Young Soldier Describes True Horror of Life in Napoleon's Army (Russia, 1812) // Jakob Walter Diary.
Black History timeline. Roman rule in Britain begins.
The Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum, an African auxiliary unit, takes its position on Hadrian’s Wall (c100-c400) as part of the Roman army and helps guard the outermost reaches of the empire. Kingdom of Ghana. A large sub-Saharan state established. Archaeological evidence suggests that Ghana had achieved a high level of civilisation (advanced metalworking, an indigenous trading network) before Arab travellers arrived around AD750. Its capital, Koumbi Saleh, had a population of 30,000. African-born scholar Hadrian of Canterbury, having rejected a papal request to become Archbishop of Canterbury, travels to Britain with Theodore, who took up the post instead. General Tariq ibn-Ziyad conquers the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Around this time Kanem-Bornu is established by Dougu, the first king of the Zaghawa dynasty.
Religion of Islam starts to slowly spread across sub-Saharan Africa. Sugar and slavery become synonymous. The Haitian Revolution. Chineke! Make no mistake: Cook’s voyages were part of a military mission to conquer and expand. Captain James Cook arrived in the Pacific 250 years ago, triggering British colonisation of the region.
We’re asking researchers to reflect on what happened and how it shapes us today. You can see other stories in the series here and an interactive here. The military nature of the Endeavour’s voyage – as part of an aggressive reconnaissance and defence against Indigenous resistance – has historically been overlooked or downplayed. But musket fire was used many times to teach lessons of British military superiority. Violence underscored almost all of Cook’s Pacific encounters with Indigenous peoples.
In the broader strategic sense – as all 18th and early 19th century scientific voyages were – Cook’s voyages were part of a European drive to conquer. German History in Documents and Images. Verso. In Insurgent Empire Priyamvada Gopal examines a century of dissent on the question of empire and shows how British critics of empire were influenced by rebellions and resistance in the colonies, from the West Indies and East Africa to Egypt and India.
To mark publication, we bring you a selection of books that challenge notions of slavery, empire and colonialism - all 40% off until July 25 at 23:59 EST. Britain’s story of empire is based on myth. We need to know the truth. These days we’ve become wearily accustomed to depictions of Brexit Britain as oppressed by a villainously imperial Europe.
Annexed “without permission”, Nigel Farage claimed melodramatically, defending Brexit party MEPs against charges of “disrespecting” the European Parliament. In a particularly far-fetched comparison, Ann Widdecombe MEP has compared Brexit with the resistance of “slaves against their owners” and “colonies against empires”. Prime ministerial frontrunner Boris Johnson too has spoken of Britain’s supposed “colony status” in the EU though, with a familiar double standard, he also believes that it would be good if Britain was still “in charge” of Africa. From Corn Laws to cold war, what history can teach us about Brexit.
English Reformation, 1534 Brexit means taking Britain’s signature off the treaty of Rome, a cue for comparisons with Henry VIII’s repudiation of the jurisdiction of the pope.
The Tudor king had several motivations, not least the need to find a wife who would produce a male heir. A major consequence of this was to separate Britain from much of the continent by giving it a different state-approved religion from most other European states. As with Brexit, the Reformation unleashed bitter struggles about sovereignty, identity and authority under Henry and several of his successors.
As with Brexit, it divided families, turned friends into enemies, generated fabulously arcane doctrinal disputes and martyrs of both faiths. Imperial preference, 1902-1937. India's caste system could play a pivotal role in this week's upcoming elections — here's how. Updated 6 Apr 2019, 11:50pmSat 6 Apr 2019, 11:50pm In India, your fate and future are often sealed at the moment of your birth, depending on your ancestors' place in society.
Key points: India's caste system is the world's oldest surviving form of social stratificationIt affects most aspects of people's lives, including how they vote in electionsPM Modi's historic 2014 election win was partly due to his appeal across castes Despite rapid urbanisation and change, the caste system remains highly relevant in modern India. StoryMapJS. Collection: Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection / Subject: Imperialism - Cornell University Library Digital Collections Search Results. David Olusoga: ‘Black soldiers were expendable – then forgettable’ Colonial Australia’s foundation is stained with the profits of British slavery. As the decades shed ever more light on colonialism’s brutal treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Australia has sought reassurance that at least, unlike Britain and America, our history is not marred with the heinous stain of the Caribbean and African slave trade.
But groundbreaking historical research must now give pause for reconsideration. Maps on the Web. Spanish possessions in Africa, 1903.
