HISTORY OF SPAIN

One of the characteristic features of the early history of Spain is the succesive waves of different peoples who spread all over the Peninsula. The first to appear were the Iberians, a Libyan people, who came from the south. Later came the Celts, a typically Aryan people, and from the merging of the two there arose a new race, the Celtiberians, who, divided into several tribes (Cantabrians, Asturians, Lusitanians) gave their name to their respective homelands. The next to arrive, attracted by mining wealth, were the Phoenicians, who founded a number of trading posts along the coast, the most important being that of Cadiz. After this came Greek settlers, who founded several towns, including Rosas, Ampurias and Sagunto. The Phoenicians, in their struggle against the Greeks, called on the Carthaginians, who, under the orders of Hamilcar Barca, took possession of most of Spain. It was at this time that Rome raised a border dispute in defense of the areas of Greek influence, and thus beguan in the Peninsula the Second Punic War, which decided the fate of the world at that time.
After the Roman victory, Publius Cornelius Scipio, Africanus, began the conquest of Spain, which was to be under Roman rule for six centuries. Once the Peninsula had been completely subdued, it was Romanized to such an extent that it produced writers of the stature of Seneca and Lucan and such eminent emperors as Trajan and Hadrian.
Rome left in Spain four powerful social elements: the Latin language, Roman law, the municipality and the Christian religion. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Suevi, Vandals and Alans entered Spain, but they were defeated by the Visigoths who, by the end of the 6th century, has occupied virtually the whole of the Peninsula.
At the beginning of the 8th century the Arabs entered from the south. They conquered the country swiftly except for a small bulwark in the North which would become the initial springboard for the Reconquest, which was not completed until eight centuries later. The period of Muslim sway is divided into three periods: the Emirate (711 to 756), the Caliphate (756-1031) and the Reinos de Taifas (small independent kingdoms) (1031 to 1492).
In 1469, the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, prepared the way for the union of the two kigdoms and marked the opening of a period of growing success for Spain, since during their reign, Granada, the last stronghold of the Arabs in Spain, was conquered and, at the same time, in the same historic year of 1492, the caravels sent by the Crown of Castile under the command of Christopher Columbus discovered America.
The Canary Islands became part of Spanish territory (1495), the hegemony of Spain in the Mediterranean, to the detriment of France, was affirmed with the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, and Navarre was incorporated into the Kingdom.
The next two centuries, the 16th and the 17th, witnessed the construction and apogee of the Spanish Empire as a result of which the country, under the aegis of the Austrias, became the world's foremost power, and European politics hinged upon it.
The War of Succession to the Spanish Crown (1701-1714) marked the end of the dynasty of the Habsburgs and the coming of the Bourbons. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formalized the British occupation of the Rock of Gibraltar, giving rise to an anachronistic colonial situation which still persists today and constitutes the only dispute between Spain and the United Kingdom.
In 1808 Joseph Bonaparte was installed on the Spanish throne, following the Napoleonic invasion, although the fierce resistance of the Spanish people culminated in the restoration of the Bourbons in the person of Fernando VII. In 1873, the brief reign of Amadeo of Savoy ended with his abdication, and the First Republic was proclaimed. However, a military pronunciamiento in 1875, restored the monarchy and Alfonso XII was proclaimed King of Spain. He was succeeded in 1886 by his son Alfonso XIII, although his mother Queen Maria Cristina of Habsburg acted as regent until 1902, when he was crowned king.
Prior to this, a brief war with the United States resulted in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, in 1898, thus completing the dissolution of the Spanish overseas empire.
In the municipal elections of April 12th, 1931, it became clear that in all the large towns of Spain the candidates who supported the Monarchy had been heavily defeated. The size of the Republican's vote in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona was enormous. In the country districs the Monarchy gained enough seats to secure for them a majority in the nation as a whole. But it was well known that in the country the 'caciques' were still powerful enough to prevent a fair vote. By the evening of the day following the elections, great crowds were gathering in the streets of Madrid. The king's most trusted friends advised him to leave the capital without delay, to prevent bloodshed. As a result, Alfonso XIII left Spain and the Second Republic was established in April 14th. During its five-year lifetime, it was ridden with all kind of political, economic and social conflicts, which inexorably split opinions into two irreconcilable sides. The climate of growing violence culminated on July 18th 1936 in a military rising which turned into a tragic civil war which did not end until three years later.
On October 1st, 1936, General Franco took over as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The Spanish State embarked on a period of forty years' dictatorship, during which the political life of the country was characterized by the illegality of all the political parties with the exception of the National Movement. Franco died in 1975, bringing to an end a period of Spanish history and opening the way to the restoration of the monarchy with the rise to the Throne of the present King of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borbon y Borbon.
The young monarch soon established himself as a resolute motor for change to a western-style democracy by means of a cautious process of political reform which took as its starting point the Francoist legal structure. Adolfo Suarez, the prime minister of the second Monarchy Government (july 1976) carried out with determination and skill though helped, certainly, by a broad social consensus the socalled transition to democracy which, after going through several stages (recognition of basic liberties, political parties, including the communist party, the trade unions, an amnesty for political offences, etc.), culminated in the first democratic parliamentary elections in 41 years, on June 15th, 1977. The Cortes formed as a result decided to start a constituent process which concluded with the adoption of a new Constitution, ratified by universal suffrage, on December 6th, 1978.
Between 1980 and 1982, the regions of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia approved statutes for their own self-government and elected their respective parliaments. In January 1981, the prime minister, Adolfo Suarez, resigned and was succeeded by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. On August 27th, 1982, Calvo-Sotelo presented to the King a decree for the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of a general election to be held on October 28th.
Victory of the polls went to the Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE) and its secretary general, Felipe Gonzalez. The socialists obtained 202 seats out of the 350 of which the Lower House consists and approximately 48% of the popular vote. Felipe Gonzalez was elected prime minister (December 2nd) after the parliamentary vote of investiture. The major losers were the Union of the Democratic Centre -which has split up following the defection of a number of its members- and the Spanish Communist Party (PCE). The Popular Alliance, whose chairman was Manuel Fraga Iribarne, made considerable gains (106 seats and approximately 26% of the vote).

