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Europe in our school Comenius project 2012/2014

History of Romania Școala Gimnazială Vădeni,

Vădeni, Brăila, Romania

Prehistory

The Thinker of Hamangia, Neolithic Hamangia culture (c. 5250-4550 BC)

0,000 year old modern human remains were discovered in

present day Romania when the "Cave With Bones" was uncovered in 2002.

In 2011 older modern human remains were identified in the UK (Kents

Cavern at 41,000BP) and Italy (Grotta del Cavallo at 43,000BP), nonetheless

the Romanian fossils are still among the oldest remains of Homo sapiens in

Europe, so they may be representative of the first such people to have entered the continent. The

remains are especially interesting because they present a mixture of archaic, early modern human

and Neanderthal morphological features.

One of the fossils found—a male, adult jawbone—has been dated to be between 34,000

and 36,000 years old, which would make it one of the oldest fossils found to date of modern

humans in Europe. A skull found in Peștera cu Oase (The Cave with Bones) in 2004-5 bears

features of both modern humans and Neanderthals. According to a paper by Erik Trinkaus and

others, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in January 2007, this

finding suggests that the two groups interbred thousands of years ago.

Dacia

The sanctuaries of the ancient Dacian Kingdomcapital, Sarmizegetusa Regia

The earliest written evidence of people living in the

territory of the present-day Romania comes

from Herodotus in book IV of his Histories written c. 440

BCE. Herein he writes that the tribal confederation of

the Getae were defeated by the Persian Emperor Darius

the Great during his campaign against

the Scythians. The Dacians, widely accepted as part of

the Getaedescribed earlier by the Greeks, were a branch of Thracians that inhabited Dacia

(corresponding to modern Romania, Moldova, northern Bulgaria and

surroundings).

The Dacian Kingdom reached its maximum expansion during

King Burebista, between 82 BCE - 44 BCE. Under his leadership

Dacia became a powerful state which threatened the regional interests of the Romans. Julius

Caesar intended to start a campaign against the Dacians, due to the support that Burebista gave

to Pompey, but was assassinated in 44 BC. A few months later, Burebista shared the same fate,

assassinated by his own noblemen. Another theory

suggests that he was killed by Caesar's friends. His

powerful state was divided in four and did not become

unified again until 95 AD, under the reign of the Dacian

king Decebalus.

The Roman Empire conquered Moesia by 29

BC, reaching the Danube. In 87 AD

Emperor Domitian sent six legions into Dacia, which

were defeated at Tapae. The

Dacians were eventually defeated

by Emperor Trajan in two campaigns stretching from 101 AD to

106 AD, and the core of their kingdom was turned into the province

of Roman Dacia.

Roman Dacia (106-275 AD)

Roman Dacia, between

106 and 271 AD. The Romans exploited the rich

ore deposits of Dacia. Gold and silver

were especially plentiful, and were

found in great quantities in the Western

Carpathians. After Trajan's conquest, he

brought back to Rome over 165 tons of

gold and 330 tons of silver. The Romans

heavily colonized the province, and thus

started a period of intenseromanization,

the Vulgar Latin giving birth to

the Proto-Romanian language. The

geographical position of Dacia

Felix (another name for the Roman

province of Dacia) made it difficult to defend against the barbarians, and during 240 AD - 256

AD, under the attacks of the Carpi and the Goths, Dacia was lost. The Roman Empire withdrew

from Dacia Romana around 271 AD, thus making it the first province to be abandoned.

Roman conquest of Dacia stands at the base of the origin of Romanians. Several

competing theories have been introduced to explain the origin of modern Romanians. Linguistic

and geo-historical analyses tend to indicate thatRomanians have coalesced as a major ethnic

group both South and North of the Danube.

For further discussion, see Origin of

Romanians and Vlachs.

Early Middle Ages

Between 271 and 275, the Roman army and administration left Dacia, which was invaded

afterwards by theGoths. The Goths mixed with the local people until the 4th century, when a

nomadic people, the Huns, arrived. The Gepids and the Avars and their Slavic subjects

ruled Transylvania until the 8th century. The Pechenegs, the Cumans and Uzes were also

mentioned by historic chronicles on the territory of Romania, until the founding of the Romanian

principalities of Wallachia, in the south, by Basarab I around 1310 in the High Middle Ages

and Moldova, in the east, by Dragoş around 1352.

Different migrating peoples lived alongside with the local populations, such as

the Gothic Empire (Oium) from 271 until 378, the Hunnish Empire until 435, the Avar

Empire andSlavs during the 6th century.

BasarabI The battle of Posada

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia (Romanian: Ţara

Românească "Romanian Land"), Moldavia (Romanian: Moldova) and Transylvania.

The Pechenegs (a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the Central Asian steppes) occupied the

steppes north of the Black Sea (8th–12th century) and by the 10th century they were in control of

all the lands between the Don and lower Danube rivers. During the 11th and 12th century, the

nomadic confederacy of the Cumans and (Eastern) Kipchaks (who are considered to be either the

eastern branch of the Cumans or a distinct but related tribe with whom the Cumans have created a

confederacy) were the dominant force over the vast territories stretching from as far as present-

day Kazakhstan, southern Russia, Ukraine, down to southern Moldavia and western Wallachia.

By the 11th century, the area of today's Transylvania became a largely autonomous part

of the Kingdom of Hungary. Kings of Hungary invited the Saxons to settle in Transylvania, to

populate the sparsely inhabited region. Also living in Transylvania were the Székely. After the

Magyar conquest (10-11th century), Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary until

the 16th century, when it became the independent Principality of Transylvania until 1711. Many

small local states with varying degrees of independence developed, but only in the 14th century

the larger principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia emerged to fight a threat in the form of

the Ottoman Turks, who conquered Constantinople in 1453.

Independent Wallachia has been on the border of the Ottoman Empire since the 14th

century until it gradually fell under the Ottomans' suzerainty during the 15th century. One famous

ruler in this period was Vlad III the Impaler (also known as Vlad Dracula, Romanian: Vlad

Ţepeş), Prince of Wallachia in 1448, 1456–62, and 1476. In the English-speaking world, Vlad is

best known for being the inspiration to the "vampire" main character in Bram Stoker's 1897

novel Dracula. As a king, he courageously maintained an independent policy towards

the Ottoman Empire. The Romanians appreciate him as a ruler with an extreme sense of

justice and the defender of the Wallachian independence and, in general, the western

European Christianism against the Ottoman expansionism.

Bran Castle built in 1212, is commonly known as Dracula's Castle and is

situated in the centre of present-day Romania. In addition to its

uniquearchitecture, the castle is famous because of persistent myths that it

was once the home of Vlad III

Dracula.

The principality of Moldavia reached its most glorious period under the rule of Stephen

the Great between 1457 and 1504.

His 47 years' reign was unusually long at that time -

only 13 rulers worldwide were recorded to have ruled for at

least 50 years until the end of 15th century. He was a very

successful both military and civil ruler ( losing only 2 out of 50

battles ), after each victory he raised a church, managing to

build 48 churches or monasteries, some of them

with a very unique and interesting style. For more

information see Painted churches of northern Moldavia listed

in UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Stephen's

most prestigious victory was over the Ottoman Empire in 1475 at the Battle of Vaslui for which

he raised the Voroneţ Monastery. For this victory, Pope Sixtus IV nominated him as verus

christianae fidei athleta (a true Champion of the Christian Faith). However, after his

death, Moldavia also came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.

In the period the Romanians received the Orthodoxy during Bulgarian rule, which

subsequently became the traditional religion.

Early modern period

By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary became Ottoman provinces. In

contrast, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, came under Ottoman suzerainty, but conserved

fully internal autonomy and, until the 18th century, some external independence. During this

period, also called the Phanariot Epoch, the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow

disappearance of the feudal system and the distinguishment of some rulers like Vasile

Lupu and Dimitrie Cantemir in Moldavia, Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu in

Wallachia, and Gabriel Bethlen in Transylvania. At that time the Russian Empire appeared to

become the political and military power which threatened the Romanian principalities.

John II, the non-Habsburg king of Hungary, moved his royal court to Alba Iulia in

Transylvania, and after his abdication from the Hungarian throne, he became the first "Prince of

Transylvania". His Edict of Turda was the first decree of religious freedom in the modern

European history (1568). In the aftermath Transylvania was ruled by mostly Calvinist Hungarian

princes (until the end of the 17th century), and Protestantism flourished in the region.

Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul) was the Prince of Wallachia (1593–1601),

of Transylvania (1599–1600), and of Moldavia (1600). For a short time during his reign

Transylvania was ruled together with Moldavia and Wallachia in a personal union. After his

death the union dissolved and as vassal tributary states Moldova and Wallachia still had an

internal autonomy and some external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century.

Michael de Brave entering in Alba Iulia

Seal of Michael the Brave during the personal union of the two Romanian principalities

with Transylvania

The Principalities of Moldavia andWallachia in 1786, Italian map by G. Pittori, since the geographer Giovanni Antonio Rizzi Zannoni.

The Principality of Transylvania reached its golden age under the absolutist rule of Gabor

Bethlen (1613–1629). In 1699, Transylvania became a part of the Habsburgs' Austrian Empire,

following the Austrian victory over the Turks. The Austrians, in their turn, rapidly expanded their

empire: in 1718 a major part of Wallachia, Oltenia, was annexed to the Austrian monarchy and

was only returned in 1739. In 1775, the Austrian empire occupied the north-western part of

Moldavia, later on called Bukovina, while the eastern half of the principality (by the name

of Bessarabia) was occupied in 1812 by Russia.

Map of Europe in 1648 showing Transylvania and the two Romanian principalities:

Wallachia and Moldova

During the Austro-Hungarian rule in Transylvania, and

the Ottoman suzerainty overWallachia and Moldavia,

most Romanians were actually second-class citizens (or

even non-citizens) in a territory where in fact they

constituted the majority of the population. In some

Transylvanian cities like Brașov (at that time

the Transylvanian Saxon citadel of Kronstadt), Romanians were not even allowed to reside

within the city walls.

Revolutions of 1848

As in other European countries, 1848 brought up the revolution upon Moldavia, Wallachia

and Transylvania, through Tudor Vladimirescu and his Pandurs in the Wallachian uprising of

1821. The goals of the revolutionaries - full independence for Moldavia and Wallachia, and

national emancipation in Transylvania - remained unfulfilled, but were the basis of the

subsequent evolutions. The uprising helped the population of all three principalities recognise

their unity of language and interests; all tree Romanian

principalities were very close, not only in language,

but also geographically.

People in Bucharest during the 1848 events, carrying

the Romanian tricolor

After the unsuccessful 1848 Revolution,

the Great Powers rejected the Romanians' expressed

desire to officially unite in a single state, forcing the

Romanians to proceed alone their struggle against the Turks. Heavily taxed and badly

administered under the Ottoman Empire, in 1859, people's representatives in both Moldavia and

Wallachia elected the same "Domnitor" (ruling Prince of the Romanians): Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

Thus, Romania was created as a personal union albeit that did not include Transylvania,

where the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian, although Romanian

nationalist spirit inevitably ran up against the Hungarian nationalism at the end of the 19th

century. As in the previous 900 years, Austria-Hungary, especially under the Dual Monarchy of

1867, kept the territory firmly in control, even in parts of Transylvania where Romanians

constituted a vast majority.

Alexandru Ioan Cuza

Independence and Kingdom of Romania

In an 1866 coup d'état, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-

Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania. He was appointed Domnitor -

Ruling Prince of the United Principality of Romania, as Prince Carol of Romania.

Romania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish

War, 1877-78 in which she fought on the Russian side.

In the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania was finally officially recognized as

anindependent state by the Great Powers. In return, Romania ceded the district of

Bassarabia to Russia "in exchange" for the access to the ports on the Black Sea shore, and

acquired Dobruja.

In 1881, the Romanian principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became on

the 26 of March King Carol I of Romania.

The 1878–1914 period was one of stability and progress for Romania. During the Second

Balkan War, Romania joined Greece,Serbia and Montenegro against Bulgaria.

In the peace Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Romania gained Southern Dobrudja - the

Quadrilater, the Durostor and Caliacra counties.

Peleş Castle, retreat of Romanian monarchs

Carol I of Romania

World War I (1916–1918)

Territories inhabited by Romanians before WWI.

The new state, squeezed between the great

powers of the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian,

and Russian empires, looked to the West,

particularly France, for its cultural, educational, military

and administrative models. In 1916 Romania

entered World War I on the Entente side, after the

Entente agreed to recognize Romanian rights over

Transylvania, which was part of Austria-Hungary until that time.

In August 1914, when World War I broke out, Romania declared neutrality. Two years

later, under the pressure of Allies (especially France desperate to open a new front), on August

14/27 1916 it joined the Allies, for which they were promised support for the accomplishment of

national unity, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary.

The Romanian military campaign ended in disaster for Romania as the Central

Powers conquered two-thirds of the country and captured or killed the majority of its army within

four months. Nevertheless, Moldova remained in Romanian hands after the invading forces were

stopped in 1917. In May 1918, Romania was in no position to continue the war, and negotiated a

peace treaty with Germany (see Treaty of Bucharest, 1918).

In October 1918, Romania joined the war again and by the end of the war, the Austro-

Hungarian and Russian empires had disintegrated. Governing bodies created by the Romanians of

Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina chose union with the Kingdom of Romania, resulting

in Greater Romania. Since by the war's end, Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had

collapsed,Bassarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania were allowed to unite with the Kingdom of

Romania in 1918.

By the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, Hungary renounced in favour of Romania all the claims of

the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy over Transylvania. The union of Romania with Bukovinawas

ratified in 1919 in the Treaty of Saint Germain, and with Bassarabia in 1920 by the Treaty of

Paris.

Romanian troops at Marasesti battlefield in1917

Greater Romania (1918–1940)

Great Romania (1920 - 1940)

The Romanian expression România

Mare (literal translation "Great Romania", but

more commonly rendered "Greater Romania")

generally refers to the Romanian state in

the interwar period, and by extension, to the

territory Romania covered at the time. Romania

achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent (almost 300,000 km2 or 120,000 sq mi),

managing to unite all the historic Romanian lands.

Historically, Greater Romania—România Mare—represented one of the ideals of

Romanian nationalism. Greater Romania is still seen by many as a "paradise lost", often by

comparison with the "stunted" Communist Romania. To exploit the nationalistic connotation of

the term, a nationalist political party uses it as its name.

In 1918, at the end of World War I, Transylvania and Bessarabia united with

the Romanian Old Kingdom. The Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania voted to unite

their region by the Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia. Bessarabia, having declared its

independence from Russia in 1917 by the Conference of the Country (Sfatul Țării), called in

Romanian troops to protect the province from the Bolsheviks who were spreading the Russian

Revolution.

The union of the regions of Transylvania, Maramureș, Crișana and Banat with the Old

Kingdom of Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon, which recognised the

sovereignty of Romania over these regions and settled the border between the independent

Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Romania. The union of Bucovina and Bessarabia with

Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles. Romania had also recently acquired

the Southern Dobruja territory called "The Quadrilateral" from Bulgaria as a result of its

participation in the Second Balkan War in 1913.

Proclamation of Union between Transylvania and Romania

The Union of 1918 united most regions with clear

Romanian majorities into the boundaries of a single state.

However, it also led to the inclusion of various sizable minorities, including Magyars (ethnic

Hungarians), Germans, Jews, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, etc., for a total of about 28% of the

population (Magyars mostly in Transylvania; Germans in Transylvania, Bukovina, and Banat;

Ukrainians in part of Bessarabia and Bukovina, Bulgarians in Dobrudja).

Recognized by the Romanian Constitution of 1923 and supported by various laws

(education, electoral, etc.), national minorities were represented in Parliament, and several of

them created national parties (the Magyars in 1922, the Germans in 1929, the Jews in 1931),

although a unique standing of minorities with autonomy on a wide basis, provided for at the

assembly of Transylvanian Romanians on 1 December 1918 were not fulfilled.

Transition to authoritarian rule

Two periods can be identified in Romania between the two World Wars. From 1918 to

1938, Romania was a liberal constitutional monarchy, but one facing the rise of the

nationalist, anti-semitic parties, particularly Iron Guard, which won about 15% of the votes in the

general elections of 1937. From 1938 to 1944, Romania was a dictatorship. The first dictator

was King Carol II, who abolished the parliamentary regime and ruled with his camarilla.

In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which

stipulated, amongst other things, the Soviet "interest" in Bessarabia. Following the severe

territorial losses of 1940 (see next section), Carol was forced to abdicate, replaced as king by his

son Mihai, but the power was taken by the military dictator Ion Antonescu (initially in

conjunction with the Iron Guard). In August 1944, Antonescu was arrested by Mihai.

World War II and aftermath (1940–1947)

Romanian territory during the 20th century: purple indicates the Old Kingdom before 1913,

orange indicates Greater Romania areas that joined or were annexed after the Second

Balkan War and WWI but were lost after WWII, and pink indicates areas that joined

Romania after WWI and remained so after WWII.

