Month: March 2019

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Upper Volta 1928, breaking off a small poor colony to better fight a hyena with an empty stomach

In the race to colonize Africa, France faced several armed struggles by native Africans. In order to deal with them large colonies were divided into smaller ones and those divisions were not able to be undone post independence. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp features a African Hausa tribal chief. The decade before the colony had been broken off from French West Africa to better control a Bani rebellion. The rebellion nearly succeeded and perhaps showing a tribe that didn’t rush to join the rebellion helped justify the French position. There is also a big dose of National Georgraphic style recording of the exotic in the far flung empire for those at home in France.

Todays stamp is issue A5, a one Centime stamp issued by the French Colony of Upper Volta in 1928. It was part of a 23 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth forty cents whether it was mint or used. In 1932 the colony was reintegrated into French West Africa, so the stamp did not have as long a run as some other similar French colonial issues.

France sought to bring under control interior areas of Africa adjacent to their already existent coastal trading posts. This was done in the hope of reducing tribal raids on the trading posts, economic development for the benefit of France and the bringing of civilization. At this point there was some hope of Africans resisting. The tribes had been trading with the colonials for more modern weapons and had large armies. The colonials presence was tiny in comparison. The biggest threat against the colonial push inland was Samori Toure’, the leader of then Wassoulou Empire. He was a Sunni Muslim. This made it difficult for him to form an effective alliance with other tribes to form a united front in West Africa against the encroaching French and British. Further hobbling his efforts was that much of the infantry force of his army were themselves slaves of the Wassaolou Empire have been taken during the still ongoing slave raids. The army proved no match for the much smaller French Army. Toure’ signed a series of treaties ceding territory to France. During one of the treaty signings Toure’ was described by Malian griot Massa Maken Diabati has a hyena with an empty stomach. Toure’ eventually had no more land to give up and was captured by the French and sent into exile in Gabon.

Wassoulou leader Almamy Toure’

During World War I in 1916, the Bani tribe again rebelled hoping to take advantage of Frances distraction. The Bani were able to put together an armed force of 15,000 troops, three times what the French could muster. Again though the French were able to defeat the Bani, though it took 2 years. After this France decided to break apart French West Africa into a series of smaller colonies for more direct control. Upper Volta was a landlocked area along the upper Volta River. It was very poor with bad roads and few railroads. The main industry was cotton plantations but these were quite unproductive without slavery. In the 1930s, Upper Volta was reintegrated with French West Africa.

Post World War II, the area of French West Africa was again subdivided. This was with an eye toward establishing some local government leading toward independence. As with Wassoulou leader Toure’, the Africans were not able to unite for progress and independence. Upper Volta was granted independence in 1960 and stayed desperately poor with one party rule. The first President spend more than half of each year at his villa in the south of France. In 1984, the country changed it’s name to Burkini Faso, which means the land of incorruptible people. I guess it is nice to imagine one’s ideal self. Over time since independence, there have been many schemes to unite the many small countries in the area. None have progressed and it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. If the leaders have proved incapable of running a small, less diverse country, one can imagine the mess that would be made of a big one.

Well my drink is empty and I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Germany remembers W111 when Mercedes built down for volume while Warszawa 223 built up

Yesterday we talked about how the Polish gradually improved their Warszawa model so it could serve properly local and even export automotive needs. This is important as without local production, cars must be imported and much wealth is exported. Germany through Mercedes addressed the same need by building an austere version of  a luxury car that could provide the production numbers required to make the whole enterprise worthwhile. How do the volume models compare? So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

In the late 1950s, Mercedes worried that their pontoon styling, shared with Warszawa and many others, was becoming dated. So they joined with the American and Italian trend and added tailfins to their sedan. These “fintails” proved embarrassing both for following American trends and doing so late on a car with a long production life. This stamp dodges the mistake by emphasizing the front end of the car which has more in common with the earlier pontoon style.

Todays stamp is issue A1514, a 1.45 Euro stamp issued by Germany on April 2nd, 2015. The 2 stamp issue in the same denomination remembers the Mercedes W1111 220 S and the BMW 507. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.60 used.

The W111 launched in 1959 and was built until 1968. This car shows the six cylinder version that was aimed at the private well healed buyer. It was less than one third of the volume of cars produced. Below that was a four cylinder gas 190 aimed at more frugal private and fleet buyers. Below that is the 190D with a four cylinder diesel engine that aimed at the taxi market in Germany and elsewhere. We learned yesterday that the proposed six cylinder Warszawa did not make it to production so lets compare the two cars where they matched up best, the 4 cylinders. For private owners, the Mercedes has some definite advantages. Sharing so much with a luxury model allows for higher build quality and better safety design. The smaller MB overhead cam gas engine beats the Warszawa slightly in acceleration and mileage but neither car is stellar and both have a top speed around 80 miles per hour. The smaller engine had to work harder to achieve the advantage and was far more complex. This was okay though as Germany was richer and therefore did not have to struggle for that last bit of life from their cars.

