1.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
2.
Zeeland
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Zeeland is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and peninsulas and its area is about 2,930 square kilometres, of which almost 1,140 square kilometres is water, and it has a population of about 380,000. Large parts of Zeeland are below sea level, the last great flooding of the area was in 1953. Tourism is an important economic activity, in the summer, its beaches make it a popular destination for tourists, especially German tourists. In some areas, the population can be two to four times higher during the summer season. The coat of arms of Zeeland shows a lion half-emerged from water, the country of New Zealand is named after Zeeland - not Zealand in Denmark, as sometimes claimed. Nehalennia is a goddess of the ancient religion known around the province of Zeeland and her worship dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, and flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. She was possibly a goddess, either Celtic or pre-Germanic – sources differ on the culture that first worshipped her. During the Roman Era, her main function appeared to be the protection of travelers, most of what is known about her comes from the remains of over 160 carved stone offerings which have been dredged up from the Eastern Scheldt since 1970. Two more Nehalennia offering stones have also found in Cologne. Zeeland was an area between the counts of Holland and Flanders until 1299, when the last count of Holland died. Followed by the counts of Bavaria, Burgundy and Habsburg, after 1585 Zeeland followed, as one of the 7 independent provinces, the fate of the Northern part of The Netherlands. In 1432 it became part of the Low Countries possessions of Philip the Good of Burgundy, through marriage, the Seventeen Provinces became the property of the Habsburgs in 1477. In the Eighty Years War, Zeeland was on the side of the Union of Utrecht, the area now called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was not part of Zeeland, but a part of the county of Flanders that was conquered by the United Provinces, hence called Staats-Vlaanderen. After the French occupation and the formation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, during World War II, Zeeland was occupied by Nazi Germany between June 1940 and November 1944. In 1944, Zeeland was devastated by the Battle of the Scheldt, the catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953, which killed over 1800 people in Zeeland, led to the construction of the protective Delta Works. The province of Zeeland is a river delta situated at the mouth of several major rivers, namely Scheldt, Rhine. Most of the province lies below sea level and was reclaimed from the sea by inhabitants over time, what used to be a muddy landscape, flooding at high tide and reappearing at low tide, became a series of small man-made hills that stayed dry at all times
3.
Middelburg
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Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. Situated on the peninsula of the Zeeland province, Midden-Zeeland. The city of Middelburg dates back possibly to the late 8th century or early 9th century, the first mention of Middelburg was as one of three fortified towns erected on Walcheren to guard against Viking raids. In 844 a monastery was built on the site, which remained an active Catholic foundation until the Reformation, foundations for Middelburgs stately and picturesque cathedral were first laid in the 10th century, additional construction continued through the Middle Ages. Middelburg was granted city rights in 1217, during the Middle Ages, it became an important trading centre in the commerce between England and the rising cities of Flanders. The town continued to gain in power and prestige during the 13th and 14th centuries, from 1559.05.12 to 1603, Middelburg was the episcopal see of a Catholic bishopric covering all Zeeland. In the Eighty Years War, Middelburg was captured from the Spanish forces during a long siege, the northern provinces of the original Low Countries won their independence from their former Spanish Habsburg rulers and formed The Netherlands, a Protestant state. Middelburg played an important role in the 17th century slave trade, samuel Ben Israel, son of Menasseh Ben Israel, is buried in Middelburg at the Sephardic burial site located at the Jodengang outside the citywall. Menasseh Ben Israel negotiated with Cromwell the opening of England, and their colonies, Middelburg also has an Ashkenazic burial site, which is located at the Walensingel inside the city wall. In 1994 the synagogue was restored, as it was destroyed during the Second World War. This synagogue was the one to be built in the Netherlands during the Golden Age. In the hall of the station there is a plaque of remembrance for the Jews of Zeeland who started their journey to the death camps from the Middelburg train station. About a third of the old city centre was devastated by bombs and fire in the phases of World War II, on May 17,1940. The town was captured and liberated by British troops during Operation Infatuate on 5 November 1944, after the War, as much of the destroyed part of the old town center was rebuilt and restored along pre-War lines as possible. The citys archives, however, had been incinerated during the German bombardment, modern Middelburg has preserved and regained much of its historic and picturesque character. There are lavish 17th and 18th century merchant houses and storehouses standing along canals, the old city moats are still there, as are two of the city gates, the Koepoort Gate and the varkenspoort Gate. Part of the 18th century moat and defence works, however, were demolished in the 19th century to make way for a canal that crosses Walcheren from Vlissingen to Veere. The medieval abbey is still in use today, as a museum, the painter Pieter Gaal, was born and, after traveling over Europe to paint, settled and died here
4.
Veere
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Veere is a municipality with a population of 22,000 and a city with a population of 1,500 in the southwestern Netherlands, on Walcheren island in the province of Zeeland. The name Veere means ferry, Wolfert Van Borsselen established a ferry there in 1281, Veere received city rights in 1355. The Admiraliteit van Veere was set up as a result of the Ordinance on the Admiralty of 8 January 1488 in an attempt to create a central administration in the Burgundian Netherlands. To this was subordinated the Vice-Admiralty of Flanders in Dunkirk, in 1560 under admiral Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, this admiralty relocated near Ghent and in 1561 the Habsburg naval forces were also moved to Veere. Veere functioned as the port for Scotland between 1541 and 1799. Flemish architects Antonis Keldermans and Evert Spoorwater designed the Grote Kerk, the fortifications, the Cisterne, during this period of prosperity, the cultural centre was located at Sandenburgh castle, the residence of the noble Van Borsele and Van Bourgondië families. Court painter Jan Gossaert van Mabuse worked here, the poet Adrianus Valerius lived and worked in the city from 1591. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Veere was a trading city, with about 750 houses inside the city walls then. At the start of the Second World War, there was a Royal Netherlands Navy seaplane base at Veere, on 12 May 1940 the base was bombed by He-111 bombers causing some casualties. On 14 May, the seaplanes were ordered to evacuate to France and then England, Veere was finally liberated on 7 November 1944 by Scottish troops of the British 52nd Infantry Division during Operation Infatuate, the Allied assault on Walcheren. As part of the preparations for the operation, the sea dykes were bombed resulting in the inundation of much of the area. Unlike many other towns on the island, Veere was virtually undamaged in the fighting, as a result of the damming of the Veerse Gat inlet in 1961, the fishing fleet of Veere moved to a new home port at Colijnsplaat on Noord-Beveland. As of 2013 the main business of the town is tourism, Veere municipality reached its current expanded shape in 1997, after the addition of several neighboring towns. During the course of two centuries seventeen historical municipalities have merged to become present-day Veere. Its original full name was Veere-de-Stad en Zanddijk-Binnen, the city of Veere stands on the Veerse Meer lagoon on the island of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. The area of the municipality of Veere is 13,496 hectares, with a coastline of 34 kilometres, the population centres in the municipality are, The area is visited by 4 million tourists annually. The main attractions are the beaches and marinas, the Storm Surge Barrier on the Oosterschelde is the most popular visitor attraction in Zeeland. Official website Veere in the picture, Beautiful photos of Veere, website about the historic city of Veere
5.