The subsequent general elections of 1986, 1989 and 1993 were also won by the Spanish Socialist Party and consolidated the the position of the Popular Party, led by Jose Maria Aznar, as the second largest political force in the country.

The History of Nelson Mandela

                                                       

Born: 

18/07/1918

Died: 

05/12/2013

Birthplace: 

Transkei, South Africa.                                                   

A towering figure in 20th century history, Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela showed how wisdom and patience can triumph over bigotry and brute force. Truly the Father of a Nation.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of one of South Africa's leading dignitaries, Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe, and it was as a young law student that he became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime. Joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942, he co-founded its more dynamic Youth League two years later.

The 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party led to the apartheid system of racial segregation becoming law. Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause.

Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Treason Trial of 1956-1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the banning of anti-apartheid groups.

In 1961, he became the commander of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In August of the following year, he was arrested and jailed for five years. In June 1964, he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action.

He started his prison years in the infamous Robben Island Prison, a maximum security facility on a small island off the coast of Cape Town. In April 1984, he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was eventually released.

During his incarceration Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learned aboutAfrikaner history. He was able to converse with his guards in their own language, using his charm and intelligence to reason with them and try to understand the way they thought. This caused the authorities to replace the guards around regularly Mandela as it was felt that they could were becoming too lenient in their treatment of their famous prisoner.

While in prison, Mandela rejected offers made by his jailers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the Bantustan policy by recognising the independence of the Transkei region and agreeing to settle there. Amongst opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a cultural symbol of freedom and equality.

Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release. On 2 February 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990.

He and President de Klerk - who did much to dismantle the institutions of apartheid - shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In Mandela's 1994 autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom', he did not reveal anything about the alleged complicity of de Klerk in the violence of the 1980s and 90s, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in that bloodshed. However, he later discussed those issues in 'Mandela: The Authorised Biography'.

After his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the party in the multi-party negotiations that resulted in the country's first multi-racial elections. As the first black president of South Africa (1994 - 1999) he presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. He won praise for his leadership during this time, even from his former white opponents in South Africa.

Following his retirement as president in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human-rights organisations. He used his status as a respected elder statesman to give weight to pertinent issues, declaring the United States "a threat to world peace" in 2002 while calling on then president George W Bush not to launch attacks on Iraq.

Because his health was declining, Mandela chose to retire from public life in 2004 and went on to reduce his number of appearances, although he was too prominent a figure to disappear completely. His name has been used to promote charitable ventures close to his heart such as the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament, which has raised millions of rand for children's charities since its establishment in 2000.

The fight against Aids is one of Mandela's primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. Having backed the 46664 Aids fundraising campaign, which was named after his prison number, he went on to call for more openness in discussing the condition. His son Makgatho Mandela died of Aids in 2005 and the statesman used the occasion to tell people that not hiding the condition, but talking about it, is the only way to break the stigma.

In 2007, he brought together elder statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates including Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Li Zhaoxing under a non-governmental organisation dubbed The Elders. The aim of the organisation was to combine the elders' collective wisdom and use it to solve some of the world's problems.

