British Malaya
The term British Malaya loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries. Before the formation of Malayan Union in 1946, the territories were not placed under a unified administration. Instead, British Malaya comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States, under British rule, Malaya was one of the most profitable territories of the Empire, being the worlds largest producer of tin and rubber. The Malayan Union was dissolved and replaced by the Federation of Malaya in 1948, on 16 September 1963, the federation, along with North Borneo and Singapore, formed into a larger federation of Malaysia. The British first became involved with Malay politics formally in 1771, the British colonised Singapore in 1819 and were in complete control of the state at that time. In the mid-18th century, British firms could be found trading in the Malay Peninsula, Light was a captain in the service of the East India Company.
The Sultan faced multiple external threats during this period, which was at war with Burma and which saw Kedah as its vassal state, frequently demanded that Kedah send reinforcements. Kedah, in cases, was a reluctant ally to Siam. Through negotiation between the Sultan and Light, the Sultan agreed to allow the firm to build a trading post and to operate in Kedah, Light conveyed this message to his superiors in India. The British, decided against the proposal, two years later, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa died and was succeeded by Sultan Abdullah Mahrum Shah. The new Sultan offered Light the island of Penang in return for assistance for Kedah. Light informed the East India Company of the Sultans offer, the Company, ordered Light to take over Penang and gave him no guarantee of the military aid that the Sultan had asked for earlier. Light took over Penang and assured the Sultan of military assistance, soon the Company made up its mind and told Light that they would not give any military aid to Kedah. In June 1788, Light informed the Sultan of the Companys decision, feeling cheated, the Sultan ordered Light to leave Penang, but Light refused.
Lights refusal caused the Sultan to strengthen Kedahs military forces and to fortify Prai, recognising this threat, the British moved in and razed the fort in Prai. The British thereby forced the Sultan to sign an agreement that gave the British the right to occupy Penang, in return, on 1 May 1791 the Union Flag was officially raised in Penang for the first time. In 1800, Kedah ceded Prai to the British and the Sultan received an increase of 4,000 pesos in his annual rent, Penang was named Prince of Wales Island, while Perai was renamed Province Wellesley. In 1821, Siam invaded Kedah, sacked the capital of Alor Star, before the late 19th century, the British largely practised a non-interventionist policy
Prussia
Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them.
In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany.
The country grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea.
All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Godavari, Narmada, Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy River.
The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig. Its capital city is Kiel, other cities are Lübeck. Also known in more dated English as Sleswick-Holsatia, the Danish name is Slesvig-Holsten, the Low German name is Sleswig-Holsteen, the name can refer to a larger region, containing both present-day Schleswig-Holstein and the former South Jutland County in Denmark. The term Holstein derives from Old Saxon Holseta Land, originally, it referred to the central of the three Saxon tribes north of the River Elbe, Tedmarsgoi and Sturmarii. The area of the tribe of the Holsts was between the Stör River and Hamburg, and after Christianization, their church was in Schenefeld. Saxon Holstein became a part of the Holy Roman Empire after Charlemagnes Saxon campaigns in the eighth century. Since 811, the frontier of Holstein was marked by the River Eider. The term Schleswig comes from the city of Schleswig, around 1100, the Duke of Saxony gave Holstein, as it was his own country, to Count Adolf I of Schauenburg.
Schleswig and Holstein have at different times belonged in part or completely to either Denmark or Germany, the exception is that Schleswig had never been part of Germany until the Second Schleswig War in 1864. For many centuries, the King of Denmark was both a Danish Duke of Schleswig and a German Duke of Holstein, Schleswig was either integrated into Denmark or was a Danish fief, and Holstein was a German fief and once a sovereign state long ago. Both were for centuries ruled by the kings of Denmark. In the church, following the reformation, German was used in the part of Schleswig. This would prove decisive for shaping national sentiments in the population, the administration of both duchies was conducted in German, despite the fact that they were governed from Copenhagen. The German national awakening that followed the Napoleonic Wars gave rise to a popular movement in Holstein. This development was paralleled by an equally strong Danish national awakening in Denmark and this movement called for the complete reintegration of Schleswig into the Kingdom of Denmark and demanded an end to discrimination against Danes in Schleswig.