Vlissingen
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Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries and it was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company. It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy are built. The Counts of Holland, Flanders, and Zeeland had the first harbours dug, over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade. Under the Treaty of Nonsuch, English garrisons were stationed here, during the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age, ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces. The history of Vlissingen was also marked by invasion, oppression, floods have also been a constant threat. Vlissingen declined during the 18th century, the Napoleonic Wars were particularly disastrous. After 1870, the economy revived after the construction of new docks and the Walcheren canal, the arrival of the railway, the Second World War interrupted this growth. The city was damaged by shelling and inundation but was captured and liberated by British Commandos of 4th Special Service Brigade on 3 November 1944. The city was rebuilt after the war, in the 1960s, the seaport and industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost developed and flourished. Now this area is the driving force behind central Zeeland. 50,000 ships annually from all corners of the pass through the Schelde. Tourists are attracted to Vlissingen not just because of its history and maritime character, the derivation of the name Vlissingen is unclear, though most scholars relate the name to the word fles in one way or another. According to one story, when saint Willibrord landed in Vlissingen with a bottle in the 7th century, a miracle occurred, familiar to readers of hagiography, when the contents of the bottle did not diminish. When the bishop realised the beggars did not want to listen to his words, after that, he supposedly called the city Flessinghe. Another source states that the name had its origins in an old ferry-service house, the monk Jacob van Dreischor, who visited the city in 967, then apparently called the ferry-house het veer aan de Flesse. Because many cities in the region received the appendix -inge
6.
Island
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An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge. Example, Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, there are two main types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
7.
Scheldt
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The Scheldt is a 350-kilometre long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sceald shallow, Modern English shoal, Low German schol, Frisian skol, the headwaters of the Scheldt are in Gouy, in the Aisne department of northern France. It flows north through Cambrai and Valenciennes, and enters Belgium near Tournai, in Ghent, where it receives the Lys, one of its main tributaries, the Scheldt turns east. Near Antwerp, the largest city on its banks, the Scheldt flows west into the Netherlands towards the North Sea, today the river therefore continues into the Westerschelde estuary only, passing Terneuzen to reach the North Sea between Breskens in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Vlissingen on Walcheren. The Scheldt is an important waterway, and has been navigable from its mouth up to Cambrai. The port of Antwerp, the second largest in Europe, lies on its banks, several canals connect the Scheldt with the basins of the Rhine, Meuse and Seine, and with the industrial areas around Brussels, Liège, Lille, Dunkirk and Mons. In Roman times, it was important for the lanes to Roman Britain. Nehalennia was venerated at its mouth, the Franks took control over the region about the year 260 and at first interfered with the Roman supply routes as pirates. Later they became allies of the Romans, Antwerp was the most prominent harbour in Western Europe. After this city fell back under Spanish control in 1585, the Dutch Republic took control of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a strip of land on the left bank, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. Access to the river was the subject of the brief Kettle War of 1784, once Belgium had claimed its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships heading for Belgian ports. Nevertheless, the Dutch government would demand a toll from passing vessels until 16 July 1863, in the Second World War, the Scheldt estuary once again became a contested area. Paget-Tyrell Memorandum of August 7,1916, Section 6
8.
Estuary
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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
9.
Eastern Scheldt
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The Eastern Scheldt is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It is also the largest national park in the Netherlands, founded in 2002, during the Roman Era it was the major mouth of the Scheldt River. Later parts of that lost land were reclaimed, restricting part of the connection to the Scheldt River to a channel called the Kreekrak. In 1867 the Kreekrak was closed off with a railway embankment, from that moment on, the Oosterschelde lost its connection with the Scheldt, and is no longer functioning as an estuary. Between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland there are two connections, the Oosterscheldedam on the west and the Zeeland Bridge on the east. After the North Sea flood of 1953, it was decided to close off the Oosterschelde by means of a dam, the Oosterscheldekering, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, is the largest of 13 ambitious Delta Works designed to protect a large part of the Netherlands from flooding. A four-kilometre section has huge sluice gates, which are normally open, upon completion of the barrier in 1986, the flow of water decreased and the tidal height differential reduced from 3.40 metres to 3.25 metres. As a result, no new sand is being deposited on the sand bars—they are now slowly eroding, changing the character of the coast, since May 8,2002, the entire Oosterschelde was designated a national park. Its boundaries are the dikes of Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen and Sint-Philipsland, Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland, having an area of 370 square kilometres, it is the largest national park in the Netherlands. Total shore length is 125 kilometres, the park consists primarily of the salt waters of the Oosterschelde, but also includes some mud flats, meadows and shoals. Because of the variety of sea life, including unique regional species. Other activities include sailing, fishing, cycling and bird watching, Delta Works Western Scheldt Oosterschelde National Park official website Satellite view, google maps
10.
Western Scheldt
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The Western Scheldt in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are disconnected from the Scheldt and it is an important shipping route to the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. Therefore, unlike the other sea arms, it is not closed by a dam as part of the Delta Works, instead, the dykes around it have been heightened and reinforced. Many ships have sunk in the Western Scheldt, following an agreement between the Dutch and Belgian governments in 1995, many of these wrecks have been removed to improve shipping access to Antwerp. It was expected that the last 38 wrecks in the channel would be removed during 2003. The largest wreck was the 131-metre long Alan A. Dale which was removed during June 2003, the Western Scheldt was freed from German occupation in October and November 1944 by the First Canadian Army during The Battle of the Scheldt. In mid-March 2003, a 6.6 km tunnel under the Western Scheldt opened and it is the longest road traffic tunnel in the Netherlands. The toll is €5,00 for cars and €2,50 for motorcycles, prior to 2011, the charge for motorcycles was the same as for cars but it was reduced following protests. There is a toll station for both directions, located on the north bank. Pedestrians, cyclists, and moped riders are not allowed in the tunnel, with the opening of the road tunnel, the Breskens-Vlissingen ferry was restricted to pedestrians and cyclists only. It is operated by Westerschelde Ferry BV, a subsidiary of the province of Zeeland, upstream, the Kruiningen-Perkpolder ferry was discontinued without replacement. Eastern Scheldt Ferry Tunnel Ferry and Tunnel
11.
