunt is Margaret McMillan who’s the head of St. Anthony’s College, she’s a historian and in my family history was something that we always talked about. It was always there, always part of our lives and my sisters and I didn’t realise that it was a separate subject. We just thought that people tended to talk about the world and what made the world the way it was and that was its history, its past, and it was seamless.

In your opinion can History play an active role in our society today?

Yeah – I’m someone who is very interested in what history can do to help us in the present. The more historians I’ve met, the more I’ve realised that some of them are totally, legitimately, fascinated by the past for the past’s sake and that’s great - you know that’s brilliant in fact. But, for me I’ve always had this burning desire to start in the present and work out why things are the way they are and therefore context is everything.

So if you like, the fact that I came from a family of journalists did help because perhaps my dial was set to the present, my dial was set to wishing to understand the world around us which is perhaps more journalistic. History helps us but not in a Machiavellian sense in which you say ‘A plane’s been shot down today that means that this is going to happen in four days’ time’. I am fascinated by politics and current affairs in the world and to gain a fuller appreciation of events, to get a fuller appreciation for people’s motivations you’ve got to know about the recent past and the more you know about the recent past the more you think ‘gosh, I’ve got to go back further’.

For example, in the way that politicians are fairly unpopular at the moment and I would argue that’s something to do with our legislative system whereby once a week the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister start screaming at each other on Prime Minister’s Questions. That’s a bit strange for people, it’s quite disengaging and that comes out of a system of politics that was developed 400 years ago. So histories do have a real relevance.

In universities there is an increasing gap between Social and Military History, as someone with a keen interest in Military History what are your thoughts on the distinction and dichotomy between the two?

I think it’s sad and surprising in a way. I welcome any further enriching of the history syllabus, although I find the ghettoisation of military history a bit weird because of course all that encourages is a gulf opening up between military-war studies and history and international relations where there shouldn’t be one because as everyone knows, as Clausewitz said, as Mao Zedong said ‘War is simply politics’, politics by another means or politics by bloodshed. As far as I’m concerned there is a paper thin, non-existent gap between how societies wage war, what’s happened in those wars and the deeper reasons for those wars so I’m very reluctant to see that divide opening up.

There is a need to understand how all facets of a conflict relate to each other?

Israel-Palestine is a brilliant example of that. The military, political and social have all been fascinatingly interlinked ever since 1948 and before, and it is the ability of either side to win an advantage at the negotiating table, the ballot box or a new weapon systems has constantly seen the politics shift out there.

People who talk about the Palestinian refugee problem tend to tilt towards the Palestinian narrative, towards the political views that suit Palestinians as victims. But then there is a history, which tells of the extraordinary story of 1968, for example, when the Arab states looked like they were about to destroy the Israeli state before the IDF launched the pre-emptive strike. The great joy of the Middle East is that you can read wonderful books from either side and no doubt the synthesis is somewhere between the two.

Can Military History have a comparable social impact to Social History?

I think it can because you can broadly define military history and I would include things like diplomatic history. I mean to try and understand the military history of the First World War is pointless without looking at the diplomatic and political decisions that were taken leading up to it, many of which were taken by the military officers. The militarization of European society and European elites before 1914 was profound – I don’t really see the gap to be honest. The way fought in 1914-18 was so embedded or so linked to who those armies were composed of, what munitions they had, how those munitions were being delivered, the food, the quality of the education of the junior officers and the senior NCOs. 2014 is the Centenary year for the First World War, can it energise a renewed interest in Military History?

Anniversaries are great; they are fantastic to raise awareness. I found in my career that bizarrely people don’t particularly care about D-Day from one year to the next but when it’s an anniversary they all go bananas and they can’t get enough of D-Day. It’s extraordinary; it acts as a little, useful focal point just because it was a precise number of years ago.

Your television programmes are watched by large audiences. What role can media play in engaging the public with history?

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Others

Issue 16: October 2014

I think some people use the word popular as an insult and I think it is the highest praise really, I’m extremely proud to make programmes that are seen as popular by some and that I hope, are seen as popular by the people watching them. Its wonderful to help try and shape people’s outlooks and try and encourage people to learn more about, really everything, about our past – I’ve made programmes on the world wars, I’ve made programmes on Edwardian poverty and programmes about conflicts throughout history, about the development of institutions, the industrial revolution in Britain. It’s wonderful to play a little part of that.

Technology is changing how History is accessed – what are your thoughts on History and social media?

Every age has redefined what you can and can’t do with History. No doubt the first History programmes on the wireless were criticized because they were insufficiently detailed. You can learn a huge amount from Twitter, obviously provided that it is part of a balanced diet where you’re also reading the books and you’re also reading the articles. But no I think it’s a hugely exciting thing to try to do, which is to explain to totally uninitiated people why that First World War happened. I think that’s a fantastic thing to do and I enjoy it immensely. Twitter and that ability to communicate serve to add to the discourse, it doesn’t make people read books less.

Finally, your work has ranged from the Romans, to the Aztecs and to Twentieth Century Battlefields – is there a particular period of History that you especially enjoy?

I think the 18th century is my first love. It’s the period I know most about and enjoy hugely, so yeah the long 18th century – 16881815, that’s my great joy. I’ve visited a lot of wonderful periods but there is something about the 18th century that I will always love and it comes from my childhood, as well as from school and university I think.

(Wikimedia Commons)

@TheMcrHistorian

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History You Should Know

Issue 16: November 2014

Lebensborn

By Jack Raine

The upper echelons of the Nazi party famously believed in the pseudo-science of eugenics, and thus many Nazi social policies were implemented with the intention of strengthening the genetics of the ‘Aryan’ race. The combination of the ‘social Darwinism’ in which Hitler believed, and his desire for Germany to dominate Europe and for the Third Reich to last a thousand years proved lethal for millions of people that didn’t match Hitler’s idea of a genetically valuable person. Lebensborn, the brainchild of Heinrich Himmler - head of the SS, was effectively a policy with the ultimate goal of encouraging the development of a ‘master race’, specifically attempting to increase the number of healthy Aryan children in Germany. However, as Germany’s military successes during the first half of the Second World War gave the Nazis a greater pool of Aryan people to draw from, the Lebensborn policy evolved accordingly.

