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Jürgun Stroop

Jürgun Stroop

] Jürgen Stroop, (September 26, 1895 in Detmold – March 6, 1952 in Warsaw), was an SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS und Polizei, who served as the SS and Police Leader of the Poland-Warsaw area during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. Jürgen Stroop was the son of a policeman. After receiving only a basic school education, he became an apprentice with the land register in his home town of Detmold, where he worked until the start of the First World War, when he joined the German armed forces as a volunteer. At the end of the war, he held the rank of a vice staff sergeant. After the war, he returned to work at the land register. Stroop joined both the SS and the NSDAP in 1932. His career took off during the election campaign of the same year. In 1933, he was appointed leader of the state Auxiliary Police. One year later, he was promoted from the rank of SS-Oberscharführer to the rank of Hauptsturmführer. Subsequently he worked for the SS-administration in Münster and Hamburg. In autumn 1938, he was promoted again, this time to the rank of SS-Standartenführer (colonel). After the invasion of Poland, he served as commander of the SS-section in Gnesen (Gniezno). In May 1941, he changed his name from Josef to Jürgen for ideological reasons . In April 1943, Heinrich Himmler replaced the chief of the SS and police in the Warsaw district, Obergruppenführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, with Jürgen Stroop. A veteran of World War I, Stroop had more recently been involved in operations against Soviet partisans in the Ukraine and was familiar with the latest techniques in counterguerrilla warfare. He was responsible for crushing the rebellion in the ghetto; an action which cost the lives of thousands of innocent victims. As his forces were forced back by heavy resistance, he ordered the entire Ghetto burned down, building by building. Afterwards, in a report to Himmler, Stroop boasted that "the Warsaw Ghetto is no more". He was subsequently SS- and Police Chief in Greece from September - November 1943, then the same position in the Rhine area until the close of the war. After the end of the Second World War, Stroop was found guilty of war crimes and executed in Warsaw by the Polish authorities in 1952. In the 2001 film Uprising, Jürgen Stroop is depicted by actor Jon Voight. In the film The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Jürgen Stroop is portrayed by German actor Joachim Hansen. The character is simply referred to as "Herr Gruppenführer" and not by Stroop's actual name, although in the source novel by Jack Higgins, Stroop's named is used.

Sources

- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/strooptest.html Statement by Stroop to Investigators About His Actions in the Warsaw Ghetto]
- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/uprising1.html Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]
- [http://www.holocaust-history.org/works/stroop-report/htm/intro000.htm The Stroop Report: The Warsaw Ghetto Is No More]
- [http://www.thehistorynet.com/wwii/blgenocide/ Genocide Delayed] Stroop, Jürgen Stroop, Jürgen Stroop, Jürgen Stroop, Jürgen

September 26

September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining.

Events

- 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in fulfilment of a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.
- 1580 - Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe.
- 1687 - The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who were besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
- 1777 - British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.
- 1789 - Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.
- 1810 - A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.
- 1907 - New Zealand and Newfoundland each becomes a dominion of the British Empire.
- 1914 - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
- 1918 - World War I: Battle of Meuse.
- 1934 - Steamship RMS Queen Mary is launched.
- 1944 - World War II: Operation Market Garden fails.
- 1950 - United Nations troops recapture Seoul from the North Koreans.
- 1954 - Japanese rail ferry Toya Maru sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan killing 1,172.
- 1957 - Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opens on Broadway
- 1960 - In Chicago, Illinois, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
- 1961 - Bob Dylan makes his public debut.
- 1962 - Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed
- 1962 - Premiere of The Beverly Hillbillies on CBS.
- 1969 - The Chicago Seven trial begins.
- 1969 - The Beatles album Abbey Road is released in the UK.
- 1973 - Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.
- 1970 - The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- 1981 - Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.
- 1983 - Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war.
- 1983 - Australia II, the first non-American winner, wins the Americas Cup.
- 1984 - United Kingdom agrees handover of Hong Kong.
- 1988 - Ben Johnson is stripped of his gold medal in the 100 m sprint at the Seoul Olympics for failing a drug test.
- 1991 - Biosphere 2 opens.
- 1996 - Nintendo 64 went on sale in the United States.
- 1997 - A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234
- 1997 - An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
- 2001 - Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) police turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
- 2001 - Star Trek: Enterprise begins airing in the US.
- 2002 - The overcrowded Senegalese ferry Joola capsizes off the coast of Gambia killing 1,836 people.
- 2002 - Thirty people are killed in a gun attack at a temple in Gandhinagar, India
- 2002 - Five people are shot dead in a botched bank robbery in Norfolk, Nebraska, United States.
- 2005 - The shock elimination of favoured to win, Teresa Bergman, on New Zealand Idol.

Births

- 1406 - Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (d. 1430)
- 1711 - Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician (d. 1779)
- 1750 - Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, British admiral (d. 1810)
- 1774 - Johnny Appleseed, American environmentalist (d. 1847)
- 1791 - Théodore Géricault, French painter (d. 1824)
- 1869 - Komitas, Armenian composer (d. 1935)
- 1870 - King Christian X of Denmark (d. 1947)
- 1871 - Winsor McCay, American cartoonist (d. 1934)
- 1873 - Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (d. 1949)
- 1874 - Lewis Hine, American photographer and social activist (d. 1940)
- 1875 - Edmund Gwenn, Welsh actor (d. 1959)
- 1876 - Edith Abbott, American social worker, educator, and author (d. 1957)
- 1877 - Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (d. 1963)
- 1877 - Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist (d. 1962)
- 1886 - Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1977)
- 1887 - Antonio Moreno, Spanish-born actor (d. 1967)
- 1887 - Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, British scientist, engineer and inventor (d. 1979)
- 1888 - J. Frank Dobie, American folklorist and newspaper columnist (d. 1964)
- 1888 - T. S. Eliot, American writer and editor, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1889 - Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (d. 1976)
- 1891 - Charles Munch, French conductor and violinist (d. 1968)
- 1895 - George Raft, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1897 - Arthur Rhys Davids, English pilot (d. 1917)
- 1897 - Pope Paul VI (d. 1978)
- 1898 - George Gershwin, American composer (d. 1937)
- 1907 - Anthony Blunt, English art historian and Soviet spy (d. 1983)
- 1907 - Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Bill France, Sr., American founder of NASCAR (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Jack LaLanne, American fitness advocate
- 1923 - Dev Anand, Indian actor and film producer
- 1925 - Marty Robbins, American singer (d. 1982)
- 1926 - Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1926 - Julie London, American singer and actress (d. 2000)
- 1930 - Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (d. 1966)
- 1932 - Richard Herd, American actor
- 1932 - Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
- 1932 - Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident
- 1933 - Donna Douglas, American actress
- 1936 - Winnie Mandela, South African anti-apartheid activist
- 1942 - Kent McCord, American actor
- 1943 - Ian Chappell, Australian test cricket player and broadcaster
- 1944 - Anne Robinson, British television host
- 1945 - Bryan Ferry, British singer
- 1946 - Andrea Dworkin, American feminist (d. 2005)
- 1946 - Christine Todd Whitman, American politician
- 1947 - Lynn Anderson, American singer
- 1948 - Olivia Newton-John, Australian singer
- 1949 - Clodoaldo, Brazilian football player
- 1951 - Stuart Tosh, Scottish musician
- 1954 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager and television host
- 1956 - Linda Hamilton, American actress
- 1962 - Melissa Sue Anderson, American actress
- 1963 - Lysette Anthony, British actress
- 1967 - Shannon Hoon, American singer (Blind Melon) (d. 1995)
- 1968 - James Caviezel, American actor
- 1973 - Chris Small, Scottish snooker player
- 1974 - Martin Müürsepp, Estonian basketball player
- 1975 - Emma Härdelin, Swedish singer (Garmarna and Triakel)
- 1976 - Michael Ballack, German footballer
- 1976 - Yoshiko Horie, Japanese singer and voice actor.
- 1981 - Christina Milian, American actress and singer
- 1981 - Serena Williams, American tennis player

Deaths

- 1417 - Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (b. 1360)
- 1468 - Juan de Torquemada, Spanish Catholic cardinal (b. 1388)
- 1626 - Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese warrior (b. 1554)
- 1763 - John Byrom, English poet (b. 1692)
- 1764 - Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Spanish scholar (b. 1767)
- 1802 - Baron Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist, and military officer (b. 1754)
- 1820 - Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (b. 1734)
- 1868 - August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1790)
- 1877 - Hermann Grassmann, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1809)
- 1904 - John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b. 1848)
- 1937 - Bessie Smith, American singer (b. 1894)
- 1945 - Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b. 1881)
- 1947 - Hugh Lofting, British writer (b. 1886)
- 1952 - George Santayana, Spanish philosopher (b. 1863)
- 1965 - James Fitzmaurice, Irish aviation pioneer (b. 1898)
- 1972 - Charles Correll, American radio actor (b. 1890)
- 1976 - Lavoslav Ružička, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
- 1978 - Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- 1984 - John Facenda, American broadcaster and sports announcer (b. 1913)
- 1998 - Betty Carter, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2000 - Richard Mulligan, American actor (b. 1932)
- 2003 - Robert Palmer, British singer (b. 1949)

Holidays and observations

- Calendar of Saints - Sts. Cosmas and Damian Also see September 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Discordianism - Bureflux
- [http://www.ecml.at/edl/ European Day of Languages]

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/26 BBC: On This Day] ---- September 25 - September 27 - August 26 - October 26 - more historical anniversaries ko:9월 26일 ms:26 September ja:9月26日 simple:September 26 th:26 กันยายน

1895

1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).

Events

January

- January 5 - Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

February

- February 11 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C (measured as -17°F) was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled in 1982.
- February 14 - First showing of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest (St. James' Theatre in London).

March

- March 1 - William L. Wilson is appointed United States Postmaster General
- March 3 - In Munich, bicyclists have to pass a test and display license plates

April

- April 6 - Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.
- April 14 - a major earthquake severely damages Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- April 17 - The Treaty of Shimonoseki (also known as Treaty of Maguan) was signed between China and Japan. This marks the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.

May

- May 25 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "sodomy and gross indecency" and sentenced to serve two years in a London prison.

June

- June 11 - Britain annexes Togoland
- June 28 - Union of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador begins (ends in 1898).

July

- July 15 - Archie MacLaren scores County Championship record innings of 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton.

August

- August 19 - American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
- August 29 - The sport of rugby league is formed at a meeting in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, England.

September

- September 3 - The first professional football game is played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0.).
- September 18 - Booker T. Washington delivers the Atlanta Compromise Speech.

November

- November 5 - George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
- November 8 - Wilhelm Röntgen discovers a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
- November 27 - At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies (he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 10, 1896).

December

- December 28 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere display their first moving picture film in Paris

Unknown date

- Dundela FC were formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposes a space elevator
- Most recent major earthquake in the New Madrid Fault Zone
- Grace Chisholm Young, the first woman awarded a doctorate at a German university
- W.E.B. Du Bois becomes the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University
- Duck Reach Power Station opens

Births

January-March

- January 1 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1972)
- January 15 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- January 21 - Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish-French couturier (d. 1972)
- January 24 - Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976)
- January 30 - Wilhelm Gustloff, German-born Swiss Nazi party leader( d. 1936)
- February 2 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and co-founder of the National Football League (d. 1983)
- February 6 - Babe Ruth, baseball player (d. 1948)
- February 14 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
- February 15 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (d. 1971)
- February 21 - Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
- March 3 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- March 3 - Matthew Ridgway, Commander of NATO, United States Army Chief of Staff (d. 1993)
- March 12 - William C. Lee, U.S. general (d. 1948)
- March 17 - Shemp Howard, American actor and comedian (d. 1955)
- March 20 - Robert Benoist, French race car driver and war hero (d. 1944)
- March 29 - Ernst Jünger, German author (d. 1998)

April-June

- April 1 - Alberta Hunter, American singer (d. 1984)
- April 3 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (d. 1968)
- April 9 - Mance Lipscomb, American singer (d. 1976)
- April 15 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (d. 1980)
- April 20 - Emile Christian, American musician (d. 1973)
- April 28 - Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1985)
- April 29 - Malcolm Sargent, English conductor (d. 1967)
- May 6 - Rodolfo Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
- May 8 - Fulton J. Sheen, American Catholic archbishop and television personality (d. 1979)
- May 12 - William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
- May 15 - William D. Byron, U.S. Congressman (d. 1941)
- May 30 - Nikolai Bulganin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1975)
- May 30 - Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d. 1956)
- June 10 - Hattie McDaniel, American actress (d. 1952)

July-September

- July 8 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- July 10 - Carl Orff, German composer (d. 1982)
- July 12 - Kirstin Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (d. 1982)
- July 12 - Buckminster Fuller, American architect (d. 1983)
- July 24 - Robert Graves, English writer (d. 1985)
- July 25 - Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (d. 1977)
- August 16 - Liane Haid, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
- September 7 - Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (d. 1985)
- September 11 - Vinoba Bhave, Indian religious leader (d. 1982)
- September 24 - André Frédéric Cournand, French-born physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1988)
- September 29 - J.B. Rhine, American parapsychologist (d. 1980)

October-December

- October 2 - Bud Abbott, American actor (d. 1974)
- October 4 - Buster Keaton, American actor and film director (d. 1966)
- October 8 - King Zog of Albania (d. 1961)
- October 19 - Lewis Mumford, American historian (d. 1990)
- October 21 - Edna Purviance, actress (d. 1958)
- October 22 - Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (d. 1980)
- October 25 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1969)
- October 30 - Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (declined) (d. 1964)
- October 30 - Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1973)
- October 31 - Basil Liddell Hart, military historian (d. 1970)
- November 5 - Walter Gieseking, German pianist (d. 1956)
- November 15 - Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and writer (d. 1976)
- November 16 - Paul Hindemith, German composer (d. 1963)
- November 25 - Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist (d. 1991)
- November 29 - Busby Berkeley, American film director and choreographer (d. 1976)
- December 2 - Harriet Cohen, English pianist (d. 1967)
- December 14 - Paul Eluard, French poet (d. 1952)
- December 14 - King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)
- Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, King of Malaysia (d. 1960)

Deaths

- January 9 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watchmaker (b. 1812)
- January 10 - Benjamin Godard, French composer (b. 1849)
- February 2 - Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
- February 20 - Frederick Douglass, American ex-slave and author (b. 1818)
- March 2 - Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
- March 10 - Charles Frederick Worth, English-born couturier (b. 1826)
- May 19 - José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853)
- May 21 - Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (b. 1819)
- June 29 - Sir Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist (b. 1825)
- August 5 - Friedrich Engels, German socialist philosopher (b. 1820)
- August 22 - Luzon B. Morris, American politician (b. 1827)
- September 28 - Louis Pasteur, French microbiologist and chemist (b. 1822)
- October 8 - Empress Myeongseong (Queen Min), last Korean empress (b. 1851)
- October 25 - Charles Hallé, German-born pianist and conductor (b. 1819)
- November 27 - Alexandre Dumas, fils, French author and playwright (b. 1824)

Date unknown

- Green Clay Smith, American politician (b. 1826). Category:1895 ko:1895년 ms:1895 simple:1895 th:พ.ศ. 2438

March 6

March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). There are 300 days remaining.

Events

- 1447 - Nicholas V becomes Pope.
- 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledged allegiance to Casimir IV of Poland, and the Polish king agreed to help in their struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
- 1460 - Treaty of Alcaçovas - Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa.
- 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
- 1820 - The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, but makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.
- 1834 - York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto.
- 1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 189 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort taken.
- 1853 - The Giuseppe Verdi opera La Traviata premieres in Venice.
- 1857 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
- 1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
- 1899 - Bayer registers aspirin as a trademark.
- 1900 - A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.
- 1901 - In Bremen an assassin attempts to kill Wilhelm II of Germany.
- 1925 - Pionerskaya Pravda, one of the oldest children's newspapers in Europe, is founded
- 1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union.
- 1946 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
- 1947 - USS Newport News, the first air-conditioned naval ship, is launched from Newport News, Virginia.
- 1951 - The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.
- 1953 - Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Josef Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1957 - United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana.
- 1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula
- 1964 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
- 1964 - Tom O'Hara sets a new world record for the indoor mile run by completing it in 3 minutes, 56.4 seconds.
- 1970 - Cult leader and suspected murderer Charles Manson releases an album titled Lies to help finance his defense.
- 1975 - Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement over their border dispute.
- 1981 - After 19 years presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- 1983 - The United States Football League begins its first year of competition.
- 1984 - Twelve-month-long strike in British coal industry begins.
- 1987 - The British ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds after leaving the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium en route to Dover, England across the English Channel, killing 193.
- 1992 - The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.
- 1994 - Referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania.
- 1997 - Picasso's painting Tete de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later.

Births

- 1405 - King John II of Castile (d. 1454)
- 1459 - Jacob Fugger, German banker (d. 1525)
- 1475 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter (d. 1564)
- 1483 - Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (d. 1540)
- 1495 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (d. 1556)
- 1619 - Cyrano de Bergerac, French soldier, poet (d. 1655)
- 1663 - Francis Atterbury, English man of letters (d. 1732)
- 1706 - George Pocock, British admiral (d. 1792)
- 1716 - Pehr Kalm, Finnish explorer and naturalist (d. 1779)
- 1779 - Antoine-Henri Jomini, French general (d. 1869)
- 1787 - Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist (d. 1826)
- 1806 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (d. 1861)
- 1812 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)
- 1885 - Ring Lardner, American writer (d. 1933)
- 1903 - Empress Nagako of Japan (d. 2000)
- 1904 - Joseph Schmidt, Austrian tenor (d. 1942)
- 1905 - Bob Wills, American singer (d. 1975)
- 1906 - Lou Costello, American actor comedian (d. 1959)
- 1914 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981)
- 1915 - Pete Gray, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1917 - Will Eisner, American illustrator and cartoonist (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Ed McMahon, American television personality
- 1923 - Wes Montgomery, American musician (d. 1968)
- 1926 - Alan Greenspan, American economist
- 1926 - Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director
- 1927 - Gordon Cooper, astronaut (d. 2004)
- 1928 - Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 - Lorin Maazel, French-born American conductor
- 1931 - Hal Needham, American stunt man
- 1933 - Ted Abernathy, baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1934 - John Noakes, British television presenter
- 1935 - Ron Delany, Irish athlete
- 1936 - Marion Barry Jr., Mayor of Washington DC
- 1937 - Ivan Boesky, American stock trader
- 1937 - Valentina Tereshkova, cosmonaut
- 1939 - Adam Osborne, British author and computer designer (d. 2003)
- 1940 - Willie Stargell, baseball player
- 1942 - Ben Murphy, American actor
- 1944 - Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano
- 1944 - Mary Wilson, American singer (Supremes)
- 1946 - David Gilmour, English musician (Pink Floyd)
- 1947 - Kiki Dee, English singer
- 1947 - Dick Fosbury, American athlete
- 1947 - Martin Kove, American actor
- 1947 - Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, and film producer
- 1949 - Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan
- 1949 - Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer
- 1951 - Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (d. 2004)
- 1953 - Jan Kjærstad, Norwegian author
- 1953 - Jacklyn Zeman, American actress
- 1955 - Alberta Watson, Canadian actress
- 1959 - Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
- 1969 - Tari Phillips, American basketball player
- 1972 - Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
- 1976 - Ken Kennedy(Anderson), Professional wrestler
- 1979 - Tim Howard, American soccer player

Deaths

1252 to 1899

- 1252 - Saint Rose of Viterbo, Italian saint (b. 1235)
- 1490 - Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (b. 1458)
- 1531 - Pedrarias Dávila, Spanish conquistador
- 1627 - Krzysztof Zbaraski, Polish statesman (b. 1580)
- 1754 - Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1694)
- 1758 - Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, English politician
- 1764 - Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1690)
- 1796 - Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (b. 1713)
- 1836 - Davy Crockett, American frontiersman (b. 1786)
- 1854 - Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, British soldier and politician (b. 1778)
- 1888 - Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (b. 1832)
- 1895 - Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer and feminist (b. 1813)
- 1899 - Victoria Kaiulani, Hawaiian princess (b. 1875)

1900 to 1999

- 1905 - John Henninger Reagan, American Confederate politician (b. 1818)
- 1932 - John Philip Sousa, American band leader, conductor, and composer (b. 1854)
- 1933 - Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1873)
- 1941 - Gutzon Borglum, Danish sculptor (b. 1867)
- 1948 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (b. 1914)
- 1950 - Albert Lebrun, President of France (b. 1871)
- 1951 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor, musician, and composer (b. 1893)
- 1961 - George Formby, British comedian and singer (b. 1904)
- 1964 - King Paul of Greece (b. 1901)
- 1965 - Margaret Dumont, American actress (b. 1889)
- 1967 - John Haden Badley, author and educator (b. 1865)
- 1967 - Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (b. 1901)
- 1967 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (b. 1882)
- 1969 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (b. 1952)
- 1970 - William Hopper, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1971 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (B. 1921)
- 1973 - Pearl S. Buck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
- 1976 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, American boxer and actor (b. 1903)
- 1981 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- 1982 - Ayn Rand, Russian-American author, (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Henry Wilcoxon, Dominican actor (b. 1905)
- 1986 - Georgia O'Keeffe, American artist, (b. 1887)
- 1993 - Douglas Marland, American writer (b. 1935)
- 1994 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, political activist, and politician (b. 1920)
- 1997 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
- 1997 - Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1924)

2000 onwards

- 2000 - John Colicos, Canadian actor (b. 1928)
- 2001 - Kim Walker, American actress (b. 1968)
- 2003 - John Sanford, American author (b. 1904)
- 2004 - Frances Dee, American actress (b. 1909)
- 2005 - Hans Bethe, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 2005 - Tommy Vance, British radio disc jockey (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

- In 2004, the Jewish holiday of Purim begins.
- In Ghana, March 6 is the national independence day
- Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom (2005)
- Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of the season of Lent in the Christian liturgical calendar. (2005)
- Casimir Pulaski Day in Illinois (2006, first Monday of March)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6 BBC: On This Day] ---- March 5 - March 7 - February 6 - April 6 -- listing of all days ko:3월 6일 ja:3月6日 simple:March 6 th:6 มีนาคม

1952

1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January

- January 8 - West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders.
- January 24 - Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria.
- January 24 - Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.

February

Governor-General of Canada and her mother, Queen Elizabeth at the funeral of King George VI.]]
- February 2 - A tropical storm forms just north of Cuba moving northeast. The storm makes landfall in southern Florida the next day. It is the earliest reported landfall from a tropical storm, and the earliest formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
- February 6 - Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI.
- February 6 - In the United States, a mechanical heart is used for the first time in a human patient.
- February 14 to February 25 - Winter Olympics in Oslo
- February 15 - Funeral of King George VI takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
- February 16 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker formed in Eastern Oregon.
- February 20 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
- February 21 - Winston Churchill scraps UK compulsory national Identity Cards
- February 26 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.

March

- May 7-12 - Marcel Bardiauc sails through Kap Horn
- March 10 - General Fulgencio Batista takes power in Cuba - again
- March 15 to 16 - 73 inches (1,870mm) of rain falls in Cilaos, Réunion, the most rainfall ever in one day
- March 20 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
- March 21 - The last two executions in the Netherlands take place.
- March 21 - Dr Kwame Nkrumah elected the Prime Minister of the Gold Coast
- March 27 - Failed assassination attempt against Konrad Adenauer

April

- April 4 - In Hague tribunal, Israel demands reparations worth 3 billion dollars from Germany.
- April 18 - Bolivia National Revolution: universal vote enables indigenous and women to vote, nationalisation of mines and agrarian reform.
- April 18 - West Germany and Japan form diplomatic relations.
- April 23 - Nuclear test in Nevada desert.
- April 28 - The Treaty of San Francisco goes into effect, formally ending the occupation of Japan.
- April 28 - Treaty of Taipei (Treaty of Peace between Japan and t

May

- May 1 - East Germany threatens to form its own army.
- May 2 - First passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg
- May 3 - U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole.
- May 6 - Farouk of Egypt had himself announced as a descendant of prophet Muhammad.
- May 13 - Pandit Nehru forms his first government
- May 15 - Diplomatic relations established between the governments of Israel and Japan at the level of Legations.

June

- June 1 - Catholic church bans books of André Gide.
- June 5 - Remains of a Viking ship found near Boston, Massachusetts.
- June 14 - The keel is laid for the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
- June 15 - The Diary of Anne Frank published.
- June 21 - U.S. launches the first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
- June 29 - Finnish Armi Kuusela wins the title of Miss Universe.
- June 30 - Marshall Aid ends.

July

- July 13 - East Germany announces formation of its people's army.
- July 19 to August 3 - The Summer Olympic Games are held in Helsinki.
- July 23 - General Mohammed Naguib leads The Free Officers (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser - the real power behind the coup) in the overthrow of King Farouk of Egypt.
- July 25 - Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
- July 26 - Military coup in Egypt ousts King Farouk.

August

Farouk, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands form the European Coal and Steel community, the foundation organisation what will become the European Union.]]
- August 10 - Establishment of the European Coal and Steel community.
- August 11 - Jordanian army forces king Talal to resign due to mental illness - his successor is his son Hussein of Jordan.
- August 13 - Japan joins IMF.
- August 14 - West Germany joins IMF.
- August 14 - West Germany joins World Bank.
- August 16 - Lynmouth in North Devon England is devastated by floods, death toll of 34.
- August 26 - British passenger jet flies twice over Atlantic Ocean in the same day.
- August 27 - Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg - Germany will pay 3 billion Deutsche Marks.
- August 29 - Premiere of John Cage's 4' 33" in Woodstock, New York.
- August 30 - Last Finnish war reparations to Soviet Union.

September

- September 2 - Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Dr. F. John Lewis perform first open-heart surgery at the University of Minnesota.
- September 4 - September 9 - Thick smog in London, England causes 4,000 fatalities.
- September 18 - Soviet Union vetoes Japan's application for membership in the United Nations.

October

- October 8 - Negotiations of ceasefire in Korea are postponed.
- October 8 - Three-train crash in Harrow railway station in England - 110 dead.
- October 14 - United Nations begins work in the new United Nations building in New York City
- October 19 - Alain Bombard begins to sail from Canary Islands to Barbados in 65 days; he reaches them December 23
- October 20 - Martial law in Kenya due to Mau Mau uprising.

November

- November 1 - Nuclear testing: Operation Ivy - The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" ["m" for megaton], at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll located in the Pacific Ocean.
- November 4 - 8.25 Richter scale earthquake in Kamchatka
- November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1952: Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson (correctly predicted by UNIVAC computer).
- November 18 - Jomo Kenyatta is arrested in Kenya for alleged connection to Mau Mau uprising
- November 20 - Fireball crashes in a backyard in Havelock North, New Zealand
- November 20 - First official passenger flight over the North Pole from Los Angeles to Copenhagen
- November 21 - Show trial in Czechoslovakia sentences 11 ex-communist officials to death - all of them Jews.
- November 25 - Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London; as of 2004, it continues, next door at the St. Martin's Theatre, and remains the longest continuously running production of a play in history.
- November 29 - Korean War: Newly-elected U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a political campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.

December

- December 1 - The New York Daily News carries a front page story announcing that Christine Jorgensen, a transsexual woman in Denmark became the recipient of the first successful sexual reassignment operation.
- December 4 - Great Smog of 1952: A "killer fog" descends on London ("Smog" for "smoke" and "fog" becomes a word).
- December 14 - First successful surgical separation of Siamese twins in Mount Sinai Hospital, Ohio.
- December 25 - Shooting incident in West Berlin - one West German soldier is killed
- December 26 - Joseph Ivor Linton, first Israeli Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan, presents his credentials to the Japanese Emperor.

Undated events

- 3300 die of polio in U.S.; 57,000 children are paralyzed
- National Security Agency founded
- Winston Churchill scraps UK compulsory national Identity Cards
- Cold War over Germany's frontiers intensify
- Sister Theresa becomes Mother Theresa and begins her charity work in Calcutta
- Charles Chaplin expelled from U.S.
- Cheez Whiz introduced
- Traffic lights in New York City
- Wernher von Braun talks about a manned flight to Mars.
- Nordic Council agrees free transport of people, goods and services throughout the Nordic Countries.
- National Prohibition Foundation incorporated.

Births

January-March

- January 11 - Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
- January 11 - Lee Ritenour, jazz guitarist and composer
- January 20 - Paul Stanley, American musician (KISS

Schutzstaffel

:For other uses of the abbreviation SS, see SS (disambiguation) SS (disambiguation) The (Protective Squadron), or SS, was a large paramilitary organization that was a principal component of the Nazi party. The SS was led by Heinrich Himmler from 1929 until it was disbanded in 1945 with the defeat of Germany in World War II. The Nazis regarded the SS as an elite unit, the Party's "praetorian guard", with all SS personnel selected on racial and ideological grounds. The SS was distinguished from the German military, Nazi Party, and German state officials by their own SS ranks, SS unit insignia, and SS uniforms. The SS played a key role in The Holocaust: SS Einsatzgruppen units massacred over one million civilians, mostly Jews, in mass shootings; SS leader Heinrich Himmler was one of the chief architects of the Final Solution; and SS units rounded up Jews and ran the concentration camps and extermination camps in which millions of Jews, Poles, and Roma were killed. The SS fighting units, called the Waffen-SS, were to evolve into a second German army outside the regular Heer. The most recognizable branches of the SS, later charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, were the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA, Reich Security Head Office), Sicherheitsdienst (SD, Security Service), Einsatzgruppen (Special Mission Groups), the concentration camp service known as the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV, Death's Head Formations), and the Gestapo (Secret State Police). After the war the judges of Nuremberg Trials declared the entirety of the SS as a criminal organization, because of its implementation of racial policies of genocide in The Holocaust, among other reasons.

Naming Conventions

There is some controversy and confusion as to the name of the SS in English. This is in part due to a changing name over time, the fact that the word comes from another language (German), and perhaps also because it is an abbreviation. The first confusion relates to the usage of the singular form Schutzstaffel. During the creation of the SS the correct term was Schutzstaffeln der NSDAP. Schutzstaffeln is the plural form of Schutzstaffel, ie "Protective Squadrons". "Der" is the genitive form of the feminine definite article, meaning "of the (Nazi party)". The NSDAP is the abbreviation for the Nazi Party, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei translating to National Socialist German Workers' Party in English. Therefore in German Schutzstaffeln der NSDAP would be correct; Schutzstaffel would only refer to one particular "Squadron" and individuals referring to the SS rarely are refering to a specific Squadron. Omitting the NSDAP would remove the term from its appropriate context and while being mechanically incorrect, most Germans would know to what one is referring. However, SS became the actual name of the organization after the SS became an independant organization within the Nazi Party in 1934. References to Schutzstaffeln der NSDAP were not used after this time by the SS itself. Further confusion seems to develop from documents used at the Nuremburg Trials that use the term Schutzstaffeln. So post-1934 SS is the most accurate transliteration.

History of the SS

Origins

The predecessor to the SS was first formed in 1923 as a company of the Sturmabteilung (SA) tasked with protecting senior leaders of the Nazi Party at rallies, speeches and other public events. Commanded by Emil Maurice, and known as the Stabswache (Staff Guard), the original group consisted of 8 men and was modeled after the Erhardt Naval Brigade, a violent Freikorps of the time. After the failed 1923 Putsch by the Nazi Party, the SA and the Stabswache were abolished, yet returned in 1925. At that time the Stabswache was reestablished as the Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler tasked with the personal protection of Hitler at Nazi Party functions and events. That same year, the Stosstrupp was expanded to a national level, and renamed as the Schutzstaffel. The new SS was delegated to be a protection company of various Nazi Party Leaders throughout Germany.

Development

Between 1925 and 1929, the SS was considered merely a battalion of the Sturmabteilung and numbered no more than 280 personnel. On January 6, 1929 Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler as the leader of the SS and, by the end of 1932 the SS had 52,000 members; by the end of next year, it had over 209,000 members. Himmler's expansion of the SS was based on models from other groups, such as the Knights Templar, Jesuit Order, and the Italian Blackshirts. Before 1932, the SS wore the same uniform as the SA, except for a black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf death's head symbol on it. Later they adopted a black uniform and then, just before the war, a dove grey uniform. The Waffen ("armed") SS wore a field grey (feldgrau) uniform similar to the Reichsheer. During the war Waffen-SS units wore a range of camouflage uniforms (platanenmuster, telo mimetico, erbenmuster etc.). In 1945 some were issued with uniforms in the leibermuster disruptive pattern that were the predecessors to most of modern battledress. Their motto was "Meine Ehre heißt Treue ("My honor is called loyalty.") The SS rank system was unique in that it did not copy the terms used in the Wehrmacht, but instead used the ranks of the SA. Heinrich Himmler, together with his right-hand man Reinhard Heydrich, consolidated the power of the organisation. In 1931 Himmler gave Heydrich the assignment to build an intelligence service inside the SS, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). By the time World War II began the number of members rose to 250,000 and the Waffen-SS was formed in December 1940 to fight alongside the Wehrmacht, Germany's regular military. The SS also received control of the Gestapo in 1934 and, that same year, Adolf Hitler had given the SS jurisdiction over all concentration camps.

Fall of the SS

Upon the suicide of Adolf Hitler, and the assumption of Karl Dönitz as the new President of Germany, one of the first official acts of the new government was to abolish the SS. Just prior to Hitler’s death, the organization had become a “headless horseman” in that several senior SS Generals (Heinrich Himmler among them) had been denounced by Hitler as traitors for attempting to negotiate with the Allies to surrender. In addition, in the last months of the war, the SS began suffering mass desertions in particular from the concentration camps and security organizations such as the Gestapo and SD. This was due in part to the fact that many SS members saw that the end was near, and deserted their posts rather than risk capture and trial as war criminals. On September 30, 1946, the judges of the Nuremberg Trials (Tribunal) sentenced the SS-organization, declaring it a criminal organization. The judges underpinned this sentence by stating that "the SS was used for purposes which were criminal, involving the persecution and the extermination of the Jews, brutalities and killings in concentration camps, excesses in the administration of occupied territories, the administration of the slave labour programme and the maltreatment and murder of prisoners of war" (IMT, 1946, Vol. XXII, p.516, in: Höhne, 1969, p.3). The sentence continued by declaring that suspicion of crime was to be attached to all persons "who had been officially accepted as members of the SS... who came or remained members of the organization with knowledge that it was being used for the commission of acts declared criminal by Article 6 of the [London War Crimes] Charter" (IMT, 1947-1949, Vol. XXII, p.517 in: Höhne, 1969, p.3). According to Höhne, 50,000 of the one million SS-men had committed crimes, such as involvement in the Holocaust (page 537 of the German version), yet, according to Koehl, while the "whole SS did not do the killings, the whole SS knew about them, and few could stand aside when called to participate" (p 245).

Postwar Activity

According to Simon Wiesenthal, towards the end of World War II a group of former SS officers went to Argentina and set up a Nazi fugitive network code-named ODESSA, (an acronym for Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, "Organization of the former SS members") with ties in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Vatican, operated out of Buenos Aires. ODESSA allegedly helped Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, Erich Priebke and many other war criminals find refuge in Latin America. The writer Gitta Sereny who interviewed SS-men considers the story about ODESSA untrue and attributes the escape of notorious SS-men to post war chaos, to an individual bishop in the Vatican, and to the lack of means of the Vatican to check the stories of the people who came to them for help. In the modern age, several Neo-Nazi groups claim to be successor organizations to the SS. There is no single group, however, that is recognized as a continuation of the SS and most such present day organizations are loosely organized with separate agendas.

SS leaders

- Julius Schreck (1925–1926)
- Joseph Berchtold (1926–1927)
- Erhard Heiden (1927–1929)
- Heinrich Himmler (1929–1945)
- Karl Hanke (1945)

The SS before the Second World War

1925–1928

In early 1925, the SS consisted of a single company of 8 men which served as a personal bodyguard to Adolf Hitler. By September of that year, all local offices of the NSDAP were ordered to create bodyguard units of no more than 10 men a piece. By 1926, six SS-Gaus had been established to oversee all such units in Germany. The SS-Gaus, in turn, answered to an SS-Headquarters Unit which was known as the SS-Oberleitung. The SS-Oberleitung answered to the office of the SA Chief of Staff, clearly establishing that the SS was a subordinate unit of the Sturmabteilung. Between 1926 and 1928, the SS command Gaus were as follows:
- SS-Gau Berlin Brandenburg
- SS-Gau Franken
- SS-Gau Niederbayern
- SS-Gau Rheinland-Süd
- SS-Gau Sachsen

1929–1931

In 1929, the SS-Oberleitung was expanded and reorganized into the SS-Oberstab with five main offices, as listed below:
- Abteilung I: Administration
- Abteilung II: Personnel
- Abteilung III: Finance
- Abteilung IV: Security
- Abteilung V: Race At the same time, the SS-Gaus were expanded into three SS-Oberführerbereiche as listed below
- SS-Oberführerbereiche Ost
- SS-Oberführerbereiche West
- SS-Oberführerbereiche Süd Each SS-Oberführerbereiche contained several SS-Brigaden which were, in turn divided into regiment sized SS-Standarten.

