Austrian imperial crown, the largest cut emerald in Habsburgs’ Palace (Vienna) is the last treasure of Holy Roman Empire in the world. Napoleon of French abandoned his invasion to England in summer and started to proclaim the Austrian Empire in August 1804. The great interest of Napoleon and his son on Austria is to get the last treasure of Holy Roman Empire, the imperial crown. French start invasion to Austria with 200,000 troops while Austrian General prepared fortress of Ulm in Bavaria to prevent Napoleon threat.

The secrecy behind the royal treasury of Austria seen much complicated during that time, the crown was the personal belonging of King Rudolf II where the king of Austria was secretly decided to duplicate the crown with one of the famous illusionist in Austria. The duplicated crown was made of pure gold, partially studded with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. It was decorated with eight diamonds same as real one but the size of the octagonal body of the crown is two centimeters smaller than the real crown.         

Napoleon gain greatest victories over Austria in Battle of Austerlitz. Due to casualties, Austria made peace agreement in Pressburg and pay a war indemnity of 40 million francs to Napoleon. Russian withdrawal to east while Napoleon camp in southern Germany and established confederation.  Napoleon claimed the crown of Austria but Austria royal treasury deals French only with duplicated crown of King Rudolf as a friction of the day.

Official language: German, French, Italian

Land area: 15,940 sq mi/41,284 sq km

Population:  7,748,000

Dominant religion: Christianity

Capital: Bern

Switzerland is a small, mountainous country in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the north, Austria to the east, Italy to the south and France to the west. The Alps and the Jura mountains cover more than half the country’s landscape.

 The people of Switzerland are divided by the country’s four national languages – French, German, Italian and Romansh. The German-speaking group comprises roughly 70 percent of the population and live in the northern, eastern and central parts of the country. French is spoken by about 20 percent of the population. Most of the French-speakers live in the western part. About 7 percent of the population speaks Italian. Most of the these people reside in the south. Romansh is spoken mostly by people living in the mountain valleys in the southeastern part of the country.

 Switzerland is very industrialized and its citizens enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living. It is one of the world’s major banking and financial hubs. Many of the world’s wealthy open bank accounts with Swiss banks and enjoy high returns. Many Swiss products, especially its watches and automobiles, are world-renown. Switzerland is also major tourist destination. The Alps draws thousands of skiers every winter. Many international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have their headquarters in Switzerland.

 Switzerland had been part of the Holy Roman Empire but in the 1200’s the Hapsburg Empire took possession of nearly the entire country. The Swiss drove the Hapsburgs out but would continue to fight frequent wars with the empire until the 1500’s. During the French Revolution, the French gained control of the country. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815 Switzerland adopted neutrality and has not fought another war since. Even during World War I and World War II it was an oasis of peace while the rest of Europe was engulfed in war. After World War II it was even reluctant to join the United Nations for fear that it would be expected to provide troops in military situations. Nevertheless the country has provided troops in some UN peacekeeping missions.

The alphabet V has the sound of F in German language.

Thus we have the word vater for father pronounced as fater. Volks is the same as folks in English meaning common people. Thus Volkswagon is spoken as folkswagon meaning a car for common people. The alphabet s has the sound of z hence the word diesel is pronounced deezel. The alphabet z is pronounced as s. Thus zummerman is pronounced summerman. The combination ie is always pronounced as ee for instance diesel is pronounced as deezel. The combination ei is pronounced as long I like height. St is pronounced sht and sp is pronounced shp.

Thus keeping in mind the above rules the name Einstein is pronounced Iynshtyn, the word student is pronounced shtudent and the name Steven Spielberg is pronounced as shtefen shpeelberg. Another interesting rule is concerning the alphabet u. If u is simple and without double dots it is pronounced as u as in but. When two dots are placed on u like ü, it is then pronounced as u in put. Thus the word güt is pronounced goot and it means good in English.

Hence it follows from above that German language has easy to follow and well defined pronunciation rules to help foreigners speak it correctly.

I think we’re all familiar with the terrible human loss which came out of the First World War but this loss could have been considerably higher if it hadn’t been for the “home front” workers.

Munitions production had always existed in some form or another, even in times of peace, and at the start of the Great War in 1914 this level of production continued but as the war progressed it became more and more important to increase production and keep the guns ablaze.