After the SS initiated Lebensborn (‘fountain of life’) in December 1935, the Nazi state funded maternity homes, services comparable to modern family planning clinics, an adoption service and orphanages, thus giving ‘racially valuable’ babies (including ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, though not necessarily strictly Aryan, but certainly not of Jewish or Slavic descent) every chance to be cared for. As unmarried pregnant women were able to give birth and be cared for both during and after their pregnancy within state sponsored facilities, the secrecy this gave them proved alluring to many. Estimates of the amount of women who participated in the programme up to 1940 that were unmarried vary from 60% to 70%. While predominantly used by the wives of SS officers after its inception, Lebensborn quickly expanded to provide care (Wikimedia Commons) beyond the Nazi elite. However, women who wanted to be part of the Lebensborn programme had to be examined by SS doctors and/or prove that their child would be or were ‘racially valuable’, which in effect meant the mother proving her Aryan lineage back to her grandfather and also often the father’s. Only 40% of the women who applied to be involved with Lebensborn passed this test.

The Lebensborn programme expanded along with Nazi-occupied Europe, as this gave the SS more opportunities to fuse the Aryan blood and the Nazi ideology. To achieve this, Aryan children were sent to Germany, although there was diversity in how the policy was applied in different areas of Europe. Norwegians fascinated Himmler (reflected in the creation of nine Lebensborn facilities there), due to the legacy of the Vikings as warriors. Many Norwegian women, irrespective of marital status, were encouraged or forced into having children with SS officers, who were then sent to Germany to be raised by parents who had to swear that they would raise the child as an obedient Nazi. In Eastern Europe, it is estimated that 250,000 Aryan children were stolen and would again be raised by Nazi parents following a period of ‘Germanisation’ at a re-education camp, part of the eight Lebensborn facilities which were set up in Poland alone. France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg each had a Lebensborn facility set up by the SS, while Denmark had two, Austria had three and Germany itself had ten.

In the later years of the war, certain factors severely limited the capability and overall success of the Lebensborn effort. The shift in Nazi racial policy to the ‘Final Solution’ inevitably overwhelmed the Lebensborn programme, as transport and manpower were directed elsewhere. Furthermore, consequences of the military defeats Germany suffered from 1943 onwards included organisational difficulties and a reprioritisation, both undermining the Lebensborn programme. Setbacks occurred throughout the programme, illustrated by the year it took from the beginning of the programme to the opening of the first maternity home, due to financial and personnel complications.

This contributed to underwhelming results within the SS, as by 1939, the 93,000 SS men that were married had produced only 100,000 children. Around 8,000 children (Wikimedia Commons) were born in Lebensborn facilities in Germany and 10,000 in Norway, much more than anywhere else. While there are problems in interpreting Lebensborn records due to the destruction and falsification of some, they do reveal that overall the programme was a failure. One could argue that as long as the Nazi state fell the programme would be a failure, ultimately a waste of resources direly needed during the war. Also, the children that were to become the ‘master race’ that the programme sought to produce ended up being subject to horrific abuse in Norway among other places after the war for years to come.

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History You Should Know

Issue 16: October 2014

The IRA Divided

By Vivienne Daly

The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially the ‘Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland’, signed on the 6th December 1921, concluded the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) following the Sinn Féin party’s landslide victory in the 1918 general election in Ireland. The treaty established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations (the Anglo-Irish Treaty contained the UK government’s first use of this term in an official document, rather than the term ‘British Empire’). Ireland was now given complete independence in its domestic affairs: powers to levy all taxes; regulate foreign trade; raise an army; and considerable freedom of foreign policy. The Treaty also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by the earlier Government of Ireland Act in 1920, with the option to opt out of the Irish Free State; an option that was immediately exercised.

However, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which saw itself as the legitimate army of the Irish Republic, was deeply split over whether to accept the Treaty. The Treaty caused deep divisions amongst nationalists throughout Ireland, and there were furious debates in the Dáil - the assembly set up by Sinn Féin in 1918. Those who favoured acceptance, such as Michael Collins, the de facto leader of the IRA who had negotiated the Treaty alongside Arthur Griffith, the leader of Sinn Féin, argued that the powers the treaty granted to Ireland made it worthy of support, that it would lead to Irish unity, that it had the support of the majority and was the only alternative to renewed war with Britain. Although Sinn Féin’s ideal settlement would have been the creation of a sovereign, united Irish republic, Griffith had appreciated the British, led by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, would not accept such terms, and instead aimed to maximise Irish independence and gain a united Ireland. Whilst accepting that it was not end game for the IRA, Collins argued in favour of the treaty on the grounds that it provided Ireland not with ‘the ultimate freedom that all nations desire, but the freedom to achieve it’.

The Treaty’s opponents, on the other hand, criticised it for failing to ‘do the fundamental thing’, that is, to bring about an Irish Republic.

The ‘English’ crown would still remain monarch in Ireland, they argued, and government in Ireland would still be conducted in the name of the crown. Whilst conceding that the Treaty had the support of the majority of Irish people, the President of the Republic, Éamon de Valera quipped that: ‘The majority has no right to do wrong.’ de Valera and two of his ministers later resigned in protest.

