1.
Definitive stamp
–
Commonly, a definitive issue or series includes stamps in a range of denominations sufficient to cover current postal rates. An issue generally means a set that is put on all at the same time, while a series is spread out over several years. Additional stamps in a series may be produced as needed by changes in postal rates but some values may be available, regardless of prevailing rates, for instance 1c or 1p. The range of values varies by era and country, but the focus is on coverage, the highest value of the series is generally quite large, typically from 50-100 times the normal letter rate, typical values include one pound, five dollars, etc. Not often seen by the person, they are most common for parcels. The in-between values are chosen to make change efficiently, for instance 1,2,5,10,20,50 in a decimal currency. It is common to all values between 1 and 10, multiples of 5 from 10 to 50, and multiples of 10 from 50 to 100. Additional oddball values may reflect specific common rates, and if the series lasts for a period of time, definitives are the workhorse stamps of a country, and as such, they tend to be small, with designs reflecting local culture and history. Collectors organizations have recommended that administrations only bring out new definitive issues no more often than every five years, an exception would be the death of a monarch, or other prominent leader, necessitating a new definitive series for the new ruler. Sometimes merely the portrait is changed, and the design remains the same throughout several issues. Countries that ignore frequency of issue guidelines and issue volumes of stamps that have little to no practical usage produce what many refer to as wallpaper. Since definitive series are issued over a period of time and are reprinted to meet postal demand, many philatelists study these differences as part of their hobby and try to collect all the varieties of each stamp. Some varieties are rare and can be more valuable than others of the same stamp that may look the same to the casual observer. One notable example of this variation is the Machin stamps of the UK, where philatelists have identified over 1000 varieties of the same basic design
2.
German Empire
–
The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
3.
Weimar Republic
–
Weimar Republic is an unofficial, historical designation for the German state between 1919 and 1933. The name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place, the official name of the state was still Deutsches Reich, it had remained unchanged since 1871. In English the country was known simply as Germany. A national assembly was convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for the Deutsches Reich was written, in its fourteen years, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism, and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War. The people of Germany blamed the Weimar Republic rather than their leaders for the countrys defeat. However, the Weimar Republic government successfully reformed the currency, unified tax policies, Weimar Germany eliminated most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, it never completely met its disarmament requirements, and eventually paid only a small portion of the war reparations. Under the Locarno Treaties, Germany accepted the borders of the republic. From 1930 onwards President Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen, the Great Depression, exacerbated by Brünings policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment. In 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor with the Nazi Party being part of a coalition government, the Nazis held two out of the remaining ten cabinet seats. Von Papen as Vice Chancellor was intended to be the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control, within months the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 had brought about a state of emergency, it wiped out constitutional governance and civil liberties. Hitlers seizure of power was permissive of government by decree without legislative participation and these events brought the republic to an end, as democracy collapsed, a single-party state founded the Nazi era. The Weimar Republic is so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at Weimar, Germany from 6 February 1919 to 11 August 1919, but this name only became mainstream after 1933. To the right of the spectrum the politically engaged rejected the new democratic model, the Catholic Centre party, Zentrum favoured the term Deutscher Volksstaat while on the moderate left the Chancellors SPD preferred Deutsche Republik. Only during the 1930s did the term become mainstream, both within and outside Germany, after the introduction of the republic, the flag and coat of arms of Germany were officially altered to reflect the political changes. The Weimar Republic retained the Reichsadler, but without the symbols of the former Monarchy and this left the black eagle with one head, facing to the right, with open wings but closed feathers, with a red beak, tongue and claws and white highlighting. If the Reichs Eagle is shown without a frame, the charge and colors as those of the eagle of the Reichs coat of arms are to be used. The patterns kept by the Federal Ministry of the Interior are decisive for the heraldic design, the artistic design may be varied for each special purpose. The achievements and signs of movement were mostly done away with after its downfall
4.
Germania (personification)
–
Germania is the Latin name of the country called Deutschland in the spoken language of its own inhabitants, though used as the countrys name in various other languages, such as Germany in English. Germania as personification is usually depicted as a robust woman with long, flowing, reddish-blonde hair and she often wields the Reichsschwert, and possesses a mediaeval-style shield that sometimes bears the image of a black eagle on a gold field. Additionally, she is shown as carrying or wearing the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. In post-1918 images, the banner she holds is the flag of modern Germany. Making of a Romantic Icon, The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbecks Italia und Germania
5.
Philately
–
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. It also refers to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps, Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps, for instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare, or reside only in museums. The word philately is the English version of the French word philatélie, Herpin stated that stamps had been collected and studied for the previous six or seven years and a better name was required for the new hobby than timbromanie, which was disliked. He took the Greek root word φιλ- phil-, meaning an attraction or affinity for something, and ἀτέλεια ateleia, meaning exempt from duties and taxes to form philatelie. The introduction of postage meant that the receipt of letters was now free of charge. The alternative terms timbromania, timbrophily and timbrology gradually fell out of use as philately gained acceptance during the 1860s. Comparison with the records of postal authorities may or may not show that the variations were intentional, which leads to further inquiry as to how the changes could have happened, and why. To make things interesting, thousands of forgeries have been produced over the years, some of them very good. Thematic philately, also known as philately, is the study of what is depicted on the stamps. There are hundreds of subjects, such as birds on stamps. A classic example is the Pony Express, which was the fastest way to send letters across the United States during the few months that it operated, covers that can be proven to have been sent by the Pony Express are highly prized by collectors. Aerophilately is the branch of history that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of transport by air from its beginning. Postal stationery includes stamped envelopes, postal cards, letter sheets, aérogrammes and wrappers, cinderella philately is the study of objects that look like stamps, but are not postal stamps. Examples include Easter Seals, Christmas Seals, propaganda labels, Philatelic literature documents the results of philatelic study and includes thousands of books and periodicals. Maximaphily is the study of Maximum Cards, Maximum Cards can be defined as a picture post card with postage stamp on the same theme and a cancellation, with a maximum concordance between all three. Philately uses a number of tools, including stamp tongs to safely handle the stamps, a magnifying glass
6.
Royal family
–
A royal family is the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family. However, in common parlance members of any family which reigns by hereditary right are often referred to as royalty or royals and it is also customary in some circles to refer to the extended relations of a deposed monarch and his or her descendants as a royal family. A dynasty is referred to as the House of. As of July 2013, there are 26 active sovereign monarchies in the world who rule or reign over 43 countries in all, in some cases, royal family membership may extend to great grandchildren and more distant descendants of a monarch. In certain monarchies where voluntary abdication is the norm, such as the Netherlands, there is often a distinction between persons of the blood royal and those that marry into the royal family. In certain instances, such as in Canada, the family is defined by who holds the styles Majesty. Under most systems, only persons in the first category are dynasts and this is not always observed, some monarchies have operated by the principle of jure uxoris. In addition, certain relatives of the monarch possess special privileges and are subject to certain statutes, conventions, the precise functions of a royal family vary depending on whether the polity in question is an absolute monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, or somewhere in between. The specific composition of royal families varies from country to country, as do the titles and royal, the composition of the royal family may be regulated by statute enacted by the legislature, the sovereigns prerogative and common law tradition, or a private house law. Public statutes, constitutional provisions, or conventions may also regulate the marriages, names, the members of a royal family may or may not have a surname or dynastic name. Some countries have abolished royalty altogether, as in post-revolutionary France, whilst mediatization occurred in other countries such as France, Italy and Russia, only the certain houses within the former Holy Roman Empire are collectively called the Mediatized Houses
7.