Rhombus
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In Euclidean geometry, a rhombus is a simple quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length, every rhombus is a parallelogram and a kite. A rhombus with right angles is a square, the word rhombus comes from Greek ῥόμβος, meaning something that spins, which derives from the verb ῥέμβω, meaning to turn round and round. The word was used both by Euclid and Archimedes, who used the term solid rhombus for two right circular cones sharing a common base, the surface we refer to as rhombus today is a cross section of this solid rhombus through the apex of each of the two cones. This is a case of the superellipse, with exponent 1. Every rhombus has two diagonals connecting pairs of vertices, and two pairs of parallel sides. Using congruent triangles, one can prove that the rhombus is symmetric across each of these diagonals and it follows that any rhombus has the following properties, Opposite angles of a rhombus have equal measure. The two diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular, that is, a rhombus is an orthodiagonal quadrilateral, the first property implies that every rhombus is a parallelogram. Thus denoting the common side as a and the diagonals as p and q, not every parallelogram is a rhombus, though any parallelogram with perpendicular diagonals is a rhombus. In general, any quadrilateral with perpendicular diagonals, one of which is a line of symmetry, is a kite, every rhombus is a kite, and any quadrilateral that is both a kite and parallelogram is a rhombus. A rhombus is a tangential quadrilateral and that is, it has an inscribed circle that is tangent to all four sides. As for all parallelograms, the area K of a rhombus is the product of its base, the base is simply any side length a, K = a ⋅ h. The inradius, denoted by r, can be expressed in terms of the p and q as. The dual polygon of a rhombus is a rectangle, A rhombus has all sides equal, a rhombus has opposite angles equal, while a rectangle has opposite sides equal. A rhombus has a circle, while a rectangle has a circumcircle. A rhombus has an axis of symmetry through each pair of opposite vertex angles, the diagonals of a rhombus intersect at equal angles, while the diagonals of a rectangle are equal in length. The figure formed by joining the midpoints of the sides of a rhombus is a rectangle, a rhombohedron is a three-dimensional figure like a cube, except that its six faces are rhombi instead of squares. The rhombic dodecahedron is a polyhedron with 12 congruent rhombi as its faces
12.
Harbor
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A harbor or harbour, or haven, is a body of water where ships, boats and barges seek shelter from stormy weather, or are stored for future use. Ports are often located in harbors, harbors can be natural or artificial. An artificial harbor can have deliberately constructed breakwaters, sea walls, or jettys, or they can be constructed by dredging, in contrast, a natural harbor is surrounded on several sides by prominences of land. Examples of natural harbors include Sydney Harbour, Australia and Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka, artificial harbors are frequently built for use as ports. The oldest artificial harbor known is the Ancient Egyptian site at Wadi al-Jarf, on the Red Sea coast, the largest artificially created harbor is Jebel Ali in Dubai. The Ancient Carthaginians constructed fortified, artificial harbors called cothons, a natural harbor is a landform where a part of a body of water is protected and deep enough to furnish anchorage. Natural harbors have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, having a protected harbor reduces or eliminates the need for breakwaters as it will result in calmer waves inside the harbor. For harbors near the North and South Poles, being ice-free is an important advantage, the worlds southmost harbor, located at Antarcticas Winter Quarters Bay, is potentially ice-free, depending on the summertime pack ice conditions. Although the worlds busiest port is a hotly contested title, in 2006 the worlds busiest harbor by cargo tonnage was the Port of Shanghai
13.
Oosterscheldekering
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The construction of the Delta Works was in response to the widespread damage and loss of life due to the North Sea Flood of 1953. These doors are open, but can be closed under adverse weather conditions. In this way, the marine life behind the dam is preserved and fishing can continue. On 4 October 1986, Queen Beatrix officially opened the dam for use by saying the well-known words, De stormvloedkering is gesloten. At the artificial island Neeltje-Jans, at one end of the barrier, the Oosterscheldekering was the most difficult to build and most expensive part of the Delta works. Work on the dam more than a decade. Construction started in April 1976 and was completed in June 1986, the road over the dam was ready for use in November 1987. To facilitate the building, an artificial island Neeltje-Jans was created in the middle of the estuary, when the construction was finished, the island was rebuilt to be used as education centre for visitors and as a base for maintenance works. The dam is based on 65 concrete pillars with 62 steel doors, the parts were constructed in a dry dock. The area was flooded and a fleet of special construction ships lifted the pillars. Each pillar is between 35 and 38.75 metres high and weighs 18000 tonnes, the dam is designed to last more than 200 years. The Oosterscheldekering is sometimes referred to as the eighth Wonder of the World and it has been declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Four ships were designed and built for this project, Mytilus. Cardium, a ship to transport and lay a special foil carpet on the seabed for the pillars to rest on, Ostrea, a ship capable of lifting a concrete pillar from the dry dock and placing it accurately on a special foil on the seabed. The ship is 85 metres long and has a portal of 50 metres high, the ship can only lift 10000 tonnes, but as a large part of the pillar is underwater, it is not necessary for the ship to be able to lift the full 18000 tonnes. This ship is considered the flagship of the fleet, mainly because of its larger size. Macoma, a ship that works closely with the Ostrea, cleaning the foil assisting in placing the pillars accurately in their final position, the ships are named after various types of shellfish. The dam is manually operated but if human control fails, a security system acts as a backup
14.
Zuid-Beveland
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Zuid-Beveland is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Westerschelde and south of the Oosterschelde. It is an island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Beveland on the west. It consists of four municipalities, Borsele Goes Kapelle Reimerswaal Goes is Zuid-Bevelands principal urban center, Zuid-Beveland is a former island which was joined to the mainland by a railway embankment in 1903 and to Noord-Beveland by the Delta Works. A shipping canal connecting the Belgian port of Antwerp with the Rhine River traverses Zuid-Beveland and this was the period during which most of Zeeland appears to have been submerged. The area was and for several centuries would remain almost unpeopled, during the eleventh century the area began to be drained, as little by little polders and channels were developed to protect the fields between them. Once drained, salt levels began to reduce and the soil very fertile. In the thirteenth century villages and towns began to appear, people lived chiefly from farming and fishing. The commercial centre of Zuid-Beveland was Goes, but Reimerswaal to the east, as a result of the St. Felix Days floods in November 1530, much of the island disappeared under water. Towns and villages were lost to what became known as the land of Zuid-Beveland. The island was badly impacted forty years later in November 1570 by the “All Saints’ Day floods. Between 1568 and 1648, during the course of what by its end had become the War of Dutch Independence. During most of this period the economy of the Netherlands slowed or contracted, however, the region benefitted from advances in transportation, connected in 1868 to Roosendaal by railroad with the inauguration of the Zeeland Line. In 1850 work began on the Zuid-Beveland Canal which linked the Western Scheldt, the construction in 1871 of the Sloedam, topped off with a roadway and a railway track, across the old Sloe Channel, connected Zuid-Beveland with Walcheren. On 16 May 1940, heavy fighting occurred near Kapelle between German and French motorized troops, who came to the rescue of the Dutch, the next day 65 French soldiers were buried by the local people. After World War II every French soldier, who was killed in the Netherlands during the war, was brought to Kapelle, on 16 May 1950, the military cemetery on the edge of town was officially opened. 217 French soldiers,20 Moroccan soldiers in French service and 1 Belgian soldier were buried here, the area was liberated by British and Canadians during the Battle of the Scheldt in November 1944. In the night of 31 January and the morning of 1 February 1953 a heavy flood occurred in the southwest of the Netherlands, because of the relative high altitude, the most part of Zuid-Beveland was relatively safe. In particular the eastern part of the peninsula suffered from floods, to prevent future floods, the Delta Works were started in 1950
15.
