The downfall of the Kingmaker and Prince George’s treachery – The Wars of the Roses 1469-1471

In the next in our series on the Wars of the Roses, this article looks at the terrible Prince George and his role in the downfall of the Kingmaker, The Earl of Warwick.

It follows our introduction to the Wars of the Roses available here and our article on Edward III’s descendants and the causes of the Wars of the Roses available here. Later were the battles of the war from 1455-1464 and most recently the Kingmaker.

Prince George – the Duke of Clarence – was the worst type of man. Born the third son, he was never happy with his lot in life. Unlike his younger brother, Richard, who was loyal to the Plantagenets through thick and thin, George supported his family only when it suited him best. After years of watching his lecherous brother, King Edward IV, run England’s monarchy and nobility into the ground, George began to get rather restless.

Prince George, Duke of Clarence

Queen Elizabeth Woodville had still not given the King a son despite being pregnant every year of marriage. This made Prince George heir to his brother’s throne. But it was a shaky arrangement as Elizabeth was almost supernaturally fertile and it was only a matter of time before she bore a boy and bumped George further down the line. This the turncoat Prince could not allow. When the Earl of Warwick began sniffing around for a new ally against the King, George jumped at the chance. In a secret wedding in Calais, the Duke of Clarence married Isabelle Neville – Warwick’s eldest daughter. This went against the King’s wishes. The plan was to kill the King and put George and Isabelle on the throne. Had George been a smarter, less egotistical man he would have understood that Warwick was using him, plain and simple. But George honestly believed that he deserved to be King and Warwick was simply helping him along. And so, on July 26 1469 at the Battle of Edgecote Moor, George captured his brother and took him prisoner. It took King Edward IV eight months to escape and rally an army to counter-attack his treacherous brother and Warwick. Edward’s army defeated his enemy so thoroughly that the rebels shed their coats as they retreated. Hence the name of the battle – Losecote Field.

After Warwick’s humiliation, he and George fled to Calais, leaving Edward back in charge. The rebels planned to make an alliance with their former enemy, Margaret of Anjou – the wife of mad King Henry VI and mother to the Lancastrian heir. In order to achieve this new alliance, Warwick had to literally beg on his knees. Margaret was not convinced, but she was in a precarious position as she was living on the charity of the French court and her household was becoming a drain on the French King. The French King is also believed to have encouraged the alliance. But Margaret wanted more than promises and apologies from a kneeling man. She wanted an emblem. Warwick suggested the marriage of Margaret’s son, Prince Edward, to Warwick’s youngest daughter, Anne Neville. Margaret accepted, although some historians believe that she was only using Warwick for his army and planned to put Anne aside as soon as Prince Edward was King.

This is where Warwick made his final mistake - he backed the wrong horse.  He simply put his plans with George aside and married his youngest daughter to Henry VI’s son. His new plan was to put Henry back on the throne, wait until he died (or kill him) and rule through the new King.

Although Warwick was a brilliant soldier, he was lacking in common sense. Simple truths were lost on him; most notably the truth that if George betrayed his brother, he would surely betray the kingmaker too.

The return of Warwick

Armed with his new ally, Warwick returned to England and led an army against Edward. But he forgot one vital little piece in this jigsaw puzzle of deceit … He had trained Edward. The King was a great fighter just like him. We can, of course, never know what Warwick was expecting from his adversaries, but we do know that he severely under-estimated Edward and Richard. Edward and Richard’s Yorkists crept up slowly and silently in the night, hidden by mist and darkness. On the morning of April 14 1471, while the Lancasters were rising from slumber, the Yorkists attacked. In the confusion and fog, some of Warwick’s soldiers actually stabbed each other. When the word, “treachery” ricocheted across the battle, even more Lancastrians killed one another. And as for Warwick himself, the mighty Earl was pulled off his horse, had his armor pried open and was stabbed in the neck. Warwick was so influential that without him the Lancasters were simply lost. Those that weren’t mauled on the battlefield retreated and ran for their lives. The body of the kingmaker was hanged for four days to quell rumors of his survival and to further break the Lancastrian spirit. This battle, the Battle of Barnet, marks the downfall of the House of Lancaster.