Bavaria
–
Bavaria is a free state and one of 16 federal states of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres and its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germanys second most populous state. Munich, Bavarias capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany, the Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War, Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the states Catholic majority and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes such as Oktoberfest. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The Bavarians emerged in a north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, the name Bavarian means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BCE. From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria and their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords. Garibalds successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the frontier against the expansion of Slavs. Tassilos son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616, after Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and his son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodos death the duchy was divided among his sons, at Hugberts death the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748, saint Boniface completed the peoples conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
8.
Octagon
–
In geometry, an octagon is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A regular octagon has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a truncated square, t. A truncated octagon, t is a hexadecagon, t, the sum of all the internal angles of any octagon is 1080°. As with all polygons, the external angles total 360°, the midpoint octagon of a reference octagon has its eight vertices at the midpoints of the sides of the reference octagon. A regular octagon is a figure with sides of the same length. It has eight lines of symmetry and rotational symmetry of order 8. A regular octagon is represented by the Schläfli symbol, the internal angle at each vertex of a regular octagon is 135°. The area of an octagon of side length a is given by A =2 cot π8 a 2 =2 a 2 ≃4.828 a 2. In terms of the circumradius R, the area is A =4 sin π4 R2 =22 R2 ≃2.828 R2. In terms of the r, the area is A =8 tan π8 r 2 =8 r 2 ≃3.314 r 2. These last two coefficients bracket the value of pi, the area of the unit circle. The area can also be expressed as A = S2 − a 2, where S is the span of the octagon, or the second-shortest diagonal, and a is the length of one of the sides, or bases. This is easily proven if one takes an octagon, draws a square around the outside and then takes the corner triangles and places them with right angles pointed inward, the edges of this square are each the length of the base. Given the length of a side a, the span S is S = a 2 + a + a 2 = a ≈2.414 a. The area is then as above, A =2 − a 2 =2 a 2 ≈4.828 a 2, expressed in terms of the span, the area is A =2 S2 ≈0.828 S2. Another simple formula for the area is A =2 a S, more often the span S is known, and the length of the sides, a, is to be determined, as when cutting a square piece of material into a regular octagon. From the above, a ≈ S /2.414, the two end lengths e on each side, as well as being e = a /2, may be calculated as e = /2. The circumradius of the octagon in terms of the side length a is R = a
9.
Imperial crown
–
An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors. Crowns in Europe during the medieval period varied in design, An open crown is one which consists basically of a golden circlet elaborately worked and decorated with stones or enamels. The medieval French crown was of this type, the closed crown, which had bands of metal crossing usually from one side to the other and from back to front so that they met in the middle, at the top of the head. A special case of a crown was that of the Holy Roman Empire. Strictly speaking, therefore, the type of crown whose characteristics can properly be regarded as imperial was one with a single crest running from front to back. In practice, in countries unfamiliar with closed crowns at all, during the medieval era the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed and open designs. This was in contrast with kings of France who always wore an open crown, the use of a closed crown may have been adopted by the English as a way of distinguishing the English crown from the French crown, but it also had other meanings to some. For example, Henry V wore helmet-crown of the type at the Battle of Agincourt which the French knight St. Remy commented was like the imperial crown. The Silk Imperial Crown of Russia was used as a coronation gift of the Russian Empire for the coronation of Nicholas II. Nicholas II was the first and only monarch to be presented with such a coronation gift. It was not intended as ceremonial regalia, but as private Imperial property - a memento to his coronation event. During the reign of Mary I the First Act of Supremacy was annulled, consort crown Coronation crown Royal crown State crown Grierson, Philip, The origins of the English sovereign and the sybolism of the closed crown, British Numismatic Society
10.
Sword
–
A sword is a long bladed weapon intended for slashing or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword consists of a blade attached to a hilt. The blade can be straight or curved, thrusting swords have a pointed tip on the blade, and tend to be straighter, slashing swords have sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade, and are more likely to be curved. Many swords are designed for thrusting and slashing. Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger, the later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The word sword continues the Old English, sweord, the use of a sword is known as swordsmanship or as fencing. In the Early Modern period, western sword design diverged into two forms, the thrusting swords and the sabers. The thrusting swords such as the rapier and eventually the smallsword were designed to impale their targets quickly and their long and straight yet light and well balanced design made them highly maneuverable and deadly in a duel but fairly ineffective when used in a slashing or chopping motion. A well aimed lunge and thrust could end a fight in seconds with just the swords point, the saber and similar blades such as the cutlass were built more heavily and were more typically used in warfare. Built for slashing and chopping at multiple enemies, often from horseback, most sabers also had sharp points and double edged blades, making them capable of piercing soldier after soldier in a cavalry charge. Sabers continued to see use until the early 20th century. The US Navy kept tens of thousands of sturdy cutlasses in their armory well into World War II, non-European weapons called sword include single-edged weapons such as the Middle Eastern scimitar, the Chinese dao and the related Japanese katana. The Chinese jian is an example of a non-European double-edged sword, the first weapons that can be described as swords date to around 3300 BC. They have been found in Arslantepe, Turkey, are made from arsenical bronze, some of them are inlaid with silver. The sword developed from the dagger when the construction of longer blades became possible, from the late 3rd millennium BC in the Middle East, first in arsenic copper, then in tin-bronze. Blades longer than 60 cm were rare and not practical until the late Bronze Age because the strength of bronze is relatively low. These are the type A swords of the Aegean Bronze Age, one of the most important, and longest-lasting, types swords of the European Bronze Age was the Naue II type, also known as Griffzungenschwert
11.
Olive branch
–
The olive branch is a symbol of peace or victory and was historically worn by brides and virgins. This symbol, deriving from the customs of ancient Greece, is most well-known in Western culture, however, it can be found in almost every culture and religion in the Mediterranean basin. In Greek mythology, Athena competed with Poseidon for possession of Athens, Poseidon claimed possession by thrusting his trident into the Acropolis, where a well of sea-water gushed out. Athena took possession by planting the first olive tree beside the well, the court of gods and goddesses ruled that Athena had the better right to the land because she had given it the better gift. Olive wreaths were worn by brides and awarded to olympic victors, the olive branch was one of the attributes of Eirene on Roman Imperial coins. For example, the reverse of a tetradrachm of Vespasian from Alexandria, 70-71 CE and this message bear, The Trojans and their chief Bring holy peace, and beg the kings relief. Appian describes the use of the olive-branch as a gesture of peace by the enemies of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus in the Numantine War and by Hasdrubal the Boeotarch of Carthage. Although peace was associated with the branch during the time of the Greeks. The olive branch appears with a dove in early Christian art, the dove derives from the simile of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels and the olive branch from classical symbolism. The early Christians, according to Winckelmann, often allegorised peace on their sepulchres by the figure of a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak. Tertullian compared Noahs dove in the Hebrew Bible, who announced to the world the assuagement of divine wrath, with the Holy Spirit in baptism bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens. In his 4th century Latin translation of the story of Noah, however, in Jewish tradition there is no reference to an olive branch in the story of the Flood and no association of the olive leaf with peace. An olive branch held by a dove was used as a symbol in 18th century Britain. A £2 note of North Carolina depicted the dove and olive with a motto meaning, georgias $40 note of 1778 portrayed the dove and olive and a hand holding a dagger, with a motto meaning Either war or peace, prepared for both. The olive branch appeared as a symbol in other 18th century prints. A petition adopted by the American Continental Congress in July 1775 in the hope of avoiding a war with Great Britain was called the Olive Branch Petition. On July 4,1776, a resolution was passed allowed the creation of the Great Seal of the United States. On the Great Seal, there is an eagle grasping a branch in its right talon
12.
