My World

2007-09-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

History

The Nile River in Egypt.

Main articles: History of Egypt, Ancient Egypt, and Egyptians

The Nile has been a site of continuous human habitation since at least the Paleolithic era. Evidence of this appears in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in the desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society.^[8]

By about 6000 BC, organized agriculture and large building construction had appeared in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to Dynastic Egyptian civilization. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining somewhat culturally separate, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appear during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC.^[9]

tAwy ('Two Lands')
in hieroglyphs

A unified kingdom was founded circa 3150 BC by King Menes, giving rise to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptians subsequently referred to their unified country as tAwy, meaning 'Two Lands'; and later km.t (Coptic: Kīmi), the 'Black Land', a reference to the fertile black soil deposited by the Nile river. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs. The first two ruling dynasties of a unified Egypt set the stage for the Old Kingdom period, c.2700−2200 BC., famous for its many pyramids, most notably the Third Dynasty pyramid of Djoser and the Fourth Dynasty Giza Pyramids.

The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom, are modern national icons that also lie at the heart of Egypt's thriving tourism industry.

The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years. Stronger Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, that of the Semitic Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC, and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were eventually driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital from Memphis to Thebes.

The New Kingdom (c.1550−1070 BC) began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far south as Jebel Barkal in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is known for some of the most well-known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first known self-conscious expression of monotheism came during this period in the form of Atenism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought in new ideas in the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded by Libyans, Nubians and Assyrians, but native Egyptians drove them out and regained control of their country.

First built in the third or fourth century AD, the Hanging Church is Cairo's most famous Coptic church.

The Thirtieth Dynasty was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. It fell to the Persians in 343 BC after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks and Romans, beginning over two thousand years of foreign rule. Before Egypt became part of the Byzantine realm, Christianity had been brought by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the AD first century. Diocletian's reign marks the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine era in Egypt, when a great number of Egyptian Christians were persecuted. The New Testament was by then translated into Egyptian, and after the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established.^[10]

The Byzantines were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in the seventh century, until in AD 639, Egypt was invaded by the Muslim Arabs. The form of Islam the Arabs brought to Egypt was Sunni, though early in this period Egyptians began to blend their new faith with indigenous beliefs and practices that had survived through Coptic Christianity, giving rise to various Sufi orders that have flourished to this day.^[11] Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries, including a period for which it was the seat of the Caliphate under the Fatimids. With the end of the Ayyubid dynasty, a Turco-Circassian military caste, the Mamluks, took control about AD 1250 and continued to govern even after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517.

Mosque of Mohamed Ali built in the early nineteenth century within the Cairo Citadel.

The brief French Invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 had a great social impact on the country and its culture. Native Egyptians became exposed to the principles of the French Revolution and had an apparent chance to exercise self-governance.^[12] A series of civil wars took place between the Ottoman Turks, the Mamluks, and Albanian mercenaries following the evacuation of French troops, resulting in the Albanian Muhammad Ali (Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) taking control of Egypt where he was appointed as the Ottoman viceroy in 1805. He led a modernization campaign of public works, including irrigation projects, agricultural reforms and increased industrialization, which were then taken up and further expanded by his grandson and successor Isma'il Pasha.

Following the completion of the Suez Canal by Ismail in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub. In 1866, the Assembly of Delegates was founded to serve as an advisory body for the government. Its members were elected from across Egypt and eventually they came to have an important influence on governmental affairs.^[13] The country also fell heavily into debt to European powers. Ostensibly to protect its investments, the United Kingdom seized control of Egypt's government in 1882. Nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued, however, until 1914. As a result of the declaration of war with the Ottoman Empire, Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt and deposed the Khedive Abbas II, replacing him with his uncle, Husayn Kamil, who was appointed Sultan.

Public riot during the 1919 Revolution sparked by the British exile of nationalist leader Saad Zaghlul.

Between 1882 and 1906, a local nationalist movement for independence was taking shape. The Dinshaway Incident prompted Egyptian opposition to take a stronger stand against British occupation and the first political parties were founded. After the first World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement after gaining a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, Egypt witnessed its first modern revolution. Constant revolting by the Egyptian people throughout the country led Great Britain to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on February 22, 1922.^[14]

The new Egyptian government drafted and implemented a new constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary representative system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly-elected as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924, and in 1936 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued instability in the government due to remaining British control and increasing political involvement by the king led to the ouster of the monarchy and the dissolution of the parliament in a military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The officers, known as the Free Officers Movement, forced King Farouk to abdicate in support of his son Fuad.

Evening view of Cairo, the largest city in Africa and the Middle East. The Cairo Opera House (center) is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital.

The Egyptian Republic was declared on 18 June 1953 with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser – the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house arrest. Nasser assumed power as President and declared the full independence of Egypt from the United Kingdom on June 18, 1956. His nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956 prompted the 1956 Suez Crisis. Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, in which Israel had invaded an occupied Sinai, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972, and launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition alike.

In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in an attempt to liberate the territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. Both the US and the USSR intervened and a cease-fire was reached between both sides. Despite not being a complete military success, most historians agree that the October War presented Sadat with a political victory that would later allow him to pursue peace with Israel. In 1977, Sadat made a historic visit to Israel which led to the 1978 peace treaty in exchange for the complete Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League, but was supported by the vast majority of Egyptians.^[15] Sadat was assassinated in Cairo by a fundamentalist military soldier in 1981 and was succeeded by the incumbent Hosni Mubarak. In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known as Kifaya, was launched to seek a return to democracy and greater civil liberties.

Identity

Mahmoud Mokhtar's Egypt's Renaissance 1919-1928, Cairo University.

The Egyptian Nile Valley was home to one of the oldest cultures in the world, spanning three thousand years of continuous history. When Egypt fell under a series of foreign occupations after 343 BC, each left an indelible mark on the country's cultural landscape. Egyptian identity evolved in the span of this long period of occupation to accommodate in principal two new religions, Christianity and Islam, and a new language, Arabic, and its spoken descendant, Egyptian Arabic. The degree with which these factors are estimated today by different groups in Egypt in articulating a sense of collective identity can vary greatly, and therefore continue to be a source of frequent debate.

Questions of identity came to fore in the last century as Egypt sought to free itself from foreign occupation for the first time in two thousand years. Three chief ideologies came to head and would eventually compete with one another (and continue to do so to this day): ethno-territorial Egyptian nationalism (and by extension Pharaonism), secular Arab nationalism (and by extension pan-Arabism) and Islamism. Egyptian nationalism predates its Arab counterpart by many decades, having roots in the nineteenth century and eventually becoming the dominant mode of expression of Egyptian anti-colonial activists of the pre- and inter-war periods. It was nearly always articulated in exclusively Egyptian terms:

“

What is most significant [about Egypt in this period] is the absence of an Arab component in early Egyptian nationalism. The thrust of Egyptian political, economic, and cultural development throughout the nineteenth century worked against, rather than for, an "Arab" orientation... This situation—that of divergent political trajectories for Egyptians and Arabs—if anything increased after 1900.^[16]

”

In 1931, Syrian Arab nationalist Sati' al-Husri remarked following a visit to Egypt that "[Egyptians] did not possess an Arab nationalist sentiment; did not accept that Egypt was a part of the Arab lands, and would not acknowledge that the Egyptian people were part of the Arab nation."^[17] Incidentally, the later 1930s would become a formative period for Arab nationalism in Egypt, thanks in large part to efforts by Syrian/Palestinian/Lebanese intellectuals.^[18] Yet a year after the establishment of the League of Arab States in 1945 to be headquartered in Cairo, Oxford University historian H. S. Deighton was still writing:

“

The Egyptians are not Arabs, and both they and the Arabs are aware of this fact. They are Arabic-speaking, and they are Muslim—indeed religion plays a greater part in their lives than it does in those either of the Syrians or the Iraqi. But the Egyptian, during the first thirty years of the [twentieth] century, was not aware of any particular bond with the Arab East... Egypt sees in the Arab cause a worthy object of real and active sympathy and, at the same time, a great and proper opportunity for the exercise of leadership, as well as for the enjoyment of its fruits. But she is still Egyptian first and Arab only in consequence, and her main interests are still domestic. ^[19]

”

It was not until the Nasser era more than a decade later that Arab nationalism became a state policy and a means with which to define Egypt's position in the Middle East and the world,^[20] usually articulated vis-à-vis Zionism in the neighbouring Jewish state. For a while Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic, and when the union was dissolved, it eventually gave rise to the current official name, Arab Republic of Egypt. Egypt's attachment to Arabism, however, was particularly questioned after its defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War, when thousands of Egyptians lost their lives and the country become disillusioned with Arab politics.^[21] Nasser's successor Sadat, both by policy and through his peace initiative with Israel, revived an uncontested Egyptian particularist orientation, unequivocally asserting that only Egypt was his responsibility, and the terms "Arab", "Arabism" and "Arab unity", save for the new official name, became conspicuously absent.^[22] Indeed, as professor of Egyptian history P. J. Vatikiotis explains:

“

...the impact of the October 1973 War (also known as the Ramadan or Yom Kippur War) found Egyptians reverting to an earlier sense of national identity, that of Egyptianism. Egypt became their foremost consideration and top priority in contrast to the earlier one, preferred by the Nasser régime, of Egypt's role and primacy in the Arab world. This kind of national 'restoration' was led by the Old Man of Egyptian Nationalism, Tawfiq el-Hakim, who in the 1920s and 1930s was associated with the Pharaonist movement.^[23]

”

The question of identity continues to be debated today with many Egyptians perhaps falling somewhere in the middle, considering themselves Egyptian first but finding Egyptian and Arab identities linked and not necessarily incompatible. Others identify themselves mainly on the basis of their religion. The sentiment, however, that Egypt and Egyptians are simply not Arab, emphasizing indigenous Egyptian heritage, culture and independent polity, and publicly voicing objection to the present official name, is frequently expressed. This can be found among Egyptians themselves^[24], including Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass^[25], popular writer Osama Anwar Okasha, Egyptian-born Harvard University Professor Leila Ahmed, Member of Parliament Suzie Greiss^[26] and different local groups and intellectuals^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31], but also in in various contexts.^[32]^[33] These include Neil DeRosa's novel Joseph's Seed in his depiction of an Egyptian character "who declares that Egyptians are not Arabs and never will be."^[34] Egyptian critics of Arab nationalism contend that it has worked to erode and/or relegate native Egyptian identity by superimposing only one aspect of Egypt's culture.

These conflicting views and sources for collective identification in the Egyptian state are captured in the words of a linguistic anthropologist who conducted fieldwork in Cairo:

“

Historically, Egyptians have considered themselves as distinct from 'Arabs' and even at present rarely do they make that identification in casual contexts; il-'arab [the Arabs] as used by Egyptians refers mainly to the inhabitants of the Gulf states who are on the whole looked upon with some disdain... Egypt has been both a leader of pan-Arabism and a site of intense resentment towards that ideology. Egyptians had to be made, often forcefully, into "Arabs" [during the Nasser era] because they did not historically identify themselves as such. Egypt was self-consciously a nation not only before pan-Arabism but also before becoming a colony of the British Empire. Its territorial continuity since ancient times, its unique history as exemplified in its pharaonic past and later on its Coptic language and culture, had already made Egypt into a nation for centuries. Egyptians saw themselves, their history, culture and language as specifically Egyptian and not "Arab."

Egypt

2007-09-15T02:25:00.000-07:00

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This article is about the country of Egypt. For other uses, see Egypt (disambiguation).

جمهورية مصر العربية
Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah

Arab Republic of Egypt


Flag	Coat of arms

Anthem
Bilady, Bilady, Bilady

Capital
(and largest city)

Cairo
30°2′N, 31°13′E

Official languages Arabic¹

Demonym

Egyptian

Government

Semi-presidential republic

- President Hosni Mubarak

- Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif

Establishment

- First Dynasty c.3150 BCE

- Independence from UK February 28, 1922

- Republic declared June 18, 1953

Area

- Total 1,001,449 km² (30th)
386,660 sq mi

- Water (%) 0.632

Population

- 2007 estimate 80,335,036 (est.)^[1]

- 1996 census 59,312,914

- Density 74 /km² (120th)
192 /sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate

- Total $329.791 billion (29th)

- Per capita $4,836 (110th)

Gini^? (1999–00) 34.5 (medium)

HDI (2006) 0.702 (medium) (111th)

Currency Egyptian pound (EGP)

¹ Spoken language is Egyptian Arabic.

Egypt (Egyptian: km.t ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Kīmi ; Arabic: مصر Miṣr ; Egyptian Arabic: Máṣr), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in North Africa that includes the Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge to Asia. Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,560 sq mi), Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. The northern coast borders the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast borders the Red Sea.

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa. The vast majority of its estimated 78 million people (2007) live near the banks of the Nile River in an area of about 40,000 km² (15,000 sq mi) where the only arable agricultural land is found.^[2] Large areas of land form part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. Around half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural centre of the Middle East.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Etymology

km.t (Egypt)
in hieroglyphs

One of the ancient Egyptian names of the country, km.t, or "black land", is derived from the fertile black soils deposited by the Nile floods, distinct from the 'red land' (dSr.t) of the desert. The name is realized as kīmi and kīmə in the Coptic stage of the Egyptian language, and appeared in early Greek as Χημία (Kymeía).

Miṣr, the Arabic and modern official name of Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: Maṣr), is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם (Mitzráyim), literally meaning "the two straits" (a reference to the dynastic separation of upper and lower Egypt).^[7] The word originally connoted "metropolis" or "civilization" and also means "country", or "frontier-land".

The English name "Egypt" came via the Latin word Aegyptus derived from the ancient Greek word Αίγυπτος (Aigyptos). The term was adopted into Coptic as gyptios, and from there into Arabic as qubt (whence again English Copt). It has been suggested that the word is a corruption of the ancient Egyptian phrase ḥwt-k3-ptḥ meaning "home of the Ka (Soul) of Ptah", the name of a temple of the god Ptah at Memphis. According to Strabo, Αίγυπτος (Aigyptos), in ancient Greek meant "below the Aegean" (Aἰγαίου ὑπτίως, Aegaeon uptiōs").

Adolf Hitler

2007-09-15T02:22:00.000-07:00

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Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Leader of Germany
Führer and Reichskanzler
In office
2 August 1934 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by Paul von Hindenburg
(as President)
Succeeded by Karl Dönitz
(as President)
Chancellor of Germany
Reichskanzler
In office
30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by Kurt von Schleicher
Succeeded by Joseph Goebbels
Born 20 April 1889
Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary Flag of Austria-Hungary
Died 30 April 1945 (aged 56)
Berlin, Germany Flag of Germany
Nationality Austrian by birth, later German
Political party National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
Spouse Eva Braun
(married on 29 April 1945)
Occupation Agitator, Activist, Writer, Painter
Religion see section(s) below

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was the leader of National Socialist (Nazi) German Workers Party. He was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, and "Führer" in 1934, remaining in power until his suicide in 1945.

The Nazis gained power during Germany's period of crisis after World War I. They used propaganda and charismatic oratory, emphasizing nationalism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Communism. After restructuring the economy and rearming the military, a totalitarian dictatorship based around the Führer was established. Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy, with an ideological goal of Lebensraum (expanding living space for Germans). The German Invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered armed conflict between the British and French Empires (the Allies) and Germany.

The Axis Powers occupied most of Europe and parts of Asia at their zenith but were eventually defeated by the Allies. By the end of the war, Hitler's policies of territorial conquest and racial subjugation had brought death and destruction to tens of millions of people, including the genocide of some six million Jews in what is now known as the Holocaust.

In the final days of the war, Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin, as the city was overrun by the Red Army of the Soviet Union.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early years
o 1.1 Childhood and heritage
o 1.2 Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich
o 1.3 World War I
* 2 Entry into politics
o 2.1 Beer Hall Putsch
o 2.2 Mein Kampf
o 2.3 Rebuilding of the party
* 3 Rise to power
o 3.1 Brüning Administration
o 3.2 Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher
o 3.3 Appointment as Chancellor
o 3.4 Reichstag fire and the March elections
o 3.5 "Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act
o 3.6 Removal of remaining limits
* 4 Third Reich
o 4.1 Economy and culture
o 4.2 Rearmament and new alliances
o 4.3 The Holocaust
* 5 World War II
o 5.1 Opening moves
o 5.2 Path to defeat
o 5.3 Defeat and death
* 6 Legacy
* 7 Religious beliefs
* 8 Health and sexuality
o 8.1 Health
o 8.2 Sexuality
* 9 Family
* 10 Hitler in various media
o 10.1 Movie clip
o 10.2 Oratory and rallies
o 10.3 Recorded in private conversation
o 10.4 Documentaries during the Third Reich
o 10.5 Television
o 10.6 Documentaries post Third Reich
o 10.7 Dramatizations
* 11 See also
* 12 References
* 13 Further reading
* 14 External links

Early years

Childhood and heritage
Adolf Hitler as an infant.
Adolf Hitler as an infant.

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the fourth child of six.[1] His father, Alois Hitler, (1837–1903), was a customs official. His mother, Klara Pölzl, (1860–1907), was Alois' third wife. She was also his cousin, so a papal dispensation had to be obtained for the marriage. Of Alois and Klara's six children, only Adolf and his sister Paula reached adulthood.[2] Hitler's father also had a son, Alois Jr, and a daughter, Angela, by his second wife.[2]

Alois Hitler was born illegitimate. For the first 39 years of his life he bore his mother's surname, Schicklgruber. In 1876, he took the surname of his stepfather, Johann Georg Hiedler. The name was spelled Hiedler, Huetler, Huettler and Hitler and probably changed to "Hitler" by a clerk. The origin of the name is either from the German word Hittler and similar, "one who lives in a hut", "shepherd", or from the Slavic word Hidlar and Hidlarcek.

Allied propaganda exploited Hitler's original family name during World War II. Pamphlets bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were airdropped over German cities. But he was legally born a Hitler and was also related to Hiedler via his maternal grandmother, Johanna Hiedler.

The name "Adolf" comes from Old High German for "noble wolf" (Adel=nobility + wolf).[3] Hence, one of Hitler's self-given nicknames was Wolf or Herr Wolf—he began using this nickname in the early 1920s and was addressed by it only by intimates (as "Uncle Wolf" by the Wagners) up until the fall of the Third Reich.[4] The names of his various headquarters scattered throughout continental Europe (Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Wolfsschlucht in France, Werwolf in Ukraine, etc.) reflect this. By his closest family and relatives, Hitler was known as "Adi".

As a boy, Hitler said he was often whipped by his father. Years later he told his secretary, "I then resolved never again to cry when my father whipped me. A few days later I had the opportunity of putting my will to the test. My mother, frightened, took refuge in the front of the door. As for me, I counted silently the blows of the stick which lashed my rear end."[5]

Hitler's paternal grandfather was most likely one of the brothers Johann Georg Hiedler or Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. There were rumours that Hitler was one-quarter Jewish and that his grandmother, Maria Schicklgruber, became pregnant while working as a servant in a Jewish household. The implications of these rumours were politically explosive for the proponent of a racist ideology. Opponents tried to prove that Hitler had Jewish or Czech ancestors. Although these rumours were never confirmed, for Hitler they were reason enough to conceal his origins. According to Robert G. L. Waite in The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, Hitler made it illegal for German women to work in Jewish households, and after the "Anschluss" (annexation) of Austria, Hitler turned his father's hometown into an artillery practice area. Waite says that Hitler's insecurities in this regard may have been more important than whether Judaic ancestry could have been proven by his peers.

Hitler's family moved often, from Braunau am Inn to Passau, Lambach, Leonding, and Linz. The young Hitler was a good student in elementary school. But in the sixth grade, his first year of high school (Realschule) in Linz, he failed and had to repeat the grade. His teachers said that he had "no desire to work." One of Hitler's fellow pupils in the Realschule was Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the great philosophers of the 20th century. A book by Kimberley Cornish suggests that conflict between Hitler and some Jewish students, including Wittgenstein, was a critical moment in Hitler's formation as an anti-Semite.[6]
Wittgenstein(?) and Hitler in school in a photograph taken at the Linz Realschule in 1903.
Wittgenstein(?) and Hitler in school in a photograph taken at the Linz Realschule in 1903.

Hitler claimed his educational slump was a rebellion against his father, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official; Hitler wanted to become a painter instead. This explanation is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. However, after Alois died on January 3, 1903, Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At age 16, Hitler dropped out of high school without a degree.

Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich

From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting," and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.[7] His memoirs reflect a fascination with the subject:
“ The purpose of my trip was to study the picture gallery in the Court Museum, but I had eyes for scarcely anything but the Museum itself. From morning until late at night, I ran from one object of interest to another, but it was always the buildings which held my primary interest."[8] ”

Following the school rector's recommendation, he too became convinced this was the path to pursue, yet he lacked the proper academic preparation for architecture school:
“ In a few days I myself knew that I should some day become an architect. To be sure, it was an incredibly hard road; for the studies I had neglected out of spite at the Realschule were sorely needed. One could not attend the Academy's architectural school without having attended the building school at the Technic, and the latter required a high-school degree. I had none of all this. The fulfillment of my artistic dream seemed physically impossible.[9] ”

On December 21, 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer at age 47. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the orphans' benefits to his sister Paula. When he was 21, he inherited money from an aunt. He struggled as a painter in Vienna, copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists.

After being refused a second time from the Academy of Arts, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909, he sought refuge in a homeless shelter. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men.

Hitler says he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, which had a large Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews who had fled from pogroms in Russia. But according to a childhood friend, August Kubizek, Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz, Austria. Vienna at that time was a hotbed of traditional religious prejudice and 19th century racism. Hitler may have been influenced by the writings of the ideologist and anti-Semite Lanz von Liebenfels and polemics from politicians such as Karl Lueger, founder of the Christian Social Party and mayor of Vienna, the composer Richard Wagner, and Georg Ritter von Schönerer, leader of the pan-Germanic Away from Rome! movement. Hitler claims in Mein Kampf that his transition from opposing anti-Semitism on religious grounds to supporting it on racial grounds came from having seen an Orthodox Jew, but actually it seems Hitler was not very anti-Semitic in these years. He often was a guest for dinner in a noble Jewish house, and Jewish merchants tried to sell his paintings.[10]

Hitler may also have been influenced by Martin Luther's On the Jews and their Lies. Kristallnacht took place on November 10—Luther's birthday.
“ There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic anti-Semitism.

Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?[11]
”

In Mein Kampf, Hitler refers to Martin Luther as a great warrior, a true statesmen, and a great reformer, alongside Wagner and Frederick the Great.[12] Wilhelm Röpke, writing after the Holocaust, concluded that "without any question, Lutheranism influenced the political, spiritual and social history of Germany in a way that, after careful consideration of everything, can be described only as fateful."[13]

Hitler claimed that Jews were enemies of the Aryan race. He held them responsible for Austria's crisis. He also identified certain forms of Socialism and Bolshevism, which had many Jewish leaders, as Jewish movements, merging his anti-Semitism with anti-Marxism. Blaming Germany's military defeat on the 1918 Revolutions, he considered Jews the culprit of Imperial Germany's downfall and subsequent economic problems as well.

Generalising from tumultuous scenes in the parliament of the multi-national Austria monarchy, he decided that the democratic parliamentary system was unworkable. However, according to August Kubizek, his one-time roommate, he was more interested in Wagner's operas than in his politics.

Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich. He wrote in Mein Kampf that he had always longed to live in a "real" German city. In Munich, he became more interested in architecture and, he says, the writings of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Moving to Munich also helped him escape military service in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army arrested him finally. After a physical exam (during which his height was measured at 173 cm, or 5 ft 8 in) and a contrite plea, he was deemed unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered World War I in August 1914, he petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment. This request was granted, and Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian army.[14]

World War I
A young Hitler (left) posed with other German soldiers
A young Hitler (left) posed with other German soldiers

Hitler served in France and Belgium as a runner for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment (called Regiment List after its first commander), which exposed him to enemy fire.[15] He drew cartoons and instructional drawings for the army newspaper.

Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and the Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a Gefreiter.[16] However, because the regimental staff thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, he was never promoted to Unteroffizier. Other historians say that the reason he was not promoted is that he was not a German citizen. His duties at regimental headquarters, while often dangerous, gave Hitler time to pursue his artwork. In 1916, Hitler was wounded in the leg but returned to the front in March 1917. He received the Wound Badge later that year. Sebastian Haffner, referring to Hitler's experience at the front, suggests he did have at least some understanding of the military.

On October 15, 1918, Hitler was admitted to a field hospital, temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack. The English psychologist David Lewis[17] and Bernhard Horstmann indicate the blindness may have been the result of a conversion disorder (then known as hysteria). Hitler said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of his life was to "save Germany." Some scholars, notably Lucy Dawidowicz,[18] argue that an intention to exterminate Europe's Jews was fully formed in Hitler's mind at this time, though he probably had not thought through how it could be done. Most historians think the decision was made in 1940 or 1941, and some think it came as late as 1942.

Two passages in Mein Kampf mention the use of poison gas:
“ At the beginning of the Great War, or even during the War, if twelve or fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the nation had been forced to submit to poison-gas…then the millions of sacrifices made at the front would not have been in vain.[19] ”
“ These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human weakness and must lead to success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also learns how to fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case of to be or not to be.[20] ”

Hitler had long admired Germany, and during the war he had become a passionate German patriot, although he did not become a German citizen until 1932. He was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918 even while the German army still held enemy territory.[21] Like many other German nationalists, Hitler believed in the Dolchstoßlegende ("dagger-stab legend") which claimed that the army, "undefeated in the field", had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders and Marxists back on the home front. These politicians were later dubbed the November Criminals.

The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of various territories, demilitarized the Rhineland and imposed other economically damaging sanctions. The treaty re-created Poland, which even moderate Germans regarded as an outrage. The treaty also blamed Germany for all the horrors of the war, something which major historians like John Keegan now consider at least in part to be victor's justice: most European nations in the run-up to World War I had become increasingly militarised and were eager to fight. The culpability of Germany was used as a basis to impose reparations on Germany (the amount was repeatedly revised under the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the Hoover Moratorium). Germany in turn perceived the treaty and especially the paragraph on the German guilt as a humiliation. For example, there was a nearly total demilitarisation of the armed forces, allowing Germany only six battleships, no submarines, no air force, an army of 100,000 without conscription and no armoured vehicles. The treaty was an important factor in both the social and political conditions encountered by Hitler and his Nazis as they sought power. Hitler and his party used the signing of the treaty by the "November Criminals" as a reason to build up Germany so that it could never happen again. He also used the "November Criminals" as scapegoats, although at the Paris peace conference, these politicians had had very little choice in the matter.

Entry into politics

Main article: Hitler's political beliefs

A copy of Adolf Hitler's forged DAP membership card. His actual membership number was 555 (the 55th member of the party - the 500 was added to make the group appear larger) but later the number was reduced to create the impression that Hitler was one of the founding members (Ian Kershaw Hubris). Hitler had wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.
A copy of Adolf Hitler's forged DAP membership card. His actual membership number was 555 (the 55th member of the party - the 500 was added to make the group appear larger) but later the number was reduced to create the impression that Hitler was one of the founding members (Ian Kershaw Hubris). Hitler had wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.

After World War I, Hitler remained in the army and returned to Munich, where he - in contrast to his later declarations - participated in the funeral march for the murdered Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner.[22] After the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, he took part in "national thinking" courses organized by the Education and Propaganda Department (Dept Ib/P) of the Bavarian Reichswehr Group, Headquarters 4 under Captain Karl Mayr. Scapegoats were found in "international Jewry", communists, and politicians across the party spectrum, especially the parties of the Weimar Coalition.

In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a Verbindungsmann (police spy) of an Aufklärungskommando (Intelligence Commando) of the Reichswehr, both to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate a small party, the German Workers' Party (DAP). During his inspection of the party, Hitler was impressed with founder Anton Drexler's anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist and anti-Marxist ideas, which favoured a strong active government, a "non-Jewish" version of socialism and mutual solidarity of all members of society.

Here Hitler also met Dietrich Eckart, one of the early founders of the party and member of the occult Thule Society.[23] Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him, teaching him how to dress and speak, and introducing him to a wide range of people. Hitler thanked Eckart by paying tribute to him in the second volume of Mein Kampf.

Hitler was discharged from the army in March 1920 and with his former superiors' continued encouragement began participating full time in the party's activities. By early 1921, Hitler was becoming highly effective at speaking in front of large crowds. In February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in Munich. To publicize the meeting, he sent out two truckloads of party supporters to drive around with swastikas, cause a commotion and throw out leaflets, their first use of this tactic. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the party for his rowdy, polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians (including monarchists, nationalists and other non-internationalist socialists) and especially against Marxists and Jews.

The DAP was centered in Munich, a hotbed of German nationalists who included Army officers determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar republic. Gradually they noticed Hitler and his growing movement as a vehicle to hitch themselves to. Hitler traveled to Berlin to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921, and in his absence there was a revolt among the DAP leadership in Munich.

The party was run by an executive committee whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing. They formed an alliance with a group of socialists from Augsburg. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his resignation from the party on July 11, 1921. When they realized the loss of Hitler would effectively mean the end of the party, he seized the moment and announced he would return on the condition that he would be given dictatorial powers. Infuriated committee members (including Drexler) held out at first. Meanwhile an anonymous pamphlet appeared entitled Adolf Hitler: Is he a traitor?, attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violent men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by suing for libel and later won a small settlement.

The executive committee of the DAP eventually backed down and Hitler's demands were put to a vote of party members. Hitler received 543 votes for and only one against. At the next gathering on 29 July 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Führer of the National Socialist Party, marking the first time this title was publicly used. Hitler changed the name of the party to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party.

Hitler's beer hall oratory, attacking Jews, social democrats, liberals, reactionary monarchists, capitalists and communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included Rudolf Hess, the former air force pilot Hermann Göring, and the army captain Ernst Röhm, who became head of the Nazis' paramilitary organization, the SA (Sturmabteilung, or "Storm Division"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. Hitler also assimilated independent groups, such as the Nuremberg-based Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft, led by Julius Streicher, who became Gauleiter of Franconia. Hitler also attracted the attention of local business interests, was accepted into influential circles of Munich society, and became associated with wartime General Erich Ludendorff during this time.

Beer Hall Putsch

Main article: Beer Hall Putsch

Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempted coup later known as the Beer Hall Putsch (sometimes as the Hitler Putsch or Munich Putsch). The Nazi Party had copied Italy's fascists in appearance and also had adopted some programmatical points, and in 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate Mussolini's "March on Rome" by staging his own "Campaign in Berlin". Hitler and Ludendorff obtained the clandestine support of Gustav von Kahr, Bavaria's de facto ruler, along with leading figures in the Reichswehr and the police. As political posters show, Ludendorff, Hitler and the heads of the Bavarian police and military planned on forming a new government.

On November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting headed by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall outside of Munich. He declared that he had set up a new government with Ludendorff and demanded, at gunpoint, the support of Kahr and the local military establishment for the destruction of the Berlin government.[24] Kahr withdrew his support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler at the first opportunity.[25] The next day, when Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government as a start to their "March on Berlin", the police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members were killed.[26]

Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and contemplated suicide. He was soon arrested for high treason. Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the party. During Hitler's trial, he was given almost unlimited time to speak, and his popularity soared as he voiced nationalistic sentiments. A Munich personality became a nationally known figure. On April 1, 1924, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. Hitler received favoured treatment from the guards and had much fan mail from admirers.[27] He was pardoned and released from jail in December 1924, as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners. He served nine months of his sentence, or just over a year if time on remand is included.[27]

Mein Kampf

Main article: Mein Kampf

While at Landsberg he dictated Mein Kampf (My Struggle, originally entitled "Four Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice") to his deputy Rudolf Hess.[27] The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, selling about 240,000 copies between 1925 and 1934. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed (newly-weds and soldiers received free copies).

Hitler spent years dodging taxes on the royalties of his book and had accumulated a tax debt of about 405,500 Reichsmarks (€6 million in today's money) by the time he became chancellor (at which time his debt was waived).[28][29]

The copyright of Mein Kampf in Europe is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and scheduled to end on December 31, 2015. Reproductions in Germany are authorized only for scholarly purposes and in heavily commented form. The situation is however unclear. Historian Werner Maser, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag has stated that Peter Raubal, son of Hitler's nephew, Leo Raubal, would have a strong legal case for winning the copyright from Bavaria if he pursued it. Raubal has stated he wants no part of the rights to the book, which could be worth millions of euros.[30] The uncertain status has led to contested trials in Poland and Sweden. Mein Kampf, however, is published in the U.S., as well as in other countries such as Turkey and Israel, by publishers with various political positions.

Rebuilding of the party

At the time of Hitler's release, the political situation in Germany had calmed and the economy had improved, which hampered Hitler's opportunities for agitation. Though the Hitler Putsch had given Hitler some national prominence, his party's mainstay was still Munich.