Having declined to take part in the negotiations, de Valera promoted a revision whereby Ireland would have ‘external association’ with the British Commonwealth. Others also noted that Britain also retained its naval bases in Ireland, thereby compromising Irish neutrality in future wars, a particularly thorny issue relating to the belief some still held in the old nationalist adage that ‘England’s extremity is Ireland’s opportunity’.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament, but conflict was almost inevitable. Membership of the British Empire and the position of the crown were issues upon which Lloyd George could not reasonably have been expected to compromise. However, the same could be said for republican purists, whose political raison d’être was to see an Ireland, fully sovereign, and finally divorced from the British crown. Those within the IRA who rejected these terms rejected not just the Treaty, but also the civilian authorities who had accepted it. This precipitated the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in late June 1922 between pro- and anti-Treaty factions. In June 1922, the first elections were held in the Free State, with Michael Collins’ pro-Treaty Sinn Féin winning a majority of seats. However, violent civil war followed, resulting in an estimated 1,500 deaths with some thousands more injured, leaving the Irish nationalist parties highly polarised and embittered. Another election was held in August 1923, which the pro-Treaty party, now organised as Cumman na nGaedheal, won. The anti-Treatyites finally entered politics as Fianna Fáil in 1927 and came to power peacefully in 1932 – despite widespread rioting between the IRA and the pro-Treaty Blueshirt Movement. By 1939, most of what they considered the objectionable features of the Treaty had been removed by acts of parliament. They and Fine Gael (pro-Treaty) dominated Irish politics for most of the 20th century.

(Wikimedia Commons)

@TheMcrHistorian

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History You Should Know

Issue 16: November 2014

The My Lai Massacre

By Matt Steadman

In one of the most horrific acts of atrocity committed by military personnel, on the 16th March 1968, soldiers of Charlie Company of the Americal Division’s 11th Infantry Brigade brutally murdered almost the entire population of the small hamlet of My Lai in South Vietnam.

The My Lai hamlet was believed to be a Viet Cong stronghold and the men of Charlie Company, led by Lieutenant William Calley, were sent there on a search and destroy mission. Owing to inaccurate intelligence reports, they had been advised that all villagers were to be considered as rebels or sympathizers. The total destruction of the village was ordered in accordance with a scorched earth policy.

When they arrived, they found no Viet Cong but nevertheless rounded up and murdered hundreds of civilians, mostly women, children and older men in extremely brutal fashion – many were also raped and tortured. Calley himself was reported to have dragged dozens of women into a ditch before executing them with a machine gun before turning on their terrified children. He was also quoted as saying that the only medical help the wounded Vietnamese civilians needed was ‘a hand grenade’. His superior, Captain Medina, ordered a cease fire at 11 for a macabre lunch break before resuming the killings.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Amidst all the chaos, not a single shot was fired at the men of Charlie Company and as PFC Michael Bernhardt put it, ‘not a single military-aged male was to be found in the village’. The massacre was only put to end when Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, a pilot on a reconnaissance mission, threatened to open fire on Charlie Company if they didn’t stop. Knowing that news of the massacre would seriously hinder America’s war effort, there were immediate efforts to downplay the bloodshed. The cover up continued for over a year until Private Ron Ridenhour began a campaign to shed light on the events.The story finally broke in November 1969.

This forced the US Army to open an investigation. They charged 28 officers for their involvement in the cover-up, but only 14 men with crimes related to the murders at My Lai. All were acquitted except for Calley who received a life sentence, but was paroled in 1974.The revelations of the My Lai massacre caused morale among troops to plummet even further as it called into question America’s purpose in Vietnam and led them to question their superiors’ authority. On the home front, the brutality of the massacre

The Sacking of Constantinople in 1204

By Christopher Taggart

In 1198, Pope Innocent III was elected to the papal throne. After the devastating loss of Jerusalem in 1187 to Saladin’s forces, Innocent made the recapture of the Holy City his primary concern and issued the call for a fourth Crusade. Christians saw Egypt as being the key to the recapture of Jerusalem because of its position as the military and economic powerhouse of the Near East: if Egypt fell then Jerusalem would follow.

To reach Egypt, crusaders hired a fleet from Venice, who hosted the foremost naval power of the age. The costs of hiring the Venetian fleet were staggering and due to smaller than expected numbers taking the cross, the crusaders faced a huge financial shortfall. Knowing the financial position of the crusaders, the Venetians sought to take advantage of the situation for their own cause. They offered the crusaders transportation in return for the recapture of Zara, a former Venetian possession. Zara was a Christian city and news of the potential attack outraged Pope Innocent. Even with papal protest the crusaders accepted the Venetians offer, deeming the shame of abandoning the crusade as too great. Whilst in Zara, the crusaders were approached with another offer, this time from a pretender to the Byzantine crown asking for their aid in overthrowing the Emperor. Again, with the lure of money, the crusaders accepted.

(Wikimedia Commons) In July 1203, the crusaders landed in Constantinople, this was the largest amphibious assault yet attempted in the Medieval Age. By August, the crusader-backed usurper was Emperor Isaac II Angelos. He set about trying to seize the money promised to the crusaders from the people of Constantinople: the more he pressed for the people for money the harder they resisted. The result of this increasing tension was the murder of the new Emperor by Byzantine nobles and attacks on the crusader camps. Full scale conflict between the two sides was now inevitable. On April 12th 1204 the crusaders broke through the Byzantine defence and consolidated their position north of the City. Over the following three days the crusaders pillaged and looted the city while defenceless women and children were murdered in cold blood.The result was not only the establishment of a series of Latin states in Greece and the Aegean Sea, but the permanent collapse of communion between Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The scars from 1204 have been so long lasting that it was only in 2004, 800 years after the event, that the Patriarch of the Orthodox church accepted an apology that was issued three years prior by Pope John Paull II regarding the horrors of the fourth Crusade.