Art Nouveau
–
Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture and applied art, especially the decorative arts, that was most popular between 1890 and 1910. A reaction to the art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, particularly the curved lines of plants. English uses the French name Art Nouveau, according to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many well-off Europeans, it was possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, fabrics, ceramics including tableware, jewellery, cigarette cases, artists desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects. By 1910, Art Nouveau was already out of style and it was replaced as the dominant European architectural and decorative style first by Art Deco and then by Modernism. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de lArt Nouveau, in France, Art Nouveau was also sometimes called by the British term Modern Style due to its roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement, Style moderne, or Style 1900. It was also sometimes called Style Jules Verne, Le Style Métro, Art Belle Époque, in Belgium, where the architectural movement began, it was sometimes termed Style nouille or Style coup de fouet. In Britain, it was known as the Modern Style, or, because of the arts and crafts movement led by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, as the Glasgow style. In Italy, because of the popularity in Italy of designs from Londons Liberty & Co department store, in the United States, due to its association with Louis Comfort Tiffany, it was often called the Tiffany style. In Germany and Scandinavia, a style emerged at about the same time, it was called Jugendstil. In Catalonia the related style was known as Modernisme, in Spain as Modernismo, Arte joven, in Russia, it was called Modern, and Jugendstil, and Nieuwe Kunst in the Netherlands. Some names refer specifically to the forms that were popular with the Art Nouveau artists, Stile Floreal in France, Paling Stijl in the Netherlands. The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the designs of William Morris. Early prototypes of the include the Red House of Morris. In France, the style combined several different tendencies, in architecture, it was influenced by the architectural theorist and historian Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, a declared enemy of the historical Beaux-Arts architectural style. For each function its material, for each material its form and this book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, and Antoni Gaudí. The French painters Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard played an important part in integrating fine arts painting with decoration, I believe that before everything a painting must decorate, Denis wrote in 1891. The choice of subjects or scenes is nothing and it is by the value of tones, the colored surface and the harmony of lines that I can reach the spirit and wake up the emotions
13.
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
–
Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and his leading generals, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, dictated policy during the First World War with little regard for the civilian government. An ineffective war-time leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands. Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Princes Palace, Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britains Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia, a traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erbs palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. His left arm was about 6 inches shorter than his right arm, historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development. In 1863, Wilhelm was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his Uncle Bertie, William attended the ceremony in a Highland costume, complete with a small toy dirk. During the ceremony the four-year-old became restless and his eighteen-year-old uncle Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, charged with keeping an eye on him, told him to be quiet, but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred. When Alfred attempted to subdue him by force, Wilhelm bit him on the leg and his grandmother, Queen Victoria, missed seeing the fracas, to her Wilhelm remained a clever, dear, good little child, the great favourite of my beloved Vicky. His mother, Vicky, was obsessed with his damaged arm and she blamed herself for the childs handicap and insisted that he become a good rider. The thought that he, as heir to the throne, should not be able to ride was intolerable to her, riding lessons began when Wilhelm was eight and were a matter of endurance for Wilhelm. Over and over, the prince was set on his horse. He fell off time after time but despite his tears was set on its back again, after weeks of this he finally got it right and was able to maintain his balance. Wilhelm, from six years of age, was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39-year-old teacher Georg Hinzpeter, Hinzpeter, he later wrote, was really a good fellow. Whether he was the tutor for me, I dare not decide. The torments inflicted on me, in this riding, must be attributed to my mother. As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium, in January 1877, Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother, Queen Victoria, the Order of the Garter. After Kassel he spent four terms at the University of Bonn, studying law and he became a member of the exclusive Corps Borussia Bonn
14.
Reichspost
–
Reichspost was the name of several postal authorities in Germany. It may refer to one of these entities, The Imperial Reichspost was the name of the postal service of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bergamascan Tasso family had built up postal routes throughout Italy since c. 1290, Ruggiero had already connected Vienna and Innsbruck with Italy, Styria, and Brussels, before Maximilian expanded from those routes throughout his realm. Charles V confirmed Jannettos son Giovanni Battista as Postmaster General in 1520, confirmed by Emperor Rudolph II in 1595, the Imperial postal service remained a monopoly of the Thurn und Taxis family until it was terminated with the end of the Empire in 1806. The Imperial Reichspost was based in Brussels in the Spanish Netherlands, from where the route led via Namur, Bastogne, Lieser, Wöllstein, Rheinhausen. It was also used to bypass the Kingdom of France in order to keep in touch with Habsburg Spain during times of hostility, competing services were prohibited, although the Imperial cities were permitted to maintain their own communication system. In the course of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Thurn und Taxis seat was relocated from Brussels to the Free City of Frankfurt in 1702, two years later, the postal authority moved to Regensburg, seat of the Imperial Diet. The family had accumulated wealth, nonetheless, it was devastated by the Napoleonic Wars. Originally a military alliance, it evolved to a federation with the issuing of a constitution with effect from 1 July 1867. In the course of the war, Prussian troops had occupied the Free City of Frankfurt, according to article 48, the federal area of the Northern German states, de facto an enlarged Prussia, came under the united postal authority, led by director Heinrich von Stephan. Its official name was Kaiserliche Post und Telegraphenverwaltung, the Southern German federated states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria initially maintained separate state post authorities, that nevertheless were integrated into the nationwide administration. On 1 January 1876 a Reichspostamt under Postmaster General von Stephan was split off Bismarcks Reich Chancellery as a government agency in its own right. In the First World War, a Reichsabgabe tax was levied on the traffic from 1 August 1916 in order to finance the war expenses. With the establishment of the Weimar Republic upon the German Revolution of 1918–1919, after the hyperinflation period, the Deutsche Reichspost agency was again spun off in 1924 and operated as a state-owned enterprise. It was during this time that the Reichspost installed the first public Videophone, in 1941 postal codes were introduced. Deliveries were more and more affected by the advance of Allied troops from January 1945 on, the Reichspost finally ceased to function with the German Instrument of Surrender on May 8. The Reichspost was initially replaced by Allied-controlled postal authorities that provided services in the occupation zones. From 1947 a united agency served the British-American Bizone area, with the emergence of two German states, the Deutsche Bundespost was established in West Germany, and the Deutsche Post in East Germany
15.
German Reich
–
Deutsches Reich was the official name for the German nation state from 1871 to 1943 in the German language. It translates literally to German Empire, with a context approximating that of German Realm, from 1943 to 1945, the official name was – but not formally proclaimed – Großdeutsches Reich on account of the new territories annexed into the states administration during the Second World War. Informally, this nation was known simply as Germany. The Nazis also contemptuously referred to it as the System, following the Anschluss annexation of Austria in 1938, Nazi Germany informally named itself the Greater German Reich. This name was made the state name only during the last two years of Nazi rule under Adolf Hitler, though the change was never proclaimed. After World War II, the denotation German Reich quickly fell into disuse in Allied-occupied Germany, however, though the German word Reich translates to the English word empire, this translation was not used throughout the full existence of the German Reich. As the literal translation German Empire denotes a monarchy, the term is used only in reference to Germany before the fall of the monarchies at the end of World War I in 1918. After the unification of Germany, under the reign of the Prussian king Wilhelm I and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, on 14 April 1871, the Reichstag parliament passed the Constitution of the German Empire, which was published two days later. On the other hand, the German Reich of 1871 comprised extended Prussian territories with large sections of the population, like Posen. Before and during the events of World War I, the German state was called an empire in English, German Reich was used in legal documents and English-language international treaties — for example, the Kellogg–Briand Pact and the Geneva Conventions. If the term Empire had still been considered valid at this point and that Reich was never translated to Empire after 1918 has to do with the lack of a precise equivalent in English. Old English had the word rīc which was cognate with Reich, on 8 May 1945, with the capitulation of the German armed forces, the supreme command of the Wehrmacht was handed over to the Allied Powers. This claimed identity was however, contested by most other countries of the world, other countries tended to regard the German Reich to have been divided into two states. On meeting these conditions under Article 7.2 The United Germany accordingly full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs and this was confirmed in the 1990 rewording of the preamble, Germans. have achieved the unity and freedom of Germany in free self-determination. This Basic Law thus applies to the entire German people, national colours of Germany Germany Greater Germanic Reich, a conceptual entity that the Nazis planned to establish during World War II. Administrative history of the German Reich German Reich map of states 1913
16.