The ensuing conflict is called the Schleswig-Holstein Question. e. Not only in the Kingdom of Denmark, but to Danes living in Schleswig, they demanded protection for the Danish language in Schleswig. A liberal constitution for Holstein was not seriously considered in Copenhagen and these demands were rejected by the Danish government in 1848, and the Germans of Holstein and southern Schleswig rebelled
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power, the Prussian Army had its roots in the core mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Elector Frederick William developed it into a standing army, while King Frederick William I of Prussia dramatically increased its size. The army had become outdated by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, conservatives halted some of the reforms and the Prussian Army subsequently became a bulwark of the conservative Prussian government. In the 19th century the Prussian Army fought successful wars against Denmark and France, allowing Prussia to unify Germany, the Prussian Army formed the core of the Imperial German Army, which was replaced by the Reichswehr after World War I. The army of Prussia grew out of the armed forces created during the reign of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. Hohenzollern Brandenburg-Prussia had primarily relied upon Landsknecht mercenaries during the Thirty Years War and Imperial forces occupied the country.
In the spring of 1644, Frederick William started building an army through conscription to better defend his state. By 1643–44, the army numbered only 5,500 troops. The electors confidant Johann von Norprath recruited forces in the Duchy of Cleves and organized an army of 3,000 Dutch, garrisons were slowly augmented in Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia. Frederick William sought assistance from France, the rival of Habsburg Austria. He based his reforms on those of Louvois, the War Minister of King Louis XIV of France, the growth of his army allowed Frederick William to achieve considerable territorial acquisitions in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, despite Brandenburgs relative lack of success during the war. The provincial estates desired a reduction in the size during peacetime. In the 1653 Brandenburg Recess between Frederick William and the estates of Brandenburg, the nobility provided the sovereign with 530,000 thalers in return for affirmation of their privileges, the Junkers thus cemented their political power at the expense of the peasantry.
Once the elector and his army were strong enough, Frederick William was able to suppress the estates of Cleves, Frederick William attempted to professionalize his soldiers during a time when mercenaries were the norm. Acts of violence by officers against civilians resulted in decommission for a year, Field Marshals of Brandenburg-Prussia included Derfflinger, John George II, Spaen and Sparr. The electors troops traditionally were organized into disconnected provincial forces, in 1655, Frederick William began the unification of the various detachments by placing them under the overall command of Sparr. Unification increased through the appointment of Generalkriegskommissar Platen as head of supplies and these measures decreased the authority of the largely mercenary colonels who had been so prominent during the Thirty Years War
Allies of World War I
The Allies of World War I were the countries that opposed the Central Powers in the First World War. The members of the original Triple Entente of 1907 were the French Republic, the British Empire, Serbia, Greece and Romania were affiliated members of the Entente. The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres defines the Principal Allied Powers as the British Empire, French Republic, the Allied Powers comprised, together with the Principal Allied Powers, Belgium, Hejaz, Portugal, Serb-Croat-Slovene state and Czechoslovakia. The U. S. declaration of war on Germany, on 6th April 1917 was on the grounds that Germany had violated its neutrality by attacking international shipping and it declared war on Austria-Hungary in December 1917. The U. S. entered the war as a power, rather than as a formal ally of France. Although the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria severed relations with the United States, the Dominion governments did control recruiting, and removed personnel from front-line duties as they saw fit. From early 1917, the War Cabinet was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, in April 1918, operational control of all Entente forces on the Western Front passed to the new supreme commander, Ferdinand Foch of France.
The Austrian Empire followed with an attack on the Serbian ally Montenegro on 8 August, on the Western Front, the two neutral States of Belgium and Luxembourg were immediately occupied by German troops as part of the German Schlieffen Plan. On 23 August Japan joined the Entente, which counted seven members, the entrance of the British Empire brought Nepal into the war. In 1916, Montenegro capitulated and left the Entente, and two nations joined and Romania, on 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war. Liberia and Greece became allies and this was followed by Romanian cessation of hostilities, however the Balkan State declared war on Central Powers again on 10 November 1918. In response to the Germans invasion of neutral Belgium, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, gibraltar and Malta were British dependencies in Europe. The UK held several colonies and semi-autonomous dependencies at the time of World War I, in Eastern Africa the East Africa Protectorate, both Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the Uganda Protectorate, were involved in conflict with German forces in German East Africa.