Since Hitler was still banned from public speeches, he appointed Gregor Strasser, who in 1924 had been elected to the Reichstag, as Reichsorganisationsleiter, authorizing him to organize the party in northern Germany. Strasser, joined by his younger brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels, steered an increasingly independent course, emphasizing the socialist element in the party's programme. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gauleiter Nord-West became an internal opposition, threatening Hitler's authority, but this faction was defeated at the Bamberg Conference in 1926, during which Goebbels joined Hitler.

After this encounter, Hitler centralized the party even more and asserted the Führerprinzip ("Leader principle") as the basic principle of party organization. Leaders were not elected by their group but were rather appointed by their superior and were answerable to them while demanding unquestioning obedience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for democracy, all power and authority devolved from the top down.

A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to evoke a sense of offended national pride caused by the Treaty of Versailles imposed on the defeated German Empire by the Western Allies. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its colonies and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge reparations bill totaling 132 billion marks. Most Germans bitterly resented these terms, but early Nazi attempts to gain support by blaming these humiliations on "international Jewry" were not particularly successful with the electorate. The party learned quickly, and soon a more subtle propaganda emerged, combining anti-Semitism with an attack on the failures of the "Weimar system" and the parties supporting it.
Adolf Hitler, behind Hermann Göring, at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1928.
Adolf Hitler, behind Hermann Göring, at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1928.

Having failed in overthrowing the Republic by a coup, Hitler pursued the "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power and then transforming liberal democracy into a Nazi dictatorship. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary SA, opposed this strategy; Röhm ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité".

Rise to power

Main article: Hitler's rise to power

Nazi Party Election Results
Date Votes Percentage Seats in Reichstag Background
May 1924 1,918,300 6.5 32 Hitler in prison
December 1924 907,300 3.0 14 Hitler is released from prison
May 1928 810,100 2.6 12
September 1930 6,409,600 18.3 107 After the financial crisis
July 1932 13,745,800 37.4 230 After Hitler was candidate for presidency
November 1932 11,737,000 33.1 196
March 1933 17,277,000 43.9 288 During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany

Brüning Administration

The political turning point for Hitler came when the Great Depression hit Germany in 1930. The Weimar Republic had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by right-wing conservatives (including monarchists), Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the democratic, parliamentary republic found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their Grand Coalition broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor, Heinrich Brüning of the Roman Catholic Centre Party, lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the president's emergency decrees. Tolerated by the majority of parties, the exception soon became the rule and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government.

The Reichstag's initial opposition to Brüning's measures led to premature elections in September 1930. The republican parties lost their majority and their ability to resume the Grand Coalition, while the Nazis suddenly rose from relative obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote along with 107 seats in the Reichstag, becoming the second largest party in Germany.

Brüning's measure of budget consolidation and financial austerity brought little economic improvement and was extremely unpopular. Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German farmers, war veterans and the middle class, who had been hard-hit by both the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression. Hitler received little response from the urban working classes and traditionally Catholic regions.

Hitler's niece Geli Raubal was found dead in her bedroom in his Munich apartment (his half-sister Angela and her daughter Geli had been with him in Munich since 1929), an apparent suicide. Geli, who was believed to be in some sort of romantic relationship with Hitler, was 19 years younger than he was and had used his gun. His niece's death is viewed as a source of deep, lasting pain for him.[31]

In 1932, Hitler intended to run against the aging President Paul von Hindenburg in the scheduled presidential elections. Though Hitler had left Austria in 1913, he still had not acquired German citizenship and hence could not run for public office. In February, however, the state government of Brunswick, in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Hitler to some minor administrative post and also gave him citizenship on February 25, 1932.[32] The new German citizen ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by a broad range of reactionary nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, republican and even social democratic parties, and against the Communist presidential candidate. His campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany).[33] The name had a double meaning; besides an obvious reference to Hitler's dictatorial intentions, it also referred to the fact that Hitler was campaigning by aircraft.[33] This was a brand new political tactic that allowed Hitler to speak in two cities in one day, which was practically unheard of at the time. Hitler came in second on both rounds, attaining more than 35% of the vote during the second one in April. Although he lost to Hindenburg, the election established Hitler as a realistic alternative in German politics.

Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher

Hindenburg, influenced by the Camarilla, became increasingly estranged from Brüning and pushed his Chancellor to move the government in a decidedly authoritarian and right-wing direction. This culminated, in May 1932, with the resignation of the Brüning cabinet.

Hindenburg appointed the nobleman Franz von Papen as chancellor, heading a "Cabinet of Barons". Papen was bent on authoritarian rule and, since in the Reichstag only the conservative DNVP supported his administration, he immediately called for new elections in July. In these elections, the Nazis achieved their biggest success yet and won 230 seats.

The Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag without which no stable government could be formed. Papen tried to persuade Hitler to become vice chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler, however, rejected this offer and put further pressure on Papen by entertaining parallel negotiations with the Centre Party, Papen's former party, which was bent on bringing down the renegade Papen. In both negotiations, Hitler demanded that he, as leader of the strongest party, must be chancellor, but Hindenburg consistently refused to appoint the "Bohemian private" to the chancellorship.

After a vote of no-confidence in the Papen government, supported by 84% of the deputies, the new Reichstag was dissolved, and new elections were called in November. This time, the Nazis lost some seats but still remained the largest party in the Reichstag.

After Papen failed to secure a majority, he proposed to dissolve the parliament again along with an indefinite postponement of elections. Hindenburg at first accepted this, but after General Kurt von Schleicher and the military withdrew their support, Hindenburg instead dismissed Papen and appointed Schleicher, who promised he could secure a majority government by negotiations with both the Social Democrats, the trade unions, and dissidents from the Nazi Party under Gregor Strasser. In January 1933, however, Schleicher had to admit failure in these efforts and asked Hindenburg for emergency powers along with the same postponement of elections that he had opposed earlier, to which the president reacted by dismissing Schleicher.

Appointment as Chancellor

Meanwhile, Papen tried to get his revenge on Schleicher by working toward the General's downfall, through forming an intrigue with the camarilla and Alfred Hugenberg, media mogul and chairman of the DNVP. Also involved were Hjalmar Schacht, Fritz Thyssen and other leading German businessmen. They financially supported the Nazi Party, which had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the cost of heavy campaigning. The businessmen also wrote letters to Hindenburg, urging him to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties" which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people."[34]

Finally, the president reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and DNVP. Hitler and two other Nazi ministers (Frick, Göring) were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as Vice-Chancellor and by Hugenberg as Minister of the Economy. Papen wanted to use Hitler as a figure-head, but the Nazis had gained key positions, most notably the Ministry of the Interior. On the morning of 30 January 1933, in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony. The Nazis' seizure of power subsequently became known as the Machtergreifung. Hitler established the Reichssicherheitsdienst as his personal bodyguards.

Reichstag fire and the March elections

Having become Chancellor, Hitler foiled all attempts to gain a majority in parliament and on that basis persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early March, but on 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire.[35] Since a Dutch independent communist was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a Communist plot to which the government reacted with the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February which suspended basic rights, including habeas corpus. Under the provisions of this decree, the German Communist Party and other groups were suppressed, and communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight, or murdered.

Campaigning continued, with the Nazis making use of paramilitary violence, anti-Communist hysteria, and the government's resources for propaganda. On election day, 6 March, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, remaining the largest party, but its victory was marred by its failure to secure an absolute majority, necessitating maintaining a coalition with the DNVP.[36]
Parade of SA troops past Hitler. Nuremberg, November 1935.
Parade of SA troops past Hitler. Nuremberg, November 1935.

"Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act

On 21 March the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This "Day of Potsdam" was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and union between the revolutionary Nazi movement and "Old Prussia" with its elites and virtues. Hitler appeared in a tail coat and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.

Because of the Nazis' failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler's government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the cabinet with legislative powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. Since the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Catholic Centre Party, the third largest party in the Reichstag, turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees regarding the Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states and the continued existence of the Centre Party.

On 23 March the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under extremely turbulent circumstances. Some SA men served as guards within while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving deputies. Kaas announced that the Centre would support the bill amid "concerns put aside.", while Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the act in his speech. At the end of the day, all parties except the Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill. The Enabling Act was dutifully renewed by the Reichstag every four years, even through World War II.

Removal of remaining limits

With this combination of legislative and executive power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political opposition. The KPD and the SPD were banned, while all other political parties dissolved themselves. Labour unions were merged with employers' federations into an organisation under Nazi control, and the autonomy of German state governments was abolished.

Hitler also used the SA paramilitary to push Hugenberg into resigning and proceeded to politically isolate Vice Chancellor Papen. Because the SA's demands for political and military power caused much anxiety among military leaders, Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leader Ernst Röhm to purge the SA's leadership during the Night of the Long Knives. Opponents unconnected with the SA were also murdered, notably Gregor Strasser and former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher.[37]

President Paul von Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. Rather than holding new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law proclaiming the presidency dormant and transferred the role and powers of the head of state to Hitler as Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor).[38] Thereby Hitler also became supreme commander of the military, whose officers then swore an oath not to the state or the constitution but to Hitler personally.[38] In a mid-August plebiscite, these acts found the approval of 84.6%[39] of the electorate. Combining the highest offices in state, military and party in his hand, Hitler had attained supreme rule that could no longer be legally challenged.

Third Reich

Main article: Nazi Germany

Having secured supreme political power, Hitler went on to gain their support by convincing most Germans he was their savior from the economic Depression, communism, the "Judeo-Bolsheviks," and the Versailles Treaty, along with other "undesirable" minorities. The Nazis eliminated opposition through a process known as Gleichschaltung.

Economy and culture

Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement Germany had ever seen, mostly based on debt flotation and expansion of the military. Nazi policies toward women strongly encouraged them to stay at home to bear children and keep house. In a September 1934 speech to the National Socialist Women's Organization, Adolf Hitler argued that for the German woman her “world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home.” This policy was reinforced by bestowing the Cross of Honor of the German Mother on women bearing four or more babies. The unemployment rate was cut substantially, mostly through arms production and sending women home so that men could take their jobs. Given this, claims that the German economy achieved near full employment are at least partly artifacts of propaganda from the era. Much of the financing for Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament came from currency manipulation by Hjalmar Schacht, including the clouded credits through the Mefo bills. The negative effects of this inflation were offset in later years by the acquisition of foreign gold from the treasuries of conquered nations.

Hitler also oversaw one of the largest infrastructure-improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of dams, autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. Hitler's policies emphasised the importance of family life: men were the "breadwinners", while women's priorities were to lie in bringing up children and in household work. This revitalising of industry and infrastructure came at the expense of the overall standard of living, at least for those not affected by the chronic unemployment of the later Weimar Republic, since wages were slightly reduced in pre–World War II years, despite a 25% increase in the cost of living.[40] Laborers and farmers, the traditional voters of the NSDAP, however, saw an increase in their standard of living.

Hitler's government sponsored architecture on an immense scale, with Albert Speer becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. While important as an architect in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, Speer proved much more effective as armaments minister during the last years of World War II. In 1936, Berlin hosted the summer Olympic games, which were opened by Hitler and choreographed to demonstrate Aryan superiority over all other races, achieving mixed results. Olympia, the movie about the games and other documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party were directed by Hitler's personal filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Although Hitler made plans for a Breitspurbahn (broad gauge railroad network), they were preempted by World War II. Had the railroad been built, its gauge would have been three metres, even wider than the old Great Western Railway of Britain.

Hitler contributed slightly to the design of the car that later became the Volkswagen Beetle and charged Ferdinand Porsche with its design and construction.[41] Production was also deferred because of the war.

Adolf Hitler, considered Sparta to be the first National Socialist state, and praised its early eugenics treatment of deformed children.[42]

He awarded the Order of the German Eagle, the Third Reich's highest distinction, to the industrialist Emil Kirdorf in April 1937, in reward for his financial support during his rise to power. The next year, he organized state funerals for him.

Rearmament and new alliances

Main articles: Axis Powers and Tripartite Treaty

In March 1935, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by reintroducing conscription, building a massive military machine, including a new Navy (Kriegsmarine) and an Air Force (Luftwaffe). The enlistment of vast numbers of men and women in the new military seemed to solve unemployment problems but seriously distorted the economy. For the first time in 20 years, Germany's armed forces were as strong as France's.
Hitler, Mannerheim and Ryti in Finland
Hitler, Mannerheim and Ryti in Finland

In March 1936, Hitler again violated the treaty by reoccupying the demilitarized zone in the Rhineland. When Britain and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began when the military, led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the elected Popular Front government. After receiving an appeal for help from General Franco in July 1936, Hitler sent troops to support Franco, and Spain served as a testing ground for Germany's new forces and their methods, including the bombing of undefended towns such as Guernica in April 1937, prompting Pablo Picasso's famous eponymous Guernica painting.

An Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by Count Galeazzo Ciano, foreign minister of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on 25 October 1936. The Tripartite Treaty was then signed by Saburo Kurusu of Imperial Japan, Hitler, and Ciano on 27 September 1940. It was later expanded to include Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. They were collectively known as the Axis Powers. Then on 5 November 1937, at the Reich Chancellory, Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting with the War and Foreign Ministers plus the three service chiefs, recorded in the Hossbach Memorandum and stated his plans for acquiring "living space" (Lebensraum) for the German people.

The Holocaust

Main article: The Holocaust

One of the foundations of Hitler's and the NSDAP's social policies was the concept of racial hygiene. It was based on the ideas of Arthur de Gobineau, eugenics, and social Darwinism. Applied to human beings, "survival of the fittest" was interpreted as requiring racial purity and killing off "life unworthy of life." The first victims were crippled and retarded children in a program dubbed Action T4.[43] After a public outcry, Hitler made a show of ending this program, but the killings in fact continued.

Between 1939 and 1945, the SS, assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, systematically killed somewhere between 11 and 14 million people, including about 6 million Jews,[44] in concentration camps, ghettos and mass executions, or through less systematic methods elsewhere. Besides being gassed to death, many also died as a result of starvation and disease while working as slave labourers (sometimes benefiting private German companies in the process, because of the low cost of such labour). Along with Jews, non-Jewish Poles (over 3 million casualties), alleged communists or political opposition, members of resistance groups, Catholic and Protestant opponents, homosexuals, Roma, the physically handicapped and mentally retarded, Soviet prisoners of war (possibly as many as 3 million), Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-Nazi clergy, trade unionists, and psychiatric patients were killed. One of the biggest centres of mass-killing was the extermination camp complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hitler never visited the concentration camps and did not speak publicly about the killing in precise terms.

The massacres that led to the coining of the word "genocide" (the Endlösung der jüdischen Frage or "Final Solution of the Jewish Question") were planned and ordered by leading Nazis, with Himmler playing a key role. While no specific order from Hitler authorizing the mass killing of the Jews has surfaced, there is documentation showing that he approved the Einsatzgruppen, killing squads that followed the German army through Poland and Russia and that he was kept well informed about their activities. The evidence also suggests that in the fall of 1941 Himmler and Hitler decided upon mass extermination by gassing. During interrogations by Soviet intelligence officers declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's valet Heinz Linge and his military aide Otto Gunsche said Hitler had "pored over the first blueprints of gas chambers."

To make for smoother cooperation in the implementation of this "Final Solution", the Wannsee conference was held near Berlin on 20 January 1942, with fifteen senior officials participating, led by Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann. The records of this meeting provide the clearest evidence of planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying to his associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews".

World War II

Main article: World War II

Opening moves
Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, 1940
Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, 1940

On 12 March 1938, Hitler pressured Austria into unification with Germany (the Anschluss) and made a triumphal entry into Vienna on 14 March. .[45][46] Next, he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking Sudetenland districts of Czechoslovakia.[47] This led to the Munich Agreement of September 1938, which authorized the annexation and immediate military occupation of these districts by Germany.[48] As a result of the summit, Hitler was TIME magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.[49] British prime minister Neville Chamberlain hailed this agreement as "Peace in our time", but by giving way to Hitler's military demands Britain and France also left Czechoslovakia to Hitler's mercy.[48] Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

After that, Hitler claimed German grievances relating to the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor, that Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty. Britain had not been able to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union for an alliance against Germany, and, on 23 August 1939, Hitler concluded a secret non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) with Stalin on which it was likely agreed that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would partition Poland. On 1 September Germany invaded the western portion of Poland. Having guaranteed assistance to Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September but did not immediately act. Not long after this, on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.

During this Phoney War, Hitler built up his forces. In April 1940, he ordered German forces to march into Denmark and Norway. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack France, conquering the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium in the process. France surrendered on 22 June 1940. This series of victories persuaded his main ally, Benito Mussolini of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side in May 1940.
Adolf Hitler in Paris, 1940.
Adolf Hitler in Paris, 1940.

Britain, whose defeated forces had evacuated France from the coastal town of Dunkirk, continued to fight alongside Canadian forces in the Battle of the Atlantic. After having his overtures for peace systematically rejected by the British Government, now led by Winston Churchill, Hitler ordered bombing raids on the British Isles, leading to the Battle of Britain, a prelude of the planned German invasion. The attacks began by pounding the Royal Air Force airbases and the radar stations protecting South-East England. However, the Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force by the end of October 1940. Air superiority for the invasion, code-named Operation Sealion, could not be assured, and Hitler ordered bombing raids to be carried out on British cities, including London and Coventry, mostly at night.

Path to defeat

On 22 June 1941, three million German troops attacked the Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin two years earlier. This invasion, Operation Barbarossa, seized huge amounts of territory, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces. But the Germans were stopped short of Moscow in December 1941 by the Russian winter and fierce Soviet resistance. The invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph Hitler wanted.

Hitler's declaration of war against the United States on 11 December 1941, four days after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the British Empire), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the United States), and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).

In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the second battle of El Alamein, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the Suez Canal and the Middle East. In February 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the encirclement and destruction of the German 6th Army. Shortly thereafter came the gigantic Battle of Kursk (1,300,000 Russians, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft, versus 900,000 Germans, 2,700 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft). From Stalingrad on, Hitler's military judgment became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. Hitler's health was also deteriorating. His left hand trembled. The biographer Ian Kershaw and others believe that he may have suffered from Parkinson's disease.[50] Syphilis has also been suspected as a cause of at least some of his symptoms, although the evidence is slight.[51]

Following the allied invasion of Italy (Operation Husky) in 1943 Hitlers ally, Mussolini, was deposed by Pietro Badoglio who surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the Eastern Front. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in what was the largest amphibious operation ever conducted, Operation Overlord. Realists in the German army knew defeat was inevitable, and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July 1944, one of them, Claus von Stauffenberg, planted a bomb at Hitler's military headquarters in Rastenburg, but Hitler narrowly escaped death. He ordered savage reprisals, resulting in the executions of more than 4,900 people[52] (sometimes by starvation in solitary confinement followed by slow strangulation). The main resistance movement was destroyed, although smaller isolated groups such as Red Orchestra continued to operate.

Defeat and death

Main article: Death of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, accompanied by other German officials, grimly inspects bomb damage in a German city in 1944.
Adolf Hitler, accompanied by other German officials, grimly inspects bomb damage in a German city in 1944.

By late 1944, the Red Army had driven the Germans from Soviet territory and entered Central Europe. The Western Allies were also advancing into Germany. Germany had lost the war, but Hitler allowed no retreat or regrouping for his forces while hoping to negotiate a separate peace with America and Britain, hopes buoyed by the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945.[53][54] Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the holocaust to continue. He also ordered the complete destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into the hands of the Allies, saying that Germany's failure to win the war forfeited its right to survive.[55] Execution of the plan was entrusted to arms minister Albert Speer, who disobeyed the order.[55]

In April 1945, Soviet forces were attacking the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler's followers urged him to flee to the mountains of Bavaria to make a last stand in the National Redoubt. But Hitler was determined to either live or die in the capital.

On 20 April Hitler celebrated his 56th birthday in the "Führer's shelter" (Führerbunker) below the Reich Chancellery (Reichskanzlei). The garrison commander of the besieged "fortress Breslau" (Festung Breslau), General Hermann Niehoff, had chocolates distributed to his troops, where possible, in honor of Hitler's birthday.[56]

By 21 April, Georgi Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front had broken through the defenses of German General Gotthard Heinrici's Army Group Vistula during the Battle of the Seelow Heights. The Soviets were now advancing towards Hitler's bunker with little to stop them. Ignoring the facts, Hitler saw salvation in the ragtag units commanded by one of his favorite generals, Felix Steiner. For Hitler's purposes, Steiner's command became known as "Army Detachment Steiner" (Armeeabteilung Steiner). However, the "Army Detachment Steiner" existed primarily on paper. It was something more than a corps but less than an army. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the huge salient created by the break through of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front. Meanwhile, the German Ninth Army, which had just been pushed south of the salient, was ordered to attack north in a pincer attack.

Late on 21 April, Heinrici called Hans Krebs Chief German General Staff of the Supreme Army Command (Oberkommando des Heeres or OKH) and told him that Hitler's plan could not be implemented. Heinrici asked to speak to Hitler but was told by Krebs that Hitler was too busy to take his call.

On 22 April, during one of his last military conferences, Hitler interrupted the report to ask what had happened to General Steiner's offensive. There was a long silence. Then Hitler was told that the attack had never been launched, and that the withdrawal from Berlin of several units for Steiner's army, on Hitler's orders, had so weakened the front that the Russians had broken through into Berlin. This was too much for Hitler. He asked everyone except Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Krebs, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Martin Bormann to leave the room,[57] and launched a tirade against the perceived treachery and incompetence of his commanders. This culminated in an oath to stay in Berlin, head up the defense of the city, and shoot himself at the end.[58]

Before the day ended, Hitler again found salvation in a new plan that included General Walther Wenck's Twelfth Army.[59] This new plan had Wenck turn his army—currently facing the Americans to the west—and attack towards the east to relieve Berlin.[59] Twelfth Army was to link up with Ninth Army and break through to the city. Wenck did attack and, in the confusion, managed to make temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison. But the link with the Ninth Army, like the plan in general, was ultimately unsuccessful.[60]

On 23 April, after committing to stay in Berlin with Hitler, Joseph Goebbels made the following proclamation to the people of Berlin:
“ I call on you to fight for your city. Fight with everything you have got, for the sake of your wives and your children, your mothers and your parents. Your arms are defending everything we have ever held dear, and all the generations that will come after us. Be proud and courageous! Be inventive and cunning! Your Gauleiter is amongst you. He and his colleagues will remain in your midst. His wife and children are here as well. He, who once captured the city with 200 men, will now use every means to galvanize the defense of the capital. The battle for Berlin must become the signal for the whole nation to rise up in battle…[61] ”

Also on 23 April, second in command of the Third Reich and commander of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring sent a telegram from Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. In his telegram, Göring argued that, since Hitler was cut off in Berlin, he should assume leadership of Germany as Hitler's designated successor. Göring' telegram mentioned a time limit after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated.[62] Hitler responded, in anger, by having Göring arrested, and when he wrote his will on April 29, Göring was removed from all his positions in the government.[62][63][64]

By the end of the day on 27 April, the commander of the Berlin Defense Area, found the city to be completely cut off from the rest of Germany.

On 28 April, Hitler discovered that SS leader Heinrich Himmler was trying to inform the Allies (through the Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte) that Germany was prepared to discuss surrender terms.[65] Hitler responded as he did with Göring, ordering his arrest and removing him from office, while having his representative in Berlin Hermann Fegelein shot.[66][63]

During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command (Oberkommando des Heeres or OKH) in Fuerstenberg that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further attacks towards Berlin were possible. General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) did not provide this information to Hans Krebs in Berlin until early in the morning of 30 April.

On 29 April, Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler.[63] Hitler dictated the document to his private secretary, Traudl Junge.[67] Hitler was also that day informed of the violent death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 April, which is presumed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.[68]
Cover of US newspaper The Stars and Stripes, May 1945
Cover of US newspaper The Stars and Stripes, May 1945

On 30 April 1945, after intense street-to-street combat, when Soviet troops were spotted within a block or two of the Reich Chancellory, Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule.[69][70] Hitler's body and that of Eva Braun (his mistress whom he had married the day before) were put in a bomb crater,[71] doused in gasoline by Otto Günsche and other Führerbunker aides, and set alight as the Red Army advanced and shelling continued.[69] Hitler also had his dog Blondi poisoned before his suicide to test the poison he and Eva Braun were going to take.

On 2 May, General Weidling surrendered Berlin unconditionally to the Russians. When Russian forces reached the Chancellory, they found his body and an autopsy was performed using dental records to confirm the identification. The remains of Hitler and Braun were secretly buried by SMERSH at their headquarters in Magdeburg.[72] In 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the East German government, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly cremated.[72] According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from the remains of Hitler's body and is all that remains of Hitler. However, the authenticity of the skull has been challenged by many historians and researchers.[72]

Legacy

Further information: Consequences of German Nazism and Neo-Nazism

Outside the building in Braunau am Inn, Austria where Adolf Hitler was born is a memorial stone warning of the horrors of World War II
Outside the building in Braunau am Inn, Austria where Adolf Hitler was born is a memorial stone warning of the horrors of World War II

Hitler, the Nazi Party and the results of Nazism have been regarded in most of the world as evil. Historical and cultural portrayals of Hitler in the west are, almost by consensus, condemnatory. The display of swastikas or other Nazi symbols is prohibited in Germany and Austria. Holocaust denial is prohibited in both countries.

However some people have referred to Hitler's legacy in neutral or favourable terms. Former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat wrote favourably of Hitler in 1953.[73] Louis Farrakhan has referred to him as a "very great man".[74] Bal Thackeray, leader of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party in the Indian state of the Maharashtra, declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler.[75]

Outside of Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria is a stone marker engraved with the following message:

FÜR FRIEDEN FREIHEIT

UND DEMOKRATIE

NIE WIEDER FASCHISMUS

MILLIONEN TOTE MAHNEN

Loosely translated, it reads: "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy - Never Again Fascism - Remember the Millions Dead"

Religious beliefs

Main articles: Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs and Nazi Mysticism

Hitler was raised by Roman Catholic parents, but as a boy he rejected Catholicism. Apparently, after Hitler left home, he never attended Mass or received the sacraments.[76]

In later life, Hitler often praised the Christian heritage, German culture, and a belief in Christ. But his private statements, as reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious man but critical of Christianity.[77] However, in contrast to other Nazi leaders, Hitler did not adhere to esoteric ideas, occultism, or neo-paganism,[77] and ridiculed such beliefs in Mein Kampf.[78] Rather, Hitler advocated a "Positive Christianity",[79] a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and which reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews.

Hitler spoke of his Christianity as a motivation for his anti-Semitism. In a speech Hitler gave in Munich on April 12, 1922, and later published in "My New Order", he stated:
“ My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who - God's truth! - was greatest, not as a sufferer, but as a fighter.

In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was his fight against the Jewish poison.

Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed his blood upon the Cross.

As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice...

And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly, it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people. And when I look on my people I see them work and work and toil and labor, and at the end of the week they have only for their wages wretchedness and misery.

When I go out in the morning and see these men standing in their queues and look into their pinched faces, then I believe I would be no Christian, but a very devil, if I felt no pity for them, if I did not, as did our Lord two thousand years ago, turn against those by whom today this poor people are plundered and exploited."[80][81]
”

Hitler believed in Arthur de Gobineau's ideas of struggle for survival between the different races, among which the "Aryan race"—guided by "Providence"—was supposed to be the torchbearers of civilization. In Hitler's conception Jews were enemies of all civilization. Whether his anti-semitism was influenced by older Christian ideas remains disputed.

Among Christian denominations, Hitler favored Protestantism, which was more open to such reinterpretations. At the same time, he adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organization, liturgy and phraseology in his politics.[82][83]

Health and sexuality

Health

Main articles: Adolf Hitler's medical health and Vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler

Hitler's health has long been the subject of debate. He has variously been said to have suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, Parkinson's disease,[51] syphilis,[51] and a strongly suggested addiction to methamphetamine. One film exists that shows his left hand trembling, which might suggest Parkinson's.[84] Beyond that, the evidence is sparse.

After the early 1930s, Hitler generally followed a vegetarian diet, although he ate meat on occasion. There are reports of him disgusting his guests by giving them graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make them shun meat.[85] A fear of cancer (from which his mother died) is the most widely cited reason, though many authors also assert Hitler had a profound and deep love of animals. He did consume dairy products and eggs, however. Martin Bormann had a greenhouse constructed for him near the Berghof (near Berchtesgaden) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruits and vegetables for Hitler throughout the war. Photographs of Bormann's children tending the greenhouse survive and, by 2005, its foundations were among the only ruins visible in the area which were associated with Nazi leaders.

Hitler was also a non-smoker and promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. He reportedly promised a gold watch to any of his close associates who quit (and gave a few away). Several witness accounts relate that, immediately after his suicide was confirmed, many officers, aides, and secretaries in the Führerbunker lit cigarettes.[86]

Sexuality

Main article: Hitler's sexuality

Hitler presented himself publicly as a man without an intimate domestic life, dedicated to his political "mission", and to help in winning support from the women of Germany. He had a fiancée, Mimi Reiter in the 1920s, and later had a mistress, Eva Braun. He had a close bond with his half-niece Geli Raubal, which many commentators have claimed was sexual, although there is no evidence that proves this.[87] All three women attempted suicide during their relationship with him, a fact which has led to speculation that Hitler may have had unusual sexual fetishes, such as urolagnia, as was claimed by Otto Strasser. Reiter, the only one to survive the Nazi regime, denies this.[88] During the war and afterwards psychoanalysts offered numerous inconsistent psycho-sexual explanations of his pathology.[89] More recently Lothar Machtan has argued in his book The Hidden Hitler that Hitler was homosexual, while others argue that he was largely asexual.

Family

Main article: Hitler (disambiguation)

Paula Hitler, the last living member of Adolf Hitler's immediate family, died in 1960.

The most prominent and longest-living direct descendants of Adolf Hitler's father, Alois, was Adolf's nephew William Patrick Hitler. With his wife Phyllis, he eventually moved to Long Island, New York, and had four sons. None of William Hitler's children have yet had any children of their own.

Over the years various investigative reporters have attempted to track down other distant relatives of the Führer; many are now alleged to be living inconspicuous lives and have long since changed their last name.
Adolf Hitler's genealogy
Adolf Hitler's genealogy

* Eva Braun, mistress and then wife
* Alois Hitler, father
* Klara Hitler, mother
* Paula Hitler, sister
* Alois Hitler, Jr., half-brother
* Bridget Dowling, sister-in-law
* William Patrick Hitler, nephew
* Heinz Hitler, nephew
* Angela Hitler Raubal, half-sister
* Maria Schicklgruber, grandmother
* Johann Georg Hiedler, presumed grandfather
* Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather
* Geli Raubal, niece
* Hermann Fegelein, cousin through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun

Austria

2007-09-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

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For other uses, see Austria (disambiguation).
Republik Österreich
Republic of Austria
Flag of Austria Coat of arms of Austria
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem
Land der Berge, Land am Strome (German)
Land of Mountains, Land on the River
Location of Austria
Location of Austria (dark green)

– on the European continent (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (light green)
Capital
(and largest city) Vienna
[show location on an interactive map] 48°12′N, 16°21′E
Official languages German
locally also Hungarian, Slovenian and Croatian
Demonym Austrian
Government Federal republic
- President Heinz Fischer
- Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer
Independence
- Austrian State Treaty in force
July 27, 1955
- Declaration of Neutrality October 26, 1955 (before: Austrian Empire: 1804, First Austrian Republic: 1918)
Accession to
the European Union January 1, 1995
Area
- Total 83,872 km² (115th)
32,383 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.7
Population
- 2007 estimate 8,316,487 (92nd)
- 2001 census 8,032,926
- Density 99 /km² (99th)
257 /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $279.5 billion (34th)
- Per capita $36,000 (8th)
GDP (nominal) 2005 estimate
- Total $307.07 billion (23rd)
- Per capita $37,117 (12th)
Gini? (2000) 29.1 (low)
HDI (2004) 0.944 (high) (14th)
Currency euro (€) ² (EUR)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD .at ³
Calling code +43
1 Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian are officially recognised regional languages and Austrian Sign Language is a protected minority language throughout the country.
2 Prior to 1999: Austrian Schilling.
3 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Austria (German: Österreich) (Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) (Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The capital city is Vienna.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Etymology
* 2 History
o 2.1 Prehistory and the Middle Ages
o 2.2 Rise of The Habsburgs
o 2.3 Austria as a European Power
o 2.4 World War I and its aftermath
o 2.5 Austrofascism and the Third Reich
o 2.6 After the defeat of Germany, Allied Occupation
o 2.7 Recent history
* 3 Politics
o 3.1 Political system
o 3.2 Recent political developments
o 3.3 Foreign policy
o 3.4 Energy politics
* 4 Military
* 5 States
* 6 Geography
* 7 Climate
* 8 Economy
* 9 Education
* 10 Demographics
o 10.1 Politics concerning ethnic groups (Volksgruppenpolitik)
* 11 Religion
* 12 Culture
o 12.1 Music
o 12.2 Art and architecture
o 12.3 Science, philosophy and economics
o 12.4 Literature
o 12.5 Cuisine
o 12.6 Sports
* 13 See also
* 14 References
* 15 External links

[edit] Etymology

The German name Österreich can be translated into English as the "eastern realm", which is derived from the Old German Ostarrîchi. The name was Latinized as "Austria", although it has no etymological connection with the name of Australia (which derives from Latin Australis meaning The South). Reich can also mean "empire," and this connotation is the one that is understood in the context of the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, although not in the context of the modern Republic of Österreich. The term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the Medieval Latin name for the region: Marchia orientalis, which translates as "eastern marches" or "eastern borderland", as it was situated at the eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire, that was also mirrored in the name Ostmark, for a short period applied after Anschluss to Germany.