Unfortunately, by the time this greater demand for munitions came to the fore, most countries, both ally and enemy had some problem that had to be overcome.  In the UK we had a problem with manpower as well as a shortage of cordite which was required for making shells which, in turn, was brought about as there was a shortage of acetone.

In France they had a problem with most of their major industries as they were basically under German rule and obviously there was no way of getting the materials through. 

Germany couldn’t get hold of the raw materials to make cordite and explosives and Austria-Hungary had a major problem by way of railway systems and transport.

By the end of 1914, both sides were thoroughly entrenched and it became essential for additional artillery shells to get through to the troops so that they could push their way forward.  At that time the trench line stretched some 475 miles from Nieuport in Belgium right along to the Swiss border. 

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle 1915

During March 1915 at Neuve Chapelle it’s recorded that the British forces fired more shells in a 35 minute bombardment than they did during the WHOLE of the Boer War less than 20 years earlier.  They did have a good supply of guns but what use were the guns if there was no ammunition?

By May 1915 this problem had reached a crisis point and many of the guns had been reduced to firing just four shells a day.  It seemed that the allies were on the brink of losing the war and on the home front, this caused a major stir.  Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith’s Liberal party were eventually ousted from power and were replaced by a coalition and although Asquith remained, in name, the Prime Minister he had David Lloyd-George taking on the role of the head of the Ministry of Munitions.

British Ammunition Factory

Lloyd-George set about his task with great gusto. He began a plan for building new factories.  But one of his first major tasks was to produce more acetone to make the cordite which was the one vital element in shell production.  To this end he approached a Manchester chemist, Chaim Weizmann, and asked him to produce this acetone from readily available raw materials.  One of the main “ingredients” of this acetone had been a dry distillation of wood but most of the wood had, before the war, been imported from major timber growing countries such as the US.  Unfortunately this wasn’t going to work due to two factors.  Firstly, it would be difficult for the US to get the wood to us across hostile waters and secondly, as the US were pretty neutral at the time, it wouldn’t have been right for them to “take sides” and provide us with what we needed.

But Weizmann had done a bit of research and discovered that he could produce acetone from a fermentation process whereby he could convert 100 tons of grain into 12 tons of acetone.  To this end, the government commandeered brewing and distillery kit and built factories to process the acetone at Holton in Dorset and (very close to home for me!) King’s Lynn in Norfolk. 

Supplying the labour wasn’t a huge task either.  Women and men unfit for service were deployed to work in the factories, both producing the acetone and the ammunition. 

This new workforce was also put to work in mines, on the land and in transport.  At the time women didn’t have the vote but, in an effort to keep the enemy at bay and in order to help their loved ones overseas they willingly took up the cudgel and were an enormous help during the four years of the war.  The acetone factories miraculously produced almost 100,000 gallons of acetone a year, enough to supply the munitions factories demand for cordite which, again, in turn shell production rose from half a million by the end of 1914 to 16.4 million in 1915.

By 1917 the British Empire as a whole was producing and supplying more than 50 million shells a year to our boys on the front and by 1918 when the war ended, the British army alone had fired 170 million shells.

British Troops

Germany of course had started off the war on an industrial high.  It had a high production of steel and was at the forefront of chemical and engineering research and technology.  In 1914 it was able to produce over one and a quarter million shells, but by 1915 even they were beginning to flag a bit as they could no longer get hold of cotton, camphor, pyrites and saltpetre which had to be imported.  This meant that their shell production went down. 

In 1916 the Germans picked up a bit of momentum when their wartime raw material department commandeered stockpiles of the much needed ingredients and ensured they were distributed to the relevant factories as well as overseeing the chemical industry’s production of synthetic materials which could be utilised.  The result was that during 1916 their shell production increased significantly to 36 million.  Unfortunately for them, the “super powers” of Germany Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria couldn’t possibly compete with the allies financial and industrial power which was now in full flow!

In 1917 Germany tried to maintain its slowly depleting and massively under equipped troops on  the Western Front by following a new tack – submarines.   However, by that time the US had joined the allies which, of course, tipped the enemy over the edge which enabled the allies to take the upper hand and ultimately “win” the war – but as everyone knows, there are never any real winners.  At the end of the day all countries were losers, not only financially but in the mass slaughter of our sons, fathers, and other loved ones.  That’s one thing that we can guarantee will never change.