It took three weeks for Margaret of Anjou and her son to get to England. They had been held back by winds across the channel. The news of the defeat and death of Warwick was such a blow that Margaret ordered the tired army to march to Wales in order to recruit more men. And where was George in all of this? He had gone back to his brother, begging forgiveness. Edward was said to have known that his brother would return with his tail between his legs. The three brothers then marched to Wales, hoping to intercept the Lancastrian army before they made it over the River Severn and joined the angry Welshmen on the other side.

Margaret of Anjou, her son, his new bride and all the Lancastrians they could summon, made it as far as Tewkesbury before England herself decided to end the pointless war. The River Severn was flooded; no one could get across. The army was trapped between drowning and the Yorkists. The Lancastrians were choice-less; they had to do battle in their starving and fatigued state. The Yorkists weren’t any better off; they had had to march at a run, recruiting soldiers as they passed through villages. May 4 1471 saw two exhausted armies make one more stand for the crown. Henry VI’s son, Prince Edward, was no stranger to battlefields despite being only 18, but he was no leader; he could not rally his troops nor control them. The Yorkists, being led by the Plantagenet brothers, had better command. Richard, also aged 18, had led the army at the Battle of Barnet. He was well respected, well trained and very clever. And under him the Yorkists walked away from Tewkesbury victorious. Prince Edward died in battle and his mother was taken as prisoner. Prince Edward’s new widow should have been taken hostage with Margaret but she was taken to the house of the Duke of Clarence, where she was kept as prisoner in everything but name by her sister and brother-in-law. That is, until Prince Richard snuck her away and married her.

The battle of Tewkesbury saw the end of the Lancastrian claim to the crown. Henry VI “mysteriously” died some weeks later in the tower. Was he murdered? And if so, by whom? History’s lips are sealed.

And so the Yorkists returned to a somewhat peaceful reign knowing that the Lancastrians had no heir to fight for ... Except for that distant relative called Henry Tudor who lived in France. But the Plantagenets didn’t seem too bothered about him.

Edward once again returned to his throne which he would pass on to his baby son once he was old enough. If only Edward had lived long enough for that to happen.

By M.L King, a history enthusiast and part-time blogger. You can connect with her on Facebook here.

The next article in The Wars of the Roses series is about a love story during the war - available here.

Do you want to try your hand at some history writing? If so, click here for more information and then get in touch!

References 

• www.thewarsoftheroses.com
• British History by Miles Kelly
• www.britannica.com
• www.battlefieldstrust.com

The man who lived to 126? Our image of the week is from Japan

We’re off to see an Ancient Japanese Emperor for this week’s image of the week… 

The image is of Emperor Jimmu. He was the First Emperor of Japan, and apparently reigned from 660 BC, until he died at the age of 126 in 585BC. The truth is though, that it is not clear whether Jimmu really existed as there’s a lack of real proof. Indeed, he is shrouded in legend!

This picture from Tsukioka Yoshitoshi from around 1880 is fascinating. It shows the sun beaming down on a powerful looking Jimmu, with a bird atop his stick and a man kneeling beside him.

Is there a history image that you love? Or a history image from your local area that you would like to share with us? If so, let us know! Click here to find out how to get in touch.

George Levrier-Jones

A Redcoat in the American Revolution - Benjamin Reynard, 37th Regiment of Foot

In this article, as our part of our American Revolution season, we look at the life of a British soldier during the American Revolutionary War. 

British army redcoats through the ages.

Source: Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army, London: Gale & Polden, 1916.

Army muster rolls in general provide an overview of each soldier's career, allowing each man to be traced from the time that he joined his regiment to the time he left it. Occasionally, however, a soldier enigmatically appears on the rolls without any indication of where he came from, and sometimes men disappear from the rolls with no explanation of where they went. Benjamin Reynard, a grenadier in the 37th Regiment of Foot, provides an example of both of these nuances.