In Western Africa, the colonies of Gold Coast and Nigeria were involved in actions against German forces from Togoland. In Southwestern Africa, the dominion of South Africa was involved in military actions against German forces in German South-West Africa. Canada and Newfoundland were two autonomous dominions during the war that made major contributions to the British war effort. Other British dependent territories in the Americas included, British Honduras, the Falkland Islands, British Guiana, and Jamaica. The UK held large possessions in Asia, including the Indian Empire which was an assortment of British imperial authorities in the territory now defined as India, Burma and New Zealand were two autonomous dominions of the UK in Oceania during the war
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II was the second ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven and launched on 14 September 1897, the ship was commissioned into the fleet as its flagship on 13 February 1900. Kaiser Wilhelm II was armed with a battery of four 24-centimeter guns in two twin turrets. She was powered by triple expansion engines that delivered a top speed of 17.5 knots, Kaiser Wilhelm II served as the flagship of the Active Battle Fleet until 1906, participating in numerous fleet training exercises and visits to foreign ports. She was replaced as flagship by the new battleship SMS Deutschland, after the new dreadnought battleships began entering service in 1908, Kaiser Wilhelm II was decommissioned and put into reserve. She was reactivated in 1910 for training duties in the Baltic. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II and her sisters were brought back into active duty as coastal defense ships in the V Battle Squadron.
Her age, coupled with shortages of crews, led to her withdrawal from this role in February 1915, after which she served as a command ship for the High Seas Fleet. Following the end of the war in November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was stricken from the navy list and her bow ornament is preserved at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden. Kaiser Wilhelm II was 125.3 m long overall and had a beam of 20.4 m and her draft was 7.89 m forward and 8.25 m aft. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines that drove three screw propellers, steam was provided by four marine-type and eight cylindrical water-tube boilers, all of which burned coal. Kaiser Wilhelm IIs powerplant was rated at 12,822 indicated horsepower and she had a normal crew of 39 officers and 612 enlisted men, while serving as the fleet flagship, she carried an additional admirals staff of 12 officers and 51–63 enlisted men. The ships armament consisted of a battery of four 24 cm SK L/40 guns in twin gun turrets, one fore.
Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm SK L/40 guns and she carried twelve 37mm machine cannon, but these were removed. The ships belt armor was 300 mm thick, and the deck was 65 mm thick, the conning tower and main battery turrets were protected with 250 mm of armor plating, and the secondary casemates received 150 mm of armor protection. Kaiser Wilhelm IIs keel was laid on 26 October 1896, at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, ordered under the contract name Ersatz Friedrich der Grosse, to replace the elderly armored frigate Friedrich der Grosse, she was launched on 14 September 1897. During the launching ceremony, Konteradmiral Prince Heinrich christened the ship for his brother, Kaiser Wilhelm II and she was commissioned on 13 February 1900, assuming the position of fleet flagship, which she held until 1906. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the first battleship of the German Navy specifically built to serve as a fleet flagship
Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a naval officer of the German Kaiserliche Marine, who famously commanded the German East Asia Squadron during World War I. During his time in Germany in the late 1880s and early 1890s, he married his wife, Margareta, by 1912, he had returned to the East Asia Squadron as its commander, and was promoted to the rank of Vizeadmiral the following year. After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Spee led his squadron across the Pacific to the coast of South America, a month later, Spee decided to attack the British naval base in the Falkland Islands, though a superior British force surprised him. In the ensuing Battle of the Falkland Islands, Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdees squadron and his two sons, who happened to be serving on two of his ships, were all killed, along with about 2,200 other men. Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert von Spee was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 22 June 1861, though he was raised in the Rhineland in Germany and he joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878 and initially served in the main German naval base at Kiel.