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History You Should Know

Issue 16: October 2014

The Taiping Rebellion

By Lucy Heyderman

What began as the religious mission of one man became one of modern China’s most pivotal historical events. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) destabilised the Manchu Qing Dynasty, devastated the southern regions of China, saw the death of around 20,000,000 and would later act as inspiration for revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-Sen and Chairman Mao, shaping the modern China of today. Since 1644 a mostly Han population was governed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in a society based on traditional and Confucian ideology. However, by the mid-19th century, internal problems caused mass discontent as people began questioning the governing regime. A dramatic influx of population in the 18th century, doubling from 150 million to 300 million, resulted in a lack of land, work and food, especially in rural southern regions where labouring communities came under the strain of famine and drought. Meanwhile, the popularity of opium distorted Chinese trade; British goods became high demand while the Chinese market dwindled. Unemployment and crime spread which deepened internal tensions. The Qing’s defeat in the First Opium War (1839-42) against the British ‘barbarians’ caused national humiliation which, consequently, triggered mass disillusionment and catalysed the rebellion.

The leader of the rebellion, Hong Xiquan, began life as a poor Hakka (a subgroup of the Han) in the south. He focused on education, hoping to complete the tough civil servant examination with an exclusive pass rate of 1%. However, after five failed attempts he was driven into a state of dejection. After reading a pamphlet from a missionary, Hong claimed to have experienced visions proclaiming he was the Son of God sent to rid China of its ‘devils’. Many Hakka and other Han Chinese gathered to his cause, desperate to see change enacted in a deteriorating China, crippled by corrupt politics and poverty. From small revolts in the 1840s, the rebellion turned to a civil war. At its height, Hong established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ruling over around 30 million people.

Despite the eventual defeat of the Taiping rebels, the 15 years of civil war (Wikimedia Commons) led to irrevocable changes. Although Hong’s overtly religious campaign was driven by the ideology of the vengeful God of the Old Testament, the moral overtones disseminated social progression. The rebels fought for equality for women, the abolition of foot binding and slaves as well as the prohibition of alcohol, opium and adultery. Furthermore, its concept of communal property and redistributed land established primitive communism in China. While this ignited social change it also opened up China to the international stage as European forces aided the eventual crush of the rebellion. With the impact of the Opium Wars and unfair treaties, this marked the beginning of significant external influence in China. Thus, the rebellion paved the foundations of communism, instilled revolutionary ideas in the minds of the public and mobilised international intervention in China.

Printing Witchcraft Zoey Strzelecki

With a decrease in loyal Christian followers across Europe, church leaders sought out way in which to re-establish church hegemony. Across early modern Europe, this manifested itself in ways to seek out the weakest, most vulnerable in society and condemn them witches in order to reinstate Catholicism as the supreme power.

Initially, judges used manuscripts as guidance on how to persecute witches, but these were rare and varied. Alongside the invention of Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, the scope and uniformity in prosecuting witches expanded enormously. Manuals were mass-produced and were used by inquisitors to identify, track, prosecute, and kill those suspected of witchcraft.

This invention revolutionised the way knowledge could be circulated. Bibles, flyers and ultimately, demonological literature created an information reformation. The Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger is deemed the most influential and notorious book on witchcraft. The nature of this book is that of an idiosyncratic text, reflective of the lifetimes of two inquisitors and how their experiences shaped their beliefs. These learned beliefs, publicised by the elite, and translated into the main vernacular languages, were able to spread to areas not yet touched by witchcraft. This type of literature became one of the main forces that led witch-hunt continuations, and geographical expansion.

The papal bull in he preface of the Malleus has been acknowledged by many scholars to be the most significant literature issued by the Church regarding witchcraft. This book was manipulated by religion to spread an air of fear throughout Europe. Many of the clauses within the Malleus reinforced that even to question simply by virtue the existence of witchcraft as a form of heresy, was heresy itself. Those deemed a threat to Christianity became the focus for attack. Societies became deprived of old securities; the resulting panic manifested itself onto witchcraft. As old institutions began to decay, they sought out drastic ways to try and reassert power and authority.

Generalisations are too often made about the scope, impact and methods for hunting witches. Areas with considerably lower hunts than others were predominantly due to the elite’s acceptance of diabolism. Without elite acceptance, demonological literature did not circulate on mass. The printing press was used as a medium to carry fears about witchcraft, and allowed these ideas to reach a scope never seen before.

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History In The Headlines

Issue 16: November 2014

Kim Jong-Un’s Disappearing Act

By Stephen Fulham

Kim Jong-Un’s recent more than month-long disappearing act has inspired many speculations. The most credible hypothesis is that the world’s youngest head of state’s love for cheese and alcohol has resulted in a pair of fractured ankles, supported by recent pictures of Kim with a cane.

Such bizarreness may seem reminiscent of Team America: World Police, and builds on the surrealism of the ‘basketball diplomacy’ pursued by Dennis Rodman recently. However, this odd plotline should not obscure the expansive poverty and repression suffered by most of North Korea’s twenty-five million people.

North Korea, founded in 1948 by Kim Il-Sung (Kim Jong-Un’s grandfather, titled Eternal Leader of North Korea), is well-known as one of few remaining communist states and is renowned for its totalitarian practices of government. Such practices, mostly brutal purges, have increased under Kim Jong-Un in an effort to distance himself from his relatively liberal (in terms of co-operation with the South and on nuclear issues) father, Kim Jong-Il. Victims of Kim Jong-Un’s insecurity have included his uncle and most of his father’s hearse bearers.

Kim Il-Sung instituted a nationwide process of collectivisation by which all agricultural land became owned by the state. Characteristically for nationalisation under corrupt governments, hundreds of thousands of refugees suffered widespread starvation and famine; in the 1990s up to three and a half million people are thought to have died. In North Korea one in every three children is stunted and one in every five children is underweight, according to the UN World Food Programme, while chronic malnutrition is as high as forty percent in many rural areas. This reality juxtaposes with the explanation of Kim Jong-Un’s recent disappearance and the fact that he is known to import vast amounts of cheese for his own consumption.

A failed invasion of South Korea by the North in 1950, building on military skirmishes along the border beginning in 1948, resulted in intervention by the United Nations. This conflict saw more than half a milllion Let Kim Eat (Cheese) Cake Photo Credit: Daily Mirror, 17 September 2014 casualties, over one and a half million civilians killed, and a demilitarized zone established as a buffer. The civil war with the South is still formally ongoing, since a peace treaty has not been signed since the armistice of 1953.