Reynard served in America, but it is not clear when he joined the army or arrived on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean. He first appears on the roll of the grenadier company covering the period 25 December 1777 through 24 June 1778. Most men who joined grenadier or light infantry companies had served for at least a year in other companies of the regiment (there were occasional exceptions, particularly for men who had prior military experience). There is no annotation on this roll that he joined the company during that muster period, and no trace of him on the rolls of other companies during preceding periods. Admittedly, more detailed analysis might resolve this mystery; sometimes there are significant changes in the ways that names are spelled from one roll to another, and sometimes even the man's first name changes (for example, there's a chance that Benjamin Reynard is the 'Thomas Raynor' who appears on the prior roll of the same company), but determining this requires careful tracing of all of the names on the rolls, a long and tedious process.

Reynard continues on the rolls of the grenadier company of the 37th Regiment through August of 1783. At that time, the regiment was reorganized due to force reductions at the end of the war; the strength was reduced from ten companies to eight, and many men were discharged. Reynard appears on a set of rolls covering the period 24 June through 24 August (an unusual muster period), but is absent from the subsequent roll covering 25 August through 24 December. Again, it is possible that his name is not obvious because of spelling permutations, but the spelling is very consistent on all of the interim rolls.
Although we lack career details on Reynard that we have for most soldiers, there survives a record of a personal vignette during Reynard's American service, something we lack for most soldiers. At the beginning of June 1779 the grenadier battalion that included his company was part of an expedition that fortified posts on the Hudson River north of New York city including Stony Point on the west shore and Verplanck's Point on the east shore. They camped in wigwams made of brush, a typical practice for the British army in America. On 4 June they fired a salute in honor of the King's birthday.

At about 10 AM on 5 June, Reynard asked his sergeant for leave to go outside of the camp to gather greens, which was granted. He took a haversack with him, and after about an hour returned to camp with the haversack full of dock greens and other wild greens. At noon he fell in for a formation.

Later that day or the next day, a local inhabitant named Mary Baker claimed that some soldiers had come to her house about two miles from the camp at around 11 in the morning of 5 June. She had an inventory of things that they had plundered which included "shirts, and a quantity of wearing Apparel." She identified Reynard as one of the perpetrators, and claimed that he had also killed a pig of hers and made off with it.

Reynard was put on trial for this crime on 7 June. Mary Baker was the only witness supporting the charge. Reynard claimed that he was away from the camp with leave but had not gone far and had only gathered greens. His sergeant and another grenadier both testified in his support, corroborating his story. Both testified that they were in the same mess as Reynard, that is, they prepared their food and dined together; this explained their explicit interest in having seen the greens that Reynard gathered, and both said that Reynard had nothing else with him when he returned to camp. As an aside, typically a mess consisted of 5 men; military authors of the era recommended that sergeants and soldiers mess separately, so the testimony in this trial indicates either that this company of the 37th did not heed these recommendations or that the size and composition of messes varied while the army was on campaign.

In a striking verdict, which is perhaps yet another mystery about Reynard, the military court found him guilty of the crime. Apparently they gave greater significance to the testimony of the injured party than to Reynard and his two comrades. There is no mention in the trial proceedings of how Mary Barker singled out Reynard, but there are other accounts of soldiers being paraded so that wronged inhabitants could recognize an offender in the ranks. It is possible that the officers who sat on the court were privy to information that was not explicitly presented at the trial. It also may be that the court wanted to set an example to stave off plundering by other soldiers.

Benjamin Reynard was sentenced to receive 1000 lashes. We have no information on the extent to which this punishment was inflicted. Sometimes soldiers who were severely punished, particularly on dubious evidence, deserted, but not this one. As described above, Reynard continued to serve through to the end of the war. 

By Don N Hagist

Don is the owner of redcoat76.blogspot.com, a place for information about British soldiers who served during the American Revolution, 1775-1783. Take a look!

And our American Revolution podcast page is available by clicking here.

