Naples
Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II.
The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras.
In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
Schooner
A schooner /ˈskuːnər/ is a type of sailing vessel with fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts, the foremast being shorter than the main and no taller than the mizzen if there is one. While the schooner was originally gaff-rigged, modern schooners typically carry a Bermuda rig, such vessels were first used by the Dutch in the 16th or 17th century. They were further developed in North America from the early 18th century, the most common type, with two masts, were popular in trades requiring speed and windward ability, such as slaving, blockade running, and offshore fishing. In the Chesapeake Bay area several distinctive schooner types evolved, including the Baltimore clipper, schooners were popular among pirates in the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy, for their speed and agility. They could sail in shallow waters, and while being smaller than other ships of the time period. Schooners first evolved in the late 17th century from a variety of small two-masted gaff-rigged vessels used in the coast, most were working craft but some pleasure yachts with schooner rigs were built for wealthy merchants and Dutch nobility.
Following the arrival of the Dutch monarch William of Orange on the British throne and this vessel, captured in a detailed Admiralty model, is the earliest fully documented schooner. Royal Transport was quickly noted for its speed and ease of handling, North American shipbuilders quickly developed a variety of schooner forms for trading and privateering. According to the language scholar Walter William Skeat, the term comes from scoon. The Dutch word schoone means nice, good looking, robinson replied, A schooner let her be. The launch is variously described as being in 1713 or 1745, naval architects such as Howard Chapelle have dismissed this invention story as a childish fable, but some language scholars feel that the legend may support a Gloucester origin of the word. Other sources state the etymology as unknown and uncertain, the first detailed definition of a schooner, describing the vessel as two-masted vessel with fore and aft gaff-rigged sails appeared in 1769 in William Falconers, Universal Dictionary of the Marine.
Although a schooner may have up to four masts, the schooner has only two, with the foremast shorter than the mainmast. There may be a bowsprit to help balance the rig, the principal issue with a schooner sail plan is how to fill the space between the two masts most effectively. Traditional schooners were rigged, and the trapezoid shape of the foresail occupied the inter-mast space to good effect, with a useful sail area. A Bermuda rigged schooner typically has four sails, a mainsail, a main staysail abaft the foremast, plus a forestaysail. An advantage of the schooner is that it is easily handled and reefed by a small crew. The main staysail will not overlap the mainsail, and so little to prepare the wind for the mainsail
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe should not be confused with a smaller arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which stands west of the Louvre. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I and it set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages. Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an height of 50 metres, width of 45 m. The smaller transverse vaults are 18.68 m high and 8.44 m wide, three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the archs primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel. Pariss Arc de Triomphe was the tallest triumphal arch until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City in 1938, the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly taller at 60 m. The Arc is located on the bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes, the architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean-Nicolas Huyot.
On 15 December 1840, brought back to France from Saint Helena, prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was displayed under the Arc during the night of 22 May 1885. The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off on the day, it is said, the relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations. On 7 August 1919, Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the Arc, Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight. Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945. A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées, after the interment of the Unknown Soldier, all military parades have avoided marching through the actual arch.
The route taken is up to the arch and around its side, out of respect for the tomb, both Hitler in 1940 and de Gaulle in 1944 observed this custom. By the early 1960s, the monument had grown very blackened from coal soot and automobile exhaust, and during 1965–1966 it was cleaned through bleaching. In the prolongation of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a new arch, after the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe de lÉtoile, the Grande Arche is the third arch built on the same perspective. In 1995, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria placed a bomb near the Arc de Triomphe which wounded 17 people as part of a campaign of bombings, the astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin, in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture. Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe, Jean-Pierre Cortot, François Rude, Antoine Étex, James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War
From the start of the hostilities, the British North American station under Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves blockaded the major colonial ports and carried raids against patriot communities. Colonial forces could do little to stop these developments due to British naval supremacy, in 1777, colonial privateers made raids into British waters capturing merchant ships, which they took into French and Spanish ports, although both were officially neutral. Seeking to challenge Britain, France signed two treaties with America in February 1778, but stopped short of declaring war on Britain, the risk of a French invasion forced the British to concentrate its forces in the English Channel, leaving its forces in North America vulnerable to attacks. After the French fleet departed, the British turned their attention to the south, in 1779, the French fleet returned to assist American forces attempting to recapture Savannah from British forces. In 1780, another fleet and 6,000 troops commanded by Lieutenant-General Jean-Baptiste, comte de Rochambeau, landed at Newport, and shortly afterwards was blockaded by the British.