1931–1933

In 1931, as the SS began to increase its membership to over one hundred thousand, the organization was again restructured beginning with the SS-Oberleitung which was replaced by the SS-Amt, divided into five sections as follows:
- Section I: Headquarters Staff
- Section II: Personnel Office
- Section III: Administration Office
- Section IV: SS Reserves
- Section V: SS Medical Corps In addition to the SS-Amt, the SS-Rassamt (Race Office) and Sicherheitsdienst Amt (Office of the SD) were established as two separate offices on an equal footing with the Headquarters Office. At the same time that the SS Headquarters was being reorganized, the SS-Oberführerbereichen were replaced with five SS-Gruppen, listed as follows:
- SS-Gruppen Nord
- SS-Gruppen Ost
- SS-Gruppen Süd
- SS-Gruppen Südost
- SS-Gruppen West The lower levels of the SS remained unchanged between 1931 and 1933; however it was during this time that the SS began to establish its independence from the Sturmabteilung (SA) which the SS was still considered merely a sub-organization and answerable to the SA Chief of Staff.

1933–1934

Following Adolf Hitler’s assumption of power in Germany, the SS became regarded as a state organization and a branch of the established government. The Headquarters Staff, SD, and Race Office became full time paid employees as did the leaders of the SS-Gruppen and some of their command staffs. The rest of the SS were considered part time volunteers and in this concept, the Allgemeine-SS came into being. By the fall of 1933, Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard (previously SS-Standarten 1 situated in Munich) had been called to Berlin to replace the Army Chancellery Guard as protectors of the Chancellor of Germany. By the start of 1934 the SS guard in Berlin had taken on the name of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), and would later become the first division in the Order of Battle of the Waffen-SS.

1934–1936

Following the Night of the Long Knives, the SS again underwent a massive reorganization. The SS-Gruppen were renamed as SS-Oberabschnitt and the former SS Headquarters and command offices were reorganized into eight SS-Hauptamt. The SS-Hauptamt offices would eventually grow from 8 to 12 by 1944 and remained unchanged in their names until the end of the Second World War and the fall of the SS. On April 20, 1934 (as a prelude to the Night of the Long Knives), the SS took control of the Gestapo which had previously been a state office of Prussia. The Gestapo was placed under the command of the new Sicherheitspolizei which was a combined office of both the Gestapo and SD. The Sicherheitspolizei would eventually become part of the much larger RSHA in 1939. By the summer of 1934, the SS had taken control of all concentration camps from the SA and a new organization, the SS-Totenkopfverbande (SS-TV) had been established as the SS Concentration Camp service. The original SS-TV was organized into six Wachtruppe at each of Germany’s major Concentration Camps. The Wachtruppe were expanded in 1935 into Wachsturmbann and again in 1937 into three main SS-Totenkopfstandarten. This structure would remain unchanged until 1941, when a massive labor and death camp system, in the occupied territories necessitated the concentration camps to be placed under the Waffen-SS into three main divisions of Labor Camps, Concentration Camps, and Death Camps. The early Waffen-SS can trace its origins to 1934 in the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Established as a military company of the SS, the Verfügungstruppe grew into three SS Divisions which would, along with the Leibstandarte, become part of the Waffen-SS in 1941.

1936–1939

In 1936, the SS absorbed all of Germany’s regular police forces and formed the Ordnungspolizei and the Kriminalpolizei. These two organizations would later be folded into the RSHA just prior to the start of the Second World War. In 1939, from the existing Totenkopfverbande, was formed the SS Division Totenkopf comprised of former members of the Concentration Camp service. The Totenkopf division would later become a division of the Waffen-SS.

Austrian-SS

The Austrian branch of the SS developed in 1934 as a covert force to influence the Anschluss with Germany which would occur in 1938. The early Austrian SS was led by Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart. The Austrian SS was technically under the command of the German SS and Heinrich Himmler, but very much acted independently concerned with Austrian affairs. Austrian SS men were organized under the same manner as the Allgemeine-SS but operated as an underground organization, in particular after 1936 when the Austrian government declared the SS an illegal organization. The Austrian SS used the same rank system as the regular SS, but rarely used uniforms or identifying insignia. Photographic evidence indicates that Austrian SS men typically would wear a swastika armband on civilian clothes, and then only at secret SS meetings. After 1938, when Austria was annexed by Germany, the Austrian SS was completely incorporated into the regular SS. Most of the Austrian SS was folded into Oberabschnitt Donau with a new concentration camp at Mauthausen opened under the authority of the SS Death’s Head units. Cultural differences between Austrian and German SS men were ever-present to the end of the Second World War, even though in theory the two countries contributed to a single SS. The issue came to a head in 1944 when Austrian SS commanders were responsible for heavy losses in the first days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and charged with negligence. Jürgen Stroop, the Higher SS and Police Leader in Warsaw, overturned several court martial sentences since it was felt that Austrian members of the SS might rebel against the German officers who had passed the sentences. Other notable figures of the Austrian SS include Amon Goeth who was portrayed in the film Schindler's List. Goeth had joined the Austrian SS in 1930 and was an underground member to 1938, after which he entered the Concentration Camp service.

The SS during the Second World War

By 1944, the SS had become a vast and complex organization and was considered a "State within a State". The final structure and organization of the SS were as follows:

SS and Police Leaders

The most powerful men in the SS were the SS and Police Leaders, divided into three levels being that of Regular Leaders, Higher Leaders, and Supreme Leaders. Such persons normally held the rank of SS-Gruppenfuhrer or above and answered directly to Heinrich Himmler in all matters pertaining to the SS in their area of responsibility. Thus, SS and Police Leaders bypassed all other chains of command. In Himmler’s grand dream of the SS, the SS and Police Leaders were eventually to become SS-Governors of the Lebensraum which would be ruled by SS-Lords, protected by SS-Legions, and worked and lived in by SS-Peasant Warriors.

Headquarters Offices

By 1944, the SS consisted of twelve main offices as listed below:
- Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS (Personal Staff of the Reich Leader SS)
- SS Hauptamt (Main Administrative Office of the SS)
- SS Führungshauptamt (Administrative and Supply Department of the Allgemeine and Waffen-SS)
- Hauptamt SS Gericht (Office of SS Legal Matters)
- SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt RuSHA (SS Office of Race and Settlement)
- SS Personalhauptamt (SS Personnel Office)
- Reichssicherheitshauptamt RSHA (Reich Central Security Office)
- Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei (Office of the Order Police)
- Wirtschafts und Verwaltungshauptamt WVHA (Economics and Administration Office)
- Hauptamt Dienststelle Heissmeyer (SS Education Office)
- Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle VOMI (Main Office for Ethnic Germans)
- Reichskommissariat für die Festigung des deutschen Volkstums (Reich Commissioner for Germanic Resettlement) The organizations of the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, Kriminalpolizei, and the Einsatzgruppen were under the overall command of the RSHA.

General SS

The "General SS" referred to the regular SS formations in Germany that had been founded in the 1920s and 30s. By the close of the Second World War, the General SS consisted of the following branches:

Allgemeine-SS

The Allgemeine-SS was a “part time” group of SS personnel who composed mustering formations throughout Germany. The formations were divided into Standarten, organized into larger formations known as Abschnitts and Oberabschnitts. The Allgemeine-SS were considered more or less reservists and many Allgemeine-SS personnel served in other branches of the German military, the Nazi Party, or the Waffen-SS. For those who served in the Waffen-SS, it was standard practice to hold separate SS ranks for both the Allgemeine and the Waffen-SS.

SS Cavalry Corps

The SS-Cavalry Corps comprised several Reiterstandarten and Reiterabschnite which were equestrian riding groups founded to attract German upper class and nobility into the SS. In the 1930s, the SS Cavalry Corps was considered as a starting point for a military branch of the SS, but this idea was phased out with the rise of the SS-Verfügungstruppe which would later become known as the Waffen-SS. By 1941, the SS-Cavalry Corps was little more than a social club with most of the serious cavalry officers having transferred to combat units in the Waffen-SS.

Germanic-SS

The Germanic-SS was a organization which was formed in conquered and allied countries to Germany. The Germanic-SS was a part time group, much like the Allgemeine-SS, that performed home service duties such as local security and Nazi indoctrination. Denmark and Belgium were the two largest participators in the Germanic-SS program. Germanic-SS members wore their own uniforms with a modification of SS rank titles and insignia. All Germanic-SS units answered to a central office in Germany, under the command of the Allgemeine-SS.

Auxiliary SS

The Auxiliary-SS was an organization that arose in 1945 as a last ditch effort to keep concentration camps running to destroy evidence of the Holocaust. Auxiliary-SS members were not considered regular SS personnel, but were conscripted members from other branches of the German military, the Nazi Party, and the Volkssturm. Such personnel wore a distinctive tri-swastika collar patch and served as camp guard and administrative personnel until the surrender of Germany.

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the operational military component of the SS and was considered a full branch of the German military. Within the Waffen-SS existed the crack divisions Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), SS Division Das Reich, and a number of lesser divisions. The Waffen-SS also maintained several "Foreign Legions" made up of personnel from conquered and allied countries to Germany. Such personnel wore distinctive national collar patch and preceded their SS rank titles with the prefix Waffen instead of SS. The racial restrictions were relaxed for these soldiers to the extent that Ukrainian Slavs and Turkic Tartar units were recruited. The latter units also sometimes contained a minority of Karaite Jews who the Nazis regarded as racially ambiguous. The Ukrainians and the Tartars had both suffered persecution under Stalin and their motive appeared to be hatred of Communism rather than belief in National Socialism.

Concentration Camp Service

After 1934, the running of Germany's Concentration Camps was placed under the total authority of the SS and an SS branch known as the Totenkopfverbande (SS-TV) was founded under Theodor Eicke. Known as the "Death's Head Units", the SS-TV was first founded as several regiments, based at each of Germany's major Concentration Camps, the largest of which was at Dachau. In 1938, the Totenkopfverbande expanded also into a military division, with the founding of the Totenkopf division which would, by 1941, become a full division of the Waffen-SS. In 1939, with the start of the Second World War, the Totenkopfverbande began a large expansion which would eventually develop into three branches covering each of the Concentration Camp types that the SS operated. By 1944, there existed three divisions of the SS-TV, those being the staffs of the Concentration Camps Proper in Germany and Austria, the Labor Camp system in occupied territories, and the guards and staffs of the Extermination Camps in Poland that were involved in the Holocaust. In 1942, for administrative reasons, the guard and administrative staff of all the concentration camps became full members of the Waffen-SS. In addition, to oversee the large administrative burden of a extensive labor camp system, the Concentration Camps were placed under the command of the SS Wirtschaft und Vervaltungshauptamt (WVHA), also known as the Main SS Office for Economics and Administrative. Oswald Pohl commanded the WVHA while Richard Glücks served as the Inspector of Concentration Camps. By 1944, with the Concentration Camps fully integrated with the Waffen-SS and under the control of the WVHA, a standard practice developed to rotate SS members in and out of the camps, based on manpower needs and also to give assignments to wounded Waffen-SS officers and soldiers who could no longer serve in front line combat duties. This rotation of personnel is the main argument that nearly the entire SS knew of the Concentration Camps, and what actions were committed within, making the entire organization liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Special Action Groups

1944 The Einsatzgruppen were special units of the SS that were formed on an “as-needed” basis under the authority of the Sicherheitspolizei and later the RSHA. The first Einsatzgruppen were created in 1938 for use during the Anschluss of Austria and again in 1939 for the annexation of Czechoslovakia. The original purpose of the Einsatzgruppen was to “enter occupied areas, seize vital records, and neutralize potential threats”. In Austria and Czechoslovakia the activities of the Einsatzgruppen were mainly limited to Nazification of local governments and the establishment of new Concentration Camps. In 1939, however, the Einsatzgruppen were reactivated and sent into Poland to exterminate the Polish “Upper Class”, so that there would be no leadership to form a resistance to German occupation. In 1941, the Einsatzgruppen reached their height when they were sent into Russia to begin whole sale extermination and genocide of “undesirables” such as Jews, Gypsies and Communist leaders. Their principal task, in the words of SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski at the Nuremberg Trial "was the annihilation of the Jews, gypsies, and political commissars." According to their own records, they killed over 1 million people, almost exclusively civilians, without judicial review and later without semblance of legality (no reading of sentences of martial or administrative law were read). Masssacres included tens of thousands of Jews killed over the course of day or two, such as at Babi Yar or Rumbula. The Einsatzgruppen were formed under special orders of the SS and were headed by SD and Gestapo officers. To man the Einsatzgruppen the SS drew on SD and Gestapo personnel, Waffen-SS units, Ordnungspolizei Police Battalions, and certain units of the regular German military. The Einsatzgruppen also utilized local populations to provide additional security and manpower when needed. Thus, the activities of the Einsatzgruppen were spread throughout a large pool of personnel from different branches of the SS and German State. The ultimate authority for the Einsatzgruppen, which answered directly to Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler, were the SS and Police Leaders who oversaw all Einsatzgruppen activities and reports in their given area. At the close of the Second World War a number of SS and Police Leaders, who had overseen activities in Eastern Europe and Russia, simply disappeared (General Richard Glücks for example), were executed for war crimes, or committed suicide before capture. As far as the lower ranks, a large number were killed in combat, were executed by inmates when/if they could get their hands on them, were captured in combat and executed (on the eastern front) or imprisoned and died in Russian camps. The rest of the lesser ranks simply returned to the chaos that was post-war Germany or other countries, and thus were not formally charged (due to the large numbers of them- the SS) and simply returned to civilian life.

Order Police

In 1936, the SS absorbed the regular German police forces and incorporated all local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies into the Ordnungspolizei. SS-Oberstgruppenführer Kurt Daluege became commander of the Ordnungspolizei (known as the Orpo) and Heinrich Himmler became Chief of the German Police. By 1944, the Orpo had also absorbed minor law enforcement agencies such as the Postal Police, Railway Security Police, Water Protection Police, and even night watchmen who were considered state employees. The Ordnungspolizei had a separate system of Orpo ranks and it was possible for Orpo members to hold dual status in both the SS and the Orpo. In 1944, all Orpo Police Generals gained equivalent Waffen-SS rank so that they would be treated as military officers, instead of police officials, if captured by the Allies. The Orpo also maintained a military division, considered part of the Waffen-SS as well as a number of Police Regiments which performed security duties under the authority of the RSHA.

SS Medical Corps

The SS Medical Corps was a unique branch of the SS that can trace its origins to 1930 with the expansion of the part-time mustering formations of the SS, known as the Allgemeine-SS. Within each SS-Sturmbann (battalion), there existed one company of SS personnel whose duty was to serve as medical support personnel to the rest of the SS battalion. Known as the Sanitätsstaffel, these formations were originally small units under the command of local SS leaders. After 1931, however, the SS formed a headquarters office known as Amt V, which was the central office for SS medical units. At this same time, a special SS unit was formed known as the Röntgensturmbann SS-HA, or the Hauptamt X-Ray Battalion. This formation comprised 350 full time SS personnel who toured Germany offering X-ray diagnostics to any SS member. While the Röntgensturmbann was an independent office, the local Sanitätsstaffel were under dual command of both the SS Medical Office (Amt V), and the leaders of the various SS-Sturmbann and Standarten. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the SS was reorganized and an office of the SS Surgeon General was established. Commanding by an SS-Obergruppenführer, the SS Surgeon General was a member of the personal staff of the Reichsführer-SS, with the SS Medical Corps, as a whole, losing the status of a headquarters office. This was an important development in changing the nature of service for members of the SS Medical Corps. By 1935, the SS Medical Corps was considered an “auxiliary duty” and all members of the medical corps were also attached to regular SS formations. To denote medical corps status, the SS authorized a serpent crest to be worn on the collar patches of SS unit insignia. Since SS Medical Corps members could now serve in any branch of the SS, this expansion allowed medical professionals to join every SS office and participate in a variety of duties. Between 1935 and 1938, the SS Medical Corps began to develop a sinister reputation beginning with SS doctors serving in concentration camps and engaging in a variety of human medical experimentations. SS doctors were also called upon, in 1936, to assist with Germany’s euthanasia program against the mentally disabled and physically handicapped. When the Second World War began in 1939, the SS Medical Corps extended itself in the Armed wing of the SS which would, by 1941, be known as the Waffen-SS. Waffen-SS doctors were highly trained both I medical skills and combat tactics with many such doctors receiving high combat awards. It was also during World War II that SS doctors reached their height with human medical experiments, the most notorious of which occurred at Dachau concentration camp and also at Auschwitz. Such experiments ranged from vivisections, sterilization experiments, infectious disease research, freezing experiments, as well as many other excruciating medical procedures often performed without anesthetic. This period of time also saw the work of one of the most notorious SS doctors in history, Doctor Joseph Mengele, who served as Head Medical Officer of Auschwitz and was responsible for daily gas chamber selections as well as brutal experiments on human twins. In 1945, after the surrender of Germany, the SS was declared an illegal criminal organization by the Allies. SS doctors, in particular, were marked as war criminals due to the wide range of human medical experimentation which had been conducted during the Second World War as well as the role SS doctors had played in the gas chamber selections of the Holocaust. Relatively few SS doctors, however, were ever brought to justice with such figures as Joseph Mengele escaping to South America while still other SS doctors returned to civilian practice in Germany under assumed names or, in some cases, even their original identities.

SS and Police Courts

Background

Since the SS was, by its very nature, a criminal organization, situations arose early in the Nazi regime of SS activities coming into conflict with German law. The first recorded instances, of SS personnel charged with breaking the law through the performance of their duties, was in 1934 at the Dachau concentration camp when the local town magistrate charged several SS guards with murder after several prisoners were executed without cause or trial. The SS response to the German legal establishment was to petition the Reich Ministry of Justice to pass an act which removed the SS, and all of its members, from the jurisdiction of the civilian courts. This effectively placed the SS “above the law” and its members could break regular German law without fear of penalty. For those SS personnel who committed acts which were, even by SS standards, illegal the SS established a series of SS and Police Courts to deal with such offenders. The SS and Police Courts were the only authority which could try SS personnel for criminal behavior and were under the authority of the Hauptamt SS Gericht.

Court types

The different SS and Police Courts were as follows:
- SS und Polizei Gericht: Standard SS and Police Court for trial of SS officers and enlisted men accused of minor and somewhat serious crimes
- Feldgerichte: Waffen-SS Court for court martial of Waffen-SS military personnel accused of violating the military penal code of the German Armed Forces.
- Oberstes SS und Polizei Gericht: The Supreme SS and Police Court for trial of serious crimes and also any infraction committed by SS Generals.
- SS und Polizei Gericht z.b.V.: The Extraordinary SS and Police Court was a secret tribunal that was assembled to deal with highly sensitive issues which were desired to be kept secret even from the SS itself. The one exception to the SS and Police Courts jurisdiction involved members of the Allgemeine-SS who were serving on active duty in the regular Wehrmacht. In such cases, the SS member in question was subject to regular Wehrmacht military law and could face charges before a standard military tribunal.

Legality of the Holocaust

In 1946, it was revealed to the surprise of many that the SS and Police Courts had never had to deal with a case involving the legality of the Holocaust. Since many SS personnel claimed no culpability for war crimes, using the defense that they were "only following orders", the question was raised had anyone in the SS ever been charged, tried, or executed for refusing to carry out an illegal order. It was then discovered that any such case, brought before an SS and Police Court, would have to have established which order had been disobeyed and what kind of order it was. SS Judges have themselves admitted that the mass murder of Jews and the shooting of women and children was against German law and that no SS member could be held accountable for refusing to obey orders which were clearly illegal. In all such cases, therefore, any SS person who refused to commit atrocities was simply transferred to another branch of the SS or sent to front lines in the Waffen-SS. In all of the SS records, reviewed between 1946 and 1950, there was not one case discovered where an SS member was killed for refusing to carry out an illegal order associated with the Holocaust.

Helferin Corps

The SS-Helferin Korps, translated literally as “Helper Corps”, comprised women volunteers who joined the SS as auxiliary personnel. Such personnel were not considered actual SS members, since SS membership was closed to women. The Helferin Korps maintained a simple system of ranks, mainly SS-Helfer, SS-Oberhelfer, and SS-Haupthelfer. Members of the Helferin Korps were assigned to a wide variety of activities such as administrative staff, supply support personnel, and female guards at Concentration Camps.

SS future visions

Historical analysis of SS records and documents of its senior members has provided historians with a picture of what the SS could have become, had Germany won the Second World War. Heinrich Himmler’s ultimate dream was to evolve the SS into a ruling class replacing the old Prussian aristocracy. Himmler saw the eastern lands of Russia, which Germany would surely conquer, as a vast open area for the SS state to establish itself. The SS and Police Leaders would rule the land, the Waffen-SS would serve as the Army to defend the territory, and those who lived and worked the land would be "peasant-warriors" of the Allgemeine-SS. Himmler had even drawn up plans, to be enacted after Germany won the Second World War, for the construction of twenty eight SS cities in the Lebensraum of the East. The master of all SS cities was to be at Wewelsburg, where Himmler planned to complete and expand the SS Wewelsburg castle into a capital city for the SS. The city was to be completed by 1955. On a more practical scale, SS leaders had already devised, as early as 1943, plans for what the SS would be after the conclusion of World War II. The Waffen-SS would return home to serve as a political army to enforce the will of the Nazi Party. Such activities would include strike breaking, riot suppression, and functions resembling modern day National Guard units. There are also indications that Waffen-SS commanders, as early as 1940, had proposed efforts to create Waffen-SS air and naval units. Had Germany won the Second World War, the Waffen-SS would almost certainly have extended itself into every branch of the German military. Whether or not the Waffen-SS would have eventually replaced the Wehrmacht will never be known. However, some historians have stated that this is unlikely given the tremendous actions against the Sturmabteilung, in 1934, when SA leaders had attempted a similar course of action. Heinrich Himmler also openly stated in 1944 that the SS would become the sole law enforcement and police agency of Germany and that, by 1950, local Allgemeine-SS units would serve a dual function as racial and political enforcers in German communities and serve as the local police force. This did not sit well with Ordnungspolizei commanders, who wanted to preserve their integrity as police units and did not favor abolishing the Orpo in favor of an SS police force. The Concentration Camp service of the Totenkopfverbande, the most fearsome part of the SS, was to continue unabated in completing the work of the Holocaust. Himmler and other SS leaders foresaw a "Jew-free Europe" by 1948 at the latest, and it is certain that the regular activities of the Concentration Camps, such as the imprisonments of political and social undesirables, would have continued with as usual. A great "What-if" of history is whether or not the SS could have kept the Holocaust a secret which had been a primary aim during the years of extermination and genocide. Many theories abound that the SS would have "turned against their own" and begun killing anyone who had knowledge of the Holocaust, including all SS members who had served in Death camps and the senior leaders who had overseen the Holocaust. The alternative history novel Fatherland is based on this concept. Theories also exist that Himmler did not see Jews as the only race deemed worthy of extermination. Documents from 1943 and 1944 indicate Himmler had discussed privately, with certain top SS leaders and perhaps even Hitler, the idea of continuing the Holocaust to include blacks and Orientals. These ideas were obviously kept very quiet, since Japan at the time was a major ally of Germany.

References

- Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Gramercy. (ISBN 0517102943)
- SS Officer Personnel Files, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
- Arenhövel, Verlag (1989). Topography of Terror. Berlin: Berliner Festspiele GmbH. (ISBN 3-922912-25-7)
- Höhne, Heinz. (1969). The Order of the Death's Head, The Story of Hitler's SS. London: Pan Books Ltd.
- Robert Lewis Koehl (1983). The Black Corps University of Wisconsin Press.
- International Military Tribunal (referred to as IMT), (1947-1949). Record of the Nuremberg Trials November 14th, 1945 - October 1st, 1946. 42 Vols. London: HMSO.
- Krausnick, Helmut (editor) Anatomy of the SS State with contributions by Hans Buchheim; Martin Broszat & Hans-Adolf Jacobsen, translated from the German by Richard Barry, Marian Jackson, Dorothy Long, New York : Walker, (1968).
- http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/classiceuropa/message/454, regarding naming conventions.

External links

- [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=63 Axis History Factbook - SS]
- [http://www.feldgrau.com/ss.html The German SS/Waffen-SS in WWII]
- [http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/waffen_ss_2.htm Dywizje Waffen SS - page in Polish but has useful graphics - units insignia and maps]
- [http://www.third-reich-books.com/schutzstaffel.htm SS Culture Book Series - translated from the SS originals.] Category:Holocaust Category:Nazi Germany
- SS ja:親衛隊 (ナチス)

Gruppenführer

Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.

SA Rank

Translated as “Group Leader”, a Gruppenführer was typically in charge of large numbers of SA units (known as Standarten) which were formed into SA-Gruppen. Upon its original conception, Gruppenführer was considered equivalent to a full General. General

SS Rank

In 1930, Gruppenführer became an SS rank and was originally bestowed upon those officers who commanded SS-Gruppen and also upon senior officers of the SS command staff. In 1932, the SS was reorganized and the SS-Gruppen were reformed into SS-Abschnitt. Gruppenführers commanded the SS-Abschnitt while a new rank, that of Obergruppenführer, oversaw the SS-Oberabschnitts which were the largest SS units in Germany. As in the SA, the SS rank of Gruppenführer was considered equivalent to a full General, but became regarded as equivalent to Generalleutnant after 1934. During the Second World War, when the Waffen-SS began using the rank, an SS-Gruppenführer was considered equal to a Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht and was typically referred to as SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS. The insignia for SS-Gruppenführer consisted of three oak leaves centered on both collars of an SS uniform. From 1930 to 1942, the SS insignia was the same as the SA badge of rank; however the SS modified the Gruppenführer insignia slightly, to include an additional collar pip, upon the creation of the rank Oberstgruppenführer. Waffen-SS Gruppenführers also displayed the shoulder boards of a Wehrmacht Generalleutnant.

Other uses

The rank of Gruppenführer was also used in several other Nazi paramiltiary groups, among them the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) and the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK). In 1944, the rank of Gruppenführer was adopted by the Volkssturm as a low level non-commissioned officer position in charge of squad sized formations of Home Guard soldiers. This is historically ironic, as the rank of Gruppenführer had typically been one of the highest possible Nazi paramilitary ranks, yet ended its existence as one of the lowest. Category:Nazi paramilitary ranks Category:SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS ("Armed Protective Squadron") was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel. Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (National Leader of the SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. After humble beginnings as a protection unit for the NSDAP leadership, the Waffen-SS eventually grew into a force of thirty-eight combat divisions comprising over 950,000 men, and including a number of elite units. In the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was condemned as part of a criminal organisation due to overwhelming participation in atrocities, and Waffen-SS veterans were denied many of the rights afforded other German combat veterans. Conscripts, however, were exempted from that judgment, as many of them were forced to join the organisation by German authorities.

Early history; LSSAH, SS-VT

The original cadre of the Waffen-SS came from the Freikorps and the Reichswehr along with various right-wing paramilitary formations. Formed at the instigation of Heinrich Himmler, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was the first formation of what was to become the Waffen-SS. When the SA was rendered powerless in the Night of the Long Knives, many ex-SA men requested transfer to the SS, swelling its ranks and resulting in the formation of several new units including the SS-Verfügungstruppe (to become the SS Division Das Reich) and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (to become the SS Division Totenkopf and also the concentration camp guard unit). The majority of the Waffen-SS men originally received second rate weapons and equipment with many formations receiving Czech and Austrian weapons and equipment. With the exception of a select few of the 'Germanic' SS Divisions, this policy was continued throughout the war. The majority of the best equipment went to the Heer's elite divisions (Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland and Panzer-Lehr-Division) The premier waffen-SS divisions began to receive standard equipment once they proved themselves in the Eastern front and were upgraded to panzergrenadier and later panzer divisions. The remainder of the SS Divisions made do with either standard or second rate equipment.

Concept, training

Panzer-Lehr-Division SS combat training consisted primarily of several months of intensive basic training with three objectives; physical fitness, small-arms proficiency and political indoctrination. The training was so intensive that one in three potentials failed to pass the course. After this basic training, the recruits would be sent to specialist schools (see Panzertruppenschule I) where they received further training in their chosen combat arm. As the war progressed and replacements were required more frequently, particularly after the expansion of the Waffen-SS following the success of the SS-Panzerkorps at Kharkov, the intensity of the training was relaxed somewhat. For officers, the focus was on leadership and combat command, usually at the SS-Junkerschule at Bad Tölz. The process tended to produce outstanding soldiers and officers, and many of the basic tenets of Waffen-SS training are still used by many armed forces today. A strong emphasis was placed on creating a bond between the officers and men, and officer candidates were made to pass through basic training alongside the enlisted candidates. This created a mutual trust and respect between the officers and men, and meant that the relationship between these groups was very relaxed, unlike the Heer (German Army), where strict discipline and a policy of separation between the officers and enlisted men existed. While it may be difficult now to understand why anyone would volunteer for the Waffen-SS, during the war the organisation was presented as a multinational force protecting Europe from the evils of Communism (see Black Edelweiss). In addition, training emphasised unit cohesion and mutual respect between officers and men, rather than strict discipline. In the Waffen-SS, it was not a requirement to salute officers and a more casual salute was adopted (the right arm raised vertically from the elbow - a relaxed version of the Heil salute. This salute is portrayed in many war films). Added to this, the practice of addressing a superior as Herr ("Sir") was also forbidden, with everyone up to Himmler being addressed simply by their rank

Trial by fire

Black Edelweiss As the outbreak of war neared, Himmler ordered the formation of several combat formations from the SS-Standartes (units of regimental size). The resulting three formations (the LSSAH, SS-VT and SS-TV) took place in the Invasion of Poland as well as Fall Gelb. During the campaign in the West, both the Totenkopf and LSSAH were implicated in atrocities. The overall performance of the Waffen-SS had been mediocre during these campaigns. The poor initial performance of the Waffen-SS units was mainly due to the emphasis on political indoctrination rather than proper military training before the war. This was largely due to the shortage of experienced NCOs, who preferred to stay with the regular army. Despite this, the experience gained from the Polish, French and Balkan campaigns and the peculiarly egalitarian form of training soon turned Waffen-SS units into elite formations. On several occasions, the Waffen-SS was criticised by Heer commanders for their reckless disregard for casualties while taking or holding objectives (See Totenkopf's actions during the early months of the Russian Campaign). However, the Waffen-SS divisions eventually proved themselves to a skeptical Heer as capable soldiers, although there were exceptions such as Kampfgruppe Nords rout from the town of Salla during its first engagement in Karelia. Karelia] The Waffen-SS truly proved their worth during the Third Battle of Kharkov, where the II.SS-Panzerkorps under SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser recaptured the city and blunted the Soviet offensive, saving the forces of Erich von Manstein's Army Group South from being cut off and destroyed. In Mid 1943, the II.SS-Panzerkorps took part in Operation Citadel and the LSSAH, Das Reich and Totenkopf (all now Panzergrenadier divisions) took part in the immense armour battles near Prokhorovka on the southern flank of the Kursk salient. As the fronts began to crumble, the Waffen-SS divisions began increasingly to be used in a "fire-brigade" role. Held back behind the line, the divisions would be committed to counter enemy breakthroughs. As the success of the divisions increased, so too did the difficulty of the missions assigned them. In the closing months of the war, Waffen-SS formations were assigned impossible missions by Hitler, who saw them as not only exceptionally effective in combat, but also politically reliable. The Konrad operations to relieve Budapest and the Frühlingserwachen operation to recapture the Hungarian oilfields were doomed to defeat from the beginning. After the failure of Frühlingserwachen, Hitler proclaimed that the Waffen-SS had let him down, and ordered the removal of honorary cuff-titles. The commander of VI.SS-Panzer-Armee, SS-Oberstgruppenführer 'Sepp' Dietrich, was disgusted by the order and did not pass it on to his troops.

Classic SS divisions

As the Waffen-SS Order of Battle expanded, several divisions were seen as being elite. These divisions were characterised by extremely high unit morale and combat ability, as well as commitment to the Crusade against Bolshevism and the defense of the Fatherland. They also frequently benefited from the best available equipment. These divisions are referred to as the classic Waffen-SS divisions, and they include the LSSAH, Das Reich, Totenkopf, the multi-national Wiking, the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg, and the Hitlerjugend. While several other formations (e.g. the Nordland and Nord divisions) could also be considered elite, they are generally not referred to as classic SS Divisions. In spite of heavy casualties, many of the Waffen-SS units retained their reputations as crack formations until the end of the War, though the quality of formations raised late in the war was often execrable, and some of the Freiwillige troops were prone to mutiny (see, for instance, 13.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Handschar (kroatische Nr.1) ).
Foreign volunteers and conscripts
Himmler, wishing to expand the Waffen-SS, advocated the idea of SS controlled foreign legions. The Reichsführer, with his penchant for medieval lore, envisioned a united european 'crusade', fighting to save old Europe from the 'Godless bolshevik hordes'. While volunteers from regions which had been declared Aryan were approved almost instantly, Himmler eagerly pressed for the creation of more and more foreign units. In late 1940, the creation of a multinational SS division, the Wiking, was authorised. Command of the division was given to SS-Brigadeführer Felix Steiner. Steiner immersed himself in the organisation of the volunteer division, soon becoming a strong advocate for an increased number of foreign units. The Wiking was committed to combat several days after the launch of Operation Barbarossa, proving itself an impressive fighting unit. Soon Danish, Azeri, Armenian, Flemish, Norwegian, Finnish and Dutch Freiwilligen (volunteer) formations were committed to combat, gradually proving their worth. Hitler however, was hesitant to allow foreign volunteers to be formed into formations based on their ethnicity, preferring that they be absorbed into multi-national divisions. Hitler feared that unless the foreign recruits were committed to the idea of a united Germania, then their reasons for fighting were suspect, and could damage the German cause. Himmler was allowed to create his new formations, but they were to be commanded by German officers and NCOs. Beginning in 1942-43, several new formations were formed from Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians and even Bosnians. The Reichsführer had sidestepped the race laws by ordering that Waffen-SS units formed with men from non-Aryan backgrounds were to be designated division der SS (or Division of the SS) rather than SS Division. The wearing of the SS runes on the collar was forbidden, with several of these formations wearing a national insignia instead. All non-germanic officers and men in these units had their rank prefix changed from SS to Waffen (e.g. a Latvian Hauptscharführer would be referred to as a Waffen-Hauptscharführer rather than SS-Hauptscharführer). An example of a division der SS is the Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr.1). The combat ability of the divisions der SS varied greatly, with the Latvian, French and Estonian formations perfoming exceptionally and the Croatian and Albanian units perfoming poorly. While many adventurers and idealists joined the SS as part of the fight against communism, many of the later recruits joined or were conscripted for different reasons. For example, Dutchmen who joined the 34.SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Landstorm Nederland were granted exemption from forced labour and provided with food, pay and accommodation. Recruits who joined for such reasons rarely proved good soldiers, and several units composed of such volunteers were involved in atrocities. Towards the end of 1943, it became apparent that numbers of volunteer recruits were inadequate to meet the needs of the German military, so conscription was introduced. The Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr.1) is an example of such a conscript formation, which proved to be outstanding soldiers with an unblemished record. Not satisfied with the growing number of volunteer formations, Himmler sought to gain control of all volunteer forces serving alongside Germany. This put the SS at odds with the Heer, as several volunteer units had been placed under Heer control (e.g. volunteers of the Spanish Blue Division). Despite this, Himmler constantly campaigned to have all foreign volunteers fall under the SS banner. In several cases, like the ROA and the 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien he was successful, and by the last year of the war, most foreign volunteers units did fall under SS command. While several volunteer units performed poorly in combat, the majority acquitted themselves well. French and Spanish SS volunteers, along with remnants of the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland formed the final defence of the Reichstag in 1945. After the surrender, many volunteers were tried and imprisoned by their countries. In several cases, volunteers were executed. Those volunteers from the Baltic States and Ukraine could at best look forward to years spent in the gulags. To avoid this, many ex-volunteers from these regions joined underground resistance groups (see Forest Brothers) which were engaged fighting the Soviets until the 1950s. Many other Waffen-SS volunteers, including many Wiking veterans, avoided punishment by joining the French Foreign Legion, and many ex-SS men fought and died at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Helped by ODESSA network, Wallon volunteer leader Leon Degrelle escaped to Spain, where, despite being sentenced to death in absentia by the Belgian authorities, he lived in comfortable exile until his death in 1994. John Amery, the leader of the Britisches Freikorps, was tried and convicted of treason by the British government. He was executed in December 1945. In Estonia and Latvia, the majority of Waffen SS veterans were conscripts who were at least partly considered freedom fighters. In an April 13, 1950 message from the U.S. High Commision in Germany (HICOG), signed by General Frank McCloy to the Secretary of State, clarified the US position on the "Baltic Legions": they were not to be seen as "movements", "volunteer", or "SS". In short, they were not given the training, indoctrination, and induction normally given to SS members. Subsequently the US Displaced Persons Commission in September 1950 declared that :The Baltic Waffen SS Units (Baltic Legions) are to be considered as separate and distinct in purpose, ideology, activities, and qualifications for membership from the German SS, and therefore the Commission holds them not to be a movement hostile to the Government of the United States. Still, much debate is continuing on this issue and because of general condamnation of Nazi regime across the globe, official statements of the position of Estonian and Latvian Waffen SS veterans remain ambigous. The Latvian parliament Saeima declared "the day of the Legion" (16 March) as a national holiday, but under pressure from the European Union, reversed its decision in 2000. Overall, around 60% of Waffen-SS members were non-German[http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/BuechnerAccount.html]
War crimes and atrocities
2000 Several formations within the Waffen-SS were proven to have committed war crimes, most notoriously at Oradour-sur-Glane, Marzabotto and in the Malmedy massacre. Some additional allegations have never been substantiated as many were intended to link the Waffen-SS to crimes committed by the Allgemeine-SS (political SS). Perhaps the most infamous of all SS formations were the Dirlewanger and Kaminski Brigades (later to become the 36.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS and 29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.1) respectively. These formations, composed mostly of ex-Einsatzgruppen, released criminals and Russian Prisoners of War and commanded by the fanatical Nazis Oskar Dirlewanger and Bronislaw Kaminski, were engaged in numerous atrocities throughout their existence. After their actions in putting down the Warsaw Uprising, Heer complaints resulted in these units being dissolved and several members (including Kaminski) being tried and executed for their role in several incidents. Similarly, the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA has a "combat" record riddled with atrocities as well as abysmal conduct when faced with front line service. While divisions like the Nordland and Nord have virtually spotless records, most Waffen-SS divisions were involved in at least some questionable actions. The debate over the culpability of the organisation is the center of much revisionist thinking. On one end of the debate, in addition to documented atrocities, certain Waffen-SS units did assist in rounding up Eastern European Jewry for deportation, SS-Division Totenkopf personnel convalesced at concentration camps by serving routine guard duties, and utilised Scorched-earth tactics during anti-partisan operations. On the other end, some assert that with over 900,000 men serving in its ranks from 15 nationalities, the Waffen-SS was a pan-European military formation embedded with a socio-political ideology, similar in composition to the 19th-century Napoleonic forces or even modern-day NATO military organization. Regardless of the record of individual combat units within the Waffen-SS, the entire organisation was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal during the Nuremberg Trials, except conscripts, who were exempted from that judgment due to being forcibly mobilised. The actions of Himmler and the Nazi hierarchy in attaching the SS combat divisions to the same overall command of as the Allgemeine SS, Concentration Camps and Einsatzgruppen meant that such a decision was inevitable.
See also