The current official designation is the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich). It was originally known after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1918 as the Republic of German Austria (Republik Deutschösterreich), but the state was forced to change its name to "Republic of Austria" in 1919 peace Treaty of Saint-Germain. The name was changed again during the Austro-fascist regime (1934–1938), into Federal State of Austria (Bundesstaat Österreich), but restored after regaining independence and the birth of the Second Austrian Republic (1955–present).

During the monarchy, Austria was known as the Austrian Empire (Kaisertum Österreich); however no official designation existed since the empire was strongly multiethnic. After the Ausgleich with Hungary in 1867, the empire became known as Austria-Hungary in reflection of the dual monarchy character.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Austria

[edit] Prehistory and the Middle Ages
Coats of arms of the Habsburg Emperor
Coats of arms of the Habsburg Emperor

Settled in prehistoric times, the central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom of Noricum was claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which most of Austria was part (all parts south of the Danube), the area was invaded by Bavarians, Slavs and Avars. Charlemagne conquered the area in 788 and encouraged colonization and Christianity. As part of Eastern Francia, the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of Babenberg. The area was known as the marchia Orientalis and was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976.

The first record showing the name Austria is from 996 where it is written as Ostarrîchi, referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. The term Ostmark is not historically ascertained and appears to be a translation of marchia orientalis that came up only much later.

The following centuries were characterized first by the settlement of the country. In 1156 the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria.

With the death of Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergers went extinct. Otakar II of Bohemia effectively controlled the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia after that. His reign came to an end with his defeat at Dürnkrut at the hand of Rudolf I of Germany in 1278. Thereafter, until World War I, Austria's history was largely that of its ruling German dynasty, the Habsburgs.

[edit] Rise of The Habsburgs

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria. In 1438, Duke Albert V of Austria was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund. Although Albert himself only reigned for a year, from then on, every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a Habsburg, with only one exception.

The Habsburgs began also to accumulate lands far from the Hereditary Lands. In 1477, the Archduke Maximilian, only son of Emperor Frederick III, married the heiress of Burgundy, thus acquiring most of the Low Countries for the family. His son Philip the Fair married the heiress of Castile and Aragon, and thus acquired Spain and its Italian, African, and New World appendages for the Habsburgs.

In 1526, following the Battle of Mohács, Austrian rulers expanded their territories, bringing Bohemia and the part of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans under their rule. Ottoman expansion into Hungary led to frequent conflicts between the two powers, particularly evident in the so-called Long War of 1593 to 1606.

[edit] Austria as a European Power
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The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1819.
The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1819.

See also: Congress of Vienna, Ausgleich, and Austria-Hungary

The long reign of Leopold I (1657–1705) saw the culmination of the Austrian conflict with the Turks. Following the successful defense of Vienna in 1683, a series of campaigns resulted in the return of all of Hungary to Austrian control by the Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699.

The later part of the reign of Emperor Charles VI (1711–1740) saw Austria relinquish many of these fairly impressive gains, largely due to Charles's apprehensions at the imminent extinction of the House of Habsburg. Charles was willing to offer concrete advantages in territory and authority in exchange for other powers' worthless recognitions of the Pragmatic Sanction that made his daughter Maria Theresa his heir. With the rise of Prussia begins the Austrian–Prussian dualism in Germany.
Map of Austria-Hungary
Map of Austria-Hungary

Austria became engaged in the war with Revolutionary France, which lasted until 1797 and at the beginning proved unsuccessful for Austria. Defeats against Napoleon meant the end of the old Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Just two years before the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, in 1804 the Empire of Austria was founded, which was transformed in 1867 into the dual-monarchy Austria-Hungary. However, in 1814 Austria was part of the Allied forces invading France and conquering it. Following the Napoleonic wars Austria emerged from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as one of three of the continent's dominant powers (together with Russia and Prussia). In 1815 the German Confederation, (German) Deutscher Bund was founded under the presidency of Austria. Austria and Prussia were the leading powers of the German Confederation. Its central institution was the Bundesversammlung in Frankfurt. Because of unsolved social, political and national conflicts some of the German inhabitants took part in the 1848 revolution to create a unified Germany. The Frankfurt Parliament in the St. Paul's Church elected the arch duke Johann of Habsburg as a Reichsverweser, an administrator of the German Empire. For a new German empire would have been possible three options: a Greater Germany Großdeutsche with the German-speaking territories of the Habsburg Empire, a Greater Austrian solution, Großösterreichische, the German Confederation with the whole Habsurgian territories, and a smaller German solution, Kleindeutsche the German Confederation without Austria at all. As Austria was not willing to relinquish its German-speaking territories to what would become the German Empire of 1848 the parliament offered the crown the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Austria grew out of Germany, Prussia grew in. In 1864 Austria and Prussia fought together against Denmark, to free the independent dutchies Schleswig and Holstein. Austria and Prussia could not agree on a solution to the administration of Schleswig and Holstein, which led to the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Austria, that fought together with most of the German states was defeated by Prussia in the battle of Königgrätz in Bohemia. Austria had to leave the German Confederation and was subsequently no longer permitted to take part in German politics.

The Ausgleich of 1867 provided for a dual sovereignty, the empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hungary, under Franz Joseph I, who ruled until his death on 21 November 1916. The German-Hungarian rule of this diverse empire, which included, Czech, Romanian, Serbian, and many other minorities, became increasingly difficult in an age of emerging nationalist movements.

[edit] World War I and its aftermath

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 by a Serbian nationalist was the proximate cause of World War I, which led to the downfall and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. War left the country in political chaos and economic ruin, the Central Powers (being Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and Turkey) having been defeated in 1918. The Empire was broken up - Austria, with most of the German-speaking parts became a republic (see Treaty of Saint-Germain) and all of what had been subordinated states became independent countries.

Between 1918 and 1919, it was officially known as the Republic of German Austria (Republik Deutschösterreich). After the Entente powers forbade German Austria to unite with Germany, they also forbade the name, it was thus changed to the Republic of Austria. The monarchy was dissolved in 1919 and a parliamentary democracy was set up by the constitution of 10 November 1920.

In the autumn of 1922, Austria was granted an international loan supervised by the League of Nations. The purpose of the loan was to avert bankruptcy, stabilize the currency, and improve the general economic condition. With the granting of the loan, Austria passed from an independant state to the control excersized by the League of Nations. At the time, the real ruler of Austria became the League, through its commissioner in Vienna. The commissioner was a Dutchman not formally part of the Austrian government. Austria had fallen under an international receivership, which had not been seen openly since Lord Croner became the financial advisor to the bankrupt Khedivial Government of Egypt a little less than half a century earlier.

[edit] Austrofascism and the Third Reich

The First Austrian Republic, lasted until 1933 when Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß shut down parliament and established an autocratic regime oriented towards Italian fascism, (Austrofascism) to check the power of Nazis advocating union with Germany. The two big parties of this time —the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Conservatives— had paramilitary armies, which fought each other. The "Heimwehr" (later integrated into the "Vaterländische Front"), the paramilitary arm of the Conservative party supported Dollfuß' s Fascist regime; the "Republikanischer Schutzbund", was the military arm of the Social Democrats which was outlawed in 1933 but still existed underground - civil war was to break out.

After the Austrian Civil War in February 1934, several members of the Schutzbund were executed, the Social Democratic party was outlawed and many of its members were imprisoned or emigrated. In May of that year the Fascists introduced a new constitution ("Maiverfassung") which cemented Dollfuß's power but on 25 July he was assassinated in a Nazi coup attempt.

His successor Kurt Schuschnigg, struggled to keep Austria independent but on 12 March 1938 German troops occupied the country and Hitler proclaimed its Anschluss with Germany, annexing it to the Third Reich, Austria thus ceased to exist.

Just before the collapse of the Third Reich, the defeat of Germany and the end of the war, Karl Renner, astutely set up a Provisional Government in Vienna in April 1945 with tacit approval of the Soviet forces and declared Austria's secession from the Third Reich.

[edit] After the defeat of Germany, Allied Occupation

See also: Allied-administered Austria

As with Germany, Austria was divided into a British, a French, a Soviet and an American Zone and was governed by the Allied Commission for Austria but because of Karl Renner's action on April 27th in setting up a Provisional Government there was, automatically, a very subtle difference in the treatment of Austria by the Allies (Austria was treated as though, originally, it had been invaded by Germany. Therefore, having being freed, it had been liberated). This Austrian Government was recognised and tolerated by the Four Powers.

Vienna itself was totally within the Soviet Zone and, especially during the time of the Berlin Air Lift, Soviet military pressure on the access points was, with skillful Allied military and political//diplomatic influence, successfully resisted, Britain's High Commissioner during a large part of this time being the exceptionally able Sir Harold Anthony Caccia. (Viennese citizens were at very great risk if they attempted to cross and to exit the Soviet Zone, travel to the West being banned.).

On 15 May 1955 Austria regained its independence by concluding the Austrian State Treaty with the Four Occupying Powers. And with its Second Austrian Republic, (established 19 December 1945 on the basis of the 1920 constitution (amended in 1929) ), the country was declared by the Federal Parliament to be neutral.

[edit] Recent history

The political system of the Second Republic came to be characterized by the system of Proporz, meaning that most posts of some political importance were split evenly between members of the Social Democrats (Labour Party) and the People's Party (Conservatives).

Interest group representations with mandatory membership (e.g. for workers, businesspeople, farmers etc.) grew to considerable importance and were usually consulted in the legislative process, so that hardly any legislation was passed that did not reflect widespread consensus. The Proporz and consensus systems largely held even during the years between 1966 and 1983, when there were non-coalition governments, but can now be called history.

Austria nowadays has five major political parties: The SPÖ (Labour Party), the ÖVP (Conservatives), the "Greens" (Environmental, social-liberal) and FPÖ/BZÖ (both right-wing, nationalist). SPÖ and ÖVP share about 75% of the parliamentary mandates, while the remaining 25% are divided between the the other three parties.

Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995 and retained its constitutional neutrality, like other EU members (e.g. Sweden). The major parties SPÖ and ÖVP have contrary opinions about the future status of Austria's military neutrality: While the SPÖ pleas for a neutral role in the EU (together with other neutral EU members like Sweden), the ÖVP argues for a stronger integration into the EU's security policy and even an entry into NATO is considered by some ÖVP politicans. In any case, neutrality is a constitutional law and can only be suspended by a two-thirds majority in the Austrian parliament.

[edit] Politics
Austrian Parliament in Vienna
Austrian Parliament in Vienna

Main article: Politics of Austria

[edit] Political system

The Parliament of Austria is located in Vienna, the nation's largest city and capital. Austria became a federal, parliamentarian, democratic republic through the Federal Constitution of 1920. It was reintroduced in 1945 to the nine states of the Federal Republic. The head of state is the Federal President, who is directly elected by popular vote. The chairman of the Federal Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the president. The government can be removed from office by either a presidential decree or by vote of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament, the Nationalrat.

The Parliament of Austria consists of two chambers. The composition of the Nationalrat is determined every four years by a free general election in which every citizen over 16 years (since 2007) is allowed to vote to fill its 183 seats. This period will be extended to five years after the next election. While there is a general threshold of 4 percent for all parties at federal elections (Nationalratswahlen), there remains the possibility to gain a direct seat, or Direktmandat, in one of the 43 regional election districts. The Nationalrat is the dominant chamber in the formation of legislation in Austria. However, the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat has a limited right of veto (the Nationalrat can — in almost all cases — ultimately pass the respective bill by voting a second time. This is referred to as 'Beharrungsbeschluss, lit. "vote of persistence"). A convention, called the Österreich–Konvent[1] was convened in June 30, 2003 to decide upon suggestions to reform the constitution, but has failed to produce a proposal that would receive the two thirds of votes in the Nationalrat necessary for constitutional amendments and/or reform. However, some important parts of the final report were generally agreed upon and are still expected to be implemented.

[edit] Recent political developments

In February 2000 the conservative People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, headed by Jörg Haider. The (at that time) 14 other member states of the European Union - but not the EU itself - condemned Austria's new coalition, froze diplomatic contacts, which were commonly referred to "sanctions", although they were more or less diplomatic unfriendliness. Given the controversy, Haider chose not to join the government, but he continued to wield influence from the sidelines.

In September 2002, the coalition between the People's Party and the Freedom Party dissolved after a shake-up in the Freedom Party. In November 2002, the People's Party made large gains in general elections. After failed coalition talks with other parties, the People's Party again formed a government with the Freedom Party in February 2003.

After general elections held in October 2006, the Social Democrats emerged as the largest party, whereas the People's Party lost about 8% in votes. Political realities prohibited any of the two major parties from forming a coalition with smaller parties. In January 2007 the People's Party and Social Democrats formed a Grand Coalition with the social democrat Alfred Gusenbauer as Chancellor.

[edit] Foreign policy

Further information: Foreign relations of Austria

The 1955 Austrian State Treaty ended the occupation of Austria following World War II and recognized Austria as an independent and sovereign state. In October 1955, the Federal Assembly passed a constitutional law in which "Austria declares of her own free will her perpetual neutrality." The second section of this law stated that "in all future times Austria will not join any military alliances and will not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory." Since then, Austria has shaped its foreign policy on the basis of neutrality.

Austria began to reassess its definition of neutrality following the fall of the Soviet Union, granting overflight rights for the UN-sanctioned action against Iraq in 1991, and, since 1995, contemplating participation in the EU's evolving security structure. Also in 1995, it joined the Partnership for Peace and subsequently participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.

Austria attaches great importance to participation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other international economic organizations, and it has played an active role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

[edit] Energy politics
Hydropowerplant on Danube
Hydropowerplant on Danube

In 1972, the country began construction of a nuclear-powered electricity-generation station at Zwentendorf on the River Danube, following a unanimous vote in parliament. However, in 1978, a referendum voted approximately 50.5% against nuclear power, 49.5% for, and parliament subsequently unanimously passed a law forbidding the use of nuclear power to generate electricity.

Austria currently produces more than half of its electricity by hydropower. Together with other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass powerplants, the electricity supply from renewable energy amounts to nearly 80% of total use in Austria. The rest is produced by gas and oil powerplants.

[edit] Military

Main article: Military of Austria

The main branches of the Austrian Armed Forces ("Bundesheer") are Joint Forces (Streitkräfteführungskommando, SKFüKdo) which consist of Land Forces (Landstreitkräfte), Air Forces (Luftstreitkräfte), International Missions (Internationale Einsätze), and Special Forces (Spezialeinsatzkräfte); next to Mission Support (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU) and Command Support (Kommando Führungsunterstützung; KdoFüU). In 2004, Austria expends about 0.9% of its GDP for defense. The Army currently has about 45,000 soldiers, of which about half are conscripts. As head of state, Austrian President (currently Heinz Fischer) is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the Bundesheer, however the military authority over the Austrian Armed Forces are in most cases exercised by the Minister of Defense, currently Norbert Darabos.

With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military has increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. Austria has been engaged in UN peacekeeping missions despite its neutrality. Currently, larger contigents of Austrian forces are deployed in Bosnia, Kosovo and, since 1974, on the Golan Heights.

[edit] States

For more details on this topic, see States of Austria.

A federal republic, Austria is divided into nine states (German: 'Bundesländer'). These states are then divided into districts (Bezirke) and cities (Statutarstädte). Districts are subdivided into municipalities (Gemeinden). Cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts and municipalities. The states are not mere administrative divisions but have some distinct legislative authority separate from the federal government.
State (Bundesland) Capital Population [8] Rank
The States of Austria
1 Burgenland Eisenstadt 280,350 9
2 Carinthia (Kärnten) Klagenfurt 560,753 6
3 Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) St. Pölten 1,588,545 2
4 Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) Linz 1,405,986 3
5 Salzburg Salzburg 529,085 7
6 Styria (Steiermark) Graz 1,203,986 4
7 Tyrol (Tirol) Innsbruck 698,472 5
8 Vorarlberg Bregenz 364,611 8
9 Vienna (Wien) Vienna (Wien) 1,660,534 1

[edit] Geography
Topography of Austria
Topography of Austria

Main article: Geography of Austria

Austria is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the Alps. The Central Eastern Alps, Northern Limestone Alps and Southern Limestone Alps are all partly in Austria. Of the total area of Austria (84 000 km² or 32,000 sq. mi), only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft). The high mountainous Alps in the west of Austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country.
Map of Austria
Map of Austria

Austria can be divided into five areas. The biggest area are the Austrian Alps, which constitute 62% of Austria's total area. The Austrian foothills at the base of the Alps and the Carpathians account for around 12% of its area. The foothills in the east and areas surrounding the periphery of the Pannoni low country amount to about 12% of the total landmass. The second greater mountain area (much lower than the Alps) is situated in the north. Known as the Austrian granite plateau, it is located in the central area of the Bohemian Mass, and accounts for 10% of Austria. The Austrian portion of the Vienna basin comprises the remaining 4%.

[edit] Climate

The greater part of Austria lies in the cool/temperate climate zone in which humid westerly winds predominate. With over half of the country dominated by the Alps the alpine climate is the predominant one. In the East, in the Pannonian Plain and along the Danube valley, the climate shows continental features with less rain than the alpine areas.Although Austria is cold in the winter, in the summer temperatures can be relatively warm reaching 20-35 degrees Celsius. This year, though, the weather has been changing rapidly from cool temperatures to fairly warm temperatures. Therefore, it will be hard to predict the weather in the future for Austria.

The six highest mountains in Austria are:
Name ↓ Height (m) ↓ Height (ft) ↓ Range ↓
Großglockner &&&&&&&&&&&03797.&&&&&03,797 &&&&&&&&&&012457.&&&&&012,457 Hohe Tauern
Wildspitze &&&&&&&&&&&03768.&&&&&03,768 &&&&&&&&&&012362.&&&&&012,362 Ötztal Alps
Weißkugel &&&&&&&&&&&03739.&&&&&03,739 &&&&&&&&&&012267.&&&&&012,267 Ötztal Alps
Großvenediger &&&&&&&&&&&03674.&&&&&03,674 &&&&&&&&&&012054.&&&&&012,054 Hohe Tauern
Similaun &&&&&&&&&&&03606.&&&&&03,606 &&&&&&&&&&011831.&&&&&011,831 Ötztal Alps
Großes Wiesbachhorn &&&&&&&&&&&03571.&&&&&03,571 &&&&&&&&&&011715.&&&&&011,715 Hohe Tauern

[edit] Economy
Cows near top of mountain Schneeberg
Cows near top of mountain Schneeberg

For more details on this topic, see Economy of Austria.
See also: List of Austrian companies

Austria as one of the 10 richest countries in the world has a well-developed social market economy and a very high standard of living. Until the 1980s, many of Austria's largest industry firms were nationalised; in recent years, however, privatisation has reduced state holdings to a level comparable to other European economies. Labour movements are particularly strong in Austria and have large influence on labour politics. Next to a highly-developed industry international tourism is the most important part of national economy.

Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the German economy. But since Austria became a member state of the European Union it has gained closer ties to other European Union economies, reducing its economic dependence on Germany. In addition, membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspiring economies. Growth in GDP accelerated in recent years and reached 3.3% in 2006.[2]

[edit] Education

For more details on this topic, see Education in Austria.

Responsibility for educational oversight in Austria lies partly at the Austrian states (Bundesländer), partly with the federal government. Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between ages four and six years old. School attendance is compulsory for nine years, usually to the age of fifteen.

Primary education lasts for four years. Alongside Germany, secondary education includes two main types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by grades from the primary school: the Gymnasium for the more gifted children which normally leads to the Matura which is a requirement for access to universities and the Hauptschule which prepares pupils for vocational education.

The Austrian university system had been open to any student who passed the Matura examination until recently. A 2006 bill allowed the introduction of entrance exams for studies such as Medicine. Currently all students are charged a fee of about €370 per semester for all university studies. A recent OECD report critizised the Austrian education system for the low number of students attending universities and the overall low number of academics compared to other OECD countries.

[edit] Demographics
A painting by Canaletto of Vienna during the first half of the eighteenth century.
A painting by Canaletto of Vienna during the first half of the eighteenth century.

For more details on this topic, see Demographics of Austria.

Austria's population estimate in October 2006 was 8,292,322. The population of the capital, Vienna, exceeds 1.6 million (2.2 million with suburbs), representing about a quarter of the country's population and is known for its vast cultural offerings and high standard of living.

In contrast to the capital, other cities do not exceed 1 million inhabitants: the second largest city Graz is home to 250,099 inhabitants, followed by Linz (188,968), Salzburg (150,000), and Innsbruck (117,346). All other cities have fewer than 100,000 inhabitants.

German-speaking Austrians, by far the country's largest group, form roughly 90% of Austria's population. The Austrian federal states of Carinthia and Styria are home to a significant (indigenous) Slovenian minority with around 14,000 members (Austrian census; unofficial numbers of Slovene groups speak of about 40,000). Around 20,000 Hungarians and 30,000 Croatians live in the east-most Bundesland, Burgenland (formerly part of the Hungarian half of Austria-Hungary). The remaining number of Austria's people are of non-Austrian descent, many from surrounding countries, especially from the former East Bloc nations. So-called guest workers (Gastarbeiter) and their descendants, as well as refugees from Yugoslav wars and other conflicts, also form an important minority group in Austria.

According to the 2001 census, the mother tongue of the population by prevalence, is German (88.6%) followed by Turkish (2.3%), Serbian (2.2%), Croatian (1.6%), Hungarian (0.5%) and Bosnian (0.4%).[3]

The official language, German, is spoken by almost all residents of the country. Austria's mountainous terrain led to the development of many distinct German dialects. All of the dialects in the country, however, belong to Austro-Bavarian groups of German dialects, with the exception of the dialect spoken in its west-most Bundesland, Vorarlberg, which belongs to the group of Alemannic dialects. There is also a distinct grammatical standard for Austrian German with a few differences to the German spoken in Germany.

As of 2006, some of the Austrian states introduced standardised tests for new citizens, to assure their language and cultural knowledge and accordingly their ability to integrate into the Austrian society.[4]

[edit] Politics concerning ethnic groups (Volksgruppenpolitik)

An estimated 13,000 to 40,000 Slovenians in the Austrian state of Carinthia (the Carinthian Slovenes) as well as Croatians (around 30,000[5]) and Hungarians in Burgenland were recognized as a minority and have enjoyed special rights following the Austrian State Treaty (Staatsvertrag) of 1955. The Slovenians in the Austrian state of Styria (estimated at a number between 1,600 and 5,000) are not recognized as a minority and do not enjoy special rights, although the State Treaty of July 27, 1955 states otherwise.

The right for bilingual topographic signs for the regions where Slovene- and Croat-Austrians live alongside the Germanic population (as required by the 1955 State Treaty) is still to be fully implemented. Many Carinthians are afraid of Slovenian territorial claims, pointing to the fact that Yugoslav troops entered the state after each of the two World Wars and considering that some official Slovenian atlases show parts of Carinthia as Slovenian cultural territory. The current governor, Jörg Haider, has made this fact a matter of public argument in autumn 2005 by refusing to increase the number of bilingual topographic signs in Carinthia. A poll by the Kärntner Humaninstitut conducted in January 2006 states that 65% of Carinthians are not in favour of an increase of bilingual topographic signs, since the original requirements set by the State Treaty of 1955 have already been fulfilled according to their point of view. Another interesting phenomenon is the so called "Windischen-Theorie"[6] stating that the Slovenians can be split in two groups: actual Slovenians and Windische (a traditional German name for Slavs), based on differences in language between Austrian Slovenians, who were taught Slovenian standard language in school and those Slovenians who spoke their local Slovenian dialect but went to German schools. The term Windische was applied to the latter group as a means of distinction. This theory was never generally accepted and fell out of use some decades ago.

[edit] Religion

For more details on this topic, see Religion in Austria.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Austrian Habsburg ruler and one of the major figures of the Counter-Reformation.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Austrian Habsburg ruler and one of the major figures of the Counter-Reformation.

While northern and central Germany was the origin of the Reformation, Austria (and Bavaria) was the heart of the Counter-Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the absolute monarchy of Habsburg imposed a strict regime to maintain Catholicism's power and influence among Austrians. The Habsburgs viewed themselves as the vanguard of Roman Catholicism and all other confessions and religions were oppressed. In 1781, Emperor Joseph II issued a Patent of Tolerance that allowed other Christian confessions a limited freedom of worship. Religious freedom was declared a constitutional right in the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich in 1867 thus paying tribute to the fact that the monarchy was home of numerous religions beside Roman Catholicism such as Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, and Bulgarian Orthodox Christians (Austria neighboured the Ottoman empire for centuries), and both Calvinist and Lutheran Protestants.

Austria continued to remain largely influenced by Catholicism. After 1918, First Republic Catholic leaders such as Theodor Innitzer and Ignaz Seipel took leading positions within or close to the Austrian Government and increased their influence during the time of the Austrofascism—Catholicism was treated much like a state religion by dictators Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg. Although Catholic leaders welcomed the Germans in 1938 during the Anschluss of Austria into Germany, Austrian Catholicism stopped its support of Nazism later on and many former religious public figures became involved with the resistance during the Third Reich. After 1945 a stricter secularism was imposed in Austria, and religious influence on politics declined.

As of the end of the twentieth century, about 73% of Austria's population were registered as Roman Catholic, while about 5% considered themselves Protestants. Both these numbers have been on the decline for decades, especially Roman Catholicism, which has suffered an increasing number of seceders from the church. Austrian Catholics are obliged to pay a mandatory tax (calculated by income—about 1%) to the Austrian Roman Catholic Church, which might act as an incentive to leave the church.

About 12% of the population declare that they do not belong to any church or religious community. Of the remaining people, about 180,000 are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and about 7,300 are Jewish. It has to be noted that the Austrian Jewish Community of 1938 – Vienna alone counted more than 200,000 - was reduced to solely 4,000 to 5,000 after the Second World War. The influx of Eastern Europeans, especially from the former Yugoslav nations, Albania and particularly from Turkey largely contributed to a substantial Muslim minority in Austria—around 300,000 are registered as members of various Muslim communities. Buddhism, which was legally recognized as a religion in Austria in 1983, enjoys widespread acceptance and has a following of 20,000 (10,402 at the 2001 census).

A 2005 survey among 8,000 people in various European countries showed that Austria is among those nations whose populations maintain the strongest belief in God. 84% of all Austrians state a belief in God, with only the people of Poland (97%), Romania (91%), Portugal (90%) yielding significantly higher numbers. This is a much larger figure than the European average of 71%, or that of Germany (67%).[7]

See also: Buddhism in Austria, Hinduism in Austria, Islam in Austria, Paganism in the Eastern Alps, and Roman Catholicism in Austria

[edit] Culture

For more details on this topic, see Culture of Austria.

These are articles of the
List of Austrians series
Artists and architects
Monarchs
Mountaineers
Music
Politicians
Scientists
Sports
Writers

[edit] Music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

Austria's past as a European power and its cultural environment have generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably among them music. Austria has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss, Sr., Johann Strauss, Jr. and Gustav Mahler as well as members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg.

Vienna has long been especially an important center of musical innovation. Eighteenth and nineteenth century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburgs, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. During the Baroque period, Slavic and Hungarian folk forms influenced Austrian music. Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 1500s, and was focused around instruments including the lute. Ludwig van Beethoven spent the better part of his life in Vienna.

Austria's current national anthem was chosen after World War II to replace the traditional Austrian anthem by Joseph Haydn. The composition, which was initially attributed to Mozart, was most likely not composed by Mozart himself.

Austria has also produced one notable jazz musician, keyboardist Josef Zawinul who helped pioneer electronic influences in jazz as well as being a notable composer in his own right.

[edit] Art and architecture

See also: List of Austrian artists and architects

The Belvedere Palace, an example of Baroque architecture.
The Belvedere Palace, an example of Baroque architecture.
This short section requires expansion.

Among Austrian artists and architects one can find painters Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele or Friedensreich Hundertwasser, photographer Inge Morath or architect Otto Wagner.

[edit] Science, philosophy and economics

See also: Austrian School and List of Austrian scientists

Sigmund Freud in 1938
Sigmund Freud in 1938

Austria was the cradle of numerous scientists with international reputations. Among them are Ludwig Boltzmann, Ernst Mach, Victor Franz Hess and Christian Doppler, prominent scientists in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, contributions by Lise Meitner, Erwin Schrödinger and Wolfgang Pauli to nuclear research and quantum mechanics were key to these areas' development during the 1920s and 1930s. A present-day quantum physicist is Anton Zeilinger, noted as the first scientist to demonstrate quantum teleportation.

In addition to physicists, Austria was the birthplace of two of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper. In addition to them biologists Gregor Mendel and Konrad Lorenz as well as mathematician Kurt Gödel and engineers such as Ferdinand Porsche and Siegfried Marcus were Austrians.

A focus of Austrian science has always been medicine and psychology, starting in medieval times with Paracelsus. Austria was home to psychologists Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Paul Watzlawick and Hans Asperger and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl.

The Austrian School, which is prominent as one of the main competitive directions for economic theory is related to Austrian economists Joseph Schumpeter, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek.

[edit] Literature

See also: List of Austrian writers and Austrian literature

Complementing its status as a land of artists and scientists, Austria has always been a country of poets, writers,and novelists. It was the home of novelists Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Thomas Bernhard or Robert Musil, of poets Georg Trakl, Franz Werfel, Franz Grillparzer, Rainer Maria Rilke or Adalbert Stifter and writer Karl Kraus.

Famous contemporary playwrights and novelists are Nobel prize winner Elfriede Jelinek and writer Peter Handke.

[edit] Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Austria

Austria's cuisine is derived from the cuisine of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to native regional traditions, it has been influenced above all by Hungarian, Czech, Jewish, Italian and Bavarian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed. The Austrian Cuisine is therefore one of the most multi and transcultural cuisines in Europe.

Typical Austrian dishes include Wiener Schnitzel, Kaiserschmarrn, Knödel, Sachertorte and Tafelspitz. There are also Kasnockn, a macaroni dish with fresh Pinzgauer cheese and parsley, and Eierschwammerl dishes. The Eierschwammerl are the native yellow, tan mushrooms. These mushrooms are delicious, especially when in a thick Austrian soup, or on regular meals.

Pez was invented in Austria. Austria is also famous for their Apfelstrudel.

[edit] Sports

The most popular sport in Austria is alpine skiing and Austria shows constant dominance in the Nations-Cup. Similar sports such as snowboarding or ski-jumping are also widely popular. The most popular team sport in Austria is football. However, Austria rarely has international success in this discipline, though the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship is conjointly being held with Switzerland. Besides football, Austria also has professional national leagues for most major team sports including ice hockey, and basketball.

Government

2007-09-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Main article: Politics of Germany

The Reichstag is the old and new site of the German parliament
The Reichstag is the old and new site of the German parliament

Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments to the Grundgesetz require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the articles guaranteeing fundamental rights, a democratic state, and the right to resist attempts to overthrow the constitution are valid in perpetuity and cannot be amended.[14] The Grundgesetz remained in effect, with minor amendments, after German reunification in 1990, despite the intention of the Grundgesetz to be replaced by a proper constitution after the reunion. (This was called Grundgesetz for precisely this reason.)

The Chancellor (currently Angela Merkel) is the head of government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a Prime Minister. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form a unique type of legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections; the members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the sixteen federal states and are members of the state cabinets, which appoint them and can remove them at any time.
The Bundeskanzleramt has been the seat of the German Chancellor since 2001.
The Bundeskanzleramt has been the seat of the German Chancellor since 2001.

Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany[15] although smaller parties, such as the liberal Free Democratic Party (which has had members in the Bundestag since 1949) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which has controlled seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles.