Women on the Frontline – The essential role of females in World War I

We hear a lot about the male heroes of the frontline in World War I, but less has been written about the women who also served during that war. Women were involved in a wide number of organizations that were essential to the war effort. And in this article, we tell the story of organizations and people from Britain who played essential roles both on and near the frontline. 

World War I heroine Edith Cavell

It emerged within the first few weeks of the outbreak of war that there was a great shortage of qualified nurses and others who could support with medical assistance in places such as field hospitals. Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurses were then sent from Britain to France but had to be over the age of 23. Many lied about their age so they could set out on an ‘adventure’ which proved to be a naïve mistake. Often, many women who ventured across the English Channel returned home as injured and broken as the men who were fighting at the Front.

When the nurses arrived in France life was far from enjoyable. After a long and grueling journey, they found old dwellings, a shortage of food, and uncomfortable surroundings.

Meanwhile, back in Britain many hospitals were set up in country estates; the most famous of these was probably the estate of the Duchess of Rutland and her daughter, socialite Lady Diana Cooper. Lady Cooper was a VAD nurse - when it suited her - if you believe reports from the time. However, this was not a unique case as many privileged and wealthy girls would volunteer for these services and many accounts have been told about how they would spend the day serving tea to the wounded and recuperating soldiers only to return home and have their own tea poured out by the parlor maid!

This was an experience that gave these privileged women a new outlook on life; it brought a whole new meaning to life as they realized that there was a freedom beyond the restrictions of an aristocratic existence. For many this sparked a turnaround in their lives and gave them a new found ambition to do something with their lives – one of the many turning points for the aristocracy during this period in time.

The same would be applied to the less privileged as they realized that they could play roles other than working in factories.

Alongside the VADs, there was another important organization called the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). Members of the FANY would go to the Front and set up soup kitchens, drive ambulances, and work in field hospitals. Like the VADs, members of the FANY had to be at least 23. There were no formal regulations that they had to follow but they would salute an officer of rank just out of respect, although this was an optional formality.

Meanwhile, VADs were only human and made mistakes like the rest of us. Many unused to household chores didn’t know how to mop a floor properly, let alone make tea; however, they did more than act as nurses. Some went beyond the call of duty by composing letters home for the injured men. Many soldiers could not read or write so this provided a valuable service on what could always be their final contact with home.

Somebody who went even further beyond the call of duty was Edith Cavell. An experienced British nurse, she travelled to Belgium and whilst tending to the wounded, she also helped Allied servicemen escape to freedom from German-occupied Belgium. She was eventually caught doing this and was court martialed for her actions. Fondly remembered as a patriotic, brave woman, she famously said ‘I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved.’ Edith Cavell never received any formal decoration for her efforts before she was executed by a firing squad.

She was just one of the many brave heroines who strived to change lives in whatever small way they could.

By Ruth Roberts

You can read another article on World War I by clicking here. It’s about the secret underground battle of tunnel warfare.

The First Transcontinental Railroad – An image you wouldn’t expect?

Our image of the week…

The final section of the First Transcontinental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869, and allowed the whole of the continental USA to be crossed by rail. It connected San Francisco with the rest of the US rail network via the town of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Today we look at a few images of this amazing feat of construction. Firstly is a blurry image of Chinese workers constructing the railroad in the snow in the Sierra Nevada, California. In fact, Chinese workers played a major role in building many tunnels for the railroad.

After years of hard work, and with the Civil War over, the railroad was finally complete by 1869. In this bright painting, we can see Leland Stanford, one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad, hammering the ‘Golden Spike’ in to the ground at Promontory Summit, Utah in May 1869. This painting is from the late 19th century.

Is there a history image that you love? Or a history image from your local area that you would like to share with us? If so, let us know! Click here.

George Levrier-Jones 

A brief history of Halloween! Celts, Romans and the Irish - The tradition behind trick or treating

As the days grow darker and winter descends, Halloween ushers in the change in season, as a sweet and spooky community celebration. While candy and costumes are all the rage on Halloween, there's more to this tradition than just belly aches, naughty nurses and Frankenstein. In this article, we veer off modern history and explain the history behind the tradition. 

