1.
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
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Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was a Finnish military leader and statesman. Mannerheim made a career in the Imperial Russian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant general and he also had a prominent place in the ceremonies for Tsar Nicholas IIs coronation and later had several private meetings with the Russian Tsar. After the Bolshevik revolution, Finland declared its independence but was embroiled in civil war between the pro-Bolshevik Reds and the Whites, who were the troops of the Senate of Finland. Mannerheim was appointed the chief of the Whites. In 1944, when the prospect of Germanys defeat in World War II became clear, Mannerheim was elected President of Finland and oversaw peace negotiations with the Soviet Union and he resigned the presidency in 1946 and died in 1951. In a Finnish survey 53 years after his death, Mannerheim was voted the greatest Finn of all time, the Mannerheim family descends from a German businessman, Heinrich Marhein, who emigrated to the Swedish Empire. His son Augustin Marhein changed his surname to Mannerheim and was raised to the nobility by King Charles XI in 1693, Augustin Mannerheims son, Johan Augustin Mannerheim, was raised to the status of Baron in 1768. The Mannerheim family came to Finland, then a part of Sweden. Mannerheims great-grandfather, Count Carl Erik Mannerheim served as the first Prime Minister of Finland, in 1825, he was promoted to the rank of Count. Mannerheims grandfather, Count Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, was an entomologist, Mannerheims father, Carl Robert, Count Mannerheim, was a playwright who held liberal and radical political ideas, but he was also an industrialist whose success varied. Mannerheims mother, Hedvig Charlotta Helena von Julin, was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, as the third child of the family, Mannerheim inherited the title of Baron. His father went bankrupt in 1880, he was forced to sell the home and his other landed estates to his sister. Mannerheims father left his wife, Countess Hélène, and moved to Paris with his mistress and he returned to Helsinki and founded the Systema company in 1887, and was its manager until his death. Countess Hélène, shaken by the bankruptcy and her husbands desertion, Hélène died the following year from a heart attack. Her death left the children to be brought up by relatives, making Mannerheims maternal uncle, Albert von Julin, because of the worsened family finances and Mannerheims serious discipline problems in school, Julin decided to send him to the school of the Hamina Cadet School in 1882. The Cadet Corps was a military school educating boys of aristocratic families for careers in the Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Besides his mother tongue, Swedish, Mannerheim learned to speak Finnish, Russian, French, German, Mannerheim heartily disliked the school and the narrow social circles in Hamina. He rebelled by going on leave without permission in 1886, for which he was expelled from the Finnish Cadet Corps, Mannerheim next attended the Helsinki Private Lyceum, and passed his university entrance examinations in June 1887
2.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
3.
Officer (armed forces)
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An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel, in 2013, officers were the senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13. 7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, historically, however, armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers, in the early twentieth century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12. 5%. Within a nations armed forces, armies tend to have a proportion of officers. For example,13. 9% of British army personnel and 22. 2% of the RAF personnel were officers in 2013, having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, a superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. Non-commissioned officers in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se, many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors, while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers, the first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into the officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. The third route is similar to the second, in that they convert from an enlisted to a commission, but these are taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers, in the infantry, a number of Warrant Officer Class 1s are commissioned as LE officers. For Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer candidates, a 30-week period at Britannia Royal Naval College or a 30-week period at RAF College Cranwell, Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a grueling 15-month course. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management, etiquette, until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, AOCS also also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate and Naval Aviation Cadet programs. NAVCADs were personnel who held associates degrees, but lacked bachelors degrees, nAVCADs would complete the entire AOCS program, but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial tour, they would be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelors degree
4.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
5.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
6.