During the Second World War, Romania tried again to remain neutral, but on June 28,

1940, it received a Soviet ultimatum with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-

compliance. Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and the army

were forced to retreat from Bessarabia as well from Northern Bukovina to avoid war. This, in

combination with other factors, prompted the government to join the Axis. Thereafter,

southern Dobruja was awarded to Bulgaria, while Hungary received Northern Transylvania as

result of an Axis arbitration.

In 1940, Romania lost territory in both east and west: In June 1940, after receiving an

ultimatum from the Soviet Union, Romania ceded Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (see Soviet

occupation of Bessarabia). Two thirds of Bessarabia were combined with a small part of the

USSR to form the Moldavian SSR. Northern Bukovina and Budjak were apportioned to

the Ukrainian SSR. In August 1940, Northern Transylvania was awarded to Hungary

by Germany and Italy through the Second Vienna Award. Southern Dobruja was also lost to

Bulgaria shortly after Carol's abdication.

Because Carol II lost so much territory through failed diplomacy, the army supported

seizure of power by General Ion Antonescu. For four months (the period of the National

Legionary State), he had to share power with the Iron Guard, but the latter overplayed their hand

in January 1941 and were suppressed. Romania entered World War II under the command of the

German Wehrmacht in June 1941, declaring war to the Soviet Union in order to recover

Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. Romania was awarded the territory between Dniester and

the Southern Bug by Germany to administer it under the name of Transnistria.

Romania's borders during World War II (1941-1944)

The authoritarian King Carol II abdicated in 1940,

succeeded by the National Legionary State, in which power was

shared by Ion Antonescuand the Iron Guard. Within months,

Antonescu had crushed the Iron Guard, and the subsequent year

Romania entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. During the war, Romania was the most

important source of oil for Nazi Germany, prompting multiple bombing raidsby the Allies. By

means of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania recovered Bassarabia and northern

Bukovina from the Soviet Russia, under the leadership of general Ion Antonescu.

The Antonescu regime played a major role in the Holocaust, following to a lesser extent

the Nazi policy of oppression and massacre of the Jews, and Romas, primarily in the Eastern

territories Romania recovered or occupied from the Soviet Union (Transnistria) and in Moldavia.

According to an international commission report released by the Romanian government in 2004,

Antonescu's dictatorial government of Romania is responsible for the murder in various forms

including deportations to concentration camps and executions by the Romanian

Army and Gendarmerie and the German Einsatzgruppen of some 280,000 to 380,000 Jews on

Romanian territories and in the war zone of Bassarabia, Bukovina and Transnistria.

A map of Romania after WWII.

On 20 August 1944 the Soviet Red Army crossed the

border into Romania. On 23 August 1944 Antonescu was

toppled and arrested by King Michael I of Romania who

joined the Allies and declared war

on Germany. On 31 August 1944 the

Soviet Red Army entered Bucharest.

Despite Romania`s change of sides

its role in the defeat of Nazi

Germany was not recognized by the Paris Peace Conference of 1947.

With the Red Army forces still stationed in the country and

exerting de facto control, Communists and their allied parties claimed

80% of the vote, through a combination of vote

manipulation, elimination, and forced mergers of competing parties,

thus establishing themselves as the dominant force. Romania suffered

additional heavy casualties fighting the Nazis in Hungary

and Czechoslovakia. By the end of the war, the Romanian army had

suffered almost 300,000 casualties.

The Paris Peace Treaty at the end of World War II rendered the Vienna Awards

void: Northern Transylvania returned to Romania, but Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and

southern Dobruja were not recovered. The Moldavian-SSR became independent of the Soviet

Union only with the latter's 1991 demise and turned into the Republic of Moldova.

Communist period (1947–1989)

In 1947, King Michael I was forced by the Communists to abdicate and leave the country,

Romania was proclaimed arepublic, and remained under direct military and economic control of

the USSR until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's resources were drained by the

"SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established to mask the looting of

Romania by the Soviet Union.

Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of a communist People's

Republic in 1947, and the abdication of King Michael, who went into exile. The leader of

Romania from 1948 to his death in 1965 was Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the First Secretary of

the Romanian Workers' Party, who first sowed the seeds of greater independence from the Soviet

Union by persuading Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev to withdraw troops from Romania

in April 1958.

Nicolae Ceauşescu condemning the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in

1968

After the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops,

Romania, under the new leadership of Nicolae

Ceauşescu, started to pursue independent policies,

including the condemnation of the Soviet-led 1968

invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania being the only Warsaw Pact country not to take part in the

invasion), the continuation of diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967

(again, the only Warsaw Pact country to do so), and the establishment of economic (1963) and

diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. Also, close ties with

the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel-Egypt and

Israel-PLO peace processes by intermediating the visit

of Sadat in Israel.

As Romania's foreign debt sharply increased

between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US

dollars), the influence of international financial

organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank grew,

conflicting with Nicolae Ceauşescu's autarchic policies.

Ceauşescu eventually initiated a project of total

reimbursement of the foreign debt (completed in 1989,

shortly before his overthrow). To achieve this goal, he

imposed policies that impoverished Romanians and

exhausted the Romanian economy. He greatly extended the

authority of the police state and imposed a cult of

personality. These led to a dramatic decrease in Ceauşescu's

popularity and culminated in his overthrow and execution in

the bloody Romanian Revolution of 1989.

Seduced by Ceauşescu's "Independent" foreign

policy, Western leaders were slow to turn against a regime

that, by the late 1970s, had become increasingly arbitrary,

capricious and harsh. Rapid economic growth fueled by

foreign credits gradually gave way to wrenching austerity

and severe political repression, which became increasingly

draconian through the 1980s. During the 1947–1962 period,

many people were arbitrarily killed or imprisoned for political, economic or unknown reasons:

detainees in prisons or camps, deported persons, persons under house arrest, and administrative

detainees.

Nicolae Ceaușescu

General Secretary of the Romanian

Communist Party

There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a

large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens. Between 60,000and 80,000

political prisoners were detained as psychiatric patients and treated in some of the most sadistic

ways by doctors. It is estimated that, in total, two million people were direct victims of

Communist repression in Romania.

Standard as President of Romania in Communist

1989 Revolution

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 resulted

in more than 1,000 deaths

in Timişoara and Bucharest, and brought about

the fall of Ceauşescu and the end of the

Communist regime in Romania. After a

weeklong state of unrest in Timişoara, a mass

rally summoned in Bucharest in support of

Ceauşescu on December 21, 1989 turned

hostile. The Ceauşescu couple, fleeing

Bucharest by helicopter, ended up in the

custody of the army.

After being tried and convicted by

a kangaroo court for genocide and other crimes,

they were executed on December 25, 1989. The

events of this revolution remain to this day a

matter of debate, with many conflicting theories

as to the motivations and even actions of some

of the main players.

Ion Iliescu, a former Communist Party official marginalized by Ceauşescu, attained

national recognition as the leader of an impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation

Romanian Revolution

Part of the Revolutions of 1989

Demonstrators and army vehicles in Bucharest

Front (FSN) that proclaimed the restoration of democracy and civil liberties on December 22,

1989. The Communist Party was initially outlawed by Ion Iliescu, but he soon revoked that

decision; as a consequence, Communism is not outlawed in Romania today. However,

Ceauşescu's most controversial measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were

among the first laws to be changed after the Revolution, and their legality has not been widely

questioned since then.

Transition of to free market (1990-2004)

After the fall of Ceauşescu, the National Salvation Front (FSN), led by Ion Iliescu, took

partial multi-party democratic and free market measures. Several major political parties of the

pre-war era, such as the National Christian Democrat Peasant's Party (PNŢCD), the National

Liberal Party (PNL) and the Romanian Social Democrat Party (PSDR) were resurrected. After

several major political rallies (especially in January), in April 1990, a sit-in protest contesting the

results of the recently held parliamentary elections began inUniversity Square, Bucharest.

The protesters accused the FSN of being made up of former Communists and members of

the Securitate. The protesters did not recognize the results of the election, which they deemed

undemocratic, and were asking for the exclusion from the political life of the former high-ranking

Communist Party members. The protest rapidly grew to become an ongoing mass demonstration

(known as the Golaniad). The peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violence, with some of

the protesters attacking the police headquarters, national television station, and the Foreign

Ministry.

After the police failed to bring the demonstrators to order, Ion Iliescu called on the "men of

good will" to come and defend the State institutions in Bucharest.Various worker groups from

Romania's industrial platforms responded, some of whom engaged in altercations with the

protesters. But the most visible and politically influential were the coal miners of the Jiu Valley.

After representatives of the government met with leaders of the Jiu Valley coal miners union,

thousands of miners were organized and arrived in Bucharest June 14.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on May 20, 1990. Running against

representatives of the re-established pre-war National

Peasants' Party and National Liberal Party, and taking

advantage of FSN's tight control of the national radio and

television, Iliescu won 85% of the vote. The FSN secured

two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. A university

professor with strong family roots in the Communist

Party, Petre Roman, was named prime minister of the

new government, which consisted mainly of former

communist officials. The government initiated

modest free market reforms. Ion Iliescu

Because the majority of ministers in the Petre Roman government were ex-communists,

anti-communist protesters initiated a round-the-clock anti-government demonstration in

University Square, Bucharest in April 1990. Two months later, these protesters, whom the

government referred to as "hooligans", were brutally dispersed by the miners from Jiu Valley,

called in by President Iliescu; this event became known as the mineriad (see June 1990

Mineriad). The facts surrounding these events are disputed by the miners, who claim that most of

the violence was perpetrated by government agents that were agitating the crowds.

Some of the counter-protesters also attacked the headquarters and private residences of

opposition leaders. Later Parliamentary inquiries showed that members of the government

intelligence services were involved in the instigation and manipulation of both the protesters and

the miners, and in June 1994 a Bucharest court found two former Securitate officers guilty of

ransacking and stealing $100,000 from the house of a leading opposition politician. Petre

Roman's government fell in late September 1991, when the miners returned to Bucharest to

demand higher salaries. A technocrat, Theodor Stolojan, was appointed to head an interim

government until new elections could be held.

New constitution

In December 1991, a new constitution was drafted and subsequently adopted, after a

popular referendum, which, however, attracted criticism from international observers who

accused the government of manipulating the population and even of outright fraud. (The

constitution was most recently revised by a national referendum on October 18–19, 2003, again

plagued by fraud accusations made by internal and international observers.) The new

constitution, which took effect October 29, 2003, follows the structure of the Constitution of

1991, but makes significant revisions, among which the most significant are extension of the

presidential mandate from four years to five, and the guaranteed protection of private property.

March 1992 marked the split of the FSN into two groups: the Democratic National

Front (FDSN), led by Ion Iliescu and the Democratic Party (PD), led by Petre Roman. Iliescu

won the presidential elections in September 1992 by a clear margin, and his FDSN won the

general elections held at the same time. With parliamentary support from the nationalist PUNR

(National Unity Party of Romanians), PRM (Great Romania Party), and the ex-communist PSM

(Socialist Workers' Party), a new government was formed in November 1992 under Prime

Minister Nicolae Văcăroiu, an economist. The FDSN changed its name to Party of Social

Democracy in Romania (PDSR) in July 1993.

The subsequent disintegration of the FSN produced several political parties including the

Romanian Democrat Social Party (PDSR, later Social Democratic Party, PSD), the Democratic

Party (PD) and the ApR (Alliance for Romania). The PDSR party governed Romania from 1990

until 1996 through several coalitions and governments with Ion Iliescu as head of state. Since

then there have been three democratic changes of government: in 1996, the democratic-liberal

opposition and its leader Emil Constantinescu acceded to power; in 2000 the Social Democrats

returned to power, with Iliescu once again president; and in 2004 Traian Băsescu was elected

president, with an electoral coalition called Justice and Truth Alliance (DA). The government

was formed by a larger coalition which also includes the Conservative Party and the ethnic

Hungarian party.

Emil Constantinescu of the Democratic

Convention (CDR) emerged as the winner of the

second round of the 1996 presidential elections and

replaced Iliescu as chief of state. The PDSR won the

largest number of seats in Parliament, but was unable

to form a viable coalition. Constituent parties of the

CDR joined the Democratic Party (PD), the National

Liberal Party (PNL) and the Hungarian Democratic

Union of Romania (UDMR) to form a centrist

coalition government, holding 60% of the seats in

Parliament.

This coalition of sorts frequently struggled for

survival, as decisions were often delayed by long

periods of negotiations among the involved parties.

Nevertheless, this coalition was able to implement

several critical reforms. The new coalition

government, under prime minister Victor

Ciorbea remained in office until March 1998,

when Radu Vasile (PNŢCD) took over as prime minister. The former governor of the National

Bank, Mugur Isărescu, eventually replaced Radu Vasile as head of the government.

The 2000 elections, brought Iliescu's PDSR, known as Social Democratic Party (PSD) after

the merger with the PSDR, back to power. Iliescu won a third term as the country's

president. Adrian Năstase became the prime minister of the newly formed government.

Adrian Năstase Mugur Isărescu

Emil Constantinescu

3rd President of Romania

European Union membership (2004- present)

Presidential and parliamentary elections took place again on November 28, 2004. No political

party was able to secure a viable parliamentary majority and opposition parties alike that the PSD

had committed large-scale electoral fraud There

was no winner in the first round of the presidential

elections. The joint PNL-PD candidate, Traian

Băsescu, won the second round on December 12,

2004 with 51% of the vote and thus became the

third post-revolutionary president of Romania.

The PNL leader, Călin Popescu

Tăriceanu was assigned the difficult task of

building a coalition government without including

the PSD. In December 2004, the new coalition

government (PD, PNL, PUR Romanian Humanist

Party - which eventually changed its name

to Romanian Conservative Party and UDMR), was

sworn in under Prime Minister Tăriceanu.

Post–Cold War Romania developed closer

ties with Western Europe, eventually

joining NATO in 2004. The country applied in

June 1993 for membership in the European Union (EU). It became an Associated State of the EU

in 1995, an Acceding Country in 2004, and a member on January 1, 2007.

Following the free travel agreement and politic of the post–Cold War period, as well as

hardship of the life in the post 1990s economic depression, Romania has an increasingly large

diaspora. The main emigration targets are Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, UK, Canada and the

USA.

Traian Băsescu

Romania joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004, and the European Union,

alongside Bulgaria, on January 1, 2007.

In April 2008, Bucharest hosted the NATO summit.

In January 2012, Romania started the first large national protests since '89, motivated by

the global economical crisis of that time and as an answer to the crisis situations and unrest in

Europe of 2000s.

[|áàÉÜç Éy fÑt|Ç

HISTORY OF SPAIN

Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians and Celts. After an arduous

conquest, the Peninsula came under the rule of Rome. During the early Middle Ages it came under

Germanic rule but later, it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process that

took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the

Peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas. A

global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe and the leading

world power for a century and a half and the largest overseas empire for three centuries.

Continued wars and other problems eventually led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions

of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire and

left the country politically unstable. Prior to the Second World War, Spain suffered a devastating

civil war and came under the rule of an authoritarian government, whose rule oversaw a period of

stagnation but that finished with a powerful economic surge. Eventually democracy was peacefully

restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a cultural renaissance and steady economic

growth.

"Regnorum Hispaniae nova descriptio". 1631. Willem Blaeu. (casareal.es)

Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples

Archaeological research at Atapuerca indicates the Iberian Peninsula was populated by hominids

1.2 million years ago.

Modern humans first arrived in Iberia, from the north on foot, about 35,000 years ago. The two

main historical peoples of the Peninsula were the Iberians and the Celts. The Iberians inhabited the

Mediterranean side from the northeast to the southeast. The Celts inhabited the Atlantic side, in the

north, center (Celtiberian), northwest and southwest part of the Peninsula.

Western Mediterranean 509 B.C (ccssloranca.files.wordpress.com)

Phoenicians and Greeks is documented by Strabo and the Book of Solomon. Between about 800

BCE and 300 BCE, the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks founded trading colonies along the

Mediterranean coast. The Carthaginians briefly exerted control over much of the Mediterranean side

of the Peninsula, until defeated in the Punic Wars by the Romans.

Roman Empire and the Gothic Kingdom

During the Second Punic War, an expanding Roman Empire captured Carthaginian trading colonies

along the Mediterranean coast from roughly 210 to 205 BCE. It took the Romans nearly two

centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, though they had control of it for over

six centuries. Roman rule was bound together by law, language, and the Roman road. The cultures

of the Celtic and Iberian populations were gradually romanised (Latinised) at differing rates in

different parts of Hispania.

Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century of the Template Common Era and it

became popular in the cities in the 2nd century CE. Most of Spain's present languages and religion,

and the basis of its laws, originate from this period.

The weakening of the cWestern Roman Empire's jurisdiction in Hispania began in 409, when the

Germanic Suebi and Vandals, together with the Sarmatian Alans crossed the Rhine and ravaged

Gaul until the Visigoths drove them into Iberia that same year.