The German head of state is the President of Germany, elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second highest official in the German order of precedence is the President of the Bundestag, who is elected by the Bundestag itself. He or she is responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the Chancellor. He or she is nominated by the President of Germany and elected by the Bundestag. If necessary, he or she can be removed by a constructive motion of no confidence by the Bundestag, where "constructive" implies that the Bundestag needs to elect a successor.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel hosting the G8 summit in Heiligendamm
Chancellor Angela Merkel hosting the G8 summit in Heiligendamm

Germany has played a leading role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France since the end of World War II. The alliance was especially close in the late 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl and Socialist François Mitterrand. Germany is at the forefront of European states seeking to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European political, defence and security apparatus.[16]

Since its establishment on 23 May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany kept a notably low profile in international relations, because of both its recent history and its occupation by foreign powers.[17] During the Cold War, Germany's partition by the Iron Curtain made it a symbol of East-West tensions and a political battleground in Europe. However, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was a key factor in the détente of the 1970s.[18] In 1999 Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government defined a new basis for German foreign policy by taking a full part in the decisions surrounding the NATO war against Yugoslavia and by sending German troops into combat for the first time since World War II.[19]
President Horst Köhler
President Horst Köhler

Germany and the United States have been close allies since the end of World War II.[20] The Marshall Plan, the continued U.S. support during the rebuilding process after World War II, and strong cultural ties have crafted a strong bond between the two countries, although Schröder's very vocal opposition to the Iraq War suggested the end of Atlanticism and a relative cooling of German-American relations.[21] The two countries are also economically interdependent; 8.8% of German exports are U.S.-bound and 6.6% of German imports originate from the U.S.[22] The other way around, 8.8 % of U.S. exports ship to Germany and 9.8 % of U.S. imports come from Germany.[22] Other signs of the close ties include the continuing position of German-Americans as the largest ethnic group in the U.S.[23] and the status of Ramstein Air Base (near Kaiserslautern) as the largest U.S. military community outside the U.S.[24]

States

Main articles: States of Germany and List of administrative divisions of Germany

Germany is divided into sixteen states (Länder, singular Land; commonly Bundesländer, singular Bundesland). It is further subdivided into 439 districts (Kreise, singular Kreis) and cities (kreisfreie Städte) (2004).
State ↓ Capital ↓ Area ↓ Population ↓
Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart 35,752 km² 10,717,000
Bavaria (Bayern) Munich 70,549 km² 12,444,000
Berlin Berlin 892 km² 3,400,000
Brandenburg Potsdam 29,477 km² 2,568,000
Bremen Bremen 404 km² 663,000
Hamburg Hamburg 755 km² 1,735,000
Hesse (Hessen) Wiesbaden 21,115 km² 6,098,000
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Schwerin 23,174 km² 1,720,000
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Hanover 47,618 km² 8,001,000
North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) Düsseldorf 34,043 km² 18,075,000
Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) Mainz 19,847 km² 4,061,000
Saarland Saarbrücken 2,569 km² 1,056,000
Saxony (Sachsen) Dresden 18,416 km² 4,296,000
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) Magdeburg 20,445 km² 2,494,000
Schleswig-Holstein Kiel 15,763 km² 2,829,000
Thuringia (Thüringen) Erfurt 16,172 km² 2,355,000

States and cities in Germany.
States and cities in Germany.

Military

Main article: Bundeswehr

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is participating in a UNIFIL II operation off the coast of Lebanon
The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is participating in a UNIFIL II operation off the coast of Lebanon

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is a defence force with Heer (Army), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Central Medical Services) and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Service Support Command) branches. Military Service is compulsory for men at the age of 18, and conscripts serve nine-month tours of duty (conscientious objectors may instead opt for an equal length of Zivildienst (roughly translated as civilian service), or a longer commitment to (voluntary) emergency services like a fire department, the Red Cross or the THW). In 2003, military spending constituted 1.5% of the country's GDP.[25] In peacetime, the Bundeswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence, currently Franz Josef Jung. If Germany went to war, which according to the constitution is allowed only for defensive purposes, the Chancellor would become commander in chief of the Bundeswehr.[26]

As of October 2006, the German military had almost 9,000 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of various international peacekeeping forces, including 1,180 troops stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina; 2,844 Bundeswehr soldiers in Kosovo; 750 soldiers stationed as a part of EUFOR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and 2,800 German troops in the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan. As of February 2007, Germany had about 3000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent after the United States (14000) and the United Kingdom (5200).[27]

Law

Main article: Judiciary of Germany

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in Karlsruhe.
The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in Karlsruhe.

The Judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. Germany has a civil or statute law system that is based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), located in Karlsruhe, is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review.[28] It acts as the highest legal authority and ensures that legislative and judicial practice conforms to the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Basic Law). It acts independently of the other state bodies, but cannot act on its own behalf.

Germany's supreme court system, called Oberste Gerichtshöfe des Bundes, is specialized. For civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Federal Court of Justice, located in Karlsruhe and Leipzig. The courtroom style is inquisitorial. Other Federal Courts are the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt, the Federal Social Court in Kassel, the Federal Finance Court in Munich and the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.

Criminal law and private law are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system is aimed towards rehabilitation of the criminal; its secondary goal is the protection of the general public.[29] To achieve the latter, a convicted criminal can be put in preventive detention (Sicherheitsverwahrung) in addition to the regular sentence if he is considered to be a threat to the general public. The Völkerstrafgesetzbuch regulates the consequences of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. It gives German courts universal jurisdiction if prosecution by a court of the country where the crime was committed, or by an international court, is not possible.

State level

Legislative power is divided between the federation and the state level. The Basic Law presumes that all legislative power remains at the state level unless otherwise designated by the Basic Law itself. In some areas, federal and state level have concurrent legislative power. In such cases, the federate level has power to legislation "if and to the extent that the establishment of equal living conditions throughout the federal territory or the maintenance of legal or economic unity renders federal regulation necessary in the national interest" (Art. 72 Basic Law).
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949

Any federal law overrides state law if the legislative power lies at the federal level. A famous example is the Hessian permission of the death penalty that goes against the ban of capital punishment by the Basic Law. The Bundesrat is the federal organ through which the states participate in national legislation. State participation in federal legislation is necessary if the law falls within the area of concurrent legislative power, requires states to administer federal regulations, or if designated so by the Basic Law. Every state with the exception of Schleswig-Holstein (whose constitutional jurisdiction is exercised by the Bundesverfassungsgericht in procuration) has its own constitutional courts. The Amtsgerichte, Landesgerichte and Oberlandesgerichte are state courts of general jurisdiction. They are competent whether the action is based on federal or state law.

Many of the fundamental matters in administrative law remain in the jurisdiction of the states, though most states base their own laws in that area on the 1976 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Proceedings Act) in important points of administrative law. The Oberverwaltungsgerichte are the highest levels in administrative jurisdiction concerning the state administrations, unless the question of law concerns federal law or state law identical to federal law. In such cases, final appeal to the Federal Administrative Court is possible.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Germany

Altitude levels
Altitude levels

Germany has the second largest population in Europe (after European Russia) and is seventh largest in area. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km² (137,847 sq mi), consisting of 349,223 km² (134,836 sq mi) of land and 7,798 km² (3,011 sq mi) of water. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,962 metres (9,718 ft) in the south to the shores of the North Sea (Nordsee) in the north-west and the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) in the north-east. Between lie the forested uplands of central Germany and the low-lying lands of northern Germany (lowest point: Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres (11.6 ft) below sea level), traversed by some of Europe's major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe.[25] Because of its central location, Germany shares borders with more European countries than any other country on the continent. Its neighbours are Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland in the south, France and Luxembourg in the south-west and Belgium and the Netherlands in the north-west.

Climate
Alpine scenery in Bavaria
Alpine scenery in Bavaria

Most of Germany has a cool, temperate climate in which humid westerly winds predominate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, which is the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea including the peninsula of Jutland and the area along the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea. Consequently in the north-west and the north, the climate is oceanic; rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) for prolonged periods. In the east, the climate is more continental; winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and long dry periods are often recorded. Central and southern Germany are transition regions which vary from moderately oceanic to continental. Again, the maximum temperature can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) in summer.[30][31]

Demographics

Main articles: Demography of Germany and Social issues in Germany

Berlin is Germany's largest city with a population of 3.4 million people
Berlin is Germany's largest city with a population of 3.4 million people

With over 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous country in the European Union. However, its fertility rate of 1.39 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world,[25] and the federal statistics office estimates the population will shrink to between 69 and 74 million by 2050 (69 million assuming a net migration of +100,000 per year; 74 million assuming a net migration of +200,000 per year).[32] Chemnitz is thought to be the city with the lowest birth rate in the world.[33] Germany has a number of larger cities, the most populous being Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. By far the largest conurbation is the Rhine-Ruhr region, including Düsseldorf (the capital of NRW) and the cities of Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, and Bochum.
Population from 1961–2003. In years before 1990, the figures of the FRG and the GDR are combined
Population from 1961–2003. In years before 1990, the figures of the FRG and the GDR are combined

As of December 2004, about seven million foreign citizens were registered in Germany, and 19% of the country's residents were of foreign or partially foreign descent. The largest group (2.3 million)[34] is from Turkey, and a majority of the rest are from European states such as Italy, Serbia, Greece, Poland, and Croatia.[35] In its State of World Population 2006 report, the United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as hosting the third-highest percentage of international migrants worldwide, about 5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants.[36] As a consequence of restrictions of Germany's formerly rather unrestricted laws on asylum and immigration, the number of immigrants seeking asylum or claiming German ethnicity (mostly from the former Soviet Union) has been declining steadily since 2000.[37] Immigrants to Germany often face integration issues among other difficulties.[38] There has also been a recent surge in right-wing nationalist crimes. According to former Interior Minister Otto Schily, this trend does not necessarily indicate a rise in membership in right-wing groups.[39]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Germany

The Cologne Cathedral at the Rhine river is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Cologne Cathedral at the Rhine river is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Protestants (concentrated in the north and east) and Roman Catholics (concentrated in the south and west) each comprise about 31% of the population. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria. In total, more than 55 million people officially belong to a Christian denomination. Non-religious people, including atheists and agnostics amount to 28.5% of the population, and are especially numerous in the former East Germany.[40] About three million Muslims[41] live in Germany. Most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shiites.[42] Germany has Western Europe's third-largest Jewish population.[43] In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total Jewish population to more than 200,000, compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification. Large cities with significant Jewish populations include Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.[44] According to the Deutsche Buddhistische Union (German Buddhist Union), an umbrella organisation of the Buddhist groups in Germany, there are about 250,000 active Buddhists in Germany; 50% of them are Asian immigrants.[45]

Education
The University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg

Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the federal states individually whilst the government only has a minor role. Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least ten years. Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage.[46] In contrast, secondary education includes four types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by teacher recommendations: the Gymnasium includes the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies and attendance lasts eight or nine years depending on the state; the Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediary students and lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education, and the Gesamtschule or comprehensive school combines the three approaches.[46]
Wilhelm von Humboldt, educational reformer
Wilhelm von Humboldt, educational reformer

To enter a university, high school students are required to take the Abitur examination, similar to A-levels; however, students possessing a diploma from a vocational school may also apply to enter. A special system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run school.[46] Although Germany has had a history of a strong educational system, recent PISA student assessments demonstrated a weakness in certain subjects. In the PISA Study, a test of thirty-one countries, in 2000 Germany ranked twenty-first in reading and twentieth in both mathematics and the natural sciences, prompting calls for reform.[47] Most German universities are state-owned and charge for tuition fees ranging from €50–500 per semester from each student.[48]

Important research institutions in Germany are the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft and the Fraunhofer Society. They are independently or externally connected to the university system and contribute to a considerable extent to the scientific output. The prestigious award Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is granted to ten scientists and academics every year. With a maximum of €2.5 million per award it is one of highest endowed research prizes in the world.[49]

Germany's universities are recognized internationally, indicating the high education standards in the country. In the 2006 THES - QS World University Rankings[50], 10 German universities were ranked amongst the top 200 in the world.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Germany

Frankfurt is Germany's financial centre.
Frankfurt is Germany's financial centre.

Germany has the largest economy in Europe and the third largest economy in the world, behind the United States and Japan.[51] It is ranked fifth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity.[52] The export of goods is an essential part of the German economy and one of the main factors of its wealth. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is the world's top exporter with $1.133 trillion exported, from the beginning of 2006 (Germany's exports to other Eurozone countries are included in this total).[53] It has a large trade surplus (165 billion euros in 2006).[53][54] In the service sector, Germany ranks second behind the United States.[53] Most of the country's exports are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods.[25] In terms of total capacity to generate electricity from wind power, Germany is first in the world and it is also the main exporter of wind turbines.[55]
Germany was the world's leading exporter of goods in 2006
Germany was the world's leading exporter of goods in 2006

Although problems created by reunification in 1990 have begun to diminish,[56] the standard of living remains higher in the western half of the country. Germans continue to be concerned about a relatively high level of unemployment, especially in the former East German states where unemployment tops 18%.[56] In spite of its extremely good performance in international trade, domestic demand has stalled for many years because of stagnating wages and consumer insecurity. Germany's government runs a restrictive fiscal policy and has cut numerous regular jobs in the public sector.[57] But while regular employment in the public sector shrank, "irregular" government employment such as "one euro" jobs (temporary low-wage positions), government supported self-employment, and job training increased.[58] The national economy has nonetheless shown signs of improvement in recent years, the economics magazine Handelsblatt declaring it one of the most competitive in the Eurozone. Economists for the Institute for Economic Research in Berlin expect Germany's economic growth to increase consistently over the next two years.[59]

Infrastructure
Hamburg Harbour is the largest sea-port in Germany and - in terms of numbers of containers handled in 2004 - the second-largest in Europe and ninth-largest worldwide.
Hamburg Harbour is the largest sea-port in Germany and - in terms of numbers of containers handled in 2004 - the second-largest in Europe and ninth-largest worldwide.

In 2002 Germany was the world’s fifth largest consumer of energy, and two-thirds of its primary energy was imported. In the same year, Germany was Europe’s largest consumer of electricity; electricity consumption that year totaled 512.9 billion kilowatt-hours. Government policy emphasizes conservation and the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal. As a result of energy-saving measures, energy efficiency (the amount of energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product) has been improving since the beginning of the 1970s. The government has set the goal of meeting half the country’s energy demands from renewable sources by 2050. In 2000 the government and the German nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2021.[60] However, renewables currently play a more modest role in energy consumption. In 2006 energy consumption was met by the following sources: oil (35.7%), coal, including lignite (23.9%), natural gas (22.8%), nuclear (12.6%), hydro and wind power (1.3%), and other (3.7%).

By its central position in Europe, Germany is an important transportation hub. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation networks. Probably most famous is the extensive motorway (Autobahn) network that ranks worldwide third largest in its total length and features lack of blanket speed limits on the majority of routes.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Germany

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven

Germany is often called Das Land der Dichter und Denker (the land of poets and thinkers).[61] German culture began long before the rise of Germany as a nation-state and spanned the entire German-speaking world. From its roots, culture in Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. As a result, it is difficult to identify a specific German tradition separated from the larger framework of European high culture.[62] Another consequence of these circumstances is the fact, that some historical figures, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Kafka and Paul Celan, though not citizens of Germany in the modern sense, must be seen in the context of the German cultural sphere to understand their historical situation, work and social relations.

German literature can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the works of writers such as Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Various German authors and poets have won great renown, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. The collections of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm popularized German folklore on the international level. Influential authors of the 20th century include Thomas Mann, Berthold Brecht, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Böll, and Günter Grass.[63]

Germany claims some of the world's most renowned classical music composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner. As of 2006, Germany is the fifth largest music market in the world[64] and has influenced pop and rock music through artists such as Kraftwerk, Scorpions and Rammstein.

Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in diverse artistic currents. Matthias Grünewald and Albrecht Dürer were important artists of the Renaissance, Caspar David Friedrich of Romanticism, and Max Ernst of Surrealism. Architectural contributions from Germany include the Carolingian and Ottonian styles, which were important precursors of Romanesque. The region later became the site for significant works in styles such as Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Germany was particularly important in the early modern movement, especially through the Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, also from Germany, became one of world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. The glass facade skyscraper was his idea.[65]
Inside the Berlinale Palast during the Berlin Film Festival
Inside the Berlinale Palast during the Berlin Film Festival

German cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of Max Skladanowsky. It was particularly influential during the years of the Weimar Republic with German expressionists such as Robert Wiene and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Austria-based director Fritz Lang, who became German citizen in 1926 and who's career flourished in pre-war German film industry, is said to be a major influence on Hollywood cinema. His silent movie Metropolis (1927) is referred to as birth of modern Science Fiction movies. The Nazi era produced mostly propaganda films although the work of Leni Riefenstahl still introduced new aesthetics in film.[66] From the 1960s, New German Cinema directors such as Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Rainer Werner Fassbinder placed West-German cinema back onto the international stage with their often provocative films.[67] More recently, films such as Das Boot (1981), Run Lola Run (1998), Das Experiment (2001), Good Bye Lenin! (2003), Gegen die Wand (Head-on) (2004) and Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) have enjoyed international success. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film went to the German production The Tin Drum in 1979, to Nowhere in Africa in 2002, and to The Lives of Others in 2007.[68] The Berlin Film Festival, held yearly since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film festivals.[69]

Science

Main article: Science and technology in Germany

Max Planck presenting Albert Einstein with the Max-Planck medal in 1929
Max Planck presenting Albert Einstein with the Max-Planck medal in 1929

Germany has been the home of some of the most prominent researchers in various scientific fields.[70] The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg and Max Born developed further.[71] They were preceded by physicists such as Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer, and Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays, an accomplishment that made him the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.[72] In German X-rays are still called "Röntgenstrahlen" (Röntgen-rays). Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's work in the domain of electromagnetic radiation was pivotal to the development of modern telecommunication.[73] Through his construction of the first laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879, Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the establishment of psychology as an independent empirical science.[74] Alexander von Humboldt's work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational to biogeography.[75]
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant

Germany's influence on philosophy is historically significant and many notable German philosophers have helped shape western philosophy since the Middle Ages. Gottfried Leibniz's contributions to rationalism, Immanuel Kant's, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling's and Johann Gottlieb Fichte's establishment of the classical German idealism, Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels' formulation of Communist theory, Arthur Schopenhauer's composition of metaphysical pessimism, Friedrich Nietzsche's development of Perspectivism, Martin Heidegger's works on Being, and the social theories of Jürgen Habermas were especially influential.

Numerous significant mathematicians were born in Germany, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, David Hilbert, Bernhard Riemann, Gottfried Leibniz, Karl Weierstrass and Hermann Weyl. Germany has been the home of many famous inventors and engineers, such as Johannes Gutenberg, who is credited with the invention of movable type printing in Europe; Hans Geiger, the creator of the Geiger counter; and Konrad Zuse, who built the first fully automatic digital computer.[76] German inventors, engineers and industrialists such as Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Otto Lilienthal, Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Hugo Junkers and Karl Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology.[77][78]

Sports

Main article: Sport in Germany

The Allianz Arena in Munich is a major football stadium and was a venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The Allianz Arena in Munich is a major football stadium and was a venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Sport forms an integral part of German life, as demonstrated by the fact that twenty-seven million Germans are members of a sports club and an additional twelve million pursue such an activity individually.[79] Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport; the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussballbund), with more than 6.3 million members, is the largest sports organisation of this kind worldwide.[79] It also attracts the greatest audience, with hundreds of thousands of spectators attending Bundesliga matches and millions more watching on television. Germany's national marksmanship and tennis organisations boast more than a million members each. Other popular sports include handball, volleyball, basketball, and ice hockey.[79] Historically, Germany has been one of the strongest contenders in the Olympic Games. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Germany finished sixth in the medal count,[80] while in the 2006 Winter Olympics they finished first.[81]

Germany

2007-09-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

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Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Federal Republic of Germany
Flag of Germany Coat of arms of Germany
Flag Coat of arms
Motto
"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
"Unity and justice and freedom"
Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
Location of Germany
Location of Germany (dark green)

– on the European continent (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (light green)
Capital
(and largest city) Berlin
[show location on an interactive map] 52°31′N, 13°24′E
Official languages German1
Demonym German
Government Parliamentary Federal Republic
- President Horst Köhler
- Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU)
Formation 843
- Eastern Francia 843
- Holy Roman Empire 962
- German Confederation 8 June 1815
- German Empire 18 January 1871
- Federal Republic 23 May 1949
- Reunification 3 October 1990
Accession to
the European Union 25 March 1957
Area
- Total 357,021 km² (63rd)
137,858 sq mi
- Water (%) 2.416
Population
- Dec. 2006 estimate 82,314,900[1] (14th)
- 2000 census 82,797,408 (July 2000 est.)
- Density 230.9 /km² (50th)
598.5 /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $2.585 trillion (5th)
- Per capita $31,400 (17th)
GDP (nominal) 2006 estimate
- Total $2.89 trillion (3rd)
- Per capita $35,072 (19th)
Gini? (2000) 28.3 (low)
HDI (2004) 0.932 (high) (21st)
Currency Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD .de
Calling code [[+49]]
1 Danish, Low German, Sorbian, Romany and Frisian are officially recognized and protected by the ECRML.

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland (help·info), IPA: [ˈbundəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔjtʃlant]), is a country in West-central Europe. It is bordered on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; on the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; on the south by Austria and Switzerland; and on the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Germany is a parliamentary federal republic of sixteen states (Bundesländer). The capital city and seat of government is Berlin. As a nation-state, the country was unified amidst the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After its defeat in World War II Germany was divided, and it became reunified in 1990. It is a founding member of the European Union, and with over 82 million people it has the largest population among the EU member states.[2]

The Federal Republic of Germany is a modern great power, a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G4 nations and, as of 2006, ranked sixth in military expenditure.[3] Germany is the world's third largest economy by nominal GDP, the world's largest exporter of goods, and the world's second largest importer of goods.[4] In 2007 it held the rotating presidencies of both the European Council and the G8 summits.
Contents
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* 1 History
o 1.1 Germanic tribes (100 BC to AD 800)
o 1.2 Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)
o 1.3 Restoration and revolution (1814–1871)
o 1.4 German Empire (1871–1918)
o 1.5 Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
o 1.6 Third Reich (1933–1945)
o 1.7 Division and reunification (1945–1990)
* 2 Government
o 2.1 Foreign relations
o 2.2 States
o 2.3 Military
* 3 Law
o 3.1 State level
* 4 Geography
o 4.1 Climate
* 5 Demographics
o 5.1 Religion
o 5.2 Education
* 6 Economy
* 7 Infrastructure
* 8 Culture
o 8.1 Science
o 8.2 Sports
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links

History

Main article: History of Germany

Germanic tribes (100 BC to AD 800)

Main articles: Germanic peoples and Germania

The ethnogenesis of the Germanic tribes is assumed to have occurred during the Nordic Bronze Age, or at the latest, during the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, the tribes began expanding south, east and west in the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe. Little is known about early Germanic history, except through their recorded interactions with the Roman Empire, etymological research and archaeological finds.[5]
Germanic tribes in 50 AD (not including most of Scandinavia)
Germanic tribes in 50 AD (not including most of Scandinavia)

Under Augustus, the Roman General Publius Quinctilius Varus began to invade Germania (a term used by the Romans running roughly from the Rhine to the Urals), and it was in this period that the Germanic tribes became familiar with Roman tactics of warfare while maintaining their tribal identity. In AD 9, three Roman legions led by Varus were defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Modern Germany, as far as the Rhine and the Danube, thus remained outside the Roman Empire. By AD 100, the time of Tacitus' Germania, Germanic tribes settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany. The 3rd century saw the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisians, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke through the Limes and the Danube frontier into Roman-controlled lands.[6]

See also: List of meanings of countries' names

After the fall of the Western Roman empire the Franks created an empire under the Merovingian kings and subjugated the other Germanic tribes. Swabia became a duchy under the Frankish Empire in 496, following the Battle of Tolbiac. Already king Chlothar I ruled the greater part of what is now Germany and made expeditions into Saxony while the Southeast of modern Germany was still under influence of the Ostrogoths. In 531 Saxons and Franks destroyed the Kingdom of Thuringia. Saxons inhabit the area down to the Unstrut river. During the partition of the Frankish empire their German territories were a part of Austrasia. In 718 the Franconian Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel marked war against Saxony, because of its help for the Neustrians. The Franconian Carloman started in 743 a new war against Saxony, because the Saxons gave aid to Duke Odilo of Bavaria. In 751 Pippin III, mayor of the palace under the Merovingian king, himself assumed the title of king and was anointed by the Church. The Frankish kings now set up as protectors of the Pope, Charlemagne launched a decades-long military campaign against their heathen rivals, the Saxons and the Avars. The Saxons (by the Saxon Wars (772-804)) and Avars were eventually overwhelmed and forcibly converted, and their lands were annexed by the Carolingian Empire.

Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)

Main article: Holy Roman Empire

Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire (1341 parchment)
Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire (1341 parchment)

The medieval empire stemmed from a division of the Carolingian Empire in 843, which was founded by Charlemagne on 25 December 800, and existed in varying forms until 1806, its territory stretching from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south. Often referred to as the Holy Roman Empire (or the Old Empire), it was officially called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ("Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ") starting in 1448, to adjust the title to its then reduced territory.

Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (919–1024), the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, and Bavaria were consolidated, and the German king was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the Salian emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy, although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy. Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs. Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.
Martin Luther, 1529
Martin Luther, 1529

The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire that lasted until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics. Beginning in the 15th century, the emperors were elected nearly exclusively from the Habsburg dynasty of Austria.

The monk Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses questioning the Roman Catholic Church in 1517, thereby sparking the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheran church was acknowledged as the newly sanctioned religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.[7]

See also: Medieval demography

Restoration and revolution (1814–1871)

Main article: German Confederation

Following the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of 39 sovereign states. Disagreement with restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, demanding unity and freedom. These, however, were followed by new measures of repression on the part of the Austrian statesman Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, profoundly furthered economic unity in the German states. During this era many Germans had been stirred by the ideals of the French Revolution, and nationalism became a more significant force, especially among young intellectuals. For the first time, the colours of black, red and gold were chosen to represent the movement, which later became the national colours.[8]
Frankfurt Parliament in 1848
Frankfurt Parliament in 1848

In light of a series of revolutionary movements in Europe, which successfully established a republic in France, intellectuals and commoners started the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The monarchs initially yielded to the revolutionaries' liberal demands. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement. Conflict between King William I of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointed Otto von Bismarck the new Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck successfully waged war on Denmark in 1864. Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the affairs of the remaining German states.

German Empire (1871–1918)

Main article: German Empire

Foundation of modern Germany in Versailles-France, 1871. Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
Foundation of modern Germany in Versailles-France, 1871. Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.

The state known as Germany was unified as a modern nation-state in 1871, when the German Empire was forged, with the Kingdom of Prussia as its largest constituent. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich) was proclaimed in Versailles on 18 January 1871. The Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia ruled the new empire, whose capital was Berlin. The empire was a unification of all the scattered parts of Germany except Austria (Kleindeutschland, or "Lesser Germany"). Beginning in 1884, Germany began establishing several colonies outside of Europe.

In the Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Emperor William I's foreign policy secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolating France by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. Under William II, however, Germany, like other European powers, took an imperialistic course leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had been previously involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country. Specifically, France established new relationships by signing the Entente Cordiale with the United Kingdom and securing ties with the Russian Empire. Aside from its contacts with Austria-Hungary, Germany became increasingly isolated.
Imperial Germany (1871–1918), with the dominant Kingdom of Prussia in blue.
Imperial Germany (1871–1918), with the dominant Kingdom of Prussia in blue.

Germany's imperialism reached outside of its own country and joined many other powers in Europe to claim their share of Africa. The Berlin Conference divided Africa between the European powers. Germany owned several pieces of land on Africa including German East Africa, South-West Africa, Togo, and Cameroon. The Scramble for Africa caused tension between the great powers that may have contributed to the conditions that led to World War I.

The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 triggered World War I. Germany, as part of the unsuccessful Central Powers, suffered defeat against the Allied Powers in one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time. The German Revolution broke out in November 1918, and Emperor William II and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice putting an end to the war was signed on 11 November and Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Its negotiation, contrary to traditional post-war diplomacy, excluded the defeated Central Powers. The treaty was perceived in Germany as a humiliating continuation of the war by other means and its harshness is often cited as having facilitated the later rise of Nazism in the country.[9]

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)

Main article: Weimar Republic

Subdivisions of Germany in 1925. Map showing borders of Germany from 1919 until 1937.
Subdivisions of Germany in 1925. Map showing borders of Germany from 1919 until 1937.

After the success of the German Revolution in November 1918, a republic was proclaimed. The Weimar Constitution came into effect with its signing by President Friedrich Ebert on 11 August 1919. The German Communist Party was established by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1918, and the German Workers Party, later known as the National Socialist German Workers Party or Nazi Party, was founded in January 1919.

Suffering from the Great Depression, the harsh peace conditions dictated by the Treaty of Versailles, and a long succession of more or less unstable governments, the political masses in Germany increasingly lacked identification with their political system of parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a wide-spread right-wing (monarchist, völkisch, and Nazi) Dolchstoßlegende, a political myth which claimed that Germany lost World War I because of the German Revolution, not because of military defeat. On the other hand, radical left-wing communists, such as the Spartacist League, had wanted to abolish what they perceived as "capitalist rule" in favour of a Räterepublik. Paramilitary troops were set up by several parties and there were thousands of politically motivated murders. The paramilitary intimidated voters and seeded violence and anger among the public, which suffered from high unemployment and poverty. After a succession of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von Hindenburg, seeing little alternative and pushed by right-wing advisors, appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.

Third Reich (1933–1945)

Main articles: Nazi Germany and World War II

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Yugoslavia
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Yugoslavia

On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag was set on fire. Some basic democratic rights were quickly abrogated afterwards under an emergency decree. An Enabling Act gave Hitler's government full legislative power. Only the Social Democratic Party of Germany voted against it; the Communists were not able to present a viable opposition, as many of their deputies had already been murdered or imprisoned.[10][11] A centralised totalitarian state was established by a series of moves and decrees making Germany a single-party state. Industry was closely regulated with quotas and requirements, to shift the economy towards a war production base. In 1936 German troops entered the demilitarized Rhineland, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policies proved inadequate. Emboldened, Hitler followed from 1938 onwards a policy of expansionism to establish Greater Germany. To avoid a two-front war, Hitler concluded the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union, a pact which was later broken by Germany.

In 1939, the growing tensions from nationalism, militarism, and territorial issues led to the Germans launching a blitzkrieg on September 1 against Poland, followed two days later by declarations of war by Britain and France, marking the beginning of World War II. Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of the majority of Europe.
Berlin in ruins after World War II, Potsdamer Platz 1945
Berlin in ruins after World War II, Potsdamer Platz 1945

On 22 June 1941, Hitler broke the pact with the Soviet Union by opening the Eastern Front and invading the Soviet Union. Shortly after Japan attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States. Although initially the German army rapidly advanced into the Soviet Union, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war. Subsequently, the German army commenced retreating on the Eastern Front, followed by the eventual defeat of Germany. On 8 May 1945, Germany surrendered after the Red Army occupied Berlin.

In what later became known as The Holocaust, the Third Reich regime enacted governmental policies directly subjugating many parts of society: Jews, Slavs, Communists, Roma, homosexuals, freemasons, political dissidents, priests, preachers, religious opponents, and the disabled, amongst others. During the Nazi era, about eleven million people were murdered in the Holocaust, including six million Jews and three million Poles. World War II and the Nazi genocide were responsible for about 35 million dead in Europe.

Division and reunification (1945–1990)

Main article: History of Germany since 1945

Allied occupation zones in 1946
Allied occupation zones in 1946

The war resulted in the death of nearly ten million German soldiers and civilians; large territorial losses; the expulsion of about 15 million Germans from its former eastern territories and other countries; and the destruction of multiple major cities. Germany and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies into four military occupation zones. The sectors controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were merged on 23 May 1949, to form the Federal Republic of Germany; on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone established the German Democratic Republic. In English, the two Germanies were known informally as "West Germany" and "East Germany" and the two Berlins as "West Berlin" and "East Berlin".

West Germany, established as a liberal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country eventually came to enjoy prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s (Wirtschaftswunder). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1958. Across the border, East Germany was at first occupied by, and later (May 1955) allied with, the USSR. An authoritarian country with a Soviet-style command economy, East Germany soon became the richest, most advanced country in the Warsaw Pact, but many of its citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity.[12] The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the Cold War. However, tensions between East and West Germany were somewhat reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, which included the de facto acceptance of Germany's territorial losses in World War II.
The Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after the opening in 1989
The Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after the opening in 1989

In the face of a growing migration of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and mass demonstrations during the summer of 1989, East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions in November, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. This led to the acceleration of the process of reforms in East Germany that concluded with the Two Plus Four Treaty on 12 September 1990 and German reunification on 3 October 1990. Under the terms of the treaty, the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument of Surrender, and Germany was to regain full sovereignty.

Since reunification, Germany has taken a leading role in the European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent a force of German troops to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban.[13]

Pilgrimage

2007-09-15T02:12:00.000-07:00

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This article is about the religious or spiritual journey. For other uses, see Pilgrimage (disambiguation).
Pilgrim at Mecca
Pilgrim at Mecca

In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.

Buddhism offers four sites of pilgrimage: the Buddha's birthplace at Kapilavastu, the site where he attained Enlightenment Bodh Gaya, where he first preached at Benares, and where he achieved Parinirvana at Kusinagara.

Israel acts as a focal point for the pilgrimages of many religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.

In the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the visitation of certain ancient cult-centers was repressed in the 7th century BC, when the worship was restricted to Jahweh at the temple in Jerusalem. In Syria, the shrine of Astarte at the headwater spring of the river Adonis survived until it was destroyed by order of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD.