A witch as drawn in a 15th century book by Martin Le France

Ancient Origins 

The history of Halloween dates back over 2,000 years and is believed to have originated with the Celtic festival of Samhain, where in an attempt to ward off evil and ghosts, villagers would wear costumes and light bonfires. Samhain was not the most rational of festivals though. Indeed, as in many festivals of the ancient world, it was steeped in strong superstitious beliefs that were perpetuated over the years; this tradition trickled into church practices. For example, in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III proclaimed November 1st as All Saints Day in order to honor the souls of saints and martyrs, and so incorporated some Samhain traditions. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve or Halloween as we know it today. 

Originating in what we know today as modern Ireland, England and northern France, the Celts would usher in their new year on November 1st with fear and foreboding, as the cold winter marked the end of the grain harvest and the beginning of the reaping season. According to Celtic history on the night before their New Year (October 31st), death was palpable as the Celts believed that the lines between life and death were blurred, allowing the dead to roam free and plague the living. The effects of this were felt by humans too. On this night, Celtic priests (Druids) were believed to be able to predict the future.

In this period, the Celts would extinguish their hearth fires and gather to build a sacred community pyre where they would make crop and animal sacrifices to their deities for protection during the coming cold. When their celebration was over they would use the sacred fire to reignite their hearths. In the early years of the first millennia AD, the Romans descended on Celtic lands, seizing some Celtic territory and ruling for many years. During this time two Roman festivals influenced the Celtic Samhain festival, notably Feralia, another festival in October that celebrated the souls of the dead, and Pomona, which celebrated the Roman Goddess of trees and fruits. Interestingly the symbol of Pomona was an apple, which is probably why people go "bobbing" for apples - so in our Halloween celebration we are commemorating the Goddess Pomona. 

When Christianity later spread throughout Celtic lands, it is believed that the Christians tried to replace Samhain with a Church sanctioned day to honor the dead, what we know today as November 2nd or All Soul's Day.

Halloween in America

The history of Halloween in America evolved very differently from the European tradition, as it meshed with Native American practices and the different customs of the various European groups that had emigrated to America. By the 19th century Halloween was practiced in some but not all parts of America, with people telling ghost stories, playing tricks, dancing, singing, and fortune telling. 

American Halloween was changed forever with the influx of Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine of 1846, who helped to popularize the tradition of costumes. From this, the American Halloween "trick or treat" tradition was born with people dressing up to go house to house to ask for food or money, which later evolved into candy. 

When the Irish came to America they also brought with them the tradition of the Jack-o-lantern. According to Irish Halloween tradition it was believed that a cruel man named Jack captured the Devil and trapped him in a tree. Jack swore to let the Devil go if he promised that Jack would never go to Hell. When Jack died he found the gates of Heaven barred because of his cruelty on Earth. And following his deal with the Devil nor could he go to Hell; however, the Devil did gave Jack a burning ember from the fires of Hell which Jack placed within vegetable shells to navigate the dark recesses of the Earth.

As time wore on, the American Halloween tradition was molded further into a day of celebration as opposed to one of witchcraft. Newspapers encouraged parents to remove anything grotesque and frightening from the celebration to put an end to the religious and superstitious beliefs behind the festival. 

The history of American Halloween hasn't always been all chocolates and fairies though. By the 1920s and 1930s, even though Halloween was largely a community celebration, the festival was becoming associated with vandalism, but by the 1950s, Halloween was more fully developed into a children's tradition. Today Americans spend a whopping $6 billion dollars on Halloween candy and costumes, making it America's second largest commercial festival.