The Alans' allies, the Hasdingi Vandals, established a kingdom in Gallaecia, too, occupying largely

the same region but extending farther south to the Duero river. The Silingi Vandals occupied the

region that still bears a form of their name –Vandalusia, modern Andalusia, in Spain. The

Byzantines established an enclave, Spania, in the south, with the intention of reviving the Roman

empire throughout Iberia. Eventually, however, Hispania was reunited under Visigothic rule.

Muslim Iberia

In the 8th century, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711–718) by largely Moorish

Muslim armies from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Umayyad

Caliphate. Only a small area in the mountainous north-west of the peninsula managed to resist the

initial invasion.

Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city in western

Europe. The Romanised cultures of the Iberian peninsula interacted with Muslim and Jewish

cultures in complex ways, thus giving the region a distinctive culture.

In the 11th century, the Muslim holdings fractured into rival Taifa kingdoms, allowing the small

Christian states the opportunity to greatly enlarge their territories.

Fall of Muslim rule and unification

The Reconquista ("Reconquest") was the centuries-long period of expansion of Iberia's Christian

kingdoms. The breakup of Al-Andalus into the competing taifa kingdoms helped the long embattled

Iberian Christian kingdoms gain the initiative. The capture of the strategically central city of Toledo

in 1085 marked a significant shift in the balance of power in favour of the Christian kingdoms.

The year 1492 also marked the arrival in the New World of Cristopher Columbus, during a voyage

funded by Isabel. As Renaissance New Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand centralised royal power at

the expense of local nobility, and the word España, whose root is the ancient name Hispania, began

to be commonly used to designate the whole of the two kingdoms. With their wide-ranging

political, legal, religious and military reforms, Spain emerged as the first worl power.

Imperial Spain

The unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile by the marriage of their sovereigns laid the

basis for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire, although each kingdom of Spain remained a

separate country, in social, political, laws, currency and language. Spain was Europe's leading

power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and

wealth from colonial possessions. It reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish

Habsburgs – Charles I (1516–1556) and Philip II (1556–1598).

This period saw the Italians Wars, the revolt of the comuneros, the Dutch revolt, the Morisco revolt,

clashes with the Ottomans, the Anglo-Spanish war and wars with France.

The Spanish Empire expanded to include great parts of the Americas, islands in the Asia-Pacific

area, areas of Italy, cities in Northern Africa, as well as parts of what are now France, Germany,

Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It was the first empire of which it was said that the sun

never set.

In the latter half of the 17th century, Spain went into a gradual relative decline, during which it

surrendered several small territories to France and the Netherlands; however, it maintained and

enlarged its vast overseas empire, which remained intact until the beginning of the 19th century.

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and an increase in prosperity through much of the empire.

The new Bourbon monarchy drew on the French system of modernising the administration and the

economy.

Napoleonic rule and its consequences

In 1807, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau between Napoleon and the deeply unpopular Godoy led

to a declaration of war against Britain and Portugal. French troops entered the kingdom unopposed,

supposedly to invade Portugal, but instead they occupied Spanish fortresses. This invasion by

trickery led to the abdication of the ridiculed Spanish king in favour of Napoleon's brother, Joseph

Bonaparte.

The 2nd May 1808 revolt was one of many nationalist uprisings against the Bonapartist regime

across the country. These revolts marked the beginning of what is known to the Spanish as the War

of Independence. Napoleon was forced to intervene personally, defeating several badly coordinated

Spanish armies and forcing a British army to retreat. However, further military action by Spanish

guerrillas and armies, and Wellington's British-Portuguese forces, combined with Napoleon's

disastrous invasion of Russia, led to the ousting of the French imperial armies from the Spain in

1814, and the return of King Ferdinand VII.

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War (1936–39) ensued. Three years later the rebel Nationalist forces, led by

General Francisco Franco, emerged victorious with the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

The Republican side was supported by the Soviet Union, Mexico and International Brigades, but it

was not supported officially by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-

Intervention.

The Civil War claimed the lives of over 500,000 people and caused the flight of up to a half-million

citizens. Most of their descendants now live in Latin American countries, with some 300,000 in

Argentina alone.

Spain under Franco

After World War II Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United

Nations. This changed in 1955, during the Cold War period, when it became strategically important

for the U.S. to establish a military presence on the Iberian peninsula as a counter to any possible

move by the Soviet Union into the Mediterranean basin. In the 1960s, Spain registered an

unprecedented rate of economic growth in what became known as the Spanish miracle, which

resumed the much interrupted transition towards a modern economy.

Post-Franco

With Franco's death in November 1975, Juan Carlos succeeded to the position of King of Spain and

head of state in accordance with the law. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978

and the restoration of democracy, the State devolved much authority to the regions and created an

internal organisation based on autonomous communities.

On 30 May 1982 Spain joined NATO, following a referendum. In 1986 Spain joined the

European Community, which later became the European Union.

HISTORY OF EXTREMADURA

Prehistory

Cave Dwellers : the earliest evidence of human presence in Extremadura is found at the pre-

historic cave of Maltravieso, containing paintings dated by paleontologists at approximately 30,000

B.C. Depicted in these paintings are hands missing the little finger, leading some to link this to

some sort of magical religious rite.

Prehistoric Tribes: before the arrival of the Romans, Extremadura was inhabited by four principal

tribes: from the Tagus River northward, the Vetonians; from the southern border to the Guadiana

River, the Turdetanians; in the central zone, the Lusitanians; and in the Western strip (near present-

day Badajoz), the Celts.

Dating from the Iron Age there are other castros generally built on top of hills or high plains. The

inhabitants of Extremadura during this time seem to have lived primarily from raising livestock,

mostly cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. Land apparently belonged jointly to tribal groups, with the

women responsible for the cultivation of crops such as wheat, olives, and grapes. The men

dedicated their time to hunting and to defending their people against attacks. There appears to have

been some mining as well as some commerical interchange with the Phoenicians. There have also

been found some artifacts of Carthaginian and of Greek origin, although not significant enough to

lead one to conclude these colonizers made it to Extremadura. From this period, as well, there is

evidence of much religious activity, denoted by cave paintings, magical rites, and special burial

ceremonies.

Roman Age

Extremadura first came into contact with Roman civilization between the years 155 and 152 B.C.

when the local Lusitananians and Vetonians began to defend themselves against Roman invasions.

The real establishment of Roman society in all of the province of Lusitania (including what is now

Extremadura) began in the the year 25 B.C. with the founding of the city Emérita Augusta

(Mérida), built as a home base for the Roman legions VAlauda and X Gémina, who had fought

against the Asturs and Cantabrians in the north of the peninsula. In a short time, Mérida came to be

the most important Roman city of the Iberian peninsula, and the 8th most important in all of the

empire.

An important point along the Vía de la Plata, the Roman highway which joined Asturias to

Andalusia, was the magnificent bridge which crossed the Guadiana River at Mérida.

“Via de la Plata” the Roman Highway. (www.lugaresconencanto.org)

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, the history of Extremadura can be broken down into three main periods:

a) Barbaric Peoples

b) Arab Conquest

c) Christian Reconquest

The Occupation by the Barbaric People

With the invasion of the Barbaric tribes came the loss of influence of many of the Roman cities,

(with the exception of Mérida, which continued on as the regional capital) and the increasing

ruralization of Extremadura. The continued cultural importance of Mérida is evidenced in its

election as the seat of the Archbishopric of Spain. The archbishop Masona was elected by the

Fathers of the Spanish church to preside the Third Council of Toledo, in which the Visigothic king

Reccared officially renounced his loyalty to Arianism and converted to Catholicism. As a result,

there was an increased merging of hispano-roman and visigothic cultures.

The Conquest and Domination of the Arabs

In the year 713, Mérida fell captive to the advancing army of the Arab general, Muza. From this

time, on several occasion the Berbers who settled in Mérida, as well as the remaining Christians,

attempted uprisings against the Emirate of Córdoba, but were eventually put down. In 855, when

Mérida is defeated by the forces of Mohammed I, that the population of Mérida looks to the

protection of Abderramán-ibm-Meruvan, who had established himself in the then small village of

Badajoz. In the following years as Meruvan gained in power, Badajoz gained in significance and

prestige, surpassing the importance of Mérida in the region. In the year 930, Mérida and Badajoz

were named as capitals of two separate provinces.

The Christian Reconquest

In 1142 Alfonso VII reconquered Coria and initiated the great Christian advance in Extremadura.

During succeeding years, various cities and fortresses in the region changed hands back and forth

between Christian and Muslim forces. During the years 1218-1230, important Christian gains were

made under the reign of Alfonso IX and the contribution of the military orders of Alcántara and

Calatrava.

Soldier from

“Orden de Calatrava”

(www.todoavante.es)

Conquistadors

Land of the Conquistadors

Extremadura was the cradle of the world's most famous discoverers and explorers of the New

World. Without the aid of modern communication, traveling mostly on foot in heavy medieval

armour, these men blazed the first trails across the New World. Here is a list of some of their

discoveries and explorations:

Land of Conquistadors

Mississippi River

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North

Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas

and Louisiana

Hernando de Soto

Pacific Ocean Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Aztec Empire Hernán Cortés

Inca Empire Peru Francisco Pizarro

Amazon River Francisco de Orellana

During the Spanish conquest of America, the vast majority of the most famous conquistadores were

born in Extremadura. These include among others, Cortés, Pizarro, Orellana, Vasco Núñez de

Balboa, Hernando de Soto, Alvarado, and Valdivia. The rationale given to explain the participation

of so many Extremadurans in the conquest of America is in part the relative economic privation of

the region and the dream of finding riches in the fabled El Dorado

Francisco Pizarro (1471-1541).

Conquerer of Peru.

During the modern and contemporary eras Extremadura was affected by two principal factors: the

consequences of the medieval Reconquest and its setting along the border with Portugal. On the

heels of the Reconquest, the land in Extremadura was divided between the military orders, and the

various royalty and aristocracy. The common people were considered as vassals of one of these

three groups. At the same time, the border with Portugal led to Extremadura being the scene of

continual pillaging and at times to open war with the Spanish ruling forces. These conflicts include

the fighting related to the ascendancy of Isabella to the throne of Castille, the armed intervention

accompanying the pretension of Spanish king Felipe II to the Portuguese crown, the almost three

decade long War of Restoration fought from 1640 to 1668, and at the beginning of the 18th century

the War of Spanish Succession.

1

Finnish history

The Swedish Empire 1249-1809 The middle ages in Finland began after

the Iron Age during the crusades in the

12th century. The campaigns organized

by the king of Sweden connected Finland

to Sweden for almost 600 years. The

Middle Ages brought religion and signs

of power to Finland. The crown built

castles and the religious people built

castles for their god. The role of the

bishop was rising as a leader and a tax

collector.

In the Middle Ages Finland was the

battlefield of the east and west.

The divided church, the Orthodoxies and

the Catholics of the west fought long for

the bordering areas of their countries.

Finland's part of the war was agreed in

peace treaty of Pähkinäsaari 1323.

The western people of Karelia and the

people of Savo came to the western

church's sphere of influence, when the

area of Laatokka was left to be the

Orthodox Church’s support area.

Reformation

1527

The reformation in Finland was done by

Mikael Agricola and Paavali Juusten. Its

most central principles were the teaching

of the Christian religion in Finnish and

Mikael Agricola started to make the

written language of Finnish. A church

service with the people's mother tongue

has not been recorded in any other way

other than in Paavali Juusten's memory.

2

The Cudgel War 1596-1597

Cudgel War was Finnish peasants’ rebel

against the nobility. The war ended

horribly. Over 3000 of peasants died. One

famous person of the Cudgel War was

Jaakko Ilkka. He was a rich man and he

started the first conflict of the Cudgel

War.

The huge famine 1695-1697

One third of Finns died. The frost took

the harvest, potatoes and root vegetables

rotted to the fields, and lots of people got

sick.

Russian Grand Duchy

1809—1917

The estate society

In the 1800's in Finland there were four

estates; nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie and

peasantry; people had rights and duties

according to which estate he belonged to.

In Finland about 70% of the people didn’t

belong to any estate in the 1800's.

Finnish war 1808-1809

French Emperor Napoleon and Tsar

Alexander I agreed in Tilsit in 1807 to put

pressure on Sweden to join continent

trade embargo, which was directed

against England. When Sweden would

not be persuaded, Russia began military

operations against Sweden at the end of

February 1808. The army proceeded to

Southern Finland without significant

resistance. The war continued in the

central and in the northern parts of

Finland further into the next year. The

poorly led Swedish-Finnish army’s

military actions brought, despite some

winning battles, a loss. Finland became a

part of Russia in the peace treaty of

Hamina on the seventeenth of September

1809.

3

Porvoo’s parliament 1809

During the war the emperor of Russia

Alexander I invited the parliament to

Porvoo. The members of the four estates

swore loyalty to the emperor and the

emperor gave sovereign insurance, where

he promised that Finnish people could

have their own religion and their own

constitution. A major change to the

earlier governmental position was that

Finland was given autonomy. A new

period began in the Finnish history.

Autonomy becomes true

1855 - 1891

Alexander II’s rise to the emperor started

a new season in Finland. Finland got own

stamps (1856) and money (1860). The first

railway from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna

finished in 1862. The Finnish language

became an official management and trial

language. The parliament of estate

gathered in 1863. An extensive economic

and societal renewal started in Finland

which continued over two decades.

4

Independence

1917

The First World War and the Russian

revolution made the independence of

Finland possible. Finland became

independent on the sixth of December

1917.

Finland's Independence

Finland became independent on the 6th

of December in 1917. Finland was meant

to be a kingdom. Finnish people wanted a

king from Germany. His name was

Friedrich Karl, but he gave up the crown

and never came to Finland.

Civil war 1918

In January 1918, there began a civil war in

Finland. The worker class in Finland, the

so called “reds” started the revolution.

And the opposite side the "whites”, led

by Regent Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim,

announced themselves as the official

army. The war lasted for four months

and ended in the victory of the “whites”

in May 1918.

The war had its price. The “whites” lost

an estimated amount of 3100 men and the

“reds” 3600. The “reds” had killed 1649

“whites” outside of the war.

Kingdom or republic?

The Independent Finland was meant to

be republic but the experiences of the

civil war supported the monarchists. The

socialists who joined the rebellion lacked

from parliament, and the monarchists

wanted Finland to become a kingdom. As

a consequence of Germany being

defeated in the war, Finland didn’t

become a kingdom. The first president of

the republic was K.J Ståhlberg.

Winter war 1939

Finland got in to the Soviet Union’s front

lines during the non-aggression pact. In

October Moscow invited Finland to the

negotiations, where Finland was asked to

give away territories to Soviet Union.

Because Finland didn’t agree, Soviet

Union started a war by opening fire at

Kannas and bombing Helsinki. Finland

was supported by many matters against

the enemy in the war. Finland’s advances

were cold winter and the ability to use

the terrain. Despite some great victories,

Finland had to lose to Soviet Union and

give up big territories.

5

Continuation war

1941

Germany started an attack against the

Soviet Union on the twenty-second of

June 1941. Finns neither wanted to show

as attacker nor Germany’s confederate.

The goal of the war was to get Karelia

back.

Soviet Union started a big attack on

Karelia on the ninth of June 1944. 11 days

later Finland lost Vyborg. President Ryti

got help from Germany and things

started to get better but Germans would

help only if Finland didn’t make a peace

treaty with the Soviet Union.

Moscow’s truce was concluded in the

beginning of September and its

conditions were confirmed in Paris 1947.

Lapland War

The Lapland War was a war between

Finland and Germany from September

1944 to April 1945. Finns had to drive the

Germans away from Finland by 15th

September. The Germans were still in

Northern Finland that day so Finns

started a war. The Germans started to

destroy Lapland. The worst part was

already over in November 1944 but the

rest of the Germans left Finland in April

1945.

Finland had to cut off all the relationships

to Germany and the Germans had to

leave the country. When the Germans

left, they burnt almost the whole

Lapland. Finland lost 10% of their

territories because the Soviet Union

wanted more area from Finland.

Finland had to pay 600 million dollars as

war indemnity in six years. Later they

dropped the amount of the indemnities

lower, but the amount rose to the original

in 1952. The indemnities were paid fully

in 1952.

6

From YYA-Treaty to the

European Union

After the war Juho Kusti Paasikivi was

chosen as president after Mannerheim

1946. He created a new political line in

the difficult situation with respect to the

USSR. It was called the Line of Paasikivi.

National self-confidence was improved

especially with the Olympics of Helsinki.

Finland became a member of the United

Nations and the Nordic Council.

Economic growth has been fast until the

beginning of the 1990s. The biggest

reason for the growth was business with

the Soviet Union. Finland became a

member of the European Free Trade

Association (EFTA) 1961.

Finland’s long-term president Urho

Kekkonen resigned his position as a

president in autumn 1982.

In 1982 Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto

was chosen president.

The Soviet Union came down at the

beginning of 1990. In 1995 Finland

became a member of the European Union

after the new president Martti Ahtisaari

was elected.