In mainland Greece, a stream of individuals made their way to Delphi or the oracle of Zeus at Dodona, and once every four years, at the period of the Olympic games, the temple of Zeus at Olympia formed the goal of swarms of pilgrims from every part of the Hellenic world. When Alexander the Great reached Egypt, he put his whole vast enterprise on hold, while he made his way with a small band deep into the Libyan desert, to consult the oracle of Ammun. During the imperium of his Ptolemaic heirs, the shrine of Isis at Philae received many votive inscriptions from Greeks on behalf of their kindred far away at home.

Although a pilgrimage is normally viewed in the context of religion, the personality cults cultivated by communist leaders ironically gave birth to pilgrimages of their own. Prior to the demise of the USSR in 1991, a visit to Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow can be said to have had all the characteristics exhibiting a pilgrimage — for Communists. This type of pilgrimage to a personality cult is still evident today on people who pay visits of homage to Mao Tse Tung, Kim Il Sung, and Ho Chi Minh.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Effects on trade
* 2 Modern pilgrimage
* 3 Pilgrimage centres in various times and cultures
o 3.1 Antiquity
o 3.2 Bahá'í Faith
o 3.3 Buddhism
o 3.4 Communism
o 3.5 Christianity
o 3.6 Hinduism
o 3.7 Islam
o 3.8 Judaism
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
* 6 Further reading
* 7 Literature
* 8 External links

[edit] Effects on trade

Pilgrims contributed an important element to long-distance trade before the modern era, and brought prosperity to successful pilgrimage sites, an economic phenomenon unequalled until the tourist trade of the 20th century. Encouraging pilgrims was a motivation for assembling (and sometimes fabricating) relics and for writing hagiographies of local saints, filled with inspiring accounts of miracle cures. Lourdes and other modern pilgrimage sites keep this spirit alive.

[edit] Modern pilgrimage

Pilgrimages are still made throughout the world: modern-day pilgrimages include the Way of St. James, the Hajj, and the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.

In modern usage, the terms pilgrim and pilgrimage can also have a somewhat devalued meaning as they are often applied in a secular context. For example, fans of Elvis Presley may choose to visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee. Similarly one may refer to a cultural center such as Venice as a "tourists' Mecca".

[edit] Pilgrimage centres in various times and cultures

[edit] Antiquity

Many ancient religions had holy sites, temples and groves, where pilgrimages were made.

* Karnak, Egypt.
* Thebes, Egypt.
* Kurukshetra, India
* Delphi, Greece. Oracle.
* Dodona, Epirus, Greece. Oracle.
* Ephesus Temple of Diana.
* Baalbek Lebanon.

[edit] Bahá'í Faith

A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage.

Bahá'u'lláh decreed pilgrimage in His Motherbook (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) to two places: the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran. In two separate Tablets, known as Suriy-i-Hajj, He prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages (lifting the injunction regarding the shaving of one's head for pilgrimage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas). It is obligatory to make the pilgrimage, "if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one's way". Bahá'ís are free to choose between the two Houses, as either has been deemed sufficient. And although women are not bound to perform pilgrimage, they are certainly not prohibited to do so.

Later, `Abdu'l-Bahá designated the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji (the Qiblih) as a site of visitation. No rites have been prescribed for this.

[edit] Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist pilgrimage

Ancient excavated Buddha-image at the Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar
Ancient excavated Buddha-image at the Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to Lhasa; they are kow-towing every few steps of the way.
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to Lhasa; they are kow-towing every few steps of the way.

Gautama Buddha spoke of the four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers to visit:[1]

* Lumbini: birth place (in Nepal)
* Bodh Gaya: place of Enlightenment
* Sarnath: (formally Isipathana) where he delivered his first teaching
* Kusinara: (now Kusinagar, India) where he attained mahaparinirvana (passed away).

Other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are: Savatthi, Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Vesali, Sankasia, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Rajagaha, Varanasi.

Other famous places for buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include:

* India: Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta.
* Thailand: Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep.
* Tibet: Lhasa (traditional home of the Dalai Lama), Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso.
* Cambodia: Angkor Wat, Silver Pagoda.
* Sri Lanka: Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth (Kandy), Anuradhapura.
* Laos: Luang Prabang.
* Myanmar: Bagan, Sagaing Hill.
* Nepal: Bodhnath, Swayambhunath.
* Indonesia: Borobudur.
* China: Yung-kang, Lung-men caves.
* Japan: Kyoto, Nara.

[edit] Communism

* USSR: Moscow, Mausoleum of Lenin in Red Square.
* China: Peking, Mausoleum of Mao Tse Tung in Tiananmen Square.
* Germany: Trier, Birthplace of Karl Marx in Trier

[edit] Christianity
Some European pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in 2005
Some European pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in 2005

Pilgrimages were first made to sites connected with the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome. Pilgrimages also began to be made to Rome and other sites associated with the Apostles, Saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The crusades to the holy land are also considered to be mass armed pilgrimages.

The second largest single pilgrimage in the history of Christendom was to the Funeral of Pope John Paul II after his death on April 2, 2005. An estimated four million people travelled to Vatican City, in addition to the almost three million people already living in Rome, to see the body of Pope John Paul II lie in state.

World Youth Day is a major Catholic Pilgrimage, specifically for people aged 16-35. It is held internationally every 2-3 years. In 2005, young Catholics visited Cologne, Germany. In 1995, the largest gathering of all time was to World Youth Day in Manila, Philippines, where four million people from all over the world attended.

The major Christian pilgrimages are to:

* Jerusalem. Site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
* Rome on roads such as the Via Francigena. Site of the deaths of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and other early martyrs. Location of sacred relics of various saints, relics of the Passion, important churches and headquarters of the Catholic Church.
* Constantinople (today Istanbul, Turkey). Former capital of the Byzantine Empire and the see of one of the five ancient Patriarchates and spiritual see of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Hagia Sophia, former cathedral and burial place of many Ecumenical Patriarchs.
* Lourdes, France. Apparition of the Virgin Mary. The second most visited Christian pilgrimage site after Rome.
* Santiago de Compostela in Spain on the Way of St James (Spanish: El Camino de Santiago). This famous medieval pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James is still popular today.

Other important Christian pilgrimage sites include:

* Assisi, Italy, St. Francis of Assisi and St Clare, relics
* Ávila, Spain, St Theresa of Avila, relics
* Bethlehem, in Israel, Birthplace of Jesus and King David.
* Canterbury Cathedral associated with Saint Thomas Becket.
* Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada in honour of Our Lady of the Cape.
* Carey, Ohio to the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation. Catholic pilgrims from the Middle East journey here to mark the Feast of the Assumption.[2]
* Cathedral of Chartres, France.
* Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania, Romania. Whit Sunday gathering of (mostly ethnic Hungarian) Catholics.
* Croagh Patrick, Ireland. Saint Patrick.
* Conques, France
* Cologne, Germany. Relics of the Three Magi.
* Częstochowa, Poland.Black Madonna of Częstochowa is housed pernamently in theJasna Góra Monastery
* Glastonbury, England. St Joseph of Arimathea.
* Goa, India. St. Francis Xavier
* Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
* House of the Virgin Mary, Turkey. Pope John-Paul II declared the Shrine of Virgin Mary as a pilgrimage place for Christians. [3]
* Issoudun, France. Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur
* Kapel in 't Zand, Limburg
* Kevelaer, Germany
* Knock, Ireland
* Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
* Licheń Stary, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Licheń
* Lisieux, France. Saint Therese of Lisieux, burial place.
* Lourdes, France. Apparition of the Virgin Mary. Place of healing.
* Mariazell, Austria. Marian Shrine to Austria and Hungary
* Međugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the present.
* Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. The Virgin of Montserrat is housed pernamently in the monastery of Santa María de Montserrat.
* Mount Athos, Greece. Orthodox monastic centre.
* Mount Nebo, Jordan. Traditional site of the death of Moses.
* Mount Sinai, Egypt, holy mountain to the ancient Hebrews, traditional site has been commemorated since time of Constantine
* Nazareth, Israel, hometown of Jesus
* Nidaros, Trondheim, Norway. Shrine of St. Olav. 4th most visited pilgrimage site in Middle Ages.
* Fatima, Portugal. Apparition of the Virgin Mary.
* Padua, Italy, St Anthony, relics
* Paris (Sacred-Heart Basilica Basilica of the Sacré Cœur; and Saint Catherine Labouré)
* Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland
* Sacri Monti, Italy. The Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy.
* San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, St Pio from Pietrelcina
* Guadalupe, Spain
* Sea of Galilee, Israel, site of Jesus' early ministry.
* Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City. Apparition of the Virgin Mary.
* St. Andrews, Scotland, it is said that Saint Andrew was given, by God, directions to the location of St Andrews
* St. Patrick's Purgatory, Donegal, Ireland
* St. Thomas Mount, India. Place where St. Thomas was martyred.
* Taizé Community, France, modern monastery that actively encourages pilgrimages to it
* Trondheim, Norway. Nidaros Cathedral, shrine of St. Olav.
* Turin, Italy. Holy Shroud.
* Vailankanni, India. 16th-century Mary apparition site.
* Vierzehnheiligen, Germany.
* Walsingham, England. Virgin Mary apparition site.
* Wittenberg, Germany. Church of Martin Luther and centre of the Protestant Reformation.

[edit] Hinduism

Hindus are required to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime. Most Hindus who can afford to go on such journeys travel to numerous sites including those below:

* Allahabad
* Arunachala
* Ayodhya
* Benares
* Chidambaram
* Dakshineshwar
* Dharmasthala
* Dwarka
* Gaya
* Guruvayoor
* Hampi
* Haridwar
* Kalahasti
* Kanchipuram
* Kanyakumari
* Kateel
* Kollur
* Kumbakonam
* Kukke Subramanya
* Kunrakudy
* Madurai
* Mahabalipuram
* Marudamalai
* Mathura
* Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi
* Mayapur
* Mount Kailash
* Nashik
* Nathdwara
* Palani
* Pazhamudircholai
* Puri
* Pushkar
* Puttaparthi
* Rameswaram
* Rishikesh
* Sabarimala
* Shirdi
* Sikkal
* Sivagiri, Kerala
* Somnath
* Sringeri
* Srirangam
* Swamimalai
* Swamithope
* Talapady
* Tanjavur
* Thiruchendur
* Thiruparamkunram
* Thiruthani
* Tirupati
* Ujjain
* Udupi
* Malai Mandir
* Vaishno Devi
* Vayalur
* Viralimalai
* Virpur
* Vrindavan
* Badrinath
* Gangotri
* Kedarnath
* Yamunotri

The last four sites in the list above together comprise the Chardham, or four holy pilgrimage destinations. It is believed that travelling to these places leads to moksha, the release from samsara (cycle of rebirths). Vrindavan is most important place of pilgrimage for every Vaishnava, especially for the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism who regard Krishna as the original Personality of Godhead (God). Here one can attain love of God (prema).

[edit] Islam

The pilgrimage to Mecca – the Hajj – is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It should be attempted at least once in the lifetime of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to do so. It is the most important of all Muslim Pilgrimages.

Many Muslims also undergo ziyarat, which is a pilgrimage to sites associated with the prophet Muhammad, his companions, or other venerated figures in Islamic history, such as Shi'a imams or Sufi saints. Sites of pilgrimage include mosques, graves, battlefields, mountains, and caves.

Local Pilgrimage traditions - those undertaken as ziarah visits to local graves, are also found throughout Muslim countries. In some countries, the grave sites of heroes have very strong ziyarah traditions as visiting the graves at auspicious times is a display of national and community identity. Some traditions within Islam have negative attitudes towards grave visiting.

The third religiously sanctioned pilgrimage for Muslims is to the Al Quds mount in Jerusalem which hosts Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

[edit] Judaism

See related article Three pilgrim festivals.

Within Judaism, the Temple in Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion, until its destruction in 70 AD, and all who were able were under obligation to visit and offer sacrifices known as the korbanot, particularly during the Jewish holidays in Jerusalem.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple and the onset of the diaspora, the centrality of pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Judaism was discontinued. In its place came prayers and rituals hoping for a return to Zion and the accompanying restoration of regular pilgrimages (see Jerusalem, Jews and Judaism).

Until recent centuries, pilgrimage has been a fairly difficult and arduous adventure. But now, Jews from many countries make periodic pilgrimages to the holy sites of their religion.

The western retaining wall of the original temple, known as the Wailing Wall, or Western Wall remains in the Old City of Jerusalem and this has been the most sacred site for Zionist Jews. Pilgrimage to this area was off-limits from 1948 to 1967, when East Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan.

Some Reform and Conservative Jews who no longer consider themselves exiles, still enjoy visiting Israel even if it is not an official "pilgrimage."

[edit] See also

* Burial places of founders of world religions
* Category:Religious places
* Junrei
* Monastery
* Most Holy Place

Tourism

2007-09-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Ten things you didn't know about Wikipedia •
Jump to: navigation, search
“Tourist” redirects here. For other uses, see Tourist (disambiguation).
Tourists on Oahu, Hawaii
Tourists on Oahu, Hawaii

Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals.[1]

Tourism is vital for many countries, due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry services such as spas and resorts.
The Gold Coast, Queensland is a major Tourism hub.
The Gold Coast, Queensland is a major Tourism hub.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Definition
* 2 History
o 2.1 Pilgrimage
o 2.2 Health tourism
o 2.3 Leisure travel
o 2.4 Winter tourism
o 2.5 Mass tourism
+ 2.5.1 In Britain
+ 2.5.2 International
o 2.6 Recent developments
* 3 Niche tourism
* 4 Trends
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

[edit] Definition
Both Paris and France remained the most visited city and country these last years; Here, the Eiffel Tower, the World's most visited monument[citation needed]
Both Paris and France remained the most visited city and country these last years; Here, the Eiffel Tower, the World's most visited monument[citation needed]

One of the earliest definitions of tourism was provided by the Austrian economist in 1910, who defined it as, "some total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country, city or a region."

Hunziker and Krapf, in 1941, defined tourism as "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity."[2] In 1976 Tourism Society of England defined it as "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes." In 1981 International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined Tourism in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home environment.

The United Nations classified three forms of tourism in 1994 in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics: Domestic tourism, which involves residents of the given country traveling only within this country; Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country; and Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.

UN also derived different categories of tourism by combining the 3 basic forms of tourism: Internal tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism;National tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism; and International tourism, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism.

Intrabound tourism is a term coined by the Korea Tourism Organization and widely accepted in Korea. Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the former encompasses policy-making and implementation of national tourism policies.
Celcius Library of Ephesus in İzmir, Turkey, dating from 135 CE
Celcius Library of Ephesus in İzmir, Turkey, dating from 135 CE

Recently, the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to the promotion of intrabound tourism because many countries are experiencing tough competition for inbound tourists. Some national policymakers have shifted their priority to the promotion of intrabound tourism to contribute to the local economy. Examples of such campaigns include "See America" in the United States, "Get Going Canada" in Canada, and "Guseok Guseok" (corner to corner) in South Korea.

Before people are able to experience tourism they usually need disposable income (i.e. money to spend on non-essentials); time off from work or other responsibilities; leisure time tourism infrastructure, such as transport and accommodation; and legal clearance to travel.

Individually, sufficient health is also a condition, and of course the inclination to travel. Furthermore, in some countries there are legal restrictions on travelling, especially abroad. Certain states with strong governmental control over the lives of citizens (notably established Communist states) may restrict foreign travel only to trustworthy citizens. The United States prohibits its citizens from traveling to some countries, for example Cuba.

[edit] History
Beaches make popular tourist resorts. 90 Mile Beach, Northland, New Zealand
Beaches make popular tourist resorts. 90 Mile Beach, Northland, New Zealand

Wealthy people have always traveled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art, to learn new languages, to experience new cultures, or to taste new cuisine. As long ago as the time of the Roman Republic places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich.

The terms tourist and tourism were first used as official terms in 1937 by the League of Nations. Tourism was defined as people travelling abroad for periods of over 24 hours.

[edit] Pilgrimage
View of Machu Picchu, Peru
View of Machu Picchu, Peru

The history of European tourism can perhaps be said to originate with the medieval pilgrimage. Although undertaken primarily for religious reasons, the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales quite clearly saw the experience as a kind of holiday (the term itself being derived from the 'holy day' and its associated leisure activities). Pilgrimages created a variety of tourist aspects that still exist - bringing back souvenirs, obtaining credit with foreign banks (in medieval times utilising international networks established by Jews and Lombards), and making use of space available on existing forms of transport (such as the use of medieval English wine ships bound for Vigo by pilgrims to Santiago De Compostela). Pilgrimages are still important in modern tourism - such as to Lourdes or Knock in Ireland. But there are modern equivalents - Graceland and the grave of Jim Morrison in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

During the seventeenth century, it became fashionable in England to undertake a Grand Tour. The sons of the nobility and gentry were sent upon an extended tour of Europe as an educational experience. The eighteenth century was the golden age of the Grand Tour, and many of the fashionable visitors were painted at Rome by Pompeo Batoni. A modern equivalent of the Grand Tour is the phenomenon of the backpacker, although cultural holidays, such as those offered by Swann-Hellenic, are also important.

[edit] Health tourism

Health tourism has always existed, but it was not until the eighteenth century that it became important. In England, it was associated with spas, places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. The most popular resorts were Bath, Cheltenham, Buxton, Harrogate, and Tunbridge Wells. Visits to take 'the waters' also allowed the visitors to attend balls and other entertainments. Continental Spas such as Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) attracted many fashionable travellers by the nineteenth century.

It could be argued that Britain was the home of the seaside holiday. In travelling to the coast, the population was following in the steps of Royalty. King George III made regular visits to Weymouth when in poor health. At the time, a number of doctors argued the benefits of bathing in sea water, and sea bathing as a widespread practice was popularised by the Prince Regent (later George IV), who frequented Brighton for this purpose.

[edit] Leisure travel
The Colca Canyon in Arequipa, Peru
The Colca Canyon in Arequipa, Peru

Leisure travel was associated with the industrialisation of United Kingdom – the first European country to promote leisure time to the increasing industrial population. Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners, and the traders. These comprised the new middle class. Cox & Kings were the first official travel company to be formed in 1758. Later, the working class could take advantage of leisure time.

The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. At Nice, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic - reflecting the dominance of English customers.

[edit] Winter tourism
Ski Tourists at the Pyongchang Ski Resort, Gangwon-do, Korea.
Ski Tourists at the Pyongchang Ski Resort, Gangwon-do, Korea.

Winter sports were largely invented by the British leisured classes, initially at the Swiss village of Zermatt (Valais), and St Moritz in 1864. The first packaged winter sports holidays took place in 1902 at Adelboden, Switzerland. Winter sports were a natural answer for a leisured class looking for amusement during the coldest season.

The Fun Ski & Snow Festival, which has been organized annually by Korea tourism organization since 1998 and participated by about 10,000 tourists from Asia, is one of the most successful winter tourism products in Asia. The festival provides a variety of events such as ski and sled competitions, ski and snow board lessons, performances and recreational activities. Majority of the event participants are foreign visitors who come from countries with a warm climate that have no snow. The event offers them opportunities to enjoy winter and winter sports in Korea. In addition, southern South American countries making up the Patagonia region in Chile and Argentina attract thousands of tourists every year. Skiing is extremely popular in the mountainous areas.

[edit] Mass tourism
Tourists at the Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy.
Tourists at the Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy.
La Caleta beach in Cádiz, Spain.
La Caleta beach in Cádiz, Spain.
Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) packed with tourists on a busy summer day in Prague, Czech Republic.
Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) packed with tourists on a busy summer day in Prague, Czech Republic.

Mass travel could only develop with improvements in technology allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, and greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

In the United States, the first great seaside resort, in the European style, was Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Long Island.

In Continental Europe, early resorts included Ostend (for the people of Brussels), and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) (for Parisians).

[edit] In Britain

The pioneer of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on 5 July 1841, organized the first package tour in history. He arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling per person for a group of 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away. Cook was paid a share of the fares actually charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price. There had been railway excursions before, but this one included entrance to an entertainment held in private grounds, rail tickets and food for the train journey. Cook immediately saw the potential of a convenient 'off the peg' holiday product in which everything was included in one cost. He organised packages inclusive of accommodation for the Great Exhibition, and afterwards pioneered package holidays in both Britain (particularly in Scotland) and on the European continent (where Paris and the Alps were the most popular destinations).

He was soon followed by others (the Polytechnic Touring Association, Dean and Dawson etc.), with the result that the tourist industry developed rapidly in late Victorian Britain. Initially it was supported by the growing middle classes, who had time off from their work, and who could afford the luxury of travel and possibly even staying for periods of time in boarding houses.
The Bank Holidays Act 1871 introduced a statutory right for workers to take holidays, even if they were not paid at the time. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the tradition of the working class holiday had become firmly established in Britain. These were largely focused upon the seaside resorts.

The spread of the railway network in the nineteenth century resulted in the growth of Britain's seaside towns by bringing them within easy distance of Britain's urban centres. Blackpool was created by the construction of a line to Fleetwood, and some resorts were promoted by the railway companies themselves - Morecambe by the Midland Railway and Cleethorpes by the Great Central Railway. Other resorts included Scarborough in Yorkshire, servicing Leeds and Bradford; Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, catering for the inhabitants of Bristol; and Skegness, patronised by the residents of the industrial East Midlands. The cockneys of London flocked to Southend-on-Sea, mainly by Thames Steamer, and the South Coast resorts such as Broadstairs, Brighton, and Eastbourne were only a train ride away, with others further afield such as Bournemouth, Bognor Regis and Weymouth.

For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved for the rich or the culturally curious. A number of inland destinations, such as the English Lake District, and Snowdonia appealed to those who liked the countryside and fine scenery. The holiday camp began to appear in the 1930s, but this phenomenon really expanded in the post-war period. Butlins and Pontins set this trend, but their popularity waned with the rise of overseas package tours and the increasing comforts to which visitors became accustomed at home. Towards the end of the 20th century this market has been revived by the upmarket inland resorts of Dutch company Center Parcs.

Cox & Co, the forebear of Cox & Kings were in existence from 1758 largely entwined with the travel arrangements for the British Army serving around the Empire. While acting as 'agents' for various regiments, they organised the payment, provision, clothing and travel arrangements for members of the armed forces. In the 19th century their network of offices contained a banking and also travel department. The company became heavily involved with affairs in India and its Shipping Agency had offices in France and the Middle East.

Other phenomena that helped develop the travel industry were paid holidays:

* 1.5 million manual workers in Britain had paid holidays by 1925
* 11 million by 1939 (30% of the population in families with paid holidays)

NGOs and government agencies may sometimes promote a specific region as a tourist destination, and support the development of a tourism industry in that area. The contemporary phenomenon of mass tourism may sometimes result in overdevelopment; alternative forms of tourism such as ecotourism seek to avoid such outcomes by pursuing tourism in a sustainable way.

[edit] International

Increasing speed on railways meant that the tourist industry could develop internationally. To this may be added the development of sea travel. By 1901, the number of people crossing the English Channel from England to France or Belgium had passed 0.5 million per year. Shipping companies were anxious to fill cabin space that was under utilised.

For example, P&O found that the majority of their passengers for India and the Far East joined the ship at Marseilles. Consequently, they marketed holidays based upon sea trips from London to Lisbon and Gibraltar. Other companies diverted their older ships to operate cruises in the summer months.

However, the real age of international mass travel began with the growth of air travel after World War Two. In the immediate post-war period, there was a surplus of transport aircraft, such as the popular and reliable Douglas Dakota, and a number of ex military pilots ready to fly them. They were available for charter flights, and tour operators began to use them for European destinations, such as Paris and Ostend.

Vladimir Raitz pioneered modern package tourism when on 20 May 1950 his recently founded company, Horizon, provided arrangements for a two-week holiday in Corsica. For an all inclusive price of £32.10s.-, holiday makers could sleep under canvas, sample local wines and eat a meal containing meat twice a day - this was especially attractive due to the continuing austerity measures in post-war United Kingdom. Within ten years, his company had started mass tourism to Palma (1952), Lourdes (1953), Costa Brava (1954), Sardinia (1954), Minorca (1955), Porto (1956), Costa Blanca (1957) and Costa del Sol (1959).

These developments coincided with a significant increase in the standard of living in Britain. Further, the contribution of affordable air travel in combination with the package tour enabled international mass tourism to develop. The postwar introduction of an international system of airline regulation was another important factor. The bilateral agreements at the heart of the system fixed seat prices, and airlines could not fill blocks of empty seats on underused flights by discounting. But if they were purchased by a tour operator and hidden within the price of an inclusive holiday package, it would be difficult to prove that discounting had taken place - even though it was obvious that it had!

Another significant development also happened at the end of this decade. The devaluation of the Spanish peseta made Spain appear a particularly attractive destination. The cheapness of the cost of living attracted increasing numbers of visitors. Mass package tourism has at times been an exploitative process, in which tour operators in a country with a high standard of living make use of development opportunities and low operating costs in a country with a lower standard of living. However, as witness the development of many tourist areas in previously poor parts of the world, and the concomitant rise in standards of living, when there is equality of bargaining power, both parties can gain economic benefits from this arrangement.

Spain and the Balearic Islands became major tourist destinations, and development probably peaked in the 1980s. At the same time, British tour operators developed the Algarve in Portugal. The continuing search for new, cheaper, destinations spread mass tourism to the Greek Islands, Italy, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, and more recently Croatia.

For someone living in greater London, Venice today is almost as accessible as Brighton was 100 years ago. Consequently, the British seaside resort experienced a marked decline from the 1970s onwards. Some, such as New Brighton, Merseyside have disappeared. Others have reinvented themselves, and now cater to daytrippers, the weekend break market or business conferences.

[edit] Recent developments
Disneyland, a major tourist destination
Disneyland, a major tourist destination

There has been an upmarket trend in the tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time and they are also better-educated and have more sophisticated tastes. There is now a demand for a better quality products, which has resulted in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations; people want more specialised versions, such as 'Club 18 -30', quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or niche market-targeted destination hotels. As well, people are taking second short break holidays.

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure such as jumbo jets and low-budget airlines have made many types of tourism more affordable. There have also been changes in lifestyle, such as retiree-age people who living as a tourist all the year round. This is facilitated by internet purchasing of tourism products. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor- made package requested by the customer upon impulse.

There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations such as Bali and European cities. Some of the tourist destinations, including the beach resorts of Cancún have lost popularity due to shifting tastes. In this context, the excessive building and environmental destruction often associated with traditional "sun and beach" tourism may contribute to a destination's saturation and subsequent decline. Spain's Costa Brava, a popular 1960s and 1970s beach location is now facing a crisis in its tourist industry. On December 26, 2004 a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and also the Maldives. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and many tourists died. This, together with the vast clean-up operation in place, has stopped or severely hampered tourism to the area.

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited by tourists.

Sustainable tourism is becoming more popular as people start to realize the devastating effects poorly planned tourism can have on communities. Receptive tourism is now growing at a very rapid rate in many developing countries, where it is often the most important economic activity in local GDP.

In recent years, second holidays or vacations have become more popular as people's discretionary income increases. Typical combinations are a package to the typical mass tourist resort, with a winter skiing holiday or weekend break to a city or national park.
The Las Vegas Strip has become a major attraction in tourism for gambling

:Image:Las Vegas Strip panorama.jpg
The Las Vegas Strip has become a major attraction in tourism for gambling

[edit] Niche tourism

Physical activity or sports-oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping); Backpacker Tourism; Sport travel to do skiing, golf and scuba diving or see a sports event (e.g., FIFA World Cup); and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities.

Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours; bookstore tourism, in which travellers visit independent bookstores; creative tourism workshops; educational tourism for classes; ancestry tourism, to visit birth places; Hobby tourism (such as garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or square dance cruises).
The Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
The Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

* The cultural sub-type of learning-oriented niche tourism focuses on cultural and arts activities, including cultural tourism, music tourism, andheritage tourism. The nature and environment-oriented sub-types include Coastal Tourism; Ecotourism (e.g. sustainable tourism in Rainforests or national parks); Garden tourism; and Rural Tourism such as Agritourism.

Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism types include Gay tourism; Gourmet tourism; Wine tourism; Health tourism; Medical tourism; Inclusive tourism (or Accessible Tourism) for people with disabilities.

Other miscellaneous types of niche tourism include:

* Armchair tourism and virtual tourism: not traveling physically, but exploring the world through internet, books, or TV.

* Dark tourism includes travel to sites associated with death and suffering, such as the scene of the Hindenburg airship disaster, or to the sites of disasters (Disaster tourism).

* Drug tourism, (e.g., to use drugs in Amsterdam)

* Free Independent Traveler: a sector of the market in which the tourists select their own accommodation and transport, rather than using the established tourism booking system.

* Pop-culture tourism: tourism by those that visit a particular location after reading about it or seeing it used as a location in a film (e.g., the Lord of the Rings film sets in New Zealand).

* Perpetual tourism: individuals always on vacation; some of them, for tax purposes, to avoid being resident in any country.

* Pilgrimage Tourism: pilgrimages to ancient holy places (Rome and Santiago de Compostela for Catholics, temples and stupas of Nepal for the Hindus and Buddhist, Mount Athos or Painted churches of northern Moldavia for the Orthodox), religious sites such as mosques and shrines.

* Sacred travel or metaphysical tourism is a form of New Age travel where believers travel to and perform rituals at religious sites

* Sex tourism (e.g., to have sex with prostitutes).

* Shopping tourism promoting shopping festivals such as the Dubai Shopping Festival.

* Space tourism: traveling in outer space or on spaceships.

* Vacilando is a special kind of wanderer for whom the process of traveling and discovery is more important than the destination.

* Visiting Family and Relatives (VFR) Tourism: traveling to visit persons related by close family ties and combining this with vacation-type activities; distinct from ancestry tourism, which involves genealogical research

[edit] Trends
International tourism receipts in 2005
International tourism receipts in 2005

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4 %.[3] By 2020 Europe will remain the most popular destination, but its share will drop from 60 % in 1995 to 46 %. Long-haul will grow slightly faster than intraregional travel and by 2020 its share will increase from 18 % in 1995 to 24 %.

With the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Tourism products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.) can sell their services directly. This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional shops.

It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between Tourism expenditure per capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context[4]. Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any projections of growth in tourism may serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will exercise in the future.

Space tourism is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century, although compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain low until technologies such as a space elevator make space travel cheap.

Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels, based either on solar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles. Underwater hotels, such as Hydropolis, expected to open in Dubai in 2009, will be built. On the ocean tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities.

Some futurists expect that movable hotel "pods" will be created that could be temporarily erected anywhere on the planet, where building a permanent resort would be unacceptable politically, economically or environmentally.

[edit] See also
Wikiversity
At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Tourism at:
The School of Tourism

* Backpacking (travel)
* Eco-tourism
* Hospitality Services
* Hotel
* List of vacation resorts
* List of types of lodging
* Neo tourism
* Package holiday
* Passport
* Pilgrimage
* Resort town
* Tourism geography
* Tourism in literature
* Tourist trap
* Tour guide
* Transport
* Tourism technology
* Travel agency
* World Tourism Organization
* World Tourism Rankings
* World-Point Academy of Tourism
* Accessible Tourism

Falkland Islands

2007-09-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Learn more about citing Wikipedia •
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Falkland.
“Malvinas” redirects here. For other uses, see Malvinas (disambiguation).
Falkland Islands
Flag of Falkland Islands Coat of arms of Falkland Islands
Flag Coat of arms
Motto
"Desire the right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen"
Location of Falkland Islands
Capital
(and largest city) Stanley
[show location on an interactive map] 51°42′S, 57°51′W
Official languages English
Government British overseas territory
- Head of state Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor Alan Huckle
- Chief Executive Chris Simpkins
British overseas territory
- Liberation Day 14 June 1982
Area
- Total 12,173 km² (162nd)
4,700 sq mi
- Water (%) 0
Population
- July 2005 estimate 3,060 (226th)
- Density 0.25 /km² (229th)
0.65 /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $75 million (223th)
- Per capita $25,000 (2002 estimate) (not ranked)
HDI (n/a) n/a (n/a) (n/a)
Currency Falkland pound1 (FKP)
Time zone (UTC-4)
- Summer (DST) (UTC-3)
Internet TLD .fk
Calling code +500
1Fixed to the Pound Sterling (GBP).

The Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas[1]) are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located 300 miles (483 km) from the coast of Argentina, 671 miles (1,080 km) west of the Shag Rocks (South Georgia), and 584 miles (940 km) north of Antarctica (Elephant Island). They consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, together with 776 smaller islands.[2] Stanley, on East Falkland, is the capital city. The islands are a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, but have been the subject of a claim to sovereignty by Argentina since the British invasion of 1833.[3]

In pursuit of this claim in 1982, the islands were invaded by Argentina, precipitating the two-month-long undeclared Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, which resulted in the defeat and withdrawal of Argentine forces. Since the war there has been strong economic growth in both fisheries and tourism. The inhabitants of the islands are British citizens (since a 1983 Act) and under Argentine Law are eligible for Argentine citizenship.[4] Many trace their origins on the islands to early 19th-century Scottish immigration. The island's residents reject the Argentine sovereignty claim.[5]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Name
* 2 History
o 2.1 Argentine links
o 2.2 Falklands War
* 3 Politics
* 4 Geography
* 5 Economy
* 6 Demographics
* 7 Medical care
* 8 Broadcasting and telecommunications
o 8.1 Broadcasting
o 8.2 Telephone
* 9 Transport
* 10 Landmines and ordnance
* 11 See also
* 12 External links
* 13 References

[edit] Name

The islands are referred to in the English language as "[The] Falkland Islands". This name dates from an expedition led by John Strong in 1690, who named the islands after his patron, Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland. The Spanish name for the islands, "Islas Malvinas", is derived from the French name "Îles Malouines", bestowed in 1764 by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, after the mariners and fishermen from the Breton port of Saint-Malo who became the island's first known human settlers.

The ISO designation is "Falkland Islands (Malvinas)".

Due to the ongoing sovereignty dispute, the use of many Spanish names is considered offensive in the Falkland Islands, particularly those associated with the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands.[6] General Sir Jeremy Moore would not allow the use of Islas Malvinas in the surrender document, dismissing it as a propaganda term.[7]

See also: List of Falkland Islands placenames

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands have had a complex history since their discovery, with France, Britain, Spain, and Argentina all claiming possession, and establishing as well as abandoning settlements on the islands. The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain. The Spanish government's claim was continued by Argentina after the latter's independence in 1816 and the independence war in 1817. The United Kingdom took control of the islands by force with the 1833 invasion of the Falkland Islands following the destruction of the Argentine settlement at Puerto Soledad by the American sloop USS Lexington (28 December 1831). Argentina has continued to claim sovereignty over the islands, and the dispute was used by the military junta as a reason to invade and briefly occupy the islands before being defeated in the two-month-long Falklands War in 1982 by a United Kingdom task force which returned the islands to British control.
Camp settlement.
Camp settlement.

The islands were uninhabited when they were first discovered by European explorers. There is disputed evidence of prior settlement by humans, based on:

* The existence of the Falkland Island fox, or Warrah (now extinct), on the islands. It is thought that humans brought it to the islands, but it may have reached the islands by itself via a land bridge when the sea level was much lower during the last ice age.
* A scattering of undated artifacts including arrowheads and the remains of a canoe.

The first European explorer to sight the islands is widely thought to be Sebald de Weert, a Dutch sailor, in 1600. Although several British and Spanish historians maintain their own explorers discovered the islands earlier, some older maps, particularly Dutch ones, used the name "Sebald Islands", after de Weert.

In January 1690, English sailor John Strong, captain of the Welfare, was heading for Puerto Deseado (in Argentina); but driven off course by contrary winds, he reached the Sebald Islands instead and landed at Bold Cove. He sailed between the two principal islands and called the passage "Falkland Channel" (now Falkland Sound), after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland (1659–1694), who as Commissioner of the Admiralty had financed the expedition, later becoming First Lord of the Admiralty. From this body of water the island group later took its collective English name.

The first settlement on the Falkland Islands, called Port Saint Louis, was founded by the French navigator and military commander Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1764 on Berkeley Sound, in present-day Port Louis, East Falkland.

Unaware of the French presence, in January 1765 British captain John Byron explored and claimed Saunders Island, at the western end of the group, where he named the harbour of Port Egmont, and sailed near other islands, which he also claimed for King George III. A British settlement was built at Port Egmont in 1766. Also in 1766, Spain acquired the French colony, and after assuming effective control in 1767, placed the islands under a governor subordinate to the Buenos Aires colonial administration. Spain attacked Port Egmont, ending the British presence there in 1770. The expulsion of the British settlement brought the two countries to the brink of war, but a peace treaty allowed the British to return in 1771 with neither side relinquishing sovereignty.[8]

As a result of economic pressures resulting from the upcoming American War of Independence, the United Kingdom unilaterally chose to withdraw from many of her overseas settlements in 1774.[9][10] Upon her withdrawal in 1776 the UK left behind a plaque asserting her claims. From then on, Spain alone maintained a settlement ruled from Buenos Aires under the control of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata until 1811. On leaving in 1811, Spain, too, left behind a plaque asserting her claims.
Upland.
Upland.

When Argentina declared its independence from Spain in 1816, it laid claim to the islands according to the uti possidetis juris principle, since they had been under the administrative jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. On 6 November 1820, Colonel David Jewett, an American sailor at the service of Buenos Aires and captain of the frigate Heroina, raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate (which later became Argentina) at Port Louis. He warned the British and American seal hunting ships present that they did not have authorisation to hunt seals in the area, and then returned to Buenos Aires; the sealers ignored his warning.

Occupation began in 1826 with the foundation of a settlement and a penal colony. The settlement was destroyed by United States warships in 1831 after the Argentinian governor of the islands Luis Vernet seized U.S. seal hunting ships during a dispute over fishing rights. They left behind escaped prisoners and pirates. In November 1832, Argentina sent another governor who was killed in a mutiny.

In January 1833, British forces returned and informed the Argentine commander that they intended to assert British sovereignty. The existing settlers were allowed to remain, with an Irish member of Vernet's settlement, William Dickson, appointed as the Islands' governor. Vernet's deputy, Matthew Brisbane, returned later that year and was informed that the British had no objections to the continuation of Vernet's business ventures provided there was no interference with British control.[11][12][13][14]
Road sign to the capital.
Road sign to the capital.

The Royal Navy built a base at Stanley, and the islands became a strategic point for navigation around Cape Horn. A World War I naval battle, the Battle of Falkland Islands, took place in December 1914, with a British victory over the Germans. During World War II, Stanley served as a Royal Navy station and serviced ships which took part in the Battle of the River Plate.

Sovereignty over the islands became an issue again in the latter half of the 20th century. Argentina, which had never renounced its claim to the islands, saw the creation of the United Nations as an opportunity to present its case before the rest of the world. In 1945, upon signing the UN Charter, Argentina stated that it reserved its right to sovereignty of the islands, as well as its right to recover them. The United Kingdom responded in turn by stating that, as an essential precondition for the fulfilment of UN Resolution 1514,[15] regarding the de-colonisation of all territories still under foreign occupation, the Falklanders first had to vote for the British withdrawal at a referendum to be held on the issue.
Stanley.
Stanley.

Talks between British and Argentine foreign missions took place in the 1960s, but failed to come to any meaningful conclusion. A major sticking point in all the negotiations was that the two thousand inhabitants of mainly British descent preferred that the islands remain British territory.

[edit] Argentine links

There were no air links to the islands until 1971, when the Argentine Air Force (FAA), which operates the state airline LADE, began amphibious flights between Comodoro Rivadavia and Stanley using Grumman HU-16 Albatross aircraft.[16]

Following a FAA request, the UK and Argentina reached an agreement for the FAA to construct the first runway. Flights began using Fokker F27 and continued with Fokker F28 aircraft twice a week until 1982. This was the only air link to the islands.

YPF, the Argentine national oil and gas company, now part of Repsol YPF, supplied the islands' energy needs.

[edit] Falklands War

Main article: Falklands War

On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and other British territories in the South Atlantic (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands). The military junta which had ruled Argentina since 1976 sought to maintain power by diverting public attention from the nation's poor economic performance. They attempted to do this by playing off long-standing feelings of the Argentines towards the islands.[17] British writers hold that the United Kingdom's reduction in military capacity in the South Atlantic also encouraged the invasion.[18][19][20]

The United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 502, calling on Argentina to withdraw forces from the Islands and to both parties to seek a diplomatic solution.[21] International reaction ranged from support in the Latin American countries (with the exception of Chile), to opposition in Europe (with the exception of Spain), the Commonwealth, and eventually the United States. The British sent an expeditionary force to retake the islands, leading to the Falklands War. After short but fierce naval and air battles, the British landed at San Carlos Water on 21 May, and a land campaign followed until the Argentine forces surrendered on 14 June.

Following the war, the British increased their military presence on the islands, constructing RAF Mount Pleasant and increasing the military garrison. Although the United Kingdom and Argentina resumed diplomatic relations in 1989, no further negotiations on sovereignty have taken place.

[edit] Politics

Main articles: Politics of the Falkland Islands and Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands

A Falkland stamp showing the British Royal Family
A Falkland stamp showing the British Royal Family

Executive authority is vested in the Queen and is exercised by the Governor on her behalf. The Governor is also responsible for the administration of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as these islands have no native inhabitants. Defence and Foreign Affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The current Governor is Alan Huckle, appointed July 2006.

Under the constitution, the latest version of which came into force in 1985, there is an Executive Council and a Legislative Council. The Executive Council, which advises the Governor, is also chaired by the Governor. It consists of the Chief Executive, Financial Secretary and three Legislative Councillors, who are elected by the other Legislative Councillors. The Legislative Council consists of the Chief Executive, Financial Secretary and the eight Legislative Councillors, of whom five are elected from Stanley and three from Camp, for four-year terms. It is presided over by the Speaker, currently Darwin Lewis Clifton.

The loss of the war against the United Kingdom over control of the islands led to the collapse of the Argentine military dictatorship in 1983. Disputes over control of the islands continue. In 1992 Argentina and Britain resumed deplomatic relations and reopened their embassies in each other's countries. In 1998, in retaliation to former chilean president Augusto Pinochet's arrest in London, the Chilean government banned flights between Punta Arenas and Port Stanley, thus isolating the islands from the rest of the world. Uruguay and Brazil refused to authorise direct flights between their territories and Port Stanley, forcing the Islands' government to enter negotiations with the Argentine government which led to Argentina authorising direct flights between its territory and Stanley, on condition that Argentine citizens be allowed on the islands.[22] In 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair became the first Prime Minister to visit Argentina since the war. On the twenty-second anniversary of the war, Argentina's President Néstor Kirchner gave a speech insisting that the islands would once again be part of Argentina. Kirchner, campaigning for president in 2003, regarded the islands as a top priority. In June 2003 the issue was brought before a United Nations committee, and attempts have been made to open talks with the United Kingdom to resolve the issue of the islands. As far as the Falkland Islands Government and people are concerned, there is no issue to resolve. The Falkland Islanders themselves are almost entirely British and maintain their allegiance to the United Kingdom.[23]

On 2 April 2007 (exactly 25 years after the Argentine invasion), Argentina renewed its claim over the Falkland Islands, asking for the UK to resume talks on sovereignty.

Falkland Islanders were granted full British citizenship from 1 January 1983 under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983.

[edit] Geography
Map of the Falkland Islands.
Map of the Falkland Islands.

See also: Geology of the Falkland Islands and Rivers of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands comprise two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland (in Spanish Isla Gran Malvina and Isla Soledad respectively), and about 776 small islands.[2] The total land area is 4,700 square miles (12,173 km²), approximately the same area as Connecticut or Northern Ireland, with a coastline estimated at 800 miles (1,288 km).

Much of the land is part of the two main islands separated by the Falkland Sound: East Falkland, home to the capital of Stanley and the majority of the population, and West Falkland. Both islands have mountain ranges, rising to 2,313 feet (705 m) at Mount Usborne on East Falkland. There are also some boggy plains, most notably Lafonia, on the southern half of East Falkland. Virtually the entire area of the islands is used as pasture for sheep.

Smaller islands surround the main two. They include Barren Island, Beaver Island, Bleaker Island, Carcass Island, George Island, Keppel Island, Lively Island, New Island, Pebble Island, Saunders Island, Sealion Island, Speedwell Island, Staats Island, Weddell Island, and West Point Island. The Jason Islands lie to the north west of the main archipelago, and Beauchene Island some distance to its south. Speedwell Island and George Island are split from East Falkland by Eagle Passage.

The islands claim a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km) and an exclusive fishing zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km), which has been a source of disagreement with Argentina.

Surrounded by cool South Atlantic waters, the Falkland Islands have a cold maritime climate with a narrow temperature range of about 19°C (66°F) in summer and 2°C (36°F) in winter. Rainfall is relatively low at about 24 inches. Humidity and winds, however, are constantly high. Snow is rare, but can occur at almost any time of year.

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of the Falkland Islands

Sheep farming (as of 2002, there were 583,000 sheep on the island[24]) was formerly the main source of income for the islands, and still plays an important part with high quality wool exports going to the UK, but efforts to diversify introduced in 1984 have made fishing the largest part of the economy and brought increasing income from tourism.

The government sale of fishing licences to foreign countries has brought in more than £40 million a year in revenues, and local fishing boats are also in operation. More than 75% of the fish taken are squid, and most exports are to Spain. Tourism has shown rapid growth, with more than 30,000 visitors in 2001. The islands have become a regular port of call for the growing market of cruise ships. Attractions include the scenery and wildlife conservation with penguins, seabirds, seals and sealions, as well as visits to battlefields, golf, fishing and wreck diving.

An agreement with Argentina has set the terms for exploitation of offshore resources including large oil reserves, but climatic conditions of the southern seas mean that exploitation will be a difficult task, though economically viable, and the continuing sovereignty dispute with Argentina is hampering progress. Defence is provided by the UK, and British military expenditures make a significant contribution to the economy. The islands are self sufficient except for defence; exports account for more than £125 million a year.

The largest company in the islands used to be the Falkland Islands Company (FIC), a publicly quoted company on the London Stock Exchange which was responsible for the majority of the economic activity on the islands, though its farms were sold in 1991 to the Falkland Islands Government. The FIC now operates several retail outlets in Stanley and is involved in port services and shipping operation.

The currency in use is the Falkland Pound, which remains in parity with the pound sterling. Sterling notes and coins circulate interchangeably with the local currency. The Falkland Islands also mint their own coins, and issue stamps, which forms a source of revenue from overseas collectors.

[edit] Demographics
Christ Church Cathedral with whale bone arch, Stanley.
Christ Church Cathedral with whale bone arch, Stanley.

The population is 2,967 (July 2003 estimate), the majority of which are of British descent (approximately 70%). The native-born inhabitants call themselves "Islanders". Outsiders often call Islanders "Kelpers", from the kelp which grows profusely around the islands, but the name is no longer used in the Islands. Those people from the United Kingdom who have obtained Falkland Island status became what are known locally as 'belongers'. Many islanders are of Scottish and Welsh descent.[25] However, a few Islanders are of French, Gibraltar (such as the Pitalaugas), Portuguese and Scandinavian descent. Some are the descendants of whalers who reached the Islands during the last two centuries. Furthermore there is a small minority of South American, mainly Chilean origin, and in more recent times many people from Saint Helena have also come to work in the Islands. The Falkland Islands have been a centre of English language learning for South Americans.

The main religion is Christianity. The main denominations are Church of England, Roman Catholic, United Free Church, and Lutheran-based denominations. Other smaller numbers of Christian churches are active, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist and Greek Orthodox; with the latter being due to Greek fishermen passing through.

There is also a tiny Bahai presence [5].

[edit] Medical care

The Falkland Islands Government Health and Social Services Department provides medical care for the islands. The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) is Stanley's only hospital. It was partially military operated in the past but is now under complete civilian control.[26] There are no ophthalmologists or opticians on the islands, although an optician from the United Kingdom visits about every six months and an ophthalmologist comes to do cataract surgery and eye exams on irregular intervals (once every few years). There are two dentists on the islands.

[edit] Broadcasting and telecommunications

[edit] Broadcasting

* PAL television, using the UK VHF and UHF allocations is standard.
* FM stereo broadcasting using the UK allocation is standard.
* MW broadcasting using 10 kHz steps (standard in ITU Zone I).

[edit] Telephone

The Falkland Islands has a modern telecommunications network providing fixed line telephone and DSL and dial-up internet services in Stanley.

Telephony is provided to outlying settlements using microwave radio.

A GSM mobile network was installed in 2005 which provided coverage of Stanley, Mount Pleasant and surrounding areas.

[edit] Transport
The Dash-7 of the British Antarctic Survey at Stanley.
The Dash-7 of the British Antarctic Survey at Stanley.

The Falkland Islands has two airports with paved runways. RAF Mount Pleasant, thirty miles west of Stanley, acts as the main international airport, with flights operated by the Royal Air Force to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England via a refueling stop at RAF Ascension Island. RAF flights are on TriStars although it is common for charter aircraft to be used if the TriStars are required for operational flights. At present (December 2006) the RAF air link is operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic, using 747s. Weekly flights are also available to/from Santiago, Chile, operated by LAN.

Port Stanley Airport is a smaller airport outside the city, and is used for internal flights. Most settlements have grass air strips which are served by Islander aircraft of the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS). The internal flight schedule is decided a day in advance according to passenger needs and an announcement made on the radio detailing arrival and departure times the night before. The British International (BRINTEL) company also operate two Sikorsky S61N helicopters for passenger flights between the islands. The British Antarctic Survey operates a transcontinental air link between the Falkland Islands and the Rothera base airfield, servicing also other British bases in the British Antarctic Territory using a de Havilland Canada Dash 7.

The road network has been improved in recent years. However, not too many paved roads exist outside Stanley and the RAF base.

[edit] Landmines and ordnance

Approximately twenty five thousand land mines remaining from the 1982 war are securely and clearly fenced off. Free maps are available from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) office in Stanley. Care should still be taken as some beaches were mined, and there have been concerns the tides could have moved some mines. The same applies where mine fields are close to rivers. Care should be taken in case mines have been washed out of the marked area by flooding. There is also ordnance left over from the war, although finds of this type are becoming rarer with the passage of time.

In February 2005, the charity Landmine Action proposed a Kyoto-style credit scheme, which would see a commitment by the British government to clear an equivalent area of mined land to that currently existing in the Falklands in more seriously mine-affected countries by March 2009. This proposal was supported by Falkland Islanders, for whom landmines do not pose a serious threat in everyday life, but the British government is yet to declare its support or opposition to the idea.

[edit] See also
Penguins at Gypsy Cove.
Penguins at Gypsy Cove.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

* British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983
* Communications in the Falkland Islands
* Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey
* Falklands War (1982)
* Geology of the Falkland Islands
* List of Falkland Islands-related topics
* List of Falkland Islands placenames
* Falkland Islands national football team

* List of settlements in the Falkland Islands
* Major Samuel Stransham
* Military of the Falkland Islands
* Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
* Stamps and postal history of the Falkland Islands
* Transport in the Falkland Islands
* Battle of the Falkland Islands, a naval engagement during World War I
* Scouting in the Falkland Islands

[edit] External links
Find more information on Falkland Islands by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity

* Falkland Islands at the Open Directory Project
* Falkland Islands travel guide from Wikitravel
* Falkland Islands Government official site
* Falkland Islands Tourism official site
* Falkland Islands Development Corporation official site
* Falkland Islands News Network official site
* Falkland Islands Information Portal
* Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands by Samuel Johnson 1771

British Army

2007-09-15T02:06:00.000-07:00

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British Army

Components
British Army
Territorial Army
List of current regiments
Structure of the British Army
Administration
HQ Land Command
HQ Adjutant-General
HQ Northern Ireland
Overseas Deployments
British Forces Germany
British Forces Cyprus
British Forces Gibraltar
British Garrison Brunei
Equipment
British military rifles
Modern Equipment
History
History of the British Army
Timeline of the British Army
Personnel
List of senior officers
Officer rank insignia
Other ranks rank insignia

The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with unification of the governments and armed forces of England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and was controlled by the War Office from London. As of April, 2007, the British Army includes roughly 110,580 regular personnel and 38,460 Territorial Army members. The full time element of the British Army has also been referred to as the Regular Army since the creation of the reservist Territorial Army. The British Army is deployed in many of the world's war zones as part of a fighting force and in United Nations peacekeeping forces.

In contrast to the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include "Royal" in its title, because of its roots as a collection of disparate units, many of which do bear the "Royal" prefix, such as the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Recent and current conflicts
o 2.1 Persian Gulf War
o 2.2 Balkans conflicts
o 2.3 Afghanistan
o 2.4 Iraq War
o 2.5 Northern Ireland
* 3 Tommy Atkins and other nicknames
* 4 Today's Army
o 4.1 Statistics
o 4.2 Current deployments
+ 4.2.1 'High Intensity' Operations
+ 4.2.2 'Low-Intensity' Operations
+ 4.2.3 Training Operations
* 5 Equipment
* 6 Formation and structure
o 6.1 Aviation components
* 7 Special forces
* 8 Recruitment
* 9 Oath of allegiance
* 10 Training establishments
* 11 Flags and ensigns
* 12 Ranks, specialisms and insignia
* 13 Royal Navy and RAF infantry units
* 14 Overseas Territories Military Units
* 15 See also
* 16 External links
* 17 Footnotes

[edit] History

Main article: History of the British Army
The Battle of Waterloo, one of the greatest victories in British military history
The Battle of Waterloo, one of the greatest victories in British military history

The British Army came into being with the merger of the Scottish Army and the Welsh/English Army, following the unification of the two countries' parliaments and the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Although England had made many earlier claims to sovereignty in Scotland, there had been no unified British state prior to that time (other than a brief period during which the Roman province of Britain had achieved political independence-although even that had failed to establish complete control over the north of the island). The new British Army incorporated existing English and Scottish regiments, and was controlled from London.

From roughly 1763 until at least 1945, the United Kingdom was one of the leading military and economic powers of the world. The British Empire expanded in this time to include colonies, protectorates, and Dominions throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Although the Royal Navy is widely regarded as having been vital for the rise of Empire, and British dominance of the world, the British Army played important roles in colonisation. First, the British Army including garrisoning the colonies, capturing strategically important territories and participating in actions to pacify colonial borders, support allied governments, suppress Britain's rivals, and protect against foreign powers and hostile natives. Second, the troops also helped capture strategically important territories for the British, allowing the British Empire to expand throughout the globe. The Army also involved itself in numerous wars meant to pacify the borders, or to prop-up friendly governments, and thereby keep other, competitive, empires away from the British Empire's borders. Among these actions were the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, the New Zealand Wars, the Indian Mutiny, the First and Second Boer Wars, the Fenian raids, the Anglo-Irish War, its serial interventions into Afghanistan (which were meant to maintain a friendly buffer state between British India and the Russian Empire), and the Crimean War (to keep the Russian Empire at a safe distance by coming to Turkey's aid).

As had its predecessor, the English Army, in building the Empire, the British Army fought Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. It also battled many Native American nations and groups, including the many disgruntled former allies who launched Pontiac's War in response to the wave of British settlers that flooded over the Appalachians following the defeat of France in the Seven Years' War. The British Government's attempt to mollify the Natives by delineating the Appalachians as the westward limit for European settlement was a significant motivator of the American colonies in launching the secessionist American War of Independence. The British Army fought American colonists and their Native and French allies in that war.

The British army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars in which the army served in Spain, across Europe, and in North Africa. The war between the British and French Empires stretched around the world. The British Army finally came to defeat Napoleon at one of Britain's greatest military victories at the battle of Waterloo.
The Battle of Rorke's Drift in which 11 VCs were awarded to British troops
The Battle of Rorke's Drift in which 11 VCs were awarded to British troops

Under Oliver Cromwell, the English Army had been active in the conquest, and the settlement, of Ireland since the 1650s. The Cromwellian campaign was characterised by its uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns (most notably Drogheda) that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War. It (and subsequently, the British Army) have been almost continuously involved in Ireland ever since, primarily in suppressing numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for self-determination. It was faced with the prospect of battling Anglo-Irish and Ulster Scots settlers in Ireland, who alongside their Irish countrymen had raised their own volunteer army and threatened to emulate the American colonists if their conditions (primarily concerning home rule and freedom of trade) were not met. The British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster (Wolfe Tone's United Irishmen) in the 1798 rebellion.

In addition to battling the armies of other European Empires' (and of its former colonies, the United States, in the American War of 1812,) in the battle for global supremacy, the British Army fought the Chinese in the First and Second Opium Wars, and the Boxer Rebellion; Māori tribes in the first of the New Zealand Wars; Indian princely forces and British East India Company mutineers in the Indian Mutiny; the Boers in the First and Second Boer Wars; Irish Fenians in Canada during the Fenian raids; and Irish separatists in the Anglo-Irish War.

Following William and Mary's accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Mary's father, James II. Following the 1707 union of England and Scotland, and then the 1801 creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British foreign policy, on the continent, was to contain expansion by its competitor powers such as France and Spain. The territorial ambitions of the French led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. Russian activity led to the Crimean War.

The vastly increasing demands of imperial expansion, and the inadequacies and inefficiencies of the underfunded, post-Napoleonic Wars British Army, and of the Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteer Force, led to the Cardwell Reforms of the late 19th century, which gave the British Army its modern shape, and redefined its regimental system.
British Mark One Tank during World War I
British Mark One Tank during World War I

Great Britain's dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, notably Germany. The UK was allied with France (by the Entente Cordiale) and Russia, and when the First World War broke out in 1914, the British Army sent the British Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium to prevent Germany from occupying these countries. The War would be the most devastating in British military history, with near 800,000 men killed and over 2 million wounded. In the early part of the war, the professional force of the BEF was decimated and, by turns, a volunteer (and then conscripted) force replaced it. Major battles included the Battle of the Somme. Advances in technology saw British advent of the tank and advances in aircraft design which were to be decisive in future battles. Trench warfare dominated strategy, and the use of chemical and poison gases added to the devastation.

In 1939, the Second World War broke out with the German invasion of Poland. British assurances to the Polish led the British Empire to declare war on Germany. Again an Expeditionary Force was sent to France, only to be hastily evacuated as the German forces swept through the Low Countries and across France in 1940. Only the Dunkirk evacuations saved the entire Expeditionary Force from capture. Later, however, the British would have success defeating the Italians and Germans at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa, and in the D-Day invasions of Normandy. In the Far East, the British Army battled the Japanese in Burma. World War II saw the British army develop its Commando units including the Special Air Service. During the war the British army was one of the major fighting forces on the side of the allies.

After the end of World War II, the British Empire declined with the independence of India, and other colonies in Africa and Asia. Accordingly the strength of the British military was reduced, in recognition of Britain's reduced role in world affairs. However, a large deployment of British troops remained in Germany, facing the threat of Soviet invasion. The Cold War saw massive technological advances in warfare, and the Army saw more technologically advanced weapons systems installed.

Despite the decline of the British Empire, the Army was still deployed around the world, fighting in the Korean War, the Suez crisis of 1956, and colonial wars in Oman and Malaysia. In 1982 the British Army, alongside the Royal Marines, helped to recapture the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War against Argentina.

In the three decades following 1969, the Army was heavily deployed in Northern Ireland, to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (later the Police Service of Northern Ireland) in their conflict with loyalist and republican paramilitary groups, called Operation Banner. The locally-recruited Ulster Defence Regiment was formed, later becoming the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992. Over 700 soldiers were killed during the Troubles. Following the IRA ceasefires between 1994 and 1996 and since 1997, demilitarisation has taken place as part of the peace process, much reducing the military presence in the area. On June 25th 2007, the Second Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment vacated the Army complex at Bessbrook Mill in Armagh. This is part of the 'normalisation' programme in Northern Ireland in response to the IRA's declared end to its activities.

As with its return to Afghanistan, following the 2001 Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in the USA, the British Army's current return to Iraq in Operation Telic reflects a tradition of interceding in the region which included the Mesopotamian Campaign of the Great War, the Anglo-Iraq War of 1941 (the first Gulf War), and the Gulf War fought to liberate Kuwait (referred to as Operation Granby).

[edit] Recent and current conflicts

[edit] Persian Gulf War

Main article: Operation Granby

The ending of the Cold War saw a 40% cut in manpower. Despite this, the Army has been deployed in an increasingly global role. In 1991, the United Kingdom was the second largest contributor (after the USA) to the coalition force that fought Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. The nation supplied just under 50,000 personnel and was the nation put in control of Kuwait after it was liberated.

[edit] Balkans conflicts

Main article: Yugoslav wars

The British Army was deployed to Yugoslavia in 1992. Initially this force formed part of the United Nations Protection Force. In 1995 command was transferred to IFOR and then to SFOR. Currently troops are under the command of EUFOR. Over 10,000 troops were sent. In 1999 British forces under the command of SFOR were sent to Kosovo during the conflict there. Command was subsequently transferred to KFOR.

[edit] Afghanistan

Main article: 2001-present war in Afghanistan

In 2001 The 3rd Division Signal Regiment were deployed in Kabul, Afghanistan to assist in the liberation of the troubled capital. The Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade also swept the Afghan mountains but this force is part of the Royal Navy. The British Armed forces are currently in charge of NATO forces in the nation. The British Army is today concentrating on fighting Taliban forces and bringing security to Helmand province under NATO control.

[edit] Iraq War

Main article: Iraq War

In 2003, the United Kingdom was the only other major contributor to the United States-led invasion of Iraq. There was great disagreement amongst the populace but the government voted for the conflict, with the result of sending over 45,000 army personnel to the region. The British Army is still the major coalition presence in the city of Basra and the Southern regions of Iraq. The British Army is not currently at war, but this is a conflict against groups acting within Iraq. The British Army's main duty in Iraq is peace-keeping.

[edit] Northern Ireland

Main article: Operation Banner

The British Army was initially deployed in Northern Ireland to prevent sectarian attacks on Catholic communities and keep order in the wake of Catholic rioting and was under Operation Banner between 1969 and 2007 in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and its successor, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).[1] There has been a steady reduction in the number of troops deployed in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. In 2005, after the Provisional Irish Republican Army announced an end to armed conflict in Northern Ireland, it was revealed that the British Army would dismantle posts in the province and withdraw many troops and restore troop levels to that of a peace time garrison. Officially Operation Banner ended on 1 August 2007 after 38 years, making it the longest military operation in the history of the British Army.

[edit] Tommy Atkins and other nicknames

A long established nickname for a British soldier has been 'Tommy Atkins' or 'Tommy' for short. The origins are obscure but most probably derive from a specimen army form circulated by the Adjutant-General Sir Harry Calvert to all units in 1815 where the blanks had been filled in with the particulars of a Private Thomas Atkins, No 6 Company, 23rd Regiment of Foot. Present day English soldiers are often referred to as 'Toms' or just 'Tom' (The Scots equivalent being 'Jock'). Outside the services soldiers are generally known as 'Squaddies' by the British popular press. The British Army magazine Soldier has a regular cartoon strip, 'Tom', featuring the everyday life of a British soldier.

Junior officers in the army are generally known as 'Ruperts' by the Other ranks. This nickname is believed to be derived from the children's comic book character Rupert Bear who epitomises traditional public school values (see "Inside the British Army" by Antony Beevor ISBN 071134658)

The term 'Pongo' or 'Perce' is often used by Sailors and Royal Marines to refer to soldiers. It is not considered complimentary.

[edit] Today's Army

[edit] Statistics
The Challenger 2, the British Army's Main Battle Tank
The Challenger 2, the British Army's Main Battle Tank
British Army statistics[2]
Personnel (Regular Army) 107,730
Personnel (Territorial Army) 38,460
Main Battle Tanks 386 Challenger 2
Infantry fighting vehicles 667 Warrior (789 purchased)
APCs and CVR(T)s 3,230–4,000+
Land Rover Wolf 15,000
Pinzgauer 2,000
Utility Trucks 2,300
Artillery pieces and mortar 2,896
Air Defence 337
Aircraft 300+

[edit] Current deployments

[edit] 'High Intensity' Operations
Country Dates Deployment Details
Afghanistan 2001– 7,000 troops British troops have been based in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion there in 2001. Currently, under Operation Herrick, the Army maintains a battalion in Kabul and most of a brigade in the southern province of Helmand.
Iraq 2003– 5,000 troops As part of Operation Telic (Gulf War 2), the British Army participated in the invasion of Iraq. Following the decision for continued security operations, the UK commands the Multi-National Division (South-East) with a headquarters unit, National Support Element, and a combat brigade (at the moment 1 Mechanised Brigade), along with troops from Italy, Norway, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Portugal and Lithuania. A large number of Territorial Army soldiers have been deployed for a variety of tasks, both as individuals serving and as formed units. Troop numbers are gradually decreasing, though the UK Government does not have a timetable for a full withdrawal.

[edit] 'Low-Intensity' Operations
Country Dates Deployment Details
Cyprus 1960– Two resident infantry battalions, Royal Engineers, 16 Flight Army Air Corps and Joint Service Signals Unit at Ayios Nikolaos as a part of British Forces Cyprus The UK retains two Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus after the island's independence. The bases serve as forward bases for deployments in the Middle East. British forces are also deployed separately with UN peacekeeping forces on the island.
Falkland Islands 1982– An infantry company group and an Engineers Squadron Previously a platoon-sized Royal Marines Naval Party served as garrison. After 1982 the garrison was enlarged, and bolstered with an RAF base.
Gibraltar 1704– One infantry battalion, Joint Provost and Security Unit as a part of British Forces Gibraltar British Army garrison is provided by an indigenous regiment, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, which has been on the Army regular establishment since the last British regiment left in 1991.
Kosovo 1999 300 troops After the Kosovo War in 1999, the British Army led the NATO deployment in Kosovo to restore peace to the province. Since then, the UK has withdrawn some forces, as other nations provided troops.
Rest of the Middle East 1990 3,700 troops Since the Gulf War in 1991, the UK has had a considerable military presence in the Middle East. Besides Iraq, there are also an additional 3,500 troops in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as regular training missions in Oman.
Sierra Leone 1999 About 100 troops The British Army were deployed to Sierra Leone, a former British colony, in 1999 to aid the government in quelling violent uprisings by militiamen, under United Nations resolutions. Troops ( Royal Marines ) remain in the region to provide military support and training to the Sierra Leone government.

