Wilson‘s Retrospective Summer/Autumn Edition 2014 THINK YOU‘RE A HISTORY GENIUS? THINK YOU‘RE BRITAIN‘S YOUNG HISTORIAN OF THE YEAR 2015? Prove it! Enter the History Department‘s essay writing competi- tions. You can choose one of the following topics: 1) Any aspect of British involvement in the Second World War (KS3 & GCSE/A Level categories) 2) Any aspect of the First World War (KS3 only) 3) Work on any local history theme (KS3 and A Level) What Should My Question Be? Formulate a question which begins with one of the following stems: How important was .... ? To what extent did .... ? How significant was …. ? How successful was …. ? CLOSING DATE: MONDAY 16TH JULY 2015. CONTENTS Foreword from the Editors Page 4 The History of the AK-47— A German Story Page 5 The Battle of Mons Page 6 What is History? Page 9 Che Guevara: A Divisive Revolutionary Page 10 The Ming Dynasty Page 12 The Emperor Nerva Page 13 Lessons From Auschwitz Page 14 The Columbian Exchange Page 18 Historical Factfile: Lord Kitchener Page 19 Escaping to Israel Page 20 Wilson‘s History: Harold Auten VC Page 21 The Birth of the NHS Page 22 The July Crisis of 1914 Page 24 Notable Anniversaries of 2014 Page 26 Can you help? If you‘d like to help Wilson‘s Retrospective by writing articles, please contact us at: [email protected] OR [email protected] Hello and Welcome The year 2014 has been a thoroughly interesting one. Not only is Wil- son‘s on the cusp of celebrating its quatercentennary, but Britain as a whole has experienced a very historic twelve months. From commemo- rating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in the Summer, to being on the brink of separation with the Scottish Independence Referendum in the Autumn, this country has witnessed many important events. Thus this edition of Retrospective takes a look at arguably one of the most significant periods in both Wilson‘s and Britain‘s recent history: the first few months of the First World War. The causes of the conflict still divide Military Historians to this day, and Andrew explores this de- bate at the end of this edition. But before that, we take a look at the Bat- tle of Mons, the first engagement of the war fought by British troops; our Historical Factfile looks at a man who was instrumental in encouraging millions of British men to join up, Lord Kitchener; and our Wilson‘s History section charts the life of old Wilsonian, and Victoria Cross- winner, Harold Auten. We also bring you Phil, Alastair, Kieran and Jack‘s experiences of the ‗Lessons From Auschwitz Project‘, as well as fascinating pieces on the origin of pizza, the AK-47, the Ming Dynasty of China and Che Gueva- ra. We hope you enjoy your read. Jack Nicholls and Andrew McDonald Editors of Wilson’s Retrospective 4 The History of the AK47- A German Story by Patrick Kirby The inspiration for this Russian assault rifle was actually a Nazi German assault rifle called the Sturmgewehr 44. This was considered to be the first true assault rifle and was developed by the Nazis during the Second World War. The designer Hugo Schmisser highlighted a gap in the gun market where most guns were being designed for either long range or very short, close quarter firing. The problem of having no gun to satisfy battles that took place at medium range was highlighted by the Gewehrprüfungskommission (German, Small Arms Proofing Committee). They concluded that many battles The Sturmgewehr took place at less than 2km so a new rifle was needed to conquer this firing range. This would give German soldiers three main advantages: they could carry more ammunition, gain the physical benefit of using a lighter weapon and importantly increased fire- power. Hitler was very much opposed to the new pro- ject because he felt it added extra strain to an already complicated plan. He did not want a new weapon to be launched to the front line in such little numbers and there were not enough suppliers to produce the volume that The AK-47, one of the most iconic weapons of the last 100 years. the German Army required. However the real story of the AK47 only begins once the Germans were retreating through Poland and into their own homeland as a result of the resurgence of the Red Army towards the end of WW2. The Russians became increasingly in contact with German sol- diers and their equipment- particularly the STG44. A man, called Mikhail Kalashnikov, was part of the Red Army during the war but was sadly injured while on patrol in a tank. He was sent to hospital and it is during his time spent on his bed that he began designing the gun which would go on to be the most iconic weapon of the 20th and 21st century. He understood the need for a light and powerful weapon but he also added his own touch of making the gun very robust. The first designs Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013) were tested in 1946, known at the time as the AK46 but was later tested in 1947 following the results of the experiments con- ducted the previous year. The gun went into full scale production in 1947 and the name of AK47 has stayed ever since. (A family gun tree from the AK47 has been created subsequently, with the latest gun being the AK200). The AK47 has survived for over 60 years as one of the most recognisable guns in the world and has been manufactured more times than any other assault rifle on the planet. The gun has been used across Africa, Asia and in the last ten years, the Middle East. The gun is even on the flag of Mozam- bique, where the gun was a sign of the liberalisation struggle. Unfortunately due to the features of the gun it is now widely used by ‘child soldiers’ due to its small number of moving parts (8) and high power to weight ratio. Mr Kalashnikov said, in response to the increased use of the AK47 across the world, ‘this a weapon of defence, not a weapon of offence. And that I intended it to be used a defence of the motherland (Russia)’. 5 The Battle of Mons by Jack Nicholls This year has been full of many significant anniversaries, from the seventieth anniversary of the D-Day landings and Operation Market Garden to the bimillenial of the death of Augustus Caesar, the first Em- peror of Rome. But perhaps the most significant event for Britain has been the centenary of the start of one of the bloodiest conflicts of her history, the First World War. Beginning with the assassination of the Austro- Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914, the war would escalate into fierce fighting on numerous continents. Such names as Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele and Gallipoli would become synonymous with the carnage that fol- lowed. However the first major engagement between British and German forces on the Western front is clouded in obscurity. Unlike the industrial maelstroms produced by later battles, this relatively unknown clash Advancing German infantry 1914. saw the old ‗Contemptibles‘ of the British Expedition- ary Force (B.E.F.) engage the Germans in open country. It saw some of the last cavalry charges and it was the first time that British troops had fought on European soil for ninety-nine years. The Early Stages The German Schlieffen Plan, which aimed to cut through Belgium, capture Paris and defeat the French within 6 weeks, was slowing down. Although the French had suffered appalling casualties in the Battles of the Ardennes - losing 27,000 men killed on 22nd August alone - the Belgians had put up unexpectedly stiff resistance, with their fortress city of Liege in particular proving to be very tough going. Nevertheless the Germans were advancing fast, and in front of them was the inadequately small British Expe- ditionary Force, which consisted of about 120,000 reg- ular soldiers, only 70,000 of whom were to be involved at Mons. The Germans had committed nearly 1.5 mil- lion men to the fight on the Western Front however, and the Kaiser himself had remarked upon the ―contemptuous‖ size of the force that Britain had put into the field. But the ‗old Contemptibles‘ was not a new force. Its "A" Company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, resting in the size was appropriate for its role of policing the Empire, town square at Mons before entering the line prior to the Battle of which it had done for decades theretofore. Neverthe- Mons. less it was highly out of sorts for the scale of the fighting of the huge continental war in which it now found itself. Bismarck too had observed that if the British Ar- my landed and attacked Germany he would send a patrol of Berlin policemen to arrest it. It was thus clear that in order to be taken seriously in this new conflict Britain would need to mobilise fast. But right now her pre-war regular Army was all she had ready for combat. 6 6 The Battle Despite her small size the B.E.F. was a superbly-trained, well-armed force of professionals; it would be able to put in a good account of itself against a modern, mechanised European army, which would pro- vide a very different test from that of the Boers or the Zulus.