Although he spoke out less about issues affecting neighbouring country Zimbabwe in his retirement, Mandela attempted to persuade President Robert Mugabe to vacate office with some dignity in 2007. However, Mr Mugabe ignored him and hung on to power, leading Mandela to slam the "tragic failure of leadership" in June 2008 when Zimbabwe was in crisis following disputed presidential elections.

In November 2009, Mandela's contributions to world freedom were rewarded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. The body announced that his birthday, 18 July, would be known as Mandela Day. The recipient of hundreds of awards and honorary recognitions, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela continues to exert influence on the world even without being actively involved in issues.

His last public outing was during the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. In January 2011, Mandela was hospitalised, prompting concerns about the health of the 92-year-old statesman. The Nelson Mandela Foundation revealed that he was in Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, although it said his life was not in jeopardy. He was allowed home after a couple of days and was transported home, where he leads a quiet retirement.

On 18 July 2012, Mandela's 94th birthday, 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa honoured him with a specially composed song to mark the day. Meanwhile, Mandela celebrated quietly at home with his family.

Mandela has been married three times, including a 38-year marriage to politician Winnie Madikizela, who was his second wife. They wed in 1958 and had daughter Zenani the same year. Their second daughter Zindzi was born in 1960. His youngest daughter was just 18 months old when he was sent to prison.

Nelson and Winnie separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. His first marriage to Evelyn Mase had also ended in divorce in 1957 due to his devotion to revolutionary agitation.

They had been together for 13 years and had four children together including Thembi, who was born in 1946. He died in a car crash in 1969 at the age of 23 and Mandela was not allowed to go to the funeral as he was in jail. Their first daughter Maki, who was born in 1947, died at just nine months old and the couple named their second daughter in 1953 in her honour. Makgatho was born in 1950.

On his 80th birthday he married Graca Machel, widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel. The couple now live at his home in Qunu.

Mandela spent more time in hospital towards the end of 2012, suffering from a lung infection and gallstones. He was discharged a few days before New Year and started 2013 at home surrounded by his family. 

He passed away on 5 December 2013 of a lung infection at his home in Johannesburg. He was 95 years old.

The History of Cricket

Cricket history is particularly murky and vague as to the exact origins of the game, it is believed to have been born in England in the late middle ages.

Edward III banned a game similar to cricket in 1369, 'pila baculorea' or 'club ball' as it was known, as he saw it as being a distraction to his war effort.

Derek Birley in his wonderful book, 'A Social History of English Cricket' suggests the game came to England with the French during the time of the Norman Invasion, that their word 'criquet' was the dialect name for a variation of club ball, the game Edward the III had sought to eradicate.

There is record of the word 'creag' as a derivative of the word creaget in 1299-1300 in the Royal Wardrobe Accounts, for the then Prince Edward the II to play 'creag' and other games.

There is no evidence that creag was the same as criquet, the links are too tenuous and games rarely appear in any records of this time unless the aristocracy were playing them or trying to have them eradicated as being morally degenerate.

Cricket is first recorded as a game played by schoolboys in Guildford in the sixteenth century and is found recorded in an Italian -English dictionary in 1598.

Gambling, the Aristocracy and Working Classes

The game by 1611 was being played by adults, it is recorded that two men were prosecuted for playing cricket instead of attending church.

On a similar theme, in 1628 ten men were fined for playing cricket rather than attending church service, they also had to make a confession to the congregation as way of penance.

As the game continued to evolve amongst the working classes and the aristocracy, gambling became central to its growth.

The aristocracy in particular, had seen in it, a game with the obvious attributes to bet on its outcomes. Teams were assembled under the patronage of Aristocrats and purses were put up for 'great matches'.

In 1696, ' a great match at Cricket was played in Sussex, they were eleven of a side, and they played for fifty guineas apiece'.

The game had been growing both within the english upper classes and as a genuine recreational past time for rural workers in the southern counties of England.

The composite teams that were beginning to be assembled for 'great matches' during this period of the early 1700's, were crossing the class divides; as the purses played for encouraged the nobility that were patronizing the teams, to employ the best players that could be found.

Thus, rural workers who had become adept at the game were being employed to play as 'hands' for the aristocracy and were travelling for their employ.

At this time London, particularly North London, can lay claim to being the cradle of the game as matches staged in Islington at White Conduit Field had a 'field keeper' for cricket and the Angel Inn as part of its amenities.

In 1718 a match at White Conduit Field brought cricket into the law courts after a dispute between the two teams.

The other area to lay claim to the 'Cradle of Cricket' was Hambledon in Hampshire, where the matches staged at the Broad Down of Halfpenny were where cricket began to ' assume that truly skilful and scientific character which it now possesses.'