[edit] Training Operations
Country Dates Deployment Details
Belize 1981– British Army Training and Support Unit Belize and 25 Flight Army Air Corps British troops have been based in Belize since the country gained independence from the UK in 1981. Until 1994 Belize's neighbour, Guatemala claimed the territory, and British troops were based in Belize to provide a deterrent force
Brunei 1962– One battalion from the Royal Gurkha Rifles, British Garrison, Training Team Brunei (TTB) and 7 Flight Army Air Corps A Gurkha battalion has been maintained in Brunei since the Brunei Revolt in 1962 at the request of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III. The Training Team Brunei (TTB) is the Army's jungle warfare school, while the small number of garrison troops support the battalion. 7 Flight Army Air Corps provides helicopter support to both the Gurkha battalion and the TTB.
Canada 1972– British Army Training Unit Suffield and 29 (BATUS) Flight Army Air Corps Training centre in the Alberta prairie. Conducts regular, major armoured training exercises every year with helicopter support provided by 29 (BATUS) Flight AAC.
Germany 1945– 1st (UK) Armoured Division as part of British Forces Germany and 12 Flight Army Air Corps British forces remained in Germany after the end of World War II. Forces declined considerably after the end of the Cold War, although the lack of accommodation in the UK means forces will continue to be based in Germany.
Kenya British Army Training and Liaison Staff Kenya The Army has a training centre in Kenya, under agreement with the Kenyan government. It provides training facilities for three infantry battalions per year

[edit] Equipment

Main article: Modern equipment of the British Army

Warrior IFV
Warrior IFV
The Land Rover Wolf, the backbone of the British Army
The Land Rover Wolf, the backbone of the British Army

The basic infantry weapons of the British Army are the SA-80 assault rifle family, with several variants such as the L86A2 Light Support Weapon and the short stock variant, issued to tank crews. The general issue sidearm is the Browning L9A1, though a search is currently underway to find a replacement for the L9A1. Support fire is provided by the Minimi light machine gun and the L7 GPMG; indirect fire by 51 and 81 mm Mortar, as well as the UGL, mounted under the barrel of the SA80 rifle. Sniper rifles used include the L96A1 7.62 mm, the L115A1 and the AW50F, all produced by Accuracy International. In addition, some units use the L82A1 .50 calibre Barrett sniper rifle.

The British Army commonly uses the Land Rover Wolf and Land Rover Defender; with the Challenger 2 as its Main Battle Tank. The Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle is the primary APC, although many variants of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) are used, as well as the Saxon APC and FV430 series.

The Army uses three main artillery systems; the MLRS, which debuted in Operation Granby and has a range of 30 km: the AS-90, a self-propelled howitzer, and the L118, a 105 mm towed gun-howitzer, used primarily by lighter units and in support of the Royal Marines

The Rapier FSC Missile System is the Army's primary battlefield air defence system, widely deployed since the Falklands War; and the Starstreak HVM is a surface-to-air missile, launched either by a single soldier or from a vehicle-mounted launcher. The Starstreak fills a similar role to the American FIM-92 Stinger

The Army Air Corps (AAC) provide direct aviation support for the Army, although the RAF also assist in this role. The primary attack helicopter is the Westland WAH-64 Apache; a license-built, modified version of the AH-64 Apache that will replace the Westland Lynx AH7 in the anti-tank role. The Westland Lynx performs several roles including tactical transport, armed escort, reconnaissance and evacuation. It used to also offer the anti-tank warfare roll; it could carry eight TOW anti-tank missiles. The Tow missile system fit, for the Lynx was withdrawn from service by the MOD in December 2005, after the coming in to service of the WAH-64 Apache.

The Bell 212 is used as a specialist utility and transport helicopter, with a crew of two and a transport capacity of twelve troops.

The Westland Gazelle helicopter is a light helicopter, primarily used for battlefield scouting and control of artillery and aircraft.

The Agusta A109 is used for Special Operations Aviation, along with the Gazelle.

The Britten-Norman Islander is a light aircraft used for airborne reconnaissance and command, primarily in Northern Ireland.
Firearms
L85A2 5.56 mm IW
L86A2 5.56 mm LSW
L110A1 5.56 mm LMG
L9A1 Browning
L7A2 7.62 mm GPMG
L96A1 7.62 mm
L115A1 8.6 mm LRR

Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV)
FV4043 Challenger 2 MBT
Warrior IFV
CVR(T)
FV432 APC

Artillery Systems
AS-90 155 mm Self-Propelled Gun
MLRS
L118 Light Gun
Rapier FSC Missile System
Starstreak HVM
L121 Field Howitzer
Cobra Artillery Location Radar
Aircraft
Apache AH.Mk.1
Gazelle AH.Mk.1
Lynx AH.Mk.7
Bell 212
Britten-Norman Islander
Agusta A109

Logistics Vehicles
DROPS
Land Rover (TUL/TUM)
ATMP

Information & Communication systems (ICS)
MSTAR
Bowman
Skynet 5
Spyglass Thermal Imager

[edit] Formation and structure
British Army Arms and Services

Combat Arms
Royal Armoured Corps
Infantry

Guards Division
Scottish Division
King's Division
Queen's Division
Prince of Wales' Division
Royal Irish Regiment
Parachute Regiment
Brigade of Gurkhas
The Rifles

Army Air Corps
Special Air Service Regiment
Combat Support Arms
Royal Regiment of Artillery
Corps of Royal Engineers
Royal Corps of Signals
Intelligence Corps
Combat Services
Royal Army Chaplains Department
Royal Logistic Corps
Army Medical Services

Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Dental Corps
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
Queen Alexandra's Royal
Army Nursing Corps

Corps of Royal Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers
Adjutant General's Corps

Army Legal Services Branch
Royal Military Police
Military Provost Staff Corps

Small Arms School Corps
Army Physical Training Corps
General Service Corps
Corps of Army Music

See main article: Structure of the British Army

The structure of the British Army is complex, due to the different origins of its various constituent parts. It is broadly split into the Regular Army (full-time soldiers and units) and the Territorial Army (part-time soldiers and units).

In terms of its military structure it has two parallel organisations, one administrative and one operational.

Administrative:

Corps, which is a grouping by common function, such as Royal Corps of Signals.

* Divisions administrating all military units, both Regular and TA, within a geographical area.
o Brigade in a non fighting capacity
+ Regiment, which is a grouping of battalions most commonly found in the Infantry. It is also the correct name for the Corps sized grouping of Artillery regiments.

Operational: The three major commands are Land Command, Headquarters Adjutant General, and Headquarters Northern Ireland.

Corps made up of two or more Divisions (now unlikely to be deployed as a purely national formation due to the size of the British Army)

* Division made up of two or three Brigades with an HQ element and support troops. Commanded by a major-general
o Brigade made up of three Battalions an HQ element and associated support troops. Commanded by a brigadier
+ Battalion of about 700 soldiers, made up of five companies commanded by a lieutenant-colonel

or:

* Battlegroup. This is a mixed formation of armour, infantry, artillery, engineers and support units, and its structure is task specific. It is formed around the core of either an armoured regiment or infantry battalion, and has other units added or removed from it as necessary. A battlegroup will typically consist of between 600 and 700 soldiers under the command of a lt. colonel.
o Company of about 100 soldiers, typically in three platoons, commanded by a major.
+ Platoon of about 30 soldiers, commanded by a second lieutenant or lieutenant.
# Section of about 8 to 10 soldiers, commanded by a corporal.

A number of elements of the British Army use alternative terms for Battalion, Company and Platoon. These include the Royal Armoured Corps,Corps of Royal Engineers, Royal Logistics Corps, and the Royal Corps of Signals who use Regiment(Battalion), Squadron(Company) and Troop(Platoon). The Royal Artillery are unique in using the term Regiment in place of both Corps and Battalion, they also replace Company with Battery and Platoon with Troop.

[edit] Aviation components

The British Army co-operates heavily with the Royal Air Force for air support but the army also has its own Army Air Corps.

The AAC has in its arsenal:

* Westland Apache Helicopters
* Westland Lynx Helicopters
* Westland Gazelle Helicopters
* Bell 212 Helicopters
* Britten-Norman Islander Aircraft
* Agusta A109

[edit] Special forces

Main article: United Kingdom Special Forces

The British army contributes two of the three special forces formations within the United Kingdom Special Forces Command; the Special Air Service Regiment and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

The most famous formation is the Special Air Service Regiment. Formed in 1941, the SAS is considered the role model for many other special force regiments in the world [citation needed].

The SAS comprises one regular Regiment and two Territorial Army Regiments and is headquartered at Duke of York Barracks, London.

The regular regiment, 22 SAS Regiment has its headquarters and depot located in Hereford and consists of five squadrons: A, B, D, G and Reserve and a training wing. The regiment has battlespace roles in deep reconnaissance, target identification and indication and target destruction and denial. In its Counter Terrorism role it is seen as one of the prime anti-terrorist, hostage rescue and target capture units in the world.

The two reserve SAS regiments; 21 SAS Regiment and 23 SAS Regiment have a more limited role, focusing on the battlespace, with tasks including Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols and Combat Search and Rescue; rather than Counter-Terrorism.

The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) which was formed in 2005, from existing assets, undertakes close reconnaissance and special surveillance tasks.

Formed around 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment, with attached Royal Marines and RAF Regiment assets, the Special Forces Support Group are under the Operational Control of Director Special Forces to provide Infantry support to the elements of United Kingdom Special Forces

[edit] Recruitment

The Army mainly recruits within the United Kingdom, and normally has a recruitment target of around 25,000 soldiers per year.

Low unemployment in Britain has resulted in the Army having difficulty in meeting its target, and in the early years of the 21st century there has been a marked increase in the number of recruits from other (mostly Commonwealth) countries, who as of mid-2004 comprised approximately 7.5% of the Army's total strength. By 2005 this number had risen to almost 10%.

There were 6,460 foreign soldiers from 54 countries in the Army (not counting over 3,000 Nepalese Gurkhas). After Nepal, the nation with most citizens in the British Army is Fiji, with 1,965, followed by Jamaica with 975; soldiers also come from more prosperous countries such as Australia and South Africa (650) (However, recent proposals by the South African government may in future bar South African citizens from serving within the militaries of foreign states. The British government has appealed against this move). The Caribbean island of St Lucia, which has a population of just over 150,000, provides 220 soldiers.[3]

The minimum recruitment age is 16 years (but only after the end of GCSEs), although soldiers may not serve on operations below 18 years; the maximum recruitment age was raised in January 2007 from 26 to 33 years. The normal term of engagement is 22 years.[4]

There has been a strong and continuing tradition of recruiting from Ireland including what is now the Republic of Ireland. Almost 150,000 Irish soldiers fought in the First World War; 49,000 died. More than 60,000 Irishmen, more than from Northern Ireland, also saw action in the Second World War; like their compatriots in the Great War, all were volunteers. There were more than 400 men serving from the Republic in 2003.[5]

[edit] Oath of allegiance
Troops of the Grenadier Guards on guard at Buckingham Palace, Various army regiments supply troops to guard the Royal residences
Troops of the Grenadier Guards on guard at Buckingham Palace, Various army regiments supply troops to guard the Royal residences

All soldiers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as "attestation". Those who believe in God use the following words:
“ I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me. [1] ”

Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm".

[edit] Training establishments

[[2]]

ATR Bassingbourn
ATR Winchester
ATR Pirbright
ITC Catterick
ATR Lichfield
AFC Harrogate
Regional Training Centres
Tri Service Police College
Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS)

[edit] Flags and ensigns
Flag Ratio: 3:5. The official flag of the Army.
Flag Ratio: 3:5. The official flag of the Army.
The non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Sometimes the word "Army" in gold letters appears below the badge.
The non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Sometimes the word "Army" in gold letters appears below the badge.

The British Army does not have its own specific ensign, unlike the Royal Navy, which uses the White Ensign, and the RAF, which uses the Royal Air Force Ensign. Instead, the Army has different flags and ensigns, for the entire army and the different regiments and corps. The official flag of the Army as a whole is the Union Flag, flown in ratio 3:5. A non-ceremonial flag also exists, which is used at recruiting events, military events and exhibitions. Whilst at war, the Union Flag is always used, and this flag represents the Army on the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London (the UK's memorial to war dead). A British Army ensign also exists for vessels commanded by a commissioned officer, the Blue Ensign defaced with the Army badge. Army Vessels are operated by the Maritime element of the RLC.

Each line regiment (which does not include the Rifle Regiments) also has its own flags, known as the Colours - the Regimental Colour and the Queen's Colour. These colours have been taken into battle in the past and give pride to the regiment. There is great variation in the designs of different regimental colours. Typically the colour has the regiment's badge in the centre.

[edit] Ranks, specialisms and insignia
NATO Code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1 OF-D- Student Officer
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Edit No Equivalent
Field Marshal1 General Lieutenant General Major General Brigadier Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Major Captain Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Officer Cadet
Abbreviation FM Gen. Lt-Gen. Maj-Gen. Brig. Col. Lt-Col. Maj. Capt. Lt. 2nd Lt.

* 1 Now an honorary or wartime rank only.

NATO Code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Edit No
Insignia
Warrant Officer Class One (Conductor) Warrant Officer Class One Warrant Officer Class Two (Quartermaster Sergeant) Warrant Officer Class Two (Sergeant Major) Staff Sergeant/
Colour Sergeant Sergeant Corporal/
Bombardier Lance-Corporal/
Lance-Bombardier Private/regimental equivalent

Every regiment and corps has its own distinctive insignia, such as cap badge, beret and stable belt.

Throughout the army there are many official specialisms. They do not affect rank, but they do affect pay bands.
Band 2 Specialisms: Band 3 Specialisms:
Bandsman Survey Technician
Farrier Lab Technician
Driver Tank Transporter Registered General Nurse
Radar Operator Telcom Op (Special)
Meteorologist Aircraft Technician
Bomb Disposal Engineer SAS Soldier
Telcom Op (Linguist)
Operator Special Intelligence
Construction Materials Technician
Gun Fitter
Driver Specialist
Vehicle Electrician
Armoured Engineer

[edit] Royal Navy and RAF infantry units

The other armed services have their own infantry units which are not part of the British Army. The Royal Marines are amphibious light infantry forming part of the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force has the RAF Regiment used for airfield defence, force protection duties and Forward Air Control.

[edit] Overseas Territories Military Units

Numerous military units were raised historically in British territories, including self-governing and Crown colonies, and protectorates. Few of these have appeared on the Army List, and their relationship to the British Army has been ambiguous. Whereas Dominions, such as Canada and Australia, raised their own armies, Crown possessions (like the Channel Islands), and colonies (now called Overseas Territories) were, and are, legally part of the UK, and their defence remains the responsibility of the National (i.e., United Kingdom) government. All military forces of overseas territories are, therefore, under the direct command of the UK Government, via the local Governor and Commander-In-Chief. Many of the units in colonies, or former colonies, were also actually formed at the behest of the UK Government as it sought to reduce the deployment of the British Army on garrison around the world at the latter end of the 19th century. Today, three overseas territories retain locally-raised military units, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands. The units are patterned on the British Army, are subject to review by the Ministry of Defence, and are ultimately under the control of the British government, not the local governments of the territories (though day-to-day control may be delegated to Ministers of the territorial governments). Despite this, the units may have no tasking or funding from the MOD, and are generally raised under acts of the territorial assemblies.

* Bermuda Regiment
* Royal Gibraltar Regiment
* Falkland Islands Defence Force

[edit] See also
British Army Portal

* List of British Army Regiments (2008)
* Ministry of Defence
* Redcoat
* Territorial Army
* Volunteer Army
* British military history
* British Army Casualties during Operation TELIC
* Royal Navy
* Royal Air Force
* United Kingdom Special Forces
* Modern equipment and uniform of the British Army
* UK topics
* Army Rugby Union
* Eastbourne Redoubt Holds collections of The Royal Sussex Regiment, The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars (see also The Queen's Royal Hussars) and the Sussex Combined Services.
* Victoria Cross

[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
British Army

* British Army Website
* The British War Memorial Project
* The National Archives of Scotland: Doing research. Guides. Military records.

* Regiments and Corps of the British Army: An Introductory Overview Regiments.Org.

* British Armed Forces

* British Light Infantry Regiments

* The British Army in the Great War
* The British Army Rumour Service - an unofficial site for news, gossip and discussion.
* UK Military News & Information Portal
* British Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* Tom Wall, New Statesman, 6 December 2004, "Our boy soldiers"
* Royal Engineers Museum - Royal Engineers History
* Britain's Small Wars The History of British Military Conflicts since 1945
* Redoubt Fortress MuseumHolds collections of The Royal Sussex Regiment, The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars (see also The Queen's Royal Hussars) and the Sussex Combined Services.
* Eastbourne Redoubt
* Women in the british armed forces
* The Royal Sussex Regimental Association [3]

Sport

2007-09-15T02:03:00.000-07:00

Main article: Sport in the United Kingdom

The Wimbledon Championships, a Grand Slam tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every July.
The Wimbledon Championships, a Grand Slam tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every July.

A number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, rugby, cricket, tennis and golf.

The most popular sport in the UK is football. The UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Because of this four-team arrangement that the UK does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, there are proposals for a united team taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which are to be held in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status.

The UK is home to many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Glasgow Rangers. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. British teams have been successful in European Competitions including some who have become European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners: Liverpool (five times), Manchester United (twice), Nottingham Forest (twice), Aston Villa, and Celtic. More clubs from England have won the European Cup than any other country (four compared to three from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands). Moreover, England ranks second in the all time list of European club trophies won with 35, one behind Italy's 36. The European Cup competition itself was brought about due to the success of another UK club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, against top European sides[94] in the 1950s. The English Premier League is also the most-watched football league in the world and is particularly popular in Asia: in the People's Republic of China, matches attract television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport.[95][96]
The new Wembley Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built costing £793 million ($1.6 billion).
The new Wembley Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built costing £793 million ($1.6 billion).

The 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium is the main sporting stadium of the UK. Between the demolition of the former 'twin towers' stadium and construction of the new one (completed in March 2007), Cardiff's 73,000 seater Millennium Stadium served in this role.

The early reference to the separate national identities in the UK is perhaps best illustrated by the game of cricket. Cricket was invented in England. There are league championships but the English national team dominates the game in Britain. There is no UK team. Some Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and only play in One Day Internationals.

The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing. It is widely considered that the sport's most successful rower is Steven Redgrave who won five gold medals and one bronze medal at five consecutive Olympic Games as well as numerous wins at the World Rowing Championships and Henley Royal Regatta.

Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby league originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played predominantly in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Southern England. Having supposedly originated from the actions of William Webb Ellis at the School at Rugby, it is considered the national sport of Wales. In rugby league the UK plays as one nation — Great Britain — though in union it is represented by four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (which consists of players from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). England is the holder of the Rugby World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions tour either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. Here, rugby football differs internationally to association football, as the England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland) teams combine to form the British and Irish Lions although they compete separately in all other international competitions.

The game of tennis first originated from the UK's second city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865. The Wimbledon Championships are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar.

Thoroughbred racing is also very popular throughout the UK. It originated under Charles II of England as the "Sport of Kings" and is a royal pastime to this day. World-famous horse races include the Grand National, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot. The town of Newmarket is considered to be the centre of English racing[citation needed].
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, generally regarded as the world's "Home of Golf".
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, generally regarded as the world's "Home of Golf".

Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK, with St Andrews in Scotland being the sport's home course. Cricket is also popular, although the popularity of the game is dramatically greater in England than in other parts of the UK, all four constituent nations as of 2006 compete at the One-Day International level — Scotland independently, Wales as part of the English team, and Northern Ireland as part of all-Ireland.

Shinty (or camanachd) (a sport derived from the same root as the Irish hurling and similar to bandy) is popular in the Scottish Highlands, sometimes attracting crowds numbering thousands in the most sparsely populated region of the UK.

The country is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK and drivers from Britain have won more world titles than any other country. The country also hosts legs of the F1 and World Rally Championship and has its own Touring Car Racing championship, the BTCC. The British Grand Prix takes place at Silverstone each July.

[edit] Visual art

Main article: Art of the United Kingdom

Flint Castle, by J. M. W. Turner (c.1775 – 1851).
Flint Castle, by J. M. W. Turner (c.1775 – 1851).

The Royal Academy is located in London. Other major schools of art include the Slade School of Art; the six-school University of the Arts, London, which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design; the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths, University of London. This commercial venture is one of Britain's foremost visual arts organisations. Major British artists include Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, William Blake, J. M. W. Turner, William Morris, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Gilbert and George, Richard Hamilton, Peter Blake, Howard Hodgkin, Antony Gormley, and Anish Kapoor. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the Saatchi Gallery in London brought to public attention a group of multigenre artists who would become known as the Young British Artists. Damian Hirst, Chris Ofili, Rachel Whiteread, Tracy Emin, Mark Wallinger, Steve McQueen, Sam Taylor-Wood, and the Chapman Brothers are among the better known members of this loosely affiliated movement.

[edit] Symbols
The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth.
The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth.

* The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag commonly known as the "Union Jack", though this is technically only correct when flown from a Jack Mast at sea. Some people dispute this and claim that the name originated from King James VI who designed the first Union Flag, hence the name "Union Jack" or Jac's Union, Jac being short for Jacobus, a Latinised name commonly used when speaking of the King. Created from the superimposition of the flags of England (St George's Cross) and Scotland (Saint Andrew's Cross), with the Saint Patrick's cross, representing Ireland, being added to this in 1801.

Flag Country Patron saint Flower
Flag of England England St. George Red and White rose
Flag of Scotland Scotland St. Andrew Cotton thistle
Flag of Wales Wales St. David Leek/Daffodil
Flag of Northern Ireland1 Northern Ireland St. Patrick Shamrock/Flax

'^1' There is no official flag of Northern Ireland following the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. However, the Ulster Banner is often used for sporting events. See Northern Ireland flags issue.

* The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King", with "King" replaced with "Queen" whenever the monarch is female. The anthem's name, however, remains "God Save the King".[97]

Flags of the United Kingdom, (England, Scotland, Flag of Wales and the unofficial Northern Irish flag).
Flags of the United Kingdom, (England, Scotland, Flag of Wales and the unofficial Northern Irish flag).

* Britannia is a personification of the United Kingdom, originating from the Roman occupation of southern and central Great Britain.[98] Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding the back of a lion. At and since the height of the British Empire, Britannia has often associated with maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song Rule Britannia.
* The lion has also been used as a symbol of the United Kingdom; one is depicted behind Britannia on the 50 pence piece and one is shown crowned on the back of the 10 pence piece. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Lions have been used as heraldic devices many times, including in the royal arms of both the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales. The lion is featured on the emblem of the England national football team, giving rise to the popular football anthem Three Lions, and the England national cricket team. The "three lions" on the English coat of arms were originally two leopards. An extra leopard was added by Richard the Lionheart and with the help of his name, they became known as three lions. They are now drawn to look more like lions. Leopards are traditionally depicted lying down whereas lions were drawn standing on all fours or up on their hind legs attacking, as in the Scottish Lion Rampant.
* The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of Great Britain, and is often associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.
* Britain (especially England) has been personified as the character John Bull, although this character is rarely used in modern times.
* The ancient British landscape, and especially some of its distinctive flora such as the oak tree and the rose, have long been a widely used proxy for the visual representation of British identity. The red rose is the emblem of the Labour Party, the England national rugby union team, the Rugby Football Union and Lancashire.

[edit] Miscellaneous data

* Cellular frequency: GSM 900, GSM 1800, UMTS 2100
* Cellular technology: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
* Date format: DD/MM/YY (example: 22/12/05) or 22 December 2005 (22nd December 2005 widely used also if date is written in words)
* Time format: Generally 12-hour format when spoken or in writing (example: 5:15 pm), 24-hour format is used in some official documentation, timetables and by the military (example: 17:15 or 1715). A full stop may also be used instead of the colon when writing the time; for instance, 5.15 pm.
* Decimal separator is a full stop: 123.45
* Thousands are separated by a comma - 10,000 - or with a space - 10 000.
* In Britain, a billion used to be represented as 1,000,000,000,000 (or one million million) but this has fallen into disuse and a billion is now commonly seen as 1,000,000,000 (or a thousand million).
* Voltage: 230V (+10% / -6%), 50 Hz; British 3-pin power plugs and sockets
* Postal code: UK postcodes
* Driving is on the left.

United Kingdom

2007-09-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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“UK” redirects here. For other uses, see UK (disambiguation).
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[10]
Flag of the United Kingdom Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Flag Royal coat of arms
Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [11] (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen"[12]
Location of the United Kingdom
Location of the United Kingdom (dark green)

– on the European continent (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (light green)
Capital
(and largest city) London
[show location on an interactive map] 51°30′N, 0°7′W
Official languages English[13] (de facto)
Recognised regional languages Irish Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish[14]
Demonym British, Briton
Government Constitutional monarchy (Parliamentary democracy)
- Monarch HM Queen Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Formation
- Acts of Union May 1, 1707
- Act of Union January 1, 1801
- Anglo-Irish Treaty April 12, 1922
Accession to
the European Union January 1, 1973
Area
- Total 244,820 km² (79th)
94,526 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.34
Population
- mid-2006 estimate 60,587,300[1] (22nd)
- 2001 census 58,789,194[15]
- Density 246 /km² (48th)
637 /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $2.006 trillion (6th)
- Per capita $35,051 (11th)
GDP (nominal) 2006 estimate
- Total $2.373 trillion[16] (5th)
- Per capita $38,624 (13th)
Gini? (1999) 36.8 (medium)
HDI (2006) 0.940 (high) (18th)
Currency Pound sterling (£) (GBP)
Time zone GMT (UTC+0)
- Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Internet TLD .uk[17]
Calling code +44
^ In the United Kingdom and Dependencies, some other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, the UK's official name is as follows:
Cornish: Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon; Irish: Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann; Scots: Unitit Kinrick o Graet Breetain an Northren Irland; Scottish Gaelic: An Rìoghachd Aonaichte na Breatainn Mhòr agus Eirinn a Tuath; Welsh: Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon.
^ This is the royal motto. In Scotland, the royal motto is the Latin phrase Nemo Me Impune Lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity"). There is also a variant form of the coat-of-arms for use in Scotland; see Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
^ See #Symbols below. It also serves as the Royal anthem.
^ English is established by de facto usage. In Wales, the Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg is tasked with ensuring that, "in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice, the English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality".[2][3] The Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked with "securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language".[4]
^ Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Ulster Scots and Scots languages are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government[5]. See also Languages in the United Kingdom.
^ CIA Factbook. Official estimate provided by the UK Office for National Statistics.[6]
^ ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is GB, but .gb is practically unused. The .eu domain is also shared with other European Union member states.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (also known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain)[7] is a country[8] and sovereign state to the north-west of mainland Europe. It comprises the island of Great Britain, the north-east part of the island of Ireland and many small local islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland.[9][10][11] Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. Great Britain, its largest island is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy comprising four constituent countries — England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — with Elizabeth II as head of state. The Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, formally possessions of the Crown, are not part of the UK but form a federacy with it.[12] The UK has fourteen overseas territories,[13] all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface. It is a developed country, with the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Britain was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th century,[14] but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its role and status in global affairs. The UK nevertheless retains major economic, cultural, military and political influence today and is a nuclear power, with the second highest defence spending in the world. It holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the G8, NATO, the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Government and politics
o 2.1 Administrative subdivisions
o 2.2 Law
o 2.3 Foreign relations
* 3 Geography
o 3.1 Topography
o 3.2 Climate
o 3.3 Cities and urban areas
+ 3.3.1 Largest cities
+ 3.3.2 Urban areas
* 4 Demography
o 4.1 Population
o 4.2 Migration and ethnicity
o 4.3 Language
o 4.4 Religion
+ 4.4.1 Christianity
+ 4.4.2 Islam
+ 4.4.3 Other religions
* 5 Economy
o 5.1 Currency
* 6 Infrastructure
* 7 Armed forces
* 8 Culture
o 8.1 Cinema
o 8.2 Education
o 8.3 Literature
o 8.4 Media
+ 8.4.1 Broadcasting
+ 8.4.2 Print
o 8.5 Music
o 8.6 Philosophy
o 8.7 Science, engineering and innovation
o 8.8 Sport
o 8.9 Visual art
* 9 Symbols
* 10 Miscellaneous data
* 11 References
* 12 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of the United Kingdom

The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

England and Scotland had existed as separate sovereign and independent states with their own monarchs and political structures since the 9th century. The once independent Principality of Wales fell under the control of English monarchs from the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Under the Acts of Union 1707, England (including Wales) and Scotland, which had been in personal union since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, agreed to a political union in the form of a unified Kingdom of Great Britain.[15] The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1541 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.[16] Independence for the Irish Free State in 1922 followed the partition of the island of Ireland two years previously, with six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster remaining within the UK, which then changed to the current name in 1927 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[17]

Britain was an important part of the Age of Enlightenment with philosophical and scientific input and a literary and theatrical tradition. Over the next century the United Kingdom played an important role in developing Western ideas of parliamentary democracy with significant contributions to literature, the arts and science.[18] The UK-led Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the British Empire. During this time, like other Great Powers, the UK was involved in colonial exploitation, including the slave trade, while the passing of the 1807 Slave Trade Act also made the UK the first nation to prohibit trade in slaves.
The British Empire in 1897. The largest in history, the British Empire led to the spread of the English language.
The British Empire in 1897. The largest in history, the British Empire led to the spread of the English language.

After the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain became the principal naval power of the 19th century. At its peak the British Empire controlled large amounts of territory in Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.

In the 19th century the country played an important role in the development of parliamentary democracy, partly through the emergence of a multi-party system. At the end of the Victorian era the United Kingdom lost its industrial leadership, particularly to the German Empire, which surpassed the UK in industrial production and trade in the 1890s, and to the United States. Britain remained an eminent power and its empire expanded to its maximum size by 1921, gaining the League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies after World War I.

After the Great War, the world's first large-scale international broadcasting network, the BBC, was created. In 1924 the country's Labour movement, which had been gaining strength since the late 1890s, formed the first Labour government. Britain fought Nazi Germany in World War II, with its Commonwealth allies including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India, later to be joined by further allies. Wartime leader Winston Churchill and his peacetime successor Clement Atlee helped create the post-war world as part of the "Big Three". World War II left the United Kingdom financially and physically damaged. Loans taken out during and after World War II from both Canada and the United States were economically costly but, along with post-war Marshall aid, the UK began the road to recovery.

The immediate post-war years saw the establishment of the British Welfare State and one of the world's first and most comprehensive health services, while the demands of a recovering economy brought people from all over the Commonwealth to create a multi-ethnic Britain. Although the new post-war limits of Britain's political role were confirmed by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the international currency of the language meant the continuing impact of its literature and culture, while at the same time from the 1960s its popular culture found influence abroad. Following a period of economic stagnation and industrial strife in the 1970s after a global economic downturn, the 1980s saw the inflow of substantial oil revenues, and the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, under whom there was a marked break with the post-war political and economic consensus. Her supporters credit her with economic success, but her critics blame her for greater social division. From the mid-1990s onward these trends of growth largely continued under the leadership of Tony Blair.

The United Kingdom has been a member of the European Union since 1973. The attitude of the present Labour government towards further integration with this organisation is mixed,[19] with the Conservative Party favouring a return of some powers and competencies to the state,[20] and the Liberal Democrats supportive of current engagement.

[edit] Government and politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Elizabeth II.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as head of state; the monarch of the UK also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting the UK in a personal union with those other states. The UK uses a parliamentary government based on strong democratic traditions, a system that has been emulated around the world — a legacy of the British Empire.

The UK's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists mostly of written sources, including statutes, judge made case law, and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and law considered to be "constitutional law," the British Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.[21] The United Kingdom is one of the three countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution (the other two being New Zealand and Israel).[22]

The position of Prime Minister, the UK's head of government, belongs to the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and their Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form Her Majesty's Government. However, the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Queen respects the Prime Minister's choices. The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises vast political power, especially in the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. Gordon Brown, leader of the Labour Party, has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 27 June 2007.

The Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom; housed in the Palace of Westminster, it is the ultimate legislative authority in the UK, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. However, questions over sovereignty have been brought forward due to the UK's membership within the European Union.[23] The parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a constituency; general elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. There is no minimum term for a Parliament, but a new election must be called within five years of the last general election.
The Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster

The UK's three major political parties are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats. Other parties such as the Scottish National Party and Sinn Féin hold the remainder of seats in the House.