I don’t know whether my friends outside the UK know the old nursery rhyme that the majority of us kids, certainly of the 1960s, learned off by heart.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

I’d never considered it had any real meaning when I was a child; it was just one of those mantras that we all quoted during our childhood years, but I can now see, having looked into the munitions production of the First World War, just how relevant it is.

One thing that did come out of the war however, was the recognition by our government that women weren’t just uneducated, unintelligent, ill-informed and frivolous but could provide an impressive work force when the chips were down and so, in 1918 women were finally granted suffrage and were able to vote.

Official language:  Italian

Land area: 116,408 sq mi/301,415 sq km

Population:  59,216,000

Dominant religion:  Christianity

Capital: Rome

Current leader:  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Italy is a country in Europe, surrounded by Switzerland and Austria to the north, Slovenia to the northeast, the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the south, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and France to the northeast. Italy occupies a distinctive boot-shaped peninsula that juts down into the Mediterranean Sea. Its territory also includes many offshore islands, the largest of which are Sardinia and Sicily.

 Italy was the center of one of the greatest empires that ever existed – the Roman Empire. At its peak, it included all lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including parts of North Africa and as far north in Europe as Great Britain. But by the A.D. 600’s the empire had broken up. Italy has preserved many treasures of its past, helping make it one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.

 The country is one of world’s leading industrialized economies and its products and consumer goods are big sellers. Rome, its capital, and Milan are two of the leading fashion centers in the world as well as economic and financial hubs.

 In the years following the fall of Roman Empire, Italy was split up and changed hands frequently, even being conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte for France. By the late-1800’s it had been mostly restored to its present-day boundaries and had even seized parts of East Africa for itself. Although it fought alongside of the Great Britain, France and the United States during
World War I, nationalism rose in the following years, led by Benito Mussolini, who promised to restore the days of the Roman Empire. In 1935, Italy seized control of Albania and 1936, it took control of Ethiopia.  Italy allied itself with Germany and Japan during World War II. Although it initially enjoyed success its military might later proved to be not very close on par with the other main belligerents of the war and it was the first Axis-aligned country to surrender to the Allies. As proof of how much most ordinary Italians were against involvement in the war, most civilians welcomed the invading Allied armies. Mussolini was later captured, tried and hanged.

 After the war, Italy rebuilt its shattered infrastructure and became a global economic power.

One term of study at an international sex schools cost around Rp20 million £ 1,400 per student. This is the first international school which teaches specifically about the intimate scene.

Ylva asserted that schools accept anyone who has over 16 years old to study at this school.

During the study, students will live romance combined in order to practice homework. “Education is our core is not theoretical, but very practical. Emphasis was on how to become a better lover,” said the principal.

However, the existence of this particular school protested a number of people. Advertising campaign featuring the school has banned sex scenes on television Austria. “Everything is wrapped in something that is very stylish, but basically just selling sex,” said a protester.

State prosecution official Heinz Rusch says the investigation has ended because of lack of proof the man broke that law.

The probe was launched last year after complaints that a website posting showed bottles with portraits of Hitler and the swastika. The site offered sales of spirits in “nostalgic bottles of former historical greats.”

The man was identified only as Roland M., in keeping with Austrian privacy laws. Legal officials say he was motivated by profit, not ideology.

The prosecutor’s office said Thursday the man stopped sales when legal action against him started.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

In the late 1700s, the Prussians joined the Austrians to defend their lands against Napoleon of France when the French leader’s armies invaded. But the Prussians were forced to give up territory east of the Elbe River. During Napoleon’s invasion, the German people began to demand a new government that was more democratic and similar to governments recently formed in other parts of Europe, especially in France.

The Congress of Vienna was held in 1815. Many of the German states, including Prussia, became united under Austrian rule. The congress established an assembly, the Bundestag, to represent each state. But this assembly could not solve the region’s problems. Revolts occurred in Germany and Austria in 1848, but they were crushed.

Last Wednesday, a bitterly cold, miserable day here in Norfolk, I went through my usual initial weekday routine – alarm goes off, drag myself out of bed, go through the usual ablutions, get dressed and head for the kitchen to have breakfast, feed the cats and then feed the wild birds.  The ground was solid, the grass was white with the sharp frost and, needless to say, I wasn’t feeling particularly joyous,  particularly as I had to work.

