1.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
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Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was the last Empress consort of India, born into a family of British nobility, she came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service and she undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the Smiling Duchess because of her consistent public expression. In 1936, her husband became king when his brother, Edward VIII. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of World War II, during the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, after the war, her husbands health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen, on the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth became the most senior member of the British royal family after the sovereign, and was viewed as the family matriarch. In her later years, she was a popular member of the family. She continued a public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Louisa Scott. Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores English country house, St Pauls Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year. She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the parish church, All Saints. She spent much of her childhood at St Pauls Walden and at Glamis Castle and she was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophons Anabasis and her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler. On her fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany, four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother, Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915, another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917. Three weeks later, the family discovered he had captured after being wounded
2.
George VI
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
3.
Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
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King George ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, on 10 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edwards coronation had been planned for 12 May 1937 and it was decided to continue with his brother, the peers of the realm then paid homage to the King before a shorter and simpler ceremony was conducted for the Queens coronation. The event was designed to be not only a sacred anointing and formal crowning, but also a public spectacle, may 1937 included a programme of royal events lasting nearly the entire month to commemorate and mark the occasion. For the event itself, the ministers of each Dominion took part in the procession to the abbey. Contingents from most colonies and each Dominion participated in the procession through Londons streets. It was also the first coronation to be filmed, as well as the first to be broadcast on radio. In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, in October 1936, Simpson filed for divorce a second time and the King informed the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, that he intended to propose to her. The widespread unwillingness to accept Simpson as the Kings consort, and Edwards refusal to give her up and he was succeeded by his next younger brother, Albert, Duke of York, who chose the regnal name of George VI, in honour of his father. In 1923, George had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, although the reign of the British monarch begins on their succession to the throne, the coronation service marks their formal crowning. While Edward VIII was away, cruising on the Nahlin with Wallis Simpson, his brother, Albert, Duke of York sat in his place on the committees. Owing to his office, he was a member of both the Executive Committee and the Coronation Committee, which dealt with the detail and, as such, he attended all of the rehearsals. He tended to take a role in the planning process, becoming a key mediator when queries arose. He was also keen to ensure that the King and Queen understood the nuances of the service. The Archbishop met with the King and Queen on the evening before their coronation, running through the ceremony, as it happened, the King delivered his speech without stuttering. The coronation cost £454,000, which was more than three times the cost of the 1911 ceremony and this cost included the construction of the annexe, which was built as a temporary add-on at the entrance of the abbey for each coronation. 400 tons were used alongside 72,000 cubic feet of wood, the theatre and sacrarium were also lowered to floor level for the first time since the restoration. The Coronation Committee altered the rite to reflect this change, the King now swore to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion only as established by law in the United Kingdom. This was the first amendment to the oath since the coronation of King William III, members of the extended Royal Family attended and all peers and members of parliament were invited
4.
State Opening of Parliament
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The State Opening of Parliament is an event which formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It includes a speech from the known as the Queens Speech. The State Opening is an elaborate ceremony showcasing British history, culture and contemporary politics to large crowds and it takes place in the House of Lords chamber, usually in May or June, in front of both Houses of Parliament. The monarch, wearing the Imperial State Crown, reads a speech that has prepared by his or her government outlining its plans for that year. A State Opening may take place at times of the year if an election is held early due to a vote of no confidence in the government. In 1974, when two general elections were held, there were two State Openings, Queen Elizabeth II has opened every session of Parliament since her accession, except in 1959 and 1963 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively. Those two sessions were opened by Lords Commissioners, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, empowered by the Queen, the Lord Chancellor read the Queens Speech on those occasions. The State Opening is a ceremony of several parts, First. The Plot of 1605 involved an attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Protestant King James I. Since that year, the cellars have been searched, now largely, the peers assemble in the House of Lords wearing their robes. They are joined by representatives of the judiciary and members of the diplomatic corps. The Commons assemble in their own chamber, wearing ordinary day dress, before the monarch departs Buckingham Palace the Treasurer, Comptroller and Vice-Chamberlain of the Queens Household deliver ceremonial white staves to her. The tradition stems from the time of Charles I, who had a relationship with Parliament and was eventually beheaded in 1649 during the Civil War between the monarchy and Parliament. A copy of Charles Is death warrant is displayed in the room used by the Queen as a ceremonial reminder of what can happen to a Monarch who attempts to interfere with Parliament. Before the arrival of the sovereign, the Imperial State Crown is carried to the Palace of Westminster in its own State Coach, from the Victoria Tower, the Crown is passed by the Queens Bargemaster to the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlains office. It is then carried, along with the Great Sword of State, traditionally, members of the armed forces line the procession route from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster. The Royal Standard is hoisted to replace the Union Flag upon the Sovereigns entrance, Black Rod turns and, under the escort of the Door-keeper of the House of Lords and a police inspector, approaches the doors to the Chamber of the Commons. Since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, on Black Rods approach, the doors are slammed shut against him, symbolising the rights of parliament and its independence from the monarch
5.