- List of German divisions in WWII (with links to articles on individual units)
- Comparative military ranks of World War II
- Finnish Waffen SS volunteers
References

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External links

- [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=49 Axis History Factbook; Waffen-SS part] – By Marcus Wendel and contributors; site also contains an apolitical forum about the Axis nations
- [http://www.feldgrau.com/ss.html Feldgrau.com] – By Jason Pipes, Stanford University/University of California at Berkeley; research on the German armed forces 1918–1945
- [http://www.waffen-ss.com/home.html Waffen-SS.com] – By Thomas Wilhelm (webmaster) et.al.; a site exploring the combat role of the Waffen-SS in WWII; also includes forum
- [http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-565-germanic-volunteers-of-the-waffen-ss.htm Germanic Volunteers of the Waffen-SS (excerpt)] – Translated from the German WWII-era original (Germanische Freiwillige im Osten)
- [http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00136/en_index.php Camouflage uniforms of the Waffen-SS] – From Brad Turner's website kamouflage.net; also includes similar information for Heer, Luftwaffe
- [http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/tme30/ch3sec1sub6.html Waffen-SS from TM-E 30-451 Handbook on German Military Forces] (U.S. WWII manual, March 1945) Category:Waffen-SS units Category:Military history of Germany during World War II
- Waffen-SS ja:武装親衛隊

SS and Police Leader

SS and Police Leaders were senior Nazi Party officials that commanded large units of the SS during and prior to the Second World War. The office of SS and Police Leader was one of the most powerful postings in Nazi Germany. The first SS and Police Leaders were appointed in 1938 from the existing office of the Allgemeine-SS Oberabschnitt Führer (Senior District Leader). The purpose of the SS and Police Leader was to be a direct command authority for every SS and police unit in a given geographical region with such authority answering only to Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler. By the start of the Second World War, the SS and Police Leaders were divided into three levels those being SS and Police Leaders, Higher SS and Police Leaders, and Supreme SS and Police Leaders. The office of Higher SS and Police Leader (in German: Höhere SS und Polizeiführer) was the most commonly appointed. SS and Police Leaders directly commanded a headquarters staff with representatives from almost every branch of the SS. This typically included the Ordnungspolizei, Gestapo, Concentration Camp service, SD, and certain units of the Waffen-SS. In theory, an SS and Police Leader had authority to command and commandeer any SS unit available in a particular region; however, in practice SS units answered to their immediate chain of command and would only be requisitioned by the SS and Police Leader in the event of an emergency. One of the more notorious functions of the SS and Police Leaders was to serve as the Commanding SS General for any Einsatzgruppen that were activiated in the SS and Police Leader’s area. Such duties typically involoved ordering the deaths of tens of thousands of persons and, following the close of the Second World War, nearly every SS and Police Leader, who had served in Poland and Russia, was charged with war crimes. A large number of the SS and Police Leaders, who had been involved with such crimes, committed suicide before capture. SS and Police Leaders were also the overseeing authority of the Jewish Ghettos in Poland and, as such, directly coordinated deportations to extermination camps with the administrative help of the RSHA. The SS and Police Leaders were also afforded direct command over Police Battalions and SD Regiments that were assigned to keep order in the ghettos. The classic image of SS troops, storming through a Jewish Ghetto murdering victims at random, can be attributed to troops under the command of the SS and Police Leaders. The grand dream of Heinrich Himmler was to evolve the SS and Police Leader into an SS Lord of the Lebensraum which the SS would rule and control after Germany had won the Second World War. Himmler’s dream envisioned twenty eight SS States, spread throughout the East, each one of which would be ruled by an SS and Police Leader, militarily controlled by the Waffen-SS, and worked and lived on by SS warriors of the Allgemeine-SS. Whether or not Himmler’s vison was plausible, and if the more rational elements of the Nazi government would have permitted an SS nation in the east, remains one of the great “what-ifs” of history.

Notable SS and Police Leaders

- Supreme SS and Police Leader of Italy: Karl Wolff
- Higher SS and Police Leader of the Elbe: Udo von Woyrsch
- Higher SS and Police Leader of the Donau: Ernst Kaltenbrunner
- Higher SS and Police Leader of Bohemia and Moravia Karl Hermann Frank
- Higher SS and Police Leader of Northern Russia: Friedrich Jecklen
- Higher SS and Police Leader of the Black Sea: Richard Hildebrandt
- Higher SS and Police Leader of the Adriatic Coastline: Odilio "Globus" Globocnik
- Higher SS and Police Leader of the Netherlands: Hanns Albin Rauter
- Higher SS and Police Leader of Central Russia: Erich von dem Bach
- Higher SS and Police Leader of Poland: Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger
- SS and Police Leader of Warsaw: Jürgen Stroop
- SS and Police Leader of Krakow: Julian Scherner Category:Nazi Germany Category:SS Category:Law enforcement in Germany

1943

1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday.

Events

January

- January 4 - End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren.
- January 11 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
- January 11 - General Juanto dies in Argentina - Ramón Castillo succeeds him
- January 12 - Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer, dies in Neuengamme concentration camp
- January 13 - Richard Moll, actor
- January 14 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to travel by airplane while in office (Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss World War II).
- January 15 - World War II: Japanese are driven off Guadalcanal.
- January 15 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
- January 18 - World War II: Soviet officials announce they have broken the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad.
- January 18 - The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto rise up for the first time, starting the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
- January 23 - World War II: British forces capture Tripoli from the Nazis.
- January 23 - In Spearfish, South Dakota, temperature rises from -20 to +7 degrees Celsius in two minutes
- January 23 - Duke Ellington plays at New York City's Carnegie Hall for the first time.
- January 24 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
- January 27 - World War II: 50 bombers mount the first all American air raid against Germany (Wilhelmshaven was the target).
- January 29 - German police arrests necrophiliac Bruno Ludke

February

Bruno Ludke]
- February 1 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Prime Minister of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
- February 2 - World War II: In Russia, the Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end with the surrender of the German 6th Army.
- February 3 - World War II: The death of the Four Chaplains when their ship was struck by a torpedo.
- February 7 - World War II: In the United States, it is announced that shoe rationing will go into effect in two days.
- February 8 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - the Soviet Red Army successfully repels a massive German attack.
- February 8 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.
- February 10 - March 3 - Mohandas Gandhi keeps a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment
- February 11 - General Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- February 12 - Mark Stephen Dube jr. was born.
- February 14 - World War II: Rostov, Russia is liberated.
- February 14 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia; it is the United States' first major battle defeat of the war.
- February 16 - World War II: Soviet Union reconquers Kharkov, but is later driven out in the Third Battle of Kharkov
- February 18 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
- February 20 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- February 22 - Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
- February 27 - The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, United States explodes, killing 74 men.
- February 28 - OPERATION GUNNERSIDE, 6 Norwegians led by Joachim Ronneberg successfully attack the heavy water plant Vemork.

March

- March 1 - "Panzer General" Heinz Guderian becomes the Inspector-General of the Armoured Troops for the German Army during World War II.
- March 2 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - United States and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.
- March 3 - 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station in London.
- March 8 - World War II: American forces are attacked by Japanese troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
- March 13 - World War II: On Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.
- March 13 - Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
- March 26 - World War II: Battle of Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.

April

- April 3 - Shipwrecked steward Poon Lim is rescued by Brazilian fishermen after he has been adrift for 130 days
- April 22 - Albert Hofmann writes his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD, which he first synthesized in 1938.
- April 25 - Easter occurs on the latest possible date. Last time 1886 next time 2038.
- April 27 - The U.S. Federal Writers' Project is shuttered.

May

Federal Writers' Project]
- May 11 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
- May 13 - World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
- May 16 - World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Sqdn on German dams.
- May 16 - Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- May 17 - World War II: Surviving RAF Dam Busters return.
- May 17 - The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
- May 24 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes Chief Medical Officer in Auschwitz.

June

- June 4 - Military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
- June 22 - U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division land in North Africa prior to training at Arzew, French Morocco while serving in World War II.

July

- July 5 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - The largest tank battle in history begins.
- July 5 - World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails to Sicily.
- July 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the Battle of Kula Gulf off Kolombangara.
- July 10 - World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily marks the beginning allied invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy by the U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division.
- July 12 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Kolombangara.
- July 19 - World War II: Rome is bombed by the Allies for the first time in the war.
- July 24 - World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, those of the Americans by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.
- July 25 - In Italy the Gran Consiglio del Fascismo retires its consent to Mussolini; Mussolini is arrested and the power is given to Maresciallo d'Italia Gen. Pietro Badoglio.
- July 28 - World War II: Operation Gomorrah - The British bomb Hamburg causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.

August

- August 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the Battle of Vella Gulf off Kolombangara.
- August 17 - World War II: The US 7th Army under General George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Italy followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
- August 29 - World War II: Germany dissolves the Danish government after it refuses to deal with a wave of strikes and disturbances to the satisfaction of the German authorities. (See: Occupation of Denmark)

September

- September 3 - World War II: Mainland Italy is invaded by Allied forces under Bernard L. Montgomery, for the first time in the war.
- September 5 - World War II: The 503rd Parachute Regiment under American General Douglas MacArthur lands and occupies Nadzab, just east of the port city of Lae in northeastern Papua New Guinea.
- September 7 - A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, kills 55 people.
- September 8 - World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies.
- September 8 - World War II: Julius Fucik is executed by Nazis.
- September 8 - First classes commence at Grace University.
- September 23 - World War II: Republic of Salò is founded.

October

- October 6 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Vella Lavella.
- October 7 - World War II: Naples post office explosion
- October 13 - World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
- October 18 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
- October 21 - Lucie Aubrac and others in her French Resistance cell liberate Raymond Aubrac from Gestapo imprisonment
- October 22 - World War II: RAF delivers a highly destructive airstrike on the German industrial and population center of Kassel

November

- November 1 - World War II: In Operation Goodtime, United States Marines land on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
- November 2 - World War II: In the early morning hours, American and Japanese ships fight the inconclusive Battle of Empress Augusta Bay off Bougainville.
- November 2 - World War II: British troops, in Italy, reach the Garigliano River.
- November 15 - Porajmos: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies and "part-Gypsies" were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps."
- November 16 - World War II: After flying from Britain, 160 American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
- November 16 - World War II: Japanese submarine sinks surfaced USA submarine USS Corvina near Truk
- November 18 - World War II: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 aviators.
- November 20 - World War II: Battle of Tarawa begins - United States Marines land on Tarawa and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands and take heavy fire from Japanese shore guns.
- November 22 - World War II: War in the Pacific - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and ROC leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.
- November 22 - Lebanon gains independence from France.
- November 23 - The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg was destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1961 and called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
- November 25 - World War II: Americans and Japanese fight the naval Battle of Cape St. George between Buka and New Ireland.
- November 28 - World War II: Tehran Conference - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran to discuss war strategy (on November 30 they established an agreement concerning a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe codenamed Operation Overlord).
- November 29 - Second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-fascist council of national liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, determining the post-war ordering of the country.

December

- December 4 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
- December 4 - Great Depression ends in the United States: With unemployment figures falling fast due to World War II-related employment, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.
- December 20 - Military coup in Bolivia
- December 24 - World War II: US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the supreme Allied commander.
- December 30 - Subhash Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.

Undated

- Development of the Colossus computer by British to break German encryption (see History of computing hardware).
- Mondragón cooperative begins in Basque Country in Spain
- Arana Hall, Otago founded.

Ongoing

- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January

- January 2 - Baris Manco, Turkish celebrity
- January 4 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer
- January 6 - Terry Venables, English football manager
- January 10 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973)
- January 11 - Jim Hightower, American radio host and author
- January 16 - Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
- January 18 - Kay Granger, American politician
- January 19 - Janis Joplin, American singer (d. 1970)
- January 19 - Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
- January 24 - Sharon Tate, American actress (d. 1969)
- January 25 - Tobe Hooper, American film director
- January 26 - César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 2005)
- January 30 - Marty Balin, American musician

February

- February 2 - Erkan Genis, Turkish artist
- February 3 - Blythe Danner, American actress
- February 4 - Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese politician
- February 5 - Nolan Bushnell, American video game pioneer
- February 5 - Craig Morton, American football player
- February 6 - Fabian, American singer
- February 7 - Gareth Hunt. English actor
- February 9 - Joe Pesci, American actor
- February 9 - Joseph E. Stiglitz, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 13 - Geoff Edwards, American game show host
- February 14 - Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)
- February 18 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer, comedian, and actor
- February 19 - Tim Hunt, British biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 20 - Mike Leigh, Britsh film director
- February 21 - David Geffen, American record executive and film producer
- February 23 - Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
- February 25 - George Harrison, English musician (The Beatles) (d. 2001)
- February 24 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer
- February 26 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
- February 27 - Morten Lauridsen, American composer

March

- March - John Leeson, British actor
- March 1 - Gil Amelio, American entrepreneur
- March 2 - Peter Straub, American author
- March 8 - Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- March 9 - Bobby Fischer, American chess player
- March 9 - Charles Gibson, American television journalist
- March 15 - David Cronenberg, Canadian film director
- March 19 - Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 19 - Mario Monti, Italian member of the European Commission
- March 21 - Vivian Stanshall, English comedian, writer, artist, broadcaster, and musician (d. 1995)
- March 22 - Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor
- March 22 - Keith Relf, British musician (The Yardbirds) (d. 1976)
- March 26 - Bob Woodward, American journalist
- March 29 - Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
- March 29 - John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- March 29 - Vangelis, Greek musician and composer
- March 31 - Christopher Walken, American actor

April

- April 5 - Max Gail, American actor
- April 8 - Miller Farr, American football player
- April 10 - Andrzej Badeński, Polish athlete
- April 20 - John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor
- April 23 - Dominik Duka, Czech Catholic bishop and theologian
- April 28 - John O. Creighton, American astronaut

May

- May 8 - Toni Tennille, singer
- May 10 - Richard (Dick) Darman, American federal government official and businessman
- May 14 - Jack Bruce, British musician and songwriter
- May 14 - Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
- May 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, King of Malaysia
- May 22 - Betty Williams, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- May 23 - John Newcombe, Australian tennis player
- May 25 - Jessi Colter, American singer and composer
- May 27 - Bruce Weitz, American actor
- May 30 - James Chaney, American civil rights worker (d.1964)
- May 31 - Joe Namath, American football player
- May 31 - Sharon Gless, American actress

June

- June 2 - Ilayaraja, Music Composer,Tamil Nadu,India
- June 6 - Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 8 - Colin Baker, British actor
- June 15 - Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- June 17 - Newt Gingrich, American politician
- June 17 - Barry Manilow, American musician
- June 23 - James Levine, American conductor
- June 26 - John Beasley, American actor
- June 26 - Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 27 - Rico Petrocelli, baseball player
- June 29 - Maureen O'Brien, British actress

July

- July 4 - Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German trombonist
- July 4 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter and talk show host
- July 5 - Curt Blefary, baseball player (d. 2001)
- July 10 - Arthur Ashe, American tennis player (d. 1993)
- July 26 - Mick Jagger, English singer (Rolling Stones)

August

- August 4 - Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper
- August 5 - Nelson Briles, baseball player (d. 2005)
- August 7 - Dino Valente, American musician, (d. 1994)
- August 11 - Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and leader
- August 14 - Jimmy Johnson, American football coach and television analyst
- August 17 - Robert De Niro, American actor
- August 20 - Sylvester McCoy, British actor
- August 24 - John Cipollina, American musician, (d. 1989)
- August 28 - Lou Piniella, baseball player and manager
- August 30 - Jean-Claude Killy, French skier

September

- September 6 - Richard J. Roberts, English biochemist and molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- September 6 - Roger Waters, English musician
- September 11 - Gilbert Proesch, Italian-born artist (Gilbert and George)
- September 11 - Raymond Villeneuve, Canadian terrorist
- September 22 - Toni Basil, American musician and video artist
- September 28 - J. T. Walsh, American actor (d. 1998)
- September 29 - Lech Wałęsa, President of Poland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- September 30 - Johann Deisenhofer, German biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 30 - Ian Ogilvy, English actor

October

- October 2 - Franklin Rosemont, American poet
- October 6 - Michael Durrell, American actor
- October 14 - Lois Hamilton, American model, actress, and artist (d. 1999)
- October 16 - Paul Rose, Canadian terrorist

November

- November 7 - Joni Mitchell, American musician
- November 7 - Michael Spence, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 11 - Doug Frost, Australian swimming coach
- November 12 - Wallace Shawn, American actor
- November 14 - Peter Norton, American software engineer and businessman
- November 19 - Aurelio Monteagudo, Cuban Major League Baseball player (d. 1990)

December

- December 5 - Eva Joly, Norwegian-born French magistrate
- December 8 - James Douglas "Jim" Morrison, American musician (d. 1971)
- December 11 - John Kerry, American politician
- December 12 - Grover Washington Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
- December 13 - Ferguson Jenkins, baseball player
- December 17 - Ron Geesin, British musician and songwriter (Pink Floyd)
- December 18 - Keith Richards, English guitarist and songwriter (The Rolling Stones)
- December 23 - Harry Shearer, American actor and writer
- December 24 - Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
- December 28 - Richard Whiteley, English television presenter (d. 2005)
- December 31 - John Denver, American musician (d. 1997)
- December 31 - Ben Kingsley, English actor

Deaths

January-June

- January 5 - George Washington Carver, American educator, activist, and botanist
- January 23 - Alexander Woollcott, American bon vivant (b. 1887)
- January 26 - Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880)
- February 14 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)
- February 17 - Armand J. Piron, American musician and composer (b. 1888)
- March 3 - George Thompson, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- March 12 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
- March 13 - Stephen Vincent Benet, American poet (b. 1898)
- March 28 - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)
- April 18 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (b. 1884)
- May 14 - Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1854)
- May 26 - Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford (b. 1893)
- June 26 - Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1868)

July-December

- July 21 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (b. 1900)
- August 12 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
- August 14 - Joe Kelley, baseball player (b. 1871)
- August 21 - Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- August 28 - King Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894)
- September 1 - Charles Atangana, Cameroonian chief
- September 24 - John Stone Stone, American physicist and inventor (b. 1869)
- October 5 - Leon Roppolo, American musician (b. 1902)
- October 9 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- October 19 - Camille Claudel, French sculptor (b. 1864)
- December 1 - Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince and historian (b. 1862)
- December 7 - Per Imerslund, "The aryan idol" (b. 1912)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Otto Stern
- Chemistry - George de Hevesy
- Physiology or Medicine - Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Edward Adelbert Doisy, Gerhard Domagk
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded
- ko:1943년 ms:1943 ja:1943年 simple:1943 th:พ.ศ. 2486

SS

Naming Conventions

History of the SS

Origins

Development

Fall of the SS

Postwar Activity

SS leaders

- Julius Schreck (1925–1926)
- Joseph Berchtold (1926–1927)
- Erhard Heiden (1927–1929)
- Heinrich Himmler (1929–1945)
- Karl Hanke (1945)

The SS before the Second World War

1925–1928

1929–1931

1931–1933

1933–1934

1934–1936

1936–1939

Austrian-SS

The SS during the Second World War

By 1944, the SS had become a vast and complex organization and was considered a "State within a State". The final structure and organization of the SS were as follows:

SS and Police Leaders

Headquarters Offices

General SS

The "General SS" referred to the regular SS formations in Germany that had been founded in the 1920s and 30s. By the close of the Second World War, the General SS consisted of the following branches:

Allgemeine-SS

SS Cavalry Corps

Germanic-SS

Auxiliary SS

Waffen-SS

Concentration Camp Service

Special Action Groups

Order Police

SS Medical Corps

SS and Police Courts

Background

Court types

Legality of the Holocaust

Helferin Corps

SS future visions

References

External links

1932

1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday.

Events

January-February

- January 3 - British arrest and intern Mohandas Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel
- January 8 - In Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees
- January 12 - Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate
- January 14 - Maurice Ravel's Concerto in G (Ravel) debuts with piano soloist Marguerite Long and Ravel conducting the Lamoureux Orchestra
- January 15 - Pierre Laval forms a new government in France
- January 15 - About 6 million unemployed in Germany
- January 26 - British submarine M-2 sinks with all 50 hands
- January 28 - Japan occupies Shanghai
- January 29 - Minority government of Karl Mureschi in Austria ends the governmental crisis
- January 31 - Japanese warships arrive in Nanking
- February 2 - General convention of disarmament begins in Geneva
- February 2 - League of Nations again recommends negotiations between the Republic of China and Japan
- February 4 - 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York. Japan occupies Harbin, China
- February 11 - Pope Pius XI meets Benito Mussolini in the Vatican City
- February 18 - Japan declares Manzhouguo (Japanese name for Manchuria) formally independent from China
- February 27 - Adolf Hitler gains German citizenship prior to elections
- February 27 - Mäntsälä Rebellion in Finland

March-April

- March 1 - Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, the baby son of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped
- March 9 - Eamon de Valera is elected President of the Executive Council. It is the first change of government in the Irish Free State in 10 years.
- March 18 - Peace negotiations between China and Japan begin.
- March 19 - Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
- March 20 - Graf Zeppelin begins a regular route to South America
- March 25 - Tarzan the Ape Man opens, with Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. Weismuller starred in a total of 12 Tarzan films.
- April 5 - Prohibition is lifted in Finland at 10 in the morning (local time), inventing a new mnemonic "543210".
- April 6 - U.S. president Herbert Hoover supports armament limitations
- April 6 - Trial against fraudulent art dealer Otto Wacker begins in Berlin
- April 10 - Paul von Hindenburg elected president of Germany. Adolf Hitler receives over 13 million votes.
- April 17 - Haile Selassie announces an anti-slavery law in Abyssinia
- April 19 - German art dealer Otto Wacker is sentenced for 19 months for selling fraudulent paintings of Vincent van Gogh

May-June

- May 2 - Comedian Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time.
- May 6 - Paul Gorguloff assassinates French president Paul Doumer in Paris - Doumer dies the next day.
- May 10 - Albert Lebrun becomes the new president of France
- May 12 - Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey just a few miles from the Lindbergh's home.
- May 13 - The Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, is dismissed by the State Governor, Sir Phillip Game
- May 15 - Japanese troops leave Shanghai; May 15 Incident, the assassination of Japanese prime minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, occurs.
- May 16 - Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims in Bombay - thousands dead and injured.
- May 20-21 - Amelia Earhart flies from USA to Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 14 hours 54 minutes
- May 30 - German chancellor Heinrich Brüning resigns. President Hindenburg takes Franz von Papen to form a new government.
- June - 15,000 World War I veterans march in Washington, DC
- June 4 - Military coup in Chile
- June 6 - The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States at 1 cent per US gallon (0.26 ¢/L) sold.
- June 14 - Bans against SS and SA overturned in Germany
- June 20 - Benelux customs union negotiated
- June 24 - After a relatively bloodless military rebellion, Siam becomes a constitutional monarchy

July-October

- July 1- ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) established
- July 5 - António de Oliveira Salazar becomes the fascists prime minister of Portugal (for the next 36 years)
- July 7 - French submarine Sromethee sinks off Cherbourg - 66 dead
- July 12 - Hedley Verity establishes a new first-class record by taking all ten wickets for only ten runs against Nottinghamshire on a pitch affected by a storm.
- July 17 - Bloody Sunday of Altona in Germany - armed communists attack a national socialist demonstration - 18 dead. Many other political street fights follow.
- July 28 - US President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, DC. US troops dispersed the last of the "Bonus Army" the next day.
- July 30 - 1932 Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles.
- August 6 - First Venice Film Festival
- August 10 - A 5.1 kg chondrite type meteorite broke into at least seven fragments and struck earth near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- August 18 - Auguste Piccard reaches altitude of 16.500 meters with an air balloon
- August 30 - Hermann Göring elected as a chairman of German senate
- August 31 - Total solar eclipse visible from northern Canada through NE Vermont, New Hampshire, SW Maine, and the Capes of Massachusetts
- September 9 - The Generalitat reinstaurated, Catalonia regains political autonomy inside the 2nd Spanish Republic from September 25
- September 18 - Actress Peg Entwhistle commits suicide jumping from the letter H of the (then) Hollywoodland sign
- September 20 - Mohandas Gandhi begins an hunger strike in Poona prison
- September 28 - According to Prussian statistics, 115 people have been killed in political riots during the year
- October 15 - Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight
- October 19 - Wedding of Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

November-December

- November 1 - San Francisco Opera House opened
- November 7 - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century airs on radio for the first time.
- November 8 - U.S. presidential election, 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.
- November 9 - Riots between conservative and socialist supporters in Switzerland - 12 dead, 60 injured
- November 11 - Tornado and huge waves kills about thousand in Santa Crus del Sure in Cuba
- November 19 - Second wife of Josef Stalin is found dead in her home
- November 21 - German president Hindenburg begins negotiations with Adolf Hitler about the formation of a new government
- November 24 - In Washington, DC, the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
- December 3 - Hindenburg names Kurt von Schleicher as a German chancellor
- December 12 - Japan and Soviet Union reform their diplomatic connections
- December 25 - Earthquake in the Kansu Province in China - 70,000 dead

Unknown dates

- Saudi Arabia is declared a unified nation with Ibn Saud as a king.
- Female suffrage in Brazil
- Norway annexes northern Greenland.
- Chaco war between Bolivia and Paraguay
- In the next five years, Dr. Morris Bolber and associates successfully murder and collect the insurance money for more than 30 victims.
- Mars candy bar
- Zippo lighters
- Zero-length springs invented, revolutionizing seismometers and gravimeters
- The Kennedy-Thorndike experiment shows that measured time as well as length are affected by motion, in accordance with the theory of special relativity.
- Chadwick discovers the neutron.
- Geneticist J. B. S. Haldane publishes The Causes of Evolution and thereby unifies the findings of Mendelian genetics with those of evolutionary science.
- Second Polar Year, an international scientific collaboration.
- Kreuger & Toll of the "Match King" Ivar Kreuger collapses - he commits suicide.
- Republican Citizens Committee Against National Prohibition established for repeal of prohibition in U.S.

Births

January

- January 3 - Dabney Coleman, American actor
- January 3 - Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
- January 5 - Johnny Adams, American musician (d. 1998)
- January 5 - Umberto Eco, Italian scholar and author
- January 6 - Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
- January 16 - Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
- January 18 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author
- January 22 - Piper Laurie, American actress
- January 26 - Coxsone Dodd, Jamaican record producer (d. 2004)
- January 29 - Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
- January 30 - Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician

February-March

- February 3 - Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (d. 1984)
- February 6 - François Truffaut, French film director (d. 1984)
- February 7 - Gay Talese, American author
- February 8 - John Williams, American composer and conductor
- February 9 - Gerhard Richter, German painter
- February 11 - Jerome Lowenthal, American pianist
- February 12 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)
- February 14 - Alexander Kluge, German author and film director
- February 16 - Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)
- February 18 - Milos Forman, Czech film director
- February 22 - Edward Kennedy, American politician
- February 23 - Majel Barrett, American actress
- February 24 - Michel Legrand, French composer
- February 25 - Faron Young American singer (d. 1996)
- February 26 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
- February 27 - Elizabeth Taylor, English-born actress
- March 4 - Miriam Makeba, South African singer
- March 12 - Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- March 16 - Don Blasingame, Major League Baseball player and Japanese baseball manager (d. 2005)
- March 18 - John Updike, American author
- March 21 - Walter Gilbert, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 30 - Ted Morgan, French-born author, biographer, and journalist

April-July

- April 1 - Gordon Jump, American television actor (d. 2003)
- April 1 - Debbie Reynolds, American actress
- April 2 - Michael Vernon, Australian consumer activist (d.1993)
- April 4 - Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)
- April 4 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (d. 1986)
- April 8 - Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, King of Malaysia
- April 9 - Carl Perkins, American musician (d. 1998)
- April 12 - Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (assassinated) (d. 2005)
- April 12 - Tiny Tim, American musician (d. 1996)
- April 23 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
- April 26 - Michael Smith, English-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- April 27 - Casey Kasem, American disc jockey and voice actor
- April 27 - Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-born mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- May 8 - Phyllida Law, Scottish actress
- May 8 - Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970)
- May 25 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
- June 4 - John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
- June 4 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (d. 2004)
- June 12 - Rona Jaffe, American novelist
- June 18 - Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 18 - Geoffrey Hill, English poet
- June 25 - Peter Blake, English artist
- June 27 - Anna Moffo, American soprano
- June 28 - Pat Morita, American actor (d. 2005)
- July 2 - Dave Thomas, American fast-food entrepreneur (d. 2002)
- July 9 - Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense
- July 12 - Otis Davis, American runner
- July 21 - Ernie Warlick, American football player
- July 29 - Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, U.S. Senator

August-December

- August 1 - Meena Kumari, Indian actress
- August 2 - Lamar Hunt, American sportsman
- August 2 - Peter O'Toole, Irish-born actor
- August 6 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter and print-maker
- August 11 - Fernando Arrabal, Moroccan-born writer
- August 17 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 18 - William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia
- September 4 - Dinsdale Landen, British actor (d. 2003)
- September 7 - Paul Getty, American-born philanthropist (d. 2003)
- September 8 - Patsy Cline, American singer (d. 1963)
- September 18 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (d. 2002)
- September 22 - Algirdas Brazauskas, President of Lithuania
- September 25 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (d. 1982)
- September 26 - Richard Herd, American actor
- September 26 - Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
- September 27 - Oliver E. Williamson , American economist
- September 30 - Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author and politician
- October 19 - Robert Reed, American actor (d. 1992)
- October 20 - Rosey Brown, American football playerr (d. 2004)
- October 24 - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 24 - Robert Mundell, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 28 - Suzy Parker, American actress (d. 2003)
- November 3 - Albert Reynolds, President of Ireland
- November 4 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)
- November 4 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (d. 1999)
- November 15 - Petula Clark, British singer, actress, and songwriter
- November 20 - Richard Dawson, British-born game show host
- November 29 - Jacques Chirac, President of France
- December 2 - Manuel Puig, Argentinian writer (d. 1990)
- December 5 - Sheldon Lee Glashow, American physicist
- December 9 - Bill Hartack, American jockey
- December 24 - Earl Dodge, American temperance movement leader
- December 28 - Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (d. 2002)
- December 28 - Dorsey Burnette, American singer (d. 1979)
- December 28 - Roy Hattersley, British politician

Unknown dates

- Mehmood, Indian actor (d. 2004)
- Irene Jai Narayan, Fiji politician
- Blaze Starr, American dancer

Deaths

- January 21 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer and biographer (b. 1880)
- January 24 - Sir Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder and philanthropist (b. 1842)
- February 10 - Edgar Wallace, English novelist and screenwriter (b. 1875)
- February 16 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1841)
- March 1 - Frank Teschemacher, American musician (b. 1906)
- March 6 - John Philip Sousa, American band leader, conductor, and composer (b. 1854)
- March 7 - Aristide Briand, French statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1862)
- March 14 - George Eastman, American inventor (b. 1854)
- March 31 - Eben Byers, American steel tycoon and socialite (radiation poisoning) (b. 1880)
- April 4 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
- April 20 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
- April 26 - Hart Crane, American poet (b. 1899)
- April 26 - William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868)
- May 3 - Charles Fort, American researcher of the unusual (b. 1874)
- May 7 - Paul Doumer, President of France (assassinated) (b. 1857)
- May 15 - Tsuyoshi Inukai, Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated) (b. 1855)
- May 17 - Frederick C. Billard, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (b. 1873)
- June 21 - Major Taylor, American cyclist (b. 1878)
- July 6 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (b. 1859)
- July 23 - Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviation pioneer (b. 1873)
- September 16 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)
- September 20 - Wovoka, Paiute visionary
- September 23 - Jules Chéret, French poster designer (b. 1836)
- December 19 - Yoon Bong-Gil, Korean resister against Japanese occupation of Korea (executed) (b. 1908)

Unknown date

- Lucy Bacon, American painter

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Werner Karl Heisenberg
- Chemistry - Irving Langmuir
- Physiology or Medicine - Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, Edgar Douglas Adrian
- Literature - John Galsworthy
- Peace - not awarded Category:1932 ko:1932년 ms:1932 ja:1932年 simple:1932 th:พ.ศ. 2475

1933

1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January

- January 3 - Japanese troops occupy Shanghai
- January 5 - Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
- January 15 - Political violence has caused almost 100 deaths in Spain
- January 17 - US Congress votes favorable for Philippines independence, against the view of president Hoover
- January 30 - Edouard Daladier forms a government in France
- January 30 - Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by Reich President Paul von Hindenburg.
- January 30 - The first airing of episode 1 of 2,956 episodes of the radio program The Lone Ranger.

February

- February 4 - Mutiny starts on the Dutch pantserschip Zeven Provincien.
- February 6 - The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect.
- February 6-7 - Officers on the USS Ramapo record 34 meters high sea-wave in the Pacific
- February 10 - The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.
- February 15 - In Miami, Florida Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead kills Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak.
- February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.
- February 17 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
- February 27 - Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire (see: Reichstag fire).

March

- March 1 - Kyriakos Varvaressos becomes Deputy Governor to the Bank of Greece
- March 3 - Mount Rushmore is dedicated.
- March 4 - American President Herbert Clark Hoover is succeeded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who in reference to the Great Depression, gives his "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself" inauguration speech.
- March 4 Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, first female member of the United States Cabinet.
- March 4 - The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure - Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates authoritarian rule by decree (see Austrofascism)
- March 5 - Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all United States banks and freezing all financial transactions (the 'holiday' ended on March 13).
- March 5 - in German elections, National Socialists gain 43.9% of the votes
- March 9 - Great Depression: The U.S. Congress begins its first 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.
- March 10 - Earthquake in Long Beach, California kills 117 people.
- March 12 - Great Depression: Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This was also the first of his "Fireside Chats".
- March 20 - Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed - opened March 22
- March 23 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- March 27 - Japan leaves the League of Nations
- March 31 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission to relieve rampant unemployment.

April

- April 1 - The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in the series of anti-Semitic acts that will be known as the Holocaust.
- April 3 - Anti-monarchist rebellion in Siam
- April 4 - US airship Akron crashes near New York - 74 dead
- April 5 - International court in the Hague decides that Greenland belongs to Denmark and condemns Norwegian landings on eastern Greenland. Norway submits to the decision
- April 11 - Aviator William Lancaster takes off in England in an attempt to make a speed record to Cape. He vanishes (body is found 1962 in Sahara)
- April 21 - Nazi Germany outlaws kosher ritual shechita
- April 23 - Japanese crown prince Akihito born
- April 26 - Gestapo established.
- April 26 - Editors of Harvard Lampoon steal the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts from the State House. It is returned two days later
- April 27 - Stahlhelm organizations joins the Nazi party
- May - Detection by Karl Jansky of radio waves from the centre of the Milky Way galaxy reported

May

- May 2 - First modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.
- May 2 - Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler bans trade unions.
- May 8 - Mohandas Gandhi begins a 3-week hunger strike because of the mistreatment of the lower castes
- May 10 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- May 10 - Paraguay declares war on Bolivia
- May 17 - Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling - the national-socialist party of Norway.
- May 18 - New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
- May 26 - Nazi party in Germany introduces law to legalize eugenic sterilization
- May 27 - New Deal: The Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
- May 27 - The Century of Progress world's fair opens in Chicago, Illinois.