I climbed the stairs to my office to check my emails and see if any work had come in overnight and saw that I had an email from Hillside.  I instantly thought it was going to be horrible news – that they had some more poor animals that they wished to take in due to torture, abuse or abandonment, but was gladdened by the news that the dogs mentioned in my previous article http://socyberty.com/society/romanian-dog-rescue along with some others were now on their way to a new, more friendly home at the Sanctuary.

The dogs, at the time of the email, were just passing through Austria and Hillside understood that about 10 had been considered strong enough for the very long journey to foreign shores.  Among them were Sanni

Brick

and Petronel

These three little refugees were to arrive with a couple of new found buddies;

Lord

and Yura.

Hillside had sent a representative across to Romania the previous week to assess the situation out there and they had reported that, due to the extraordinary sub-zero temperatures currently affecting Eastern Europe, the rescuers who had been working hard to set up temporary shelters to house the dogs, were trying to compete with the ice and snow which had reached the top of the dogs 6 ft pens. 

On Friday morning I received another email from Hillside.  Apparently 14 dogs had arrived safely at the sanctuary the previous night.  I’ve attached some photographs of the dogs, looking a little bemused and wary, as they were “unloaded” and settled down in for the night.  Ten of them were to remain at Hillside for the time being but the other four were collected by local  foster carers.

Here’s a picture of the dogs as they arrived.

and a picture of a couple of the dogs as they were about to spend their first night on Norfolk soil in safe, warm and cosy beds!

Petronel has now been adopted and the adopters had waited for hours in the icy cold at the sanctuary to collect their little waif and stray and take him to a new safe, stable, non abusive life.  Here’s a picture of the now fit and healthy Petronel with his adopter.

A couple of the sanctuary workers are still out in Romania and are hoping to be able to organise another “shipment of refugees” to UK soil in the not too distant future.

The German crown went to Adolf of Nassau instead. But the nobles turned against Adolf when he tried to increase his family holdings through wars in Meissen and Thuringia, disputed areas in east and central Germany. Fearing that territorial acquisitions would give the king too much power, the nobles deposed him in 1298 and elected Albert in his place. Albert was crowned king of Germany at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapel) later in the year.

Pope Boniface VIII forbade the German princes to obey Albert, hoping to force the king to make concessions to the papacy in Germany in return for papal support. Instead, Albert allied himself with the pope’s foe, Philip IV of France. With the help of French troops and money, Albert succeeded in subduing the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, and Trier by 1302. But his fear of the increasing French influence in Germany and his desire for peace with the papacy led Albert to break his alliance with Philip in 1302. In 1303 he swore an oath of obedience to the pope and promised to defend the papal interests in Italy.

Albert never succeeded in being crowned by the pope. But his peace with the pope allowed him to concentrate on increasing the Habsburg possessions. He became involved in wars in the Netherlands, Hungary, Bohemia, and Thuringia, but the rulers of these countries were strong enough to retain their independence. His last campaign was in Switzerland, where the Habsburgs held disputed title to various estates. When the Swiss forest cantons of Schwyz, Nidwalden (part of Unterwalden Canton), and Uri revolted, Albert welcomed the chance to subjugate all of Switzerland. At the same time, his nephew, John of Swabia (later known as John the Parricide), requested recognition of his Swabian inheritance, but Albert rejected these demands. In revenge, John had him assassinated along the Reuss River, near Brugg, Switzerland, on May 1, 1308.

Albert II (1397–1439) was born on Aug. 10, 1397, and succeeded his father Albert as duke of Austria in 1404. The young duke, known as Albert V of Austria, took control of the government when he was 14. He assisted Emperor Sigismund in his unsuccessful war in Bohemia, and in 1422 married the emperor’s daughter Elizabeth.

After Sigismund’s death in 1437, Albert was crowned king of Hungary on Jan. 1, 1438, and of Bohemia six months later. He was chosen king of Germany on March 18, 1438, but was never crowned emperor. Although he gave promise of being an able ruler during his short reign, he was chiefly occupied with suppressing an insurrection in Bohemia and defending Hungary against the Turks. He died from dysentery on Oct. 27, 1439, while campaigning against the Turks in Hungary. After his death, the German crown passed to his cousin, Frederick III. It remained in the Habsburg family thereafter, with only one interruption, until the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.