North Brabant
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Noord Brabant, also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, the northern border follows the Meuse river westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The Duchy of Brabant was a state of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183 or 1190. Until the 17th century, the area that now makes up the province of North Brabant was mostly part of the Duchy of Brabant, of which the southern part is now in Belgium. In the 14th and 15th century, the experienced a golden age, especially the cities of Brussel, Mechelen, Leuven, Antwerpen, Breda, Bergen op Zoom. After the Union of Utrecht was signed in 1579, Brabant became a battlefield between the Protestant Dutch Republic and Catholic Spain, which occupied the southern Netherlands, attempts to introduce Protestantism into the region were largely unsuccessful, North Brabant remained strongly Roman Catholic. For over a century, North Brabant served mainly as a buffer zone. In 1796, when confederate Dutch Republic became the unitary Batavian Republic and this status ended with the reorganisation by the French, and the area was divided over several departments. This boundary between the Netherlands and Belgium is special in that it does not form a contiguous line, a few of these irregularities were corrected, Huijbergen became totally Dutch, but some remain, notably Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau. The period from 1900 until the late 1960s is called Het Rijke Roomse Leven, in those days every village in North Brabant had a convent from which the nuns operated. Politically, the province was dominated by Catholic parties, the Roomsch-Katholieke Staatspartij and its successor, the Katholieke Volkspartij. The influence of Het Rijke Roomse Leven remains in the form of education where some schools are still Roman Catholic, a cultural divide is still found between the Catholic south and the Protestant north, but with a total of 1. In the province of North Brabant Catholics are no longer a majority of the population as of 2010, only 1–2% of the total population of Catholic area attend mass, and these churchgoers consist mostly of people over 65 years old. With a population density of 501/km², North-Brabant is above average urbanized, the urbanization is at the center of the province at largest, where the kite is located, the rest of the province has a more rural character. The province has preserved some of its scenic nature well, also, south of Eindhoven named De Kempen is a beautiful area with farmlands and forests. In Heeze, also south of Eindhoven, are the areas the Groote Heide. The Strabrechtse Heide holds also the largest fen of the Netherlands, like most of the Netherlands, North Brabant is mostly flat but nearly every part of North Brabant is above sea level, therefore, there are not as many canals as in the lower parts of The Netherlands. Although most of the lives in urban areas, the province is scattered with villages around which most of the land is cultivated
16.
Roman Britain
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Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from AD43 to 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesars enemies. He received tribute, installed a king over the Trinovantes. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34,27, in AD40, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain, the Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain. By the year 47, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way, control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudicas uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward. Around 197, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, during the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century, for much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410, the kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, after the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor, over the centuries Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire, such as Italy, Spain, Syria and Algeria. Britain was known to the Classical world, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC, the Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, however, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The second invasion involved a larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients, Augustus planned invasions in 34,27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustuss reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in annual revenue than any conquest could
17.
Nehalennia
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Worship of Nehalennia dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, and veneration of the goddess flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. A similar number were discovered in 1971-72 in the town of Colijnsplaat, while Nehalennia is by far the most common spelling, Nehalenia and Nehalaennia both appear a few times. Gysseling characterizes these two forms as Latinisations of the more archaic Nehalennia, several sporadic spellings that are attested once each were rejected by Bogaers as non-standard or misread due to the poor state of some of the inscriptions. Nehalennia is almost always depicted with marine symbols and a large and she must have been a Celtic or Germanic deity, who was attributed power over trading, shipping and possible horticulture and fertility. She is depicted as a young woman and she wears a typical short cloak over her shoulders and chest. This garment is unique to her and therefore might have belonged to the costumes usual at that period in this region, often she is accompanied by a dog and she has as attributes a basket of apples or loaves and ship parts. This dog is on thirteen of the twenty-one altars recorded by Ada Hondius-Crone, the loaves that Nehalennia is depicted with on her altars have been identified as duivekater, oblong sacrificial loaves in the shape of a shin bone. In 2005, a replica of the temple was built in Colijnsplaat, the design of temple and its sculpture is based on the archaeological study of the type of sanctuaries in the Roman provinces of Gaul and Germania. At the reconstruction, authentic materials and techniques were used as much as possible, at the time, this region on the sea coast was an important link for the trade between the Rhine area and Britain. It is known that the tribe of the Morini, who lived on the North Sea coast, visitors came to worship from as far away as Besançon, France and Trier, Germany. Nehalennia had two sanctuaries or shrines, embellished with numerous altars, one at Domburg on the island of Walcheren, in August 2005, a replica of the Nehalennia temple near the lost town of Ganuenta was opened in Colijnsplaat. Matres Iðunn Norse goddess of apples who has parallels to Nehalennia Mythology of the Low Countries Germanic paganism Zeeland Asteroid 2462, or 6578 P-L, official site of the Nehalennia temple replica
18.
Walhaz
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*Walhaz is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word, meaning foreigner, stranger, Roman, Romance-speaker, or Celtic-speaker. The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the former Western Roman Empire, the form of these words imply that they are descended from a Proto-Germanic form *walhiska-. It is attested in the Roman Iron Age from an inscription on one of the Tjurkö bracteates, *Walhaz is almost certainly derived from the name of the tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae and to the Greeks as Οὐόλκαι / Ouólkai. This tribe occupied territory neighbouring that of the Germanic people and seem to have referred to by the proto-Germanic name *Walhaz. It is assumed that this term referred to the Celtic Volcae. Subsequently, this term *Walhōz was applied rather indiscriminately to the neighbours of the Germanic people, as evidenced in geographic names such as Walchgau. These southern neighbours, however, were already completely Romanised. Thus, Germanic speakers generalised this name first to all Celts, for instance, the historical German name for Trentino, the part of Tyrol with a Romance speaking majority, is Welschtirol, and the historical German name for Verona is Welschbern. Today, welsch is not in usage in German except in Switzerland and this term is used there not only in a historical context, but also as a somewhat pejorative word to describe Swiss speakers of Italian and French. In Central and Eastern Europe, the word for Latin peoples was borrowed from the Goths into Proto-Slavic some time before the 7th century, the first source using the word was the writings of Byzantine historian George Kedrenos in the mid-11th century. From the Slavs the term passed to other peoples, such as the Hungarians, Turks, over time, the term Vlach also acquired different meanings. The Polish words Włoch, Italian, and Włochy, Italy, and the Slovenian lah, in Hungarian, Oláh, referring to Romanians, Vlachok referring to Romanians/Vlachs, generally, Olasz, referring to Italians. In Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian, Vlah – to Romanians or other Romanian/Vlach subgroup, also in Vlašić, the mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina named after the Vlach shepherds that inhabited it. In Slovene, Laški, archaic name referring to Italians, it is also the name of several settlements in Slovenia, like Laško near Celje, Laško is also the old Slovene name for the area around Monfalcone and Ronchi in Italy, on the border with Slovenia. These names are linked to the presence of larger nuclei of Romance-speaking populations at the time where the Slavs settled the area in the 6th century, in English usage the words Gaul and Gaulish are used synonymously with Latin Gallia, Gallus and Gallicus. However the similarity of the names is coincidental, the English words are borrowed from French Gaule and Gaulois. Germanic w is regularly rendered with French gu / g, Gaule or Gaulle can hardly be derived from Latin Gallia, since g would become j before a, so the regular outcome of Latin Gallia would have been *Jaille in French. This also applies to the French name for Wales, which is le pays de Galles, in Welschnofen lived until the eighteenth century a Ladin community, while in Deutschnofen lived a German community
19.