Immigration

Immigrants have left to the USA,

Australia and Russia from Finland. An

important immigration started in the

1860s and continued till the 1930s, the

Finnish moved abroad a lot, about 12 000-

14 000 people every year.

In 2011 immigrants have come to Finland

from Russia, Somalia, China, India and

USA. Since 1980 there have been more

movers to Finland than leavers. In 1969

and 1970 the emigration was so fast that

the Finnish population dropped. The

move from Finland to Sweden grew very

much after the Second World War.

Shortage of labor in Sweden was reason

for immigration.

7

The Success Stories of

Finland

Finland is a rather small country with just

a few actual Finnish companies, but still

some of them have gained popularity

worldwide. These companies include the

famous ex-leading telephone company

Nokia, Rovio (the company behind

Angry Birds), Marimekko (a Finnish

fashion design company), Supercell (the

company behind Clash of Clans and Hay

Day), Hesburger (a Finnish fast-food

company that currently has stores in

Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,

Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and is

planned to open in Poland and Brazil).

8

Finnish Presidents

1919-1925

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg was a Finnish jurist and academic, who

played a central role in the drafting of the Constitution of Finland

in 1919. He was the first President of Finland (1919–1925) and a

nationalist liberal.

1925–1931

Lauri Kristian Relander

Lauri Kristian Relander was the second President of Finland. A

Prominent member of the Agrarian League, he served as a

member of Parliament, and as Speaker, before his election as

President.

1931-1937

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud was the first Head of State of

independent Finland 1918 and third President of Finland from

1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the

Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the

movement for Finnish independence.

9

1937-1940

Kyösti Kallio

Kyösti Kallio was the fourth President of Finland. He was a

prominent leader of the Agrarian League, and served as Prime

Minister four times and Speaker of the Parliament six times.

1940-1944

Risto Heikki Ryti

Risto Heikki Ryti was the fifth President of Finland, from 1940 to

1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of

economics and as a political background figure during the

interwar period.

1944-1946

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim

Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was a Finnish military

leader and statesman. Mannerheim served as the military leader

of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Regent of Finland,

Commander In-Chief of Finland's Defense during World War II,

and the sixth President of Finland.

10

1946-1956

Juho Kusti Paasikivi

Juho Kusti Paasikivi was the seventh President of Finland.

Representing the Finnish Party and the National Coalition Party,

he also served as Prime Minister of Finland and was generally an

influential figure in Finnish economics and politics for over fifty

years.

1956-1982

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen was a Finnish politician who served as

Prime Minister of Finland and later as the eighth and longest-

serving President of Finland. Kekkonen continued the “active

neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti

Paasikivi, a doctrine that came to be known as the “Paasikivi–

Kekkonen line”, under which Finland retained its independence

while maintaining extensive trade with both NATO members as

well as those of the Warsaw Pact.

1982-1994

Mauno Henrik Koivisto

Mauno Henrik Koivisto is a Finnish politician who served as the

ninth President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as

Prime Minister 1968–1970 and 1979–1982. He was the first Social

Democrat to be elected as President.

11

1994-2000

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth

President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United

Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace

work.

2000-2012

Tarja Kaarina Halonen

Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who was the 11th

President of Finland, serving from 2000 to 2012. The first female

head of state in Finland, Halonen had previously held two

appointments as a minister and served as a member of the

parliament from 1979 to 2000 until her election to the presidency.

2012-

Sauli Väinämö Niinistö

Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is the 12th and current President of

Finland, in office since 2012. A lawyer by education, Niinistö

was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National

Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election.

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATION

HITTIES

Hitite rock Sculpture

PHRYGIANS

Vase of Phrigians

Sard City

Hitties who spoke a language which is a kind of

Indo-europan language family, ruled Anatolia for a

long time and introduced themselves finely through

their specific lifestyles. There are some arguments

about their origin of place. Some says they come from

Thrace, Caucasus. Their first settlement is Hattuşa

which was near Middle Anatolia, Çorum. This place is

the capital of state. They govern the country between

1450-1200 BC. Their language is the first known

language in Indo-Europe language family. They used

another language in their formal writing. They wrote on

clay tablets. Today the writings on the surface of the

rocks which can be found almost everywhere in

Anatolia is hieroglyph alphabet. . The first treatment in

history is Kades treatment which was signed by Hitties

and Egypt (Ramses II). There are a lot of stone

memorials and a variety of clay tablets with pictograms

in Anatolia.

The kingdom was settled in Middle Anatolia between 750-300 BC. They came from Europe in 1200

through straits to Anatolia. They battled with Assur long years. When Midas was the king it was their

golden age, their most productive eras in art and commerce. They were polytheist. Their famous god

is mother god Kbele. They made progress on weaving, woodworking and mining. They had unique

style. Phrygians gave importance on agriculture and made laws on it. For example the penalty of

killing an ox or breaking cultivator is death.

URARTIANS

LYIANS

Lydians money

IONIA

Efesos

The kingdom was established on the

east side of Anatolia. At first they were

living dispersed confederation then they

came together and became stronger. Owing

to using metallic weapons their military

success got power. They battled with Assur,

Meds who ruled over Persia and Scythians

coming from Caucasia. It was Meds who put

an end to the presence of Urartians.

They made history with inventing money and

using it. They ruled West Anatolia and Antalya. They

are also knows by their famous “king way”. Lydians

adored Sun and Moon gods. Their capital city was

Sard. The remains are in Manisa, Salihli in Turkey

now. They were destroyed by Meds

They were settled down İzmir and Büyük

Menderes area. They lived as city- state

which is called as “polis”. The basic city

states are Smyrna, Phocaean, Ephesus,

Mylet. These city states could not unite

because of the commerce and the keenness of

liberty but they had got the union of culture

due to their belief. They got a wide web of

commerce thanks to their commerce colonies

settled on the coast of Mediterranean. Thales,

Psagor, Diogenes and Homerros are the

famous Ionian scholars. . Artemis temple

which is one of the 7 wonders of the world

and Apollon temple belong to Ionians. They

were destroyed by Persians.

ROMANS

Aspendos Theatre in Antalya

BYZANTION

After the split of the Roman Empire in 395 Eastern Roman Empire began to be called as this

name. Tey reigned a long period of time until 1453. Te capital city was Constantinople (Istanbul). The

Hrakleios, Isavria, Makedonia, Dukases, Kommenoses families were in the state administration for a

long time. Byzantion Empire who ruled 1000 years has taken its place thanks to the contribution and

giving value to science and art. The most outstanding work of art in Bzyantion is Saint Sophia. This

temple was used as church for 1000 years, used as mosque for 500 years and now this is a museum.

Istanbul which was the capital city of Roman Empire was the largest city of world. This city could

only be compared with Bagdath. Fine arts were developed there. Istanbul impressed everybody with its

spectacular palaces, high churches, hippodromes, walls, obelisks, wealth and crowd.

Saint Sofia Aqueduct In Istanbul

Writen By Mr Rahim ÖZKAYA

Mrs. Fatma KORAŞ

They were expanded over time and taken

into Anatolia, Syria, Palestine. Romans

maintained their domination over Anatolia for a

long time due to inclusion of Palestine after the

separation the east part continued its presence as

Byzantion Empire. There are lots of remains of

Romans in many parts of Anatolia. A lot of

coins and items used in daily life are found and

protected.

ANCIENT TURKISH Central Asia is not well known wherefore it can not be documented before

the Great Migrations (5000 BC) which happened as a result of drought.

Migrations caused to the development of world civilization and the formation of

a new culture. But we have not got precise information about the people left in

the area.

Turks began to appear on the stage of history when they came Otuken Valley (

between Orkhon River and the Tian Shan Mountains). Great Hun Empire is the

first known Turkish state. Hun means “people” in Turkish. The founder of the

state is Hiung-Nu in Chinese documents but historians are agree on the idea that

he is Teoman.

Kül Tiğin

After the migration the first

known place where Turks lived is

Siberian forests. After battling with the

hard conditions of nature thousands of

years in that area, they moved as they

grew. Some qualities that Turks had via

this battles are understood better as they

began to appear on the stage of history.

Some of historians think the foundation is 13.

decate BC but according to the first written

document which is a treaty in 318 BC and

Chinese emperorŞi Huangdi made Great Wall

built to be protected from Turks between 247-

210 BC.

Both the treaty and the date of building of

Great Wall of China show that Huns had been

living in that area before 300BC.

The founder of the emperor was Teoman and

his succesor Mete (210-174 BC) turn the state

into an empire.

As it was mentioned before Turks did not discriminate their peoples and this is

their state approach. They apply the same law to everyone. They protect their

peoples’ identity and did not exploit them. On the contrary, they tried to help

them. Turks behaved well the people whom They thought a friend. According to

Jean Paul Roux'y (p.27), tolerant behavior of the Turks is one of the most

important services they make to world civilization.

As a people, Turks made history with their best training, best mining,

friendly behaviour in time of peace and harsh behavior in time of war.

TABGACS The era When Attila was at Hungary, Tabgacs which is a branch of the Turks,

directed towards south China. They became dominant in China between 386-

552 . The Turks marked themselves so deep that Arabs and the Middle Age

Greeks called this place as the land of Turks.

SELJUKS EMPİRE

Sultan Alparslan

Acoording to Chinese records the era when

the son of Mete Kiyük (or Lao-Şang 174-161 BC)

was emperor they went on growing through both

west and South. They dominated various tribes that

lived in Central Asia. Empire became almost like a

mixture of peoples.

As a people, Turks made history with their best

training, best mining, friendly behaviour in time of

peace and harsh behavior in time of war.

During this period, another Turkish tribe Göktürks

who used “Turk” in the name of state began to

establish their state in 552 years .

Seljuks who came from middle East to Anatolia was

an Empire that spread over Afghanistan, Iran, Anatolia and

Arabistan. In 1071, with the war which took place in

Malazgirt, they settled in Anatolia. Long years they fought

against Moguls. After their collapse, Anatolian Seljuks got

the soverignty. They also fought against Moguls long years.

Because of internal problems the empire diveded into small

beyliks (small pieces). Karamanoğlu Beylik and Otoman

Empire was the longest of those pieces. The capital city of

Karamanoğlu was Karaman and it was conquered by Fatih

Sultan Mehmet in 1468.

The first Turkish tablet which exists in Mogul today is Orhun Tablet

OTTOMAN EMPİRE

Selimiye Mosque - Edirne Mostar Bridge - Bosnia Herzegovina

Archihtecture Mr. Mimar Sinan

Otoman Empire was founded in 1299. By expanding their territories they

became a big empire on Asia, Euro and Africa. They lived such a long time as

600 years. Especially in Balkans, İstanbul, Bursa and Edirne they left

wonderful historic buildings and beauties. After Treaty of Sevres, Ottoman

Empire was already passed away. As a result of I. World War and the Treaty of

Serves, our lands were invaded. Turkish nation launched the Independence War

with the leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and they got the success and they

founded the Turkish Republic in 1923.

Writen By Mr. Ahmet AYDIN

Mrs. Selcan BAĞCI

HISTORY OF TURKISH REPUBLIC

Before Turkısh Republic, there was again another Turkish state on

Anatolia, Ottoman Empire. This empire was built in 1299 in Söğüt, Bilecik by

Osman Gazi. He gave his name to the state. This empire governed between 1299

and 1922, at brightest times Ottoman dominated three continents. Since Ottoman

empire did not discriminate people according to their languages, nationalities,

religions they could succeed to govern lots of states. This is the secret of

survival for many years. Due to Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered İstanbul Middle

Age was over and New era is started. Sultan Süleyman (Süleyman the

Magnificent) period was the time the empire reached the summit of power. After

this period, the empire started standstill and decline period. The Ottoman

Empire was unable to follow the innovations and developments in the world and

French Revolution in 1789 along with the spread of nationalism, lots of states

proclaimed their independence . All of these caused Ottoman Empire decline.

During the World war I Ottoman Empire allied with Germany to reach its

former power but was defeated in 1918. After this time, the territory of the

Ottoman Empire was occupied by the Allied Powers.

Turkish Parlament opened in 23th April 1920

After all of these in 1919-1922 under the leadership of great leader Mustafa

Kemal who was a young soldier in that time, people battled with strong enemy

states such as England, France, Italy and Greece. It was called Independence

War. This battle stopped by a ceasefire agreement in 1922 and finished with a

peace treaty in 1923.

1914 and 1922 was the hardest times for us, we fighted to survive. Unlike

other countries, Turkish people lost lots of people who was well educated while

battling. Now we feel and understand what it means.

İn 1922 sultanate was abolished and Ottoman Empire formally ended then

under the leadership of Atatürk a new Turkish State was establish on the same

land. The republic was announced in 29 october 1923 in Turkey.

After this time Turkey is configurated with a lot of reforms. These reforms

have made on the fields like politics, law, education, economy, culture and

sociology.

Despite hard times between 1923 and 2013 Turkey has been able to be

strong and powerful country.

Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK Atatürk while teaching the Latin Alphabet

Our First President

Ankara: Capital Of Turkey

Writen By Mr. Hasan ÖZDİNÇ

Mr. Mücahit CÖHCEN

KARAMAN’S HISTORY Athough not known exactly it was discovered from the excavatings that

Karaman was an important settlement, trading and culture centre.

It is claimed that Karaman area had settled population inBC 8000. It was a

military zone and trading centre in the time of Hittite Empire then it was captured by

the Phrigias. BC 322, it was plundered by the Greek kings Perdiccass and Filippos.

In ancient times Karaman was known as Laranda. It was destroyed

by Perdiccas in about 322 BC and later became a seat of Isaurian pirates. It

belonged to the Roman and later Byzantine Empire until it was captured by the

Seljuks in the early 12th century. Karaman was occupied by Frederick Barbarossa in

1190 . In 1256, the town was taken by theTurkish bey Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey and

was renamed Karaman in his honour. From 1275, Karaman was the capital of the

Karaman Beylik (and later Ottoman province) of Karamanid.

(Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey)

In 1468 Karamanid was conquered by the Ottomans and in 1483 the capital of

the province was moved to Konya. Karaman has retained ruins of a Karamanid castle

and some walls, two mosques and a Koran school (madrasah) from that age. An

exquisite mihrab from a mosque from Karaman can now be found in the Çinili

Pavilion near the Archeology Museum in Istanbul.

The poet Yunus Emre (c. 1238-1320) resided in Karaman during his later

years and is believed to lie buried beside the Yunus Emre Mosque. A small adjacent

park is adorned with quotations from his verse, many of them unfortunately graffiti-

splattered. In 1222, the Sufi preacher Bahaeddin Veled arrived in town with his

family, and the Karamanoğlu emir built a medrese to accommodate them. Veled's

son was the famous Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, who married his wife, Gevher Hatun,

while his family was living in Karaman. It was here, too, that Rumi's mother died in

1224. She was buried, along with other family members, in the Aktekke Mosque (also

known as the Mader-i Mevlana Cami), which Alaeddin Ali Bey had built to replace the

original medrese in 1370.

Yunus Emre (a well known

poet through Turkey)

In 1222, the Sufi preacher Bahaeddin Veled arrived in town with his family, and the Karamanoğlu emir built a medrese to accommodate them. Veled's son was the famous Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi.

Written Mr. Fatih Şimşek

Mrs. Ayşe Eda KARADENİZ

good at metal

working. They we-

re polytheistic

and they venera-

ted nature gods.

They lived in tribes

and used coins.

THE CELTS The Celts were an

Indo-European popu-

lation who lived in

Europe, in the Bri-

tish islands and in

the North of Europe,

till the river Danube,

between the IV and

the III century B.C.

In the South, they

expanded towards

Iberian, Italic and

Anatolian peninsu-

las.

In Italy they occu-

pied the Pianura Pa-

dana area and they

arrived at our terri-

tory. In fact there are

some Celtic tombs in

Gravellona Toce.

The Celtics were

warriors and very

Italy is a rich of history country. A lot of people occupied it and

they left signs of their culture.

THE ETRUSCANS

The Etruscans lived

in Etruria (today Tu-

scany), between the

X and I century B.C.

Thanks to Etruscan

merchants, their life

evidences arrived at

our city. In ancient

time Gravellona was

a border city. Who

passed through here

to reach Switzer-

land, had to pay a

toll. It consisted in

gold, but also ear-

thenware crockery

and cutlery, bronze

clips and trays.

Small parfum bot-

tles, jewels and pins

were found in the

tombs.

The Etruscans were

polytheistic and they

believed in life after

death. So, they put

everyday objects in

the tombs; these

objects were useful

for the afterworld

life.

ANCIENT ITALY

THE ROMANS

The city 2

The house 2

The family 3

Clothes 3

Language 3

THE CELTS

THE ETRUSCANS

THE GREEKS

THE GREEKS

Between the VIII and VII

century B.C. the coastal

cities of South Italy we-

re colonized by Greeks.

Napoli, Taranto, Siracu-

sa, Agrigento and many

other Greek colonies

reached a high level of

economical and cultu-

ral richness. So, they

were considered more

important than their

motherland and they

were called MAGNA

GRECIA (Megàle Hel-

làs).