British Vice-Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, who had been tracking de Grasse around the West Indies, was alerted to the latters departure, but was uncertain of the French admirals destination. Rodney, who was ill, sailed for Europe with the rest of his fleet in order to recover, refit his fleet, the Royal Navy attempted to dispute this control in the key Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September but Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves was defeated. When the news reached London, the government of Lord Frederick North fell, and these culminated in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which King George III recognised the independence of the United States of America. The Battle of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 drew thousands of militia forces from throughout New England to the towns surrounding Boston. These men remained in the area and their numbers grew, placing the British forces in Boston under siege when they blocked all access to the peninsula. The British were still able to sail in supplies from Nova Scotia, colonial forces could do nothing to stop these shipments due to the naval supremacy of the British fleet and the complete absence of any sort of rebel armed vessels in the spring of 1775.
During the siege, with the supplies in the city running shorter by the day, apparently acting on intelligence that the Colonials might make attempts on the islands, posted guard boats near Noddles Island. These were longboats that included detachments of Marines, sources disagree as to whether or not any regulars or marines were stationed on Noddles Island to protect the naval supplies. In response, the Colonials began clearing Noddles Island and Hog Island of anything useful to the British and this contested action resulted in the loss of two British soldiers and the capture and burning of Diana. He belatedly sent a detachment of regulars to secure Noddles Island, Moore carried orders to recover what he could from the wreck of HMS Halifax, which had apparently been run aground in Machias Bay by a patriot pilot in February 1775. After a heated negotiation, the Machias townspeople seized the merchant vessels, Jeremiah OBrien immediately outfitted one of the three captured vessels with breastwork, armed her with the guns and swivels taken from Margaretta and changed her name to Machias Liberty.
In July 1775, Jeremiah OBrien and Benjamin Foster captured two more British armed schooners and Tatamagouche, whose officers had been captured when they came ashore near Bucks Harbour. In August 1775, the Provincial Congress formally recognised their efforts, the community would be a base for privateering until the wars end
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War.
Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble.
The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a French department in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence. Its inhabitants are called the Bas-Alpins or Bas-Alpines referring to the department of Basses-Alpes which was the name of the department until 13 April 1970. Bounded in the east by Italy, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department is surrounded by the departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Vaucluse, Drôme, in the Haute-Ubaye, the mountain peaks exceed 3000 m above sea level and all the passes are close to or above 2000 m in altitude. The relief of the land compartmentalises the region, the valleys are difficult to access so dividing the country into as many local areas which communicate very little with the outside. In 1877,55 communes only had access to trails or mule paths, the seismic hazard is moderate to medium with different faults such as the Durance located in the department. The main river is the Durance which runs in the west of the department and it is in the Durance valley that the most important traffic routes are found, the A51 highway and the railway main line.
Almost all of the department is in the watershed of the Durance except for the extreme south-east which are drained by the Var. The main tributaries of the Durance in the department are the Ubaye, the Bléone, the Asse, the Verdon on the bank, the Buëch, the Jabron. The Durance and its tributaries have a character, with a transition between the snow regime of the high valleys and the mediterranean rainfall regime in the lower mountains. The summer low water levels are severe and violent floods occur when heavy rains fall which is often in autumn. The Durance, Verdon, Bléone, and Buëch have had the construction of several dams, the climate of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department is a Mediterranean climate degrading by altitude and latitude. In between, the two influences mingle in the area of the Lower Alps, Haute-Provence is therefore very interesting for European astronomers looking for a partly cloudy night sky and untouched by light pollution. Many amateur observatories have been built and the Observatoire de Haute-Provence is one of the largest observatories in continental Europe and it is an active astronomy research centre.