June

- June 5 - The U.S. Congress abrogates the United States' use of the gold standard by enacting a joint resolution (48 Stat. 112) nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.
- June 6 - The first drive-in theater opened in Camden New Jersey.
- June 17 - In Kansas City, Missouri, Pretty Boy Floyd kills four unarmed FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash in a failed attempt to free Nash. This becomes known as the Union Station Massacre.
- June 21 - All non-Nazi parties forbidden in Germany
- June 25 - Wilmersdorfer Tennishallen delegate convention in Berlin

July

- July 4 - Mohandas Gandhi sentenced to prison
- July 14 - Forming new political parties forbidden in Germany.
- July 20 - 500.000 people demonstrate against anti-Semitism in Hyde Park, London
- July 22 - Wiley Post becomes first person to fly solo around the world, traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours, and 45 minutes.
- July 22 - "Machine-Gun" Kelly and Albert Bates kidnap Charles Urschel, an Oklahoma oilman, and demand $200.000 ransom

August

- August 14 - Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres (971 km²).
- August 30 - Assassination of Theodore Lessing in Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně), Czechoslovakia
- August 30 - Air France begins operations with 250 planes.

September

- September 3 - Alejandro Lerroux forms a new government in Spain.
- September 12 - Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
- September 26 - Tornado destroys the town of Tampico in Mexico.

October

- October 1 - Failed assassination attempt against Englebert Dolfuss only injures him seriously.
- October 12 - The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz is acquired by the United States Department of Justice, which plans to incorporate the island into its Bureau of Prisons as a federal penitentiary.
- October 16 - Germany announces intention to leave the League of Nations - officially
- October 17 - Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany. October 19

November

- November 4 - In Paris, a burglar tries to rob an antique store wearing an armor suit but is captured.
- November 8 - Great Depression: New Deal - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.
- November 11 - Dust Bowl: In South Dakota, a very strong dust storm strips topsoil from desiccated farmlands (this is just one of a series of disastrous dust storms that year).
- November 16 - The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.
- November 16 - President of Brazil Getulio Vargas names himself dictator

December

- December 5 - The repeal of prohibition in the United States went into effect.
- December 24 - Train crash in Lagny, France - over 200 dead
- December 26 - The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan.
- December 26 - FM radio is patented.
- December 29 - Members of the Iron Guard assassinate Ion Gheorghe Duca, prime minister of Romania

Undated

- British Interplanetary Society founded
- The chocolate chip cookie is invented by Ruth Wakefield.
- The United States Federal Government ends Prohibition and outlaws marijuana.
- Failed coup against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in United States (see Smedley Butler)
- London Passenger Transport Board founded.
- Jimmie Angel becomes the first person to see the Angel Falls, they are named after him.
- Nazi Germany forms the Expert Committee on Questions of Population and Racial Policy under Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick.
- Holodomor took place in Ukraine

Births

January

- January 6 - Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut (d. 2003)
- January 6 - Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian, director, and writer
- January 8 - Charles Osgood, American journalist and commentator
- January 14 - Stan Brakhage, American filmmaker (d. 2003)
- January 16 - Susan Sontag, American author (d. 2004)
- January 17 - Dalida, French singer (d. 1987)
- January 17 - Sadruddhin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)
- January 18 - John Boorman, American film director
- January 23 - Chita Rivera, American actress and dancer
- January 25 - Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines

February

- February 8 - Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
- February 12 - Costa-Gavras, Greek-born director and writer
- February 13 - Kim Novak, American actress
- February 14 - Madhubala, Indian actress
- February 18 - Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer and artist, wife of John Lennon
- February 21 - Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)
- February 22- Katharine, Duchess of Kent
- February 27 - Raymond Berry, American football player

March

- March 6 - Ted Abernathy, baseball player (d. 2004)
- March 14 - Michael Caine, English actor
- March 14 - Quincy Jones, American music producer and composer
- March 15 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- March 15 - Roy Clark, American musician
- March 16 - Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
- March 19 - Philip Roth, American author
- March 22 - May Britt, Swedish actress

April

- April 1 - Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 5 - Larry Felser, American sports columnist
- April 6 - Roy Goode, British legal academic
- April 12 - Montserrat Caballé, Catalan soprano
- April 12 - Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S. Senator
- April 15 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)
- April 16 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster
- April 19 - Jayne Mansfield, American actress (d. 1967)
- April 25 - Jerry Leiber, American composer
- April 26 - Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and comedienne
- April 26 - Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 29 - Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium

May

- May 3 - James Brown, American musician
- May 3 - Steven Weinberg, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- May 7 - Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)
- May 10 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
- May 11 - Louis Farrakhan, American Black Muslim leader
- May 20 - Danny Aiello, American actor
- May 21 - Maurice André, French trumpeter
- May 23 - Joan Collins, English actress
- May 26 - Edward Whittemore, American writer and Central Intelligence agent (d. 1995)
- May 29 - Marc Carbonneau, Canadian terrorist
- May 29 - Helmuth Rilling, German conductor

June

- June 1 - Charles Wilson, American politician
- June 6 - Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 8 - Joan Rivers, American comedienne
- June 11 - Gene Wilder, American actor
- June 13 - Tom King, British politician
- June 17 - Harry Browne, American writer and Presidential candidate
- June 19 - Viktor Patsayev, cosmonaut (d. 1971)
- June 23 - Dave Bristol, baseball manager
- June 26 - Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor
- June 29 - John Bradshaw, American theologian and educator

July

- July 7 - Murray Halberg, New Zealand runner
- July 8 - Marty Feldman, English comedian, actor (d. 1982)
- July 15 - Julian Bream, English guitarist and lutenist
- July 15 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (d. 2003)
- July 21 - John Gardner, American novelist (d. 1982)
- July 23 - Bert Convy, American game show host, actor, and singer (d. 1991)

August

- August 1 - Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian
- August 10 - Doyle Brunson, American poker player
- August 14 - Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 16 - Stuart Roosa, astronaut (d. 1994)
- August 21 - Janet Baker, English mezzo-soprano
- August 23 - Robert Curl, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 29 - Arnold Koller, Swiss Federal Councilor

September-October

- September 1 - Ann Richards, Governor of Texas
- September 2 - Mathieu Kérékou, President of Benin
- September 9 - Michael Novak, American philosopher and author
- September 10 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut (d. 2000)
- September 17 - Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)
- September 15 - Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor
- September 25 - Hubie Brown, American basketball coach and broadcaster
- October 9 - Peter Mansfield, British physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

November

- November 3 - Michael Dukakis, American politician and Presidential candidate
- November 3 - Amartya Sen, Indian economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 19 - Larry King, talk show host
- November 23 - Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer

December

- December 2 - Michael Larrabee, American athlete (d. 2003)
- December 3 - Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 6 - Henryk Górecki, Polish composer
- December 9 - Morton Downey, Jr., American television personality (d. 2001)
- December 20 - Jean Carnahan, American politician
- December 23 - Emperor Akihito of Japan
- December 26 - Ugly Dave Grey, Australian television personality

Deaths

January-March

- January 1 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (b. 1976)
- January 3 - Jack Pickford, Canadian-born actor (b. 1896)
- January 5 - Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
- January 7 - Bert Hinkler, Australian pioneer aviator (b. 1892)
- January 31 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- February 12 - Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)
- February 15 - Pat Sullivan, Australian-born director and producer of animated films (b. 1887)
- February 18 - James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)
- March 6 - Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (assassinated) (b. 1873)
- March 14 - Balto, American sled dog
- March 26 - Eddie Lang, American musician (b. 1902)

April-June

- April 3 - William A. Moffett, U.S. admiral (sinking of the USS Akron) (b. 1869)
- May 24 - Percy C. Mather, missionary
- May 26 - Jimmie Rodgers, American country singer (b. 1897)
- June 2 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)

July-December

- July 3 - Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
- July 15 - Irving Babbitt, American literary critic (b. 1865)
- July 15 - Freddie Keppard, American jazz musician (b. 1890)
- October 5 - Renée Adorée, French actress (b. 1898)
- November 30 - Arthur Currie, Canadian military leader (b. 1875)
- December 4 - Stefan George, German poet (b. 1868)
- December 8 - Karl Jatho, German airplane pioneer (b. 1873)
- December 25 - Francesc Macià, President of the Generalitat (autonomous government of Catalonia) (b. 1859)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac
- Chemistry - not awarded
- Physiology or Medicine - Thomas Hunt Morgan
- Literature - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin
- Peace - Sir Norman Angell (Ralph Lane) Category:1933 ko:1933년 ms:1933 ja:1933年 simple:1933 th:พ.ศ. 2476

Münster

Münster is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. Population: 269.105 (30.06.2003), area 302.83 km².

History

In 793 Charlemagne sent out as missionary the Frisian Liudger (later canonized) to convert the Saxons with whom he had been battling, offering as headquarters his recently demolished Frankish stronghold of Mimigernaford ("ford over the Aa river"), at the crossroads of the road from Cologne and the road to Frisia. Liutger was a product of Utrecht and the York school of Ethelbert, which produced many of the clerics who served in Charlemagne's chancelry. He built his church and cloister on the right bank of the Aa, on the height called the Horsteberg: it was the monastery ("monasterium") from which Münster derives its name. In 805 Liudger travelled to Rome to be ordained a bishop, and soon founded a school. The combination of ford and crossroad, marketplace, episcopal administration center, library and school, established Münster as an important center [http://www.kirchensite.de/index.php?myELEMENT=78003]. In the Middle Ages Münster was a leading member of the Hanseatic League. In 1534 the Anabaptists took power in the Münster Rebellion and founded a democratic proto-socialistic state. The town was recaptured in 1535; the Anabaptists were tortured to death, their dead bodies were exhibited in cages, which still hang from St. Lamberti's steeple. The signing of the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 at Münster and Osnabrück guaranteed the future of the prince-bishop and the diocese; the area was to be exclusively Roman Catholic. In 1780 the University of Münster (Westphalian Wilhelms-University (WWU)) has been founded. In 1802 Münster was conquered by Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. It became the capital of the Prussian province of Westphalia. In World War II Münster was mostly destroyed by Allied air raids, but it was rebuilt after the war in an ancient style. From 1974 onward, the city was the residence of the American artist Moondog, who idolized postwar Germany. Münster was part of West Germany during the Cold War. In 2003, Münster hosted the Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI). In 2004, Münster won the LivCom-Award for Liveable Communities. See the [http://www.muenster.de/stadt/umwelt/pdf/livcom2004.pdf leaflet (.pdf)] and the 10-min.-long DivX-coded film: [http://www.muenster.de/stadt/umweltamt/livcom/livcom2004_320.avi the 48mb-version] or [http://www.muenster.de/stadt/umweltamt/livcom/livcom2004.avi the 87mb-version] from the official Münster-homepage

Sights

- Prinzipalmarkt, marketplace in the city centre, with the town hall (14th century)
- St Paul's Cathedral, 13th century, with an astronomical clock of 1540
- St Lambert's Church (1375); the cages, which once exhibited the bodies of the Anabaptists, still hang from the steeple
- Castle, built 1767-87 as residence for the bishop, now the administrative center for the University.

Scientific Education and Research

- University of Münster (Westphalian Wilhelms-University (WWU))
- Fachhochschule Münster
- Fachhochschule for public Administration
- Catholic Fachhochschule Münster
- Kunstakademie Münster
- Hochschule der Polizei
- about 92 Schools of primary and secondary education

City boroughs

- Coerde
- Kinderhaus
- Sprakel
- Handorf
- Gelmer
- Wolbeck
- Gremmendorf
- Angelmodde
- Hiltrup
- Amelsbüren
- Berg Fidel
- Mecklenbeck
- Albachten
- Gievenbeck
- Roxel
- Nienberge
- Häger
- St. Mauritz
- Mauritz
- Kreuzviertel
- Handorf

City Mottos (running gag)

- Either it's raining, or the bells are ringing. If both: then it's Sunday.
- There's a pub opening up.

External links

- [http://www.muenster.de City's official homepage]
- [http://www.uni-muenster.de Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster]
- [http://www.panorama-cities.net/muenster/muenster.html City Panoramas] - Panoramic Views of Münster's Highlights
- [http://www.7grad.org 7Grad.org - Bunkers in Muenster] - History of Muenster's air raid shelters
- [http://www.ceoi2003.de Central European Olympiad in Informatics 2003] - hosted in Münster
- [http://www.geocities.com/univercities/muenster/index.html Pictures from a Muenster visit in April 2004] ---- ---- Category:Cities in Germany Category:Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia ko:뮌스터 ja:ミュンスター

Hamburg

:This article is about the city in Germany. For other articles named Hamburg, see Hamburg (disambiguation). Hamburg (disambiguation) Hamburg is Germany's second largest city (after Berlin) and, with the Hamburg Harbour, its principal port. The official name Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg) recalls its membership in the mediæval Hanseatic League and the fact that Hamburg is a city state and one of Germany's sixteen Bundesländer. The state and administrative city cover 750 km²; with 1.8 million inhabitants, while another 750,000 live in neighbouring urban areas. The Greater Hamburg Metropolitan Region (Metropolregion Hamburg) including nearby districts of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony covers 18,100 km² with a population of 4 million. The city of Hamburg is situated at three rivers, the Alster, the Bille and the Elbe, at . The city centre is beautifully situated around two artificial lakes, the Außenalster and the Binnenalster, which are formed by the river Alster. 100 km to the North-West, three islands in the North Sea also belong to the city-state of Hamburg: Neuwerk, Scharhörn and Nigehörn. The burg part of the city's name is cognate to the English word borough as well as words and place names in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language along with others. For a fuller explanation, see under borough.

Politics

The Bürgerschaft (city assembly) is the parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (official name, German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), which is voted for by the citizens of Hamburg every four years. The first mayor of the city (Erster Bürgermeister) as head of the senate (which forms the executive branch) is elected by the Bürgerschaft (city assembly) and is thus head of the city state. Currently, this is Ole von Beust. See also: List of mayors of Hamburg

Language

German and a regional dialect called Missingsch which is influenced by the Plattdüütsch, which is rarely spoken now but can be still heard from harbour labourers.

Economy

Plattdüütsch, facing the harbour]] The most significant economic basis for Hamburg in the past centuries has been (and still is) its harbour (see: Hamburg Harbour), which ranks 2^nd in Europe and 9^th worldwide with transshipments of 7 million standard container units (TEU) and 115 million tonnes of goods in 2004. International trade is also the reason for the large number of consulates in the city. consulates Other important industries are the aerospace company Airbus, which has one of its two assembly plants located there, and media businesses, most notably three of Germany's largest publishing companies, Axel Springer Verlag [http://www.axelspringer.de/], Gruner + Jahr [http://www.guj.de/] and Heinrich Bauer Verlag [http://www.hbv.de/]. About half of Germany's national newspapers and magazines are produced in Hamburg. There are also a number of music companies (the largest being Warner Music Germany) and Internet businesses (e.g. AOL and Google Germany). Heavy industry includes a steel, an aluminium and Europe's largest copper plant [http://www.na-ag.com/], and a number of shipyards like Blohm + Voss [http://www.blohmvoss.de/].

History

The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a fort that Charlemagne ordered built as a defence against Slavic incursion. The fort went up in 808 on some rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe. It was named Hamma Burg, where the "burg" means "fort." The "Hamma" element remains uncertain. Old High German includes both a hamma, "angle" and a hamme, "pastureland." The angle might refer to a spit of land or to the curvature of a river. However, the language spoken might not have been Old High German, as Plattdüütsch was spoken there later. Other theories are that the fort was named for a surrounding Hamma forest, or for the village of Hamm, later incorporated into the city. Hamm as a place name occurs a number of times in Germany, but its meaning is equally uncertain. It could be related to heim and Hamburg could have been placed in the territory of the ancient Chamavi. However, a derivation of "home city" is perhaps too direct, as the city was named after the castle. Hamburg was designated the seat of a bishopric (834), whose first bishop, Ansgar, became known as the Apostle of the North. In 845 a fleet said to number 600 Viking ships came up the River Elbe and destroyed Hamburg, at that time a place of around 500 inhabitants. Two years after that Hamburg was united with Bremen as the bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. In 1030 the city was burned down by King Mieszko II of Poland. The see was finally moved to Bremen after further raids in 1066 and 1072, this time by Slavs from the east. Frederick I "Barbarossa" is said to have granted free access up the Lower Elbe to Hamburg in a charter of 1189. Hamburg's proximity to the main trade routes of the North and Baltic Seas quickly made it a major port of Northern Europe, and its alliance (1241) with Lübeck on the Baltic is considered the origin of the powerful Hanseatic League of trading cities. However, Frederick's document, still at display at the town museum, is known to be a fake from around 1265. Therefore Hamburg does not hold city rights. Lübeck In the 1520s the city authorities embraced Lutheranism, and Hamburg subsequently received Protestant refugees from the Netherlands and France. At times under Danish sovereignty while a part of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1768 it gained full Danish recognition as an Imperial Free City. Annexed briefly by France (1810 -14), Hamburg suffered severely during Napoleon I's last campaign in Germany, but experienced its fastest growth during the second half of the 19th century, when its population more than quadrupled to 800,000 as the growth of the city's Atlantic trade helped make it Europe's third-largest port. Hamburg was destroyed by fire several times, notably in 1284 and 1842. The last and worst destruction took place in World War II, when the city suffered a series of devastating air raids, Operation Gomorrah (24 July-2 August 1943). Today's inner city therefore hosts almost no buildings from before 1842 and even few from before 1945. On February 16, 1962 a severe storm causes the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, thus drowning one fifth of Hamburg, killing more than 300 people and making about 18,000 homeless. The city boundaries were extended in 1937 with the Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz (Greater Hamburg Act) to incorporate neighbouring Wandsbek, Harburg-Wilhelmsburg and Altona. During World War II, Hamburg was the Headquarters (Hauptquartier) of Military District (Wehrkreis) X under the command of General der Infanterie Walter Raschick. Wehrkreis X which was responsible for military units in Schleswig-Holstein, part of Hanover, and Danish Slesvig. It also was the Garrison Town of the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division. This division took part in the invasions of Poland, France and Russia. The Hamburg-Rahlstedt Garrison Training Area was also under the control of Wehrkreis X. In response to Germany levelling Coventry two days before, the Royal Air Force began to bomb Hamburg on November 16, 1940. Later, in Operation Gomorrah the British bombed Hamburg on July 28, 1943 which caused a firestorm that killed 42,000 German civilians. By the end of the war at least 50,000 Hamburg residents had died in Allied attacks. The population of the city proper peaked in the mid-1960s at 1.85 million, but has recovered from a mid-1980s low of under 1.6m. Growth is now concentrated in the suburban areas. The Hamburg Harbour remains the prize asset of the city and is one of the largest deep-sea ports for container shipping in the world.

Sister Cities

- Chicago, Illinois, USA, since 1994
- Dresden, Germany, since 1987
- León, Nicaragua, since 1989
- Marseille, France, since 1958
- Ōsaka, Japan, since 1989
- Prague, Czech Republic, since 1990
- Shanghai, Peoples' Republic of China, since 1986
- St. Petersburg, Russia, since 1957 1957

Transport

Hamburg is connected by four Autobahnen (motorways) and is the most important railway junction on the route to Northern Europe. Hamburg's international airport is Hamburg Airport, which is the oldest airport in Germany still in operation. Though large cities in Germany normally only have a one letter prefix (e.g. B for Berlin), Hamburg's vehicle licence plate prefix is "HH" (Hansestadt Hamburg, English: Hanseatic City Hamburg), which underlines Hamburg's historic roots. Like in most larger German cities, the local public transport is organised by a Verkehrsverbund, basically a joint venture of all public transport companies servicing the area. In and around Hamburg, it's the HVV (Hamburger Verkehrsverbund). Tickets sold by one HVV company are accepted by all other HVV companies. Seven, during rush hours nine, local railway lines carry the major part of public transport in and around Hamburg. Three lines belong to the so-called U-Bahn system, the rest to the S-Bahn. Even though U-Bahn is short for Untergrundbahn (underground, subway) and S-Bahn for Schnellbahn (fast railways), the difference in naming is mostly historical; today, both systems run electric trains on tracks partly over- as well as underground. Elderly citizens actually still call the underground Hochbahn ("elevated railway"), since parts of the U-Bahn system run elevated on iron viaducts over the streets. In addition to the U- and S-Bahn a third company operates three lines in the outskirts of Hamburg. Finally, regional trains of Germany's major railway company [http://bahn.de Deutsche Bahn AG] may be used with a HVV public transport ticket, too. The regional trains only stop at three main stations in Hamburg's centre and at stations on the far ends of the HVV area, outside Hamburg. Additionally there is a day and night bus network that operates as frequently as 2 minutes at important places to 30 minutes in suburban areas. Another rather unique means of transportation are 5 ferry lines along the river Elbe. While mainly needed by Hamburg citizens and dock workers they can also be used for sightseeing tours at the (relatively) low fees of a HVV public transport ticket.

Districts

Hamburg is organized in seven boroughs (Bezirke) comprising 104 quarters (Stadtteile):
- Altona
- Bergedorf
- Eimsbüttel
- Hamburg-Mitte
- Hamburg-Nord
- Hamburg-Harburg
- Wandsbek The neighbouring districts of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein belong to the Greater Hamburg Metropolitan Region, including:
- Pinneberg (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Segeberg (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Stormarn (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Lauenburg (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Harburg (Lower Saxony)
- Stade (Lower Saxony) The neighbouring towns in Schleswig-Holstein are substantial suburbs of Hamburg, including:
- Wedel (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Pinneberg (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Schenefeld (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Norderstedt (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Ahrensburg (Schleswig-Holstein)
- Reinbek (Schleswig-Holstein)

Constructions

Tunnels

- Old Elbe Tunnel (Alter Elbtunnel)
- New Elbe Tunnel (Elbtunnel)

Bridges

The countless beautiful canals in Hamburg are crossed by over 2300 bridges - that's more than Amsterdam (1200) and Venice (400) have together.
- Köhlbrandbrücke

Towers and masts

- Heinrich-Hertz-Turm
- Transmitter Hamburg-Billstedt Champions League|European Cup]] by beating Juventus Turin

Culture

Institutions

- DESY - Deutsches Elektronen SYnchrotron, the German Electron Synchrotron
- Literaturhaus

Churches

The skyline of Hamburg features the high spires of the five main churches ('Hauptkirchen') covered with green copper plates.
- St. Michaelis church ('Michel')
- St. Nikolai church (memorial)
- St. Petri church (11th century)
- St. Jakobi church (13th century)
- St. Katharinen church (14th century)

Theatres

- Schauspielhaus
- Ernst-Deutsch-Theater
- St. Pauli Theater
- Hamburger Kammerspiele
- Thalia Theater
- Ohnsorg-Theater - a theatre in which the actors speak in Plattdüütsch

Dance clubs

- Angie's Nightclub (Soul/Jazz/Livebands) [http://tivoli.de/Info/Angies/index.html website]
- Change (Gay)(Electronica) [http://www.change-hamburg.de/ website]
- China Lounge (House) [http://www.china-lounge.de/ website]
- Docks (Trance/Latin/RnB/Mixed) [http://www.docks.de/ website]
- Cult Club (70s, 80s, Classics) [http://www.cult-hh.de/ website]
- Echochamber (Reggae/Dancehall/Electro) [http://www.echochamber.info/ website]
- Funky Pussy Club (HipHop/R&B) [http://www.locationsite.de/hamburg/funkypussy.htm/ Info]
- Große Freiheit 36 (Mixed) [http://www.grossefreiheit36.de/ website]
- Grünspan (Mixed/Livebands) [http://www.gruenspan.de website]
- Kaiserkeller (in the basement of Große Freiheit 36)
- Kir (Alternative/Mixed/Wednesday=Gay) [http://www.kir-hamburg.de/ website]
- Lounge (House/Soul/Latin/Lounge) [http://www.locationsite.de/hamburg/lounge.htm Info]
- Molotow (Livemusic/Clubnights/Rock) [http://www.molotowclub.com/index.htm/ website]
- Pit (Gay)(Electronica)(Bondar) [http://www.pit-male.de/ website]
- Pacha (House) [http://www.pacha-hh.de website]
- Rutsche (Dancehall/Techno/Pop/Rock)
- Superfly (House/HipHop/Mixed) [http://www.super-fly-club.de/ website]
- Thomas Read (House/Pop/R&B) [http://www.thomasread.de website]
- Waagenbau (Electronica/Techno/HipHop) [http://www.waagenbau.com/ website]
- Weltbühne (DJs/Liveacts) [http://www.weltbuehne-hamburg.com/ website]

Music

Classical

- Famous organ built by Arp Schnitger (1648-1719)

Composers

- Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
- Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach)
- Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
- Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Pop

Hamburg is known for giving the Beatles a start in their musical career in the early 1960s. They played at the Star Club, which was located in the district St. Pauli near the perhaps most famous street of Hamburg, the Reeperbahn. More recently it is known for some of the most popular German hip-hop acts, such as 5 Sterne Deluxe, Samy Deluxe, Beginner and Fettes Brot. There is also a quite big alternative and punk scene which gathers around the Rote Flora, an occupied villa once owned by Salomon Heine located in the district of Sternschanze. Some of the musicians of the famous electronic band Kraftwerk also came from Hamburg. Hamburg is also famous for an original kind of German alternative music called Hamburger Schule ("School of Hamburg"), a term used for bands like Die Sterne, Tocotronic, Blumfeld and Tomte. Hamburg was one of the major centers of the heavy metal music world in the 1980's. Many bands such as Helloween, Running Wild and Grave Digger got their start in Hamburg. The influences of these bands and other bands from the area were critical to establishing the subgenre of Power metal.

Museums

Museums in Hamburg include:
- Altona Museum and North German State Museum [http://www.altonaer-museum.de/de/]
- Art Gallery (Kunsthalle Hamburg) [http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/]
- Brahmsmuseum
- Bucerius Kunst Forum [http://www.buceriuskunstforum.de/]
- Hamburg Museum for Archaeology and the History of Harburg
- Neuengamme concentration camp memorial [http://www.hamburg.de/Neuengamme/welcome.en.html]
- Speicherstadt Museum [http://www.speicherstadtmuseum.de/]
- Museum of Labour [http://www.museum-der-arbeit.de/]
- Museum für Völkerkunde [http://www.voelkerkundemuseum.com/]

Regional dishes

Although Hamburg is jokingly said to be the birthplace of the hamburger, this is just a myth. The hamburger was named after Hamburg. Original Hamburg dishes are "Birnen, Bohnen und Speck" (green runner beans cooked with pears and bacon), "Aalsuppe" (Often mistaken to be German for "eel soup" (aal = eel), however the name probably comes from the Low Saxon "aalens", meaning "all" - anything could be in it, but not necessarily eel. Today eel is often included to meet the expectations of unsuspecting diners.), "Bratkartoffeln" (fried potatoes), "Finkenwerder Scholle" (fried plaice), Pannfisch (fried fish), Rote Grütze (something similar to summer pudding consisting mainly of red berries) and "Labskaus" (a strange looking combination of corned beef, mashed potatoes and beet root – with a name oddly similar to Liverpool's lobscouse).

Tourism

Hamburg is best visited in spring or summer. A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing busses connect these points of interest. Of course, a visit in one of the world's largest harbours would definitely be incomplete without having taken one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn, considered Europe's second largest red light district and home of many theatres, bars and night clubs. However, as already indicated, most people visit Hamburg because of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event or an exhibition.

Statistics

The described type of tourism leaves clear tracks in the statistics: In 2004, each visitor spent an average of two nights. The majority of visitors comes from Germany (80%), most foreigners are European, especially from the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and the largest group from outside Europe comes from the USA. Medical tourism became an issue in 2004 because of the number of rich Arabic patients seeking medical treatment in one of Hamburg's hospitals; accordingly, the number of visitors from the Persian Gulf states grew by nearly 30% compared to 2003. A lot more visitors also came from East Asia (Taiwan, China) and especially the Baltic states.

Regular events

For the interested visitor, some events held every year:
- Sports (Note that a registration, usually months in advance, is needed for public races.)
- Hamburg Marathon [http://www.marathon-hamburg.de/] - marathon, open to the public: April
- Tennis Masters Series: May
- Dragon boat race, open to the public (if you have a dragon boat..): August
- HEW Cyclassics [http://www.hew-cyclassics.de/] - bike race, open to the public: August
- Holsten City Man Triathlon [http://www.holstencityman.de/] - triathlon, open to the public: August
- Film festivals
- Filmfest Hamburg [http://www.filmfesthamburg.de/]: September
- Fantasy Filmfest [http://www.fantasyfilmfest.com/]: April
- Kurzfilmfestival - International Short Film Festival [http://www.shortfilm.com/]: June
- Lateinamerika-Filmtage - Latin-America Days [http://www.cinelatino.de/]: December
- Spanische Filmtage - Spanish Days [http://www.cinelatino.de/]: July
- Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Hamburg [http://hamburg.gay-web.de/filmtage/]: October
- Arts & Exhibitions
- International Fireworks Festival: August
- Kirschblütenfest - Grand fireworks and Japanese culture: May
- Lange Nacht der Museen - one ticket, 40 of Hamburg's museums open until midnight: May
- Theme nights (jungle, romantic, Asian) at Hagenbeck's zoo [http://www.hagenbeck.de/]: Saturdays in summer
- Music
- Fleetinselfest - Music and international artists open air [http://www.bwp-events.de/eigene/fleetinsel_main.html]: July
- G-Move - Techno parade: June
- Schlagermove - German 1970's music parade [http://www.schlagermove.de/]: July
- Fun / Street Festivals
- Alstervergnügen [http://www.alstervergnuegen-hamburg.de/] - Alster fair: August
- Christopher Street Day (Gay Pride Parade) [http://www.hamburg-pride.de/]: June
- Hafengeburtstag [http://www.hamburger-hafengeburtstag.de/]- Hamburg's harbour birthday: May
- Motorradgottesdienst - Biker's divine service in Hamburg's largest church St. Michaelis: June

Notable people

Scientists

- Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 - January 1, 1894), famous physicist for whom the unit Hertz is named, first to demonstrate the existence of radio waves.

Architects

- Fritz Höger
- Fritz Schumacher

External links

- [http://international.hamburg.de/?ba=english Official Hamburg website] - In many languages
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Germany/States/Hamburg/ Hamburg category of the Open Directory Project DMOZ]
- [http://www.panorama-cities.net/hamburg/hamburg.html Hamburg City Panoramas] - Panoramic Views and virtual Tours Category:States of Germany Category:German state capitals
- Category:Cities in Germany Category:Port cities als:Hamburg ko:함부르크 ja:ハンブルク nb:Hamburg simple:Hamburg Category:Former countries in Europe

1938

1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-March

common year starting on Saturday
- January 5 - H.R.H. Prince Juan Carlos of Spain is born.
- January 3 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- January 11 - Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
- January 20 - Wedding of King Farouk I of Egypt and Queen Farida Zulficar in Cairo
- January 28 - The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.
- January 31 - Crown princess Beatrix is born in Netherlands
- February 4 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City).
- February 10 - Carol II of Romania takes dictatorial powers
- February 12 - World War II: German troops enter Austria
- February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
- March 3 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
- March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
- March 15 - Soviet Union announces officially that Nikholai Bukharin has been executed
- March 18 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

April-June

- April 12 - Edouard Daladier becomes president of France
- April 25 - U.S. Supreme Court delivers opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
- April 28 - The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
- May 5 - Vatican recognizes Franco's government in Spain
- May 25 - Bombing of Alicante, Spain, in the Spanish Civil War, with 313 deads. Spanish Civil War
- June 1 - Action Comics issues the first Superman comic.
- June 11 - Fire destroys 212 buildings in Ludes, Latvia
- June 12-18 - Roma and Sinti in Germany and Austria are rounded up, beaten up and jailed
- June 19 - Italy beat Hungary 4-2 to win the 1938 World Cup
- June 23 - The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
- June 23 - Marineland opens near St. Augustine, Florida.
- June 25 - Dr. Douglas Hyde is elected the first President of Ireland.
- June 28 - A 450 metric ton meteorite struck the earth in an empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania

July-September

- July 3 - Steam locomotive "Mallard" sets the world speed record for steam by reaching 126 mph.
- July 3 - The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemerates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
- July 10 - Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.
- July - Building of the concentration camp Mauthausen
- August 18 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- September - European crisis over German demand for annexation of Sudeten borderland of Czechoslovakia.
- September 21 - A large hurricane (the New England Hurricane of 1938) strikes Long Island, killing 600 people.
- September 29 - Munich agreement of German, Italian, British and French leaders agrees to German demands regarding annexation of Sudetenland.
- September 29 - Republic of Hatay declared in Syria

October-December

Syria returns to the UK waving the Munich Agreement.]]
- October 1 - German troops march into Sudetenland
- October 5 - Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia, resigns
- October 10 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
- October 17 - Jan Syrovy's government begins in Czechoslovakia
- October 27 - Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon".
- October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing mass panic in the eastern United States.
- October 31 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
- November 9 - Holocaust: Kristallnacht begins - In Germany, the "night of broken glass" begins as Nazi troops and sympathizers loot and burn Jewish businesses (the all night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
- November 10 - On the eve of Armistice Day, Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's God Bless America for the first time on her weekly radio show.
- November 18 - Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
- November 30 - Czech parliament elects Emil Hácha as the new president of Czechoslovakia.
- December 23 - Coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct, caught off the coast of South Africa near Chalumna River

Unknown dates

- Italian mathematician Ettore Majorano disappears
- In Québec, the St. Jean Baptiste Society raises a petition of 128,000 names, demanding restrictions on Jews living in Quebec. Abbe Groulx denounces Jews as a race that refuses to be assimilated.
- In West Java, Daeng Soetigna tuned traditional angklung to play also diatonic scale.
- The Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.
- Adolf Hitler is Time magazine's "Man of the Year" (as most influential during the course of the year, not as 'best' man of the year)
- Enoch A. Holtwick began long political career.

Ongoing events

- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Births

January-February

- January 2 - Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
- January 2 - Ian Brady, British serial killer
- January 5 - King Juan Carlos I of Spain
- January 8 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host
- January 10 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist
- January 10 - Willie McCovey, baseball player
- January 14 - Jack Jones, American singer and actor
- January 18 - Curt Flood, baseball player (d. 1997)
- January 23 - Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
- January 25 - Etta James, American singer
- January 31 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- February 1 - Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor
- February 8 - Prentice Gautt, American football player
- February 11 - Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer
- February 11 - Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator
- February 12 - Judy Blume, American author
- February 13 - Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
- February 18 - Istvan Szabo, Hungarian director
- February 24 - Phil Knight, American sportswear entrepreneur
- February 25 - Herb Elliott, Australian runner

March-April

- March 4 - Don Perkins, American football player
- March 7 - David Baltimore, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- March 7 - Janet Guthrie, American race car driver
- March 13 - Erma Franklin, American singer (d. 2002)
- March 17 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- March 18 - Charley Pride, American baseball player and musician
- March 23 - Maynard Jackson, mayor of Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2003)
- March 25 - Hoyt Axton, American musician and actor (d. 1999)
- March 26 - Anthony James Leggett, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 1 - John Quade, American actor
- April 4 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, American president of Yale University and baseball commissioner (d. 1989)
- April 8 - Kofi Annan, Ghanaian Secretary General of the United Nations, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- April 10 - Don Meredith, American football player and broadcaster
- April 11 - Kurt Moll, German bass
- April 12 - Roger Caron, Canadian author
- April 26 - Duane Eddy, American musician
- April 29 - Larry Niven, American author

May-July

- May 17 - Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
- May 22 - Richard Benjamin, American actor
- May 26 - William Bolcom, American composer
- May 26 - Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano
- May 31 - Johnny PayCheck, American singer (d. 2003)
- May 31 - Peter Yarrow, American singer
- June 5 - Karin Balzer, German athlete
- June 7 - Goose Gonsoulin, American football player
- June 15 - Billy Williams, baseball player
- June 19 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (d. 2002)
- June 28 - Moy Yat, Chinese martial artist
- July 4 - Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter
- July 6 - Tony Lewis, English cricketer
- July 12 - Wieger Mensonides, Dutch swimmer
- July 19 - Jayant Narlikar, Indian Astrophysicist
- July 20 - Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
- July 23 - Juliet Anderson, American actress
- July 23 - Bert Newton, Australian actor and televison show host
- July 27 - Gary Gygax, American author
- July 28 - Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian president
- July 29 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born television news reporter (d. 2005)

August-October

- August 9 - Ezola Broussard Foster, Vice President of the United States
- August 9 - Rod Laver, Australian tennis player
- August 15 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer
- August 19 - Diana Muldaur, American actress
- August 22 - Paul Maguire, American football player
- August 24 - Halldór Blöndal, Icelandic politician
- August 24 - David Freiberg, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Starship)
- August 28 - Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television news reporter
- August 28 - Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
- August 31 - Martin Bell, British journalist and politician
- September 2 - Clarence Felder, American actor
- September 3 - Ryoji Noyori, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 10 - Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer and photographer
- September 13 - John Smith, Scottish politician (d. 1994)
- September 22 - Gene Mingo, American football player
- September 25 - Jonathan Motzfeldt, Prime Minister of Greenland
- September 29 - Wim Kok, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- October 3 - Eddie Cochran, American singer (d. 1960)
- October 4 - Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 9 - Heinz Fischer, Austrian politician
- October 14 - Farah Diba, Empress of Iran
- October 15 - Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and activist (d. 1997)
- October 23 - H. John Heinz III, U.S. Senator (d. 1991)
- October 29 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian president-elect

November-December

- November 2 - Patrick Joseph Buchanan, American journalist and Presidential candidate
- November 6 - Mack Jones, baseball player (d. 2004)
- November 13 - Jean Seberg, American actress
- November 16 - Robert Nozick, American philosopher (d. 2002)
- November 26 - Porter J. Goss, American politician and Central Intelligence Agency director
- December 4 - Andre V. Marrou, U.S. Presidential candidate
- December 4 - Yvonne Minton, Australian soprano
- December 15 - Billy Shaw, American football player
- December 16 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
- December 17 - Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete

Fictional

- September - Freddy Krueger, child murderer (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

Deaths

- January 20 - Émile Cohl, French caricaturist and animator (b. 1857)
- January 21 - Georges Méliès, French film director (b. 1861)
- January 28 - Bernd Rosemeyer, German racing driver (b. 1909)
- February 2 - Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (b. 1856)
- February 7 - Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)
- February 18 - David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
- February 19 - Edmund Landau, German mathematician (b. 1877)
- March 1 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero, and politician (b. 1863)
- March 2 - Ben Harney, American composer and pianist (b. 1871)
- March 13 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Soviet politician (b. 1888)
- March 13 - Clarence Darrow, American attorney (b. 1857)
- April 8 - Joe "King" Oliver, American musician (b. 1885)
- April 12 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (b. 1873)
- April 16 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)
- April 21 - Allama Iqbal, Indian philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
- April 26 - Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b. 1859)
- May 4 - Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)
- May 13 - Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- May 26 - John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist (b. 1857)
- August 1 - Edmund Charles Tarbell, American artist (b. 1862)
- August 7 - Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor (b. 1863)
- August 16 - Robert Johnson, American musician (b. 1911)
- September 17 - Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
- October 22 - May Irwin, Canadian actress and singer (b. 1862)
- October 24 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and poet (b. 1870)
- October 27 - Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (b. 1881)
- November 10 - Kemal Atatürk, President of Turkey (b. 1881)
- December 11 - Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1869)
- December 25 - Karel Čapek, Czech author (b. 1890)
- December 28 - Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Enrico Fermi
- Chemistry - Richard Kuhn
- Medicine - Corneille Jean François Heymans
- Literature - Pearl S. Buck
- Peace - Nansen International Office For Refugees, Geneva. Category:1938 ko:1938년 ms:1938 ja:1938年 simple:1938 th:พ.ศ. 2481

Gniezno

Gniezno (pronounced: Image:Ltspkr.png ['gɲȋεznɔ], German: Gnesen) is a town in W central Poland, some 50 km east of Poznan, inhabited by about 73,000 people. Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 1999), previously in Poznan Voivodship. It is the administrative capital of the Gniezno powiat (district or county).