Vikings
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The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century, current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. One etymology derives víking from the feminine vík, meaning creek, inlet, various theories have been offered that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Viken, meaning a person from Viken. According to this theory, the word simply described persons from this area, however, there are a few major problems with this theory. People from the Viken area were not called Viking in Old Norse manuscripts, in addition, that explanation could only explain the masculine and ignore the feminine, which is a serious problem because the masculine is easily derived from the feminine but hardly vice versa. The form also occurs as a name on some Swedish rune stones. There is little indication of any negative connotation in the term before the end of the Viking Age and this is found in the Proto-Nordic verb *wikan, ‘to turn’, similar to Old Icelandic víkja ‘to move, to turn’, with well-attested nautical usages. In that case, the idea behind it seems to be that the rower moves aside for the rested rower on the thwart when he relieves him. A víkingr would then originally have been a participant on a sea journey characterized by the shifting of rowers, in that case, the word Viking was not originally connected to Scandinavian seafarers but assumed this meaning when the Scandinavians begun to dominate the seas. In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, in Old English, and in the history of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen written by Adam of Bremen in about 1070, the term generally referred to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. As in the Old Norse usages, the term is not employed as a name for any people or culture in general, the word does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts. The Vikings were known as Ascomanni ashmen by the Germans for the ash wood of their boats, Lochlannach by the Gaels, the modern day name for Sweden in several neighbouring countries is possibly derived from rōþs-, Ruotsi in Finnish and Rootsi in Estonian. The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians, Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard. The Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were known as Danes or heathen. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon, similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history, Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century, in that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe
20.
Rorik of Dorestad
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Rorik or Hrørek was a Danish Viking, who ruled over different parts of Friesland between 841 and 873. Since the 19th century, there have been attempts to him with Rurik, the founder of the Russian royal dynasty. He had a brother named Harald, Harald Klak was probably their uncle, and Godfrid Haraldsson their cousin. The identity of his father remains uncertain, but Harald Klak had at least three brothers. Any of them could be the father of the younger Harald, several writers have chosen Hemming for chronological reasons, estimating Rorik was born following the 810s. This remains a theory, not an unquestionable conclusion. Harald the younger had been exiled from Denmark and had raided Frisia for several years and he had entered an alliance with Lothair I who was involved in conflict against Louis the Pious, his father. Frisia was part of Louis lands and the raids were meant to weaken him, by 841, Louis was dead and Lothair was able to grant Harald and Rorik several parts of Friesland. His goal at the time was to establish the presence of his loyalists in Frisia, securing it against his siblings and political rivals Louis the German. In the early 840s, Frisia seemed to attract fewer raids than in the previous decade, Viking raiders were turning their attention to West Francia and Anglo-Saxon England. In 843, Lothair, Louis and Charles signed the Treaty of Verdun, Lothair previously needed Rorik and Harald to defend Frisia from external threats. With the seeming elimination of threats, the two Vikings may have outlived their usefulness to their overlord. In about 844, both fell into disgrace and they were accused of treason and imprisoned. The chronicles of the time report doubt on the accusation, Rorik would later manage to escape. Harald probably died while a prisoner, according to an 850 entry of the Annales Fuldenses, Hrørek the Norseman held the vicus Dorestad as a benefice with his brother Haraldr in the time of the Emperor Louis the Pious. After the death of the emperor and his brother he was denounced as a traitor - falsely as it is said - to Lothair I, who had succeeded his father in the kingdom and he escaped and became the faithful man of Louis the German. And he came through the mouth of the river Rhine to Dorestad, seized, Lothar, since he could not crush him, received him into his allegiance and granted him Dorestad and other counties. After Rorik, together with Godfrid Haraldsson, conquered Dorestad and Utrecht in 850, Dorestad had been one of the most prosperous ports in Northern Europe for quite some time
21.
Rurik
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There is a debate over how Rurik came to control Ladoga and Novgorod. Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, according to the Primary Chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus, a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, Angles, and Gotlanders. Rurik remained in power until his death in 879 and his successors, however, moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus, which persisted until the Mongol invasion in 1240. A number of extant princely families are descended from Rurik, although the last Rurikid to rule Russia, Vasily IV. According to the entries in the Radzivil and Hypatian Chronicles under the years 862–864 and it is only later that he moved his seat of power to Novgorod, a fort built not far from the source of the Volkhov River. The meaning of place name in medieval Russian is new fortification. The only similarly named figure described in Western chronicles was Rorik of Dorestad, since the 19th century, there have been attempts to identify him with the Rurik of Russian chronicles. Rorik of Dorestad was born about ca, 810–820 to Ali Anulo, 9th king of Haithabu. Frankish chroniclers mention that he received lands in Friesland from Emperor Louis I and this was not enough for him, and he started to plunder neighbouring lands, he took Dorestad in 850, captured Haithabu in 857, and looted Bremen in 859. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860, Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland demesne was returned to him by Charles the Bald, in 882 Rorik of Dorestad is mentioned as dead. The Russian chronicle places the death of Rurik of Novgorod at 879, according to Western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks. This may have parallels with the Christianization of the Rus, as reported by Patriarch Photius in 867, the hypothesis of their identity currently lacks support among scholars, though support for a Normanic origin of the Rus has increased. The Rurikid dynasty went on to rule the Kievan Rus, and ultimately the Tsardom of Muscovy, until 1598. Vasily Tatishchev claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction and went so far as to name Ruriks wife, Ufanda of Norway, mother, Umila, his grandfather, Gostomysl. According to the FamilyTreeDNA Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project, Rurik appears to have belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup N1c1, N1c1 is not widely found in Scandinavian countries, but is overwhelmingly found among Baltic and Finnish ethnicities. The N1c1 haplotype possess the distinctive value DYS390=23, also found in Scandinavia
22.
Rus' Khaganate
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The regions population at that time was composed of Baltic, Slavic, Finnic, Turkic, Hungarian, and Norse peoples. The region was also a place of operations for Varangians, eastern Scandinavian adventurers, merchants, in sparse contemporaneous sources, the leader or leaders of Rus people at this time were referred to by the Old Turkic title Khagan, hence the suggested name of their polity. This period is thought to be the times of the genesis of a distinct Rus ethnos, which rise to Kievan Rus and later states from which modern Russia, Belarus. When questioned by the Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious at Ingelheim, they stated that their leader was known as chacanus, that lived far to the north. Thirty years later, in spring 871, the eastern and western emperors, Basil I and Louis II, quarreled over control of Bari, the Byzantine emperor sent an angry letter to his western counterpart, reprimanding him for usurping the title of emperor. He argued that the Frankish rulers are simple reges, while the imperial title properly applied only to the overlord of the Romans, that is, to Basil himself. He also pointed out that each nation has its own title for the ruler, for instance, the title of chaganus is used by the overlords of the Avars, Khazars. To that, Louis replied that he was only of the Avar khagans. Ahmad ibn Rustah, a 10th-century Muslim geographer from Persia, wrote that the Rus khagan lived on an island in a lake, Ibn Rustah mentions only two khagans in his treatise — those of Khazaria and Rus. According to Zuckerman, Ibn Khordadbeh and other Arab authors often confused the terms Rus, Ibn Khordādbehs Book of Roads and Kingdoms does not mention the title of Khagan for the ruler of Rus. Hudud al-Alam, an anonymous Persian geography text written in the late 10th century, finally, the 11th century Persian geographer Abu Said Gardizi mentioned khāqān-i rus in his work Zayn al-Akhbār. Like other Muslim geographers, Gardizi relied on traditions stemming from the 9th century, all Byzantine sources after Basil I refer to the Rus rulers as archons. The dating of the Khaganates existence has been the subject of debates among scholars, paul Robert Magocsi and Omeljan Pritsak date the foundation of the Khaganate to be around the year 830. Whatever the accuracy of such estimates may be, there are no sources mentioning the Rus or its khagans prior to the 830s. Equally contentious has been discussion about the date of the khaganates disintegration, moreover, ibn Fadlan, in his detailed account of the Rus, designated their supreme ruler as malik. From this fact, Peter Golden concluded via an argumentum ex silentio that the khaganate collapsed at some point between 871 and 922, Zuckerman, meanwhile, argues that the absence of the title khagan from the first Russo-Byzantine Treaty proves that the khaganate had vanished by 911. The location of the khaganate has been disputed since the early 20th century. According to one theory, the Rus khagan resided somewhere in Scandinavia or even as far west as Walcheren
23.