Captain (armed forces)
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The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery, in the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion. In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1, the rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field. The rank of captain should not be confused with the rank of captain or with the British-influenced air force rank of group captain. The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning chief, prominent, in Middle English adopted as capitayn in the 14th century, the military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war, is earlier, from the 1550s. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant, the funding to provide for the troops came from the monarch or his government, the captain had to be responsible for it. If he was not, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed, otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire. In most countries, the air force is the junior service, many, such as the United States Air Force, use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of the army. However, the United Kingdoms Royal Air Force, many other Commonwealth air forces, a group captain is OF-5 and was derived from the naval rank of captain. In the unified system of the Canadian Forces, the air force rank titles are pearl grey, a variety of images illustrative of different forces insignia for captain are shown below, Captain Captain Senior captain Staff captain
7.
Major
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Major is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank senior to that of an army captain and it is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks. Majors are typically assigned as specialised executive or operations officers for battalion-sized units of 300 to 1,200 soldiers, in some militaries, notably France and Ireland, the rank of major is referred to as commandant, while in others it is known as captain-major. The rank of major is used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures, such as the Pennsylvania State Police, New York State Police, New Jersey State Police. As a police rank, major roughly corresponds to the UK rank of superintendent, the term major can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in pipe-major or drum-major. Historically, the rank designation develops in English in the 1640s, taken from French majeur, in turn a shortening of sergent-majeur, which at the time designated a higher rank than at present
8.
Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
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The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is an elite airborne infantry regiment of the British Army. One battalion is permanently under the command of the Director Special Forces in the Special Forces Support Group, the other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Armys rapid response formation,16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras are the line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War. The Parachute Regiment was formed on 22 June 1940 during the Second World War, in Europe, these battalions formed part of the 1st Airborne Division, the 6th Airborne Division and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group. Another three battalions served with the British Indian Army in India and Burma, the regiment took part in six major parachute assault operations in North Africa, Italy, Greece, France, the Netherlands and Germany, often landing ahead of all other troops. At the end of the Second World War, the regiment was reduced to three regular army battalions first assigned to the 16th Parachute Brigade and later the 5th Airborne Brigade, the reserve 16th Airborne Division was formed using the regiment reserve battalions in the Territorial Army. Defence cuts gradually reduced the TA formations to a parachute brigade, the Parachute Regiment consists of three regular army battalions, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and an Army Reserve battalion, the 4th. The 1st is based at St Athan, Wales, and is attached to the Special Forces Support Group. They receive further training on weapons, communications equipment and specialist assault skills. All men within the Parachute Regiment can expect to serve with the SFSG on rotation and this ensures that the advanced military skills taught to the SFSG are maintained in the other two regular battalions. The 2nd and 3rd battalions are the infantry component of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, the armys rapid response brigade. The reserve 4th Battalion has its headquarters at Pudsey and companies in Glasgow, Liverpool, volunteers for the Parachute Regiment are invited to a 3-day insight course at the Parachute Regiment Assessment Course at Catterick Garrison. Over the three days, they have to pass a series of fitness assessments. All recruit training is undertaken over a 30-week course with 2nd Infantry Training Battalion at the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick. P company puts recruits through a number of physical assessments designed to test fitness, stamina, at the end of P Company, recruits take part in eight pre-parachute selection tests. Those who are successful are awarded their maroon beret, currently, recruits for the Parachute Regiment must be male and aged 16 to 33 for the regular Army, or 18 to 40 for the Army Reserve. Potential Officers must be aged 18 to 29, on completion of his basic training and entry into his battalion, recruits are posted to RAF Brize Norton for a Basic Parachute Course. Since 1995, all jumps are carried out from powered aircraft
9.