Map of all Dutch possessions Green: Mainland NetherlandsDark Green: Land (at one point) administered by the Dutch West India CompanyLight Green: Land (at one point) administered by the Dutch East India CompanyOrange: Trading Posts Australia’s Colonies and Terrortories 1788-2000 Central American and Caribbean Possessions, 1700-1983 More ‘possessions’ maps (Source: commons.wikimedia.org) What Was the Sykes-Picot Agreement and How Has It Shaped Middle Eastern Politics? The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a deal struck by Britain and France in spring 1916 that planned for a carve-up of much of the Middle East in the event of an Ottoman defeat in World War One.
When this defeat became a reality, so did the carve-up, with borders drawn that decades later are still being debated and fought over. A dying empire. 'Colour was too sweet for apartheid': the austere genius of David Goldblatt. “I didn’t regard the camera as a weapon in the liberation struggle,” the veteran South African photographer David Goldblatt once said.
He described his approach, instead, as a dialogue “between myself and whatever I photographed and my compatriots”. That dialogue began 60 years ago, when the teenage Goldblatt began to photograph miners and the landscape of gold-mining in and around Randfontein, the whites-only town where he was born, and ended a few days ago with his death, at the age of 87. In between, he created a body of work that is without precedent in postwar photography. As his recent retrospective at the Pompidou in Paris made clear, South Africa was Goldblatt’s sole subject and his life’s work. I can think of no other photographer who has left behind such a deeply resonant expression of a country’s complex identity. The Brutal Story of How Europe Conquered the Pacific - Island Life Magazine. The HMS Bounty has become the most notorious ship in the British navy, its captain, William Bligh, a byword for brutality. On April 28, 1789, after setting sail from Tahiti, a group of sailors led by the charismatic Fletcher Christian mutinied, forcing their hated captain off the ship—and into legend.
How colonial violence came home: the ugly truth of the first world war. ‘Today on the Western Front,” the German sociologist Max Weber wrote in September 1917, there “stands a dross of African and Asiatic savages and all the world’s rabble of thieves and lumpens.” Weber was referring to the millions of Indian, African, Arab, Chinese and Vietnamese soldiers and labourers, who were then fighting with British and French forces in Europe, as well as in several ancillary theatres of the first world war. Faced with manpower shortages, British imperialists had recruited up to 1.4 million Indian soldiers. France enlisted nearly 500,000 troops from its colonies in Africa and Indochina. Nearly 400,000 African Americans were also inducted into US forces. The first world war’s truly unknown soldiers are these non-white combatants. Zionism, anti-semitism, and the Balfour Declaration.
Close to a year ago, on 12 December of last year, PM Theresa May addressed the Annual Business Lunch of the Conservative Friends of Israel in these terms: “On November 2, 1917, the then Foreign Secretary – a Conservative Foreign Secretary – Arthur James Balfour wrote: ‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, …’” The PM read the whole text of the letter I will be getting back to later. She then went on saying: “It is one of the most important letters in history. It demonstrates Britain’s vital role in creating a homeland for the Jewish people. And it is an anniversary we will be marking with pride.” Australia’s hidden history of slavery: the government divides to conquer.
My grandfather was Moses Topay Enares. He was only 12 years old when he was coerced onto a ship, put in the hold and fed stodge, a flour-like substance, until he arrived in Queensland. His wife, who recorded and retold his story, tells of him being taken from the beach off the island of Tanna, Vanuatu. Moses passed on the Northern Rivers in New South Wales in 1961. He never saw his family from Tanna again.
The Balfour Declaration Is Another Colonial Distortion of History. Partition of India: Australians share their memories 70 years on. Graphic: Out of Africa – Did the Colonial Powers ever Really Leave? Africa may have achieved independence, but the old colonial ties are still important as France’s decision to send troops to Mali to fight Islamist extremists shows. Finsch Pacific Expeditions. The Ancient World As Seen By Afrocentrists - Butterflies and Wheels. Introduction. Precolonial African Politics and Government — Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience.
West African empires and kingdomsClick image for larger viewSource. The Colonization of Africa. Precolonial African Economies — Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience. Big Era Seven: Landscape Unit 7.5. 5 of the worst atrocities carried out by British Empire, after 'historical amnesia' claims. The British people suffer "historical amnesia" over the atrocities committed by their former empire, an Indian MP and author has claimed. Former UN under-secretary general Dr Shashi Tharoor said the British education system fails to tell the real story of empire.