Unknown Facts

Before you leave here are some interesting facts about Halloween:

• What do you call the fear of Halloween? - Samhainophobia
• Black and orange are the two most common colors associated with Halloween which is indicative of its origins. Orange is reminiscent of the change in season or autumn while black is a reminder of the boundary lines between life and death
• The largest Halloween parade is in New York City
• It is illegal to dress up as a Priest for Halloween in Alabama

While Halloween for us today is about parties, games and sweet treats, we should remember that it was a major part of Celtic life. After all, they attributed their survival during winter to the practice of Samhain. Furthermore it was this combination of Irish and Roman superstition and belief that led Christianity to develop two days dedicated to the remembrance and honor of the dead. In other words, Halloween is a surviving relic of the past that once combined religion and superstition. Even in celebrations today, Halloween has preserved some of its eeriness, relying on the goodwill of "spirits" by appeasing them with candy treats.

By Shrinivas

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The new magazine! History is Now - Issue 1 - The USA, China, the USSR and the nearly-nuclear Taiwan Straits Crisis

Have you heard?

Our interactive digital magazine for the iPad and iPhone, History is Now, has arrived! We love it and we're sure you will too.

Click here for more information! 

So what is the magazine about? Here is what our editor says…

History continues to define and transform our world. Events in 1940s China continue to causes tensions between China an America. The legacy of Communism and Colonialism continue to cause stability and instability, problems and agreements the world over. In short, history is so very important. The lessons you can learn from it, the events that happened, the differences between different ages and countries. Understanding where we as human beings have come from.

So that’s why we’ve decided to start History is Now, the global modern history magazine. Much like our other productions, the focus of the magazine will be on the 19th century, 20th century, Communism, civil war, and Colonialism. That said, from time-to-time we may be tempted to veer slightly off that course. Our articles will come from a variety of sources. We will be providing you with articles from some of our favorite history writers, while at other times we shall be trawling the archives of some of the best sites online to hand-pick the very best pieces just for you. You see, very often the best history has already been written – it’s just finding it that’s almost impossible. And as some of you will know, before our horizons expanded, we were making history podcasts - so in each magazine we will be telling you a bit more about one of our podcasts and inserting it in the magazine.

Click here for more information

The USA, China, the USSR and the nearly-nuclear Taiwan Straits Crisis is the main article! But what else is there in issue 1?

The first edition features articles on:

• How the US, China and the USSR nearly became involved in a nuclear war over Taiwan
• The story of the early stages of the brutal Italian colonization of Libya
• Death in the Eastern Bloc - The harrowing tale of a freedom fighter in Communist Czechoslovakia
• A number of bizarre tales involving lions in Western Europe
• The life and times of the 'log cabin President' William Henry Harrison
• Our first ever podcast!

With all that and more, come and join us inside…

Just click here for more information! Alternatively search for History is Now  on the app store.

George Levrier-Jones

Of Skaters and Sweaters – A Brief History of East Germany’s Stasi

Near the center of the town of Neuruppin, not far from Berlin, sits a large if unassuming house that once belonged to the local newspaper publisher. After the Second World War, it became the local Stasi headquarters. They adorned the brick façade and red tile roof with a myriad of surveillance equipment, antennas and satellite dishes.

The better to hear you with. Even today, some locals make a wide circle to avoid passing directly in front of it.

The Stasi, short for Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security) was the East German’s secret police, charged with protecting the state from enemies both foreign and domestic, real or imagined. Lesser known than their Soviet counterparts in the KGB, they were no less feared. It is not a coincidence that Stasi rhymes with Nazi. 

Erich Meilke, the man who led the Stasi for over 30 years, in 1958. He worked for DDR leader Walter Ulbricht for much of his tenure.

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-60945-0005 / Ulmer, Rudi / CC-BY-SA

The Stasi began operating in 1950. Its international exploits during the Cold War included training Castro’s secret police, running brothels in West Germany for the purpose of blackmailing West German politicians and businessmen, and funding Neo-Nazi groups in West Germany in order to discredit democracy. In the early 1970s, they even succeeded in having an agent appointed as an aide to the then West German Chancellor Willie Brandt.