Watermark
–
A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light, caused by thickness or density variations in the paper. Watermarks have been used on stamps, currency, and other government documents to discourage counterfeiting. There are two ways of producing watermarks in paper, the dandy roll process, and the more complex cylinder mould process. Watermarks vary greatly in their visibility, while some are obvious on casual inspection, various aids have been developed, such as watermark fluid that wets the paper without damaging it. A watermark is very useful in the examination of paper because it can be used for dating, identifying sizes, mill trademarks and locations, the word is also used for digital practices that share similarities with physical watermarks. In one case, overprint on computer-printed output may be used to output from an unlicensed trial version of a program. In another instance, identifying codes can be encoded as a watermark for a music, video, picture. Watermarks were first introduced in Fabriano, Italy, in 1282, traditionally, a watermark was made by impressing a water-coated metal stamp or dandy roll onto the paper during manufacturing. The invention of the roll in 1826 by John Marshall revolutionised the watermark process. The dandy roll is a light roller covered by similar to window screen that is embossed with a pattern. Because the chain wires are located on the outside of the wires, they have a greater influence on the impression in the pulp. This embossing is transferred to the fibres, compressing and reducing their thickness in that area. Because the patterned portion of the page is thinner, it transmits light through. If these lines are distinct and parallel, and/or there is a watermark, if the lines appear as a mesh or are indiscernible, and/or there is no watermark, then it is called wove paper. This method is called line drawing watermarks, another type of watermark is called the cylinder mould watermark. A shaded watermark, first used in 1848, incorporates tonal depth, instead of using a wire covering for the dandy roll, the shaded watermark is created by areas of relief on the rolls own surface. Once dry, the paper may then be rolled again to produce a watermark of even thickness, in philately, the watermark is a key feature of a stamp, and often constitutes the difference between a common and a rare stamp. Collectors who encounter two otherwise identical stamps with different watermarks consider each stamp to be a separate identifiable issue, the classic stamp watermark is a small crown or other national symbol, appearing either once on each stamp or a continuous pattern
17.
Semi-postal stamp
–
A semi-postal stamp or semipostal stamp, also known as a charity stamp, is a postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose and sold at a premium over the postal value. Semi-postals became widespread in European countries at the beginning of the 20th century, in many cases they have become standard annual issues, such as the Pro Juventute series of Switzerland started in 1913. Many countries issued stamps to raise money for the Red Cross in World War I. The stamp issue was not considered a success and there have been few UK semi-postal issues since, but semi-postal stamps are still predominantly European. By contrast, the United States is a newcomer to semi-postals, as of 2014 four additional stamps were issued, three for other causes and the fourth a reissue of the Breast cancer stamp. Semi-postal issues are not always issued on a basis for health and similar causes. These are usually sold as charity stamps, though occasionally, as with the 1971 refugee relief stamps of India, one of the highest value semi-postal stamps is the Falkland islands rebuilding fund stamp, issued in 1982 after the Anglo-Argentinian war over the islands. This was aimed primarily at collectors, and had a value of £1 with an added £1 surcharge. In these cases, existing issues are often used, overprinted with text indicating the reason for the surcharge, postal tax stamp Notes Sources Richard McP. Cabeen, Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting, pp. 455–457 ISBN 0-690-01773-1 U. S, general Accounting Office report on semipostal sales,30 September 2005
18.
Territory of the Saar Basin
–
The Territory of the Saar Basin was a region of Germany occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. Initially, the occupation was under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles and its population in 1933 was 812,000, and its capital was Saarbrücken. The territory closely corresponds with the modern German state of Saarland, after a plebiscite was held in 1935, it was restored to Germany. Its coalfields were also to be ceded to France, during this time, the Saar Territory was governed by the five-person Governing Commission made up of representatives of the occupation forces. Under the terms of the mandate, the Commission had to include at least one French person, after that time, a plebiscite would be implemented to determine the Saars future status. It issued its own stamps and currency. So on 24 March 1922, after four years without any representation of the people. The Regional Council counted 30 members, the Governing Commission deliberately determined one person as the chairperson, in the first legislative period the Reko did not even chose the president from amongst its members. The assembly was no parliament, but only a body, the representatives could be heard. The agenda of matters to be debated was exclusively set up by the Governing Commission, the members of the Regional Council had neither the right of interpellation, nor the right to actively bring a subject to the agenda, nor the right to table a bill. Its members did not enjoy immunity, so in case the Governing Commission did not set an issue on the Regional Councils agenda it could only send delegations to the League of Nations with pleas, and so the Regional Council did. With this situation being as it was all the elected to the Regional Council, regardless of the party. All parties demanded the return of the Saar Territory to Germany where the people could elect the parliament, and the latter again, for the 1935 status referendum Social Democrats and Communists suggested the voters to decide in favour of a continued status quo, without prevailing. In 1933, a number of political opponents of National Socialism moved to the Saar. As a result, anti-Nazi groups agitated for the Saarland to remain under British, however, as most of the regions population was German, the mandate was unpopular. A plebiscite was held in the territory on 13 January 1935, with Adolf Hitler anxious for the propaganda advantages of the return of the Saar to Germany, Joseph Goebbels designed a concerted campaign to sway voters. The support of the local Catholic authorities for a return also helped, as did concerns about Bolshevism, a third option of joining France received 0. 4% of the vote. Following the vote, Hitler announced that Germany had no further demands to make of France
19.
Olsztyn
–
Olsztyn is a city on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland. Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, founded in the 14th century, Olsztyn was under the control and influence of the Teutonic Order until 1466, when it was incorporated into the Polish Crown. For centuries the city was an important centre of trade, crafts, science, at the time Olsztyn was inhabited by ethnic Masovians and was predominantly Roman Catholic. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772 Warmia was annexed by Prussia, Olsztyn entered a period of economic stagnation and decline, devastated by a series of wars as well as plagues which depopulated the city almost completely. After the partition Olsztyn ceased to be the property of the clergy and was in the hands of the Prussian king, in the 19th century the city changed its status completely, becoming the most prominent economic hub of the southern part of Eastern Prussia. The construction of a railway and industrialization greatly contributed to Olsztyns significance, the city remained part of Germany under the name Allenstein until 1945 when it was captured by the Red Army and handed over to the Polish authorities. As a result of the devastation caused by the Soviets during the final stages of World War II. After the war Olsztyn rapidly recovered and grew to be one of the most important centres of commerce in the country, since 1999 Olsztyn is the capital city of the Warmia-Masuria. In the same year, the University of Warmia and Masuria was founded from the fusion of three local universities. Today, the Castle of Warmian Bishops houses a museum and is a venue for concerts, art exhibitions, film shows and other cultural events, the most important sights of the city include the medieval Old Town and the Olsztyn Cathedral, which dates back more than 600 years. The picturesque market square is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic, Olsztyn, for a number of years, has been ranked very highly in quality of life, income, employment and safety. It currently is one of the best places in Poland to live and it is also one of the happiest cities in the country. In 1346, the forest was cleared at a location on the Alle River for a new settlement in Prussian Warmia, the following year, Teutonic Knights began the construction of an Ordensburg castle as a stronghold against the Old Prussians. The German name Allenstein refers to a stronghold on the Alle River – which became known in Polish transliteration as Olsztyn, Allenstein received municipal rights in October 1353, and the castle was completed in 1397. Allenstein joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440 and rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in 1454 upon the outbreak of the Thirteen Years War, although the Teutonic Knights recaptured the town the following year, it was retaken by Polish troops in 1463. The Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 designated Allenstein and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia as part of Royal Prussia under the sovereignty of the Polish Crown, from 1516 to 1521, Nicolaus Copernicus lived at the castle as administrator of both Allenstein and Mehlsack. Copernicus was in charge of the Siege of Allenstein and Warmia during the Polish-Teutonic War of 1519–21, Allenstein was sacked by Swedish troops in both 1655 and 1708 during the Polish-Swedish wars, and the towns population was nearly wiped out in 1710 by epidemics of bubonic plague and cholera. The town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 after the First Partition of Poland, a Prussian census recorded a population of 1,770 people, predominantly farmers, and Allenstein was administered within the Province of East Prussia
20.