He was commissioned an officer at the rank of Leutnant zur See, and was assigned to the gunboat SMS Möwe, during this voyage, the Germans signed treaties with local rulers in Togo and Cameroon, creating the colonies of Togoland and Kamerun, respectively. In 1887, Spee was transferred to Kamerun where he commanded the port at Duala and he contracted rheumatic fever while there, and had to be sent back to Germany to recover, though he occasionally suffered from rheumatism for the rest of his life. After returning to Germany in 1889, he married his wife, with her he had two sons–Otto, born on 10 July 1890, born on 24 April 1893–and one daughter, born on 11 July 1894. In December 1897, Spee was stationed in Germanys East Asia Squadron after it seized the concession at Kiautschou Bay, here, he served on the staff of Vizeadmiral Otto von Diederichs. During the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, Spee saw action at Tsingtao, after arriving back in Germany, he was promoted to the rank of Korvettenkapitän and assigned as the first officer aboard the pre-dreadnought battleship Brandenburg.
Between 1900 and 1908, Spee held command of ships, including the aviso Hela, the minelayer Pelikan. During this period, he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän on 27 January 1904 and to Kapitän zur See exactly a year later, his command of Wittelsbach followed the latter promotion. In 1908, he was assigned as the chief of staff to the commander of the North Sea Station, Spee was assigned as the deputy commander for the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet. In late 1912, Spee was given command of the East Asia Squadron, Spee was promoted to Vizeadmiral the following year. Over the following year and a half, Spee met with the leaders of several East Asian countries, from 1 April to 7 May 1913, Scharnhorst took Spee to Japan to meet the Taishō Emperor. Later in the year, Spee met with Chulalongkorn, the King of Siam and he came back aboard Scharnhorst on 11 May and the ship returned to Tsingtao. Spee thereafter began preparations for a cruise to German New Guinea, the two armored cruisers proceeded to Nagasaki, where they coaled in preparation for their tour.
While en route to Truk in the Caroline Islands, they received news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on 17 July, the East Asia Squadron arrived in Ponape in the Carolines, where the ships remained while tensions steadily rose in Europe
History of the Republic of China
The History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China as a constitutional republic put an end to 4,000 years of Imperial rule. The Qing dynasty, ruled from 1644–1912, the Republic had experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers. The last days of the Qing dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were marked by civil unrest, in addition, there were sentiments that political power should return to the majority Han Chinese from the minority Manchus from the northeastern province of Manchuria. However, many of these measures were opposed by the conservatives of the Qing Court, the failures of the Imperial Court to enact such political liberalization and modernization caused the reformists to take the road of revolution. In 1905 Sun founded the Tongmenghui in Tokyo with Huang Xing, Suns political philosophy was conceptualized in 1897, first enunciated in Tokyo in 1905 and modified through the early 1920s.
It centered on the Three Principles of the People, democracy, the principle of nationalism called for overthrowing the Manchus and ending foreign hegemony over China. The second principle, was used to describe Suns goal of a popularly elected republican form of government, Peoples livelihood, often referred to as socialism, was aimed at helping the common people through regulation of the ownership of the means of production and land. This would be known as the Wuchang Uprising, which is celebrated as Double Tenth Day in Taiwan and it had been preceded by numerous abortive uprisings and organized protests inside China. The revolt quickly spread to neighboring cities, and Tongmenghui members throughout the country rose in support of the Wuchang revolutionary forces, on October 12 the Revolutionaries succeeded in capturing Hankou and Hanyang. However, the euphoria engendered by this victory was short-lived, on October 27, Yuan Shikai was reappointed by the Qing Court to lead the New Army, and loyalist forces under Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui moved south to retake Wuhan.
After heavy fighting in November, the out-manned and out-gunned Revolutionary Army was driven out of Hankou and Hanyang, during the 41-day Battle of Yangxia, however,15 of the 24 provinces had declared their independence from the Qing empire. Yuan Shikai halted his armys advance on Wuchang and began to negotiate with the revolutionaries, a month later, Sun Yat-sen returned to China from the United States, where he had been raising funds among Chinese and American sympathizers. On January 1,1912, delegates from the independent provinces elected Sun Yat-sen as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai agreed to accept the Republic and forced the last emperor of China, Puyi, to abdicate on February 12. Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication papers, Puyi was allowed to continue living in the Forbidden City, however. The Republic of China officially succeeded the Qing Dynasty, some advocated that a Han be installed as Emperor, either the descendant of Confucius, who was the Duke Yansheng, or the Ming dynasty Imperial family descendant, the Marquis of Extended Grace.