But it was their work as an internal secret police that kept East Germans looking over their shoulders. Their network was extensive. Most apartment buildings, neighborhoods, factories and government agencies had at least one informant, spying on their neighbors and informing on them regarding the slightest infractions, which were then documented to the minutest detail. By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Stasi employed some 91,000 agents and operatives, and had another 173,000 informal informers from whom they gathered information. As a point of comparison, Canada today has about 2,500 security agents for twice the population.

The Stasi compiled extensive files on much of the East German population. Olympian Katerina Witt had information collected on her going back to the age of six or seven, when she first began to show promise as a figure skater. The DDR was terrified she might defect to the West and that they would lose one of their crown jewels, so the Stasi kept track of almost everything she did and said. Friends, relatives and team-mates were either convinced or coerced into keeping tabs on her. Her home contained hidden microphones to record her conversations.

Surveillance wasn’t just done on the famous or important. Everyday people were spied on with regularity. Seemingly mundane transgressions were often considered crimes against the state. One woman had a file started on her because she bought a sweater from the West. She laughs about it now, but such activities, could have dire consequences. A neighbor and informant went through one man’s cupboards to find that he had some pudding from West Germany. Shortly after, he lost his job and was unable to find another. He and his family ended up destitute.

As the Cold War came to a close, the Stasi tried to destroy these files. But when people saw smoke rising up above the Stasi Headquarters in Berlin, they stormed the buildings and put an end to the destruction. While about 5 percent of the files were destroyed, most of them remained intact. Today, they take up over 100,000 kilometers of shelf space in the Stasi Museum, located in that former Berlin Headquarters. Under German law, former citizens of the DDR can request to see their files. Some 2.75 million people have done so since the law was passed in 1991. 

Protests in Leipzig, East Germany, May 1990, demanding the opening up of the Stasi files

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0522-033 / Gahlbeck, Friedrich / CC-BY-SA 

The Stasi did more than just watch and listen and record. As with the man who was guilty of nothing more than having a taste for West German pudding, they acted against those they felt were a threat to the state. They had learned early on that the traditional methods of most secret police, torture and imprisonment, had a limited effect. The victims often became martyrs or heroes and it did little to discourage others. Nelson Mandela is but one prominent example of this. Instead, they employed much subtler methods, known as Zersetung (corrosion or undermining). They conducted smear campaigns to discredit people along with threats and intimidation to get what they wanted. Wiretapping and bugging were commonplace. Sometimes, they would move a person’s furniture or take a picture down from their walls - all to send the message that they were always there, always watching. Their victims were forever on edge, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Some even went insane.

Zersetung had the added advantage of deniability. With no one in prison, no one physically hurt, the Stasi could deny any involvement. This worked so well that by the year 2000, only 33 Stasi officers had been sentenced by German courts for their crimes, and of these, 28 were suspended.

When revelations about NSA surveillance surfaced earlier this year in the US, most Americans did not seem overly concerned. Germans, however, have been much more vocal in protesting what they see as an invasion of their privacy. There have been public protests, and it came up as an issue in the general election there. Learning how the East German people were intimidated into obedience by an ever watchful and secretive organization like the Stasi, it is easy to understand their reaction to what many see as an unfettered invasion of privacy. After all, the NSA data center is estimated to be able to save 5 billion terabytes of data - 1 billion times more than the Stasi kept in their notorious paper files.

That’s a lot of sweaters being bought from the West.

By Manfred Gabriel

Enjoy this article? Well, another East Germany related article from Manfred is here. It is about the story of how a Trabant car defined a nation. 

Mahatma Gandhi – His final years in India - Image of the week

Our image of the week this week comes from India. And we’re looking at a few images from Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi. Here we see images from Gandhi’s later life, in the years before his 1948 assassination. 

Here Gandhi is wearing a Noakhali hat whilst spinning at Birla House, New Delhi

Here Gandhi is sharing some laughter with fellow independence movement leader Jawharlal Nehru, Mumbai, 1946

In this final image Gandhi is portrayed as the "lonely pilgrim of peace", a reference to his non-violent means for obtaining change. Alas, Gandhi was soon to suffer a violent death at the hands of Hindu Nationalist Nathuram Godse

Gandhi did, though, see an independent India, as India became an independent country in August 1947. 