Italy was the heart of

the great Roman Em-

pire and Rome has

been his great capital

for about five centu-

ries. It was founded in

753 B.C. and grew up

on the seven hills, a-

long the river Tevere.

The Emperor lived in

Rome and the city

was the political, eco-

nomical and cultural

centre of all the Empi-

re. Definitely, it was

the most populated

city in the ancient

world: it had one mil-

lion inhabitants a-

bout.

flats that could have

even three floors.

The most part of Ro-

mans' furniture were

beds. The rich had a

lot of beds where they

can sleep, eat, write

and entertain guests.

The most common

were single beds; the-

re were also double

beds for the bride and

the groom and triple

beds for the dining

room. Some rich

people loved amazing

The Romans had two

kinds of houses: the

“domus”and the

“insula”. The “domus”

was a single villa with

an inside garden for

rich people;

the

“insula”,

which was

for common

people, was

a kind of

block of

their guests with

huge six people

beds!

The Romans had

marble tables, but

they did not use any

chair, only beds or

stools without ba-

ckrest, which people

carried with them-

selves.

There were a lot of

carpets on the floor,

blankets and quilts

on the beds.

THE ROMANS AND ROME

THE CITY

The streets of the

town were narrow,

long, straight and

arranged in a

network of right-

angles. So, the

army could move

fast. The streets

were made of roun-

ded rocks to make

the water run du-

ring the rivers over-

flows.

Page 2 ANCIENT ITALY

THE HOUSE

The ancient Roman

family was considered a

social public organiza-

tion: Roman people were

enforced to marry and to

carry on the rice. The rich

family was composed by

the father, the mother,

sons and slaves.

The mother spent her

time with her housework

and she was specialized

in wool weaving and in

clothes making for each

member of the family.

The father was the head of

the family (“pater fami-

lias”): everybody was

submitted to his authori-

ty.

The Roman language

was the Latin: it beca-

me very important

when the Roman Em-

pire expanded. A lot

of people spoke Latin

for over than one

thousand of years.

It has also been the

Church official lan-

guage till last century.

During the centuries,

Latin language evol-

ved in Italian, Spa-

nish, Romanian,

Portuguese, Franch:

the so-called “new

latin” languages.

FAMILY

a belt on the waist.

On the “stola” wo-

men wore the

“palla”, a kind of

rectangular cloak,

similar to the Gre-

ek one.

Children wore a

white tunic with a

red border till they

grew up.

When somebody

died, members of

his family wore

black tunics.

Instead, white was

the brides' colour.

CLOTHES

Men wore the

“tunica” and the

“toga”, which was

a kind of cloak.

Only men who had

Roman citizenship

could wear the

“toga”.

The “stola” was

the women dress:

it was a large and

long tunic, fixed by

Page 3

LANGUAGE

Class 2C

minals: people

who broke the law

were tortured and

hanged.

At lunch time e-

verybody went

back home. Rich

people ate spicy

meat, game, ve-

getables, eggs,

cheese, fruit and

wine. Poor people

usually ate cereal

or vegetable

soup, bread river

fish and eggs.

They had pork on-

ce a year and

wine only on

special occasions.

The day started

at 6 o' clock in

the morning,

with the sound

of the bells. Af-

ter making three

times the sign of

the cross,

people got dres-

sed, they wa-

shed only their

hands and face.

They had a bath

only occasio-

nally, sometimes

after a long jour-

ney.

Then, Medieval

people went to

the church, be-

cause religion

was very impor-

tant. The war,

the plague, the

famine, the hil-

lness were con-

sidered the de-

mon's actions

and the Church

offered the only

remedy to hu-

man suffering.

After breakfast

men went to

work. Wor-

kshops were o-

pened and stre-

ets were full of

merchants, tra-

vellers and beg-

gars. There were

mostly outdoor

jobs. People

could listen to

preachers' spee-

ches or stories

by jesters in

squares. Often

people could al-

so see public e-

xecutions of cri-

EVERYDAY LIFE

IN MIDDLE AGES

(V – XV centuries)

People didn't use

neither dishes,

nor forks: they

used big slices of

bread on which

they put the food.

There was only

one glass for two

people. After

lunch there was a

break: people sta-

yed outside their

houses to speak

to neighbours

After dinner stre-

ets were empty,

except for people

going to inns

(pubs) to drink or

to play dice.

Bells rang every

three hours, even

at night.

CLOTHES

Poor men and wo-

men wore a long

woolen or cotton

shirt, rich people a

silk one. Women's

shirts were long,

they reached the

ground, while men's

shirts were at calf

length.

On their shirts

people wore a gar.

ment with buttons

and strings as long

as their shirts. Wo-

men's dresses had

several pairs of sle-

eves, so women

could change them

Men wore two pairs

of drawers, a light

one and a heavy

one on that.

Rich people had fur

cloaks (fox, beaver,

ermine, marten, be-

ar), poor ones had

felt cloaks. Women

wore woollen socks

and wooden clogs or

cork sole shoes.

HOUSES

Houses mostly had

two floors and woo-

den stairs. The be-

droom was up-

stairs, the kitchen

and workshop were

downstairs. Diffe-

rent rooms were di-

vided by curtains or

wooden panels.

The houses of

rich people over-

looked the main

road. The yard,

the vegetable

garden, the sta-

ble, the hen

house were at

the back. There

were just a few

pieces of furnitu-

re: they were he-

avy weight. Beds

were very large:

for up to five

people. There

wasn't any sewe-

rage. The

dumping went to

underground

drains or to side

lanes.

Travels were long,

difficult and dange-

rous. People used

horses or carriages

and they travelled

for no more than

20 km. a day, with

several stopovers.

Goods were moved

on the rivers,

thanks to winds

and current. Sea

travelling was very

dangerous. People

went overseas for

pilgrimages or mili-

Doctors didn't

know the human

body, they only

knew texts by

ancient Greek

scholars Ippo-

crates and Gale-

no.

Children death

rate was very

high (20 % of

children died

before they we-

re 10 years

old) and a men

aged 60 was

considered

very old

MOVING

LIFE EXPECTANCY

Medicines ma-

de from herbs

were used, but

prayers were of-

ten the only re-

medy.

Anatomy only ap-

pare during

Renaissance. Doc-

tors often prescri-

bed to leech, that

is to take

“infected” blood

away from the

sick person.

needs. They hel-

ped childbirth

and took care of

children and rela-

tives with herb

balms and po-

tions, because

they knew herbs

very well. For that

reason women

were really po-

werful and their

power was consi-

During Middle a-

ges, women were

very important in

family life. They

were busy in hou-

sework, in sewing

and weaving clo-

thes and gar-

ments for everyo-

ne in their family,

in lighting and

maintaining the

fire, in getting wa-

ter for domestic

dered dangerous because

they could even kill some-

one using herbs.

So, many women were

considered witches and

burned on the stake.

WOMEN

Galileo Galilei classe 2B

After the “Congress of Vi-

enna “ ( 1 st November

1814) Italy was divided in

several little states which

were controlled directly or

indirectly by Austria.

The police arrested all peo-

ple who did not accept this

situation.

Some secret organizations

were formed and patriots

secretly met to decide what

to do . The most important

secret organizations were

the “Carbonari “ group and

“ Young Italy”.

“Young It-

aly” was

founded by

Giuseppe

Mazzini. It

was the

first time

that feel-

ings of

unity and

independence spread.

The long unification process

started in Piedmont , the re-

gion where we live .That

could happen thanks to

Camillo Benso , count of Ca-

vour . He

was ap-

pointed

Prime

Minister

by king

Victor

Em-

manuel II

of Savoy

and he formed an alliance

with the French Emperor Na-

poleon III against Austria.

In 1856 almost every region

in the North and in the Centre

of Italy were part of Pied-

mont.

Giuseppe Garibaldi took part

in the process of unification

(called “Risorgimento”)with

his military campaign

“expedition of the thousand”.

Risorgimento CLASSE 3A

Camillo Benso Conte di

Cavour (1810—1860)

On 6 th May 1860 Gari-

baldi left from a beach

near Genoa with his

men and landed in Sic-

ily . They freed southern

Italy .

On 14 th March 1861

Victor Emmanuel II be-

came the first king of

Italy

The unification process

went on with the con-

quest of Veneto in 1866

and the occupation of

the capital city one year

later . Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Mazzini

sphere of indignation to-

wards the government, which

led not only to the parlia-

mentary socialist opposition,

but also to the popular De

Gasperi and to the Liberals,

out of the majority of Giolitti

governmental organization

(the so-called "Aventine Se-

cession ").

On 3rd January 1925, Musso-

lini assumed the political,

moral, historical power and

shortly after he planned to

dissolve all political parties

except the PNF .

The history of the Italian

fascism starts with taking

the power of Benito Mus-

solini , on 30th October

1922, until the end of its

dictatorship, on 25th

July 1943.

On 28th January 1924

the Duce, in a speech

from the balcony of Palaz-

zo Venezia in Rome, sta-

ted its willingness to fight

the Italian Socialist Party

(PSI) and the Italian

Communist Party (PCI).

He rejected at the same

time each electoral allian-

ce with other parties . In

addition to this the Natio-

nal Fascist Party (PNF)

entered the plank, the

majority of members of

liberal and democratic

party.

In the elections the plank

(which had the fasces as a

symbol ) won 60.1% of the

votes and 356 deputies

Consultations took place

in a climate of violence

and intimidation of the

fascist squads throughout

Italy and, with a hard spe-

ech, the deputy socialist

Giacomo Matteotti asked

to undo them . After his

abduction and murder by

a gang of fascist extre-

mists, there was an atmo-

THE KILLING OF MATTEOTTI

On 30th May 1924 the socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti spoke to the Chamber a tough speech against the government, accusing it of being di-rectly responsible for the abuses that had accom-panied him throughout the election period. A few days later, on 10th June 1924, Mr Matteotti was beaten and kidnapped by the fascists at the exit of his home in Rome and then killed. His body was not found until several weeks later. Hs bag was full of documents that had to be the basis of the spe-ech that the Member would have had to say in the House: the evidence of corruption and trafficking in w h i c h f a s c i s m w a s i n v o l v e d . After the assassination of Matteotti opposition MPs deci-ded not to participate longer in the work of Parliament.

The History

Italia election

Matteotti

Fascist laws

The battle of the

grain

The militia of

Mussolini

The Lateran Pacts

Foreign policy

THE FASCISM

Novembre 2013 Classe III C

FASCIST LAWS

The Fascist racial laws are a set of legislative and administrati-ve measures that were put in Italy between 1938 and the first five-years period of the forties. The anti-Semitic legislation included: the prohibition of mar-riage between Italians and Jews, the prohibition for Jews to have to employ domestic Aryan race, the prohibition to all pu-blic administrations and the private companies of a public na-ture - such as banks and insurance companies - to employ Jews. The fascist laws enacted between 1925 and 1926, are legal acts which began the transformation actually sorting the Kingdom of Italy in the fascist regime.

IC GALILEO GALILEI

In 1925 the Kingdom of Italy was importing 25 million bushels of wheat. To reverse this situation was studied the Battle of the grain, a campaign that had the aim to achieve comple-te self-sufficiency. On July 4th, the Committee of the grain was made up. This was commanded by Mussolini. The fascist authorities, with the aim to increase the production of wheat, opposed themselves to crops of plants considered minor. Among these there were broccoli, turnip greens, lentils and turnips. They tried to convince farmers to replace them with the grain.

y e a r s c o u l d

choose between:

the gymnasium,

five-years, which

gave access to the

grammar school or high

school, technical school

for three years, fol-

lowed by four years of

higher technical insti-

With the Gentile re-

form, compulsory edu-

cation was raised to 14

years but the children

would have studied for

five years at an elemen-

tary school and in later

tute, the institute for

training teachers of

seven years, destined

for future teachers, the

school complementary,

after which it was not

The woman and the family in the Italian fascist society.

THE GENTILE REFORM

Pagina 2 THE BATTLE OF GRAIN

NON

TOGLIETE IL

PANE AI

FIGLI DEI

NOSTRI

LAVORATORI

ACQUISTATE

PRODOTTI

ITALIANI

GIOVANNI GENTILE

As part of the battle for the increase in population the fascist regime produced a law-oriented economic aid for new fami-lies: to the new married couples were lo-ans that had to return in the event that they would not children. In 1939 Ellevi dealt with the dangers of feminism and bourgeois ambition.

THE MILITIA OF MUSSOLINI

The Volunteer Militia for National Security was born on January 12th, 1923

The Militia was inserted into the national army through regular recruitment, in an age range

between 17 and 50 years

The MVSN (Voluntary Militia for National Security) was submitted to the Presidency of the

Council of Ministers and, by law, conspired to maintain public order on the Italian territory

The commanding general was Mussolini.

possible to subscribe to

any other school.

Only the children of the

upper class and a very

small minority of chil-

dren of other social

strata, the more

equipped for studies,

could attend secondary

schools, especially the

grammar school; a mi-

nority of children of the

middle class could also

have access to other

high schools, the high

school and technical

institutes, while all oth-

ers must not continue

their education after

reaching the

age of 14.

THE NATIONAL OPERA BALILLA

respectively boys and girls from 14 to 18.

Between the ages of 18

and 22, young men and

women would join ad-

ditional groups of the

ONB - "Fasci Giovanili

di Combattimento" and

"Giovani Fasciste", re-

spectively. Male stu-

dents in all forms of

higher education were

enrolled in the GUF.

Black shirt, blue scarf,

gray-green trousers,

black belt, fez was the

uniform of the para-

military Balilla . In ad-

dition to after-school

t u t o r i a l s a n d

"Saturdays fascists", the

National Opera mobi-

lized its members for

gatherings and school

camps.

The National Opera Balilla (ONB) was a state entity established by law passed by parlia-ment. "The National Opera table for the as-sistance and for the physical and moral edu-c a t i o n o f youth" (complete name of the state) was founded in 1926. It was an Italian Fascist youth organization function-ing, as an addition to school education, be-tween 1926 and 1937. Since it was rigidly cen-tralized, the UN was an instrument of penetra-tion in the institutions of schools. Boys from 8 to 14 years, in the ONB, were called "Balilla" and girls, from 8 to 14, were called "Piccole I t a l i a n e " . "Avanguardisti" and "Giovani Italiane" were

Classe III C

I BALILLA

Pagina 3

I FIGLI DELLA LUPA

AVANGUARDISTI

Benito Mussolini died on 28th

April 1945 killed by shots in the

town of Tremezzo, in the prov-

ince of Como. He was killed

together with his mistress

Claretta Petacci. In a series of

articles of "The Unit" of March

1947, a partisan commander

Walter Audisio "Colonel Va-

lerio" said to have been the sole

author of the killing.

Mussolini and Hitler pursued territorial expansionist and interventionist foreign policy agendas

from the 1930s through the 1940s culminating in World War II. Mussolini wanted to establish

Italian domination of the Mediterranean Sea and secure Italian access to the Atlantic Ocean.

From 1935 to 1939 Germany and Italy escalated their demands for territorial claims and greater

influence in world affairs. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In 1936 Germany remilitarized the

industrial Rhineland; the region had been ordered demilitarized by the Treaty of Versailles. In

1938 Germany annexed Austria and Italy assisted Germany in resolving the diplomatic crisis

between Germany versus Britain and France . At the same time from 1938 to 1939, Italy was

demanding territorial and colonial concessions from France and Britain. In 1939, Germany pre-

pared for war with Poland.

The invasion of Poland by Germany was unacceptable by Britain, France and their allies, resulting in their mutual declara-

tion of war against Germany. In 1940, Mussolini led Italy into World War II. Mussolini was aware that Italy did not have the

military capacity to carry out a long war with France or the United Kingdom and waited until France was on the verge of im-

minent collapse and surrender from the German invasion before declaring war on France and the United Kingdom on 10

June 1940. Mussolini believed that Italy could gain some territorial concessions from France and then concentrate its forces

on a major offensive in Egypt. Plans by Germany to invade the UK in 1940 failed after Germany lost the aerial warfare cam-

paign in the Battle of Britain. The war became prolonged contrary to Mussolini's plans resulting in Italy losing battles on

multiple fronts and requiring German assistance.

By 1943, after Italy faced multiple military failures, the complete reliance and subordination of Italy to Germany, the Allied

in- vasion of Italy,

FOREIGN POLICY

THE MUSSOLINI’S DEATH

The Resistance is

not well organized.

Partisans are di-

vided into brigades

and they create in-

dependent republics

which last for a

short time.

1st September

1939:Hitler in-

vades Poland,

France and Eng-

land declare war

to Germany

In 1940: Italy goes

to war with Ger-

many.

In 1943: Anglo-

American Allies

land to Sicily. It-

aly signs the Ar-

mistice with the

Allies. Mussolini

is imprisoned, but

then he is released

by German peo-

ple.

In Northern Italy

there is “ The Re-

bublic of Salò”

which is dependent

from Germany. The

King goes to South-

ern Italy that is then

freed.

The Resistance

movement against

Nazi-Fascism is cre-

ated.