Battle of Goose Green
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The Battle of Goose Green was an engagement between British and Argentine forces during the Falklands War. Goose Green and its neighbouring settlement Darwin on East Falkland lie on Choiseul Sound on the east side of the central isthmus. They are about 13 miles south of the site where the major British amphibious landings took place in San Carlos Water on the night of 21/22 May 1982, British forces worked on UTC time and many reports and sources quote the timing of events based on Zulu time. All times stated in this page are reflected as local, Falkland Island time, on the day of the battle, sunrise was at 08,39 and sunset at 16,58. To avoid confusion between similar company designations, Argentine companies are referred to in the form Company A while British forces are referred to as A Company. Goose Green and Darwin are on an isthmus connecting Lafonia to Wickham Heights. The terrain is rolling and treeless and is covered with grass outcrops, areas of gorse and peat bogs making effective camouflage. From May to August, the southern winter, the ground is sodden and frequently covered with brackish water, causing movement to be slow and exhausting. The isthmus has two settlements, both on the coastal edge with Darwin settlement to the north and Goose Green to the south. The islands have a cold, damp climate and light, drizzly rains occur two out of three days with continuous winds. Periods of rain, snow, fog, and sun change rapidly, the bulk of the Argentine forces were in positions around Port Stanley about 50 miles to the east of San Carlos. The Argentine positions at Goose Green and Darwin were well defended by a force of combined units equipped with artillery, mortars,35 mm cannon and machine guns. British intelligence indicated that the Argentine force presented limited offensive capabilities, as a result, British Joint Headquarters in the UK came under increasing pressure from the British government for an early ground offensive of political and propaganda value. There were also fears that the United Nations Security Council would vote for a cease-fire, if the Darwin-Goose Green isthmus could be taken prior to such a decision, British forces would control access to the entire Lafonia and thus a significant portion of East Falkland. On 25 May Brigadier Julian Thompson, ground forces commander, commanding 3 Commando Brigade, was ordered to mount an attack on Argentine positions around Goose Green. The task force, in 1982, also contained a company of the ranger-type 25th Infantry Regiment, there was also one battery of three OTO Melara Mod 56105 mm pack howitzers from the 4th Airborne Artillery Regiment. Pucarás based at Stanley, armed with rockets and napalm, provided air support. Total forces under Piaggis commanded numbered 1,083 men and he assumed an all-round defence posture with Company A IR12 providing the key to his defence, they being deployed along a gorse hedge running across the Darwin isthmus from Darwin Hill to Boca House
10.
Trooping the Colour
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Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, on battlefields, a regiments colours, or flags, were used as rallying points. Consequently, regiments would have their ensigns slowly march with their colours between the ranks to enable soldiers to recognise their regiments colours. Since 1748, Trooping the Colour has also marked the birthday of the British sovereign. It is held in London annually on a Saturday in June on Horse Guards Parade by St. Jamess Park, among the audience are the Royal Family, invited guests, ticket holders and the general public. The ceremony is broadcast live by the BBC within the UK and is shown in Germany. The Queen travels down The Mall from Buckingham Palace in a procession with a sovereigns escort of Household Cavalry. After receiving a royal salute, she inspects her troops of the Household Division, each year, one of the foot-guards regiments is selected to troop its colour through the ranks of guards. Then the entire Household Division assembly conducts a march past the Queen, parading with its guns, the Kings Troop takes precedence as the mounted troops perform a walk-march and trot-past. Returning to Buckingham Palace, the Queen watches a further march-past from outside the gates, following a 41-gun salute by the Kings Troop in Green Park, she leads the Royal Family on to the palace balcony for a Royal Air Force flypast. A regiments colours embody its spirit and service, as well as its fallen soldiers, the loss of a colour, or the capture of an enemy colour, were respectively considered the greatest shame, or the greatest glory on a battlefield. Consequently, regimental colours are venerated by officers and soldiers of all ranks, only battalions of infantry regiments of the line carry colours, the Royal Artillerys colours, for example, are its guns. Rifle regiments did not form a line and thus never carried colours and their battle honours are carried on their drums. The exception to this is the Honourable Artillery Company, which has both a stand of colours and guns and this was done before and after every battle. This ceremony has been retained through time and is largely ceremonial. In the United Kingdom, Trooping the Colour is also known as the Queens Birthday Parade and it has marked the official birthday of the sovereign since 1748, and has occurred annually since 1820. From the reign of King Edward VII, the sovereign has taken the salute in person and it was Edward VII who moved Trooping the Colour to its June date, because of the vagaries of British weather. Trooping the Colour allows the troops of the Household Division to pay a tribute to the sovereign with great pomp