George Levrier-Jones

Missed last week’s image on the Austrian prince who ruled Mexico? It’s here.

The Earl of Warwick, Kingmaker - The Wars of the Roses

In the next in our series on the Wars of the Roses, this article looks at the importance of the Earl of Warwick, the kingmaker. It follows our introduction to the Wars of the Roses available here, our article on Edward III’s descendants and the causes of the Wars of the Roses available here, and the battles of the war from 1455-1464.

The Earl of Warwick was a great and noble man who understood the battlefield, understood soldiers, and understood men. Unfortunately Warwick did not understand women. And the fact that he did not understand women was, indirectly, the reason for his downfall and death.

Edward IV meets his future wife and Queen, Elizabeth Woodville (Elizabeth Grey)

Through blood and marriage, Richard Neville – the 16th Earl of Warwick, also known as ‘The King Maker’ – had inherited nearly all the lands in the north of England. This made him one of the richest men in the kingdom, richer even than the King. The Earl was a fair and much loved landlord, meaning his tenants would quickly and happily take up arms for him, something the King could not boast. Common sense would dictate that a wise King would keep the Earl as a close companion and heed what he had to say, but Edward IV was young and silly and more concerned with filling his bed than commanding his kingdom. All foreign and domestic powers knew that Warwick ruled England while the King bedded the women of England. Warwick liked it that way. If he could not be the King, he would rule through him instead.

In the middle ages, a King’s marriage was a very important contract between two kingdoms. Warwick made it his business to unite England and France to dispel any chance of a repeat of the Hundred Years War. England was bankrupt and the country was still healing from war with France and war within its own borders. It was reasoned that an alliance with the French would help to fill English pockets and heal the wounds of war. Warwick worked tirelessly to convince the French King that the silly English King was worthy of a French princess. It took months of planning and bargaining before Warwick could finally announce the fruits of his labour - only to have Edward stand up to announce that not only was he already married, but had been for four months and to a widowed commoner whose family had fought against Edward’s army. We’ll never know Warwick’s real thoughts, but after suffering this verbal slap in the face, one can assume he was not impressed. Edward’s new Queen – Elizabeth Woodville – was not someone to be taken lightly. The medieval Queens were always strong, powerful women – they had to be – but no medieval man would ever admit it. Their religious beliefs and male ego prevented them from seeing women as anything but baby-making property. And so, with blinkered eyes, they accepted their new Queen with no thought to her hidden agenda.

But hidden agenda she had. Within months, Elizabeth’s twelve brothers and sisters were married into powerful and rich families. Positions reserved for the men who had fought to put Edward on the throne were suddenly handed to commoners who had fought to keep Edward from the throne. Wealthy ladies were married off to men they would have hired to clean the stables. The King’s government now consisted of his father and brother-in-laws. Suddenly it was all too clear who ruled England and it wasn’t the silly young King or the powerful Earl of Warwick - it was the widowed commoner who somehow got a King to marry her and hand over the reins.

Warwick sat and watched this game from his lands in the north. He quietly watched the government be over-thrown by power hungry commoners. He silently watched as the King he had fought for, lost a father and brother for, risked his life for, grew fat and lazy, controlled by his Queen and her rabbit-brood family. But it was Edward’s refusal to accept a marriage contract between Warwick’s daughters and the King’s brothers that finally pushed The King Maker over the edge. The man who had put Edward on the throne now set out to destroy him.

By M.L King, a history enthusiast and part-time blogger.

The next article in The Wars of the Roses series is about the treachery of Prince George and the Kingmaker's downfall - available here.

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References

• The Wars of the Roses by Robin Neillands (published by Cassell)
• British History by Miles Kelly (published by Miles Kelly Publishing)
• Who’s Who in British History (published by Collins and Brown Ltd)