History

There are archeological traces of human settlement since the late Paleolithic. Early Slavonic settlements are on the Lech Hill and the Maiden Hill are dated to 8th century and the ducal stronghold was founded just before AD 800 on the Lech Hill, and surrounded with some fortified suburbs and open settlements.

Legend of Lech, Czech and Rus

According to the legends: three brothers Lech, Czech and Rus were penetrating the wilderness to find a place to settle. Suddenly they saw a hill with an old oak and an eagle on top. Lech said: this white eagle I will adopt as am emblem of my people, and around this oak I will build my stronghold, and because of the eagle nest [Polish: gniazdo] I will call it Gniezdno [modern: Gniezno]. The other brothers went further on to find a place for their people. Czech went to the South and Rus went to the East.

Cradle of the Polish state

In 10th century Gniezno became one of the main towns of the early Piast dynasty, founders of Polish state. Gniezno was the first capital of Poland.

Gniezno meeting 1000

It is here that the Congress of Gniezno took place in the year 1000 AD, during which Boleslaus I the Brave (Boleslaw Chrobry), the first king of Poland, received Emperor Otto III, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The two monarchs celebrated the foundation of the Polish ecclesiastical province (archbishopship) in Gniezno, with newly established bishopship in Kolobrzeg for Pomerania; Wroclaw for Silesia; Krakow for Little Poland and later also already existing since 968 bishopships in Poznan for western Greater Poland. Greater Poland

Royal coronation site

The 10th century Gniezno cathedral witnessed royal coronations of Boleslaus I the Brave in 1024, his son Mieszko II Lambert in 1025. The cities of Gniezno and nearby Poznan were captured, plundered and destroyed in 1038 by the Czech duke Bretislav, what pushed the next Polish rulers to move the Polish capital to Kraków. The archepiscopal cathedral was reconstucted by the next ruler Boleslaus II of Poland who was crowned king here in 1076. In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy was granted by the duke Wladislaw Odonic. Gniezno was again the coronation site in 1295 and 1300.

Regional site of Greater Poland

The city was destroyed again by the Teutonic Knights invasion in 1331, and after an administrative reform became a county within the Kalisz Voivodship (since 14th century till 1768). Gniezno was hit by heavy fires in 1515, 1613, was destroyed during the Swedish invasion wars of the 17th-18th centuries and by a plague of 1708-1710. All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the Gniezno voivodship in 1768.

Archbishops of Gniezno

Gniezno's Roman Catholic archbishop is traditionally the Primate of Poland (Prymas Polski). After the partitions of Poland the see was often combined with others, first with Poznan and then with Warsaw. In 1992 Pope John Paul II reorganized the Polish hierarchy and the city once again had a separate bishop. Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who had been archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and retained Warsaw, was designated to remain Primate until his retirement, but afterward the Archbishop of Gniezno, at present Henryk Muszynski, would again be Primate of Poland. Henryk Muszynski

Royal coronations in Gniezno cathedral

- 25 December 1024 - Boleslaus I the Brave
- 25 December 1025 - Mieszko II Lambert and his wife Richensa of Lotharingia
- 25 December 1076 - Boleslaus the Generous and his wife Wyszesława of Kiev
- 26 June 1295 - Przemysl II and his wife Margaret of Brandenburgia
- August 1300 - Wenceslaus II of Bohemia

Historical population

- 1980: 62,400 inhabitants
- 1990: 70,400 inhabitants
- 1995: 71,000 inhabitants

Education

- The Gniezno School of Humanism and Management - Millennium(Gnieźnieńska Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Menedżerska Milenium
- The Archiepiscopal Eclessaitical Seminary (Arcybiskupie Seminarium Duchowne)

Arts and culture

- Aleksander Fredro Theatre (Teatr im. A. Fredry)
- Museum of the Polish State Origins (Muzeum Początków Państwa Polskiego)

Major corporations

- PHUP Andrzej Szeszycki
- [http://www.faxy.pl Faxy.pl :: For you and your family]

External links

- [http://www.gniezno.home.pl/ Gniezno homepage] (English and German version also available), The official site of the Gniezno City's Administration, from which much of the above was taken and adapted.
- [http://www.forum.gniezno.com.pl/ Gnieźnieńskie Forum Internetowe]
- [http://www.archidiecezja.pl/php/index.php?l=pl Archidiecezja Gnieżnieńska] The official site of the Gniezno Archdiocese.
- [http://www.powiat-gniezno.pl/en/index.html Gniezno Poviat] The official site of the Gniezno District, which comprises of 9 "gmina".
- [http://www.urzadgminy.gniezno.pl/ Urząd Gminy Gniezno] The official site of the Gniezno Gmina "community" administration.
- [http://www.mok.gniezno.pl/ MOK - Miejski środek Kultury w Gnieźnie] The Gniezno Cultural Centre. Category:Towns in Greater Poland

Obergruppenführer

Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA. Translated as "Senior Group Leader", the rank of SA-Obergruppenführer was held by members of the Oberste SA-Führerung (Supreme SA Command) and also by veteran commanders of certain SA-Gruppen (SA Groups). The rank of Obergruppenführer was considered senior to the older title of Gruppenführer. Gruppenführer As an SS rank, Obergruppenführer was created due to the growth and expansion of the SS under Heinrich Himmler. Himmler was one of the first SS officers appointed to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, and held the rank while simultaneously serving as the Reichsführer-SS. At the time Himmler held the rank of Obergruppenführer, Reichsführer was simply a title and not yet an actual rank. In the early days of the SS, the rank of Obergruppenführer was occasionally used to make two SS leaders equal in seniority, so as to prevent a power struggle within the Nazi Party. Such was the case with Kurt Daluege, who commanded most of the SS in the Berlin region between 1930 and 1934. To avoid having the SS split into two separate entities, one based in Northern Germany and the other in Bavaria, Adolf Hitler promoted Daluege to the new rank of Obergruppenführer making him equal in rank to Himmler. After the Night of the Long Knives, the SS and the SA became two completely separate organizations. The SA continued to use the rank of Obergruppenführer, but the title gained predominance mainly in the SS. With the Nazi Party in power, and the SS a state agency of Germany, SS-Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of the SS, with the exception of Himmler’s special rank of Reichsführer-SS. Within the Waffen-SS, the rank came to be considered the equivalent of a full General. The rank would remain the highest SS-General rank until 1942, when the SS created the rank of SS-Oberstgruppenführer. The rank of Obergruppenführer was held by some of the most notorious figures in the SS, with Reinhard Heydrich and Ernst Kaltenbrunner both claiming title to the rank. Karl Wolff was another holder of the rank and was the highest ranking SS officer who was taken alive by the Allies after the close of Second World War. SS-Obergruppenführer was also the standard rank for SS and Police Leaders as well as Division commanders of the Waffen-SS. Category:Nazi paramilitary ranks Category:SS

Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg

Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg (March 17, 1897 – September 20, 1943) was an Oberführer (senior colonel) of the SS and commander of the Warsaw area. He was in charge of the first failed offensive in the Warsaw Ghetto on April 19, 1943. After the failed offensive, von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by Jürgen Stroop, court-martialed on April 24th, 1943, and found guilty of "defending Jews". He was subsequently transferred to Croatia where he was killed in a partisan ambush near the city of Klasznic.

Sources

- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sammern.html jewishvirtuallibrary.org]
- [http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/mudra.htm list of SS officers]

World War I

, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas.]] World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the War of the Nations and the War to End All Wars, was a world conflict lasting from 1914 to 1919, with the fighting lasting until 1918. The label World War I or First World War did not come into general use until after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and until then it was known as the Great War or the World War. The war was fought by the Allied Powers on one side, and the Central Powers on the other. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers or involved so many in the field of battle. By its end, the war had become the second bloodiest conflict in recorded history (behind the Taiping Rebellion), though it was surpassed within a generation by World War II. World War I became infamous for trench warfare; this was especially true of the Western Front. The trenches went from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland in Europe. More than 9 million died on the war's battlefields, and nearly that many more on the home fronts because of food shortages, genocide, and ground combat. Among other notable events, the first large-scale bombing from the air was undertaken and some of the century's first large-scale civilian massacres took place, as one of the aspects of modern efficient, non-chivalrous warfare. In the First World War 5% of casualties were civilian. In the Second World War that was 50%. World War I proved to be the decisive break with the old world order, marking the final demise of absolutist monarchy in Europe. Four empires were shattered: the German, the Austro-Hungarian, the Ottoman, and the Russian. Their four dynasties, the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and the Romanovs, who had roots of power back to the days of the Crusades, all fell during or after the war. The post-war failure to deal effectively with many of the causes and results of the War would lead to the rise of Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany and the outbreak of World War II within a generation. The War was the catalyst for the Bolshevik Russian Revolution, which would inspire later Communist revolutions in countries as diverse as China and Cuba, and would lay the basis for the Cold War standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the east, the demise of the Ottoman Empire paved the way for a modern democratic successor state, Turkey. In Central Europe, new states such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were born and Poland was re-created. __TOC__

Causes

Poland of Franz Ferdinand. The murder was the igniting torch of World War I.]] :See also: Causes of World War I and Participants in World War I On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student. He was part of a group of fifteen assassins, acting with support from the Black Hand, a secret society founded by pan-Serbian nationalists, with links to the Serbian military. The assassination sparked little initial concern in Europe. The Archduke himself was not popular, least of all in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While there were riots in Sarajevo following the Archduke's death, these were largely aimed at the Serbian minority. Though this assassination has been linked as the direct trigger for World War I, the war's real origins lie further back, in the complex web of alliances and counterbalances that developed between the various European powers after the defeat of France and formation of the German state under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck in 1871.

Reasons & Responsibilities

- See also: Causes of World War I There are many different hypotheses that try to explain who, or what, is to blame for the outbreak of the First World War. Early explanations, prominent in the 1920s and 1930s, stressed the official version of responsibility as described in the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Trianon, that Germany and its allies were solely responsible for the war. However, as time progressed, scholars began looking toward the rigidity of both German and Russian military planning, each of which stressed the importance of striking first and executing plans quickly. The fact that for many decades the British had been accustomed to colonial wars which were won relatively easily against much weaker adversaries certainly helped build enthusiasm for the Great war. In addition, the fact that no major political force opposed the war meant that those who did not agree with it had little organisational power to build opposition, though small protests continued throughout the war. Another cause of the war was the building of alliances and arms races. An example of the latter is the launch of HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary battleship that rendered all previous ships obsolete as "pre-dreadnoughts", in 1906. This weakened Britain's power as a seafaring nation and sparked a major naval arms race in shipbuilding, particularly between Britain and Germany due to new imperialism. Overall, nations in the Triple Entente became fearful of the Triple Alliance and vice versa. The civilian leaders of the European powers also found themselves facing a wave of nationalist zeal that had been building across Europe for years. This left governments with ever fewer options and little room to manoeuvre as the last weeks of July 1914 slipped away. Frantic diplomatic efforts to mediate the Austrian-Serbian quarrel simply became irrelevant, as the automatic military escalations between Germany and Russia reinforced one another. Furthermore, the problem of communications in 1914 should not be underestimated; all nations still used telegraphy and ambassadors as the main form of communication, resulting in delays from hours to even days. There is probably no single concise or conclusive assessment of the exact cause of the First World War.

Outbreak of war

ambassadors are depicted in green, the Central Powers in red, and neutral countries in yellow.]] Austria–Hungary was created in the "Ausgleich of 1867" after Austria was defeated by Prussia. As agreed in 1867, the Habsburgs were the Emperors of the Austrian Empire. With the formation of the Dual Monarchy, Franz Josef became leader of a nation with sixteen ethnic groups and five major religions speaking no fewer than nine languages. In large measure because of the vast disparities that existed within the Empire, Austrians and Hungarians always viewed growing Slavic nationalism with deep suspicion and concern. Thus the Austro-Hungarian government grew worried with the near-doubling in size of neighbouring Serbia's territory as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. Serbia, for its part, made no qualms about the fact that it viewed all of Southern Austria–Hungary as part of a future Great South Slavic Union. This view had also garnered considerable support in Russia. Many in the Austrian leadership, not least Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph, and Conrad von Hötzendorf, worried that Serbian nationalist agitation in the southern provinces of the Empire would lead to further unrest among the Austro-Hungarian Empire's other disparate ethnic groups. The Austro-Hungarian government worried that a nationalist Russia would back Serbia to annex Slavic areas of Austria–Hungary. The feeling was that it was better to destroy Serbia before they were given the opportunity to launch a campaign. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip and nearly a month of debate the government of Austria–Hungary sent a 10-point ultimatum to Serbia (July 23, 1914) — the so called July Ultimatum — to be unconditionally accepted within 48 hours. The ultimatum was the first of a series of diplomatic events known as the July Crisis which set off a chain reaction and a general war in Europe. The Serbian government agreed to all but one of the demands in the ultimatum, noting that participation in its judicial proceedings by a foreign power would violate its constitution. Austria–Hungary nonetheless broke off diplomatic relations (July 25) and declared war (July 28) through a telegram sent to the Serbian government. The Russian government, which had pledged in 1909 to uphold Serbian independence in return for Serbia's acceptance of the Bosnia annexation, mobilised its military reserves on 30 July following a breakdown in crucial telegram communications between Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas II (the famous "Willy and Nicky" correspondence), who was under pressure by his military staff to prepare for war. Germany demanded (31 July) that Russia stand down its forces, but the Russian government persisted, as demobilization would have made it impossible to re-activate its military schedule in the short term. Germany declared war against Russia on August 1 and, two days later, against the latter's ally France. The outbreak of the conflict is often attributed to the alliances established over the previous decades — Germany-Austria-Italy vs France-Russia; Britain and Serbia being aligned with the latter. In fact, none of the alliances were activated in the initial outbreak, though Russian general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of the opposing alliance being brought into play. Britain declared war against Germany on August 4. This was ostensibly provoked by Germany's invasion of Belgium on August 4 1914, whose independence Britain had guaranteed to uphold in the Treaty of London of 1839, and which stood astride the planned German route for invasion of Russia's ally France. Unofficially, it was already generally accepted in government that Britain could not remain neutral, since without the co-operation of France and Russia its colonies in Africa and India would be under threat, while German occupation of the French Atlantic ports would be an even larger threat to British trade as a whole.

The spread of war

;1914
- July 23: Austria-Hungary ultimatum to Serbia.
- July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
- July 31: Russia begins mobilization.
- August 1: Germany declares war on Russia.
- August 2: German troops occupy Luxembourg.
- August 3: Germany declares war on France.
- August 4: Germany invades neutral Belgium; the United Kingdom declares war on Germany in response.
- August 6: Montenegro sides with its traditional ally, Serbia, and declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 10: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
- August 12: The United Kingdom and France declare war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 23: Japan declares war on Germany.
- September: Unity Pact signed by France, Britain, and Russia.
- October 9: Belgium falls to German troops at the Siege of Antwerp.
- October 29: The Ottoman Empire enters the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
- November 2: Russia declares war on the Ottoman sultanate.
- November 5: France and United Kingdom declare war on the Ottoman sultanate.
- December 25: Christmas Truce in the Trenches. ;1915
- April 25: Gallipoli campaign commences. Turks defeat Allies crushingly.
- April 26: Italy secretly signs the London Pact with the Triple Entente.
- May 23: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- October 14: Bulgaria declares war on Serbia and enters the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. ;1916
- March 9: Germany declares war on Portugal (see Portugal in the Great War).
- August 27: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- August 28: Italy declares war on Germany. ;1917
- January 16: Germany sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing an alliance against the United States.
- April 6: The United States declares war on Germany.
- June 27: Greece enters the war on the side of the Entente.
- July 6: Arab Revolt troops under Lawrence Of Arabia capture Aqaba, a main sea port for the Ottoman Empire.
- August 14: The Republic of China declares war on Germany.
- October 26: Brazil declares war on Germany.
- November 7: The October Revolution takes place in Russia.
- December 7: United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. ;1918
- January 8: President Woodrow Wilson made his famous Fourteen Points address, introducing the idea of a League of Nations.
- 3 March: Russia and the Central Powers sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, marking Russia's exit from World War I.
- October 30: Mudros/Turkish Armistice signed opening Turkish territory to Entente military operations.
- November 11: Armistice signed, end of World War I. ;1919
- 28 June: Treaty of Versailles, official end to World War I between the Entente and Germany. ;1920
- 4 June: Treaty of Trianon, partition of Austro-Hungarian Empire's Kingdom of Hungary. ;1923
- 24 July: Treaty of Lausanne, peace made with Turkey.
- 29 October: Turkey changes its government to republic.

Opening battles

republic Some of the very first actions of the war occurred far from Europe, in Africa and in the Pacific Ocean. On August 8 1914 a combined French and British Empire force invaded the German protectorate of Togoland. On August 10 German forces based in South-West Africa attacked South Africa. New Zealand occupied German Samoa (30 August 1914) and on September 11 the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of Neu Pommern, which formed part of German New Guinea. Within a few months the Entente forces had accepted the surrender of or driven out German forces in the Pacific. Sporadic and fierce fighting continued in Africa for the remainder of the war. In Europe, Germany and Austria-Hungary suffered from miscommunication regarding each army's intentions. Germany had originally guaranteed to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but the interpretations of this idea differed. Austro-Hungarian leaders thought Germany would cover her northern flank against Russia, but Germany had planned for Austria-Hungary to focus the majority of its troops on Russia while Germany dealt with France on the Western Front. This confusion forced the Austro-Hungarian army to split its troop concentrations from the south in order to meet the Russians in the north. The Serb army, coming up from the south of the country, met the Austrian army at the Battle of Cer on 12 August 1914. The Serbians occupied defensive positions against the Austrians. The first attack came on August 16th, between parts of the 21st Austro–Hungarian division and parts of the Serbian Combined division. In harsh night-time fighting the battle ebbed and flowed, until Stepa Stepanovic rallied the Serbian line. Three days later the Austrians retreated across the Danube, having suffered 21,000 casualties as against 16,000 Serbian. This marked the first major Allied victory of the war. The Austrians had not achieved their main goal of eliminating Serbia, and it became increasingly likely that Germany would have to maintain forces on two fronts. Germany's plan (named the Schlieffen plan) to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance involved delivering a knock-out blow to the French and then turning to deal with the more slowly mobilized Russian army. Rather than invading eastern France directly, German planners deemed it prudent to attack France from the north. To do so, the German army had to march through Belgium. Germany demanded free passage from the Belgian government, promising to treat Belgium as Germany's firm ally if the Belgians agreed. When Belgium refused, Germany invaded and began marching through Belgium anyway, after first invading and securing Luxembourg. It soon encountered resistance before the forts of the Belgian city of Liège, although the army as a whole continued to make rapid progress into France. Britain sent an army to France (the British Expeditionary Force, or BEF), which advanced into Belgium. Initially the Germans had great successes in the Battle of the Frontiers (14–24 August 1914). However, the delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgian, French and British forces; the unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russians; and the overly-ambitious objectives upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East Prussia, diverting German forces intended for the Western Front. Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles collectively known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg (17 August – 2 September). This diversion exacerbated problems of insufficient speed of advance from railheads, not allowed for by the German General Staff, and allowed French and British forces to finally halt the German advance on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914) as the Entente forced the Central Powers into fighting a war on two fronts. The German army had fought its way into a good defensive position inside France and had permanently incapacitated 230,000 more French and British troops than it had lost itself in the months of August and September. Yet staff incompetence and leadership timidity, as Ludendorff had needlessly transferred troops from the right to protect Sedan, cost Germany the chance for an early knockout.

Early stages: from romanticism to the trenches

Sedan, 1917]] The perception of war in 1914 was romanticized by many people, and its declaration was met with great enthusiasm by these people. The common view was that it would be a short war of manoeuvre with a few sharp actions (to "teach the enemy a lesson") and would end with a victorious entry into the enemy capital, then home for a victory parade or two and back to "normal" life. However, many people regarded the coming war with great pessimism and worry. Many military figures, such as Lord Kitchener and Erich Ludendorff, predicted the war would be a long one. Other political leaders, such as Bethmann Hollweg in Germany, were concerned by the potential social consequences of a war. International bond and financial markets entered severe crises in late July and early August reflecting worry about the financial consequences of war. The perceived excitement of war captured the imagination of many in the warring nations. Spurred on by propaganda and nationalist fervor, many eagerly joined the ranks in search of adventure. Few were prepared for what they actually encountered at the front. See also: Recruitment to the British Army during WW I

Trench warfare begins

:Main article: Western Front (World War I) Advances in military technology meant that defensive firepower out-weighed offensive capabilities, making the war particularly murderous, as tactics had failed to keep up. Barbed wire was a significant hindrance to massed infantry advances; artillery, now vastly more lethal than in the 1870s, coupled with machineguns, made crossing open ground a nightmarish prospect. General Staffs of European armies had uniformly ignored the lessons of the U.S. Civil War and were often indifferent to massive loss of life (General Haig's diaries are particularly striking in this respect). After their initial success on the Marne, Entente and German forces began a series of outflanking manoeuvres to try to force the other to retreat, in the so-called Race to the Sea. Britain and France soon found themselves facing entrenched German positions from Lorraine to Belgium's Flemish coast. Britain and France sought to take the offensive while Germany defended occupied territories. One consequence was that German trenches were much better constructed than those of their enemy: Anglo-French trenches were only intended to be 'temporary' before their forces broke through German defences. Some hoped to break the stalemate by utilizing science and technology. In April 1915, the Germans used mustard gas for the first time, opening a four mile wide hole in the Allied lines when French colonial troops retreated before it. This breach was closed by Canadian soldiers at Ypres, earning German respect. Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next four years, though protracted German action at Verdun throughout 1916, and the Entente's failure at the Somme in the summer of 1916 brought the French army to the brink of collapse. Futile attempts at more frontal assaults, at terrible cost to the French poilu (infantry), led to mutinies which threatened the integrity of the front line after the Nivelle Offensive in spring of 1917. News of the Russian Revolution gave a new incentive to socialist sentiments. Red flags were hoisted and the Internationale was sung on several occasions. At the height of the mutiny, 30,000 to 40,000 French soldiers participated. Throughout 1915-17 the British Empire and France suffered many more casualties than Germany, but both sides lost millions of soldiers to injury and disease. Around 800,000 soldiers from the British Empire were on the Western Front at any one time, 1,000 battalions each occupying a sector of the line from Belgium to the Arne and operating a month-long four stage system, unless an offensive was underway. The front contained over 6,000 miles of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for around a week before moving back to support lines and then the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the Poperinge or Amiens areas.

Southern theatres

Entry of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October–November 1914, due to the secret Turko-German Alliance signed on August 2, 1914, threatening Russia's Caucasian territories and Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal. British Empire action opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns, though initially the Turks were successful in repelling enemy incursion. In Mesopotamia, by contrast, after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915–16), British Empire forces reorganized and captured Baghdad in March 1917. Further to the west in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, initial British failures were overcome with Jerusalem being captured in December 1917 and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Edmund Allenby going on to break the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo (September 1918). Russian armies generally had the best of it in the Caucasus. Enver Pasha, supreme commander of the Turkish armed forces, was a very ambitious man, with a dream to conquer central Asia. He was not a practical soldier. He launched an offensive with 100,000 troops against the Russians in the Caucasus in December of 1914. Insisting on a frontal attack against Russian positions in the mountains in the heart of winter, Enver lost 86% of his force. A new Russian commander on the front in the fall of 1915, Grand Duke Nicholas, brought new vigour. A major offensive in 1916 drove the Turks out of much of present-day Armenia, and tragically provided a context for the deportation and genocide against the Armenian population in eastern Armenia. With control of part of the southern Black Sea coast, Nicholas pushed forward the construction of railway lines to bring up supplies. He was ready for an offensive in the spring of 1917. If it had gone ahead, there was a very good chance that Turkey would have been knocked out of the war in the summer of 1917. But, because of the Russian Revolution, Grand Duke Nicholas was recalled and the Russian armies soon fell apart.

Italian participation

:Main article: Italian Campaign (WWI) Italy had been allied to the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires since 1882, but had its own designs against Austrian territory in the Trentino, Istria and Dalmatia, and a secret 1902 understanding with France effectively nullifying its alliance commitments. Italy refused to join Germany and Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the war, because the alliance was defensive, while Austria declared war on Serbia. The Austrian government started negotiations to obtain Italian neutrality in exchange for French territories (Tunisia), but Italy joined the Entente by signing the London Pact in April and declaring war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915; it declared war against Germany fifteen months later. In general, the Italians enjoyed numerical superiority, but were poorly equipped; instead, the Austro-Hungarian defence took advantage of the elevation of their bases in the mostly mountainous terrain, which was anything but suitable for military offensives. For the most part the front remained unchanged during the war, while Austrian Kaiserschützen and Standschützen and Italian Alpini fought bitter close combat battles during summer and tried to survive during winter in the high mountains. Beginning in 1915, the Italians mounted 17 major offensives on the Isonzo front (the part of the border nearest Trieste), all repelled by the Austro-Hungarians, who had the higher ground. The Austro-Hungarians counter-attacked from the Altopiano of Asiago towards Verona and Padua in the spring of 1916 (Strafexpedition), but they also made little progress. In the summer, the Italians took back the initiative, capturing the town of Gorizia. After this minor victory, the front remained practically stable for over one year, despite several Italian offensives, again all on the Isonzo front. In the fall of 1917, thanks to the improving situation on the Eastern front, the Austrians received large reinforcements, including German assault troops. On October 26, they launched a crushing offensive that resulted in the victory of Caporetto: the Italian army was routed, but after retreating more than 100km, it was able to reorganize and hold at the Battle of the Piave River. In 1918 the Austrians repeatedly failed to break the Italian line, and, decisively defeated in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, surrendered to the Entente powers in November. Throughout the war Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff, Conrad von Hötzendorf had a deep hatred for the Italians because he had always perceived them to be the greatest threat to his state. Their betrayal in 1915 enraged him even further. His hatred for Italy blinded him in many ways, and he made many foolish tactical and strategic errors during the campaigns in Italy.

The War in the Balkans

After repelling three Austrian invasions in August-December 1914, Serbia fell to combined German, Austrian and Bulgarian invasion in October 1915. The Serbian army retreated into Albania and Greece. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure the Greek government into war against the Central Powers. Unfortunately for the Allies, the pro-allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos fell before the allied expeditionary force even arrived, and the pro-German king, Constantine, prevented official Greek entry into the war for two years, until 1917. Meanwhile, the Salonica Front proved entirely immobile, so that it was joked that Salonica was the largest German prisoner of war camp. Only at the very end of the war, after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been removed and the front had to be held by the Bulgarians alone, were the Entente powers able to make a breakthrough, leading to Bulgaria's signing an armistice on September 29, 1918.

The Eastern Front

1918 :Main article: Eastern Front (World War I) While the Western Front had reached stalemate in the trenches, the war continued in the east. The Russian initial plans for war had called for simultaneous invasions of Austrian Galicia and German East Prussia. Although Russia's initial advance into Galicia was largely successful, they were driven back from East Prussia by the victories of the German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes in August and September 1914. Russia's less-developed economic and military organization soon proved unequal to the combined might of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. In the spring of 1915 the Russians were driven back in Galicia, and in May the Central Powers achieved a remarkable breakthrough on Poland's southern fringes, capturing Warsaw on August 5 and forcing the Russians to withdraw from all of Poland, known as the "Great Retreat".

The Russian Revolution

Dissatisfaction with the Russian government's conduct of the war grew despite the success of the June 1916 Brusilov offensive in eastern Galicia against the Austrians, when Russian success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces in support of the victorious sector commander. Allied fortunes revived only temporarily with Romania's entry into the war on August 27: German forces came to the aid of embattled Austrian units in Transylvania, and Bucharest fell to the Central Powers on December 6. Meanwhile, internal unrest grew in Russia, as the Tsar remained out of touch at the front, while Empress Alexandra's increasingly incompetent rule drew protests from all segments of Russian political life, resulting in the murder of Alexandra's favourite Rasputin by conservative noblemen at the end of 1916. conservative] In March 1917, demonstrations in St. Petersburg culminated in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the appointment of a weak centrist Provisional Government, which shared power with the socialists of the Petrograd Soviet. This division of power led to confusion and chaos, both on the front and at home, and the army became progressively less able to effectively resist Germany. Meanwhile, the war, and the government, became more and more unpopular, and the discontent led to a rise in popularity of the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, who were then able to gain power. The triumph of the Bolsheviks in November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. At first, the Bolsheviks refused to agree to the harsh German terms, but when Germany resumed the war and marched with impunity across Ukraine, the new government acceded to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, which took Russia out of the war and ceded vast territories including Finland, the Baltic provinces, Poland and Ukraine to the Central Powers. After the Russians initially dropped out of the war, Entente led a small-scale invasion of Russia. The invasion was made with intent to punish the Russians for dropping out of World War I and to support the Tsarists in the Russian Revolution. Troops landed in Archangel and in Vladivostok. The Entente forces were initially told they were invading to defend supplies from German troops. In reality, they were defending them from communist Russians. A memorial commemorating the event is located in White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan. The force also included a number of Canadians who were based in Vladivostok. The Canadian force contained an artillery unit, but they saw minimal combat.

The Last Half

Troy, Michigan Events of 1917 would prove decisive in ending the war, although their effects would not fully be felt until 1918. The Entente's naval blockade of Germany began to have serious impact on morale and productivity on the German home-front. In response, in February 1917, the German General Staff (OHL) were able to convince Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg to declare unrestricted submarine warfare, with the goal of starving Britain out of the war. Tonnage sunk rose above 500,000 tons per month from February until July, peaking at 860,000 tonnes in April. After July, the newly introduced convoy system was extremely effective in neutralizing the U-boat threat. Britain was safe from the threat of starvation. The decisive victory of Germany at the Battle of Caporetto led to the Entente decision at the Rapallo Conference to form the Supreme Allied Council at Versailles to co-ordinate plans and action. Previously British Empire and French armies had operated under separate command systems. In December, the Central Powers signed an Armistice with Russia, thereby releasing troops from the eastern front for use in the west. Ironically, German troop transfers could have been greater if their territorial acquisitions had not been so dramatic. With both German reinforcements and new American troops pouring into the Western Front, the final outcome of the war was to be decided in that front. The Central Powers knew that they could not win a protracted war now that American forces were certain to be arriving in increasing numbers, but held high hopes for a rapid offensive in the West, using their reinforced troops and new infantry tactics. Furthermore, rulers of both the Central Powers and the Entente became more fearful of the threat first raised by Ivan Bloch in 1899, that protracted industrialized war threatened social collapse and revolution throughout Europe. Both sides urgently sought a decisive, rapid victory on the Western Front as they were both fearful of collapse or stalemate.

Entry of the United States

revolution A long stretch of American isolationism (the Monroe Doctrine) left the United States reluctant to involve itself with what was popularly conceived as a European dispute. Early in 1917 Germany resumed its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This, combined with public indignation over the Zimmermann telegram, led to a final break of relations with the Central Powers. President Woodrow Wilson requested that the U.S. Congress declare war on Germany, which it did on April 6, 1917 (see: Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany on Wikisource). The Senate approved the war resolution 82-6, the House with 373-50. Wilson hoped a separate peace could be achieved with Austria-Hungary; however, when it kept its loyalty to Germany, the US declared war on Austria-Hungary in December 1917. Although the American contribution to the war was important, particularly in terms of the threat posed by increased US presence in Europe, the United States was never formally a member of the Entente, but an "Associated Power". Significant numbers of American troops only arrived in Europe in the summer of 1918. Still, the United States had been in a state of full miltitary-related production, aiding the Entente for quite some time. This was another reason for the decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare, as America's declaration of war would only change circumstances once troops began to arrive in Europe in the distant future. However, the United States Army and the National Guard had mobilized in 1916 to pursue the Mexican "bandit" Pancho Villa, aiding the speed of wartime mobilization after April, 6, 1917. The German High Command saw the episode as reconfirming evidence of American military incompetence. The United States Navy was able to send a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, a number of destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and several divisions of submarines to the Azores and Bantry Bay, Ireland to help guard convoys. However, it would be some time before the United States forces would be able to contribute significant manpower to the Western and Italian fronts. The British and French insisted that the United States emphasize sending infantry to reinforce the line. Throughout the war, the American forces were short of their own artillery, aviation, and engineering units. However, General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Force commander, resisted breaking up American units and using them as reinforcements for British Empire and French units, as suggested by the Allies. Pershing also maintained the use of frontal assaults, which had been discarded by that time by British Empire and French commanders. As a result the American Expeditionary Force suffered a very high rate of casualties in its operations in the summer and fall of 1918.

German Spring Offensive of 1918

American Expeditionary Force] Ludendorff made plans for a 1918 general offensive along the Western Front, codenamed Operation Michael. The Spring Offensive sought to divide the British Empire and French armies in a series of feints and advances. The German leadership hoped to strike a decisive blow before the United States forces could be deployed. Before the offensives even began, Ludendorff may have made the mistake of leaving the elite Eighth Army in Russia and sending over only a small portion of the forces from the east to aid the offensive in the west. Operation Michael opened on 21 March, 1918 with an attack against British Empire forces, towards the rail junction at Amiens. It was Ludendorff's intention to split the British Empire and French armies at this point. German forces achieved an unprecedented advance of 60 km. For the first time since 1914, manoeuvre had returned to the battlefield. British and French trenches were defeated using novel infiltration tactics. To this time, attacks had been characterized by long artillery bombardments and continuous-front mass assaults. However, in the Spring Offensive the German Army used artillery briefly and infiltrated small groups of infantry at weak points, attacking command and logistics areas and surrounding points of serious resistance. These isolated positions were then destroyed by more heavily armed infantry. German success relied greatly on this tactic. The front line had now moved to within 120 kilometres of Paris. Three super-heavy Krupp railway guns advanced to fire 183 shells on Paris, causing many Parisians to flee the city. The initial stages of the offensive were so successful that Ukrainian: Україна, Ukrayina, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The territory of present-day Ukraine was a key centre of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers, notably Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, Romania and the Ottoman Empire. A brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917 was ended by Ukraine's absorption into the Soviet Union and the republic's present borders were only established in 1954. It became independent once more following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Name

Etymology
There are three main versions of the Slavic etymology for the name, all of them ultimately stem from the slavic root
- kraj- with the meaning 'cut'. Opinions vary as to the immediate derivation.
- By one theory the name is directly translated as 'borderland, frontier' (cf. Russian окраина/okraina 'outskirts' or Serbo-Croatian Krajina; this would be a semantic parallel to -mark in Denmark, cf. Marches).
- Another one associates it with the Ukrainian word країна/krajina 'country' (cf. also Belarusian краіна/kraina; these words can be compared to Polish kraj 'country'; this is also one of the meanings of Ukrainian and Russian край/kraj).
- Still another one derives the name directly from the Ukrainian verb краяти/krajaty, meaning 'to cut', indicating the land the Rus' (or Ruthenians or Ukrainians) carved out for themselves.