Relations remain tense and are regularly tested by military exercises around the disputed border, which divides the Korean Peninsula. The so-called 38th Parallel differs little from that set up between the Soviet and American-occupied zones following the surrender of Japan in 1945, with separate states declared.

Recent times have seen further North Korean aggression and provocation, touching on the levels of the late 1960s-1980s when tunnels were used in assassination attempts on South Korean leaders. 2013 alone saw Kim Jong-Un end the Armistice Agreement, conduct a cyber-attack against the South, sever the hotline between North and South, fuel ballistic missiles, shut down an inter-Korean industrial zone, test a nuclear weapon and launch two ‘satellites’.

The latter two are expressly prohibited by the UN Security Council, and resulted in the termination of US Food Aid. Both ‘satellite’ launches, using the same technology required for intercontinental ballistic missiles, failed to reach orbit, costing almost one and a half billion US dollars. This period of escalation seems to have cost North Korea even more of the support of its only regional ally, China, who have demanded denuclearization in light of North Korean officials’ public threats of ‘nuclear catastrophe’ for a number of countries.

This demonstrates North Korea’s epithet as the world’s ‘most militarized society’, with policies of autarky relegated below displays of military strength. Crisiswatch, a historic online library, estimates that North Korea currently counts almost ten million enrolled in active, reserve, or paramilitary service, equalling around forty percent of the entire population, chiefly a result of North Korea’s policy of universal conscription over the age of seventeen. An arsenal of military hardware including tanks, aircraft, material for several nuclear warheads, chemical weapons, the world’s largest submarine fleet, and the ambition for a space programme now consumes ten billion US dollars each year, approximately a quarter of GDP.

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History In The Headlines

Issue 16: October 2014

Referendum Time for Catalonia

By Rosie Wright

In the 12th century Catalonia became part of the Crown of Aragon and then region became part of Spain in the 15th century through the marriage of the King of Aragon and Queen Isabelle of Castile which united the regions under their respective crowns.

Nowadays the region is a powerhouse for the rest of Spain. With a successful manufacturing industry which began with textiles but now has expanded to other industries such as: chemical manufacturing, food-processing and metalworking. The region is vastly becoming the economic hub of Spain. The Catalonians feel this is a reason as to why they should be independent, as the opinion is that they could be successfully self-sufficient.

Catalonia gained a taste of independence after the death of the General Franco. It was allowed its own Parliament and Executive which means the region has more of a say in what happens there as opposed to decisions being made in Madrid. However the Central Government takes more money from Catalonia than it invests in the region which is another reason the region feels it is so ready for independence. In their opinion, they would no longer have to support failing regions with little to no return on their investment. The current economic crisis in Spain means that many in Catalonia want to opt out of such a crippling economical state.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Catalonia does already feel independent from Spain. Their children are taught both Catalan and Castilian (official Spanish) and both languages now enjoy equal status. Catalan is becoming more and more important as it is being used in the media, for official purposes and in education. Nowadays only a minority of people in Catalonia speak Castilian as their first language. Although the Catalonians may want to become independent sooner rather than later, the vote on November 9th will only determine whether independence has a vast support in the region or not. It will not mean that there will be independence. Even so the President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, is hopeful that independence will achieve the majority of the vote as back in 2012 election results proved the independence was widely backed by the Catalonians.

Catalan nationalism is a phenomenon that has taken over Catalonia. Most of the Catalonia’s political parties (including the Republican left of Catalonia and Convergence and Union) are pro-independence and in some way follow Catalanism (Catalan nationalism) in their own manifestos and viewpoints.

The Catalans will more likely than not vote in favour of independence for their region. The Basque country already wants independence from Spain. So, in the future, will other regions also want to be separate from the under-achieving and debtburdened Central Government and Spain?

The Black Dahlia Murder

By Chloe Wright

The body was found in a vacant lot, severed from the waist and drained of blood. The mouth had been slit towards the ears, creating a ‘Glasgow Smile’, multiple cuts were found all over the body with portions flesh ripped from the body. The torso was positioned a foot away from the rest of the body with the intestines positioned neatly under the buttocks. However, this is not a scene from the latest Hollywood horror flick, instead it is the injuries suffered by a young woman named Elizabeth Short in Los Angeles on January 15th 1947. It was a horrific crime and nobody has ever been held accountable. The murder of the ‘Black Dahlia’ remains Los Angeles most notorious unsolved crime. One of the major factors that made this unsolved crime fascinating was the nature of the press response to the murder of Elizabeth Short.

The press’ fascination with the murder came primarily from the desire to get the best scoop and the most information leading them to malpractice. A newspaper called Elizabeth’s mother, Phoebe Short, after her murder asking for information about her daughter, under the premise that Elizabeth had previously won a beauty pageant. The reporter waited until the interview was over to reveal to her that Elizabeth was dead. It was the first time she had heard her daughter had been murdered. Furthermore, when coverage had died down, a man claiming to be the killer sent Elizabeth’s birth certificate, photographs and business cards to the paper to stimulate interest back into the story, much to the happiness of the press who wanted to keep the story in print.

The press during the 1940s was, much like today, sensationalist and this applied to this murder. In lieu with other murders it was given a name; The Black Dahlia Murder. Other murders have been nicknamed throughout history to give a sensationalist edge to the reporting such as the “Lipstick Murders” of 1945-6 in which three women were killed by William Heirens and more notoriously the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888, which, like Dahlia, remain unsolved and still hold large importance in the press in contemporary times. Another sensationalist aspect of the reporting of the Black Dahlia Murder is the slanderous picture painted of Elizabeth Short by the press. She was reported as a beautiful, dark haired, promiscuous woman with some papers even going as far as to claim she was a prostitute. For example, the tailored suit she was last seen in became a sheer skirt and blouse. In terms of reporting, The Black Dahlia became a victim who deserved it because she was, in the eyes of a patriarchal press, promiscuous.