Kwidzyn
–
Kwidzyn is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river in the Powiśle region, with 40,008 inhabitants. It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999 and it is the capital of Kwidzyn County. The Teutonic Knights founded an Ordensburg castle in 1232 and a town the following year, the town was populated with Masurian settlers. Werner von Orseln, who died in Marienburg in 1330, was buried in the cathedral of the town, st. Dorothea of Montau lived here from 1391 until her death in 1394, pilgrims would later come to pray in the town at her shrine. The rebellious Prussian Confederation was founded in the town on March 14,1440, in 1466, the town became a Polish fief together with the remainder of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after their defeat in the Thirteen Years War. It became part of the Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Poland, the duchy was inherited by the House of Hohenzollern in 1618 and was elevated to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The town became the capital of the District of Marienwerder, the town and district were included within the government region of Marienwerder after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1885 the town had 8,079 mostly Lutheran inhabitants, many of whose trades were connected with the manufacturing of sugar, vinegar, other trades were brewing, dairy farming, and fruit-growing. 1910,35. 7% of the population was Polish. After World War I most of West Prussia was incorporated into the Polish Second Republic. On November 10,1937, when the Nazi regime was already in power in Germany, a Polish private high school was opened in Marienwerder, on 30 January 1945 during World War II, the town was captured by the Soviet Red Army. Red Army established a war hospital in the town for 20,000 people, the towns old center was burned by Soviet soldiers. After World War II the region was placed under Polish administration by the Potsdam Agreement under territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union, burned parts of the towns old center were dismantled to provide material for the rebuilding of Warsaw after its destruction in the Warsaw Uprising. Kwidzyn is located on the east bank of river Vistula, approximately 70 kilometres south of Gdańsk and 145 kilometres south-west of Kaliningrad, Kwidzyn contains the partially ruined 14th century Brick Gothic Ordensburg castle of the Teutonic Order, namely the Bishops of Pomesania within the Order. Connected to the castle to the east is a large cathedral containing the tombs of the bishops as well those of three Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, the literally outstanding feature of the castle is a sewer tower which is connected to it by a bridge. The tower used to be placed at the river which has changed its course since, the town also has a Catholic church and a cathedral-castle presently used for the museum of Lower Powiśle. Other sights include the court for Kwidzyn County, a new town hall. A branch of the company International Paper is located in Kwidzyn, the second biggest employer is Jabil which is one of world leading EMS companies
21.
German post offices abroad
–
The system ended during or shortly after World War I. The cancellation mark of the mail processed by the German system in the period are the only means of identifying the point of use. Later stamps are identified by overprints of the place of issuance even when not for postal use, German abroad stamps started appearing in the late 19th century and reached their heyday at the beginning of the 20th century. Stamps from German post offices abroad are popular with collectors and some can be valuable, in a 2006 auction, a 40 Pfennig Germania hand-stamped China stamp from 1900 realized 100,152 Euros. Other countries maintained postal offices abroad, in the latter part of 19th century and into the 20th century and having extraterritorial post offices were a perceived indication of a nations international power
22.
Morocco
–
Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
23.
Turkey
–
Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
24.
Poczta Polska
–
Poczta Polska is the state postal administration of Poland. It provides postal services, banking and insurance services as well as logistics services, the company also provides digital services such as neo-stamp, neo-letter, neo-postcard, made available through the Internet platform Envelo. Formally known as Poczta Polska Spółka Akcyjna, it has two subsidiary companies, Capital Group Poczta Polska and Pocztowe Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń Wzajemnych. The State Treasury of Poland is the founder and sole shareholder of Polish Post, Poczta Polska acts as a designated operator. I. e. operator who is responsible for providing postal services. In addition, it must enable the sender, at his request, the basis for the postal organization was the trading postal service, which derived from the merchants need to communicate on commercial matters. These merchants were from Germany, and later on also from Italy, in the 14th and 15th centuries Cracow was communicating with German towns through messengers, who were remunerated by commercial confraternities. The best designed trading post of this type was owned by the Fugger family who at the end of the 15th century established their factories in Cracow, initially they were used for the trade of copper. With time, though, they started to deal with financing operations. The Fugger Post was primary used only for the maintenance of communications between these factories and the office in Augsburg. In later years, its services were used by the king Sigismund I of Poland, the queen Bona Sforza, the second serious trading postal service was the Seweryn Boners post. Boners banking house kept permanent agents who facilitated the forwarding of the correspondence of private persons, on the 18 October 1558 the monarch granted the right for the establishment and management of the post to the Italian Prospero Provana. The services of this post, which ran from Cracow to Venice, could also be used by private persons, Provana, however, started a conflict with the Thurn und Taxis family, who controlled postal communications in Austria, Hungary and Italy. This resulted after four years in the withdrawal of the granted to Provan. e. It was composed of the Italian post and Lithuanian Post, the postal messenger left Cracow each Sunday morning, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday and then left for Venice, where he arrived after seven days journey. The courier set off to Lithuania each week on Wednesday, in order to arrive in Vilnius after a weeks journey, therefore, the letter from Cracow to Venice took 10 days and from Cracow to Vilnius 7 days. The postal charge amounted to 3 grosz from 1 lot of weight of private parcel, the kings and courts parcels were free of charge, but the monarch paid yearly subsidy for the benefit of the post in the amount of 1500 thalers. This amount was collected in instalments from the Cracow duty, the director, who received the total income from the post, in return had to take care of the maintenance and its supplies
25.
Vineta provisional
–
The Vineta Provisional is a German postage stamp made on 13 April 1901 on board the cruiser SMS Vineta. The postal officer had not been supplied with 3 Pfennig Germania stamps, so he bisected his 5 Pfennig stamps, mail with the Vineta provisional stamp was sent from Pernambuco to Germany on 17 April 1901. Only 600 stamps were issued making this stamp one of the rarer stamps in German philately. The stamp gained notoriety after it was included in the Michel catalogue as a regular stamp, collectors who aspired to put together a complete collection of issues of the Reichspost had an interest in acquiring this stamp. However, because philatelists generally considered the stamp a self-made variety, not an issue by the Reichspost. As a result, prices for the stamp have declined, references Sources Michel Deutschland Spezial 1997, Schwaneberger Verlag, ISBN 3-87858-129-7, page 225. Information about the Vineta and the circumstances of the provisional issue
26.