The men of Hambledon were immortalised in the writing of John Nyren, who captured the spirit of the club, its segregation between the classes and its rich and varied club life.

The game continued to spread through England as the provincial towns grew with industrialization, with the first recorded game in Yorkshire played in the 1750's.

The Laws of the Game

By 1744 the Laws of Cricket had been codified and in 1788 the laws were revised by the Marylebone Cricket Club, they covered the length of the pitch, the distance between creases, wicket size, and ball weight.

After 1760 the game saw the evolution of over arm bowling, replacing under arm bowling as the main way to deliver the ball. The game began to see the use of various lengths utilised by bowlers and the development of the craft of batting, as batters sought to respond to new bowling techniques.

The 'Straight Bat' was introduced as part of this counter to new bowling techniques, the old bent 'hockey stick' style of bat went out of fashion.

See the pictures here from a display at the Lords Museum that show the bats evolution

The Global Spread of Cricket

Cricket began to spread with Britains' Imperialist ambitions, the Navy and Army were instrumental in its spread into the Colonies, with games being recorded in North America in the 1700's.

In the 1800's cricket had reached the West Indies and India, by 1788 at the inception of colonization in Australia the game was played and in the 19th century cricket had reached and was being played in South Africaand New Zealand.

The first International match was staged in New York in 1844 between Canada and the United States. In 1868 an Australian Aboriginal side toured England and by 1877 England played their first match against Australia to begin the games oldest rivalry.

In 1882 England lost to Australia, a mock obituary was written for English cricket and two Melbourne ladies burnt a bail and presented it to the England cricket captain in an urn.

Thus began the Ashes,the games longest running saga as the two sides play off every two years for the fabled urn.

In 1889 South Africa became the third test nation.

In 1900 cricket made its one and only appearance at the Olympics, England played France and won. Although interestingly, it looks as if cricket may be re-admitted to the Olympics in its shortest form, 20 20 cricket.

By 1909 the Imperial Cricket Conference was formed to administrate the game, primarily from an English perspective, with England, South Africa and Australia being its founder members.

India, the West Indies and New Zealand saw them become Test playing nations before the second WW, Pakistan joining after.

Affiliate nations like Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, Zimababwe and Bangladesh have become Test playing nations toward the end of the twentieth century.

Crises in Cricket

The Twentieth Century saw major crises in cricket, initially in the bodyline series in 1932 -33 between Australia and England.

Englands' method of countering the genius of Don Bradman lead them to bowl to a leg side field with short pitched bowling. The Australians deemed this 'not cricket' and against the spirit of the game. It was an event of such proportions that Australia threatened to take political action they were so disturbed by it.

Then in the 1970's the D'Oliveira Affair blew South Africa from the international cricket stage for over twenty years, as they refused to receive the England team with the Cape Coloured Basil D'Oliveira in it.

Its racist policies saw it cast into the wilderness only to return after the release of Nelson Mandela and the institution of multi racial cricket.

The 1960's and 70's saw the introduction of single innings games, with the first class sides in England playing limited over cricket, these proved hugely popular and cricket saw its first One Day International in 1971 between England and Australia.

In the mid 1970's an Australian Media Mogul, Kerry Packer, bought up the worlds best cricketers and set up World Series Cricket, the players played in coloured clothing. Packer took on the cricket establishment in a legal battle for the right to host and televise games and won.

World Series Cricket went a long way to professionalising the game in the 1970's and allowing the players a living wage from their profession.

Technology: Innovation or Invasion

As the One Day game developed it brought with it some of the innovations from Tennis and American football, the use of technology to bring better decision making for umpires and to highlight areas of interest for the TV audience.

Beginning with slow motion replays and specialist camera angles for Umpires, the game now has space age technology with 'Stump Cams','Hot Spots' and 'Hawk Eye', technology derived from modern warfare.

Whether technology has improved the decison making of Umpires remains to be seen, there have been breakdowns in the application of technology and its lack of uniform roll out across all international games undermines its credibility.

Twenty Twenty Cricket: Rebirth or the Death of Cricket As We Know it?

Twenty Twenty Cricket was born in England in the early 2000's, it literally exploded into new market places in cricket, it brought with it a new audience and target market.

It was spectacularly seized upon by the BCCI after the 2007 Twenty Twenty World Cup as they set up the Indian Premier League with the worlds best players, modelled on the English Premier League Football Competition.

It is now the worlds second biggest sporting event, second only to the Olympics, because of India's vast population and sub-continent marketplace.

How it grows will remain to be seen, whether it consumes itself with overkill or goes on to be the biggest growth area in cricket in the 21st century, only time will tell.