Journey of Whys: From Blood To Blood

     The Angles, a Germanic tribe, are the namesake of the English. The current English monarchy inherited the throne while rulers in Hanover, Germany. Rooted in the Hanseatic League of the high medieval period connecting London to prosperous merchant guilds in Germany and the Baltic and continuing with merchants, mercenaries, and marriages from the northern Germanic region through the early modern period, England and Germany shared strong ties through much of Europe's tumultuous history, but the two largest wars in world history saw the might of their empires contest for supremacy. What ruptured the six centuries of good will and intermarriage to destroy one of the most steadfast political friendships of European history?
     Prussia, the main precursor to Germany, played a pivotal role in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and was considered the weakest of the Great Powers of Europe at the Concert of Vienna in 1816, but after clever diplomatic maneuverings and two wars, Bismarck, Moltke, and Wilhelm I unified the German state around the Prussian core.
     Because France and Russia were Britain's main rivals in the 1870s, Queen Victoria passively allowed the formation of the German state hoping to create a strong ally against France and Russia on the European continent. With strong family, cultural, and economic ties to Prussia, the British enjoyed the rise of the Germans, especially the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
     Bismarck's ability to politically isolate an enemy before striking prevented the entire continent becoming involved during the unification wars, but his system of multiple alliances for every front eventually led to a complex political weaving that formed a web around every empire in the world. Despite never formalizing an alliance, Great Britain and Germany enjoyed cordial relations both before and after Germany's unification in 1871.
     Since Germany focused on consolidation instead of expansion during the colonial period at the end of the century, Anglo-German interests rarely interfered, but with the coronation of Wilhelm II, the German empires focus shifted. Bismark was removed from his diplomatic position, overseas colonies were more readily established, and Prusso-German militarism shifted from the army to the navy.
     Anglo-French relations, though tense through much of the nineteenth century, improved from 1901 onward and culminated in the 1904 Entente Cordiale which positioned England and France against Germany in the case of an aggressive war. Though descended from a heavily influenced German line, Edward VII favored France at the expense of his nephew and German emperor, Wilhelm II.
     Inept and grandiose, Emperor Wilhelm II obsessively adored British culture and sought to imitate it. With the coffers of a rapidly industrializing empire, Wilhelm II urged the growth and development of the German navy to match the British Imperial Fleet. Since Britain relied on its naval prowess to secure its trade and security, the German naval race rapidly deteriorated relations between the two nations. Wilhelm II furthered the decline by his poorly timed, unconscionable comments in public statements. It was said that Wilhelm II, "approached every question with an open mouth."
     Though widely popular in Britain when Queen Victoria died in his arms and in constant contact with Edward VII, Wilhelm's open-mouthed approach to publicity incited papers to rally against him, especially when his naval build-up pressured the British to out produce the Germans. The attention seeking of Wilhelm II coincided with his staff's duel desires of imitating the British and securing a German empire to match.

     The increasing steel production and industrial capacity of Germany in the first decade of the twentieth century, pushed the British away for fear of de-stabilizing Europe and furthered the fears of Russia and France who signed alliances with one another. As Germany's military, economic, and industrial strength increased, it became further isolated except for the Triple Alliance with Italy and Austria. Internal fractures over land disputes between Austria and Italy eventually left Germany's only ally as the bankrupt, decrepit Austrian Empire.
     In the decade of preparation before the War to End All Wars, Germany isolated itself politically just as it had its own enemies in the wars leading to its unification. Otto Von Bismark's deft political handling of affairs accelerated Germany's unification, but the mismanagement of the same process escalated its disunion. The lengthy history of Europe is well known for its complex intricacy between families, nations, and empires. Though not always the most powerful or influential members involved, three nations are at the heart of what made Europe: England, France, and Germany.
     So it was that Britain forsook her blood ties in Germany and turned to France. So it was that Germany's creation led to its collapse. So it was that the largest empires of Europe fought the largest wars of history. From the blood of kin to the blood of the killed, Britain befriended France at Germany's provocation, ending centuries of friendship with one to end centuries of animosity with the other. So it was that history was made.