German colonial empire
–
The German colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies and territories of the German Empire. Short-lived attempts of colonization by individual German states had occurred in preceding centuries, Germany lost control when World War I began in 1914 and its colonies were seized by its enemies in the first weeks of the war. However some military units out for a while longer, German South-West Africa surrendered in 1915, Kamerun in 1916. Germany seemed destined to play catch-up, the Hanseatic republics of Hamburg and Bremen sent traders across the globe. These trading houses conducted themselves as successful Privatkolonisatoren and concluded treaties and land purchases in Africa and these early agreements with local entities, however, later formed the basis for annexation treaties, diplomatic support and military protection by the German Empire. Many Germans in the late 19th century viewed colonial acquisitions as an indication of having achieved nationhood. Public opinion eventually arrived at an understanding that prestigious African and Pacific colonies went hand-in-hand with dreams of a High Seas Fleet, both aspirations would become reality, nurtured by a press replete with Kolonialfreunde and by a myriad of geographical associations and colonial societies. Bismarck and many deputies in the Reichstag had no interest in colonial conquests merely to acquire square miles of territory, in essence, Bismarcks colonial motives were obscure as he had said repeatedly. I am no man for colonies and remained as contemptuous of all colonial dreams as ever, indeed, in 1889, tried to give German South-West Africa away to the British. It was, he said, a burden and an expense, the development of German overseas protectorates essentially followed three phases. German traders and merchants began to themselves in the African Cameroon delta. At Apia and the settlements Finschhafen, Simpsonhafen and the islands Neu-Pommern and Neu-Mecklenburg, large African inland acquisitions followed — mostly to the detriment of native inhabitants. In eastern Africa the imperialist and “man-of-action” Karl Peters accumulated vast tracts of land for his colonization group, for some 60 thousand square miles of the Zanzibar Sultanate’s mainland property. Brutality, hanging and flogging prevailed during these land-grab expeditions under Peters’ control as well as others as no-one held a monopoly in the mistreatment of Africans. As Bismarck was converted to the idea by 1884, he favored chartered company land management rather than establishment of colonial government due to financial considerations. Although temperate zone cultivation flourished, the demise and often failure of tropical low-land enterprises contributed to changing Bismarck’s view and he reluctantly acquiesced to pleas for help to deal with revolts and armed hostilities by often powerful rulers whose lucrative slaving activities seemed at risk. German native military forces engaged in dozens of punitive expeditions to apprehend and punish freedom fighters. At that time, the German penchant for giving muscle priority over patience contributed to continued unrest, several of the African colonies remained powder kegs throughout this phase
27.
Yacht issue
–
The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of the German Kaisers yacht, SMY Hohenzollern II, that were used in all of Germanys overseas colonies. Millions of the stamps were produced and they were the means of postage for all German imperial overseas possessions in the years 1900–1915. German colonies at that time were Samoa, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands, Kiautschou, Togo, Kamerun, German New Guinea, German South-West Africa, the German colonies were all acquired between 1884 and 1899. They belonged to the Universal Postal Union and used the postage rates as the mainland German Empire. In 1900, a new design was released for universal use in all the colonies. Redolent of the grandeur of the Kaiser, the yacht was used as a symbol of German power. The seafaring nature of the design also underscored the new hopes of the German Empire under Wilhelm II, the Kaiser had embarked on a quest to expand worldwide and by 1898 was rapidly building his navy to compete with other world powers, particularly Great Britain. The Yachts were first released in 1900 and remained the standard design for all German colonial mail until shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. By mid-1915 all the German colonies had surrendered to Allied forces, the confiscated German stamps, virtually all of them Yachts, were stamped with new names and prices for Allied wartime use. The Yachts thus continued in service throughout the war years, unlike the Kaisers yacht itself which was decommissioned in June 1914, individual Yacht issues were printed from master printing plates which were blank in the scrolls surrounding the design. These key plate stamps could be engraved with names and prices as needed, sometimes blank stamps were printed and stored, and the text would be overprinted later. On fully engraved plates, the text color matches the design color, the printing was done by the intaglio method, which required moistening of the paper before printing. After the drying process was complete, the contraction of the paper would sometimes cause the finished stamps to have designs of slightly different size. Early printings were not watermarked, but from 1905 onwards, the classic lozenges watermark was applied to the back of the paper, two separate designs of the Yacht stamps were published. They were issued to each of the colonies in a set of colors. The less expensive varieties were printed in shades of red, orange, green, indigo. Most of the stamps were denominated in German currency, although German East Africa used its own currency, the leased port of Kiatschou used the Chinese Dollar as its currency after 1905. The larger, more broadside, and more expensive version was printed in values of 1,23, the large Yacht issues were panoramic and were designed in two subtly distinct versions, one with a long unfurled scroll and another with a shorter, double-folded scroll
28.
Sopot
–
Sopot is a seaside resort town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. Sopot is a town with powiat status, in Pomeranian Voivodeship, until 1999 it was part of the Gdańsk Voivodeship. It lies between the cities of Gdańsk to the southeast and Gdynia to the northwest. The three cities together make up the area of Tri-City. Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination and it has the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 515.5 metres, stretching out into the Bay of Gdańsk. The city is famous for its Sopot International Song Festival. Among its other attractions is a fountain of bromide spring water, the name is thought to derive from an old Slavic word sopot meaning stream or spring. The same root occurs in a number of other Slavic toponyms, it is probably onomatopeic, the name is first recorded as Sopoth in 1283 and Sopot in 1291. The German Zoppot is a Germanization of the original Slavic name, in the 19th century and in the interwar years the German name was re-Polonized as Sopoty. Sopot was made the official Polish name when the town came again under Polish rule in 1945, the area of todays Sopot contains the site of a 7th-century Slavonic stronghold. Initially it was a trade outpost for commerce extending both up the Vistula river and to cities north across the Baltic Sea. With time the significance of the stronghold diminished and by the 10th century it was reduced to a fishing village, however, a century later the area was settled again and two villages were founded within the borders of todays city, Stawowie and Gręzowo. They were first mentioned in 1186 as being granted to the Cistercian abbey in Oliwa, another of the villages that constitute todays Sopot, Świemirowo, was first mentioned in 1212 in a document by Mestwin I, who granted it to the Premonstratensian monastery in nearby Żukowo. The village of Sopot, which became the namesake for the whole city, was first mentioned in 1283 when it was granted to the Cistercians. By 1316, the abbey had bought all villages in the area, after the Second Peace of Thorn the area was reincorporated into the Kingdom of Poland. The spa for the citizens of Gdańsk has been active since the 16th century, until the end of that century most noble and magnate families from Gdańsk built their manor houses in Sopot. During the 1733 War of the Polish Succession, Imperial Russian troops besieged the city of Gdańsk. Much of Sopot would remain abandoned during and after the conflict, in 1757 and 1758 most of the ruined manors were bought by the Pomeranian magnate family of Przebendowski
29.
Postal stationery
–
It does not, however, include any postcard without a pre-printed stamp. It can take the form of an official mail issue produced only for the use of government departments and it can be an issue of a military force where an army, perhaps in a distant war, issues letter sheets for the use of its troops to write home. Postal stationery can be overprinted by the government or, occasionally, in emergency situations, postal stationery has been produced by handstamping envelopes with modified canceling devices, many of the rare Confederate postmasters provisionals are of this form. Finally, some postal stationery can be printed to private order, in this last case, stamped stationery bearing indicia is applied with postal administration approval and with specified regulations, to paper or cards provided by private persons or organizations. Private impressions result in a range of denominations and designs compared with governmental issues. Letter sheets lend themselves to airmail usage because they are lightweight, enclosures are not permitted in aerograms. Sales of aerograms in the United States ended in 2006 due to poor sales, a letter card almost has the advantages of a postal card as far as weight and size, but also the advantage of privacy of contents is concerned. It is a card, folded over, with gum or adhesive applied to the three open edges. It is then opened by the recipient by tearing perforations on the three sides that are on the side of the gum. The gummed strip around the card is discarded, giving rise to the problems collectors have in finding intact used cards. The US has never issued any letter cards, before 1845 correspondence was not enclosed in an envelope. Letters were folded, sealed, addressed and postmarked on the outside and this continued even after adhesive postage stamps were introduced. The popularity of folded letters led postal authorities to introduce stamped letter sheets and these became available in the U. S. in 1861, but the first official postal stationery were the 1838 embossed letter sheets of New South Wales. These were followed by the Mulready stationery that was issued by Great Britain at the time as the Penny Black in 1840. Since then, most postal services have issued a stream of stationery alongside stamps. Often the design of the stationery mimics the contemporaneous stamps, though with less variety and lower printing quality, much later,1947 in the U. S. letter sheets morphed into lithographed air letter sheets or aerograms. Postal cards are postal stationery and have a printed or embossed indicium and are sold by postal authorities. In the United States, they were first produced in 1873, postcards, on the other hand, are cards prepared by private companies that do not have prepaid franking and readily available at commercial outlets
30.