When we look at the diesel taxis power and economy are similar. The Mercedes taxis retain the complex independent rear suspension that may come up short compared to solid Warszawa rear axles in taxi service. Both cars had manual steering boxes and drum brakes with at first only manual transmissions. Mercedes and Warszawa both later added Borg Warner automatics. The Mercedes one was based on a design for the American Studebaker and the Warszawa was based on Borg Warner’s copy of the Ford Cruiseomatic.

Sophistication was the direction that this type of car was headed and therefore being built off a luxury car was ahead of the game. Poland gave up on the Warszawa line and replaced it with a smaller more disposable model based on the Fiat 125. In doing so, comparisons to Mercedes become ridiculous and instead the car was more comparable to a simpler Volkswagen Passat/Dasher. A sign that communism was preventing Poland from catching up to Germany.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering why no one thought of offering simplicity with the higher build quality. Wait calls are coming in, Rover on line one, Volvo on line two, and the real threat with their aggressive price dumping, Toyota on line three. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Philatelist 2 parter, Polish Pontoon today versus tomorrows German Fintail

There is a perception today that cars should only come from a few places. Poland no longer builds cars at the plant that built todays Warszawa 223, while Sindelfingen still builds cars where tomorrows fintail came from. Is that fair? So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp issue displays the products over time  of the Zeran car factory near Warsaw. The Warszawa 223 had left production 3 years before this stamp issue which also included the then current models. A great way to show heritage that was still evolving. The last Polish designed car left the Zeran factory in 2003 and the last locally assembled Korean car was in 2011. Neither event was recognized by a stamp. Sad endings…

Todays stamp is issue A665, a 1.5 Zloty stamp issued by Poland on November 6th, 1976. It was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used. There is also a souvenir sheet with all four stamps from the issue.

The Zeran automobile factory opened in 1948. As a gift from the always generous Josef Stalin, the factory was given a license to build the first Soviet indigenous car, the GAZ M20 Pobeda. By European standards, it was a larger car that was suitable for lower level officials and police and taxi work. It was rear wheel drive with a 2.1 liter four cylinder engine. The car had some similarity to the 1938 German Opel Kapitan, a car designed for Germany by  Opel’s American parent General Motors. The Russian car was made in Gorky along the Volga river as part of the factory shift east during World War II financed by the USA. The Pobeda was succeeded by the Volga line of sedans.

A Polish copy of a Russian car influenced by a car designed in America for use in Germany. Well you have to start somewhere. Japan’s early offerings were similar except that their copying often lacked license. After the Pobeda left production in Russia, development continued in Poland. The Warszawa 223 featured a more modern body in the pontoon style common on Mercedes of the day. The engine was updated to an overhead valve design and the floor shift was replaced by a synchronized steering column shifter. I mentioned taxi service, and like Mercedes Warszawa added a diesel engine aimed at that use. In the late 1960s, an even more modern style body and a six cylinder were contemplated.

Prototype 6 cylinder Warszawa 210. German sedans had their new class in 1968, this is what Poland could have offered

Instead the Zeran factory licenced production of the Fiat 125 to replace the Warszawa 223. As with the Warszawa before it, the Poles designed a new modern body called the Polonez to go on the older design that allowed production to extend into the 21st century.

Poland tried to keep car assembly going after the Polonez faded. Korean Daewoos were assembled even after Daewoo itself went bankrupt and they made the Aveo till 2011 when the license ran out. 1800 workers then lost their job.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another in anticipation of tomorrows study of the eqivelent Mercedes. What were they doing right that saw them survive, or was it luck? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Hong Kong 1988, cellebrating 100 years of the peak tram

Getting from the bottom to the top is always something to celebrate. Doing so with only a few interruptions for 100 years even more so. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering  from The Philatelist.

This is the type of British Empire stamp, that was so much more common in the 1950s and 60s than the 80s. An areas status as a colony is winding down and the stamp issues begin to display what the British would view as their achievements in the area. What is missing though is Queen Elizabeth II smiling down on the achievement. This is strange since her profile in the corner was still a common feature of the Hong Kong stamp issues. Probably the people involved with this stamp were not knowledgeable of the rich postal history they were treading into, and a further issue may have been the tram’s private ownership and the need to function as advertising for it. The modern world will always intrude.