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Agatha Tyche

History of "Europe"

     A continent is a large landmass that has a distinct land border, distinct culture, and self-recognizes as a continent. Though there are alterations, expansions, and more restrictive definitions, the delineation for those geographical borders have become entrenched in the accepted knowledge of the world. One of the oldest questions of the Western World is: Where are the boundaries of Europe? From arguments in the European Union's acceptance of Turkey to the Greece's scorn of the Illyrians on their western coast, "Europe" has one of the most complicated definitions of political geography.
     According to Herodotus, Europe's eastern boundary stopped at the River Phasis - but some said the River Don. The Romans also decided that Europe stopped at the Don River. Since ancient times, the boundary of Europe has oscillated between a series of rivers but has stayed within the Greater Caucasus watershed that flows through the Turkish straits, Black Sea, along the Ural Sea through the Ural mountains, into the Ural River. Though disputed by several alternatives, the Ural River and Mountains are the most widely accepted border because they are the largest geographical features and most decidedly divide people groups.
     While the Dardanelles that separate the two halves of Constantinople are the accepted modern boundary for two continents, the ancient Greek's definitions for the true European peoples did not align to its borders and shifted regularly through history.
     Greeks resided in Greece and along the Anatolian coast. Some identified all Greeks as European while others divided the city-states as European and Asiatic. The Greek empires following the Macedonian conquest of the Persian Empire intermingled the economies, political boundaries, and identities of the crossroads of continents. Despite the eastern overlap, ancient Greeks did not see the uncivilized Germanic tribes to the north or west as European.
     Rome's boundaries overlapped the continental divide well into the Middle East and maintained the fluid definitions of the Greeks. Rome's expansion into Gaul and Germania brought Greek ideas to the tribes; thus the Roman civilization that connected the northern Mediterranean expanded the cultural inclusions of Europe.
     After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire Charles "The Hammer" Martel's defeat of the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732 cemented the European identity of Franks with Martel's triumph declaration that Christianity was safe in Europe. The defense against further Muslim advance combined with the Christianization of northern and eastern Germanic tribes coalesced to form a cultural-religious distinction of Europe that has endured. Charlemagne rose from the Frankish kings to gain considerable control over modern France, Germany, the Low Countries, and Northern Italy. His borders combined with the recent memories of Rome's glory incited a fervor within the later leaders of the kingdoms of Europe to form a grand, united empire. The Holy Roman Empire sought to maintain its control from modern Denmark to Rome but often failed in enforcing those borders. Aside from those attempts at a vast European empire a century after Charlemagne, the kingdoms of Europe focused on survival and expansion.
     With the division of Charlemagne's Empire and the Norse invasions, Europe became introverted. Aside from the Holy Land Crusades from about 1000-1400, Europe focused internally and warred amongst itself. This secluded development allowed Europe to strengthen its own identities, particularly with the development of the monarchy-based nation-state. Though a continent united by religious values, Europe remained divided into spheres of influence for the greater powers even with the colonization and settlement of the New World by the rising global powers of Portugal, Spain, France, and England.
     The shift of power away from the ancient empires of Greece and Rome into the iron-rich regions of England, France, and the Germanic states again redefined Europe to mean Christianized peoples of Latin and Germanic descent and began excluding a Greece that remained part of the Middle Eastern-focused Byzantine Empire despite that the Byzantine Empire was descended from the same Roman Empire that inspired Charlamagne's European unification.
     Though certain monarchs had European ambitions through the late medieval and early modern periods, notably Spain's control of the Netherlands, it was not until Napoleon Bonaparte's rise from the French Revolution that a serious, ambitious attempt to conquer all of Europe was undertaken. Napoleon's development of total war spread nationalism, ruptured the antiquated governance of the German states, and empowered British overseas developments. Despite the insubstantial attention his efforts to permanently unify Europe, his near-success inspired a re-invigoration of the unification concept in intellectual hopefuls. The Germans responded by creating a coalition parliament, and Prussia developed the Zollverein. Three decades after Napoleon's defeat and in lieu of the 1848 revolutions, author Victor Hugo gained public attention for his suggestions of unifying Europe as a coalition of states. However, the desired balance of Great Powers in the nineteenth century superseded all inter-European interests and ignored the desires of idealists.