On January 1,1912, Sun officially declared the establishment of the Republic of China and was inaugurated in Nanjing as the first Provisional President. However, power in Beijing already had passed to Yuan Shikai, who had control of the Beiyang Army. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, on March 10, in Beijing, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the second Provisional President of the Republic of China
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony. It was formed from the colonies of the Dutch East India Company. During the 19th century, Dutch possessions and hegemony were expanded and this colony was one of the most valuable European colonies under the Dutch Empires rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th to early 20th century. The colonial social order was based on racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate from. The term Indonesia came into use for the location after 1880. In the early 20th century, local intellectuals began developing the concept of Indonesia as a nation state, Japans World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared independence which they fought to secure during the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution, the word Indies comes from Latin, Indus. The original name Dutch Indies was translated by the English as the Dutch East Indies, the name Dutch Indies is recorded in the Dutch East India Companys documents of the early 1620s.
Scholars writing in English use the terms Indië, the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands Indies, centuries before Europeans arrived, the Indonesian archipelago supported various states, including commercially oriented coastal trading states and inland agrarian states. The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese in the late 15th century, following disruption of Dutch access to spices in Europe, the first Dutch expedition set sail for the East Indies in 1595 to access spices directly from Asia. When it made a 400% profit on its return, other Dutch expeditions soon followed, recognising the potential of the East Indies trade, the Dutch government amalgamated the competing companies into the United East India Company. The VOC was granted a charter to wage war, build fortresses, a capital was established in Batavia, which became the centre of the VOCs Asian trading network. Smuggling, the expense of war and mismanagement led to bankruptcy by the end of the 18th century. The company was dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions in the Indonesian archipelago were nationalised under the Dutch Republic as the Dutch East Indies.
From the arrival of the first Dutch ships in the late 16th century, to the declaration of independence in 1945, although Java was dominated by the Dutch, many areas remained independent throughout much of this time, including Aceh, Bali and Borneo. Piracy remained a problem until the mid-19th century, finally in the early 20th century, imperial dominance was extended across what was to become the territory of modern-day Indonesia. In 1811, British forces occupied several Dutch East Indies ports including Java, Dutch control was restored in 1816. Under the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the Dutch secured British settlements such as Bengkulu in Sumatra, in exchange for ceding control of their possessions in the Malay Peninsula, the resulting borders between British and Dutch possessions remain between Malaysia and Indonesia
Hanover
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Electorate was enlarged to become a Kingdom with Hanover as its capital. From 1868 to 1946 Hanover was the capital of the Prussian Province of Hanover and it is now the capital of the Land of Lower Saxony. Since 2001 it has been part of the Hanover district, which is a body made up from the former district. With a population of 518,000, Hanover is a centre of Northern Germany. Hanover hosts annual commercial trade fairs such as the Hanover Fair, every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the worlds largest marksmens festival, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, the second largest such festival in Germany. In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000, the Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover is of importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport. The city is a crossing point of railway lines and highways. Hanover is the traditional English spelling, the German spelling is becoming more popular in English, recent editions of encyclopaedias prefer the German spelling, and the local government uses the German spelling on English websites.
The traditional English spelling is used in historical contexts, especially when referring to the British House of Hanover. Hanover was founded in times on the east bank of the River Leine. Its original name Honovere may mean high bank, though this is debated, Hanover was a small village of ferrymen and fishermen that became a comparatively large town in the 13th century due to its position at a natural crossroads. As overland travel was difficult, its position on the upper navigable reaches of the river helped it to grow by increasing trade. In the 14th century the churches of Hanover were built. The beginning of industrialization in Germany led to trade in iron and silver from the northern Harz Mountains, in 1636 George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruler of the Brunswick-Lüneburg principality of Calenberg, moved his residence to Hanover. The Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg were elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor to the rank of Prince-Elector in 1692, thus the principality was upgraded to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially known as the Electorate of Hanover after Calenbergs capital.
Its electors would become monarchs of Great Britain, the first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who ruled in Hanover was William IV, semi-Salic law, which required succession by the male line if possible, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover
German Empire
Imperial German Navy