Todays stamp is issue A106, a HK $1.70 stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong on August 4th, 1988. It was part of a 4 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating 100 years of the Peak Tramway. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 used.

In the late 19th century, there was an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in southern China including the Chinese residents of Hong Kong. The British in Hong Kong were very concerned with catching it and this spurred development at the top of Victoria Peak, the highest point in the colony. There they hoped to find fresher water and Chinese were not allowed to reside there. A Scottish railwayman Alexander Findley-Smith proposed a private tram to ease climbing the hill. A steam powered tram was constructed between 1885-1888. It terminated near the Peak on property adjacent to Finley-Smith’s house that he redeveloped into a hotel and then sold for a huge profit after the tram opened.

Peak Tram line in 1897

Initially the tram operated in three classes. First Class was reserved for colonial British officials including the front two seats for His Excellency the Governor. If he wasn’t on board 1 minute before departure it was possible to ride in his seat. Second Class was reserved for British soldiers and police. 3rd Class was everyone else and animals. The class requirements ended in 1949. The tram was damaged and did not operate during the World War II Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

In the 1950s the tram was electrified and in 1989 computerized. The tram is currently owned by the Peninsula Hotel and the Peak station is now within a shopping complex known as the Peak. Typical of an ex colony to edit out Queen Victoria. The tram serves 17,000 travelers a day.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Mr. Findley-Smith, for his inspiration and the ability to follow through. A skill we all seem to be losing in modern construction. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Dahomey 1941, never mind the canoe, watch out for the Dahomey Amazons

Traditional Africa seems strange. Dahomey  was conquered by the French to end the slave trade. To do that, they had to defeat the Dahomey Kingdom’s army of female Amazon warriors. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp issue from Dahomey during it’s French period show National Geographic style views of Dahomey. In doing so, I think they make the point that it is not an important place to the French. It was perhaps a little to foreign.

The stamp today is issue A7, a 2 Centime stamp issued by French Dahomey in 1941. It was part of 22 stamp issue in various denominations. There are further issues that lack this stamps RF. These are considered fake and were issued by the German puppet Vichy government but not sold for postage in Dahomey. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

Dahomey was a kingdom in west Africa in modern day Benin. The King employed an all female army. To European armies that encountered them, they were known as Dahomey Amazons. Locally the female warriors were known as ahosi, which means King’s wives. The main industry was the slave trade and the army was used for slave raids. In the 1850s, the British tried to get Dahomey away from the slave trade and get them to stop raiding nearby outposts in Nigeria looking for slaves. They tried to get the King to get involved in the palm oil trade. When Dahomey refused to end their participation in the trade, Britain eventually blockaded Dahomey’s ports.

Dahomey than reached out to the French who got the British blockade lifted in exchange for trade concessions. The French than built a new port but at this point the Dahomey tax system was still in place and the Dahomey army was still raiding for slaves. In the 1890s, the French decided to bring Dahomey under control directly  and 2 wars were fought with the Dahomey army. At first the French refused to fire on the female warriors who only had bayonets and no guns. The hesitation allowed the Amazons to aggressively attack French officers. Eventually in 1892 the Amazon warriors were engaged in a Bayonet charge where 500 were killed at the loss of only 6 French. The King was captured soon afterwards and the once 6000 strong Amazons officially disbanded, although French colonial officials were attacked repeatedly by knife wielding females throughout the colonial era. The last female veteran of the Kingdom of Dahomey died in 1979 at over a hundred years old.

A 1908 reunion of Dahomey Amazon female warriors

By then Dahomey had been independent for 18 years and had renamed itself the Peoples Republic of Benin. There are two current pretenders to the old Throne of Dahomey. The modern Benin armed forces is only about 4000 and has no all female units.

Well my drink is empty and I am rendered speechless by this previously unknown to me history. Thirsty, but still speechless. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Bolivia 1892 relying on silver, tin, and corruption

You have to admire the pretentions of early Latin American stamps. When you look deeper, the sad reality comes into view. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The title of this article mentions corruption. This stamp is a good exemplar of that. The original stamp was designed and printed in London under a contract with the Bolivian government. This is normal for a small country, stamps are essentially currency and so have to be printed elaborately to avoid forgery. However a corrupt Bolivian official contracted with a Paris printer for further copies of the same design. The paper of the Paris printing was thicker. The Postal authority initially rejected them but failed to return or destroy the stamps and some were eventually used. Meanwhile further copies of the stamp were fraudulently cancelled in Paris and sold to stamp dealers. My stamp displays this style of cancelation.