Here are some interviews to our classmates!

MARTA GIULI-

ANO

During the Second

World War my great

grand mother is

eighteen years old

and she lives with

her parents and her

sister.

She has one daugh-

ter,one month old.

Her husband is a

partisan forced to

live in the cellar. At

Christmas time they

move to Switzerland

because they cannot

go on in this way.

After the war they

come back to Italy.

MIRCO LAURIA

A friend of my

granddad told me

that life was hard

Resistance Movement

In Italy (1943-45)

because German

people where dan-

gerous and killed a

lot of people; but

thanks to the help of

the Allies and of the

Resistance move-

ment people got free

SIMONE

MARIOTTI

The life is very dif-

ficult during the war.

My great grand

mother remembers

that some German

people ordered to

stand near the wall.

Luckily they were

saved by the driver

of a lorry.

EDOARDO ROSA

My grand uncle was

on a train for his

military service. He

jumped off the train

with some others

and they hid on the

mountains. His sister

brought him the food

hiding it between her

and her baby girl.

Class 2A

Mafia is a word with deals

with criminal organizations. In

Italy Mafia is called also Cosa

Nostra. Such organizations

don’t care about killing people

who don’t agree with them and

don’t want to help in criminal

circumstances.

Mafia can cope with drugs,

weapons, prostitution and ille-

gal political affairs.

Lots of heroes, such as Dalla

Chiesa, Falcone and

Borsellino, who fought

against mafia, lost their life in

this fight for loyalty.

Alberto Dalla Chiesa was a

colonel of Carabinieri who

tried to discover mafia’s plans

using people who acted like

criminals in the mafia groups.

In 1973 he became brigadier

general and worked against

terrorism such as Brigate

Rosse Group. He was really

successful in his work against

Brigate Rosse so that he be-

came Prefect of Palermo and

the Italian Government wanted

him to continue his fight

against mafia.

But in 1982 on September 3th

he was killed with his wife by

criminals while he was discov-

ering important facts about

Cosa Nostra.

ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY STORY

The Radical Party in 1978 fought

against the law that condemned

abortion as a crime and they wrote

the law n. 194 that allowed women

to decide about their pregnancies.

Italy is a catholic country so lots of

people didn’t agree with the radi-

cal position but in the latest refer-

endum about abortion in 1981 Ital-

ian people decided not to change

law n. 194. Anyway nowadays

gynecologists can decide not to

operate women who want to inter-

rupt pregnancy and they are not

condemned by law so as it hap-

pened before.

MAFIA THE USTICA DISASTER

REFERENDUM FOR ABORT

In 1974 in Italy there was a referendum

for divorce. People were asked if they

want to cancel the law that permitted

divorce four years before. Italy is a

catholic country, so catholic people

condemned divorce protecting mar-

riage .

In 1974 the “NO” group (who didn’t

agree with divorce) won the referen-

dum but soon after, in 1975 and 1976,

people who defended divorce defi-

nitely grew, thanks to the help of com-

munist party.

REFERENDUM FOR DIVICE

The Ustica disaster was in 1980 when an

airplane that took off from Bologna ex-

ploded while flying over the Tyrrhenian sea

in the nearby costs of the middle of Italy.

There were 81 people travelling on the

plane, 13 were children. Everybody died in

this disaster but only 38 bodies were found

in the water. The causes of the accident are

still unknown.

Police thought about terrorism and after

several researches it was discover that a

shuttle had exploded on board but not a

bomb.

This crime has not been solved yet and the

families of the victims are still asking for

justice.

3 B

Paolo Emanuele Borsellino has been an

iIalian magistrate who worked against”

Cosa Nostra” and was killed by it together

with the five young policemen who were

with him in via D’Amelio. Italian people

consider him and his colleague and friend

Giovanni Falcone a national hero.

In 1975 he started to work in Palermo with

Rocco Chinnici against Mafia.

Rocco Chinnici became a really close

friend of Borsellino, so that his daughter

too choose him like a sort of guide.

In 1980 six people of the mafia association

were arrested and the “pool” against mafia

was created. Several policemen became

bodyguards of Borsellino, his family and

people of the pool because of the very dan-

gerous work against” Cosa Nostra”.

Borsellino explained that the pool was

gathered together to get the work against

mafia stronger and safer for the people

working for justice.

The pool asked the Italian State to protect

them but only in 1980 Dalla Chiesa arrived

in Palermo as Prefect.

Soon after Chinnici was killed by mafia

and Borsellino explained in public what it

was happening with mafia and the Italian

State.

In 1991 mafia had already planned to kill

Borsellino and in 1992 he was killed with a

bomb. He was killed with his five body-

guards.

Aldo Moro was born in 1916. He

was a very important politician who

tried to pass by the difficult situation

between the conservative parties and

the communist ones.

On March 16th 1978 the car that

Aldo Moro and his five bodyguards

were using to go to work was

stopped by Brigate Rosse kill-

ers .They shot the car and killed the

bodyguards . Aldo Moro, who was

kidnapped for 55 days. During these

days he wrote about 86 letters to the

major personalities of the political

world and the Pope Paul VI. Some of

them were posted, the others were

founded in the prison in which Aldo

Moro was hidden.

During the 55 days Brigate Rosse

wrote nine short letters in which they

accused Moro for his openness to the

communist parties. Brigate Rosse

didn’t want any sort of alliance with

the conservative parties.

On May 9th after a sort of illegal

process he was killed by Mario Mor-

etti and his body was founded hidden

in a car in the centre of Rome. The

radio told about at 2 o’clock p.m.

KILLING OF PAOLO EMANUELE BORSELLINO KILLING OF ALDO MORO

ENTRY OF THE EURO

On January 1st 2002 Euro became the

new currency for twelve countries of

UE.

The new currency had to help UE to

grow up in developing economy and

European culture. But now we’re

living a sort of disillusion about it and

lots of economists and common peo-

ple think about euro as the cause of

the economic crisis that Europe is

suffering.

History of Poland

History of Poland

The historically recorded Polish state begins with

Mieszko I in the second half of the 10th century.

Mieszko I chose to be baptized in the Western Latin

Rite in 966.Mieszko's son Bolesław I Chrobry

(ruled 992-1025) established a Polish Church

province, pursued territorial conquests and was

officially crowned at the end of his life in 1025,

becoming the first King of Poland. During the

Congress of Gniezno in the year 1000, Otto III,

Holy Roman Emperor authorized the founding of

the Archbishopric of Gniezno.

Bolesław III Wrymouth divided Poland among his sons in 1138, internal fragmentation

eroded the initial Piast monarchy structure in the 12th and 13th

centuries. The Piast Kingdom was effectively restored under

Władysław I the Elbow-high (1306-1333), crowned in 1320. Nest

king, King Casimir III the Great (1333-1370), Władysław's son

and the last of the Piast rulers, significantly strengthened and

expanded the country. Progress was made in the recovery of the

central province of Mazovia and in 1340 the conquest of Red

Ruthenia began, marking Poland's expansion to the east. The

Congress of Kraków took place in 1364 and the future Jagiellonian

University was founded that year.

The Kingdom continued under Louis I of Hungary (ruled Poland 1370-1382) of the

Angevin dynasty. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila (King Władysław II

Jagiełło 1386-1434), the Jagiellonian dynasty (1386–1572) formed the Polish–Lithuanian union.

In the Baltic Sea region, Poland's struggle with the Teutonic Knights continued and culminated in

the Battle of Grunwald (1410). The reign of the young Władysław III (1434–44),[14] a king of

Poland and Hungary, was cut short by his death at the Battle of Varna, fought against the forces

of the Ottoman Empire. Central to the Jagiellonian period was the long reign of Casimir IV

Jagiellon (1447-1492). In 1454 Royal Prussia was incorporated by Poland and the Thirteen Years'

War with the Teutonic state ensued.he European Renaissance currents evoked in late Jagiellonian

Poland (kings Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus) an immense cultural and

scientific flowering (the Golden Age), of which the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (died 1543)

is the best known representative.

Battle of Grunwald

I Reczpospolita and rulers of elective

- Federal State composed of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of

Lithuania, existing in years 1569-1795 :

- Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632) and his sons - Władysław IV (1632-1648) and John Casimir

(1648-1668) led to the war with Sweden , Russia, Turkey , and reporting to the Tartars . Country

enfeebled the creation of a Cossack . This led to the destruction and decline in the international

position of the state , the loss of large territories and growing anarchy , chaos and lawlessness

internal magnates . Real , but short-lived success then was to get Moscow (1610) .

The situation deteriorated even brief reign of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki ( 1669-1673 ) .

Only John III Sobieski (1674-1696) , the great leader and politician , he started repairing the

state. European fame brought him many victories over the Turks (including the relief of Vienna

in 1683 ) . In view of the opposition magnates lay in ruins his plans to reform the anarchic system

and recover the power position of the Republic . This led to the partition and the collapse of the

Polish-Lithuanian in the eighteenth century.

- Saxon times

in the first half of the eighteenth century, the Republic experienced a period of serious political

crisis .It was a time when Poland was ruled by the kings of the Saxon Wettin dynasty , Augustus

II (1697-1733) and Augustus III ( 1733-1763 ) .Their reign , however, was caused weakness and

the economic crisis of the Republic and the dependence of Tsarist Russia.

Polish Armed Conflict

- The war with Turkey.

The Ottoman Empire maintained peaceful relations with the Republic until 1619 , when he made

a diversionary action lisowczycy in Transylvania. Hetman Żółkiewski , ahead of the Turkish

attack , marched into Moldavia. Republic forces were defeated - . In 1621 , in the camp of

Chocim forces Jan Karol Chodkiewicz resisted Turkish forces . Also, there was signed a truce ,

but the Turks have to commit to stop the marauding invasions of Tatars . 1673 at the Battle of a

Chocim Turks were defeated . Forces of the Republic led hetman Jan Sobieski , who in 1674 was

elected king. After the

victory of the Republic

regained some land Sobieski

dealt a decisive blow to the

Turks on September 12th,

1683 , under the Vienna.

The peace treaty signed in

Karłowice after the death of

Sobieski in 1699 the

Republic regained Podolia

.On June 17th, 1696 ,Jan III

Sobieski died.

- Khmelnytsky Uprising 1648-1667

Discord in the Sejm and the use of the peasants by the nobility in Ukraine advantage of Bohdan

Khmelnytsky, who organized the Cossack uprisings against the Commonwealth. He entered into

an alliance with the Tatar khan . Nierejestrowi rebellious Cossacks and the Registry , which is in

arrears with the payment of their pay , backed Tartar troops under the command of Tuhaj Bey

defeated the forces of the Republic of the Yellow Waters and Korsun . In August 1649 Jeremy

Wiśniowiecki forces were besieged in the fort Zbaraj . Cossack forces were surrounded by the

troops of King John Casimir Ladislas brother , who died in 1648 . Only by George Ossoliński ,

who bribed the Tartar Khan , an agreement was reached with the Khmelnitsky . He received the

title of captain of the host Zaporojian and the number of registered Cossacks twice raised from 20

to 40,000 . In 1651 years of John Casimir army , numbering 60,000 soldiers , Cossacks army

smashed Beresteczko . As a result of this victory was to reduce the record to 20,000 and reducing

the Cossack land to the province of Kiev . Settlement was signed in the White Church. But it did

not last long. In 1652 there was a battle Batoh culminating in the victory of the Cossacks and the

pogrom in the Polish army . In 1654 the Cossacks entered into an arrangement with Russia in

Pereyaslav . Thus, the Polish - Cossack war became a war Polish - Cossack and Russian .

- Swedish Deluge 1655-1660

Swedish invasion of Poland in 1655 during the Second Northern War (1655-1660). Formally

ended his room in Oliwa included in 1660. This war was carried out not only by Sweden, during

the war changed both alliances and forces on both sides. It was a continuation of previous wars

waged by the Republic, was also rooted in a dispute over the throne of Sweden has initiated by

King Sigismund III Vasa. Swedish Deluge showed weakness organizational Republic, and its

efficiency invader received such through collaboration and bribery in the Republic. And although

the Swedes were finally driven out, it incurred losses and expenses peace concessions were high,

and some material damage, particularly Swedish Polish cultural plunder, are visible today.

-

War with Russia, 1654-1667

Tsar's army of 200,000 soldiers took Smolensk , Belarus and Minsk , and part of Lithuania's

Vilnius and Grodno . Cossack troops backed by Russian meals surrounded Lviv, took Lublin and

reached all the way to the river. Follow-up to the invasion of the Russians stopped the Swedes.

Russia feared the rise of Sweden in the Baltic Sea and decided to call a truce with the Republic .

Settlement signed in Niemierzy . Khmelnytsky had ambitious plans . He wanted to become

independent from Russia, sought an agreement with the Swedes and Siedmiogrodzianami .

Khmelnytsky's successor John ( Ivan ) Wyhowski entered into an arrangement with the Republic

of the Hadziaczu . Under the agreement was to be formed Cossack state of three provinces: Kiev ,

Chernihiv and Bracław with their officials and liberties of the Church hierarchy for noble

Cossack elders , but the agreement never took effect , and Wyhowski was overthrown . The fight

for control of Ukraine resumed Russia . The Polish army defeated the Russian forces under

Połonka and Cudnów and regained Vilnius and took all of Ukraine . Wins have not been used

because there was insufficient funds to pay the outstanding salaries of the army and declared a

confederation .The truce was signed in Moscow in 1667 Andrusovo .

Enlightenment in Poland

In Poland, the ideas of the Enlightenment were adopted later than in Western Europe, which

was connected with the fact that the middle class has gained greater importance only in the

second half. Eighteenth of the century assumed that the time frame of the Polish Enlightenment

covers the period from the 40s Eighteenth century until 1822. The Enlightenment guided many

prominent contemporary artists of the eighteenth century. Thanks to them, there is a rapid

development of education, science, political and cultural life. Through activities such as

Stanislaw Kostka Potocki, Ignacy Potocki. Poland became the first they country in Europe to

obtain a modern constitution. Then also were trying to build a country on the principles of the

Enlightenment, which interrupted by partitions.

Classicism in Poland is sometimes called the style of Stanislaus (from King Stanisław

August Poniatowski). In these times of Stanislaus there was an attempted to reform the university

teaching. Universities have become substantially higher vocational schools. In 1765 King

Stanisław August Poniatowski founded the School Knights, created the Permanent Council and

the Commission of National Education. The Society was set up to Elementary Books, and at the

initiative of the king the meeting arose which various Polish thinkers called "Thursday dinners".

Four reforms:

-reform of the military-increasing number of troops

fiscal-reform-nobles will have to pay taxes,

-participation of 24 representatives from cities in the Parliament, but only in an advisory,

-formed government in the cities (the city),

-town people will be able to purchase goods of the earth,

-integrity of the person (personal freedom town people),

-will be able to hold lower offices. The Constitution of 3 May 1791,

- Polish hereditary monarchy,

- Abolished the liberum veto and free election,

- Separation of powers,

- Legislative power in the hands of parliament

- The judicial power in the hands of a neighbors earthly city and the Crown Court

- Peasants under the care of the right

- Abolished the division of the Republic and made a joint government, the treasury and the army.

Partitions of Polish - the period in Polish history in the years 1772-1795, when the Polish-

Lithuanian Commonwealth through Russia, Prussia and Austria made an assignment for the

benefit of part of its territory as a result of losing the war or the threat of force. The cause of

partition was the inability of the country to reform that could improve Polish military power.

Dabrowski's Mazurka-Polish patriotic song of 1797 from 26th February 1927 was the official

national anthem of the Polish Republic.

The Constitution of 3 May 1791

King Stanisław August Poniatowski

The Age of Partitions

Poles rebelled several times against the partitioners, particularly near

the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. One

of the most famous and successful attempts at securing renewed Polish

independence took place in 1794, during the Kościuszko Uprising, at

the Racławice where Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a popular and distinguished

general who had served under Washington in America, led peasants and

some Polish regulars into battle

against numerically superior

Russian forces. In 1807, Napoleon

I of France recreated a Polish

state, the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Napoleonic Wars,

Poland was again divided by the victorious Allies at the

Congress of Vienna of 1815. The eastern part was ruled by

the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom which possessed a

very liberal constitution. However, the tsars soon reduced

Polish freedoms, and Russia annexed the country in

virtually all but name. Thus in the latter half of the 19th century, only Austrian-ruled Galicia, and

particularly the Free City of Kraków, created good environment for free Polish cultural life to

flourish.

Throughout the period of the partitions, political and cultural repression of the Polish nation led

to the organisation of a number of uprisings against the authorities of the occupying Russian,

Prussian and Austrian governments. Notable among these are the November Uprising of 1830

and January Uprising of 1863, both of which were attempts to free Poland from the rule of tsarist

Russia. The November uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when, led by Lieutenant

Piotr Wysocki, young non-commissioned officers at the Imperial Russian Army's military

academy in that city revolted. They were soon joined by large segments of Polish society, and

together forced Warsaw's Russian garrison to withdraw north of the city.