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is subdivided into 4 arrondissements,15 cantons and 199 communes, the population was once fairly evenly distributed in the territory, including in the mountainous areas where mountain agriculture was well developed. From the middle of the 19th century, however, it began to due to a strong rural exodus. There were more than 150,000 inhabitants in 1850 but it fell to less than 100,000 after the First World War. It was not until 1960 that the trend changed upwards quite strongly from less than 90,000 in 1954 to nearly 140,000 in 1999 and 153,000 in 2005. However, if this figure is close to the number of inhabitants had department 150 years earlier, the population is now concentrated in the valley of the Durance and the South West of the department, and agriculture employs less than ever before
Antigua
Antigua, known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the West Indies. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981. Antigua means ancient in Spanish after an icon in Seville Cathedral, the name Waladli comes from the indigenous inhabitants and means approximately our own. The islands circumference is roughly 87 km and its area 281 km2, the economy is mainly reliant on tourism, with the agricultural sector serving the domestic market. Over 32,000 people live in the city, St. Johns. The capital is situated in the north-west and has a harbour which is able to accommodate large cruise ships. Other leading population settlements are All Saints and Liberta, according to the 2001 census, English Harbour on the south-eastern coast is famed for its protected shelter during violent storms. It is the site of a restored British colonial naval station called Nelsons Dockyard after Captain Horatio Nelson, today English Harbour and the neighbouring village of Falmouth are internationally famous as a yachting and sailing destination and provisioning centre.
During Antigua Sailing Week, at the end of April and beginning of May, Antiguas economy is reliant upon tourism, and it promotes the island as a luxury Caribbean escape. Many hotels and resorts are located around the coastline, the only regular service to Barbuda flies from VC Bird Airport. Until July 7,2015, the United States Air Force maintained a base near the airport, designated Detachment 1, 45th Operations Group. The mission provided high rate telemetry data for the Eastern Range, the unit was inactivated due to US government budget cuts. The growing medical school and its students add much to the economy, the University of Health Sciences Antigua and the American University of Antigua College of Medicine teach aspiring doctors. The countrys official currency is the East Caribbean dollar, given the dominance of tourism, many prices in tourist-oriented businesses are shown in US dollars. The EC dollar is pegged to the US dollar at a varied rate, prior to European colonialism, the first residents were the Guanahatabey people.
Eventually, the Arawak migrated from the mainland, followed by the Carib, Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit Antigua, in 1493. The Arawak were the first well-documented group of people to settle Antigua. They paddled to the island by canoe from present-day Venezuela, pushed out by the Carib, the Arawak introduced agriculture to Antigua and Barbuda
Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be the end of the known world, the name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin finis terrae, meaning end of the earth. It is sometimes said to be the westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, Cabo da Roca in Portugal is about 16.5 kilometres further west and thus the westernmost point of continental Europe. Even in Spain Cabo Touriñán is farther west, Monte Facho is the name of the mountain on Cape Finisterre, which has a peak that is 238 metres above sea level. A prominent lighthouse is at the top of Monte Facho, the seaside town of Fisterra is nearby. The Artabri were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe that inhabited the area. Cape Finisterre has some beaches, including O Rostro, Mar de Fora, Riveira. Many of the beaches are framed by steep cliffs leading down to the Mare Tenebrosum, there are several rocks in this area associated with religious legends, such as the holy stones, the stained wine stones, the stone chair, and the tomb of the Celtic crone-goddess Orcabella.