Garrard & Co
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Limited formerly Asprey & Garrard Limited designs and manufactures luxury jewellery and silver. George Wickes founded Garrard in London in 1735, Garrard is headquartered at Albemarle Street in Mayfair, London. Garrard also has a presence in Harrods, London, Geneva, Lebanon, Qatar, Dubai, Moscow, Garrard was the Crown Jeweller of the UK, charged with the upkeep of the British Crown Jewels, from 1843 to 2007. The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy was designed and produced in 1999 in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co, the company that was to become Garrard was founded by George Wickes, who entered his mark in Goldsmiths Hall in 1722. Wickes was an accomplished silversmith known for his work in the rococo style, two apprentices of Wickes, John Parker and Edward Wakelin, purchased the company following Wickes retirement in 1760, replaced by John Wakelin and William Taylor in 1776. Following the death of William Taylor, Robert Garrard became a partner in the company in 1792, the company remained in the hands of the Garrard family until the death of Sebastian Henry Garrard, great-grandson of Robert Garrard senior, in 1946. The name Garrard & Company Ltd was registered in 1909, in 1852, Garrard were given the responsibility of re-cutting the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond into a brilliant. In 1848 Garrard produced what is now referred to as The Americas Cup, in 1915, Garrard & Company were asked to manufacture precision range finders for the British Artillery as they had both the craftsmen and machinery needed. In 1915, the Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company was created, Garrard merged with the jewellery firm Asprey in 1998 to become Asprey & Garrard, moving from 112 Regent Street to premises on New Bond Street. The company demerged in 2002, with Garrard returning to the Albemarle Street site it first occupied in 1911, Garrard was acquired by the US private equity firm Yucaipa Companies in 2006, ending its partnership with Asprey. Jade Jagger was the director for the company from 2001 until being replaced by Stephen Webster in 2006. The current crown and G logo is based on Robert Garrards 1822 hallmark, in late 2002 Garrard embarked on an advertising campaign featuring pastiche by appointment warrants to show celebrity endorsements, e. g. Garrard- by appointment to Missy Elliott. This was not well received by the Royal Warrant Holders Association, more recently, Garrard has been noted as being the maker of the sapphire engagement ring given by Charles, Prince of Wales, to Diana, Princess of Wales for their 1981 marriage. After Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the passed to her sons. Garrard created the Premier League trophy, and produced the original prop of the Heart Of The Ocean for the 1997 film Titanic and this ended 166 years of Garrards tenure as the inaugural British Royal Jeweller. G. Collins and Sons were appointed the new Crown Jewellers by the Queen, although Garrard still holds a royal warrant from her son, culme, J. and Summers, W. Garrard, The Crown Jewellers for 150 Years. Crown Jeweller Forbes,21 March 2006, retrieved 21 November 2006
6.