Over the course of the next seven months, Polish forces successfully defeated the Russian armies

of Field Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch and a number of other Russian commanders; however,

finding themselves in a position unsupported by any other foreign powers, save distant France

and the newborn United States, and with Prussia and Austria refusing to allow the import of

military supplies through their territories, the Poles accepted that the uprising was doomed to

failure. Upon the surrender of Warsaw to General Ivan Paskievich, many Polish troops, feeling

they could not go on, withdrew into Germany and there laid down their arms. Poles would have

to wait another 32 years for another opportunity to free their homeland.

When in January 1863 a new Polish uprising against Russian rule began, it did so as a

spontaneous protest by young Poles against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army.

However, the insurrectionists, despite being joined by high-ranking Polish-Lithuanian officers

and numerous politicians were still severely outnumbered and lacking in foreign support. They

were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare tactics and ultimately failed to win any major military

victories. Afterwards no major uprising was witnessed in the Russian controlled Congress Poland

and Poles resorted instead to fostering economic and cultural self-improvement.

Despite the political unrest experienced during the partitions, Poland did benefit from large scale

industrialisation and modernisation programs, instituted by the occupying powers, which helped

it develop into a more economically coherent and viable entity. This was particularly true in the

Greater Poland, Pomerania and Warmia annexed by Prussia (later becoming a part of the German

Empire); an area which eventually, thanks largely to the Greater Poland Uprising, was

reconstituted as a part of the Second Polish Republic and became one of its most productive

regions.

World War I and World War II

World War I and the political turbulence that was sweeping

Europe in 1914 offered the Polish nation hopes for regaining

independence. On the outbreak of war the Poles found themselves

conscripted into the armies of Germany, Austria and Russia, and forced

to fight each other in a war that was not theirs. In the Act of 5th

November 1916, the Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Regencyjne) was

recreated by Germany and Austria on the formerly Russian-controlled

territory. This puppet, but increasingly autonomous state existed until

November 1918, when it was replaced by the newly established Republic

of Poland. Józef Piłsudski was a Polish statesman and "First Marshal"

(from 1920), and leader (1926–35) of the

Second Polish Republic.

On September 1, 1939 Hitler ordered

his troops into Poland and World War II

began. Poland had signed a pact with Britain

(as recently as August 25) and France and the

two western powers soon declared a war on

Germany, but remained rather inactive and

extended no aid to the attacked country. On

September 17, the Soviet troops moved in and

took control of most of the areas of eastern

Poland with heavy Ukrainian and Belarusian

populations under the terms of the German-Soviet agreement. In regard to actual military

campaigns, some Polish historians have argued that fighting the initial "September Campaign"

was the greatest Polish contribution in the war, despite its defeat. The Poles formed an

underground resistance movement and a Polish government in exile, first in Paris and later in

London.

Poles provided crucial help to the Allies throughout the war, fighting on land, on the seas

and in the air. Notable was the service of the Polish Air Force, not only in the Allied victory in

the Battle of Britain but also the subsequent war in the air. Polish ground troops were present in

the North Africa Campaign (siege of Tobruk); the Italian campaign (including the capture of the

monastery hill at the Battle of Monte Cassino); and in battles following the invasion of France

(the battle of the Falaise pocket; an airborne brigade parachute drop during Operation Market

Garden and one division in the Western Allied invasion of Germany).

Postwar communist Poland

At the insistence of Joseph Stalin, the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of a new Polish

provisional and pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish

government-in-exile based in London; a move which angered many Poles who considered it a

betrayal by the Allies. In 1944, Stalin had made guarantees to Churchill and Roosevelt that he

would maintain Poland's sovereignty and allow democratic elections to take place; however,

upon achieving victory in 1945, the occupying Soviet authorities organised an election which

constituted nothing more than a sham and was ultimately used to claim the 'legitimacy' of Soviet

hegemony over Polish affairs. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in

Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. As elsewhere in Communist Europe

the Soviet occupation of Poland met with armed resistance from the outset which continued into

the fifties.

Despite widespread objections, the new Polish government accepted the Soviet annexation of the

pre-war eastern regions of Poland[46] (in particular the

cities of Wilno and Lwów) and agreed to the permanent

garrisoning of Red Army units on Poland's territory.

Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the

Cold War came about as a direct result of this change in

Poland's political culture and in the European scene came to

characterise the full-fledged integration of Poland into the brotherhood of communist nations.

The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in

1952. In 1956 after the death of Bolesław Bierut, the régime of Władysław Gomułka became

temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal

freedoms. A similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under Edward Gierek, but most of the

time persecution of anti-communist opposition groups persisted. Despite this, Poland was at the

time considered to be one of the least oppressive states of the Soviet Bloc.

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity"

("Solidarność"), which over time became a political force. Despite persecution and imposition of

martial law in 1981, it eroded the dominance of the Communist Party and by 1989 had triumphed

in Poland's first partially free and democratic parliamentary elections since the end of the Second

World War. Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. The

Solidarity movement heralded the collapse of communist regimes and parties across Europe.

Present-day Poland

Poland joined NATO in 1999 and since 2004 has been a member of the European Union.

A shock therapy programme, initiated by Leszek

Balcerowicz in the early 1990s enabled the country to

transform its socialist-style planned economy into a market

economy. As with all other post-communist countries,

Poland suffered temporary slumps in social and economic

standards, but it became the first post-communist country to

reach its pre-1989 GDP levels, which it achieved by 1995

largely thanks to its booming economy.

Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in human rights, such as the freedom of speech,

civil liberties (1st class) and political rights (1st class), according to Freedom House. In 1991,

Poland became a member of the Visegrád Group and joined the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Poles then

voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full

member on 1 May 2004. Subsequently Poland joined the Schengen Area in 2007, as a result of

which, the country's borders with other member states of the European Union have been

dismantled, allowing for full freedom of movement within most of the EU. In contrast to this, the

section of Poland's eastern border now comprising the external EU border with Belarus, Russia

and Ukraine, has become increasingly well protected, and has led in part to the coining of the

phrase 'Fortress Europe', in reference to the seeming 'impossibility' of gaining entry to the EU for

citizens of the former Soviet Union. In 1995-2005, the presidency included Aleksander

Kwaśniewski. In the years 2005-2010 the president was Lech Kaczynski. Since 2010, the

president is Bronisław Komorowski.

On 10 April 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, along with 89 other

high-ranking Polish officials died in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. The president's party

were on their way to attend an annual service of commemoration for the victims of the Katyń

massacre when the tragedy took place.

Lech Wałęsa Aleksander Kwaśniewski Lech Kaczyński Bronisław Komorowski

History of Lubaczów

The beginnings of Lubaczów, one of the oldest settlements at the Polish and Russian

borderland are associated with the period of the

tribal Poland. By virtue of the agreement

between the Duke Leszek Biały and the

Hungarian King Andrzej, the settlement of

Lubaczów together with the subordinated

district was separated from the Przemyśl land

and Lubaczowski and given to Pakosław the

magnate from the circle of Leszk Biały (1214).

After incorporation into the monarchy of

the king Kazimierz Wielki (1340), Lubaczów become a poviat. It obtained the Magdeburg civic

rights in 1376. The villages have an old history. Few towns were established by the end of the

16th and 17th centuries: Oleszyce -1576, Cieszanow- 1590, Narol-1592, Lipsko-1613, Płazow-1614

and Wielkie Oczy-1671. Nearly all the towns with fortifications of Horyniec, Basznia, Dachnów

and Nowe Sioło created the district of Lubaczów. The destructive Tatar units reached the region

in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the first partition, Lubaczow became the part of Galicia.

Between 1783 and 1788 German colonies were established here. In 1867 a poviat was created

with a seat in Cieszanow.

Large scale investments by the end of 19th century brought economic revival. During the First

World War, the Russian invasion considerably damaged the city as well as Cieszanow, Narol,

Wielkie Oczy and Oleszyce.

HISTORY

OF

ESTONIA

A BRIEF HISTORY

Owing strategic position, Estonia has had an eventual and tradic history,and has suffered dramatic population losses over the centuries due to famine, plague,war, deportation, and flight.The country had had a long history of succesive invasions, occupations, and fragmentation.

Estonia Stone Age

The oldest known traces of human settlement in the Estonian territory date back to 9000 BC. This era, which started about five hundred years after the Ice Age, when ancestral hunters-fishers-gatherers inhabited the area, is called the Mesolithic Era (9000–4200 BC). About fifty Mesolithic settlement sites and four burial sites have been found in Estonia. Most of the settlements were located near bodies of water; by rivers and lakes in the first half of the Mesolithic era, and by the seaside during the later period. Numerous sites have been discovered on the shores of Võrtsjärv, Kahala, Peipsi and other lakes, and by the banks of the Navesti, Pärnu, Reiu, Suur Emajõgi, Õhne and other rivers, as well as in various places on the coast and on the islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Ruhnu.

Food was secured by hunting, fishing and gathering, and the only domestic animal was the dog. According to the animal bones found at the settlement sites, a wide range of wild animals were hunted at that time, mainly elk and in some places beavers as well. The reason why coastal areas and islands were colonised during the second period was the development of seal hunting. The oldest seal hunters’ settlements on the coast date back to 7100 BC, and on the islands to 5800 BC.

People probably lived in small communities of no more than a few dozen members, hunting and gathering in areas big enough to provide food for everybody. At the beginning of the era, whole communities probably changed their places of habitation after the hunting, fishing and gathering seasons. In the Late Mesolithic, however, villages

were established where people lived all year round, and only part of the community left for seasonal work elsewhere. Tools were made of stone, horn, bone and wood. The first earthenware was made in the Estonian territory in ca 5500 BC.

At the beginning of the Mesolithic Era, the local inhabitants established a contact network mostly with peoples living in the eastern and northern European forest zone. Large amounts of valuable quality material for making tools – flint – was brought to Estonia from the central parts of western Russia, about 500 km away, and from Lithuania and Belarus. With the growing population, these contacts probably disappeared and new, smaller social and economic networks developed instead.

Around 4200 BC, people in the Estonian territory acquired the skills of grain farming. The Stone Age, when besides hunting and fishing, people were also

involved in farming, is treated as a separate sub-period – theNeolithic Era (4200–1800 BC). So far, about one hundred Neolithic settlement sites and over twenty burial sites have been found in Estonia. Among the sites, there are short-term stopover places, the remains of hunting camps and villages. Some are located in the previous settlement sites, but there are also new locations where no ancient settlement traces had been found. Tools were still made of stone, horn, bone and wood, and people used earthenware.

At the beginning of the Neolithic Era, people mainly continued to live by the rivers, lakes and seaside. It is estimated that the year-round villages each contained a few dozen to fifty inhabitants. The main sources of subsistence were hunting, fishing and gathering. The most hunted animals were aurochs, elk and wild boar, and on the coast naturally seals, although beavers, wild horses and other beasts were hunted as well. Besides internal bodies of water and coastal waters, fishermen worked on the open sea. The oldest pollen grains of various crops found in the sediments of Estonian bogs

and lakes indicate the growing of grains – barley and wheat. Compared with hunting, fishing and gathering, cultivating the land still remained a marginal activity, and did not cause any changes in settlement habits or material culture, as cultivating land did not offer a sufficient alternative to the main source of subsistence – hunting. Considering the development of the farming economy in neighbouring countries, grain and agricultural knowledge might have been obtained from the southern regions.

During the Neolithic Era, wide networks were again developed, through which Estonia received amber from the coasts of Latvia and Lithuania, flint from western Russia, Lithuania-Belarus and metatuff from Karelia; some items, e.g. specific axes and wedge-axes, arrow- and spearheads and jewellery, were brought here as finished goods.

In the second half of the Neolithic Era, beginning in 2900 BC, people inhabiting the Estonian territory began breeding livestock – oxen, goats, sheep and pigs. Barley and wheat continued to be the most popular grains, and the share of the hunting economy was still large.

The role of the farming economy increased so much that it altered the settlement pattern of many local communities. In choosing their habitats, people now relied on different principles. It was no longer essential to live near bodies of water. Several old settlement sites in coastal areas and on the islands were again inhabited; at that time they were already over a kilometre away from the sea. Settlement units became smaller as well, mostly low-density farms.

Only a few antiquities have been found from the end of the Stone Age, primarily stone axes with an eye. We can assume that settlement in the Estonian territory was getting denser, and people were also moving to upland locations. The pollen found in bog peat and lake sediments indicates intensifying land cultivation. In the late Neolithic Era, the existing eastern and southern contacts were supplemented by relations with southern Scandinavia.

ca 1200–1558. Estonian middle ages

Since the Northern Crusades Estonia became a battleground for centuries where Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Poland fought their many wars over controlling the important geographical position of the country as a gateway between East and West. In Ancient War of Freedom in 1208–1224 Estonians were defeated.

One of the most intriguing issues of older Estonian history, the background of which is largely unexplained even today, is the 1343–1345 uprising of Estonians against alien rule, known under the name of the St. George’s Night uprising. It started in the Danish area of North Estonia on St. George’s Day on 23 April 1343. According to the Younger Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, attributed to Bartholomeus Hoeneke, chaplain of the Master of the Order, Estonians pillaged the Padise Cistercian monastery and killed the monks and numerous German vassals. Estonians elected four leaders whom they called kings. The peasant army surrounded Tallinn and the bishop’s residence Haapsalu in West Estonia. In addition, Estonians turned to the Swedish landlord across the Gulf of Finland, the bailiffs of Turku (Åbo) and Viipuri (Viborg), with a plea for assistance, and indeed received a promise from Finland to send reinforcements.

Spread of Christianity and

religious orders

Estonians were baptised by the German and Danish priests mostly during the second and third decades of the 13th century. The sacrament of baptism was often administered in a hurry, and within the formal baptising ritual, the essence of Christian teaching probably remained

quite obscure. But it seems logical, though, that it was not altogether abandoned after baptism. The more so that the tradition of preaching in West Europe was rapidly spreading at that time and new orders of mendicant friars emerged.

Compared with various other countries around the Baltic Sea, Christianity arrived in Estonia relatively late. In circumstances where state administration with a central government was not yet fully developed, Christianity was mostly imported by an independently functioning foreign mission. The area’s late Christian invasion could partly have been the result of the fact that the country was not economically attractive. This area acquired a significant position between the Eastern and Western trade transit comparable to the Viking era eastern route (Austrvegr — waterway connecting Scandinavia with Byzantium and Islamic Central Asia along the great Russian rivers) only after the conquest, Christianisation and the emergence of towns. Before the 13th century, the main transit route between Russia and West Europe was the Daugava River. Considering the level of navigation at the time, its geographical position was much more suitable and natural for this purpose than the Northern and Western Estonian coastal areas. Another reason might have been the numerous political problems in the neighbouring countries which needed constant attention — the countries were centralising around the royal power in Denmark and Sweden, and the primary concern of the German Eastern colonisation was to break the opposition of West Slavic tribes.

Estonian national awekening

The development of Estonia in the second half of the 19th century is

characterised by general modernisation; the reorganising of a static agrarian

society into a modern European society, industrialisation, urbanisation and the

success of the newly emerged nationalist awareness.

The liberal politics of Tsar Alexander II (1855–1881) and the emancipation of

the Russian peasants (1861) gave a new impetus to the reforms carried out in

the Baltic provinces. The new passport regulation (1863) which gave the

peasants their first identification documents, increased their freedom of

movement and encouraged emigration to Russia.

The 1866 peasant township law freed the peasants’ local government councils

from the landlords’ authority and granted them extensive rights to decide their

own economic and social affairs.

Engraving of Estonian country folk in the early 19th century.

In the 1860s, Estonian peasants began buying farmsteads from the estates, at

free market prices. Due to the shortage of land and the large number of buyers,

the prices were much higher than in Russia. The peasants made use of long-

term bank credits, which they later paid back from income received from

growing flax and potatoes (the flax prices went up because of the American

Civil War and the consequent drop in cotton imported to Europe).

By the end of the 19th century, the peasants in South Estonia (Livonian

province) possessed over 80 and in North Estonia (Estonian province) 50% of

the available farmland.

Influenced by the French Revolution, the ideas of Romanticism and the newly

emerging German national consciousness.

The leading force in the Estonian national movement was the new elite —

primarily the emerging intellectuals aspiring to better their social position, the

middle layer consisting of civil servants, merchants and artisans, and,

increasingly, the ethnic Estonian clergy.

The low social status and the lack of the right to make any decisions, a result of

the Russian central power and the Baltic German-dominated cultural situation,

motivated the elite of the ‘awakened peasants’ to build up their own

independent nation and national society. This was to be separate from the

existing German and Russian ones.

In 1857, the founder of the first Estonian-language newspaper Perno

Postimees, Johann Voldemar Jannsen (1819–1890), replaced the term ‘country

people’ with the word ‘Estonians’. Patriotic intellectuals encouraged Estonians

to participate in public life, determined the legal and cultural requirements of

the emerging nation, and organised the extensive sending of petitions to the

Russian authorities (1864, 1881). The leaders of the movement considered the

most significant guarantee for the ethnic survival and national development of

Estonians to be the establishment of a European-style Estonian-language high

culture.