Ukraine or the Ukraine?

The country is often referred to in English with the definite article, as the Ukraine. This usage is now deprecated by many media organizations (compare "the Lebanon" and "the Sudan") and partly because of the implication that Ukraine is merely a region rather than an independent state. There was, however, no change in Ukrainian or Russian usage with Ukraine's independence, as there are no articles, definite or indefinite, in either language. However there is a parallel concerning the usage of the preposition na or v with Ukraine, both in Ukrainian and in Russian. Traditional usage is na Ukrayini (loosely, "at Ukraine"), but recently Ukrainian authorities have been using v Ukrayini ("in Ukraine"), as this preposition is used with most other country names. While in Ukrainian the newly introduced usage of v Ukrayini took hold, the usage in Russian varies. Russian language media from within Ukraine are increasingly using this form. However, the media in Russia mostly uses traditional na Ukraine, maintaining that it remains a proper usage and questioning the authority of the Ukrainian government over the Russian language. (See also Kiev or Kyiv for a similar debate).
History
Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late neolithic Trypillian culture flourished from ca. 4500 BC to 3000 BC. In antiquity, the southern and eastern parts of modern Ukraine were populated by Iranian nomads called Scythians. The Scythian Kingdom existed in Ukraine between 700 BC and 200 BC. In the third century, the Goths arrived, calling their country Oium, and formed the Chernyakhov culture before moving on and defeating the Roman empire. In the 7th century Ukraine was the core of the state of the Bulgars (often referred to as Great Bulgaria) who had their capital in the city of Phanagoria. The majority of the Bulgar tribes migrated in several directions at the end of the seventh century and the remains of their state was swept by the Khazars, a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia which later adopted Judaism. The Khazars founded the independent Khazar kingdom in the southeastern part of today's Europe, near the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. In addition to western Kazakhstan, the Khazar kingdom also included territory in what is now eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and Crimea. During the tenth and eleventh centuries the territory of Ukraine became the center of important state in Europe— Kievan Rus laying the foundation for national identity of Ukrainians, as well as other East Slavic nations, through subsequent centuries. Its capital was Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine, ruled by Askold and Dir in the late 800s. According to the Primary Chronicle the Kievan Rus' elite initially consisted of Varangians, or Vikings, from present-day Scandinavia. The Varangians later became assimilated into the local population of Rus' and gave the Rus' its first powerful dynasty, the Rurik Dynasty. Rurik Dynasty Rurik Dynasty For the etymology of the terms Rus and Russia, see Etymology of Rus and derivatives. Kiev and Kievian Rus' were the seat of the Grand Prince of the Rurik Dynasty. The ruler of Kiev was also in effect the ruler of all the Rus' principalities. Kievan Rus' was fragmentated after Mstislav the Great's death in 1125. The term "Rus'" was originally applied to the inhabitants of all Rus' principalities, today comprising Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. After the fall of Kiev, and until the eighteenth century, the term "Rus" was self-applied by the members of all three East Slavic nations, but the latinized version, "Ruthenian", was used to designate inhabitants of Ukraine only; while the ancestors of modern Russians were usually referred to as Muscovites or Muscovite Russians by the name of their state that Poland called Muscovy. Kievan Rus' became weakened by internal quarrels and was destroyed by Mongol and Tatar invasions. On Ukrainian territory, the state of Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the principalities of Halych and Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which were merged into the state of Halych-Volynia. In the mid 14th century it was subjugated by Kazimierz IV of Poland, and after the 1386 marriage of Lithuania's Grand Duke Jagiello to Poland's Queen Jadwiga, was ruled by the Lithuanians as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed in 1569 Union of Lublin, significant part of Ukraine was moved under the Polish administration, as it was transferred to the Polish Crown. Under the cultural pressure of polonization much of the Ukrainian (or rather Ruthenian) upper class converted to Catholicism as such transitions was beneficial for achieving the political influence within the state, e.g. one of the Wiśniowiecki's even became king of Poland. At the same time the common people (peasants) retained their old ways (including the Orthodox religion), which led to the increasing social tensions, visible in such events as the 1596 Union of Brest, created by Zygmunt III, who attempted to bring the Orthodox population closer to Catholicism. This move failed to achieve its goals. The new "intermediate" religion was unnecessary for the upper class, much of whom turned directly towards Catholicism. Thus, the Ukrainian commoners were deprived of their native protectors and turned for the protection to the Cossacks who remained fiercely Orthodox at all times. In the mid of the 17th century, a Cossack state, the Zaporizhian Sich, was established by Ukrainians and others fleeing Polish serfdom which formally belonged to Poland. Located in central Ukraine, it was an autonomous military state, initially allied with the Commonwealth. However the suppression of the Ukrainian free farmers by the Polish nobility, further imposition of serfdom and the suppression of the Orthodox church pushed the allegiances of Cossacks away from Poland. Their aspiration was to have a representation in Polish Seim, recognition of Orthodox traditions, which was vehemantly denied by Polish kings. They turned toward Orthodox Russia, which was one reason for the later downfall of the Polish-Lithuanian state. In 1648 Bohdan Khmelnytsky organized the largest of the Cossacks upprising, against the Commonwealth and the Polish king Jan II Kazimierz. This uprising finally led to a partition of Ukraine between Poland and Russia. Left-Bank Ukraine was eventually integrated into Russia as the Cossack Hetmanate, as a consequence of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1667. After the partitions of Poland by Prussia, Austria, and Russia at the end of the eighteenth century, Western Ukraine (Galicia) was taken over by Austria, while the rest of Ukraine was progressively incorporated into the Russian Empire. The treaty of Pereyaslav was abolished and Ukrainians never received the freedoms they were hoping for from Tsarist Russia. Ukrainians played an important role in the frequent wars between East European monarchies and the Ottoman Empire, they rised to the highest offices of Russian state (e.g., Aleksey Razumovsky, Alexander Bezborodko, Ivan Paskevich), and dominated the Russian Orthodox Church (e.g., Stephen Yavorsky, Feofan Prokopovich, Dimitry of Rostov). During the first world war austro-hungarian authorities in territory of Galicia subject to repression Ukrainians, sympathizing Russia. Over twenty thousand supporters of Russia are arrested and placed in the Austrian concentration camp in Talerhof, Stiria, and in fortress Terezien, Czechia. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Ukraine was briefly independent in two states, then united by cruel war, in 1920. In the period when the independent Ukrainian government was headed nationalist leader Simon Petlura (1919), there were numerous Jewish pogroms. By 1922 Ukraine was split between Poland and the Soviet Union. Also in 1922, most of Central and Eastern Ukraine became a constituent republic of the USSR as the Ukrainian SSR. In 20s years the communist leaders realized a policy of Ukrainization (коренизация), introduction of the Ukrainian language and culture in Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies, the Soviet industrialization program called for the collectivization of agriculture, which had a profound effect on Ukraine, the nation's breadbasket (see Collectivization in the USSR). In the late 1920s and early 1930s the state compounded the peasants' lands and animals into collective farms and state farms. Although the program was designed to affect all peasants, the plan met particularly heavy resistance from the wealthiest peasants, the kulaks, and a desperate struggle of the peasantry against the authorities ensued. The idea of collective farming was foreign to Ukrainian farmers where emphasis was always made on individual achievements. Peasants slaughtered their cows and pigs rather than turn them over to the collective farms, especially in Ukraine, with the result that livestock resources remained below the 1929 level for years afterward. The state in turn forcibly collectivized reluctant peasants and deported kulaks and active rebels to Siberia. Within the collective farms, the authorities in many instances exacted such high levels of procurements that starvation was widespread. In some places, famine was allowed to run its course; and millions of peasants in Ukraine starved to death in a famine, called the Holodomor in Ukrainian. An estimated 3-6 million people died in this horrible manmade famine ([http://rg-new.w-m.ru/Anons/arc_2003/0917/5.shtm]) similar to the Russian famine of 1921. The disaster also has captured many regions of southern Russia. During World War II, some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist underground fought both Nazi and Soviet forces, while others collaborated with the Nazis. In 1941 the German invaders and their Axis allies initially advanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the Red Army. In the encirclement battle of Kiev, the city was acclaimed by the Soviets as a "Hero City", for the fierce resistance of the Red Army and of the local population. More than 660,000 Soviet troops were taken captive. Initially, the Germans were received as "liberators" by many Ukrainians. However, German rule in the occupied territories eventually aided the Soviet cause. Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territories made little attempt to exploit the population's dissatisfaction with Soviet political and economic policies. Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out genocidal policies against Jews, and deported others (mainly Ukrainians) to work in Germany. Under these circumstances, the great majority of the Soviet people fought and worked on their country's behalf, thus ensuring the regime's survival. Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated between five and eight million, including over half a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen, often with the help of Ukrainian collaborators. Of the estimated eleven million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis, about a quarter (2.7 million) were ethnic Ukrainians. Ukraine is distinguished as one of the first nations to fight the Axis powers in Carpatho-Ukraine, and one that saw some of the greatest bloodshed during the war. After the Second World War, the borders of then-Soviet Ukraine were extended to the West (as stipulated in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, see also Curzon line), uniting most Ukrainians under one political state. The expellation of the Poles began in 1942-1943 with the massacres of Wolynia, where more than 40.000 people where killed by Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Over one million Poles were expelled from Ukraine. In 1954, Crimea was transferred from the RSFSR to Ukraine. This decision of Nikita Khrushchev, intended to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, seen in Soviet historiography as the 'union of two fraternal peoples', led to tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Independence was achieved in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Government and Politics
Commonwealth of Independent States Commonwealth of Independent States Ukraine is a democracy under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President of Ukraine (elected by popular vote) nominates the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by the 450-seat parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The President (on advice and consent of the Prime Minister) appoints members of the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as heads of all central agencies and regional and district administrations. Laws, acts of the parliament and the Cabinet, presidential edicts, and acts of the Crimean parliament (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) may be nullified by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when they are found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. In practice, the scope of local self-government is limited. Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public. Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections. See also:
- Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
- Foreign relations of Ukraine
Subdivisions
Ukraine is subdivided into twenty-four oblasts (provinces) and one autonomous republic (Crimea). Additionally, two cities have a special legal status. See also regions of Ukraine.
Geography
regions of Ukraine The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains, or steppes, and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 m, and those in the Crimean peninsula, in the extreme south along the coast. Ukraine has a mostly temperate continental climate, though a more mediterranean climate is found on the southern Crimean coast. Precipitation is disproportionately distributed; it is highest in the west and north and lesser in the east and southeast. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland. Summers are warm across the greater part of the country, but generally hot in the south.
Economy
Precipitation Precipitation Precipitation Formerly an important agricultural and industrial region of the Soviet Union, Ukraine now depends on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas, although lately it has been trying to diversify its sources. The lack of significant structural reform has made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. After 1991 the government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. The current government has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatisation are still lagging. Outside institutions—particularly the IMF—have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. The GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6%—the first growth since independence—and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001, as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and investor confidence. Rapid economic growth in 2002 - 2004 is largely attributed to a surge in steel exports to China.
Demographics
2004 2004 Ethnic Ukrainians make up 77.8% of the population. The minorities include significant groups of ethnic Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldavians (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%) [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/]. The industrial regions in the east and south-east are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas. Ukrainian is the only official state language. Russian, which was the official language in the Soviet Union, is still used by many people, especially in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian is considered to be a native language by 67.5% of the population and Russian by 29.6% (according to the 2001 census). It is sometimes difficult to determine the extent of the two language, since many people use a mixed language (Surzhyk) containing elements of both, while thinking they speak Russian or Ukrainian. Standard literary Ukrainian is mainly spoken in western and central Ukraine. In western Ukraine, Ukrainian is also the dominant language in cities (e.g. Lviv). In central Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian are both equally used in cities (including Kiev), while Ukrainian is the dominant language in rural communities. In eastern Ukraine mainly Russian and Surzhyk are used. In the Autonomous Republic of Crimea practically all of the population speaks Russian and Ukrainain is virtually unused. Both languages are official within the autonomous republic. The share of students receiving their education in Russian has significantly declined from 41% in 1995 to 24% in 2004, in favour of Ukrainian-language education. Still, many urban Ukrainian schools are de facto Russian-speaking, especially in the east and south. Russian continues to be the language of international communication for many Ukrainians and is generally understood throughout the country.
Religion
de facto The dominant religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is currently split between three Church bodies. The distant second is the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which practices similar Liturgical rite to Eastern Orthodoxy, but is in communion with the Catholic see and recognizes the primacy of the Roman Pope as head of the Church. There are also smaller Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities.
Culture

- List of famous Ukrainians
- Music of Ukraine
- Ivan Kupala
- Sports in Ukraine
Miscellaneous topics

- Chernobyl accident
- Communications in Ukraine
- List of cities in Ukraine
- List of newspapers in Ukraine
- Military of Ukraine
- Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
- Scouting in Ukraine
- Tourism in Ukraine
- Transportation in Ukraine
- Ukraine at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Ukrainian cuisine
- 2005 Eurovision Song Contest
References

- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/up.html CIA World Factbook - Ukraine]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1102303.stm Country profile: Ukraine], BBC's Country Profile on Ukraine.
- [http://www.economist.com/countries/Ukraine/index.cfm Country Briefings: Ukraine], by The Economist
- [http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=oneclick&country_id=980000298 Executive Briefing: Ukraine], by Economist Intelligence Unit.
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine Special Report: Ukraine], ongoing coverage by Guardian Unlimited
- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3211.htm Background Note: Ukraine], the U.S. Department of State website
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/ukraine/ua.html Ukraine], Portals to the World, Internet resources selected by Library of Congress subject experts
- [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20031/4 "Ukraine: Briefly about Her Past and Present"], in Welcome to Ukraine, 2003, 1]
External links

- [http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ Official presidential site of Ukraine]
- [http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en Government Portal of Ukraine] - Official governmental portal
- [http://www.rada.gov.ua Verkhovna Rada]—Official parliamentary site (in Ukrainian)
- [http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/ Archives of Ukraine]
- [http://www.ukrtelecom.ua/en/offers/web_cam/ Web cam shots for selected cities across Ukraine]
- [http://www.infoukes.com Infoukes]—General info on Ukraine's History and Politics
- [http://myukraine.info My Ukraine]—General info on Ukraine's culture and geography.
- [http://www.kyivpost.com Kyiv Post]—Kyiv News in English
- [http://www.ukraina.at Ukraina.at]—Ukraine Fanpage from Mr. Bartosch (in German)
- [http://pages.prodigy.net/l.hodges/ukraine.htm Ukrainian Language, Culture and Travel Page]
- [http://guide.kyiv.ru/ Kiev and Ukraine Travel Guide ]
- [http://www.skrobach.com/ Information about Independent Ukraine] Category:Black Sea countries zh-min-nan:Ukrayina als:Ukraine ko:우크라이나 ms:Ukraine ja:ウクライナ simple:Ukraine th:ประเทศยูเครน fiu-vro:Ukraina

Greece

Greece, (Greek: Ελλάδα, older form: Ελλάς, Hellas), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellinikí Dimokratía; see also List of traditional Greek place names), is a country in southern Europe on the tip of the Balkan peninsula. It has land boundaries with Bulgaria, The Republic of Macedonia, and Albania to the north and with Turkey to the east. The waters of the Aegean Sea border Greece to the east, and those of the Ionian and Mediterranean Sea to the west and south. Regarded by many as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, Greece has a long and rich history during which its culture has proven especially influential in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Name

Main article: Names of the Greeks The historical name of Greece in Greek is Ellás . This name is also written Hellas in English, following the ancient Greek pronunciation . In modern Greek it is called more commonly Ελλάδα Elládha . The mythical ancestor of the Greeks is the eponymous Hellen. The name of Greece in European languages (English: Greece, French: Grèce, Portuguese: Grécia, Spanish and Italian: Grecia, Welsh: Groeg, German: Griechenland, Dutch: Griekenland, Russian: Греция, etc.) comes from a different root: Graikós (via Latin Graecus) which according to Aristotle was an ancient name for the Greeks. The Japanese name is ギリシャ (Girisha), lent from European languages. On the other hand, the name of Greece in some Middle Eastern and Eastern languages (Turkish: Yunanistan, Arabic: يونان, Hebrew: יוון, ancient Persian: Yaunâ, Indian Pali: Yona, Malay and Indonesian: Yunani) derives from the Greek toponym Iōnía. Norwegian, Chinese (希腊 Xila) and Vietnamese are three of the few languages apart from Greek in which the name Hellas predominates. An interesting and unique form is kept in Georgian. In ancient times, Georgians (Colchs and Iberians) called Greeks ბერძენი berdzeni. This form derives from the Georgian word ბრძენი brdzeni – wise. According to Georgian historians, the name is connected with the notion that philosophy was born in Greece. Modern Georgians still call Greeks ბერძენი berdzeni and Greece საბერძნეთი saberdznet'i, 'Greeks' land' or literally 'land of the wise'. Some Greeks prefer the name Hellas for the country and Hellenes for the people even in English. See Hellenes for discussion.

History

Hellenes Main Article: History of Greece.

Prehistory and antiquity

The shores of Greece's Aegean Sea saw the emergence of the first civilizations in Europe, namely the Minoan and the Mycenaean. After these, a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC, when a new era of Greek city-states emerged establishing colonies along the Mediterranean. Greek culture would later become the basis of the Hellenistic civilization that followed the empire of Alexander the Great. For a detailed history of Ancient Greece see the relevant articles in: History of Greece.

Roman rule and Middle Ages

Militarily, Greece itself declined to the point that the Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards), though, in many ways, Greek culture would in turn conquer Roman life. Greece became a province of the Roman Empire, but Greek culture continued to dominate the eastern Mediterranean. When the Roman Empire finally split in two, the Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, centered around Constantinople (known in ancient times as Byzantium), remained Greek in nature, encompassing Greece itself. From the 4th century to the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire survived eleven centuries of attacks from the north, west and east until Constantinople fell on May 29 1453 to the Ottoman Empire, when Constantine XI, the last emperor of the Palaeologus dynasty, fell. Greece was gradually conquered by the Ottomans during the 15th century.

Ottoman rule

While the Ottomans completed the conquest of the Greek Mainland, two Greek migrations occurred. The first migration saw the Greek intelligentsia migrate to Western Europe and contribute to the advent of the Renaissance. The second migration of Greeks left the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettled in the mountains. The Ottomans were unable to create a permanent military and administrative presence in these mountainous regions. As a result some Greek mountain clans across the peninsula, as well as some islands, were able to maintain a status of independence. The Sphakiots of Crete, the Souliots from Souli of Epirus, and the Maniots from Mani of Peloponnesus were the most resilient mountain clans throughout the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the 16th century and until the 17th century, Greeks began to migrate back to the plains and cities, adding to the increasing urban population. The millet system contributed to the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the Ottoman Empire based on religion. The Orthodox Church, a religious institution with a strong national character, helped the Greeks from all geographical areas of the peninsula (i.e. mountains, plains, and islands) to preserve their ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage during the years of the Ottoman rule (although at the time it was not stictly speaking a "Greek" church - the Greek Church was instituted after the liberation). The Greeks who remained on the plains during Ottoman occupation were either Christians, who dealt with the burdens of foreign rule, or to a considerable extent Crypto-Christians (Greeks Muslims who were secret practitioners of the Orthodox faith) in order to avoid heavy taxation. The Greeks who converted to Islam and were not Crypto-Christians became Turks in the eyes of Orthodox Greeks. There were no "Greek Muslims", and no "Christian Turks". As a result, religion played an integral part in the formation of the Modern Greek and other post-Ottoman national identities. Turks

Creation of the modern Greek state

The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. In 1821, the Greeks rebelled and declared their independence, but did not succeed in winning it until 1829. The elites of powerful European nations saw the war of Greek independence, with its accounts of Turkish atrocities, in a romantic light (see, for example, the 1824 painting the Massacre of Chios by Eugène Delacroix). Scores of non-Greeks volunteered to fight for the cause — including people like Lord Byron. At times the Ottomans seemed on the verge of entirely suppressing the Greek revolution but were eventually forced to give in by the direct military intervention of France, Great Britain and Russia. This was the prelude of the so called "Eastern Question", the gradual dismemberment of the decaying empire by the western powers. The Russian ex-minister of foreign affairs, Ioannis Kapodistrias, himself a Greek, actually a noble from the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate in the Ionian Sea, was chosen as President of the new Republic following Greek independence. That republic disappeared when a few years later Western powers helped turn Greece into a monarchy, the first king coming from Bavaria and the second from Denmark. During the 19th and especially the early 20th centuries, in a series of wars with the Ottomans, Greece sought to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire (the Ionian State however was donated by Britain upon the arrival of the new king from Denmark in 1863, and Thessaly was ceded by the Ottomans without a fight). Greece would slowly grow in territory and population until reaching its present configuration in 1947. In World War I, Greece sided with the entente powers against Turkey and the other Central Powers. In the war's aftermath, the Great Powers awarded parts of Asia Minor to Greece, including the city of Smyrna (known as Izmir today) which had a large Greek population. At that time, however, the Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, denounced the Sultan's government in Istanbul and organised a new one in Ankara. During the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the Turks eventually defeated the Greek armies and regained control of Asia Minor. Soon afterwards, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, fixing the borders to this date. A population exchange was included in the agreement and immediately afterwards, hundreds of thousands of Turks then living in mainland Greek territory left for Turkey in exchange for about a million Greeks living in Turkey. The refugees from Asia Minor revived the population, provided cheap labour and hellenized the now depopulated regions, especially in Macedonia. In 1936, General Ioannis Metaxas established an authoritarian conservative dictatorship in Greece, seen as similar to Antonio Salazar's "New State". Greece under Metaxas is also compared to Spain at the time, although it lacked the political violence associated with Francisco Franco's regime. Despite the country's numerically small and ill-equipped armed forces, Greece made an important contribution to the Allied efforts in World War II. At the start of the war Greece sided with the Allies and refused to give in to Italian demands (see Oxi Day). Italy invaded Greece on 28 October 1940, but Greek troops repelled the invaders after a bitter struggle (see Greco-Italian War). This marked the first Allied victory in the war. Hitler then reluctantly stepped in, primarily to secure his strategic southern flank. Troops from Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, overcoming Greek, British, Australian, and New Zealand units within weeks. To reduce the threat of a counter-offensive by Allied forces in Egypt, the Germans attempted to seize Crete in a massive attack by paratroops. Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, however, offered fierce resistance. Although Crete eventually fell, it is pointed out by historians that this, and the whole Greek campaign, delayed German plans significantly, with the result that the German invasion of the Soviet Union started fatally close to winter. During the years of Nazi occupation, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps, or of starvation. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the Jewish community despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Christian Greeks to shelter Jews. The Greek economy languished. After liberation, Greece experienced an equally bitter Greek Civil War between the communist-led Democratic Army and the Hellenic Army that lasted until 1949, when the communists were defeated in the battle of Grammos-Vitsi. In the 1950s and 1960s, Greece continued to develop slowly with grants and loans through the Marshall Plan, and later through growth, notably in the tourism sector. In 1967, the Greek military seized power in a coup d'état and overthrew the conservative government of Panayiotis Kanellopoulos which had been preparing a general election set for May 28. The military established what became known as the Régime of the Colonels. In 1973, the régime abolished the Greek monarchy. In October 1973, George Papadopoulos appointed politician Spiros Markezinis as Prime Minister, with a mission undertake a transition to parliamentary democracy. Following the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, Papadopoulos and Markezinis were overthrown by a countercoup headed by junta hardliner Brigadier Ioannides on November 25, 1973. A new president, Phaedon Ghizikis, and a new Prime Minister, Adamantios Androutsopoulos, were appointed. Ioannides organised a military coup against President Makarios of Cyprus, which was considered a pretext for the first Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the resulting crisis between Greece and Turkey. Escalation in Cyprus led to the implosion of the military régime. Ex-premier Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited from Paris as interim prime minister under President Ghizikis. He later gained re-election for two further terms at the head of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party, which he founded. In 1975, following a referendum to confirm the deposition of King Constantine II, a democratic republican constitution came into force. Another previously exiled politician, Andreas Papandreou also returned and founded the socialist PASOK party, which won the elections in 1981 and dominated the country's political course for almost two decades. Since the restoration of democracy, the stability and economic prosperity of Greece have grown. Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and adopted the Euro as its currency in 2001. New infrastructure, funds from the EU and growing revenues from tourism, shipping, services, light industry, and the telecommunications industry have greatly raised the standard of living in Greece. Tensions continue to exist between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus and the delimitation of borders in the Aegean Sea, but relations have thawed considerably following successive earthquakes - first in Turkey and then in Greece - and an outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance by ordinary Greeks and Turks. This is in stark contrast to decades of hostility between these two countries, which saw repeated threats of war. Even though both were members of NATO, at times more than half of the entire Greek military was positioned against Turkey. In recent years, Greece has become one of the chief advocates of Turkey's application to join the European Union. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games were held in Athens, returning to Greece for the first time since their modern inception in 1896. Despite widespread initial concerns over the city's ability to meet construction deadlines as well as over its ability to handle a potential terrorist threat, the Athens Games were widely praised as a success [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3610014.stm].

Politics

Main article: Politics of Greece The 1975 constitution includes extensive specific guarantees of civil liberties. The President of the Republic, elected by an increased majority of the Parliament for a term of five years, is nominally the Head of State. However, it is the prime minister and cabinet that play the central role in the political process, while the president performs very limited governmental functions, in addition to ceremonial duties. Greeks elect the 300 members of the country's unicameral parliament (the Vouli ton Ellinon) by secret ballot for a maximum of four years, but elections can occur at more frequent intervals. Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation electoral system which discourages splinter parties and ensures that the party which leads in the national vote will win a majority of seats. A party must receive 3% of the total national vote to gain representation. Greek parliamentary politics hinge upon the principle of the "dedilomeni", the "declared confidence" of Parliament to the Prime Minister and his/her administration. This means that the President of the Republic is bound to appoint as Prime Minister a person who will be approved by a majority of the Parilament's members (i.e. 151 votes). With the current electoral system, it is the leader of the party gaining a plurality of the votes in the Parliamentary elections who gets appointed Prime Minister. An administration may, at any time, seek a "vote of confidence"; conversely, a number of Members of Parilament may ask that a "vote of reproach" be taken. Both are rare occurrences with usually predictable outcomes as voting outside the party line happens very seldom. For a list of Greek political parties, see List of political parties in Greece.

Local government

Main article: Peripheries of Greece Peripheries of Greece Peripheries of Greece Peripheries of Greece Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as peripheries, which subdivide further into the 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos):

- Attica:
- Attica
- Central Greece:
- Boeotia
- Euboea
- Evrytania
- Phocis
- Phthiotis
- Central Macedonia
- Chalcidice
- Imathia
- Kilkis
- Pella
- Pieria
- Serres
- Thessaloniki

- Crete
- Chania
- Heraklion
- Lasithi
- Rethymno
- East Macedonia and Thrace
- Drama
- Evros
- Kavala
- Rhodope
- Xanthi
- Epirus
- Arta
- Ioannina
- Preveza
- Thesprotia

- Ionian Islands
- Corfu
- Kefalonia
- Lefkada
- Zakynthos
- North Aegean
- Chios
- Lesbos
- Samos
- Peloponnese
- Arcadia
- Argolis
- Corinthia
- Laconia
- Messinia

- South Aegean
- Cyclades
- Dodecanese
- Thessaly
- Karditsa
- Larissa
- Magnesia
- Trikala
- West Greece
- Achaea
- Aetolia-Acarnania
- Elis
- West Macedonia
- Florina
- Grevena
- Kastoria
- Kozani

Beyond these one autonomous region exists: Mount Athos (Agio Oros - Holy Mountain), a monastic state under Greek sovereignty. The 51 nomoi subdivide into 147 eparchies (singular eparchia), which contain 1,033 municipalities and communities: 900 urban municipalities (demoi) and 133 rural communities (koinotetes). Before 1999, Greece's local government structure featured 5,775 local authorities: 457 demoi and 5,318 koinotetes, subdivided into 12,817 localities (oikosmoi).

Geography

Main article: Geography of Greece Geography of Greece Geography of Greece] Geography of Greece The country consists of a large mainland at the southern end of the Balkans; the Peloponnesus peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth); and numerous islands (around 3,000), including Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Euboea and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups of the Aegean Sea as well as the Ionian sea islands. Greece has more than 15,000 kilometres of coastline and a land boundary of 1,160 kilometres. About 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, thus making Greece one of the most montainous countries of Europe. Western Greece contains lakes and wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has a maximum elevation of 2,636 m. The Pindus can be considered as a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps. The range continues by means of the Peloponnese, the islands of Kythera and Antikythera to find its final point in the island of Crete. (Actually the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once consisted an extension of the mainland). The Central and Western Greece area contains high, steep peaks dissected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes, including the Meteora and the Vikos gorge the later being the second largest one on earth after the Grand Canyon in the US. Mount Olympus forms the highest point in Greece at 2,919 m above sea level. Also northern Greece presents another high range, the Rhodope, located in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace; this area is covered with vast and thick century old forests like the famous Dadia. Plains are mainly found in Eastern Thessaly, Central Macedonia and Thrace. Greece's climate is divided into three well defined classes the Mediterranean, Alpine and Temperate, the first one features mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures rarely reach extremes, although snowfalls do occur occasionally even in Athens, Cyclades or Crete during the winter. Alpine is found primarily in Western Greece (Epirus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Western Macedonia as well as central parts of Peloponessus like Achaea, Arkadia and parts of Lakonia where the Alpine range pass by). Finally the temperate climate is found in Central and Eastern Macedonia as well as in Thrace at places like Komotini, Xanthi and northern Evros; with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. It's worth to mention that Athens is located in a transition area between the Mediterranean and Alpine climate, thus finding that in its southern suburbs weather is of Mediterranean type while in the Northern suburbs of the Alpine type. About 50% of Greek land is covered by forests with a rich varied vegetation which spans from Alpine coniferous to mediterranean type vegetation. Seals, sea turtles and other rare marine life live in the seas around Greece, while Greece's forests provide a home to Western Europe's last brown bears and lynx as well as other species like Wolf, Roe Deer, Wild Goat, Fox and Wild Boar among others.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Greece Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about half of GDP. Tourism has great importance, providing a large portion of GDP and foreign exchange earnings. Greece also counts as a world leader in shipping (first in terms of ownership of vessels and third by flag registration) [http://www.marad.dot.gov/MARAD_statistics/Country-MFW-7-04.pdf]. Greece figures prominently as a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 2.4% of its GNP. The export of manufactured goods, including telecommunications hardware and software, foodstuffs, and fuels accounts for a large part of the rest of Greek income. The country has a high standard of living, ranking 24th on the 2005 Human Development Index and 22nd on The Economist's 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index[http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf]. The economy has improved steadily over the last few years, as the government tightened fiscal policy in the run-up to Greece's entry into the Eurozone on January 1, 2001. Average per capita income in 2004 was estimated at $22,000 [http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/GNIPC.pdf]. Greece has an expanding services sector and telecommunications industry and has become one of the largest investors in the immediate region. Moreover, Greece now operates as a net importer of labour and foreign workers (mainly from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, and Africa). People from these areas now account for 10% of the total population. 2001 Major challenges faced by the country include the reduction of unemployment, privatising of several state enterprises, social security reforms, overhauling the tax system, and minimising bureaucratic inefficiencies. Forecasts predicted economic growth of 4 - 4.5 % in 2004. Reducing the government deficit also remains a major issue, as it is currently running at nearly twice the Eurozone target of 3% of GDP. The new conservative government revealed to Eurostat that the previous figures supplied, which were the basis of Greek entry into the Eurozone, were incorrect. Under a negotiated agreement, the EU gave Greece two years (budgets of 2005 and 2006) to bring the economy in line with the criteria of the European stability pact. The Bank of Greece, now a subsidiary of the European Central Bank, functions as the nation's central bank. This bank is not the same as the "National Bank of Greece", a commercial bank.

Tourism

In the year of 2004, Greece ranked 12th interms of International tourist Arrivals world wide with a figure of 14.180 Million visitors, some of which came for the 2004 Olympic Games. Since the promotion of Greece from the Olympic Games, the Government expects significant growth in the years to come. In 2003, tourists spent an estimated 11 billion Euros contributing 8% to Greeces GDP. Tourism in Greece has multiplied 50 times in the past 40 years and is expected to only get bigger in the next 10 years. The main problem for Greece and its tourism industry is that many people are now going to places such as Turkey or Egypt were they can get a similar summer holiday for alot cheaper. Unfortunatly, the Government dosen't spend much on promoting tourism in Greece, although they have now hired Greek singer, Elena Paparizou, as there official Ambassador as well as having released a new campaign. One suggestion is to focus now on the Winter side of Greece as Greece's tourism industry is really only a 6 month tourism season. If promoted correctly, Greece could almost double its tourist statistics since most of the 14 million tourists are accounted for in only 6 months of a 12 month year.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Greece Greece has various linguistic and cultural minorities. A non-comprehensive list of these would include Pomaks and various Roma groups. A number of religious minorities exist, including the Muslim minority in western Thrace, which makes up about a third of that region's population. Around one million immigrants live full or part time in Greece today, of which 65% have come from Albania following the fall of communism in Albania. This was a very rapid phenomena and the Greek legal and social culture has had some difficulties adapting. Several prominent Greek sportsmen immigrated to Greece as ethnic Greeks from Albania and Georgia in the 1990s, including legendary weightlifters Pyrros Dimas and Kakhi Kakhiashvili. Smaller numbers of immigrants came from Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania. The exact number remains unknown, since the majority live illegally in Greece.

Religion

Prior to Ottoman rule, Greece was part of the Byzantine Empire. The civil and religious capital of the Empire was moved to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) by Constantine I. Since Constantine’s time the Orthodox Christian faith has flourished and spread throughout Eastern Europe. Even under Turkish rule and repeated attempts at being proselytised firstly by the Jesuits and then by the Protestants, Orthodox Christianity survived and flourished. The role of the Orthodox Church in maintaining Greek ethnic and cultural identity during the 400 years of Ottoman rule, has strengthened the bond between religion and government. Most Greeks, even many non-practicing Christians, revere and respect the Orthodox Christian faith, attend Church and Major Feast days, and are emotionally attached to Orthodox Christianity as their 'national' religion. The Greek Constitution reflects this relationship by guaranteeing absolute freedom of religion while still defining the "prevailing religion" of Greece as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. In practice, the Orthodox Church and the secular state are intimately involved with one another. Joint approval is needed for the building of churches and the Church has even blocked the building of places of worship for other religions in Athens. Priests receive state salaries. The President of the Republic takes an oath on the Bible and Orthodox Christianity is given privileged place in religious studies in primary education. The Church has also been allowed to keep its large portfolio of financial assets exempt from taxation and fiscal auditing. Starting in January 2005, a series of highly publicised corruption scandals involving high rank church officials have led to many calls by secular Greeks for the complete separation of Church and State and greater control of Church assets. The majority of Greeks (95-98%) have at least nominal membership in the Eastern Orthodox Church, although religious observance has declined in recent years. Greek Muslims make up about 1.3% of the population, and live primarily in Thrace. Greece also has some Roman Catholics, mainly in the city of Patras and the Cyclades islands of Syros, Paros,Tinos and Naxos; some Protestants and some Jews, mainly in Thessaloniki (which was once a major Jewish city until the Holocaust). Some groups in Greece have started an attempt to reconstruct Hellenic polytheism, the ancient Greek pagan religion. See also: Greek Orthodox Church. One small part of Greece, Mount Athos, is recognised by the Greek constitution as an autonomous monastic republic, although foreign relations, however, remain the prerogative of the Greek state. Spiritually, Mount Athos is under the Patriarchate of Constantinople and is therefore in communion with all the monasteries on Mount Athos and with the Orthodox Church based in various countries. One monastery has recently broken away and has formed a completely independent schism on the Holy Mountain -- Esphygmenou Monastery. Esphygmenou is composed of 117 Zealot monks who stubbornly oppose the head of the Church and do not commemorate him any more. They believe that they are the last remaining true Christians in the world and that Orthodoxy has been corrupted by having dialogue with other faiths. They also object to the lifting of the anathemas against the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960's by Patriarch Athenagoras. Jews have been present in Greece for the last 2000 years. The earliest reference to a Greek Jew is in an inscription, dated c. 300-250 BCE found in Oropos, a small coastal town between Athens and Boeotia, and refers to him as "Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew" who was in all likelihood, a slave. The first Greek Jewish population became known as the Romaniotes and their language became known as Yevanic (from the Hebrew word for Greece: יון/Yavan). From the 16th century onwards, Salonica, a city in northern Greece, had one of the largest (mostly Sephardic by then) Jewish communities in the world and a solid rabbinical tradition. On the island of Crete, the Jews played an important part in the transport trade. During World War II, when Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany, 86% of the Greek Jews were murdered by the invading Axis and only a minority survived and most of them have emigrated to Israel. Greece's Jewish community today is estimated at 4,500.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Greece Greece has produced a vast number of contributors to philosophy, astronomy, science, and the arts. For a list of famous Greek men and women, see List of Greeks. See also:
- Classics
- Education in Greece
- List of Greek dances
- List of museums in Greece
- Greek National Holidays
- List of research institutes in Greece
- Tourism in Greece
- List of universities in Greece

Miscellaneous topics

- History of Greece
- Ancient Greece
- Greek mythology
- Hellenistic civilization
- Byzantine Empire
- Byzantium
- Greek Language
- Communications in Greece
- List of Greek language television channels
- List of radio stations in Greece
- Greek newspapers
- Transportation in Greece
- List of Greek roads
- Rio-Antirio bridge
- Foreign relations of Greece
- Military of Greece
- Postage stamps and postal history of Greece
- Conscription in Greece
- Popular Greek Entertainment
- Plateia Syntagmatos and Vouli ton Ellinon
- Turkish Greek Civic Dialogue Project
- Greeks
- List of Greeks
- Greek American
- Category:Greek-Americans
- Greek Canadians
- Greek Australian

Sport in Greece

- Summer Olympics of 1896, 1906 & 2004
- Greece national football team (Euro 2004 Cup Winners)
- Greece national basketball team (Eurobasket 1987 & 2005 Cup Winners) The Greek government built a world class sport infrastructure specifically for the 2004 Summer Olympics which is generally regarded as a [http://www.athens2004.com/en/Legacy legacy]to the country. Greece was one of the smallest countries to ever host a modern summer Olympic games. The organisation and conduct of the games were considered highly successful. Unlike other western European countries, basketball has become a popular sport in Greece. This is largely the result of the victory achieved by the Greek national basketball team against the Soviet Union in the European championship final of 1987 held in Athens. Eighteen years later, Greece won its second Europen basketball championship in the 2005 Eurobasket, held in Belgrade.