Hades
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Hades was the ancient Greek chthonic god of the underworld, which eventually took his name. In Greek mythology, Hades was regarded as the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea and he and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated their fathers generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, Hades was often portrayed with his three-headed guard dog Cerberus. The Etruscan god Aita and Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus were eventually taken as equivalent to the Greek Hades and merged as Pluto, the origin of Hades name is uncertain, but has generally been seen as meaning The Unseen One since antiquity. Modern linguists have proposed the Proto-Greek form *Awides, the earliest attested form is Aḯdēs, which lacks the proposed digamma. West argues instead for a meaning of the one who presides over meeting up from the universality of death. In Homeric and Ionic Greek, he was known as Áïdēs, other poetic variations of the name include Aïdōneús and the inflected forms Áïdos, Áïdi, and Áïda, whose reconstructed nominative case *Áïs is, however, not attested. The name as it came to be known in classical times was Háidēs, later the iota became silent, then a subscript marking, and finally omitted entirely. Perhaps from fear of pronouncing his name, around the 5th century BC, Plouton became the Roman god who both rules the underworld and distributed riches from below. This deity was a mixture of the Greek god Hades and the Eleusinian icon Ploutos, and from this he received a priestess. More elaborate names of the genre were Ploutodótēs or Ploutodotḗr meaning giver of wealth. Epithets of Hades include Agesander and Agesilaos, both from ágō and anḗr or laos, describing Hades as the god who carries away all. He was also referred to as Zeus Katachthonios, meaning the Zeus of the Underworld, by avoiding his actual name. In Greek mythology, Hades the god of the underworld, was a son of the Titans Cronus and he had three sisters, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, as well as two brothers, Zeus, the youngest of the three, and Poseidon. Upon reaching adulthood, Zeus managed to force his father to disgorge his siblings, after their release, the six younger gods, along with allies they managed to gather, challenged the elder gods for power in the Titanomachy, a divine war. The war lasted for ten years and ended with the victory of the younger gods, following their victory, according to a single famous passage in the Iliad, Hades and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots for realms to rule. Some myths suggest that Hades was dissatisfied with his turnout, but had no choice, Hades obtained his wife and queen, Persephone, through abduction at the behest of Zeus. Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology, Hades was often portrayed as passive rather than evil, his role was often maintaining relative balance
24.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
25.
Secret Treaty of Dover
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The Treaty of Dover, also known as the Secret Treaty of Dover, was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on 1 June 1670. It required France to assist England in the aim that it would rejoin the Roman Catholic Church. The Third Anglo-Dutch War was a consequence of this treaty. Exactly who first proposed the alliance between the two kingdoms is unknown, as is the date when the possibility was first discussed, however, it is known that the two nations had discussed forming a closer relationship since 1663. The only participants in the talks to begin with were Louis XIV of France, Charles II of England, Louis was first cousin to Charles. Henrietta was also Louiss sister-in-law through her marriage to his only brother Phillippe, no real progress was made in the negotiations until 1669 after Charles allegedly held a meeting with some of his advisors. During this meeting Charles announced that he wished to convert to Catholicism. Whether this meeting took place is a source of intense speculation. Although much of the groundwork had been laid by Henrietta, the points and actual provisions of the treaty were hammered out by Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. Charles was to abandon Englands Triple Alliance with Sweden and the Dutch Republic in favour of assisting Louis in conquering the Dutch Republic, provided that the conquest was successfully completed, England was promised several very profitable ports along one of the major rivers that run through the Dutch Republic. The date of this declaration is left absolutely to his own pleasure, the King of France will faithfully observe the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, as regards Spain, and the King of England will maintain the Treaty of the Triple Alliance in a similar manner. If new rights to the Spanish monarchy revert to the King of France, the two Kings will declare war against the United Provinces. The King of France will attack them by land, and will receive the help of 6000 men from England, the King of England will send 50 men-of-war to sea, and the King of France 30, the combined fleets will be under the Duke of Yorks command. His Britannic Majesty will be content to receive Walcheren, the mouth of the Scheldt, separate articles will provide for the interests of the Prince of Orange. The Treaty of Commerce, which has begun, shall be concluded as promptly as possible. The secret treaty did not in fact public until 1771 after the historian Sir John Dalrymple published its contents in his Memoirs of Great Britain. The secret treaty, often known as The Treaty of Madame, the Duke of Buckingham was then appointed to negotiate a treaty with the King of France. He was amazed by how smoothly it went and this treaty was signed by all five members of the Cabal Ministry on 21 December 1670
26.
Charles II of England
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Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
27.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
28.
Cadzand
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Cadzand is a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, about 8 km northwest of Oostburg, better known to many visitors is the nearby beach at Cadzand-Bad. Until 1 April 1970, Cadzand was a separate municipality and it then was annexed by the municipality of Oostburg. It was in January 2003, with the merger of Sluis-Aardenburg and Oostburg, tourist information website J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Cadzand. Map of the municipality in 1868
29.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
30.