Koh-i-Noor
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The Koh-i-Noor is a large, colourless diamond that was found near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, India, possibly in the 13th century. According to legend, it first weighed 793 carats uncut, although the earliest well-attested weight is 186 carats, in 1852, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, unhappy with its dull and irregular appearance, ordered it cut down from 186 carats. It emerged 42 percent lighter as a dazzling oval-cut brilliant weighing 105.6 carats, as the diamonds history involves a great deal of fighting between men, the Koh-i-Noor acquired a reputation within the British royal family for bringing bad luck to any man who wears it. Since arriving in the country, it has ever been worn by female members of the family. Today, the diamond is set in the front of the Queen Mothers Crown, part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, and is seen by millions of visitors to the Tower of London each year. The governments of India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have all tried to claim ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and demanded its return at various points in recent decades. However, the early history is lost in the mists of time. It is however impossible to know where it was found, in the early 14th century, Alauddin Khalji, second ruler of the Turkic Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and his army began looting the kingdoms of southern India. Malik Kafur, Khiljis general, made a raid on Warangal in 1310. He called the stone the Diamond of Babur at the time, both Babur and his son and successor, Humayun, mentioned the origins of this diamond in their memoirs, thought by many historians to be the earliest reliable reference to the Koh-i-Noor. Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne, in 1658, his son and successor, Aurangazeb, confined the ailing emperor at nearby Agra Fort. While in the possession of Aurangazeb, it was cut by Hortenso Borgia. For this carelessness, Borgia was reprimanded and fined 10,000 rupees, according to recent research the story of Borgia cutting the diamond is not correct, and most probably mixed up with the Orlov, part of Catherine the Greats imperial Russian sceptre in the Kremlin. Along with a host of items, including the Daria-i-Noor, as well as the Peacock Throne. When he finally managed to obtain the stone, and that is how the stone got its name. It is estimated that the worth of the treasures plundered came to 700 million rupees. This was roughly equivalent to £87.5 million sterling at the time, the riches gained by the Afsharid Empire from the Indian campaign were so monumental that Nader Shah made a proclamation alleviating all subjects of the Empire from taxes for a total of three years. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747 and the collapse of his empire, the stone came into the hands of one of his generals, Ahmad Shah Durrani, who later became the Emir of Afghanistan
7.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
8.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
9.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
10.
Crimean War
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The Crimean War was a military conflict fought from October 1853 to March 1856 in which the Russian Empire lost to an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. The immediate cause involved the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, the French promoted the rights of Roman Catholics, while Russia promoted those of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The longer-term causes involved the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the unwillingness of Britain and France to allow Russia to gain territory and power at Ottoman expense. While the churches eventually worked out their differences and came to an agreement, Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas issued an ultimatum that the Orthodox subjects of the Empire be placed under his protection. Britain attempted to mediate and arranged a compromise that Nicholas agreed to, when the Ottomans demanded changes, Nicholas refused and prepared for war. Having obtained promises of support from France and Britain, the Ottomans declared war on Russia in October 1853. The war started in the Balkans, when Russian troops occupied the Danubian Principalities, until then under Ottoman suzerainty and now part of modern Romania, led by Omar Pasha, the Ottomans fought a strong defensive campaign and stopped the advance at Silistra. A separate action on the town of Kars in eastern Anatolia led to a siege. Fearing an Ottoman collapse, France and Britain rushed forces to Gallipoli and they then moved north to Varna in June, arriving just in time for the Russians to abandon Silistra. Aside from a skirmish at Köstence, there was little for the allies to do. Karl Marx quipped that there they are, the French doing nothing, after extended preparations, the forces landed on the peninsula in September 1854 and fought their way to a point south of Sevastopol after a series of successful battles. The Russians counterattacked on 25 October in what became the Battle of Balaclava and were repulsed, a second counterattack, ordered personally by Nicholas, was defeated by Omar Pasha. The front settled into a siege and led to conditions for troops on both sides. Smaller actions were carried out in the Baltic, the Caucasus, Sevastopol fell after eleven months, and neutral countries began to join the Allied cause. Isolated and facing a bleak prospect of invasion from the west if the war continued and this was welcomed by France and Britain, as their subjects were beginning to turn against their governments as the war dragged on. The war was ended by the Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 March 1856, Russia was forbidden from hosting warships in the Black Sea. The Ottoman vassal states of Wallachia and Moldavia became largely independent, Christians there were granted a degree of official equality, and the Orthodox Church regained control of the Christian churches in dispute. The Crimean War was one of the first conflicts to use technologies such as explosive naval shells, railways
11.