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History In The Headlines

Issue 16: November 2014

Revolution in Hong Kong?

By Patrick Allen

As most people will know, Hong Kong is going through unprecedented political turbulence at the moment – the main roads and the subway system in Central, Hong Kong’s financial district, is currently occupied by three movements: The Occupy Central movement, HKFS and Scholarism (the latter two being student bodies). In fact, the ‘Umbrella protests’ – so called because of the use of umbrellas to mitigate the effects of tear gas canisters - have been paralleled to the infamous student demonstrations in Tiananmen in 1989, without the brutal crackdown by the Communist party (yet). However, it is important to first understand the protests in the context of Hong Kong’s political history before forming an opinion. In 1842 and with military defeat of the Qing Dynasty, British Warships lay siege to Nanking. Aboard the HMS Cornwallis, representatives from the Qing dynasty and Her Majesty the Queen are discussing the conflict’s resolution – the result: reparations in the form of six million silver dollars, the end of the first Opium War and the cession of Hong Kong to the British (which lasted until 1997).

Under the policy of “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region within Chinese sovereign territory, along with Macau and Taiwan. Realisation of this policy, implemented by Premier Deng Xiaoping in 1984, allowed the continuance of capitalist economic systems within these regions, whilst the rest of China would be subject to a Socialist agenda. Therefore, on July 1 1997, when the city was handed back, Hong Kong was granted autonomy over its financial, judicial and legislative affairs.

Yet, the politics in Hong Kong are dominated by the People’s Republic of China. Despite having one of the freest markets in the world and the sixth highest GDP per capita globally, Hong Kong falls down at the hurdle of a democratic system that we, in the West, enjoy. Nevertheless, Hong Kong does receive a tremendous amount of autonomy under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy. Civil liberties, such as freedom of press, are suppressed in the mainland but not in Hong Kong.

Democracy, even in its most abstract form, is a young concept in Hong Kong, only ranging back 17 years when the ex-colony was handed back to the China (under British rule, no elections took place) under the condition of it retaining its autonomy for 50 years.

Simultaneously, Hong Kong’s “Basic law” was put into effect. This document outlined an agreement that Hong Kong’s political system develop with the “ultimate aim” being “the selection of the Chief Executive by Universal Suffrage… in light of the actual situation in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress’ (Article 45). Note that this does not mean that Hong Kong citizens have the right to Universal Suffrage at this current moment, nor does it mean that it must be implemented tomorrow, only ‘gradual and orderly progress’ be made towards this goal.

Dissatisfaction reached new heights on 1 July 2003, when half a million Hong Kong citizens took to the streets in the largest pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong since Tiananmen Square in 1989. Polls indicated overwhelming demands for universal suffrage for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2008. However, the sight of distant democracy was blurred by the fog of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s decision that “the method of universal suffrage shall not be applied”. In 2004, again protestors took to the street to demonstrate their frustration and angry disappointment.

The current protests are a continuation of this fight for universal suffrage – in 2008, then-Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced a promise for Universal Suffrage to be in effect by 2017 and naturally this was a cause for joy amongst the pro-democracy demographic. However, in 2014, Beijing announced that it would effectively vet the list of nominees and the current protests are the consequence – the Hong Kong population is venting its frustration at the increasingly opaque political domain (with calls for the Chief Executive, Leung Chun-Ying, to resign) and the arguable violation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law. A month on, Hong Kong citizens continue to protest, but not everyone is in support – the pro-establishment segment, including Business leaders who favour stability, are calling for ends to the protest, which they say are hurting Hong Kong’s international reputation and economy, as well as the working class who are unable to get to work.

It is a difficult situation for both sides – with talks in progress, who knows what Hong Kong’s future will hold?

(Wikimedia Commons)

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History In Manchester

Issue 16: October 2014

The Edible Cone

By Melanie Fernandes The early twentieth century saw a boom in ice cream holding technology and the emergence of the edible waffle cone proved to be a big success in England. This article looks at the emergence of the edible cone and what preceded its invention.

After the Napoleonic wars in the 19thcentury many Italians moved to England and settled in areas like Ancotes, Manchester. They brought with them the recipe for gelatoice cream and served it to customers in paper, referred to as a ‘hokey pokey’ or in a ‘penny lick’. The ‘penny lick’ was a tiny glass ice cream dish, about the size of a shot glass and did not require the use of a spoon. Instead, customers licked all of the ice cream out of the dish and would then return it to the vendor when finished. The vendor would then immediately refill it with ice cream for another customer. While these methods for serving gelato were popular they were neither efficient nor hygienic. Primarily, re-using a dish meant that often the patron was at a disadvantage because customers accidentally broke the glasses, and not so accidentally walked off with them.

Additionally, cleaning was less fastidious than today’s standards and often the ice cream vender could not wash the dishes fast enough to keep up with demand on a hot day. While this meant service was often inept, the biggest problem with the ice cream business during this period was that the corners of the penny dish were often left dirty. The result was frequent instances of diseases such as tuberculosis being passed on by these glasses. Consequently because of the spread of diseases, the penny lick became outlawed in 1899 and this led to the emergence of the edible cone.

To combat the ban, Antonio Valvonafrom Ancotesin 1901 came up with a new idea following his visit to Belgium. Valvona invented the twist cone which was made from flour, water and treacle batter, using a wooden peg to shape the cone. In America, Italo Marchioni picked up on this idea and created an ice cream mould making machine. Then in 1904 the first true edible conical shaped cone for serving ice cream was created at the St. Louis World’s fair by Ernest Hamwi. In the fair, (Wikimedia Commons) Hamwi’s waffle booth was next to an ice cream vendor who ran short of dishes so Hamwi rolled a waffle to contain ice cream and the cone was born. Word spread quickly through the Fair and many other vendors began selling ice cream in waffle cones. The establishment of the edible waffle cone influenced Valvona’s creation in England and ice-cream in a cone became a regular desert enjoyed by ordinary people.