Walcheren Campaign
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Around 40,000 soldiers,15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30 July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the serving in the Peninsular War in Portugal. The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the popularly dubbed Walcheren Fever. Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 died in combat, in July 1809, the British decided to seal the mouth of the Scheldt to prevent the port of Antwerp being used as a base against them. The primary aim of the campaign was to destroy the French fleet thought to be in Flushing whilst providing a diversion for the hard-pressed Austrians, however, the Battle of Wagram had already occurred before the start of the campaign and the Austrians had effectively already lost the war. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham commanded the army, whilst Sir Richard Strachan commanded the navy, as a first move, the British seized the swampy island of Walcheren at the mouth of river Scheldt, as well as South Beveland island, both in the present-day Netherlands. The British troops soon began to suffer from malaria, within a month of seizing the island, the medical provisions for the expedition proved inadequate despite reports that an occupying French force had lost 80% of its numbers a few years earlier, also due to disease. Once it had decided to garrison Walcheren Island in September 1809. The French forces were commanded by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who had just been stripped of his command after disobeying orders at Wagram, dismissed from Napoleons Grande Armée, Bernadotte returned to Paris and was sent to defend the Netherlands by the council of ministers. With the main objective for the British out of reach, the expedition was called off in early September, around 12,000 troops stayed on Walcheren, but by October only 5,500 remained fit for duty. In all, the British government spent almost £8 million on the campaign, along with the 4,000 men that had died during the campaign, almost 12,000 were still ill by February 1810 and many others remained permanently weakened. Those sent to the Peninsular War to join Wellingtons army caused a permanent doubling of the sick lists there, a number of smaller vessels including customs-house and excise cutters were also involved, as was a packet ship. The City of London, Loyal Greenwich, and Royal Harbour River Fencibles also contributed men to the expedition, the 1st battalion of the Irish Legion was stationed in Flushing during the assault and received its baptism of fire there. It fought a rear guard action for days but the battalion was almost completely captured. The Legions brass band followed by the Irish battalion led the surrendered French garrison out of the town, however, a small party of Irishmen escaped and went into hiding with the battalions cherished imperial eagle, and after a few days they crossed the Scheldt River and escaped. Commandant Lawless was presented to Napoleon and he together with Captain OReilly received the Légion dhonneur in gratitude, the British Expeditionary Force to Walcheren,1809
31.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
32.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
33.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
34.
Battle of Wagram
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The battle led to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British-led alliance against France. In 1809, the French military presence in Germany was diminished as Napoleon transferred a number of soldiers to fight in the Peninsular War. As a result, the Austrian Empire saw its chance to some of its former sphere of influence and invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria. Recovering from his surprise, Napoleon beat the Austrian forces. Despite the string of defeats and the loss of the empires capital, Archduke Charles salvaged an army. This allowed the Austrians to continue the war but, towards the end of May, Napoleon resumed the offensive and it took Napoleon six weeks to prepare his next offensive, for which he amassed a 165, 000-man French, German and Italian army in the vicinity of Vienna. The Battle of Wagram began after Napoleon crossed the Danube with the bulk of forces during the night of 4 July and attacked the 145. Having successfully crossed the river, Napoleon attempted an early breakthrough, the Austrians were thinly spread in a wide semicircle, but held a naturally strong position. After the attackers enjoyed some success, the defenders regained the upper hand. Bolstered by his success, the day at dawn Archduke Charles launched a series of attacks along the entire battle line. The offensive failed against the French right but nearly broke Napoleons left, however, the Emperor countered by launching a cavalry charge, which temporarily halted the Austrian advance. He then redeployed IV Corps to stabilise his left, while setting up a grand battery, towards mid-afternoon on 6 July, Charles admitted defeat and led a retreat, frustrating enemy attempts to pursue. After the battle, Charles remained in command of a cohesive force, however, the Grande Armée eventually caught up with him and scored a victory at the Battle of Znaim. With the battle raging, Charles decided to ask for an armistice. The two-day battle of Wagram was particularly bloody, mainly due to the use of artillery on a flat battlefield packed with some 300,000 men. Although Napoleon was the winner, he failed to secure a complete victory. Nonetheless, the defeat was serious enough to shatter the morale of the Austrians, the resulting Treaty of Schönbrunn meant the loss of one sixth of the Austrian Empires subjects, along with some territories. In 1809, the First French Empire held a dominant position on the European continent, the new king was, however, not well received by the population and much of the countrys ruling elite, which triggered a bloody guerrilla war throughout the country
35.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
36.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
37.
Battle of the Netherlands
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The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the surrender of the main Dutch forces 14 May, Dutch troops in the province of Zealand continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May when Germany completed its occupation of the whole nation. The Battle of the Netherlands saw one of the first mass paratroop drops, after the devastating bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe, the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities if the Dutch forces refused to surrender. The General Staff knew it could not stop the bombers and ordered the Dutch army cease hostilities to avoid the threat, the last occupied parts of the Netherlands were liberated in 1945. During this time, the British and French built up their forces in expectation of a war. The Dutch were ill-prepared to resist such an invasion, when Hitler came to power, the Dutch had begun to re-arm, but more slowly than France or Belgium, only in 1936 did the defence budget start to be gradually increased. Successive Dutch governments tended to avoid openly identifying Germany as a military threat. International tensions grew in the late 1930s and these events forced the Dutch government to exercise greater vigilance, but they limited their reaction as much as they could. The most important measure was a partial mobilisation of 100,000 men in April 1939, to ensure this neutrality, the Dutch army was mobilised from 24 August and entrenched. Large sums were spent on defence and it proved very difficult to obtain new matériel in wartime, however, especially as the Dutch had ordered some of their new equipment from Germany, which deliberately delayed deliveries. Moreover, a part of the funds were intended for the Dutch East Indies. The strategic position of the Low Countries, located between France and Germany on the flanks of their fortification lines, made the area a logical route for an offensive by either side. In a 20 January 1940 radio speech, Winston Churchill tried to convince them not to wait for an inevitable German attack, but to join the Anglo-French Entente. Both the Belgians and Dutch refused, even though the German attack plans had fallen into Belgian hands after a German aircraft crash in January 1940 in what known as the Mechelen Incident. The Dutch tried on several occasions to act as an intermediary to reach a peace settlement between the Entente and Germany. They started to prepare for war, both mentally and physically. Dutch border troops were put on greater alert, reports of the presumed actions of a Fifth Column in Scandinavia caused widespread fears that the Netherlands too had been infiltrated by German agents assisted by traitors. Countermeasures were taken against an assault on airfields and ports
38.
Battle of Walcheren Causeway
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It was the first of many conflicts on and around Walcheren Island that constitute Operation Infatuate during the Scheldt battles. After the breakout from Normandy by the Allied armies, beginning August 13,1944 and this forced the Allies to bring all supplies for their rapidly advancing armies from the artificial harbor they had constructed off the beaches of Normandy, and from Cherbourg. Because of its port capacity Antwerp became the objective of the British 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. While Antwerp fell to Montgomery on September 4 no supplies could be landed there until the German forces holding the lower reaches of the Scheldt, between Antwerp and the North Sea, were removed. By 31 October 1944, all surrounding the Scheldt estuary had been cleared of German control, save for Walcheren Island. These guns prevented the Allies from making use of the facilities of Antwerp to alleviate their logistical concerns. This flooded the part of the island, forcing the German defenders onto the high ground around the outside. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division had marched west down the South Beveland isthmus, Walcheren Island was connected to South Beveland by a narrow causeway,40 metres wide and 1600 metres long. Plans to employ assault boats over the Sloe Channel were thwarted by muddy conditions unsuitable for water craft, in the event, the ground was too boggy to employ the boats, and the Highlanders were utilized as conventional infantry in a landward attack directly over the causeway. C Company of the The Black Watch of Canada took heavy casualties on the afternoon, during their attack, the existence of a deep crater on the causeway was discovered, this crater had been blown by German engineers as an anti-tank obstacle. It was later utilized by the Canadians as a command post during the battle as it developed. B Company of The Calgary Highlanders were ordered forward just before midnight and were stopped halfway down the causeway. A new fireplan was drawn up and Major Bruce McKenzies D Company inched forward under intensive gunfire, reaching the west end, German counter-attacks were heavy and prolonged, and included the use of flame weapons on the Canadians. At one point, all Calgary Highlander officers in one company were wounded or killed, two platoons of Le Régiment de Maisonneuve took over the bridgehead on Walcheren Island on 2 November, but were forced back onto the Causeway. A battalion of Glasgow Highlanders were ordered to pass through, landings by British Commandos of the 4th Commando Brigade eventually sealed the fate of the German defenders on Walcheren Island, attacking from seaward at Flushing and Westkapelle. The battle for the causeway itself had been a costly, and ultimately unnecessary, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division went into reserve in the first week of November, moving into the Nijmegen Salient for the winter. The Calgary Highlanders suffered 64 casualties in the 3 days of fighting at Walcheren Causeway, Le Regiment de Maisonneuve had one man killed and 10 wounded. The Black Watch suffered 85 casualties in the period 14 October to 1 November 1944, representatives and members of the local Dutch community in Calgary are usually invited to attend the service
39.