Alexandra of Denmark
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Alexandra of Denmark was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII. At the age of sixteen, she was chosen as the wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. They married eighteen months later in 1863, the year her father became king of Denmark as Christian IX. She was Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, the longest anyone has held that title. Largely excluded from wielding any political power, she attempted to sway the opinion of British ministers and her husbands family to favour Greek. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work, on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albert Edward became king-emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as queen-empress. She held the status until Edwards death in 1910 and she greatly distrusted her nephew, German Emperor Wilhelm II, and supported her son during World War I, in which Britain and its allies fought Germany. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, although she was of royal blood, her family lived a comparatively normal life. They did not possess great wealth, her fathers income from a commission was about £800 per year and their house was a rent-free grace. Occasionally, Hans Christian Andersen was invited to call and tell the stories before bedtime. In 1848, King Christian VIII of Denmark died and his only son, Frederick was childless, had been through two unsuccessful marriages, and was assumed to be infertile. A succession crisis arose as Frederick ruled in both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, and the rules of each territory differed. In Holstein, the Salic law prevented inheritance through the female line, Holstein, being predominantly German, proclaimed independence and called in the aid of Prussia. In 1852, the great powers called a conference in London to discuss the Danish succession, Prince Christian was given the title Prince of Denmark and his family moved into a new official residence, Bernstorff Palace. Alexandra shared a draughty attic bedroom with her sister, Dagmar, made her own clothes, Alexandra and Dagmar were given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of womens swimming, Nancy Edberg. At Bernstorff, Alexandra grew into a woman, she was taught English by the English chaplain at Copenhagen and was confirmed in Christiansborg Palace. She was devout throughout her life, and followed High Church practice, Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, were already concerned with finding a bride for their son and heir, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. They enlisted the aid of their daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, Alexandra was not their first choice, since the Danes were at loggerheads with the Prussians over the Schleswig-Holstein Question and most of the British royal familys relations were German
12.
Mary of Teck
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Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor George V. Although technically a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, she was born and her parents were Francis, Duke of Teck, who was of German extraction, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III. She was informally known as May, after her birth month, the following year, she became engaged to Albert Victors next surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husbands accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and she supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the year, during the reign of her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born on 26 May 1867 at Kensington Palace and her father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg by his morganatic wife, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde. Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the child and younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal of Kensington Palace on 27 July 1867 by Charles Thomas Longley, before she became queen, she was known to her family, friends and the public by the diminutive name of May, after her birth month. Mays upbringing was merry but fairly strict and she was the eldest of four children, the only girl, and learned to exercise her native discretion, firmness, and tact by resolving her three younger brothers petty boyhood squabbles. They played with their cousins, the children of the Prince of Wales, may was educated at home by her mother and governess. Although her mother was a grandchild of King George III, May was only a member of the British Royal Family. Her father, the Duke of Teck, had no inheritance or wealth, however, the Duchess of Teck was granted a parliamentary annuity of £5,000 and received about £4,000 a year from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge. Despite this, the family was deeply in debt and lived abroad from 1883, the Tecks travelled throughout Europe, visiting their various relations. They stayed in Florence, Italy, for a time, where May enjoyed visiting the art galleries, churches, in 1885, the Tecks returned to London, and took up residence at White Lodge, in Richmond Park. May was close to her mother, and acted as an secretary, helping to organise parties. She was also close to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, during the First World War, the Crown Princess of Sweden helped pass letters from May to her aunt, who lived in enemy territory in Germany until her death in 1916. In December 1891, May was engaged to her second cousin once removed, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. The choice of May as bride for the Duke owed much to Queen Victorias fondness for her, as well as to her strong character, however, Albert Victor died six weeks later, in a recurrence of the worldwide 1889–90 influenza pandemic