External links

- [http://www.balkanforums.com Greece and the Balkans] Discussion Forum
- [http://www.go4less.gr/main.php?lang=EN Internet Travel Service to Greece and Smartest Accommodation Search Engine]
- [http://www.hri.org HR-Net (Hellenic Resources Network)/ comprehensive Greek news site]
- [http://www.statistics.gr/ Official Greek Statistics Site]
- [http://www.ask4greece.org Ask for Greece/ A volunteer community for Q&As about Greece]
- [http://www.gnto.gr/?langID=2/ Official Tourist Site]
- [http://www.greece-museums.com Greece Museums/ Museum directory of Greece]
- [http://www.athensvirtualtour.com/ Take a short virtual tour of Athens]
- [http://webcam.deili.info/en,1,8 Greece Webcam]
- [http://www.ert.gr/radio/liveradioTritovraxea.asp Radio Greece live]
- [http://greece.ianandwendy.com Photos of Greece from a backpacker's trip]
- [http://www.superbgreece.com Greece travel information]
- [http://www.phigita.net/ Greek Blogs and News]
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Greece/ Open Directory Project: Greece]
- [http://www.olympion.de/greek-embassies-worldwide.html A list of Greek Embassies Worldwide]
- [http://ozhanozturk.com/content/view/374/1/ History of Ottoman Greece]

Other official sites

- [http://www.presidency.gr/en/index.htm President of the Hellenic Republic]
- [http://www.greece.gr/index.htm Greece Now Government sponsored e-zine on Greek life]
- [http://www.primeminister.gr/gr/lang/en/primeminister.asp Prime Minister of Greece]
- [http://www.parliament.gr/english/default.asp Hellenic Parliament] Category:European Union member states roa-rup:Gârţii zh-min-nan:Hi-lia̍p ko:그리스 ms:Yunani ja:ギリシャ simple:Greece th:ประเทศกรีซ fiu-vro:Kriika

Rhine

At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. The name of the Rhine in all these languages comes from Celtic Renos, literally "that which flows", from the Proto-Indo-European root
- rei- ("to flow, run"), which also gave the word "to run" in English. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern frontier of the Roman Empire, and since those days the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway, carrying trade and goods deep inland. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. A castle identifies a location where traffic was stopped, usually for the purpose of collecting tolls, by the state controlling that portion of the river.

Geography

Roman Empire] Roman Empire was built in 1231]] Roman Empire Roman Empire

Switzerland

The Rhine's origins are in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden, where its two main initial tributaries are called Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein. The Vorderrhein (anterior Rhine) springs from Lake Tuma near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta (the Swiss Grand Canyon). The Hinterrhein (posterior Rhine) starts from the Paradies glacier near the Rheinquellhorn at the southern border of Switzerland. Both tributaries meet near Reichenau, still in Graubünden.

Germany and France

When leaving Graubünden, the Rhine flows north to form the frontier with Liechtenstein and then Austria, and then empties into Lake Constance (Bodensee in German). The Rhine then re-emerges, flows west, mainly on the border between Switzerland and Germany, falls over the Rhine Falls, is joined by the Aare river which more than doubles its water discharge to an average of nearly 1,000 cubic meters per second already, and then turns north at the so-called Rhine knee in Basel and forms the southern part of the border between Germany and France in a wide valley, before entering Germany exclusively. At over 1000 kilometres in length, the Rhine is the longest river primarily within Germany. It is here that the Rhine encounters some of its main tributaries, such as the Neckar, the Main and later the Moselle, which contributes an average discharge of over 300 cubic meters per second. Between Bingen and Bonn, the Rhine flows through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised. This gorge is quite deep, and is the stretch of the river known for its many castles and vineyards. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2002) and known as "the romantic Rhine" with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages (see links) and many lovely wine-villages. Though many industries can be found along the Rhine up into Switzerland, it is in the Ruhr area that the bulk of them are concentrated. The Ruhr river, a surprisingly clean river used for drinking water production, adds another 70 cubic meters per second to the Rhine here; however other rivers from the Ruhr area, above all the Emscher, still cause a considerable degree of pollution. Approaching the Dutch border, the Rhine now has an average discharge of 2,290 cubic metres per second and an average width of more than 1,000 feet.

the Netherlands

The Rhine then turns west into the Netherlands, where together with the Meuse it forms an extensive delta. Crossing the border into the Netherlands at Spijk, the Rhine is at its widest, but the river then splits into three main distributaries: the IJssel, the Waal and the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine). From here the situation becomes more complicated, as the name "Rhine" no longer coincides with the main flow of water. Most of the Rhine water (two thirds) flows further west through the Waal and then via the Nieuwe Waterweg and, merging with the Meuse, through the Hollands Diep and Haringvliet estuaries into the North Sea. The other third portion of the water flows through the Pannerdens kanaal and redistributes in the IJssel and Nederrijn. The IJssel branch carries one third of the water north into the IJsselmeer while the Nederrijn flows west parallel to the Waal and carries approximately two ninths of the flow. However, beyond Wijk bij Duurstede the Nederrijn changes its name and becomes the Lek. It flows further west to rejoin the main flow into the Nieuwe Waterweg. The name "Rhine" from here on is used only for smaller streams further to the north which together once formed the main river Rhine in Roman times. Though they retained the name, these streams do not carry water from the Rhine anymore, but are used for draining the surrounding land and polders. From Wijk bij Duurstede, the old north branch of the Rhine is called Kromme Rijn ("Crooked Rhine") and past Utrecht, first Leidse Rijn ("Leiden Rhine") and then Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine"). In Leiden, the river splits into Oude Rijn and Nieuwe Rijn. After the castle, the Burcht, the Rhine merges into the Rijn, or Rhine. The latter flows west into a sluice at Katwijk, where its waters can be discharged into the North Sea. This branch once formed the line along which the Upper Germanic limes were built.

Large cities

Basel, Straßburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne / Köln, Leverkusen, Düsseldorf, Neuss, Krefeld, Duisburg, Arnhem / Arnheim, Rotterdam

Smaller cities

Konstanz, Schaffhausen, ..., Speyer, Worms, Bingen,Rüdesheim, Neuwied, Andernach, Bad Honnef, Königswinter, Niederkassel, Wesseling, Dormagen, Zons, Monheim, Wesel, Xanten, Emmerich

Railway bridges

Railway bridges (with nearest train station on the left and right bank):
- Switzerland
- Tens of bridges in Graubünden, too numerous to list
- Liechtenstein and Switzerland:
- between Schaan and Buchs SG
- Austria and Switzerland:
- between Lustenau and St. Margerethen
- France — Germany
- Strasbourg — Kehl
- Roeschwoog — Rastatt-Wintersdorf (used as street bridge since 1949, line closed 1960, rails were preserved for strategic purpose until 1999)
- Germany 1999]
- Karlsruhe-Maxau — Wörth am Rhein-Maximiliansau
- Germersheim — Philippsburg
- Ludwigshafen — Mannheim
- Worms
- Mainz
- Koblenz
- 2 bridges between Köln Hbf and Köln Deutz/Messe (Hohenzollernbrücke)
- Düsseldorf
- Duisburg
- Netherlands:
- between Elst and Arnhem across Nederrijn
- between Nijmegen and Elst across Waal
- between Culemborg and Houten across Lek
- between Zaltbommel and Geldermalsen across Waal
- at Zutphen across IJssel, right next to the station

Tributaries

IJssel Tributaries from source to mouth:
- Left
- Thur
- Töss
- Aare
- Birs
- Birsig
- Ill (France)
- Moder
- Lauter
- Nahe
- Moselle (Mosel)
- Nette
- Ahr
- Erft
- Right
- Hinterrhein
- Ill (Austria)
- Schussen
- Wutach
- Alb
- Wiese
- Elz
- Kinzig
- Murg
- Neckar
- Main
- Lahn
- Wied
- Sieg
- Wupper
- Düssel
- Ruhr
- Emscher
- Lippe
- Oude IJssel (Issel)
- Berkel

Distributaries

- IJssel
- Waal
- Lek

Canals include

- Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
- Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
- Scheldt-Rhine Canal
- Rhein-Herne Kanal which is the connection to the Mittellandkanal.

Geologic History

Alpine Orogeny

Since the Rhine flows from the Alps, a precondition of its existence is the uplifting of the Alps, which began in the Alpine Orogeny. The stage was set in the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, with the opening of Tethys Sea between the Eurasian and the African plates, between about 240 MBP and 220 MBP. The Mediterranean descends from this somewhat larger Tethys sea. At about 180 MBP, in the Jurassic Period, the two plates reversed direction and began to compress Tethys floor, causing it to be subducted under Eurasia and pushing up the edge of the latter plate in the Alpine Orogeny of the Oligocene and Miocene Periods. Several microplates were caught in the squeeze and rotated or were pushed laterally, generating the individual features of Mediterranean geography: Iberia pushed up the Pyrenees; Italy the Alps, and Anatolia, moving west, the mountains of Greece and the islands. The compression and the orogeny continue today, as the ongoing raising of the mountains a small amount each year and the active volcanoes signify. Just to the north of the Alpine Orogeny were highlands resulting from an earlier orogeny (Variscan) along similar lines. These highlands helped to divert the Rhine to the west; however, the Rhine's course is set by the Rhine graben, a rift that opened in the Eocene and Oligocene periods between the western Alps and the central Alps, caused by their moving in slightly different directions. The rift does not seem to be active now.

Stream Capture

The watershed of the Rhine reaches into the Alps today, but it did not start out that way (Berendsen & Stouthamer, 2001; Fig. 2.2). In the Miocene period, the watershed of the Rhine reached south only to the Eifel and Westerwald hills, about 450 km north of the Alps. The Rhine then had the Sieg as a tributary, but not yet the Mosel. The northern Alps were drained by the Donau then. Through stream capture, the Rhine extended its watershed southward. By the Pliocene period, the Rhine had captured streams down to the Vosges mountains, including the Mosel, the Main, and the Neckar. The northern Alps were drained by the Rhône then. By the early Pleistocene period, the Rhine had captured most of its current Alpine watershed from the Rhône, including the Aare. Since that time, the Rhine has added the watershed above Lake Constance (Vorderrhein, Hinterrhein, Alpenrhein; captured from the Rhône), the upper reaches of the Main (beyond Schweinfurt), and the Vosges mountains (captured from the Meuse) to its watershed.

Ice Age

The Pleistocene (~2.5 million years ago - 10,000 years ago) was the geological period of the Ice Ages. Since approximately 600,000 years ago six major Ice Ages occurred, in which sealevel dropped 120 m, and much of the continental margins became exposed. In the Early Pleistocene, the Rhine followed a course to the NW, through the present North Sea. During the so-called Elsterien glaciation (~420,000 yr BP, marine oxygen isotope stage 12) the northern part of the present North Sea was blocked by the ice, and a large lake developed, that overflowed through the English Channel. This caused the Rhine course to be diverted through the English Channel. Since then, during glacial times, the river mouth was located near Brest(France), and rivers like the Thames, and Seine became tributaries to the Rhine. During interglacials, when sealevel rose to approximately the present level, the Rhine built a delta in what is now called The Netherlands. During the last Ice Age (~70,000-10,000 yr BP= Before Present), at the end of the Pleistocene, the lower Rhine flowed roughly west through the Netherlands and then to the southwest, through the English Channel, and finally to the Atlantic Ocean. The English and Irish Channels, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea were still dry land, mainly because sea level was approximately 120 m lower than today. At about 5000 BC, flooding and erosion began to open the English Channel. Most of the Rhine's current course was not under the ice during the last Ice Age, although its source must then have been a glacier. A tundra with Ice Age flora and fauna stretched across middle Europe from Asia to the Atlantic Ocean. Such was the case during the Last Glacial Maximum, ca. 22,000-14,000 yr BP, when ice covered Scandinavia and the Baltic, Britain and the Alps, but left the space between as open tundra. The loess, or wind-blown dust over that tundra settled in and around the Rhine Valley, contributing to its current agricultural usefulness. These events were well within the residence of man. Melt water adding to the ocean and land subsidence drowned the former coasts of Europe. The water is still rising, at the rate of about 1-3 mm per year. Further drowning is to come. Rapid warming and change of vegetation to open forest began about 13,000 BP. By 9000 BP, Europe was fully forested. About 7000-5000 BP a general warming encouraged migration up the Danube and down the Rhine by peoples to the east, who may also have been encouraged by the sudden massive expansion of the Black Sea as the Mediterranean burst into it through the Bosphorus at about 7500 BP. At least one unsuccessful search for remains of villages on the floor of the Black Sea has been conducted.

Prehistory

The Palaeolithic

Lower Palaeolithic

Middle Palaeolithic

During the Middle Palaeolithic, ca 100,000-30,000 BP (the dates vary a geat deal) western Europe, including the Rhine and Danube Valleys, was occupied by Neanderthal Man, to which belonged the Mousterian culture of stone tools. Mousterian sites are not considered intrusive. It is believed that the Neanderthals may have evolved from the preceding Homo erectus in the vicinity of the glaciers, but the question has by no means been settled definitively. Neanderthal sites are denser to the south, where open forest prevailed and the limestone terrain offered more caves as dwelling. The Rhine ran through an open tundra, where Neanderthals hunted big game, such as the woolly rhinoceros and the mammoth. Accordingly, open air Mousterian sites have been discovered in and around the Rhine valley.

Upper Palaeolithic

The Mesolithic

Prior to about 5600 BC, the Rhine Valley, along with most of Europe, was occupied by Cro-magnon man in the Mesolithic stage of cultural development; that is, they hunted and gathered, but owned a larger and more specialized tool kit than the Palaeolithic people, knew more about the plants and animals, and even may have kept a few animals.

The Neolithic

Linear Pottery culture

Michelsberg Culture

Globular Amphora Culture

Chalcolithic

Corded Culture

The Bronze Age

The Iron Age

During the early Iron Age, both banks of the Rhine were inhabited by Celtic tribes. However, in the beginning of the Pre-Roman Iron Age, ca 600 BC, the Proto-Germanic tribes crossed the Weser River and the Aller River, and expanded the whole distance to the banks of the Rhine. This expansion is shown archaeologically in the form of the Jastorf culture. From ca 500 BC and onwards, the lower Rhine and not the Weser and the Aller would increasingly mark the border between the Celtic tribes and the Germanic tribes.

Historic and Military Relevance

The human history of the Rhine begins with the writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. Nearly all the classical sources mention the Rhine, and the name is always the same: Rhenus in Latin, Greek Rhenos. The Romans viewed the Rhine as the outermost border of civilization and reason, beyond which were mythical creatures and the wild Germans, not far themselves from being beasts of the wilderness they inhabited. As it was a wilderness, the Romans were eager to explore it. This view is typified by Res Gestae Divi Augusti, a long public inscription of Augustus in which he (or his ghost writer) boasts of his exploits, including sending an expeditionary fleet north of the Rhinemouth to Jutland, which no Roman had ever done (he says). Throughout the long history of Rome, the Rhine was considered the border between Gaul or the Celts and the Germans, even though the border often was violated, as when the Germanics crossed it and joined with the Celts to form the Belgae (descending to Belgium). Typical of this point of view is a quote from Maurus Servius Honoratus, Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil (On Book 8 Line 727): :"(Rhenus) fluvius Galliae, qui Germanos a Gallia dividit" :"(The Rhine is a) river of Gaul, which divides the Germans from Gaul." The Rhine in the earlier sources was always a Gallic river. As the conflict between Rome and the Germanics grew, the Romans found it necessary to station troops along the Rhine. They kept two army groups there (exercitus), the inferior, or "lower", and the superior, or "upper", which is the first distinction between upper Germany and lower Germany. It originally probably only meant upstream and downstream, the Niederrhein and Oberrhein regions of the map included with this article. The Romans kept eight legions in five bases along the Rhine. The actual number of legions present at any base or in all depended on whether a state or threat of war existed. Between about 14 AD and 180 AD the assignment of legions was as follows. For the army of Germania Inferior, two legions at Vetera (Xanten): I Germanica and XX Valeria (Pannonian troops); two legions at oppidum Ubiorum ("town of the Ubii"), which was renamed to Colonia Agrippina, descending to Cologne. The legions were V Alaudae, a Celtic legion recruited from Gallia Transalpina, and XXI, possibly a Galatian legion from the other side of the empire. For the army of Germania superior, one legion, II Augusta, at Argentoratum (Strasbourg), and one, XIII Gemina, at Vindonissa (Windisch). Vespasian had commanded II Augusta before his promotion to imperator. In addition were a double legion, XIV and XVI, at Moguntiacum (Mainz). The two originally military districts of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior came to influence the surrounding tribes, who later respected the distinction in their alliances and confederations. For example, the upper Germans combined into the Alemanni. For a time the Rhine ceased to be a border when a union of all the west Germanics, the Franks, crossed the river and occupied Roman-dominated Celtic Gaul as far as Paris. Subsequently language changes began to play a major political role. West Germanic dissimilated into Low German and High German roughly along the old lines. Perhaps it had been doing so all along. Charlemagne united all the Franks in the Holy Roman Empire, but he did not rule over a people of uniform language. After his death the empire split more or less along language lines, with the Low German being spoken in the Netherlands and the High German in what became Germany. The Romanized Franks became the French. The Rhine once again became a political border. The Rhine as border has been and is a mystical and political symbol. German authors and composers have written reams about it. During World War II, it was still considered the sacred border of Germany, and was still a defensive barrier. The Germans fought especially hard to defend it. The Rhine is closely linked to many important historical events — particularly military ones — in the adjacent states. For example:
- The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest which finally established the Rhine as the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.
- It was a historic object of frontier trouble between France and Germany. Establishing France's "natural borders" on the Rhine was a long term goal of French foreign policy since the middle ages. French leaders such as Louis XIV and Napoleon Bonaparte tried with varying degrees of success to annex lands west of the Rhine. In 1840 the Rhine crisis evolved, because the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers started to talk about the Rhine border. In response, the nationalistic song The Watch on the Rhine (Die Wacht am Rhein) was composed at that time and during the Franco-Prussian War it rose to the status of an national anthem in Germany. The song calls for defending the Rhine against France. The song remained popular in World War I.
- At the end of WWI the Rhineland was subject to the Treaty of Versailles, which created lots of bitterness in Germany, and was one of the many reasons for World War II. The reoccupation of the Rhineland by Nazi Germany increased Hitler's popularity in Germany.
- The Rhine bridge at Arnhem, immortalized in "A Bridge Too Far", was a central focus of the battle for Arnhem during the failed Operation Market Garden of September 1944.
- The Rhine bridge of Remagen became famous in World War II when the Germans failed to demolish the bridge in time and the allied troops were able to establish a bridgehead - much to their own surprise.
- Mainz Cathedral - Over 1,000-year-old cathedral is seat to the Bishop of Mainz. Holds significant historic value as seat to the once politically powerful secular prince-archbishop within the Holy Roman Empire. Houses historical funerary monuments and religious artifacts.
- Das Rheingold - The Rhine is one of the settings for the first opera of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. The action of the epic opens and ends underneath the Rhine, where three Rhinemaidens swim and protect a hoard of gold.
- Nibelung - Siegfried/ Sigurd, hero of the Nibelungenlied killed his dragon on the Drachenfels(Siebengebirge) "dragons rock" near Bonn

References

- H.J.A. Berendsen & E. Stouthamer (2001): Palaeogeographic development of the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands; Koninklijke van Gorcum, Assen; ISBN 9023236955

External links

- [http://www.ruedesheim.de/en/index.html Rüdesheim famous wine-village (English) ]

Etymology

- [http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE428.html The
- rei- root, American Heritage Dictionary]

Geology

- [http://members.cox.net/quaternary/ Global land environments since the last interglacial]
- [http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/channelform.htm How the Channel Was Formed]
- [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/986733/posts Britain's Drowned Landscapes]
- [http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/inqu/finalprogram/abstract_54199.htm New Dating of European Ice Age]
- [http://pages.unibas.ch/earth/tecto/Members/Schmid/alps/schmid_html/Text_Schmid.html Regional Tectonics: from the Rhine Graben...]
- [http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/98038087.pdf Sedimentary Architecture ... Rhine-Meuse Deposits ...]
- [http://www.geog.uu.nl/fg/palaeogeography/index.html Rhine-Meuse Delta Studies]

History

- [http://www.rollintl.com/roll/rhine.htm Rhine River History and Maps]

Castles

- [http://www.loreleytal.com/rheinburgen/ Castles and Hotels on the Rhine]
- [http://www.burgen-am-rhein.de Castles on the Rhine]
- [http://mediaspec.com/castles/rhein/ Castles Along the Rhein River]
- [http://creative-dream.com/Rhine/castles.htm more Castles on the Rhine]
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- [http://www.flyhahn.com/regions/middlerhine.htm Travel Guide to the Middle Rhine (UNESCO World Heritage)] Category:Rivers of Switzerland Category:Rivers of the Netherlands Category:Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta Category:Rift valleys Category:Rivers of Germany Category:Rivers of Austria Category:Rivers of France als:Rhein ko:라인 강 ja:ライン川 simple:Rhine River

Second World War

, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. From top going counterclockwise: Allied landing on D-Day 1944, the Nuremberg Rally 1936, the Nagasaki atom bomb 1945, the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin 1945 and the Gate of Auschwitz.]] World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th Century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest continuous war in human history. It was the first time that a number of newly developed technologies, including nuclear weapons, were used against either military or civilian targets. World War II resulted in the direct or indirect death of anywhere from 50 to 60 million or more people, over 3% of the world population at that time. It is estimated to have cost more money and resources than all other wars combined: about 1 trillion US dollars in 1945 (adjusted for inflation; roughly 10.5 trillion in 2005), not including subsequent reconstruction [http://www.historychannel.com/worldwartwo/?page=triumph5]. The outcomes of the war, including new technology and changes to the world's geopolitical, cultural and economic arrangement, were unprecedented. The conflict began by most Western accounts on September 1 1939 with the German invasion of Poland (the Pacific war is taken to have started on July 7 1937 with the Japanese attack on China) and lasted until mid-1945, involving many of the world's countries. Virtually all countries that participated in World War I were involved in World War II. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 and Canada followed on September 10, 1939. The United States entered the conflict in December of 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Summary

Attributed in varying degrees to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the rise in nationalism, racism, fascism, National socialism, Japanese imperialism, and militarism, the causes of the war are a matter of debate. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Axis initially consisted of an alliance between Germany and Italy, which later expanded to include Japan and Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Some of the nations that Germany conquered sent military forces, particularly to the Eastern front. Among the expeditionary forces that joined Germany were forces from Vichy France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain (though Spain was itself a neutral country) and armies of Russians and Ukrainians under the command of the general Andrey Vlasov. The Allies were initially the United Kingdom, including the Commonwealth, France and Poland, later joined by the USSR, the United States of America and China. Fighting occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the Middle East, in the Pacific and South East Asia, and it continued in China. In Europe, the war ended with the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 (V-E and Victory Days), but continued in Asia until Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (V-J Day). At least 50 million people died as a result of the war. This figure includes acts of genocide such as the Holocaust and General Ishii Shiro's Unit 731 experiments in Pingfan, incredibly bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific Ocean, and massive bombings of cities, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the firebombing of Dresden (and even worse but less known) of Pforzheim in Germany. Few areas of the world were unaffected; the war involved the "home front" and bombing of civilians to a new degree. Atomic weapons, jet aircraft, rockets and radar, the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", the massive use of tanks, submarines, torpedo bombers and destroyer/tanker formations, are only a few of many wartime inventions and new tactics that changed the face of the conflict. Post–World War II Europe was partitioned into Western and Soviet spheres of influence, the former undergoing economic reconstruction under the Marshall Plan and the latter becoming satellite states of the Soviet Union. This partition was, however, informal; rather than coming to terms about the spheres of influence, the relationship between the victors steadily deteriorated, and the military lines of demarcation finally became the de facto country boundaries. Western Europe largely aligned as NATO, and Eastern Europe largely as the Warsaw pact countries, alliances which were fundamental to the ensuing Cold War. In Asia, the United States' military occupation of Japan led to Japan's democratisation. China's civil war continued through and after the war, resulting eventually in the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The war sparked a wave of independence for colonies of European powers, who were exhausted from fighting the war. There was a fundamental shift in power from Western Europe to the new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, though there were few actual boundary changes. __TOC__

Causes

People's Republic of China]] Main articles: Causes of World War II, Events preceding World War II in Europe, Events preceding World War II in Asia The causes of World War II are naturally a debated subject, but a common view, particularly among the allies in the early post-war years, ties them to the expansionism of Germany and Japan: Germany had lost wealth, power and status following the First World War and the expansion was to make Germany great again.
- In Germany there was a strong desire to escape the bonds of the World War I Treaty of Versailles, and eventually, Hitler and the Nazis assumed control of the country. They led Germany through a chain of events: rearmament, reoccupation of the Rhineland, a merger with Austria (Anschluss), incorporation of Czechoslovakia and finally the invasion of Poland.
- In Asia, Japan's efforts to become a world power and the rise of militarist leadership (in the 1930s the government in Japan was undermined as militarists rose to power and de facto gained totalitarian control) led to conflicts with first China and later the United States. Japan also sought to secure additional natural resources, such as oil and iron ore, due in part to the lack of natural resources on Japan's own home islands.

Participants

iron ore and Joseph Stalin, during the Yalta Conference in 1945]] Main article: Participants in World War II The belligerents of the Second World War are usually considered to belong to either of the two blocs: the Axis and the Allies. A number of smaller countries participated in the war, though often under occupation or as proxies of one of the large powers. The Axis Powers consisted primarily of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which split the Earth into three spheres of influence under the Tripartite Pact of 1940, and vowed to defend one another against aggression. This replaced the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 that Italy had joined in 1937. Spain's fascist government led by Francisco Franco was a great asset in trade to the Axis powers during the war. A number of smaller countries were counted among the Axis powers. Among these were Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and arguably Finland. Among the Allied powers, the so-called Big Three were the United Kingdom (from September 3 1939), the Soviet Union (from June 1941) and the United States (from December 1941). China had been at war with Japan since 1937. 1937 On August 23, 1939, just before the war broke out, the USSR and Germany signed the non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which, among other things, divided Eastern Europe into regions of influence. But Germany violated the pact when it invaded the USSR in 1941. Similarly, the US had the (much older) unilateral Monroe Doctrine, which stated that Europe should not interfere in the Americas and in turn the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs (including wars). But the U.S. entered the war after first Japan and then Germany declared war on it and launched direct attacks on its navy, shipping and other interests. Many other countries, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand and Yugoslavia are also considered important Allies, although some of these were conquered and occupied by Axis forces or even officially joined the Axis as a result of coercion. Countries that attempted to remain neutral in the conflict were often viewed with suspicion by the participants, and often pressured to make contributions to the most influential power in their neighbourhood. Sovereignty was often difficult to maintain as many countries that did not directly participate in the conflict nevertheless held vested interests in seeing a particular side prevail. For example, neutral Switzerland was generally considered to be "Allied-friendly", while neutral Spain was considered "Axis-friendly", despite the fact that neither country openly proclaimed any alliances. Such situations allowed neutral countries to become hotbeds of espionage. It is important to note as well, that Sweden's participation in the war was negligable due to specific relations with the German state at the time.

A debated starting date

On which date World War II started is a debated subject; historians do not all agree on which event signified the start of the war. The most common date used is 1 September 1939, marking the German invasion of Poland which resulted in the British and French declarations of war two days later. Other candidates include the Japanese invasion of China on 7 July 1937 (the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War) or the entry of Hitler's armies to Prague in March 1939. Some historians argue that the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (The Second Italo-Abyssinian War) which lasted seven months in 1935-1936 was the actual start of World War II. There are some historians that argue the war started on the start of the Manchurian Incident on 18 September 1931.

Chronology 1937-45

Main articles: European Theatre of World War II, Mediterranean Theatre of World War II, Pacific War, End of World War II in Europe

1937: Second Sino-Japanese War

On 7 July 1937, Japan, after occupying northeastern China as Manchuria in 1931, launched another attack against China near Beijing (see Marco Polo Bridge Incident). Rather than retreating swiftly as in engagements with the Japanese before, the Chinese government declared war on Japan, marking the official start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which would soon become part of the World War. In December 1937, the capital, Nanking (now Nanjing), fell and the Chinese government moved its seat to Chongqing for the rest of the war. Surprised by the unanticipated level of resistance from China, the Japanese forces committed brutal atrocities against civilians and POWs when Nanking was occupied (see Nanjing Massacre), killing up to 200,000 civilians within a month. In Europe, the peace was uneasy, with Germany annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia, and taking apparent aim at Poland.

1939: War breaks out in Europe

Poland]] Main articles: Polish September Campaign, Phony War War broke out in Poland on 1 September 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. France and the United Kingdom honoured their defensive alliance of March 1939 by declaring war two days later on 3 September. Australia and New Zealand declared war the same day, although through the quirk of the international date line, New Zealand then Australia were the first to declare war on Germany. Canada followed a week later, on 10 September. Only partly mobilised and with troops inadequately equipped with largely outdated weapons (which included large numbers of horse-mounted cavalry), and without the anticipated support of French or British forces, Poland unsurprisingly fared poorly against the Wehrmacht's superior numbers and "blitzkrieg" tactics. In accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Red Army invaded Poland from the east on 17 September. Hours later, the Polish government escaped to Romania. The last Polish Army unit was defeated on 6 October. As Poland fell, the British and French were either caught unaware of German intentions or had not allowed themselves to believe that Germany would invade Poland. Germany paused to regroup during a period that would be termed "the Phony War", or the "Sitzkrieg", which lasted until May 1940. Polish forces continued to fight the Axis powers after their country fell. A prominent example was the assistance of Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain. The Soviet Union, due to its treaty relationship with Nazi Germany, did not fight the fascists: Stalin was happy to have those he felt were his natural and true enemies—the capitalist West and Nazi Germany—fight each other. Indeed, the Soviets had their partisans in the U.S., working alongside Nazi sympathisers, advocate that the U.S. remain neutral in the war, a position that the majority of Americans, reluctant to join in what they saw as "someone else's war," welcomed. Battle of Britain There were isolated engagements during the "Phony War" or "Sitzkrieg" period, including the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in the anchorage at Scapa Flow and Luftwaffe bombings of the naval bases at Rosyth and Scapa Flow. The Kriegsmarine pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was sunk in South America after the battle of the River Plate. The Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 September, 1940, formalising their alignment as the "Axis Powers". The Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, beginning the Winter War, which lasted until March 1940 with Finland ceding territory to the Soviet Union.

1940: The war spreads

Winter War Main Articles: Norwegian Campaign, Battle of France, Battle of Britain, North African Campaign, Balkans Campaign Europe: Germany invaded Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940, in Operation Weserübung, ostensibly to counter the threat of an Allied invasion from the region. Heavy fighting ensued on land and at sea in Norway. British, French and Polish forces landed to support the Norwegians at Namsos, Åndalsnes and Narvik, with most success at the latter. By late June, all Allied forces had been evacuated, and the Norwegian Army surrendered. France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were invaded on 10 May, ending the Phony War and beginning the Battle of France. The Allies had hoped to establish a static continuous front and were ill-prepared for the German Blitzkrieg tactics. In the first phase of the invasion, Operation Yellow, the Wehrmacht's Panzergruppe von Kleist bypassed the Maginot Line and split the Allies in two by driving to the English Channel. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands fell quickly against the attack of Army Group B, and the British Expeditionary Force, trapped in the north, was evacuated at Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. German forces then invaded France itself, in Operation Red, advancing behind the Maginot Line and near the coast. While some units from the French army were still fighting, a number of top politicians and military leaders decided that it would be better to surrender given the situation; France signed an armistice with Germany on June 22 1940, leading to the establishment of the Vichy France puppet government in the unoccupied part of France. In June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania. Not having secured a rapid peace with the United Kingdom, Germany began preparations to invade with the Battle of Britain. Fighter aircraft fought overhead for months as the Luftwaffe and Royal Air Force fought for control of Britain's skies. The Luftwaffe initially targeted RAF Fighter Command but turned to terror bombing London. The Luftwaffe was not successful, and Operation Sealion, the proposed invasion of the British Isles, was abandoned. Similar efforts were made, though at sea, in the Battle of the Atlantic. In a long-running campaign, German U-Boats attempted to deprive the British Isles of necessary Lend Lease cargo from the United States. The U-Boats reduced shipments considerably; however, the United Kingdom refused to seek peace, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill stating that "We shall never surrender". President Roosevelt announced a shift in the American stance from neutrality to "non-belligerency". The Mediterranean: Italy invaded Greece on 28 October 1940, from bases in Albania. Although outnumbered, Greek forces successfully repelled the Italian attacks and launched a full-scale counter-attack deep into Albania. By mid-December they had liberated one-fourth of Albania. The North African Campaign began in 1940; Italian forces in Libya attacked British forces in Egypt. The aim was to make Egypt an Italian possession, especially the vital Suez Canal. British, Indian and Australian forces counter-attacked (see Operation Compass), but this offensive stopped in 1941 when much of the Commonwealth forces were transferred to Greece to defend it from German attack. However, German forces (known later as the Afrika Korps) under General Erwin Rommel landed in Libya and renewed the assault on Egypt. Italian troops invaded and captured British Somaliland in August 1940. On the other hand, the Italian declaration of war challenged the British supremacy of this sea, a supremacy hinged on Gibraltar, Malta and Alexandria. While Gibraltar was never under direct attack, Alexandria and to a deadlier degree Malta were hit repetitively by Axis attacks, the thrusts towards the Suez Canal for the former, and the 1940/42 Blitz for the latter, which made the island of Malta the most heavily bombed place on earth. Asia: In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the Vichy Government, despite local Free French, and joined Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and the United Kingdom, which reacted with an oil boycott.