Todays stamp is a fraudulent printing of issue A9, a 50 Centavo stamp issued by Bolivia in 1892. The legitimate issue consists of seven stamps of various denominations displaying the then Bolivian coat of arms. The London legitimate printing of my stamp is worth $20 according to the Scott catalog. The fraud attached to my copy leave it worth far less.

Bolivia got it’s independence from Spain in 1825. For a while there was a federation with Peru that marketed itself as a successor to the Inca Empire but the ruling class was still of Spanish heritage. A disastrous series of wars with Chile ended the federation with Peru and then later lost Bolivia it’s outlet to the Pacific ocean. The main industry in Bolivia was mining of silver and copper but without a seaport there was little way to export it. Much of Bolivia is high and dry so the export revenue is necessary to pay for the importation of food. Eventually British investors were enticed to build a railroad that connected Bolivia to the port of Antofagasta in Chile. This arrangement ate up a lot of the profits but gave some security to the ruling landowner class. Their political party marketed themselves as Conservatives and were based in the capital of Sucre.

Meanwhile a rival political movement rose out of La Paz that marketed itself as Liberal. The impetus behind them were tin mining that wanted the railroad extended to them and the capital transferred to La Paz. British investors eventually saw to it that the railroad was extended and now Bolivia has two capitals. The railroad still operates with the British eventually selling out to the Chileans who now benefit from much of the profit of the export of Bolivian resources. To their credit, they have managed to keep the railroad operating without the help of a major power. It seems that Bolivia will forever pay the price for foolish wars from 150+ years ago.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the British investor that accomplished a long lived railroad that locals could not achieve on their own. I suspect it was never as profitable as they hoped and they of course will never receive any thanks from the beneficiaries in Bolivia or Chile. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Bermuda 1912, establishing bases in a back water

There were ex slaves, but based on piracy more than plantations. There were military bases, but more based on fighting piracy than great powers. Then there was also salt raking and tourist to compete for the local attention. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The subject of todays stamp is a demonstration of Britain’s confidence in their staying power in Bermuda. The stamp shows a 16th century Spanish caravel ship of the type that Spanish explorer Juan de Bermudez sailed when he discovered the island unoccupied. On a return visit he left some cows and pigs in case anyone was ever marooned there in a shipwreck. That is a lot about Spain and not much about Britain for a British colonial issue, but Spain had lost it’s last presence in the western hemisphere 15 years before so it was now safe history to explore.

Todays stamp is issue A11 a 2 and a half pence stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Bermuda in 1912. This was a 15 stamp issue in various denominations and various versions between 1910 and 1934. I believe mine is the early version and if I am correct the Scott catalog places the value at 70 cents used.

As stated above, the Island was discovered by Spain who did not actually occupy it. A settlement was attempted by the Virginia company behind the Jamestown settlement. The area became a hideout for pirates and privateers and Britain sought to stamp that out by establishing a colony and a naval base. The African slaves were not brought in directly but rather privateers raided slave ships and then sold their trophies in the Bermuda slave markets. An early industry on the island was salt raiking were salt is raiked out of trapped seawater.

Over time the island came to have more of a relationship with the USA. Many Bermudan men found work at sea and so the islands became heavily female. The large British naval bases might have been able to solve that problem except for the arrival of ever more American tourists in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tour operators discovered than many Americans were bringing along their daughters in the hope of marrying them to British officers of noble background. Hotels began having a season of dances and other activities that invited officers. This left the Bermudan girls with just the enlisted men, some of whom were enticed to stay after their service.

One group that did not stay but left quite an impression were Boer prisoners of war around 1900. The colonial governorship was then held by an ex British General in the Boer war. One prisoner was a noted escape artist named Fritz Duquesne. He had already escaped 4 times before being sent to Bermuda. Here he escaped again by swimming over a mile and then stowing away to America. In America he was employed as a spy for Germany during both World Wars. He guided a U-boat that sunk the ship carrying his old Boer War rival Lord Kitchener. Later under arrest, he faked paralysis and was transferred to a hospital ward where he cut the bars from his window and escaped dressed as a nurse. He reappeared during WWII again spying for Germany. This time, he was older and the prison held on to him. In his last years he was patrolled and told his story as My Life, in and out of prison.