Cape Finisterre is the destination for many pilgrims on the Way of St. James. Cape Finisterre is about a 90-km walk from Santiago de Compostela and it is a recent tradition for pilgrims to burn their clothes or boots at the end of their journey at Cape Finisterre. The origin of the pilgrimage to Finisterre is not certain, however, it is believed to date from pre-Christian times and was possibly associated with Finisterres status as the edge of the world. The tradition continued in medieval times, when hospitals were established to cater to pilgrims along the route from Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre, some pilgrims continue on to Muxía, which is a days walk away. In the area there are many pre-Christian sacred locations, there was an Altar Soli on Cape Finisterre, where the Celts engaged in sun worship and assorted rituals. Greco-Roman historians called the residents of Cape Finisterre the Nerios. Monte Facho was the place where the Celtic Nerios from Duio carried out their offerings, Monte Facho is the site of current archaeological investigations and there is evidence of habitation on Monte Facho circa 1000 BCE.
There is a Roman Road to the top of Monte Facho, San Guillerme, known as St. William of Penacorada, lived in a house located on Monte Facho. Near San Guillermes house is a stone now known as St Williams Stone, sterile couples used to copulate on St. Williams Stone to try to conceive, following a Celtic rite of fertility. This was where the Phoenicians sailed from to trade with Bronze Age Britain, because it is a prominent landfall on the route from northern Europe to the Mediterranean, several nearby battles are named the Battle of Cape Finisterre
First French Empire
The First French Empire, Note 1 was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Its name was a misnomer, as France already had colonies overseas and was short lived compared to the Colonial Empire, a series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. The plot included Bonapartes brother Lucien, serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, on 9 November 1799 and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate, he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X, the Battle of Marengo inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleons Moscow campaign.
Napoleon planned only to keep the Duchy of Milan for France, setting aside Austria, the Peace of Amiens, which cost him control of Egypt, was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa, Parma and Naples, he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the pope. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie, on 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with exception of Carnot, in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif, a general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life, pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the Recess of 1803, which brought Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to Frances side. The memories of imperial Rome were for a time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne.
The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, did little other than create a more unified Germany to threaten France. On the other hand, Napoleons creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the occupation of Ancona, to create satellite states, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many nations, in addition to the vassal titles, Napoleons closest relatives were granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France. Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power, Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal and this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. In this War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon destroyed the armies of Frederick William at Jena-Auerstedt, the Eylau and the Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Greats formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit.
The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that held power of much of the rest of Europe, the two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère département in Brittany in northwestern France. The city is located on the edge of continental Europe. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture of the department is the much smaller Quimper, during the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour, Brest grew around its arsenal, until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies bombing raids during World War II, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students, Brest is an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer centre, le Cedre and the French Polar Institute. Brest’s history has always been linked to the sea, the Académie de Marine was founded in 1752 in this city, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was built there.
Every four years, Brest hosts the festival of the sea and sailors. Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, in 1342, John IV, Duke of Brittany, surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397. The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to rise to the saying. With the marriage of Francis I of France to Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany, the advantages of Brests situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbor with wooden wharves. This soon became a base for the French Navy, jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister under Louis XIV, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications by Vauban followed in 1680–1688 and these fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century. In 1694, an English squadron under Lord Berkeley, was defeated in its attack on Brest.
In 1917, during the First World War, Brest was used as the port for many of the troops coming from the United States. Thousands of such men came through the port on their way to the front lines, the United States Navy established a naval air station on 13 February 1918 to operate seaplanes. The base closed shortly after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, in the Second World War, the Germans maintained a large U-boat submarine base at Brest. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain.
The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
English Channel
The English Channel, called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais.
Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance.
It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English. The name English Channel has been used since the early 18th century. In modern Dutch, however, it is known as Het Kanaal, later, it has been known as the British Channel or the British Sea having been called the Oceanus Britannicus by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. The same name is used on an Italian map of about 1450, the Anglo-Saxon texts often call it Sūð-sǣ as opposed to Norð-sǣ
Kingdom of France
French First Republic
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 