Postcard
–
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Shapes other than rectangular may also be used, there are novelty exceptions, such as wood postcards, made of thin wood, and copper postcards sold in the Copper Country of the U. S. state of Michigan, and coconut postcards from tropical islands. In some places, one can send a postcard for a lower fee than for a letter, stamp collectors distinguish between postcards and postal cards. While a postcard is usually printed by a company, individual or organization. The worlds oldest postcard was sent in 1840 to the writer Theodore Hook from Fulham in London, the study and collecting of postcards is termed deltiology. Cards with messages had been created and posted by individuals since the beginning of postal services. The earliest known picture postcard was a design on card, posted in Fulham in London by the writer Theodore Hook to himself in 1840. He probably created and posted the card to himself as a joke on the postal service, since the image is a caricature of workers in the post office. In 2002 the postcard sold for a record £31,750, in Britain, postcards without images were issued by the Post Office in 1870, and were printed with a stamp as part of the design, which was included in the price of purchase. These cards came in two sizes, the larger size was found to be slightly too large for ease of handling, and was soon withdrawn in favour of cards 13mm shorter. The first known printed picture postcard, with an image on one side, was created in France in 1870 at Camp Conlie by Léon Besnardeau, Conlie was a training camp for soldiers in the Franco-Prussian war. While these are certainly the first known picture postcards, there was no space for stamps, in the following year the first known picture postcard in which the image functioned as a souvenir was sent from Vienna. The first advertising card appeared in 1872 in Great Britain and the first German card appeared in 1874, Cards showing images increased in number during the 1880s. Images of the newly built Eiffel Tower in 1889 and 1890 gave impetus to the postcard, Early postcards often showcased photography of nude women. These were commonly known as French postcards, due to the number of them produced in France. The first American postcard was developed in 1873 by the Morgan Envelope Factory of Springfield and these first postcards depicted the Interstate Industrial Exposition that took place in Chicago. Later in 1873, Post Master John Creswell introduced the first pre-stamped Postal Cards, Postcards were made because people were looking for an easier way to send quick notes. The first postcard to be printed as a souvenir in the United States was created in 1893 to advertise the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, initially, the United States government prohibited private companies from calling their cards postcards, so they were known as souvenir cards
31.
Tax
–
A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state to fund various public expenditures. A failure to pay, or evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent, the legal definition and the economic definition of taxes differ in that economists do not regard many transfers to governments as taxes. For example, some transfers to the sector are comparable to prices. Examples include tuition at public universities and fees for utilities provided by local governments, governments also obtain resources by creating money and coins, through voluntary gifts, by imposing penalties, by borrowing, and by confiscating wealth. In modern taxation systems, governments levy taxes in money, but in-kind and corvée taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states, the method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as the Canada Revenue Agency, when taxes are not fully paid, the state may impose civil penalties or criminal penalties on the non-paying entity or individual. The levying of taxes aims to raise revenue to fund governing and/or to alter prices in order to affect demand, States and their functional equivalents throughout history have used money provided by taxation to carry out many functions. A governments ability to raise taxes is called its fiscal capacity, when expenditures exceed tax revenue, a government accumulates debt. A portion of taxes may be used to service past debts, governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. A tax effectively changes relative prices of products and they have therefore sought to identify the kind of tax system that would minimize this distortion. Governments use different kinds of taxes and vary the tax rates, historically, taxes on the poor supported the nobility, modern social-security systems aim to support the poor, the disabled, or the retired by taxes on those who are still working. A states tax system often reflects its communal values and the values of those in current political power. To create a system of taxation, a state must make choices regarding the distribution of the tax burden—who will pay taxes and how much they will pay—and how the taxes collected will be spent. In democratic nations where the public elects those in charge of establishing or administering the tax system, in countries where the public does not have a significant amount of influence over the system of taxation, that system may reflect more closely the values of those in power. All large businesses incur administrative costs in the process of delivering revenue collected from customers to the suppliers of the goods or services being purchased. Taxation is no different, the resource collected from the public through taxation is always greater than the amount which can be used by the government, the difference is called the compliance cost and includes the labour cost and other expenses incurred in complying with tax laws and rules
32.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
33.
Belgian franc
–
The Belgian franc was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the Euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, known as centimes, centiem or Centime, the conquest of most of western Europe by revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the French francs wide circulation. In the Austrian Netherlands, the replaced the kronenthaler. This was in turn replaced by the Dutch guilder when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed, Belgian mint working during the late 19th century was innovative and Belgium was the first country to introduce coins made of cupronickel, in 1860. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, the Belga was tied to the British pound at a rate of 35 belgas =1 pound and was thus put on a gold standard of 1 Belga =209.211 mg fine gold. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, in 1935, the Belgian franc was devalued by 28% to 150.632 mg fine gold and the link between the Luxembourg and Belgian francs was revised to 1 Luxembourgish franc = 1 1⁄4 Belgian francs. Following Belgiums occupation by Germany in May 1940, the franc was fixed at a value of 0.1 Reichsmark, reduced to 0.08 Reichsmark in July 1940. Following liberation in 1944, the franc entered into the Bretton Woods system and this was changed to 43.8275 in 1946 and then to 50 following the devaluation of the British pound in September 1949. The Belgian franc was devaluated again in 1982, like 10 other European currencies, the Belgian/Luxembourgish franc ceased to exist on 1 January 1999, when it became fixed at 1 EUR=40.3399 BEF/LUF, thus a franc was worth €0.024789. Old franc coins and notes lost their legal status on 28 February 2002. In later 20th century issues, the text is almost without exception divided between two types of coins, with Flemish issues reading België and Frank, and French issues reading Belgique, initially, the currency was monolingual in French. From 1886, some Belgian coins also carried the Dutch language legends, some later coins featured inscriptions in both languages. Some commemorative coins were issued with German inscriptions but none for circulation, the Francs value compared to the US dollar varied over the years. After 1971, its lowest mark was in February 1985, when one dollar would have bought 66.31 franc and its highest standing was in July 1980, when it stood at 27.96 to the dollar. After 1 January 1999, the rates are calculated from the Francs fixed conversion rate to the Euro. Between 1832 and 1834, copper 1,2,5 and 10 centime, silver 1⁄4, 1⁄2,1,2 and 5 franc, some of the early 1 and 2 centimes were struck over Dutch 1⁄2 and 1 cent coins. The 40 franc was not issued after 1841, whilst silver 2 1⁄2 francs, silver 20 centimes replaced the 1⁄4 franc in 1852. In 1860, cupro-nickel 20 centimes were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel 5 and 10 centimes in 1861, the silver 5 franc was discontinued in 1876
34.
