The Collecting Adventure

The Pleasure of Collecting.

African Ethnic Stamps and Postcards

A Ethnic view of Africa. The Richness and Beauty of African Culture and People.

Germany - History On Stamps

100 years of German History told in Stamps, Letters and Postcards.

French Stamps

The Culture and the History of France in Stamps.

The Virtual Art Museum

The Art in Stamps. Painting, Sculpture and Art Personalities in a Virtual Philatelic Museum.

May 26, 2013

Stamps of France: Amiens Cathedral

AMIENS CATHEDRAL





The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens, in French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens, or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in the administrative capital of the Picardy region of France, some 120 km north of Paris.

It is the tallest complete cathedral in France. Its stone-vaulted nave reaching a height of 42.30 metres (138.8 ft.), only surpassed by the incomplete Beauvais Cathedral. It has the greatest interior volume of any French cathedral, estimated at 200,000 cubic metres (260,000 cu yd.).

The cathedral was built between 1220 and c.1270. Although it has lost most of its original stained glass, Amiens Cathedral is renowned for the quality and quantity of early 13th century Gothic sculpture in the main west facade and the south transept portal, and a large quantity of polychrome sculpture from later periods inside the building.

The initial impetus for the building of the cathedral came from the installation of the reputed head of John the Baptist on 17 December 1206. The head was part of the loot of the Fourth Crusade, which had been diverted from campaigning against the Turks to sacking the great Christian city of Constantinople. A sumptuous reliquary was made to house the skull. Although later lost, a 19th century replica still provides a focus for prayer and meditation in the North aisle.

The Amiens cathedral was listed as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1981.

Stamps of France: Thomas Bugeaud

THOMAS ROBERT BUGEAUD


(15 October 1784 – 18 June 1849)





Thomas Robert Bugeaud, Marquis de la Piconnerie, was born in Limoge and died in Paris, France. He was Marshal of France, Duc d'Isly, General and Administrator in Algeria. He also was a French national hero as a result of his role in conquering Algeria.


Bugeaud served in the army of the French emperor Napoleon I until forced into retirement in 1815. Returning to public life after the July Revolution of 1830, he became a deputy.

Sent twice, in 1836 and 1837, to Algeria on special missions, he returned again in 1841 to undertake the pacification of Algeria as governor-general. His celebrated victory at Isly, in 1844, finally broke the power of Abd al-Kader.

Bugeaud attempted to cooperate with the Arabs, to promote military colonization and to encourage French settlers, but the unpopularity of his policies forced his resignation in 1847.

He was named commander of the troops in Paris by Louis Philippe during the February Revolution of 1848.

Bugeaud's writings were numerous, including his "Œuvres militaires" (Military works), many official reports on Algeria about the war there, and some works on economics and political science.
Battle of Isly
The Battle of Isly was fought on August 14, 1844 between France and Morocco, near the Isly River. The French began a war with Morocco which had refused to recognize its conquest of Algeria.

Marshal Bugeaud, tried to complete the French conquest of Algeria, instigated the battle without a declaration of war in order to force negotiations concerning Moroccan support for the Algerian resistance leader Abd el Kader to conclude on terms favourable to the French.

French forces under Marshal Bugeaud routed a much larger, but poorly organized Moroccan force under Mohammed, son of sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco.

The French defeated the Moroccans at the battle of Isly in North Eastern Morocco. The Moroccans were forced to agree to the Treaty of Tangiers that recognized the French sovereignty over Algeria.

May 3, 2013

Germany on Stamps: New Pages from "Germany after Treaty of Versailles (Schleswig)"


New Stamps, Letters and Postcards from "Germany after Treaty of Versailles" theme.  Now on-line the collection of Schleswig plebiscite (Danmark).

Novos Selos, Cartas e Postais do tema "A Alemanha após o Tratado de Versalhes". Agora em páginas a colecção do plebiscito na Schleswig (Dinamarca).

Germany on Stamps: Schleswig History

 

SCHLESWIG





North and South Schleswig (in this map in red and orange, respectively)
Schleswig or Southern Jutland – in Danish "Sønderjylland" or "Slesvig", in German "Schleswig", in Low German "Sleswig" – is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark.

The Duchy of Schleswig, or Southern Jutland, was originally an integral part of Denmark, but was, in medieval times established as a fief under the Kingdom of Denmark, with the same relation to the Danish Crown as for example Brandenburg or Bavaria vis-à-vis the Holy Roman Emperor.

Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a close connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a fief subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire, while Schleswig remained a Danish fief. These dual loyalties were to become a main root of the dispute between the German states and Denmark in the 19thcentury, when the ideas of romantic nationalism and the nation-state won popular support.
Before World War I
Conflict between Denmark and German states over Schleswig and Holstein led to the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the 19thcentury. Denmark attempted to integrate the Duchy of Schleswig into the Danish kingdom in 1848, leading to an uprising of ethnic Germans who supported Schleswig's ties with Holstein. The military intervention of the Kingdom of Prussia supported the uprising: the Prussian army drove Denmark's troops from Schleswig and Holstein in the First Schleswig War of 1848–1851.

Denmark again attempted to integrate Schleswig in 1864, but the German Confederation defeated the Danes in the Second War of Schleswig. Prussia and Austria respectively assumed administration of Schleswig and Holstein under the Gastein Convention of 14 August 1865. However, tensions between the two powers culminated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In the Peace of Prague, the victorious Prussians annexed Schleswig and Holstein, creating the province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Provision for the cession of northern Schleswig to Denmark was made pending a popular vote in favour of this. In 1878, however, Austria went back on this provision. Denmark with Germany, in a Treaty of 1907, recognized, by the agreement between Austria and Prussia, the frontier between Prussia and Denmark.
Schleswig Plebiscite after World War I
The Allied powers arranged a referendum in Northern and Central Schleswig. In Northern Schleswig on February 10, 1920 75% voted for re-unification with Denmark and 25% voted for Germany. In Central Schleswig on March 14, 1920 the results were reversed; 80% voted for Germany and just 20% for Denmark, primarily in Flensburg. While in Northern Schleswig some smaller regions had a clear majority of voters for Germany in Central Schleswig all regions voted for Germany.

No vote ever took place in the southern third of Schleswig, because the result for Germany was predictable.

On June 15, 1920, Northern Schleswig officially returned to Danish rule. Germany continued to hold the whole of Holstein and southern and central Schleswig, later becoming the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. The Danish-German border was the only one of the borders imposed on Germany following World War I which was never challenged by Hitler.
World War II
In the Second World War, after Nazi Germany occupied the whole of Denmark, there was agitation by local Nazi leaders in Schleswig-Holstein to restore the pre-World War I border and re-annex to Germany the areas granted to Denmark after the plebiscite — as the Nazis did in Alsace-Lorraine at the same period. However, Hitler vetoed any such step, out of a general Nazi policy at the time to base the occupation of Denmark on a kind of accommodation with the Danish Government, and avoid outright confrontations with the Danes.
After World War II
After Germany had lost World War II there again was a possibility that Denmark could reacquire some of its lost territory in Schleswig. Though no territorial changes came of it, it had the effect that Prime Minister Knud Kristensen was forced to resign after a vote of no confidence because the Folketing (Parliament of Denmark) did not support his enthusiasm for incorporating Southern Schleswig into Denmark.

Although there was, as a result, a Danish minority in Southern Schleswig and a German minority in Northern Schleswig, the minorities were granted rights to practice their language and culture, to such a degree that the division and minorities as of 2009 are not a political issue between Denmark and Germany.