1941: The war becomes global

Main articles: Eastern Front, Continuation War, Attack on Pearl Harbor Europe: Attack on Pearl Harbor Yugoslavia's government succumbed to the pressure of Italy and Germany and signed the Tripartite Treaty on 25 March 1941. This was followed by anti-Axis demonstrations in the country and a coup which overthrew the government and replaced it with a pro-Allied one on 27 March 1941. Hitler's forces then invaded Greece and Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. Hitler reluctantly sent forces to assist Mussolini's forces in their attempt to capture Greece, principally to prevent a British build-up on Germany's strategic southern flank. With these new troops the Axis succeeded in driving the Greek forces back. British troops were diverted from North Africa to assist with the defence but failed to prevent Greece's capture. On 20 May 1941, the Battle of Crete began when elite German paratroopers and glider-borne mountain troops and some 1300 aeroplanes launched a massive airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete. Crete was defended by an group of about 43,000 Greek, New Zealand, Australian and British troops, not all of them fully equipped. The Germans attacked the island simultaneously on the three airfields. Their invasion on two of the airfields failed, but they successfully captured one, which allowed them to reinforce their position by landing reinforcements. After a week it was decided that so many German troops had been flown in that there was no way to defeat them, and about 17,000 Commonwealth soldiers were evacuated. However, over 10,000 Greek and 500 Commonwealth troops remained at large and caused problems for the German occupiers. The Germans may have suffered well over 15,000 casualties. So heavy were the losses that Hiler decided never to launch an airborne invasion again. General Kurt Student would later say, "Crete was the grave of the German parachutists". The Allies, on the other hand, came to the conclusion that every major invasion should be supported by paratroopers. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the largest invasion in history, commenced on 22 June 1941. The "Great Patriotic War" (Russian: Великая Отечественная Война, Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voyna) had begun with surprise attacks by German panzer armies, which encircled and destroyed much of the Soviet's western military, capturing or killing hundreds of thousands of men. Soviet forces came to fight a war of scorched earth, withdrawing into the steppe of Russia to acquire time and stretch the German army. Industries were dismantled and withdrawn to the Ural mountains for reassembly. German armies pursued a three-pronged advance against Leningrad (modern-day St Petersburg), Moscow, and the Caucasus. Having pushed to occupy Moscow before winter, German forces were delayed into the Soviet Winter. Soviet counter-attacks defeated them within sight of Moscow's spires, and a rout was only narrowly avoided. Some historians identify this as the "turning point" in the Allies' war against Germany; others identify the capitulation of the German Sixth Army outside Stalingrad (modern-day Volgograd) in 1943. The Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union began with Soviet air attacks shortly after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, on 25 June, and ended with an armistice in 1944. The Soviet Union was joined in the war by the United Kingdom but not by the United States. The Mediterranean again: In June 1941, Allied forces invaded Syria and Lebanon, capturing Damascus on 17 June (see Syria-Lebanon campaign). Meanwhile, Rommel's forces advanced rapidly eastward, laying siege to the vital seaport of Tobruk. Australian and other Allied troops in the city resisted all until relieved, but a renewed Axis offensive captured the city and drove the Eighth Army back to a line at El Alamein. Asia: The Sino-Japanese War El Alamein Main article: Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) A war had begun in Asia years before World War II started in Europe. Japan had invaded China in 1931. By 1937, war had broken out as the Japanese sought control of China. Roosevelt signed an unpublished (secret) executive order in May 1940 allowing U.S. military personnel to resign from the service so that they could participate in a covert operation in China: the American Volunteer Group, also known as Chennault's Flying Tigers. Over a seven-month period, Chennault's Flying Tigers destroyed an estimated 600 Japanese aircraft, sunk numerous Japanese ships, and stalled the Japanese invasion of Burma. With the United States and other countries cutting exports to Japan, particularly fuel oil, Japan planned a strike on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 December 1941, to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet while consolidating oil fields in Southeast Asia. It is hard to determine whether the Japanese intended to release an advance declaration of war, however, as means of coordinating secret directives with public communication, particularly during a weekend in the U.S., were limited. Despite what warning signs remained, the attack on Pearl Harbor achieved military surprise and dealt severe damage to the American Fleet's battleships, though the primary targets, aircraft carriers, remained safely at sea. The next day, Japanese forces arrived at Hong Kong, which later led to the surrender of the British colony on Christmas Day (known to locals as 'Black Christmas'), as well as launching numerous attacks on British and American outposts across the Pacific. Asia: The United States enters the war
Main article: Attack on Pearl Harbor Attack on Pearl Harbor On 7 December 1941, Japanese warplanes commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo carried out a surprise air raid on Pearl Harbor, the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific. The Japanese forces met little resistance and devastated the harbour. This attack resulted in 8 battleships either sunk or damaged, 3 light cruisers and 3 destroyers sunk as well as damage to some auxiliaries and 343 aircraft either damaged or destroyed. However the attack failed to strike targets that could have been crippling losses to the US Pacific Fleet such as the aircraft carriers which were out at sea at the time of the attack or the base's ship fuel storage and repair facilities. The survival of these assets have led many to consider this attack a catastrophic long term strategic blunder for Japan. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan. Simultaneously to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan also attacked U.S. air bases in the Philippines. Immediately following these attacks, Japan invaded the Philippines and also the British Colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya, Borneo and Burma with the intention of seizing the oilfields of the Dutch East Indies. In a matter of months, all these territories and more fell to the Japanese onslaught. The British island fortress of Singapore was captured in what Churchill considered one of the most humiliating British defeats of all time. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941, even though it was not obliged to do so under the Tripartite Pact of 1940. Hitler made the declaration in the hopes that Japan would support him by attacking the Soviet Union. Japan did not oblige him, and this diplomatic move proved a catastrophic blunder which gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt the pretext needed for the United States joining the fight in Europe with full commitment and with no meaningful opposition from Congress. Some historians mark this moment as another major turning point of the war with Hitler provoking a grand alliance of powerful nations, most prominently the UK, the USA and the USSR, who could wage powerful offensives on both East and West simultaneously.

1942: Deadlock

Franklin D. Roosevelt] Main articles: Battle of Stalingrad, Operation Torch Europe: In 1942, an aborted German offensive was launched towards the Caucasus to secure oil fields, and German armies reached Stalingrad. The siege of Stalingrad continued for many months, with vicious urban warfare leading to high casualties on both sides. At night, the Soviet forces were resupplied from the east bank of the Volga, and the Wehrmacht forces were eventually ground down; especially after Hitler diverted the armour of the Sixth Army to the Caucasus. In November a Soviet offensive encircled Sixth Army. By early February 1943, it was clear that the Sixth Army would have to surrender. Hitler promoted General Friedrich Paulus, who was in charge of the German forces, to Field Marshal in the vain hope it would deter him from surrendering. It did not, and he surrendered completely on 2 February. The results were the destruction of the city, millions of casualties, and the collapse of Germany's Sixth Army as a viable fighting force. Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels responded with his Sportpalast speech to the German people. Some historians cite this as the European war's "turning point". The Mediterranean: Sportpalast speech Sportpalast speech (432nd Squadron) damaged by flak somewhere over Algeria during the North African Campaign in 1942.]] The First Battle of El Alamein took place between 1 July and 27 July 1942. German forces had advanced to the last defensible point before Alexandria and the Suez Canal. However, they had outrun their supplies, and a Commonwealth defence stopped their thrusts. The Second Battle of El Alamein occurred between October 23 and November 3, 1942, after Bernard Montgomery had replaced Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Commonwealth forces, now known as the Eighth Army. Erwin Rommel, German commander of the Afrika Corps, known as the "Desert Fox", was absent for this battle because he was recovering from jaundice back in Europe. Commonwealth forces took the offensive, and although they lost more tanks than the Germans began the battle with, Montgomery was ultimately triumphant. The western Allies had the advantage of being close to their supplies during the battle. In addition, Rommel was getting little or no help by this time from the struggling Luftwaffe, which was now more tasked with defending Western European air space, and fighting the Soviet Union, than providing Rommel with support in North Africa. After the German defeat at El Alamein, Rommel made a successful strategic withdrawal to Tunisia. During the Arcadia Conference from December 1941 to January 1942, the Allied leaders concluded that it was essential to keep Russia in the war. This consideration led to the overall strategy "Germany First"; i.e. giving priority of knocking out Germany before Japan. This decision resulted in a long debate as to where and when to open a Second Front against Germany. The American Chiefs of Staff favoured a cross-channel (France) amphibious operation in the summer. The British opposed this because of insufficient landing craft and logistical problems. It was also thought that American forces were in a process of expansion, organisation and exercise, not capable yet of fighting an experienced German army. Only if Russia collapsed would they approve a main landing in France. Churchill put forward the idea of a small invasion in Norway or landings in French North Africa. The plan for landings in Africa was approved in July 1942. Operation Torch was headed by General Dwight Eisenhower. The aim of Torch was to gain control of Morocco and Algiers through simultaneous landings at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, followed a few days later with a landing at Bône, the gateway to Tunisia. The operation was launched on 8 November 1942. The first wave was almost entirely American troops, because it was thought that the French would react more favourably to Americans than British. It was hoped that the local forces of Vichy France would put up no resistance and submit to the authority of Free French General Henri Giraud. In fact, resistance was stronger than expected but still sporadic. In Algiers, 400 members of the French resistance captured much of the city, though it was retaken before Allied forces could arrive. The Vichy commander, Admiral Darlan, negotiated an end to hostilities, against orders from the Vichy government. He was allowed to retain local control by the Allies, to the annoyance of Free French leaders. Hitler invaded and occupied Vichy France in response. Rommel's Afrika Corps was not being supplied adequately because of the loss of transport shipments caused by Allied—mostly British—navies and air forces in the Mediterranean. This lack of supplies and air support destroyed any chance of a large German offensive in Africa. Ultimately, German and Italian forces were caught in the pincers of a twin advance from Algeria and Libya. The withdrawing Germans continued to put up stiff defence, and Rommel defeated the American forces decisively at the Battle of Kasserine Pass before finishing his strategic withdrawal back to the meagre German supply chain. Inevitably, advancing from both the east and west, the Allies finally defeated the German Afrika Corps on May 13 1943. Some 250,000 Axis soldiers were taken prisoner. Asia: 1943]] In May 1942, a naval attack on Port Moresby, New Guinea, was thwarted by Allied navies in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Had the capture of Port Moresby succeeded, the Japanese Navy would have been within striking range of Australia. This was both the first successful opposition to Japanese plans and the first naval battle fought only between aircraft carriers. The two sides suffered roughly equal losses. A month later the invasion of Midway Island was prevented by decoding secret Japanese messages, and hence alerted U.S. naval leaders that Midway was the Japanese target. American pilots sunk four Japanese carriers, which the Japanese industry could not replace swiftly. The loss of many planes and skilled pilots (many of them took part in Pearl Harbor) was also difficult to redress. The Americans lost one carrier and fewer planes. It was a complete victory for the Americans, and the Japanese Navy was now on the defensive. However, in July an overland attack on Port Moresby was led along the rugged Kokoda Track. This was met with Australian militia, many of them very young and undertrained, fighting a stubborn rearguard action until the arrival of Australian regulars returning from action in North Africa, Greece and the Middle East. But amazingly, the outnumbered and untrained Australian 39th battalion defeated the 5,000-strong Japanese army. This was one of the most significant victories in Australian military history. Even prior to the American entry to the war, the Allied leaders had agreed that priority should be given to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Nonetheless, U.S. forces began to attack captured territories, beginning with Guadalcanal Island, against a bitter and determined Japanese defence. On 7 August 1942, the United States assaulted the island. In late August and early September, while battle raged on Guadalcanal, an amphibious Japanese attack on the eastern tip of New Guinea was met by Australian forces at Milne Bay, and the Japanese land forces suffered their first conclusive defeat. On Guadalcanal, the Japanese resistance failed in February 1943. A substantial element of the Asian campaign was played out, starting in 1942, in the Aleutian Islands. For detailed information, see World War II: Aleutian Islands.

1943: The war turns

World War II: Aleutian Islands Main articles: Battle of Kursk, Italian Campaign Europe: Russia: After the victory at Stalingrad, the Red Army launched a series of eight offensives during the winter, many concentrated along the Don basin near Stalingrad, which resulted in initial gains until German forces were able to take advantage of the weakened condition of the Red Army and regain the territory it lost. In July, the Wehrmacht launched a much-delayed offensive against the Soviet Union at Kursk. Their intentions were known by the Soviets, and the Battle of Kursk ended in a Soviet counteroffensive that threw the German Army back. Italy is invaded: Newly captured North Africa was used as a springboard for the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. On 25 July Mussolini was fired from office by the King of Italy, allowing a new government to take power. Having captured Sicily, the Allies invaded mainland Italy on 3 September 1943. Italy surrendered on 8 September, but German forces continued to fight. Allied forces advanced north but were stalled for the winter at the Gustav Line, until they broke through in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Rome was captured on 5 June 1944. Mid-1943 brought the fifth and final German Sutjeska offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans before the invasion and subsequent capitulation of Italy, the other major occupying force in Yugoslavia. Partisans, Louisville (CA-28), Portland (CA-33) and Columbia (CL-56) into Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, January 1945.]] Asia: (1943–45) Australian and U.S. forces then undertook the prolonged campaign to retake the occupied parts of the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, experiencing some of the toughest resistance of the war. The rest of the Solomon Islands were retaken in 1943, New Britain and New Ireland in 1944. As the Philippines were being retaken in late 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf raged, arguably the largest naval battle in history. The last major offensive in the south-west Pacific Area was the Borneo campaign of mid-1945, which was aimed at further isolating the remaining Japanese forces in South East Asia and securing the release of Allied POWs. Allied submarines and aircraft also attacked Japanese merchant shipping, depriving Japan's industry of the raw materials it had gone to war to obtain. The effectiveness of this stranglehold increased as U.S. Marines captured islands closer to the Japanese mainland. The Nationalist Kuomintang Army, under Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Chinese Army, under Mao Zedong, both opposed the Japanese occupation of China but never truly allied against the Japanese. Conflict between Nationalist and Communist forces emerged long before the war; it continued after and, to an extent, even during the war, though more implicitly. The Japanese had captured most of Burma, severing the Burma Road by which the Western Allies had been supplying the Chinese Nationalists. This forced the Allies to create a large sustained airlift, known as "flying the Hump". U.S. led and trained Chinese divisions, a British division and a few thousand U.S. ground troops cleared the Japanese forces from northern Burma so that the Ledo Road could be built to replace the Burma Road. Further south the main Japanese army in the theatre were fought to a standstill on the Burma-India frontier by the British Fourteenth Army (the "Forgotten Army"), which then counter-attacked, and having recaptured all of Burma was planning attacks towards Malaya when the war ended.

1944: The beginning of the end

British Fourteenth Army, 6 June 1944]] Main articles: Battle of Normandy, Operation Bagration, Operation Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge On "D-Day" (6 June 1944) the western Allies invaded German-held Normandy in a pre-dawn amphibious assault spearheaded by American (82nd and 101st), British (6th) and Canadian paratroops, opening the "second front" against Germany. The allies suffered large casualties during the beach assault. German artillery batteries pounded the beaches. But the airborne divisions took out the guns from the rear, enabling the seaborne troops to break inland. Hedgerows aided the defending German units, and for months the Allies measured progress in hundreds of yards and bloody rifle fights. An Allied breakout was effected at St.-Lô, and the most powerful German force in France, the Seventh Army, was almost completely destroyed in the Falaise pocket while counter-attacking. Allied forces stationed in Italy invaded the French Riviera on 15 August and linked up with forces from Normandy. The clandestine French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on 19 August, and a French division under General Jacques Leclerc, pressing forward from Normandy, received the surrender of the German forces there and liberated the city on August 25. By early 1944, the Red Army had reached the border of Poland and lifted the Siege of Leningrad. Shortly after Allied landings at Normandy, on 9 June, the Soviet Union began an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus that after three months would force Nazi Germany's co-belligerent Finland to an armistice. Operation Bagration, a Soviet offensive involving 2.5 million men and 6,000 tanks, was launched on 22 June, destroying the German Army Group Centre and taking 350,000 prisoners. Finland's defence had been dependent on active, or in periods passive, support from the German Wehrmacht that also provided defence for the chiefly uninhabited northern half of Finland. After the Wehrmacht retreated from the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland, Finland's defence was untenable. The Allies' armistice conditions included further terri

Poland

The Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a country located in Central Europe, between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. The Polish state was formed over 1,000 years ago under the Piast dynasty, and reached its golden age near the end of the 16th century under the Jagiellonian dynasty, when Poland was one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful countries in Europe. In 1791 the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth voted for the Constitution of May 3, Europe's first modern codified constitution, and the second in the world after the Constitution of the United States. Soon afterwards, the country ceased to exist after being partitioned by its neighbours Russia, Austria, and Prussia. It regained independence in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War as the Second Polish Republic. Following the Second World War it became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union known as the People's Republic of Poland. In 1989 the first partially-free elections in Poland's post-World War II history concluded the Solidarity (Solidarność) movement's struggle for freedom and resulted in the defeat of Poland's communist rulers. The current Third Polish Republic was established, followed a few years later by the drafting of a new constitution in 1997. In 1999 Poland acceded to NATO, and in 2004 it joined the European Union.

Name

:See the name 'Poland' in other languages, in Wiktionary. Poland's official name in Polish is Rzeczpospolita Polska. The names of the country, Polska, and of the nationality, the Poles, are of Slavic origin. Their name derives from the tribal name Polanie - people living around Lake Gopło - the cradle of Poland mentioned as Glopeani having 400 strongholds circa 845 (Bavarian Geographer). Common opinion holds that the name Polska comes from the Slavic Polanie tribe who established the Polish state in the 10th century (Greater Poland). The conventional etymology of the ethnic name of the Poles relates it to these Polish Polanie, "dwellers of the field"; pole, "field", analogous to Russian polyî, "open land", from Indo-European pelè-, "flat" + -anie, "inhabitants", analogous to Latin -anus, "originating from" (please compare Yuriev-Polsky). In old Latin chronicles the terms terra Poloniae (land of Poland) or Regnum Poloniae (kingdom of Poland) appear. Parallel to this terminology, another one, Lechia, came into use, thought to derive from the tribe name Lędzianie. It gave rise to an alternative name for "Pole": Lęch, Lęchowie in Old Church Slavonic, Lechia, Lechites in Latin, Lach in Ruthenian, Lyakh in Russian, as well as to old German Lechien, Hungarian Lengyelorszag, Lengyel, Lithuanian Lenkija, lenkas and Turkish Lechistan (from Persian Lehestan).

History

Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty. Poland's first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, was baptized in 966, adopting Catholic Christianity as the country's new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next century. In the 12th century Poland fragmented into several smaller states, which were later ravaged by the Mongol armies of the Golden Horde in 1241. In 1320 Władysław I became the King of reunified Poland. His son Kazimierz Wielki repaired the Polish economy, built new castles and won the war against the Russian dukedom (Lwow become a Polish City). Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged an alliance with its neighbour Lithuania. A golden age occurred in the 16th century during its union (Lublin Union) with Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The citizens of Poland took pride in their ancient freedoms and parliamentary system, although the Szlachta monopolised most of the benefits. Since that time Poles have regarded freedom as their most important value. Poles often call themselves the nation of the free people. freedom In the mid-17th century a Swedish invasion rolled through the country in the turbulent time known as "The Deluge" (potop). Numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Brandenburg-Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. During the following 80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the institutions weakened the nation, leading to anarchistic tendencies and a growing dependency on Russia. In Polish Democracy every member of parliament was able to break any work or project by shouting 'Liberum Veto' during the session. Russian tsars took advantage of this unique political vulnerability by offering money to Parliamentary traitors, who in turn would consistently and subversively block necessary reforms and new solutions. The Enlightenment in Poland fostered a growing national movement to repair the state, resulting in the first written constitution in Europe, the Constitution of May 3 in 1791. The process of reforms ceased with the partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795 which ultimately dissolved the country. Poles resented their shrinking freedoms and several times rebelled against their oppressors (see List of Polish Uprisings). Napoleon recreated a Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was split again by the Allies at the Congress of Vienna. The eastern part was ruled by the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom, and possessed a liberal constitution. However, the tsars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually de facto annexed the country. Later in the 19th century, Austrian-ruled Galicia became the oasis of Polish freedom. During World War I all the Allies agreed on the restitution of Poland that United States President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in point 13 of his Fourteen Points. Shortly after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). A new threat, Soviet aggression, arose in the 1919 (Polish-Soviet War), but Poland succeeded in defending its independence. Polish-Soviet War The Second Polish Republic lasted until the start of World War II when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Poland surrendered on September 28 1939 and suffered greatly in the period that followed as a General Government. Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over 6 million perished, half of them Polish Jews. In its conclusion, Poland's borders shifted westwards, pushing the eastern border to the Curzon line and the western border to the Oder-Neisse line. After the shift, Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 km² (29,900 mi²); although the important cities of Gdańsk, Szczecin and Wrocław were all incorporated into its post-war borders. The shift also involved the migration of millions of people – Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Jews. As a result of these events, Poland became, for the first time in history, an ethnically unified country. A Polish minority is still present in neighbouring countries of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see Poles article for the population numbers). The largest number of ethnic Poles outside of the country can be found in the United States. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War was also part of this change. In 1948 a turn towards Stalinism brought in the beginning of the next period of totalitarian rule. The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1956 the régime became more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. In 1970 the government was changed. It was a time when the economy was more modern, and the government had large credits. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union, "Solidarity", which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the Communist Party; by 1989 it had triumphed in parliamentary elections, and Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. The Solidarity movement greatly contributed to the soon-following collapse of Communism all over Eastern Europe. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. Despite a regression in social and economic standards, there were numerous improvements in other human rights (free speech, functioning democracy and the like). Poland was the first post-communist country to regain pre-1989 GDP levels. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Polish voters then said yes to the EU in a referendum in June 2003. Poland joined the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Politics

Poland is a democratic republic. Its current constitution dates from 1997. The government structure centres on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (the Sejm). The president, elected by popular vote every five years, serves as the head of state. The current president is Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Polish voters elect a two house parliament, consisting of a 460 member lower house Sejm and a 100 member Senate (Senat). The Sejm is elected under a proportional representation electoral system similar to that used in other parliamentary political systems while the Senate is elected under a comparatively rare first past the post bloc voting. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only political parties receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly, (Polish Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: taking oath by the new president, bringing an indictment against the President of the Republic to the Tribunal of State, declaration of the President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health. The judicial branch plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), the Supreme Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) (judges appointed by the president of the republic on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period), the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) (judges chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) and the Tribunal of State (Trybunał Stanu) (judges chosen by the Sejm for for the current term of office of the Sejm, except for the position of chairperson which is held by the First President of the Supreme Court). The Sejm (on approval of the Polish Senate) appoints the Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of the human being and of the citizen, the law and principles of community life and social justice.

Geography

judicial branch The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres (568 ft), though the Sudetes (including the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains, where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m [8,199 ft]) form the southern border. Several large rivers cross the plains; for instance, the Vistula (Wisła), Oder (Odra), Warta the (Western) Bug. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Masuria (Mazury) forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Remains of the ancient forests survive: see list of forests in Poland. Poland enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunder showers.

Big Cities

climate climate climate climate] climate

Administrative division

climate climate Poland is subdivided into sixteen administrative regions known as voivodships (województwa, singular - województwo): Lower levels of administrative division are:
- powiats (counties)
- gminas (commune)

Economy

gmina gmina gmina] Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open examples of the transition from a partially state-capitalist market economy to a primarily privately owned market economy. The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an aggressive private sector, followed by a development of consumer rights organisations later on. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railways, and energy) has begun. The biggest privatisations so far were a sale of Telekomunikacja Polska, a national telecom to France Telecom (2000) and an issue of 30% shares of the biggest Polish bank, PKO BP, on the Polish stockmarket (2004). Poland has a large agricultural sector of private farms, that could be a leading producer of food in the European Union now that Poland is a member. Challenges remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment and allegedly needs a continued large inflow. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004 GDP growth equalled 5.4%. Annual growth rates broken down by quarters:
- 2003: Q1 - 2.2% | Q2 - 3.8% | Q3 - 4.7% | Q4 - 4.7%
- 2004: Q1 - 6.9% | Q2 - 6.1% | Q3 - 5.8% | Q4 - 5.9%
- 2005: Q1 - 2.1% | Q2 - 2.8% | Q3 - 3.7% | Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing an economic boom there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the European Single Currency. There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be ready to join the Eurozone, although the best guess estimates put the entry date somewhere between 2009 and 2013. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (as other countries of the European Union), and the Złoty will eventually be abolished from the modern Polish economy. Since joining the European Union, many young Polish people have left their country to work in other EU countries becouse of high unemployment rate (about 17%). Poland produces: clothes, electronics, cars, buses (Autosan, Jelcz SA, Solaris, ) helicopters (PZL Świdnik), planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including tanks), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa, etc), food, chemical products etc.

Science, technology and education

The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century. The library catalog of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature. In 1364, in Kraków, the Jagiellonian University, founded by King Kazimierz Wielki, became one of Europe's great early universities. In 1773 King Stanisław August Poniatowski established his Commission on National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education. Today, Poland has more than a hundred institutions of post-secondary education: technical, medical, economics, as well as the traditional universities to be found in its major cities; e.g., Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Rzeszów, Warsaw, Wrocław yielding over 61 thousand scientists. Furthermore, there are about 300 research and development institutes, with about 10 thousand more researchers. In addition, there is a number of smaller laboratories. In sum, there are 91 thousand scientists in Poland today.

Telecommunication and IT

The share of the telecom sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 users per 1000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000)
the coverage mobile cellular is 660 users per 1000 people (2005)
- Telephones - mobile cellular: 25.3 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005)
- Telephones - main lines in use: 12.5 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005)

Transportation

- Rail: The Polish State Railways (PKP) is one of the larger railway systems of central and western Europe, with 23,420 kilometres (14,552 mi) in its network (1998). Refurbishment of the network has commenced to bring standards into line with western European railway networks. [http://www.plk-sa.pl/]
- Road: By Western European standards, Poland has a relatively poor infrastructure of expressways/highways. The Government has undertaken a programme to improve the standard of a number of significant national highways by 2013. The total length of expressways/highways is 364,657 kilometres (226,587 mi). There are a total of 9,283,000 registered passenger automobiles, as well as 1,762,000 registered trucks and buses (2000). PKP
- Air: Poland has eight major airports (in decreasing order of traffic: Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław, Szczecin and Rzeszów), a total of 123 airports and airfields, as well as three heliports. The number of passenger at Polish airports has consistently increased since 1991.
- Marine: The total length of navigable rivers and canals is 3,812 kilometres (2,369 mi). The merchant marine consists of 114 ships, with an additional 100 ships registered outside the country. The principal ports and harbours are: Port of Gdańsk, Port of Gdynia, Port of Szczecin, Port of Swinoujscie, Port of Ustka, Port of Kolobrzeg, Gliwice, Warsaw, Wroclaw.

Tourism and holidays

Wroclaw
- Tourism in Poland
- Holidays in Poland
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Poland Poland on Wikitravel]

Demographics

Poland formerly played host to many languages, cultures and religions. However, the outcome of World War II and the following shift westwards to the area between the Curzon line and the Oder-Neisse line gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity. Today 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population considers itself Polish (Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. The officially recognised ethnic minorities include: Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and Belarusians. The Polish language, a member of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland. Most Poles adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, and 75% count as practising Catholics. The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox (about 509 500), Jehovah's Witnesses (about 123 034) and various Protestant (about 86 880 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church and about as many in smaller churches) religious minorities. [http://www.stat.gov.pl/opracowania_zbiorcze/maly_rocznik_stat/2003/rocznik4/relig.htm]

Culture

Evangelical-Augsburg Church]] Polish culture has more then 1000 years of history. Poland situated between Western and Eastern cultural spaces and got influences from both. For example the traditional costumes include also Islamic influences. Polish culture developed actively and always been as part of western (Western Europe) culture. We can see that today - architecture, folklore, art etc. Also Poland influenced to near situated countries.

UNESCO World Heritage in Poland

- Warszawa (Old Town)
- Kraków (Old Town)
- Wieliczka (Salt mine)
- Malbork (Biggest Brick Stone Castle)
- Zamość (Renaissance Town)
- Toruń (Gothic Town)
- Oświęcim (Auschwitz concentration camp)
- Jawor (Baroque Peace Church)
- Świdnica (Baroque Peace Chruch)
- Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Pilgrim´s Place)
- Białowieża Forest (National Park - largest remaining primeval forest in Europe)
- Dębno (Gothic Wooden Chruch)
- Słowiński Park Narodowy (highest sand hills)

International rankings

- Human Development Index 2005: Rank 36th out of 177 countries.
- Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 32nd out of 167 countries.
- Index of Economic Freedom 2005: Rank 41st out of 155 countries.

External links

Governmental websites

- [http://www.sejm.gov.pl/english.html Sejm] - Sejm - lower chamber of the Parliament
- [http://www.senat.gov.pl/indexe.htm Senat] - Senate - upper chamber of the Parliament
- [http://www.president.pl/x.node?id=479 Prezydent] - President of the Republic of Poland
- [http://www.kprm.gov.pl/english/index.html KPRM] - Prime Minister's Office
- [http://www.sn.pl/english/index.html Sąd Najwyższy] - Supreme Court
- [http://www.trybunal.gov.pl/eng/index.htm Trybunał Konstytucyjny] - Constitutional Tribunal
- [http://www.nbp.pl/Home.aspx?f=srodeken.htm National Bank of Poland]
- [http://www.poland.pl/ The Poland.pl portal]
- [http://www.wse.com.pl/ Warsaw Stock Exchange]
- [http://www.stat.gov.pl/english/index.htm GUS] - Central Statistical Office
- [http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm Constitution of Poland]

Poland Tourism

- [http://www.poland-tourism.pl/start.asp?tf=US Polish National Tourist Office (from pot.gov.pl)]

English-language websites on Poland

- [http://www.poland.gov.pl Polska /page about Poland]
- [http://polblog.pl/ PolBlog - Polish News Site]
- [http://www.polishforums.com Poland and Polish Community Online]
- [http://www.centreurope.org/pl/poland.htm Centreurope.org: Poland section]
- [http://www.warsawvoice.pl Warsawvoice]
- [http://www.wbj.pl Warsaw Business Journal]
- [http://www.parks.it/world/PL/Eindex.html Parks in Poland] National parks, wetlands, biosphere reserves and other protected areas Category:European Union member states Category:Republics People of Poland zh-min-nan:Polska als:Polen ko:폴란드 ms:Poland ja:ポーランド simple:Poland th:ประเทศโปแลนด์ fiu-vro:Poola

Hans Michelsen

Ludvig Holberg blev født d. 3. december 1684 i Bergen, Norge. Han døde i København i 1754. Holberg var den yngste af seks brødre, og hans far, Christian Nielsen Holberg, døde før Ludvig var et år gammel. Holberg blev uddannet i København og var i mange år lærer ved Københavns Universitet, og samtidig med, at han forelæste der, skrev han sine berømte komedier. Holberg havde dog i starten svært ved at finde arbejde i de fag, som virkelig interesserede ham, og dette irriterede ham. Han havde studeret jura, historie og sprog. Han blev da også udnævnt til professor i tre så forskellige fag som metafysik, latin og historie. Holberg var således meget lærd og også berejst. Han rejste i sin sene ungdom til storbyer i lande som Holland og Frankrig samt til Rom. Han rejste også til England og studerede for en periode i Oxford, hvilket var et særsyn i samtiden, hvor man var meget orienteret mod det kontinentale Europa.

Forfatterskab

Holbergs rejser har været ham en stor inspiration i hans senere skrivning - de mange indtryk har også modnet ham kunstnerisk og moralsk. Holberg lod sig inspirere af de gamle latinske komedier og franske komedier, han havde set i Paris. Hans forfatterskab kan deles op i tre perioder (ikke sat i rækkefølge); den historiske, den poetisk/komiske og den filosofiske. Den poetiske raptus var, da han i samtiden satte produktionsrekord med de komiske dramaer, han spyttede ud i lange baner. Det var manuskripter til skuespil opført i København (i sig selv bøger). Det er samtidig også dem, han i eftertiden er blevet mest kendt for. Vigtigt at notere sig er i øvrigt, at han i en af de sidste bøger, han skrev om sit liv, indrømmede, at han var skinsyg og meget bange for, at det andre skrev, skulle være bedre end det, han selv skabte. Dette er i øvrigt en kilde til at forstå hans forfatterskab – hans vrede på samfundet, andre lektorer og universitetet gjorde ham skarp, og var gennemgående en drivkraft i Holbergs forfatterskab. samfund

Ideologi – oplysningstidens mand

Holberg traf under et ophold i Paris den danske videnskabsmand Jacob Winsløw, som var katolik. Winsløw prøvede at omvende Holberg, men dette resulterede blot i, at Holberg blev anti–katolik og altid senere bevarede denne holdning – dermed ikke sagt, at Holberg var hedning eller ikke-troende. Han tilhørte den lutherske tro. Holberg kritiserede skolernes undervisning i kristendom: ”Børn maa giøres til Mennesker, førend de blive Christne” og ”hvis een lærer Theologie, førend han lærer at blive Menneske, bliver han aldrig Menneske”. Holberg tror på fornuftens guddommelige lys i vort indre, og for ham må det være undervisningens første mål at eleverne lærer at bruge deres sanser og forstand – i stedet for nytteløs terpen af en lærebog. Dette var en ny, moderne opfattelse af religionsspørgsmålet, og det kendetegner Holberg som i højeste grad værende oplysningens mand. Holberg var i øvrigt interesseret i fornuften, fordi han mente, at det var denne, som bandt samfundet sammen. Desuden undrede det Holberg, at der kunne findes så meget ondskab i samtiden, når man jo blot kunne lade fornuften råde i stedet. Man kan altså sige, at han bevæger sig væk fra en religiøs forklaring på ondskaben hen imod en rationalistisk/empirisk tænkemåde, og dette er jo vigtigt pga. hans status som en stor forfatter i både samtid og eftertid. Holberg har en positiv holdning til bibelkritikken, og han foruroliges heller ikke af det nye heliocentriske verdensbillede, som står i kontrast til bibelens omtale af jorden som ubevægelig - han skriver i en af sine epistler herom: "de hellige Bøger ere ikke skrevne for at oplyse Mennesker udi Astronomie, men for at veyvise dem udi Saligheds Sager." Holbergs religiøsitet repræsenterer i det store og hele, hvad man kalder deisme. Han forholder sig kritisk til forestillingen om arvesynden og nærer tillid til menneskets frie vilje. Holbergs erklærede hensigt med sin forfattervirksomhed var i øvrigt at sprede oplysning til gavn for almenheden og til nytte for samfundet. Dette stemmer overens med billedet af Holberg som fremskridtets og oplysningstidens mand. Det er værd at notere sig, at Holberg fandt sig bedst til rette i storbyer med stor kultur – småbyer og natur interesserede ham ikke. Han fandt det hæsligt.

Indflydelse på videnskaberne

natur] Før Holbergs tid havde videnskaberne været underlagt teologien, hvis forestillinger, f.eks. om verdensbilledet, var uanfægtelige. 1700-tallets oplysning betød, at videnskaben blev gjort mere folkelig, og den var et fremskridt for den erfaringsbaserede undersøgelse – empirismen - der ikke mindst gav videnskaben nyt grundlag og nye muligheder. Holberg bidrog principielt til denne udvikling. Holbergs ideal for videnskab var, at denne skulle gå induktivt frem (dvs. igennem erfaringer bygget på observationer) og være til praktisk nytte, hvilket vi ser et morsomt eksempel på i hans "Betænkning over den nu regierende Qvæg-Syge" (1745) - hvor han ræsonnerer sig frem til, at smitten mest sandsynligt hidrører fra mikroorganismer.

Bibliografi

Komedier

- Den Politiske Kandestøber, 1722
- Den Vægelsindede, 1722
- Jean de France eller Hans Frandsen, 1722
- Jeppe paa Bierget eller den forvandlede Bonde, 1722
- Mester Gert Westphaler, 1722
- Barselstuen, 1723
- Den ellefte Junii, 1723
- Jacob von Tyboe eller den stortalende Soldat, 1723
- Ulysses von Ithacia, 1723
- Erasmus Montanus eller Rasmus Berg, 1723
- Don Ranudo de Colibrados, 1723
- Uden Hoved og Hale, 1723
- Den Stundesløse, 1723
- Hexerie eller Blind Allarm, 1723
- Melampe, 1723
- Det lykkelige Skibbrud, 1724
- Det Arabiske Pulver, 1724
- Mascarade, 1724
- Julestuen, 1724
- De Usynlige, 1724
- Kildereisen, 1725
- Henrich og Pernille, 1724-1726
- Den pantsatte Bondedreng, 1726
- Pernilles korte Frøkenstand, 1727
- Den Danske Comoedies Liigbegængelse, 1727
- Den honette Ambition, 1731
- Plutus eller Proces imellom Fattigdom og Riigdom, utg. 1753
- Husspøgelse eller Abracadabra, utg. 1753
- Philosophus udi egen Indbildning, utg. 1754
- Republiqven eller det gemeene Bedste, utg. 1754
- Sganarels Rejse til det philosophiske Land, utg. 1754

Digte

- Peder Paars, 1720
- fire Skæmtedigte, 1722
- Metamorphosis eller Forvandlinger, 1726

Romaner

- Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum, 1741. (Overs. til da. av Hans Hagerup, 1742: Niels Klims underjordiske Rejse.)

Essays

- Moralske Tanker, 1744
- Epistler, 1748–54
- Moralske Fabler, 1751

Videnskabelige afhandlinger

- Introduction til de fornemste Europæiske Rigers Historier, 1711
- Morals Kierne eller Introduction til Naturens og Folke-Rettens Kundskab, 1716
- Dannemarks og Norges Beskrivelse, 1729
- Dannemarks Riges Historie, 1732–35
- Den berømmelige Norske Handel-Stad Bergens Beskrivelse, 1737
- Almindelig Kirke-Historie, 1738
- Den jødiske Historie fra Verdens Begyndelse, fortsat til disse Tider, 1742
- Adskillige store Helte og berømmelige Mænds sammenlignede Historier, 1739–53
- Adskillige Heltinders og navnkundige Damers sammenlignede Historier, 1745

Kilder/henvisninger

- Originalartikel af Jakob Rønne
- [http://bjoerna.dk/Holberg/ABRACADABRA.htm ABRACADABRA: DIGITAL HOLBERG Internetsider om Ludvig Holberg]
- [http://bjoerna.dk/Holberg/paa-nettet.htm Ludvig Holberg på internettet]
- [http://www.kb.dk/elib/lit/dan/holberg/komedier/ Seks komedier i fuldtekst (Det kgl. Bibliotek)]
- [http://bjoerna.net/holberg/Krabasken.htm Hvad skal et Holberg-teater i dag? Jeppe med nutidens briller. Holberg som egnsteater i Kalundborg]
- [http://bjoerna.dk/Holberg/Om-Holbergs-Naturret.htm Ludvig Holberg's bog om Naturretten og Folkeretten. Bogen kan downloades]
- [http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/dbl/7/0521.html Dansk Biografisk Leksikon]

Se også

- litteratur Holberg, Ludvig Holberg, Ludvig Holberg, Ludvig Holberg, Ludvig Holberg, Ludvig Holberg, Ludvig

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