Battle of the Scheldt
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Led by Guy Simonds, the battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8,1944. The well-established Wehrmacht defenders staged an effective delaying action, during which the Germans flooded the Scheldt Estuary, both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their line of retreat with artillery and snipers. But the advance halted with the British in possession of Antwerp, little was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because Operation Market Garden was to form a buffer between Germany and Antwerp, which it succeeded in doing. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively, the first attacks occurred on September 13. In early October after operation Market Garden, Allied forces led by the Canadian First Army set out to bring the give the port of Antwerp access to the sea, Montgomery then decided that the importance of Antwerp was such that the actual capture of Dunkirk could be delayed. Under command at that time was Canadian II Corps, with the Polish 1st Armoured Division, 49th and 52nd Divisions attached, Montgomery promised the support of RAF Bomber Command in attacking the German fortifications and that of the USAAF 8th Air Force On the day concerned. The 51st Infantry Division was to give up its transport to enable the movement of forces into position for the battle, abandoning the capture of Dunkirk freed the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The plan for opening the Scheldt estuary involved four main operations conducted over daunting geography, the first task was to clear the area north of Antwerp and secure access to South Beveland. Second was to clear the Breskens pocket north of the Leopold Canal, third, dubbed Operation Vitality, was the capture of South Beveland. The final phase would be the capture of Walcheren Island, which had been fortified into a powerful German stronghold, as part of the Atlantic Wall, Walcheren Island was considered to be the strongest concentration of defences the Nazis had ever constructed. The Polish 1st Armoured Division headed for the Dutch-Belgian border further east, an attack was mounted in the vicinity of Moerkerke, crossing the canals and establishing a bridgehead before counter-attacks forced a withdrawal with heavy casualties. The 1st Polish Armoured Division enjoyed greater success to the east as it advanced northeast from Ghent, on October 2, the Canadian 2nd Division began its advance north from Antwerp. Stiff fighting at Woensdrecht ensued on October 6, the objective of the first phase, the Germans—reinforced by Battle Group Chill—saw the priority in holding there, controlling direct access to South Beveland and Walcheren Island. There were heavy casualties as the Canadians attacked over open, flooded land, driving rain, booby traps and land mines made advance very difficult. On October 13, what would come to be known as Black Friday, the Calgary Highlanders were to follow up with a more successful action, and their Carrier Platoon succeeded in taking the rail station at Korteven. Heavy fighting at Hoogerheide also ensued, but by October 16, Woensdrecht was secured, cutting the link to South Beveland. The Canadians had achieved their first objective, but suffered heavy casualties, at this point, recognizing the opportunity, Field-Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery issued a directive that made the opening of the Scheldt estuary the top priority of 21st Army Group. To the east, the British Second Army attacked westward to clear the Netherlands south of the Maas River, meanwhile, Simonds concentrated forces at the neck of the South Beveland peninsula
40.
2nd Canadian Division during World War II
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The 2nd Canadian Division, an infantry division of the Canadian Army, was mobilized for war service on 1 September 1939 at the outset of World War II. On 19 August 1942, with air and naval gunfire support, the Germans were well prepared and, despite being reinforced, the Canadians sustained heavy losses and had to be evacuated, with fewer than half their number returning to the United Kingdom. Following a period of reconstruction and retraining from 1942 to 1944, the 2nd Division saw significant action from 20 July to 21 August in the battles for Caen and Falaise. The division was deactivated shortly after the end of the war, at the start of the Second World War, the Canadian Active Service Force was initially composed of two divisions, the 1st and 2nd Canadian Infantry Divisions, both raised on 1 September 1939. The fighting power of this lay in its constituent infantry brigades. These were in turn composed of three rifle and one machine gun battalion, with divisional artillery and engineer units in support. Its 4th Brigade was composed of regiments from Ontario, the 5th Brigade of regiments from Quebec, the first brigade concentrations took place in May and June 1940, until which time all units had trained in their own garrisons. The 4th Brigade assembled at Camp Borden in Ontario, the 5th at Valcartier Camp in Quebec, the divisional artillery was concentrated at artillery training centres at Camp Petawawa in Ontario, and at Shilo. The 2nd Divisions structure was altered in early 1940, reducing its number of battalions from three to one. As a result, most of the 2nd Divisions units were sent to the United Kingdom in August 1940, the absence of the Mont Royals allowed Odlum to reassign the Calgary Highlanders to the 5th Brigade in September, in an attempt to ethnically mix the brigades of the division. By late December 1940, the 2nd Canadian Division was joined with the 1st to form the Canadian Corps, in 1941, the Toronto Scottish Regiment was transferred from the 1st Division to become the machine-gun battalion of the 2nd Division. Around the same time, the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment was raised from 2nd Division personnel supplemented by reinforcements from Canada, due to equipment shortages, it was often difficult to adequately supply newly arrived divisions in England. When the division was not engaged in coastal-defence duties or unit training, exercise Waterloo, conducted from 14–16 June 1941, was the largest in the United Kingdom to date, with I Canadian Corps counter-attacking an imagined German sea and air landing. Exercise Bumper, held from 29 September to 3 October, was larger still and these exercises tended to concentrate on traffic control, communications, and logistical concerns, and were of little practical value to the infantry. On 23 December 1941, Major General Harry Crerar was appointed as commander, replacing Odlum who had ceased command in November. Meanwhile, on 30 December 1941, the Calgary Highlanders introduced battle drill to the division, as April and May progressed, the exercises intensified, becoming significantly more demanding on the participants. Mounted as a test of whether or not such a landing was feasible, the Dieppe raid was to be undertaken by the 4th and 6th Brigades, with additional naval, air, significant elements of the 5th Brigade were also involved. On 19 August 1942, while British commando units attacked bunker positions on the outskirts of Dieppe, only six percent of the men that landed on Blue Beach returned to Britain
listen)) is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus, the two sides facing the North Sea consist of dunes; the rest of its coastline is made up of dykes. Middelburg lies at its centre; this city is the provincial capital and Vlissingen 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) to the south is the main harbour. The third municipality is Veere.