Hulme Hall: A History

By Matt Steadman

Situated in the leafy Victoria Park campus, Hulme Hall is home to over 400 students and as such is the biggest hall in the area. Complete with it’s own bar, dining and sports facilities, and an active JCR; it is often considered to be the social hub of the Victoria Park campus.

The hall boasts a successful football and rugby team, with the Hulme Hawks rugby boys being touted as this year’s campus league winners after some impressive performances.

The hall also has a great historical significance. It was one of the frst halls of accommodation to be set up in Owens College, the precursor of the University of Manchester, before the university started expanding and growing in influence, and as such is seen as integral to the university's historical essence.

(Wikimedia Commons)

It is made up of 6 blocks the oldest of which, Houldsworth, was built in 1907; with an expansion coming in 1967 which added five more blocks: Christie, Oaklands, Greenwood, Birley, Plymouth. Burkhardt House was added in 1994 and is the only self-catered block of Hulme housing up to 124 extra students.

(Wikimedia Commons)

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History In Culture

Issue 16: November 2014

Silence in the Theatre

By Patrick Bonner

Charlie Chaplin was one of the most celebrated, influential, innovative and ultimately controversial film-makers of the twentieth century. As a star of silent films he became arguably the most important Hollywood figure of his era. Film critic Andrew Sarris called Chaplin ‘arguably the single most important artist produced by the cinema, certainly its most extraordinary performer and probably still its most universal icon.’ Even today the image of Charlie Chaplin as the iconic ‘Tramp’ is recognisable to many people who have never seen his films.

Born Charles Spencer Chaplin (April 16, 1889) in London to singers Charles Chaplin Snr. and Hannah Chaplin, his upbringing was fraught with poverty and hardships. Abandoned by his father at a young age and with his mother confined to a mental asylum, Charlie found himself sent to the workhouse and a school for destitute children. His biographer David Robinson called Chaplin’s career ‘the most dramatic of all the rags to riches stories ever told.’

It quickly became apparent Charlie had a natural gift for performing. He made his first stage performance at the age just of five.

By the age of ten he was performing regularly with the ‘Eight Lancashire Lads’ clog dancing troupe, touring England’s music halls.

Yearning for more comedic roles, he found work with the prestigious Fred Karno Comedy Company and soon rose to become its star performer. Whilst touring with the company in America he was invited to join the New York Motion Picture Company. His onscreen career was about to commence.

Chaplin’s first film appearance was in Making a Living in 1914 – a one-reel comedy film which Chaplin personally disliked but which immediately marked him out for stardom. Despite his popularity, Chaplin’s career nearly came to a crashing halt just as he was starting out. After clashing with several directors over their reluctance to entertain his creative ideas, he was nearly released from his contract with the studio.

However, with orders for his films pouring in, the studio resolved to keep him. Craving creative control, Chaplin cut a deal with his studio boss Mack Sennett to direct his next film. After the commercial success of Caught in the Rain (1914), Chaplin’s rise a film director was meteoric. Within a year he was negotiating huge annual salaries with film studios to direct and star in dozens of short films including a first lead role for The Tramp (1915).

Nevertheless, Chaplin was unhappy, feeling pressure to produce lower quality quickly, he made the revolutionary move to start his own production company. Chaplin started United Artists with three of Hollywood’s leading stars; Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D. W. Griffith. Away from the pressure of studio deadlines Chaplin could produce only the films he wanted.

(Wikimedia Commons)

His time at United Artists was the most productive of Chaplin’s career and included some of his best loved feature films. These included The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) – each centred on the trials and tribulations of the iconic ‘Tramp.’ Despite this critically successful period, Chaplin’s reluctance to embrace ‘talkies’ was hurting box-office takings. He believed that sound simply would not work in his films. Eventually Chaplin’s stubborn resistance collapsed and somewhat ironically his first foray in talking pictures produced his most profitable film.

The Great Dictator (1940), a satirical attack on Adolf Hitler and Fascism, became Chaplin’s most commercially successful film.

Despite the risks of making a comedy film about Hitler in wartime, Chaplin was determined to proceed. He later wrote, ‘I was determined to go ahead, for Hitler must be laughed at.’ The film was positively received, garnering five Academy Award nominations for Chaplin.

Despite the commercial success, the film’s controversial final scene in which Chaplin looked directly into the camera and professed his own political beliefs, was unpopular with viewers. This controversial ending marked the beginning of a period of political scandal for Chaplin which saw him labelled a Communist sympathiser, resulting in his deportation from the United States.

Charlie Chaplin’s legacy is an enduring one. When he died on Christmas Day 1977, tributes poured in from leading Hollywood figures mourning the passing of a screen legend. His films are considered amongst the greatest ever made. Six of Chaplin's films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. His ‘auteur’ film-making style and slap-stick comedy have found many subsequent imitators. To modern generations he is synonymous with silent film, but Chaplin’s unique styles of acting, comedy and film-making had a much wider influence.

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Others

Issue 16: October 2014

Half Time Team Talk

By Nina Khan

This year saw the return of the History Society’s football and netball team, with the new additions of a hockey and cricket team. For both the football and the netball team it certainly is a new era, as most of the players have graduated and left this illustrious society.

For the football team it was vital to set up trials and pick up new youth that would take the club forward for the years to come. With new talent arriving, Captain Will Kelley has labelled new recruits Tom Glover and James O’Neil, the Xavi and Iniesta of the team. Dan Bunter, who has put in some exceptional performances up front, has had plenty of interest from other teams trying to poach him, however they can’t have him, he is ours!

The netball team has gotten off to a great start, with new kits to truly reflect the winning team they are, as shown with a comfortable win against the Physics team with a score of 14-7. An overwhelming interest in the team this year has been a great boost to the team’s morale and has helped get the team off to a good start. Congratulations in particular to first years Lizzie Wilkinson, Laura Sullivan and Sinead Cross who proved vital in the last game and helped secure a well-deserved win.