     After the carnage of World War I, intellectuals and some government officials proposed a unification of Europe, but the bitterness created by the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depressioin, and the development of competition between fascist and democratic states negated any efforts. Nonetheless, Hilter's solidification of Fortress Europe during World War II combined with the devastation and collapse of global empires facilitated an environment of cooperation. The Treaty of Rome, effective in 1958, was, essentially, an extension of the Zollverein that permitted free trade on steel and other materials within co-signer nations. The success of the European Economic Community (EEC) encouraged non-founder states to seek participation and led to the basis of the European Union which formed as a result of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993.
     As the European Union has grown and continued the post-world wars peace in Europe, the borderlands of Europe have sought acceptance into this profitable economic partnership. Greece gained admittance in 1981 despite questionable financial stability because of its history, trade, Christian religion and values, and involvement with both World Wars. Other Balkan states have since applied to join the EU as well but inconsistent economies and human rights records have delayed acceptance.
     Turkey, the main descendant of the power of the Ottoman Empire, applied to join the European Union first in 1987 but did not receive candidate status until 1999. It officially applied in 2005 and negations have continued through 2016 having been delayed by the global financial crisis of 2008, the Greek financial crisis, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
     Europe has been self-identified for centuries as Christian peoples of Germanic, Slavic, and Caucasian decent with strong Roman-Latin influences. Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim, but has many of the values, economic strengths, and military alliances as its European counterparts. Turkey is the grey area, the dotted-line on the border between Europe and the Middle East. Many eurocentric diplomats campaign against Turkey's admittance into the EU, but a hundred years ago, Turkey controlled significant interests in the Balkans and was referred to as the "sick man of Europe." As religiously distinct as Turkey is, the history of the Greco-Roman period, Byzantine, and early modern periods indisputably tie Turkey into the squabbles of the European powers. If it has suffered through the same alliances, world and cold wars, and the changing of empires, should it not also share in the economic prosperity of the European Union?
     The boundaries of Europe have been dynamic since their creation and fluid in their definition, but it is the decision of the modern claimants to the continent as to whether or not they will safeguard the Hellespont against the Asia of the ancient Greeks or extend a hand of welcome to the Europe of the Imperial monarchs.


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Agatha Tyche

Blown Out of Proportion

     Henry VIII's decision to remove England from the Catholic world and control of the pope set his kingdom against the most powerful empires of Europe. Spain and France, Catholic bastions that resisted the Reformation that divided the Holy Roman Empire, sought to pit their New World resources against the English for their blasphemous beliefs. Domestic support for the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church wavered for a several decades as every other ruler changed the official religion of the land. The protestant "virgin queen" Elizabeth I's support of the Netherland's rebellion against Spain combined with the strong religious disagreements of the two monarchs, saw the Spanish rouse an entire fleet to wipe out the English annoyance to Spanish and papal power.
     Philip II gathered 130 ships with the blessing of the pope to invade England and place whoever Philip II liked upon the throne. The Armada named "the Great and Most Fortunate Navy" sailed through the English Channel to connect with the Spanish armies posted in the Netherlands before staging an invasion on England.
     Before the Spanish could reach the Netherlands, the smaller English navy met the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Gravelines in the late summer of 1588. The English avoided a massacre by keeping their distance and aiming their guns just below the waterline of the Spanish ships. This strategy was developed to avoid the viscous Spanish boarding attacks that won them other historic battles. By forcing a draw instead of catastrophic defeat, as predicted by the Spanish, they were unable to make landfall at the Netherlands. The successful British precision fighting style at Gravelines prevented the Spanish from regrouping, attempting to invade England, and prevented a Spanish return through the English Channel. Instead, the Spanish were forced out to sea to sail around the British Isles through the North Sea and return to Spain by sailing around the west coast of Ireland.

     Because of the lengthy journey and the disrepair of many ships from the numerous, harrying battles, the Spanish Fleet was ill prepared for the devastating hurricane that smashed into the Armada as it sailed past Ireland. The strong winds combined with the loss of many ship's anchors during the battles smashed the ships onto the Irish coast. The survivors were finished off by English forces, and the ships raided by Irish locals.
     Only sixty-seven of the initial 130 Armadan ships returned to Spain. Many more men died as the ships waited in harbor from disease, injury, or sickness from exposure. This defeat definitely led to the slow decline of the Spanish Empire as it enable British settlements in the New World that developed into a rival empire.
     The successful defeat of the Armada both by battle and wind boosted English morale and the reputation of Elizabeth I. The fighting tactics of the English demonstrated the strength of cannon over boarding battles and changed naval warfare. Because of this pivotal shift in naval tactics, English quickly became the most powerful fleet in the Atlantic because of their quick adaptions and daring strategists.
     Additionally, the battle, and more importantly, the hurricane's destruction of the Spanish ships indicated to the Protestants of England and Europe that God had favored them. A providential view of events infused the histories and became a keystone to English identity as their New World colonies were settled. This strike against Protestant England by Catholic Spain failed, but two more attempts were made to invade in 1596 and 1597. Both of those fleets were also dispelled by storms, though not as disastrously.
     England's new naval tactics and the hurricane-wrought obliteration of the great Spanish Armada changed the development of European religion and the settlement of the New World. Despite the military and economic might of Philip II's Spain, the Protestant movement of Europe perceived an intervention by God. England triumphed when "He blew with His winds, and they were scattered." God saved the Virgin Queen.


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Agatha Tyche