[edit] Administrative subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is divided into four home nations or constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The latter three each has a unicameral legislature, devolved from the United Kingdom Parliament, which relates specifically to each constituent country: the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Each also has its own Executive, led by a First Minister, which controls separate law making and constitutional powers devolved from Westminster. However, despite being the largest of the United Kingdom's four constituent countries, England, (with the exception of the Greater London Authority), has no devolved executive; it is ruled directly by the UK government.

Each nation is further subdivided for the purposes of local government. The Queen appoints a Lord-Lieutenant as her personal representative in lieutenancy areas across the UK; this is little more than a ceremonial role. The following table highlights the arrangements for local government, lieutenancy areas and cities across the home nations:
Manchester Town Hall. Many towns and cities reflect their "civic pride" with public buildings.
Manchester Town Hall. Many towns and cities reflect their "civic pride" with public buildings.
Country Status[24] Population Subdivisions Cities
England Kingdom 50,431,700

Regions
Metropolitan and
non-metropolitan counties
Lieutenancy areas
English cities
Scotland Kingdom 5,094,800

Council areas
Lieutenancy areas
Scottish cities
Wales Principality 2,958,600

Unitary authorities
Lieutenancy areas
Welsh cities
Northern Ireland Province 1,724,400

Districts
Traditional counties
Northern Ireland cities

Historically, the four nations were divided into counties as areas for local government administration. Although these are still used to some extent for this purpose and as geographical areas, they are no longer the sole basis for local government administration.

In recent years, England has, for some purposes, been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that these regions would be given their own elected regional assemblies, the plan's future is uncertain following a rejection, by referendum, of a proposed assembly in the North East region.

City status is governed by Royal Charter. There are sixty-six British cities: fifty in England; six in Scotland; five in Wales; and five in Northern Ireland.

The Crown has sovereignty over the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. Collectively, these three territories are known as the Crown dependencies, lands owned by the British monarch but not part of the United Kingdom. They are also not part of the European Union. However, the Parliament of the United Kingdom has the authority to legislate for the dependencies, and the British government manages their foreign affairs and defence.

The UK also has fourteen overseas territories around the world, the last remaining territories of the British Empire. The overseas territories are also not considered part of the UK, but in most cases the local populations have British citizenship and the right to abode in the UK. This has been the case since 2002.

[edit] Law

Main article: Law of the United Kingdom

Parliament House, Edinburgh is the seat of the supreme courts of Scotland.
Parliament House, Edinburgh is the seat of the supreme courts of Scotland.

The United Kingdom has three distinct systems of law. English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law, which applies in Northern Ireland, are based on common-law principles. Scots law, which applies in Scotland, is a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles. The Act of Union 1707 guarantees the continued existence of a separate law system for Scotland.

The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (usually just referred to, as "The House of Lords") is the highest court in the land for all criminal and civil cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law. Recent constitutional changes will see the powers of the House of Lords transfer to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.[25]

In England and Wales, the court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). In Scotland the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases, while the sheriff court is the Scottish equivalent of the county court.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, comprising the same members as the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.

[edit] Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. It is also a member state of the European Union, and is one of the three 'big powers' of the EU, along with Germany and France. The United Kingdom also enjoys a "Special Relationship" with the United States. Britain's close allies outside of Europe include members of the Anglosphere and Commonwealth of Nations, a legacy of the British Empire. With its membership of the G8 and NATO, Britain has influence in international institutions. Britain's global presence is amplified through its trading relations and its armed forces, which maintains approximately eighty military installations and other deployments around the globe.[26]

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is in Western Europe. It comprises the island of Great Britain (most of England, Scotland and Wales) and the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland), together with many smaller islands. The mainland areas lie between latitudes 49° and 59° N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61° N), and longitudes 8° W to 2° E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, near London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian. The United Kingdom has a total area of approximately 245,000 square kilometres (94,600 sq mi). The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within 35 kilometres (22 mi) of the north-west coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. Northern Ireland shares a 360 kilometres (224 mi) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The Channel Tunnel ("Chunnel") now links the UK with France beneath the English Channel.

[edit] Topography
Map of the United Kingdom.
Map of the United Kingdom.
Ben Nevis in the Grampian Mountains, is the highest point in the British Isles
Ben Nevis in the Grampian Mountains, is the highest point in the British Isles

Most of England consists of lowland terrain, with some mountainous terrain in the north-west (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District), north (the upland moors of the Pennines and limestone hills of the Peak District) and south-west (Exmoor and Dartmoor) by the Tees-Exe line. Lower ranges include the limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds and Lincolnshire Wolds, and the chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike, which is in the Lake District 978 metres (3,209 ft).

Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,344 metres (4,409 ft). There are many long and deep sea arms, firths, and lochs. There are nearly eight hundred islands in Scotland, mainly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. In total, it is estimated that the UK includes around one thousand islands.[27]

Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level, however South Wales is less mountainous than North and Mid Wales. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn).
Three Cliffs Bay, Gower Peninsula.
Three Cliffs Bay, Gower Peninsula.

Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh, at 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi), the largest body of water in the UK and Ireland.[28] The highest peak is Slieve Donard at 849 metres (2,785 ft) in the province's Mourne Mountains.

The greatest distance between two points on the UK mainland of Great Britain is 1,350 kilometres (840 mi) between Land's End in Cornwall (near Penzance) and John O'Groats in Caithness (near Thurso), a two day journey by car. When measured directly north-south it is a little over 1,100 kilometres (700 mi) in length and is a fraction under 500 kilometres (300 mi) at its widest.

[edit] Climate

Main article: Climate of the United Kingdom

All parts of the United Kingdom have a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons but seldom drops below −10 °C or rises above 32 °C. The prevailing wind is from the south-west, bearing frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean. Eastern parts are most sheltered from this wind and are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters, especially in the west, where winters are also wet, especially over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south east of England, being closest to the European mainland, and coolest in the north. Snowfall can occur in winter and early spring, though it rarely settles to any great depth away from high ground.

Absolute temperature ranges:

* England: 38.5 °C on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, Kent, to −26.1 °C on 10 January 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, Shropshire.
* Wales: 35.2 °C in Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990, to -23.3 °C in Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940.
* Scotland: 32.9 °C at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003 to -27.2 °C recorded at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Sutherland, on 30 December 1995.
* Northern Ireland: 30.8 °C at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983, to -17.5 °C at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979.

[edit] Cities and urban areas

Main article: City status in the United Kingdom

The four capitals of the United Kingdom's constituent countries are London (England), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). London is also the capital of the UK.

[edit] Largest cities

Main article: List of United Kingdom cities by population

* above 7 million: London
* above 1 million: Birmingham
* above 500,000: Glasgow
* 400,000 – 500,000: Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Bristol
* 300,000 – 400,000: Manchester, Leicester, Coventry, Hull
* 250,000 – 300,000: Bradford, Cardiff, Belfast, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton
* 200,000 – 250,000: Nottingham, Plymouth, Southampton, Reading, Derby

The term "second city" has been disputed in several ways. Birmingham is typically accepted as the second city, although many view Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool to be the second city.

[edit] Urban areas

Main article: List of conurbations in the United Kingdom

* Greater London Urban Area (8.5 million) (Metropolitan area: 12 - 14 million)
* West Midlands conurbation (2.28 million)
* Greater Manchester Urban Area (2.24 million)
* West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.5 million)
* Greater Glasgow (1.16 million)

[edit] Demography

Main article: Demography of the United Kingdom

The populations and percentage of total population in the four nations of the United Kingdom.
The populations and percentage of total population in the four nations of the United Kingdom.

[edit] Population

At the April 2001 UK Census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union (behind Germany and France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. This had been estimated up to 59,834,300 by the Office for National Statistics in 2004.[29] Two years later it had increased to 60.2 million, largely from net immigration, but also because of a rising birth rate and increasing life expectancy.[30]

The UK's overall population density is one of the highest in the world. About a quarter of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban,[31] with an estimated 7,517,700 in the capital of London.[32]

[edit] Migration and ethnicity

Main article: Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom

Located as they are on a group of islands close to Continental Europe, the lands now constituting the United Kingdom have historically been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent - including Roman occupation for several centuries. Present day Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in northern France (Normandy). Since 1945, international ties forged by the British Empire have contributed to substantial immigration, especially from Africa and South Asia, and, most recently, the accession of new EU members in 2004 has fuelled more immigration from continental Europe. As of 2001, 13.1% (5.2% white, 7.9% non-white[33] ) of the UK population identified themselves as an ethnic minority.[34]
Trafalgar Square in London is one of the most famous public places in the United Kingdom.
Trafalgar Square in London is one of the most famous public places in the United Kingdom.
Ethnic group ↓ Population ↓ % of total* ↓
White British &&&&&&&050366497.&&&&&050,366,497 85.7%
White Irish &&&&&&&&&0691232.&&&&&0691,232 1.2%
White (other) &&&&&&&&03096169.&&&&&03,096,169 5.3%
Mixed race &&&&&&&&&0677117.&&&&&0677,117 1.2%
Indian &&&&&&&&01053411.&&&&&01,053,411 1.8%
Pakistani &&&&&&&&&0747285.&&&&&0747,285 1.3%
Bengali &&&&&&&&&0283063.&&&&&0283,063 0.5%
Other Asian (non-Chinese) &&&&&&&&&0247644.&&&&&0247,644 0.4%
Black Caribbean &&&&&&&&&0565876.&&&&&0565,876 1.0%
Black African &&&&&&&&&0485277.&&&&&0485,277 0.8%
Black (others) &&&&&&&&&&097585.&&&&&097,585 0.2%
Chinese &&&&&&&&&0247403.&&&&&0247,403 0.4%
Other &&&&&&&&&0230615.&&&&&0230,615 0.4%
* Percentage of total UK population

In contrast with some other European countries, high foreign-born immigration is contributing to a rising population[35], accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. The latest official figures (2005) show net immigration to the UK of 185,000, 565,000 immigrants and 380,000 emigrants, down from a record high of 223,000 in 2004.[36][37] Immigration from the Indian subcontinent, mainly fuelled by family reunion, accounted for two-thirds of net immigration.[38] High minority group percentages are found in London (40.1%),[39] Birmingham (34.4%),[40] and Leicester (39.5%).[41] By contrast, at least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad.[42][43][44][45] The most popular emigrant destinations were Australia, Spain and France.[46][47]

A study by a city forecaster, however, contends that the above immigration figures are unreliable and that net immigration for 2005 was circa 400,000.[48] Nonetheless, the proportion of foreign-born people in the UK population remains slightly below that of some other European countries.[49]

In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 - a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from Africa (32%) and Asia (40%), the largest three groups being people from Pakistan, India and Somalia.[50] One in five babies in the UK are born to immigrant mothers, according to official statistics released in 2007 that also show the highest birth rates in Britain for 26 years.[51]

Figures published in August 2007 indicate that 682,940 people applied to the Worker Registration Scheme (for nationals of the central and eastern European states that joined the EU in May 2004) between 1 May 2004 and 31 June 2007, of whom 656,395 were accepted.[52] Self-employed workers and people who are not working (including students) are not required to register under the scheme so this figure represents a lower limit on immigration inflow. These figures do not indicate the number of immigrants who have since returned home, but 56 per cent of applicants in the 12 months ending 30 June 2007 reported planning to stay for a maximum of three months. Of the 2.5million foreign workers who moved to the UK to work, the majority were from EU countries[53], but net migration in 2005 from the new EU states stood at 64,000.[36]

[edit] Language

Main article: Languages of the United Kingdom

Countries where English has de facto official or official language status.
Countries where English has de facto official or official language status.

Though the UK does not have a de jure official language, the predominant spoken language is English, a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large number of borrowings from Old Norse and Norman. The other indigenous languages are Scots (which is closely related to English) and the Insular Celtic languages (which are not). The latter fall into two groups: the P-Celtic languages (Welsh and the Cornish language); and the Q-Celtic languages (Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep (see Yan Tan Tethera).

The English language has spread to all corners of the world (largely due to the British Empire) and has thus become the business language of the world. Worldwide, it is taught as a second language more than any other.[54] The United Kingdom's Celtic languages are also spoken by small groups around the globe, mainly Gaelic in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.

Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi speakers outside of Asia.[citation needed]It has recently acquired many speakers of Eastern European languages, notably Polish.

[edit] Religion

Main article: Religion in the United Kingdom

Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England, which itself is the mother church of the Anglican Communion.
Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England, which itself is the mother church of the Anglican Communion.

The UK is primarily Christian; the Church of England is officially established, and 71.6% of people identified themselves as Christian in the 2001 UK Census.[55]. But the population has become more secular; only 38%[56] of the population believe in a God and 66% have no church connections.[57]. For cultural reasons, some non believers still identify themselves with a religion.

[edit] Christianity
Westminster Abbey is used for the coronation of all British Monarchs, who are also made the head of the Church of England.
Westminster Abbey is used for the coronation of all British Monarchs, who are also made the head of the Church of England.

Christianity is the majority religion, and there is a wide variety of Christian churches, denominations, and sects. Each of the four countries of the United Kingdom has distinctive churches.

Scotland and northern England were evangelised first, by Celtic missionaries from Ireland, such as Ninian, Columba and Aidan. Augustine was subsequently sent to southern England by Pope Gregory I in 597.

The English Church split from Rome in 1534, during the reign of Henry VIII of England (see English Reformation). Today, the Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The British monarch is required to be a member of the Church of England under the Act of Settlement 1701 and is the Supreme Governor. The senior bishop of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Church of Scotland (known informally as the Kirk) broke with the Roman Catholic Church in 1560 (see Calvinism and Scottish Reformation). Today it is a Presbyterian church, recognised as the national church of Scotland, and not subject to state control. The British monarch is an ordinary member, and is required to swear an oath to "defend the security" of the Church at the coronation. The Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, dates from the final establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland in 1690. Further splits in the Church of Scotland, especially in the nineteenth century, led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including the Free Church of Scotland.

In the 1920s, the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and became disestablished (lost its status as the state religion). However the Church in Wales remains in the Anglican Communion. Methodism and other independent churches are traditionally strong in Wales.

The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in the nineteenth century. It covers the entire island of Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). In Northern Ireland the Catholic Church in Ireland is the largest single denomination, although Protestants are in the majority overall. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and is in terms of theology and history closely linked to the Church of Scotland

The Roman Catholic Church is the second largest denomination of Christianity in the UK. After the Protestant Reformation, strict laws were passed against Catholics; these were removed by the Catholic Emancipation laws in 1829. There are separate Catholic hierarchies for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Other large Christian groups include the Methodists (founded by John Wesley in London) and the Baptists. There are also growing Evangelical or Pentecostal churches, many of which have flourished with immigration from around the Commonwealth and beyond.

After some years of decline in the UK Christianity, a Tearfund Survey[57] in 2007 suggests that numbers identifying themselves as Christian have stabilised at 53%, whereas in the 2001 census the proportion was 71% - note these numbers are not comparable because the phrasing of the question was different in each survey. According to the Tear Fund survey, 15% of people in the UK attend "church" at least once a month.

[edit] Islam

Muslims in the United Kingdom are believed to number 1.8 million ,[58]. Mosques are present in most regions: The biggest groups are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. More recently, refugees from Somalia, Northern Cyprus, the Balkans and Arab countries have increased Britain's Muslim population. The 2006 controversy over the burqa, brought up in comments by politician Jack Straw, reflects a split between some Britons questioning the extent to which traditionalist forms of Islam are compatible with British society, and others who believe that wearing the veil is compatible with Muslim integration in Britain.[59]

[edit] Other religions

Religions of Indian origin, such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are followed in Britain. As of the 2001 census, there are about 560,000 Hindus and 340,000 Sikhs. Buddhism is practised by about 150,000[60] It is likely that these figures have increased since 2001. One non-governmental organisation estimates that there are 800,000 Hindus in the UK.[61] Leicester houses one of the world's few Jain temples that are outside of India. There are approximately 260,000 Jews in England and Wales, according to the 2001 census. 390,127 individuals proclaimed themselves as "Jedi Knight" in the 2001 census, though this is likely to have coincided with the Star Wars film on release at the time.

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom

The City of London is a major business and commercial centre and leading centre of global finance.
The City of London is a major business and commercial centre and leading centre of global finance.[62]

London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo).[63] For over twenty-five years, the British economy has corresponded with what has been described by some since the 1980s as the Anglo-Saxon model, focusing on the principles of liberalisation, the free market, and low taxation and regulation. Based on market exchange rates, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy in the world,[64] and the second largest in Europe after Germany.

The British started the Industrial Revolution, and, like most industrialising countries at the time, initially concentrated on heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, steel production, and textiles. The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the United Kingdom to dominate international trade in the 19th century. However, as other nations industrialised and surplus labour from agriculture began to dry up coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its economic advantage. As a result, heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. The British service sector, however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP.[65]
The Bank of England; the central bank of the United Kingdom.
The Bank of England; the central bank of the United Kingdom.

The service sector of the United Kingdom is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. London is the world's largest financial centre with the London Stock Exchange, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and the Lloyd's of London insurance market all based in The City. It also has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. In the past decade, a rival financial centre in London has grown in the Docklands area, with HSBC and Barclays Bank relocating their head offices there. Many multinational companies that are not primarily UK-based have chosen to site their European or rest-of-world headquarters in London: an example is the US financial services firm Citigroup. The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, also has one of the large financial centres of Europe.[66]

Tourism is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists a year, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.[67]

The British manufacturing sector, however, has greatly diminished, relative to the economy as a whole, since World War II. It is still a significant part of the economy, but only accounted for one-sixth of national output in 2003.[68] The British motor industry is a significant part of this sector, although it has diminished with the collapse of MG Rover and most of the industry is foreign owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by the United Kingdom's largest aerospace firm, BAE Systems, and the continental European firm EADS, the owners of Airbus. Rolls-Royce holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is also strong in the UK, with the world's second and sixth largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively)[69] being based in the UK.

The creative industries accounted for 7.3% GVA in 2004 and grew at an average of 5% per annum between 1997 and 2004.[70]

The United Kingdom's agriculture sector accounts for only 0.9% of the country's GDP.[71]

The UK has a small coal reserve along with significant natural gas, and oil reserves, although the natural gas and oil reserves are diminishing.

Government involvement throughout the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently Alistair Darling) who heads HM Treasury, but the Prime Minister (currently Gordon Brown), is First Lord of the Treasury; the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Second Lord of the Treasury. However since 1997, the Bank of England, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has control of interest rates and other monetary policy.

[edit] Currency
New Bank of England £20 note.
New Bank of England £20 note.

The currency of the UK is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol £. The Bank of England is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover the issue. The UK chose not to join the Euro at the currency's launch, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.[72] The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership should "five economic tests" be met. In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, whilst 30% were in favour.[73]

[edit] Infrastructure

Main articles: Transport in the United Kingdom and Telecommunications in the United Kingdom

Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest airport in terms of numbers of international passengers.
Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest airport in terms of numbers of international passengers.

The government's Department for Transport oversees the well-developed transport system in the United Kingdom. A radial road network of 29,145 miles (46,904 km) of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Great Britain, a motorway network of 2,173 miles (3,497 km) is centred on Birmingham, Manchester and London. There are a further 213,750 kilometers
(132,818 mi) of paved roads.

The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 route km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger trains and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. There was once over 30,000 route miles of rail network in the UK, however most of this was reduced over a time period from 1955 to 1975, much of it after a report by a government advisor Richard Beeching in the mid 1960s (known as the Beeching Axe).

Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and being an island nation the UK has a considerable network of sea ports, which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003 – 04.

[edit] Armed forces

Main article: British Armed Forces

HMS Invincible. Two Invincible class aircraft carriers are currently in service. A third carrier is in reserve.
HMS Invincible. Two Invincible class aircraft carriers are currently in service. A third carrier is in reserve.

The Army, Navy and Air Force are collectively known as the British Armed Forces (or Her Majesty's Armed Forces) and officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. The commander-in-chief is the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. The armed forces are controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Chief of the Defence Staff.

The United Kingdom fields one of the most technologically advanced and best trained armed forces in the world. According to various sources, including the Ministry of Defence, the UK has the second highest military expenditure in the world,[74][75] despite only having the 28th largest military in terms of manpower. Total defence spending currently accounts for 2.2% of total national GDP, compared to 4.4% at the end of the Cold War.[76] It is also the second largest spender on military science, engineering and technology.[77] The Royal Navy is considered to be the only other blue-water navy along with those of France and the United States.[78] The British Armed Forces are equipped with many advanced weapons systems, including the Challenger 2 tank and the Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighter. The Ministry of Defence also confirmed the acquisition of two new Aircraft Carriers on 25 July 2007.
A Trident II SLBM being launched from one of the Royal Navy's 4 Vanguard class submarines as a test launch.
A Trident II SLBM being launched from one of the Royal Navy's 4 Vanguard class submarines as a test launch.

The United Kingdom is one of the five recognised countries possessing nuclear weapons, utilising the Vanguard class submarine-based Trident II ballistic missile system.

The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's global security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO, including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, as well as the Five Power Defence Arrangements and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, and Cyprus.[79][80]

The British Army had a reported strength of 102,440 in 2005,[81] the Royal Air Force a strength of 49,210 and the 36,320-strong Royal Navy, which includes the Royal Marines, who provide commando units specialising in amphibious warfare.

The United Kingdom Special Forces, provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in counter-terrorism, land, maritime and amphibious operations, often where secrecy or covert tactics are required.

There are also reserve forces supporting the regular military. These include the Territorial Army, the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. This puts total active and reserve duty military personnel at approximately 429,500, deployed in over eighty countries.

Despite the United Kingdom's military capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" would be undertaken as part of a coalition.[82] Setting aside the intervention in Sierra Leone, operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq may all be taken as precedent. Indeed the last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982.

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of the United Kingdom

[edit] Cinema

Main article: Cinema of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has been influential in the development of cinema, with the Ealing Studios claiming to be the oldest studios in the world. Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry is characterised by an ongoing debate about its identity, and the influences of American and European cinema. Famous films include the Harry Potter and Ian Fleming's James Bond series which, although now made by American studios, used British source materials, locations, actors and filming crew.

[edit] Education

Further information: Education in the United Kingdom

Pembroke College, part of the University of Cambridge, England.
Pembroke College, part of the University of Cambridge, England.

The United Kingdom's official literacy rate (99%) is normal by developed country standards. Universal state education was introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696, see Education in Scotland).[83] Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August).

The majority of children in the UK are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. Around 7% of children in the UK are educated privately, the vast majority at the anachronistically named public schools. The products of public schools make up about 50% of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as the majority of doctors, judges and business leaders. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to public schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools.

Some of the UK's 138 university level institutions are internationally renowned, especially those of Cambridge, Oxford, and London.[84] In the 2006 THES - QS World University Rankings,[85] 30 UK institutions were ranked amongst the top 200 universities in the world.

[edit] Literature

Main article: British literature

The Chandos portrait, believed to depict the famed playwright William Shakespeare.
The Chandos portrait, believed to depict the famed playwright William Shakespeare.

The countries that make up the United Kingdom have provided some of the world's most notable and popular authors, poets and literary figures. The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.[86][87][88]

In the history of the novel England is particularly well represented. Early English writers included Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. In the 18th century, Samuel Richardson (often credited with inventing the modern novel), and subsequently Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne and Jane Austen all innovated in the novel form, followed by Thackeray, the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Anthony Trollope. In the twentieth century, H. G. Wells, D. H. Lawrence, the Modernists Virginia Woolf and Henry Green, E. M. Forster, George Orwell and Graham Greene were prominent. More recently, Ian McEwan, Martin Amis, Alan Hollinghurst, Ben Okri, Will Self, Monica Ali, and Zadie Smith were among those gaining recognition, while children's author J. K. Rowling has seen immense popularity, recalling that of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Scotland has also contributed many notable writers to the UK’s literary tradition with writers including Arthur Conan Doyle, Kenneth Grahame and Lewis Grassic Gibbon and has a particularly strong heritage in poetry.

In Romantic literature, Scotland saw Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson's epic adventures and one of the world's most celebrated poets , Robert Burns. Modern Scottish writers like Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn helped develop a distinct modernist and nationalist Scottish voice, sometimes termed the Scottish Renaissance. A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin's stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks. Other notable authors from Scotland include Muriel Spark, Alasdair Gray, Alan Warner, and Irvine Welsh.

Scotland is also home to UNESCO's first worldwide city of literature - Edinburgh.

In the early medieval period, Welsh writers composed the Mabinogion. In modern times, the poets R.S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas have brought Welsh culture to an international audience.

Many authors from other nationalities, particularly from Ireland, or from Commonwealth countries, have also lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Sir Salman Rushdie.

There have been many British poets; the best known include Robert Burns, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and John Betjeman.

The history of the theatre in the United Kingdom is particularly vivid. Shakespeare's contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson add depth to the early theatre. More recently Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter, Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard and David Edgar have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism; with successful recent playwrights also including John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Alan Bennett and David Hare.

Further information: English literature, Scottish literature and Welsh literature

[edit] Media

Main article: Media of the United Kingdom

The prominence of the English language gives the UK media a widespread international dimension.

[edit] Broadcasting

The BBC is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates several television channels and radio stations both in the UK and abroad. The BBC's international television news service, BBC World, is broadcast throughout the world and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in thirty-three languages globally.

The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence, a legal requirement for any British household with a television receiver that is in use to receive broadcasts, regardless of whether or not the householders watch BBC channels. Households which are the principal residence of any person over 75 are exempt[89] and the requirement does not extend to radio listeners. The BBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the television stations are operated by BBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. It is also this commercial arm of the BBC that forms half of UKTV along with Virgin Media.

There are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five - all currently transmitted by analogue terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising.

The UK now also has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the BBC, five from ITV and three from Channel 4 among a variety of others.

The vast majority of digital cable services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite being provided by BSkyB and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview. The entire country will switch to digital by 2012.

Radio in the UK is dominated by BBC Radio, which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is BBC Radio 2, closely followed by BBC Radio 1. There are also many hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country offering a variety of music or talk formats.

[edit] Print

Traditionally, British newspapers could be split into quality, serious-minded newspaper (usually referred to as "broadsheets" due to their large size) and the more populist, tabloid varieties. For convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact-sized format, traditionally used by tabloids. The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK, with approximately a quarter of the market; its sister paper, The News of The World similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market,[90] and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories. The Daily Telegraph, a right-of-centre broadsheet paper, has overtaken The Times (tabloid size format) as the highest-selling of the "quality" newspapers .[91] The Guardian is a more liberal (left-wing) "quality" broadsheet. The Financial Times is the main business paper, printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper. Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see List of newspapers in Scotland). First printed in 1737, the Belfast News Letter is the oldest known English-speaking daily newspaper still in publication today. One of its fellow Northern Irish competitors, The Irish News, has been twice ranked as the best regional newspaper in the United Kingdom, in 2006 and 2007.[92] Aside from newspapers, a number of British magazines and journals have achieved world-wide circulation including The Economist and Nature.

[edit] Music

Main article: British Music

Classical music: Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten, pioneer of modern British opera. London remains one of the major classical music capitals of the world.

Popular music: Prominent among the UK contibutors to the development of rock music in the 1960s were The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock and New Wave were among the variations that followed. In the early 1980s UK bands from the New Romantic scene were prominent. In the 1990s, Britpop bands and electronica music also attained international success. More recent pop acts, including Take That, McFly and the Spice Girls, have ensured the continuation of the UK's contribution to popular music.

[edit] Philosophy
David Hume (1711 – 1776).
David Hume (1711 – 1776).

Eminent philosophers from the UK include William of Ockham, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Adam Smith and Alfred Ayer. Foreign born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx, Karl Popper, and Ludwig Wittgenstein

[edit] Science, engineering and innovation

See also: Category:British inventors and Category:British inventions

The scientific method was promoted by the English philosopher Francis Bacon in the early seventeenth century. Subsequent advances credited to British scientists and engineers and include:

* Turing Machine Alan Turing
* The laws of motion and illumination of gravity, by Sir Isaac Newton in the late 17th century
* The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell
* The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish
* The steam locomotive, by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian
* The telephone, by Alexander Graham Bell
* Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin
* The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others
* The development of the World Wide Web, largely attributed to Tim Berners-Lee

Notable civil engineering projects, whose pioneers included Isambard Kingdom Brunel, contributed to the world's first national railway transport system. Other advances pioneered in the UK include the marine chronometer, television, the jet engine, the modern bicycle, electric lighting, the electric motor, the screw propeller, the internal combustion engine, military radar, the electronic computer, vaccination and antibiotics.

Scientific journals produced in the UK include Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet. In 2006, it was reported that the UK provided 9% of the world's scientific research papers and a 12% share of citations, second only to the USA.[93]

Belfast Agreement

2007-09-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

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The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. It was endorsed by the voters of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in separate referendums on 23 May 1998. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only large party that opposed the Agreement.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Provisions
* 2 Referendums
* 3 See also
* 4 External links

[edit] Provisions

* the principle that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the majority vote of its citizens.
* One commitment by all parties to use "exclusively peaceful and democratic means".
* The establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved legislative powers.
* Introduction of the cross-community principle for any major decision taken by the Assembly.
* Creation of a 'power-sharing' Northern Ireland Executive, using the D'Hondt method to allocate Ministries proportionally to the main parties.
* Creation of a North-South Ministerial Council and North-South Implementation Bodies to bring about cross-border cooperation in policy and programmes on a number of issues.
* Creation of a British-Irish Inter-governmental Conference (replacing the former English-Irish Conference, established by the Anglo-Irish Agreement), which give a consulting role to the Republic of Ireland concerning not devolved matters.
* Establishment of a British-Irish Council, composed of representatives from the governments of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, to discuss areas of common concern.
* Conditional early release within two years of paramilitary members belonging to organisations observing a ceasefire.
* Establishment of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
* A two year target for decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
* The repealing of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 by the British Parliament. [1]
* The abolition of the Republic's territorial claim to Northern Ireland via the modification Articles 2 and 3 of its constitution.
* New legislation for Northern Ireland on policing, human rights and equality.
* Normalisation of security measures, e.g. closure of redundant army bases.
* Police reform, undertaken by the Patten Commission (1998–1999).
* Equality of social, economic and cultural rights of all ethnic communities e.g. official recognition of the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages as equal to English.
* Recognition of the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose.
* Confirmation that the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland

Vague wording of some of the provisions (described as "constructive ambiguity"), which helped ensure acceptance of the agreement at the time, served to postpone debate on some of the more contentious issues — most notably paramilitary decommissioning, police reform and normalisation. A date of May 2000 was set for total disarming of all paramilitary groups. This was not achieved and delayed the establishment of the Assembly and Executive, because one of the four main parties in the Assembly — Sinn Féin — was "inextricably linked" to the largest paramilitary group, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), and unionists refused to share power with this party, while the PIRA remained armed.

The Assembly and Executive were eventually established in December 1999 on the understanding that decommissioning would begin immediately, but were suspended within two months due to lack of progress, before being re-established in May 2000 as Provisional IRA decommissioning eventually began. Aside from the decommissioning issue, however, ongoing paramilitary activity (albeit relatively low level compared to the past) by the Provisional Irish Republican Army — e.g., arms importations, "punishment beatings", intelligence-gathering and rioting — was also a stumbling block. The loyalist paramilitaries also continued similar activity.

The overall result of these problems was to damage confidence among unionists in the Agreement, which was exploited by the anti-Agreement DUP which eventually defeated the pro-Agreement Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in the 2003 Assembly election. The UUP had already resigned from the power-sharing Executive in 2002 following arrests of Sinn Féin personnel on charges of gathering intelligence for use by terrorists. (These charges were eventually dropped in 2005 on the controversial grounds that pursual would not be "in the public interest". Immediately afterwards, one of the accused Provisional Sinn Féin members, Denis Donaldson was exposed as a British agent.)

In 2004, negotiations were held between the two governments, the DUP, and Sinn Féin on an agreement to reestablish the institutions. These talks failed, but a document published by the governments detailing changes to the Belfast Agreement became known as the 'Comprehensive Agreement'. On 26 September 2005, however, it was announced that the Provisional Irish Republican Army had completely decommissioned its arsenal of weapons and "put them beyond use". Nonetheless, many unionists, most notably the DUP, remained sceptical and agreement on how to restore the power-sharing assembly still had not been reached as of July 2006. Of the loyalist paramilitaries, only the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) had decommissioned any weapons [2].

[edit] Referendums

Main article: Northern Irish Belfast Agreement referendum, 1998

In May 1998 there were separate referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to endorse the Belfast Agreement. The "No" vote in Northern Ireland came predominantly from unionists opposed to perceived concessions being made to nationalists and republicans. However, opinion polls suggest a slim majority of unionists may have voted "Yes". In the Republic of Ireland the electorate voted upon the Nineteenth Amendment. This amendment both permitted the state to comply with the Belfast Agreement and provided for the removal of the 'territorial claim' contained in Articles 2 and 3. The Republic of Ireland voted upon the Amsterdam Treaty on the same day. The results of the two simultaneous referendums on the Belfast Agreement were as follows:
Yes No Turnout
Northern Ireland 676,966 (71%) 274,879 (29%) 81%
Republic of Ireland 1,442,583 (94%) 85,748 (6%) 56%