Free City of Danzig
–
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and nearly 200 towns in the surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920 in accordance with the terms of Article 100 of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I. The Free City included the city of Danzig and other towns, villages. As the Treaty stated, the region was to remain separated from post-World War I Germany and from the independent nation of the Second Polish Republic. The Free City was under League of Nations protection and put into a customs union with Poland. Poland was given rights to develop and maintain transportation, communication. The Free City was created in order to give Poland access to a well-sized seaport, while the citys population was majority-German, it had a significant ethnic Polish minority as well. The German population deeply resented being separated from Germany, and persecuted the Polish minority and this was especially true after the Nazi Party gained political control in 1935–36. Since Poland still was not in control of the seaport, especially regarding military equipment. In 1933, the government was taken over by the local Nazi Party. Due to anti-Semitic persecution and oppression, many Jews fled, after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Nazis abolished the Free City and incorporated the area into the newly formed Reichsgau of Danzig-West Prussia. The Nazis classified the Poles and Jews living in the city as subhumans, subjecting them to discrimination, forced labor, many were sent to death at Nazi concentration camps, including nearby Stutthof. During the citys conquest by the Soviet Army in the months of 1945. After the war, many surviving Germans were expelled to West or East Germany as members of the pre-war Polish ethnic minority started returning, due to these events, Gdańsk suffered severe underpopulation and did not recover until the late 1950s. The city subsequently became part of Poland as a consequence of the Potsdam Agreement, Danzig had an early history of independence. It was a player in the Prussian Confederation directed against the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia. The Confederation stipulated with the Polish king, Casimir IV Jagiellon, in contrast, Ducal Prussia remained a Polish fief. Danzig and other such as Elbing and Thorn financed most of the warfare
35.
Poland
–
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
36.
Romania
–
Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
37.
Russian Empire
–
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
38.
Postage stamps and postal history of Germany
–
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany and philatelically related areas. The Metzger Post was established in the century and survived until 1637. In 1497, on behalf of Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, a horse relay system was created that shortened the transit time for mail and made its arrival predictable. Thereafter, the house of Thurn und Taxis using the imperial yellow, the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post employed the first horse-drawn mail coaches in Europe since Roman times in 1650, - they started in the town of Kocs giving rise to the term coach. Thurn und Taxis lost its monopoly when Napoleon granted the Rhine Confederation the right to postal services. The agency continued to operate and even issued some stamps but when Prussia created the North German Confederancy Thurn und Taxis had to sell its privileges in 1867. Prior to the German unification of 1871, individual German states and entities started to release their own stamps, also Thurn und Taxis while not a state had the authority to issue stamps and transport mail and released stamps. The northern German states joined in the North German Confederation in 1868, after the unification, Bavaria and Württemberg retained their postal authority to continue producing stamps until March 31,1920. The Deutsche Reichspost started officially on May 4,1871 using initially stamps of the North German Confederation until it issued its first stamps on January 1,1872, heinrich von Stephan, inventor of the postcard and founder of the Universal Postal Union, was the first Postmaster-General. The most common stamps of the Reichspost were the Germania stamps, early postage from about 1887 or 1888 consisted of common contemporary German stamps and is only recognized by the post office cancellation stamp as having been used in a colony. Such stamps are known as Vorläufer stamps, in the next step regular stamps were used with overprints indicating the name of the territory. By about 1900 the yacht issue was introduced for the colonial territories which had a uniform appearance depicting the imperial yacht SMY Hohenzollern. After Germany lost control of its colonies in the course of World War I, imperial Germany maintained post offices in certain towns in Morocco, Turkey, and China. Issued stamps can be recognized by the stamp or the overprint may show local denomination. During world war I, German authorities issued stamps in occupied countries, namely Belgium, Poland, Romania, the Reichspost continued to function as a governmental entity after Germany became a republic. In 1919 the Reichspost issued its first commemorative, airmail, the first semipostal stamp in 1919 carried a surcharge for the benefit of war invalids. In 1923 during hyperinflation, the Reichspost issued stamps up to 50 billion marks, the main common stamp series then was the famous German people series, followed by the Hindenburg stamps. The first of the valuable German Zeppelin stamps appeared in 1928, after the Treaty of Versailles a number of areas underwent plebiscites in 1920 to determine their future fate
39.
Michel catalog
–
The Michel catalog is the largest and best-known stamp catalog in the German-speaking world. First published in 1910, it has become an important reference work for philately, the catalog started out as a price list for the dealer Hugo Michel of Apolda. It extensively covers specialized Germany collecting including the complex WW2 era stamps of Germany, occupied territories, unlike Scott, Michel does not issue a complete set of catalogs every year, instead updating only several of the volumes. Michel is also detailed, with quantities issued, sheet formats. Also of significance to some collectors is its coverage of countries, Michel also documents stamps issued apparently with little or no intent of being used to pay postage and stamps issued by regions or areas with dubious political status. Scott excludes many issues that were unlikely to be used to pay postage. There are 15 main catalogues, all issued in German, about 400,000 are printed annually and their information is also accessible on the Michel internet pages. The standard Germany catalogue covers all German stamps issues, a more detailed specialized catalogue is available. For young collectors a simplified Junior Catalogue is available, all these catalogues are published on an annual basis. As of 2014 there are 10 issues, some in two volumes, in contrast to the European catalogues the number of stamps printed is not indicated. Not all issues are represented by images, Specialized catalogues are available for Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, Great Britain, United States, Croatia, and the United Nations. In addition, other titles are published. Recently Michel publishers has issued some English-language titles, viz, - Gulf States, - Germany Specialized Vol.1, Vol.2, not covered up to now old German states and post-1949, probably in a Vol.3. The Germany specializeds are issued in co-operation with the APS affiliate German Philatelic Society
40.
Scott catalogue
–
It is also produced in non-printable CD and DVD editions. The numbering system used by Scott to identify stamps is dominant among stamp collectors in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was published in September 1868 by John Walter Scott, a stamp dealer in New York. A notice inside does caution the reader that it is impossible for any one to always have every stamp in stock. The original catalog has been reprinted, in subsequent years, the Scott company gave up dealing in stamps but continued to publish the catalog, gradually providing more detail as the hobby evolved and collectors became more sophisticated. In addition to the information about the stamps, the catalog includes price information based on market analysis. As of 2006, and despite annual changes to save space, the Scott numbering system assigns plain numbers for regular mail stamps, and uses capital letter prefixes for special-purpose types, such as B for semi-postals and C for airmail. If more stamps than expected appear, Scott will add a letter as suffix, or if the change is very recent. Minor variations, such as shades or errors, get a lowercase letter, because of its commercial importance the publishers of the Scott Catalogue claim copyright on their numbering systems, and grant only limited licenses for their use by others. The inconsistency with which Scott enforced these licenses resulted in a lawsuit by Krause Publications for copyright infringement, after Krause filed a defense, the suit was settled out of court, and Krause continued to reference the Scott numbers. Editors of this, the dominant catalog in the US, have influence over what is and is not considered to be a valid postage stamp. For instance, in the 1960s the countries of the United Arab Emirates issued many stamps that were never actually on sale in a post office. One must go to a Michel catalog, for instance, to see them described, the lack of a Scott listing, though, means that most American dealers will refuse to trade in such stamps. Similarly, Scott lists most stamps from countries embargoed by the US government, to some extent, this is unavoidable, since the ban on importation means that Scotts editors are unable even to acquire copies of the stamps to be described. Moreover, since US dealers and collectors are unable to buy the stamps legally, the policy changes with government policy, stamps of Cuba, Libya and North Vietnam now appear in the Scott catalogues after an absence of some years. The dominance of Scott is such that US collectors know many of the numbers by heart, C3a is instantly recognized as the Inverted Jenny, a rare US airmail inverted error stamp. The new volume format was introduced starting with the 2011 edition, many were made from its own reference collection and introduced in the six volume 2002 edition as black and white images. Color images were introduced in 2003 in the Classic Specialized Catalogue, in 2006 color images were included in the main Scott catalogues
41.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