Pictures courtesy of Matt Segal The hockey team however, have really been the shining stars so far this season, with Captain Lucy Wickham leading the team to two consecutive victories out of two. For a team that had never met, never mind play together, this team is already shaping up to be contenders for the league cup this year.

Good luck to all the teams in their forthcoming games, we expect plenty more victories!

Excellent defensive skills depicted here by Captain Will Kelly

Pictures courtesy of Matt Segal

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Others

Issue 16: November 2014

Peer Mentoring Update!

By Jamie Taylor & Georgina Calle Hello everyone and welcome back from reading week! We hope you have all had a great time doing plenty of reading (or plenty of nothing!) while you have been off of Uni. Now that you are all back, pressure may be starting to rise as assignments are building and deadlines are growing nearer and nearer. Do not panic! As your peer mentors, we are here to help at any time, so please make sure to keep in regular contact with your mentor should you have any questions or queries.

Hopefully before reading week you will have heard from your mentor and they will have arranged to meet with you or dropped in to one of your History in Practice seminars. We will be keeping regular contact like this throughout the year to make sure you are all settling in well, being at hand to quell any worries you may have.

So far our turn out to Peer Mentor events in collaboration with the History Society have been excellent so please make sure you keep coming – it has been great to see you all! After the great success of the Pub Quiz before reading week, our next event will be the History Winter Party before the end of term. As we confirm more details we will be sure to keep you updated!

Should you have any more questions, please feel free to contact your mentor or email either of your Student Coordinators directly: Jamie.taylor-3@student.manchester.ac.uk Georgina.calle@sudent.manchester.ac.uk Wishing you the best for the second half of this term, Jamie and Georgie.

History Society Update

By Jennifer Birdsall

Hi from the History Society committee! We hope everything is going well for everyone as we come to the middle of semester one.

The pub quiz that happened on Tuesday 14th October at 256 was a massive success! It was the perfect opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better – staff and students alike. Congratulations to our winning team who grabbed themselves a £70 bar tab! Further congratulations are in order for second and third places who also won prizes on the evening.

Our third social of this semester will be in Week 11. Our social and media secretaries, Matt Steadman and James Nolan, are in the process of finalising the details for this. Keep checking your facebook and emails for upcoming details of the event.

The History Society sports teams are currently doing very well in the Campus Sport league. If you are interested in joining one of our teams then please do contact our sports secretary, Mahfuza Khan.

And remember, if you’ve not already joined our group on facebook do so now to keep up to date with everything we are getting up too – ‘University of Manchester History Society’.

Also, don’t forget to book onto the History Society end of exams trip to Dublin!

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Issue 16: October 2014

Careers Column

By Jamie Taylor

Monthly careers update! With deadlines for internships and grad schemes looming, keep up to date with our careers events to make sure you are as informed as possible! As for applications – do not panic! Feel free to drop in to the Careers Service or arrange a one on one appointment with a consultant to discuss any queries you may have.

Careers in Music Wednesday, 5th Nov - 5.15-6.30pm, Room 5.004, Fifth Floor, Crawford House, Booth Street East.

Interested in knowing more about working in the music industry? Our invited guests include Lisa Murgatroyd, who works in software and technology for clients in live music. She is also Takeover Manager for Oxjam Music Festival and Music Office for the National Student Radio Association. Simon Bray gained his music degree at Manchester and has over 10 years’ experience in the music industry including working as a session musician and band manager. They’ll be talking to you about their roles and sharing their industry experience and insights.

Meet the Professionals: Charity and the Public Sector Thursday, 6th Nov - 5.00-8.00pm, Room 2.20, University Place.

The Alumni Office are inviting you to attend this session to meet Manchester graduates working in the Charity and Public Sector.

This is a great opportunity to meet professionals in a number of fields and gain advice about the next steps following university.

Places are limited.

Law careers for SALC students Wednesday, 12th Nov – 1.30-3.30pm, Room 3.40, Simon Building.

Ever wondered about a career in Law? Come along to this event and get the low-down from solicitors and a barrister about what their work involves and how to follow in their footsteps.

Law Fair (open to all students) Tuesday 18th Nov – 12.30-4.00pm, Manchester Central (in the city centre). This is a great opportunity to meet dozens of law firms and legal organisations, giving you a chance to find out more information about the profession, as well as develop new contacts.

Guest lecture by Alex Aiken!

Tuesday 18th Nov – 5-7pm, Lecture Theatre A, University Place.

Alex Aiken, Executive Director of Government Communications, will be offering a lecture from ‘behind the black door’, giving insight in to government communications and what role you could play in the civil service.

Postgraduate Study Fair (open to all students) Wednesday 19 Nov – 10.30-4.00pm, location TBC. Do not fear – this event is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as it can provide an excellent opportunity to meet employers regarding graduate jobs, or simply enquire about potential industries and professions.

Tuesday Careers Drop-in – 12.45-2.15pm Every Tuesday lunchtime there will be a careers consultant in the Samuel Alexander building for you to have an informal chat with.

You might have a specific careers question or perhaps you haven’t got a clue what you want to do after you graduate. Either way, they can help.

Locations: Tuesday 4th Nov Tuesday 11th Nov Tuesday 18th Nov

3rd floor language reception EAC/Ling and Eng Lang common room North foyer

Spaces are limited so make sure you sign up soon!

To confirm your place at any of these events or find any more information please visit: http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/ careerslink/ Keep up to date on future events!

Join The University of Manchester History Society Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UoMHistorySociety/?fref=ts

On This Day (14th November)

1840 - Claude Monet, French Painter born.

1889 - Pioneering female journalist, Nellie Bly begins a successful attempt to travel around in world in less than 80 days.

1916 - WW1: Battle of the Somme ends.

1922 - The BBC begins radio service in the UK.

@TheMcrHistorian

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