First issue of the newspaper „Perno Postimees“

Pastor and linguist Jakob Hurt (1839–1906), founder of the Estonian national

ideology, was convinced that the mission of a small nation can only be of a

cultural and not of a political nature; what counts is national identity, not

statehood as such. The movement’s radical wing was headed by Carl Robert

Jakobson (1841–1882), a pedagogue, writer and journalist, founder of Sakala,

the first political newspaper in Estonian (published 1878–1882). Jakobson

formulated the economic and political programme of the Estonian national

movement, demanding equal political rights for Germans and Estonians

(representation of peasants and urban dwellers at diets, abolishment of the

Baltic Landesstaat and the privileges of the Baltic German nobility). He

regarded the Russian central government as the main anti-German ally.

Estonian societies, founded all over the country after the example of German

societies, played an important part in the national awakening; choirs and

orchestras were established in parishes.

The Society of Estonian Literati (1872–1893), founded in Tartu and consisting of

Estonian intellectuals, advanced the Estonian written language, organised the

gathering of folklore and ethnographic material, and published literature in

their native tongue. The song and drama societies (i.e. theatrical association)

forming Vanemuine laid a foundation for an Estonian national theatre (the first

performance took place in 1870) and, following the German example,

organised the first song festival in 1869. One thousand singers-musicians and

an audience of 12 000 participated in the event. The tradition, still maintained

today, occupies the central part in shaping Estonian national consciousness.

Estonian national museum

The Estonian Age of Awakening is a period in history where Estonians came to

acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves.

This period is considered to begin in 1850s with greater rights being granted to

commoners and to end with the declaration of the Republic of Estonia in 1918.

The term is sometimes also applied to the period around 1987–1988. The

Estonian Age of Awakening leaders were Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Carl Robert

Jakobson and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald.

Johann Voldemar Jannsen Carl Robert Jakobson Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald

They helped us realize, that it was time we start promoting our culture and

become one.

We started to appreciate education and knowledge. Johann Voldemar Jannsen

started a newspaper called „Perno postimees” and Carl Robert Jakobson held

speeches, there was „Three Patriotic Speeches” what consisted of three

speeches, that really touched everyones heart. In Perno Postimees J.V. Jannsen

first used the term Estonians. In 1918, Estonia became free. The first president

was Konstantin Päts. 1918, 23th of February, the Declaration of Independence

was read by Hugo Kuusner. The feeling of freedom was sweet.

Estonian history beginning of 20th century to 1940

World War I (1914)

In 1914 the outbreak of the First World War Estonia was initially not directly

affected. However the Russian army was mobilized tens of thousands of

Estonians, throughout the war a period of about 100 000.

In 1915 the Germans however have already arrived in Riga and the withdrawal

of Russian troops from Estonia became and important hinterland area.

Therefore many troops were brought ashore; in recent had an important role in

1917 revolutions.

In 1917, after the February Revolution, Germany started new attack on the

eastern front and in the autumn of the same year Germans invaded the West

Estonian islands.

In February 1918, the Germans started a new attack and at the beginning of

March they occupied the whole territory of Estonia.

Road to the republic

Estonia as a unifies political entity first emerged after the Russian February

Revolution of 1917. With the collapse of the Russian Empire in World War I,

Russia’s Provisional Government granted national autonomy to an unified

Estonia in April. The Governorate of Estonia in the north was united with the

northern part of the Governorate of Livonia. Elections for a provisional

parliament, Maapäev was organized, with the Menshevik and Bolshevik

factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party obtaining a part of the

vote. On November 5, 1917, two days before the October Revolution in Saint

Petersburg, Estonian Bolshevik leader Jaan Anvelt violently usurped power

from the legally constitued Maapäev in a coup d’etat, forcing the Maapäev

underground.

In February, after the collapse of the peace talks between Soviet Russia and the

German Empire mainland Estonia eas occupied by the Germans. Bolshevik

forces retreated to Russia. Between the Russian Red Army’s retreat and the

arrival of advancing German troops, the Salvation Committee of the Estonian

National Council Maapäev issued the Estonian Cedlaration of Independence in

Pärnu on February 23, 1918.

German Occupation (1918)

After the collapse of the short-lived puppet government of the United Baltic

Duchy and the withdrawal of German troops in November 1918, an Estonian

Provisional Government retook office. A military invasion by the Red Army

followed a few days later, however, marking the beginning of the Estonian War

of Independence (1918-1920).

The Estonian army cleared the entire territory of Estonia of the Red Army by

February 1919.

The Estonian Army High Command in 1920.

The War of Independence

The Estonian War of Independence (Estonian: Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom

War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of

the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably theWhite Russian Northwestern

Army, Latvia, and the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Western Front

offensive and the aggression of the Baltische Landeswehr. It was fought in

connection with the Russian Civil War during 1918–1920. The campaign was

the struggle of Estonia for its sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I. It

resulted in a victory for the newly established state and was concluded in

the Treaty of Tartu.

The first celebration of Estonian Independence Day in Tallinn on 24 February

1919

INDEPENDENT ESTONIA

During the years 1905-1917, the unstabled period,Estonians dared to imagine that their country could become an independent state.Amid the chaos that followed the disintegration of the Russian empire, Russia`s provional government granted Estonia autonomy, but the path to independance was complicated by both Russian and German claims on territory.The Bolsheviks outlawed Estonia`s first popularly elected assembly,although this did not prevent it from proclaiming the Republic of Estonia on February 24,1918 – a date still celebrated as Independance Day.The following day German troops invaded.They withdraw in November,enabling the formation of a provincial Estonian government.Within days Soviet Russia invaded, beginning the War of Independance (1918-1920), with stretched Estonian troops receiving support from the British Navy and volunteers from Denmark,Finland,and Sweden. On New`s Eve,1919,Bolshevik Russia and the Republic of Estonia finallyagreed to a truce, resulting in the Tartu Peace Treaty of February 2,1920, according to which Russia renounced all claims to Estonia forever.The Republic of Estonia won international recognition and joined the League of Nations in 1921.

Democratic Estonia introduced a liberal constitution that proclaimed the supremacy of parliament, the Riigikogu.Land reforms ensured that the property of Baltic nobility was redistributed to Estonians, many of them workers and peasants.Tartu University was now Estonian University, with mainly Estonian students.Cultural and academic life thrived, and Estonia became the first country in Western Europe to guarantee cultural minority groups, including

Jews.The country found export markets, especially for agricultural products, in Western Europe and the USA,as well as the Soviet Union.

The country`s liberal political system was, however, shaken by the world economic crisis of 1929,which fueled both socialist and fascist extremism.Changes to the constitution in 1933restricted the power of parliament and considerably strenghtened the authority of the head of state, President Konstantin Päts. Estonia`s policy of neutrality was sabotaged by theNazi- Soviet Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, according to which Germany and the Soviet Union assign Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to either Soviet or Nazi spheres of influance.The Soviet Union offered Estonia ultimatum: accept soviet military bases on Estonian territory, or be invaded.Päts complied, and by the end of June the following year, the Soviet occupation was secure.The Soviet Union demanded the formation of a pro-Soviet puppet government, followed by „elections“,for which only pro-Communist candidates were alloed to run. The new „parliament „ proclaimed the Estonian Socialist Republic in 1940 and asked to become part of the USSR. The occupation and annexation of Estonia was considered illegal by the United States and other Western states, including Britain.

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,

often abbreviated as Estonian SSR or ESSR,

was a republic of the Soviet Union,

administered by and a subordinate of the

Government of the Soviet Union. The ESSR

was initially established on the territory of the Republic of Estonia on July 21,

1940, following the invasion of Soviet troops on June 17, 1940 and the

installation of a puppet government backed by the Soviet Union, which

declared Estonia a Soviet state.

On July 23, 1940, the Estonian SSR nationalized all land, banks and major

industrial enterprises in Estonia. Peasants were only allotted small plots of land

during the land reforms. Small businesses were also later nationalized. The

occupation brought colonisation with it. According to some Western scholars,

relations between the Soviet Union and Estonian SSR were those of internal

colonialism. All banks and accounts were essentially nationalized; a lot of

industrial machinery was disassembled and relocated to other Soviet

territories. Before retreating in 1941, Red Army, following the scorched earth

policies, burnt most industrial constructions, destroying power plants, vehicles

and cattle. Millions of dollars worth of goods were also moved from Estonia to

Russia during the evacuation of 1941.

Immediately following the June 1940 Estonian occupation by the Soviet Union

and forcible incorporation as a result of a Soviet-supported Communist coup

d'état, the only foreign powers to recognize the Soviet annexation were Nazi

Germany and Sweden. The United States, United Kingdom and several other

countries considered the annexation of Estonia by the USSR illegal following

the Stimson Doctrine—a stance that made the doctrine an established

precedent of international law. Although the US, the UK, the other Allies of

World War II recognized the occupation of the Baltic states by USSR at Yalta

Conference in 1945 de facto, they retained diplomatic relations with the exiled

representatives of the independent Republic of Estonia, and never formally

recognized the annexation of Estonia de jure. The Russian government and

officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of Estonia was legitimate.

In the late 1970s, Estonian society grew increasingly concerned about the

threat of cultural Russification to the Estonian language and national identity.

By 1981, Russian was taught in the first grade of Estonian-language schools and

was also introduced into Estonian pre-school teaching.

By the beginning of the Gorbachev era, concern over the cultural survival of the Estonian people had reached a critical point. The ECP remained stable in the early perestroika years but waned in the late 1980s. Other political movements, groupings and parties moved to fill the power vacuum. The first and most important was the Estonian Popular Front, established in April 1988 with its own platform, leadership and broad constituency. The Greens and the dissident-led Estonian National Independence Party soon followed. By 1989 the political spectrum had widened, and new parties were formed and re-formed almost daily.

The republic's Supreme Soviet transformed into an authentic regional lawmaking body. This relatively conservative legislature passed an early declaration of sovereignty (November 16, 1988); a law on economic independence (May 1989) confirmed by the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet that

November; a language law making Estonian the official language (January 1989); and local and republic election laws stipulating residency requirements for voting and candidacy (August, November 1989).

Although the majority of Estonia's large Russian-speaking diaspora of Soviet-era immigrants did not support full independence, they were divided in their goals for the republic. In March 1990 some 18% of Russian speakers supported the idea of a fully independent Estonia, up from 7% the previous autumn, and by early 1990 only a small minority of ethnic Estonians were opposed to full independence.

The first freely elected parliament during the Soviet era in Estonia had passed Estonian Sovereignty Declaration on November 16, 1988, independence resolutions on May 8, 1990, and renamed the Estonian SSR the Republic of Estonia. On August 20, 1991 the Estonian parliament issued a Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union. On September 6, 1991, Supreme Soviet of the USSR recognized the independence of Estonia., immediately followed by the international recognitions of the Republic of Estonia.

In 1992, Heinrich Mark, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in exile, presented his credentials to the newly elected President of Estonia Lennart Meri. On February 23, 1989 The flag of the Estonian SSR was lowered on Pikk Hermann, and replaced with the blue-black-white flag of Estonia on February 24, 1989. In 1991, August the 20th, we were free.

THE SINGING REVOLUTION

The four-year-long peaceful transition to the restoration otive states to invest in, thanks to the famous flat-tax system and liberal business laws, independence in Estonia was named after the first mass, openly anti-occupation Song Festival in the summer 1988, when as many as 300,000 people gathered at the Song Bowl grounds between Pirita and Kadriorg to boldly and calmly sing songs banned during the Soviet occupation.This followed the signing in April of a declaration by Estonian intellectuals calling for genuine perestroika.

ESTONIA TODAY

Today, Estonia is resolutely Westward –looking. International institutions have described Estonia as one of the most attractive states to invest in,thanks to the famous flat-tax system and liberal business laws.The country has made huge strides in building upa civil society, but there is some way to go in establishing truly open.minded and tolerant society where difference and disability are fully respected.

The election as President, in 2006, of a Westward-looking Estonian exile, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who gave up his Us passport to join Estonian politics in 1990s, confirmed Estonia`s commitment to Europe. This irks Russia, which has always found it hard to accept that Estonia should be outside its sphere of influence. Relations with Russia are uneasy,with drawn-out border checks common, journalists denied access to international events in Russia, and the agreed upon border still not legally adopted by Russia. Most Estonians are deeply suspious of Big Brother next door, and are unimpressed,although not suprised, by President Vladimir Putin`s increasing authoritarianism and the way he seems to tolerate hard –line,xenophobic Russian nationalist movements while condemning Estonian „nationalism“. Now that Estonia has an official voice within the EU, however, Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to draw mileage out of the argument that Estonians dont respect the rights of Russians in Estonia.

Estonia in the world today is a member of NATO, The United Nations, The EU, the Western European Union,the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, The World Trade Organization,the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Customs Organisation, and is an observer member of the Organization of American States.

Estonian presidents

Estonia has only had 4 presidents, since it’s been a republic for little time.

Konstantin Päts (1874-1956) was the first

president of Estonia. His reign as a

president started in 1938 and ended in

1940. Päts’ political career started early.

He served as a municipal advisor in 1904

and had many political positions after

that. With his speech during the War of

Independence he put a basis to Estonian

economy. Päts’ position as a president

ended when Soviet Union occupied

Estonia in 1940. Päts was forced to leave

his office and was deported to Leningrad

with his family. In 1941, he was arrested.

In time he ended up in psychiatric

hospital, where he died in 1956.

Lennart Meri (1929-2006). His reign as the

second president of Estonia started in

1992 and ended in 2001. He started out as

a writer and filmmaker. Through his

political activeness he got the position of

Foreign minister in 1990. In 1992 he

became the president of Estonia. In 1996

he was re-elected and stayed on his

position as the president until election in

2001. He died in 2006 because of brain

tumor. "In his nine years as head of state,

Meri both restored the presidency and

built up the Republic of Estonia in the

widest sense," president Rüütel had said.

Arnold Rüütel (1928-). Before his position

as president he was a teacher at the Tartu

School of Mechanization of Agriculture

from 1955 to 1957. In 1957, he was

appointed as head expert in livestock and

director of the experimental farm of

the Estonian Livestock Breeding and

Veterinary Institute, and in 1963 he was

appointed as Director of

theTartu Model Sovkhoz, a position he

held until 1969. From 1969 to 1977,

Arnold Rüütel was Rector of the Estonian

Academy of Agriculture. In 2001 he was

elected as president. While his reign.

Estonia joined the European Union. Rüütel

lost his position as president in 2006,

when Ilves won the election with 174

votes, while Rüütel got 162.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves (1953-) is the fourth president of Estonia. He was born in Sweden and

moved to the United States when he was 5. In 1981 he moved to Canada. In 1996-1998 he

was Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ilves became a president candidate in 2006 and

won the elections. In 2011 he was re-elected.

Pärnu history

Also, the Livonian Order was fond of the favourable port location at the mouth

of Embekke (Estonian: Emajõgi) . Thus, in the 13th century, two settlements

appeared on the shores of River Pärnu - Perona (Old Pärnu) on the right shore,

at the mouth of River Sauga, and Embekke (New Pärnu) on the left shore. The

history books mention the City of Pärnu for the first time in 1251. Pärnu's first

period of prosperity was the time from the beginning of the 14th century up to

the end of the 15th century while it was a port on the route to the Hanseatic

City of Novgorod.

Perona (Estonian: Vana-Pärnu) was founded by the bishop of Henricus ca.

1251, suffered heavily under pressure of the concurrent town, and was finally

destroyed ca. 1600.

Another town, Embeke (later German: Neu-Pernau, Estonian: Uus-Pärnu) was

founded by the Livonian Order, who began building an Ordensburg nearby in

1265. The latter town, then known by the German name of Pernau, was a

member of the Hanseatic League and an important ice-free harbor for Livonia.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took control of town between 1560–

1617; the Poles and Lithuanians fought the Swedes nearby in 1609. Sweden

took control of the town during the 16th-century Livonian War, but it was

subsequently taken by the Russian Empire in the 1710 Capitulation of Estonia

and Livonia and the 1721 Treaty of Nystad, following the Great Northern War.

It belonged to Imperial Russian Governorate of Livonia then.

The town became part of independent Estonia in 1918 following World War I.

During the Great Northern War, the University of Dorpat (Tartu) was relocated

to Pärnu from 1699–1710.

The decisive factor contributing to the foundation of the City of Pärnu was the

presence of rivers.

Created by:

Mrs. Małgorzata Mendyk

Jakub Bauman,

Bartosz Tabaczek,

Aleksander Bogusz,

Szymon Antonik ,

Joachim Tworko,

Maciej Meder,

Piotr Parciak,

Școala Gimnazială Vădeni,

Mr. Rahim ÖZKAYA,

Mrs. Fatma KORAŞ,

Mr. Ahmet AYDIN,

Mrs. Selcan BAĞCI,

Mr. Hasan ÖZDİNÇ,

Istituto Comprehsivo “Galileo Galilei”-Italy