Bermuda remains a British Colony, they are now referred to as overseas territory. The military bases are gone but the backwater continues to do well for itself as a financial center and secondarily through tourism. With the British and American forces gone, Bermuda formed a locally staffed regiment that is part of the British Army. It is the last British unit that staffs using conscription of young males.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Spanish explorer Bermudez. Not just for finding it but having the sense to leave pigs and cows to make the place sustainable for future residents. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Togo 1984 remembers the Bristol 400

What a strange place Togo is to put out a stamp remembering the Bristol automobile. On the other hand, it seems a car worthy to remember. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The aesthetics of todays stamp are great and the Bristol story is worth remembering and retelling. They only built 700 Bristol 400 and Togo was not a British colony where the governor may have had a fondly remembered locally example. Maybe a British ambassador or merchant? No this is a topical stamp and the topic is the Bristol 400 automobile, so that is what we will talk about.

Todays stamp is issue A265, a 1 Franc stamp issued by independent Togo on November 15th 1984. It was part of an 8 stamp issue of classic cars in various denominations, the top three airmail. There are also 2 souvenir sheets. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether mint of cancelled to order.

Bristol was an airplane company under Baronet George White. During World War II, the company made thousands of Blenheim and Brigand light bombers and Beaufighter night fighters. White had amassed a highly skilled workforce and worried how to keep it together post war. His firm designed a giant airliner called the Brabazon but he also had the idea of a high end sporting car that would be built to a much higher standard than rivals. The Brabazon airliner failed, it was supposed to be able to fly non stop between London and New York and to accomplish that no fewer than 8 engines were teamed behind 4 propellers. In testing this caused the propellers to crack under the strain and the project was cancelled.

On  cars, White had the idea of basing his car on an existing prewar Axis design, he had admired prewar Lancias and BMWs. BMW lost one of its big factories in the eastern sector and the plant in Munich was also heavily damaged. The East Germans managed to get the eastern sector plant  operating and prewar models were marketed under the name EMW. The B on the engine block was filed down to make an E.

White and his team traveled to Munich and met with BMW engineers. The engineers were paid for their time and the British remember them being excited about their cars continuing in England. The blueprints and a prewar race car were shipped to England and Bristol made their first copy in 1947. The had made improvements to the rear suspension but deleted the BMW’s fuel injection as they felt it beyond them. The Bristol cars were hand made and sold as lifetime cars from only one dealer in London.

The car was slowly developed but as with many European cars it was found that the small engine was unable to supply enough power to the increasingly heavy car. Bristol’s one salesman, Tony Crook also had a Chrysler owned Rootes franchise and when their executives saw his Bristol they were happy to allow him to use their V8s. This big change transformed performance but made the car more of a touring car. Chrysler assigned an engineer to work directly with Bristol even though they ordered fewer engines a year than a medium sized dealer service department. In 1968, George White had a bad crash in his Bristol that left him brain damaged. Tony Crook was able to keep the business going on a shoe string. The factory would take on refurbishments of older cars and prewar BMWs between new car hand construction. The cars sold in such small volume that many wealthy buyers chose it because nobody knew what it was. So the Bristol was the ultimate in understated luxury. As a nod to the companies history, in the 80s and beyond, model numbers were dispensed with and the company used the old airplane names.

late 2009 Bristol Blenheim 4, the last model to use the old BMW frame

Unfortunately the firm was not able to function after Tony Crook’s retirement in 2006. They went into receivership in 2011 and  the assets passed to a Russian Oligarch based in London. He has plans for new models no longer based on the old BMW frame but in the meantime the factory and one dealer concentrate on reselling and refurbishment of the old cars.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast George White and Tony Crook for finding a way to keep a workforce together for so long after the war. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Dutchy of Brunswick 1865, getting the right Duke to allow coming together

A while back we did a very similar Prussian stamp. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/02/18/prussia-1861-the-great-questions-will-not-be-resolved-by-speeches-and-majorities-but-by-iron-and-blood/ . There is a reason the two stamps are so close. The area was about to join Prussia in the new German Empire. If they can just figure out how to bypass all the uncooperative Dukes. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I don’t quite get the design of this stamp. The simple style of printing is called roulette and it is on very cheap paper. That would imply  that it’s purpose was bulk postage. Yet the stamp value goes up 20 times is it has been postally canceled. That implies not many were used. I wonder if a large number were ordered from out of state printers and they barely arrived in time to be used before the post office of Brunswick merged. It was the last stamp issue of the Dutchy of Brunswick.

Todays stamp is issue A4, a 3 Groshen stamp issued by the Dutchy of Brunswick in 1865. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $8 unused.

The Dutchy of Brunswick came into being in an area called Wolffenbuttell that had been part of the Kingdom of Westphalia until the Congress of Vienna in 1815, The Duke who received the area died in battle leading a volunteer unit called the Black Brunswickers alongside Austria against Napolean. His young son Charles II was Duke but the area was ruled by a regency dominated by the state of Hanover. Charles II was anxious for the right to rule and claimed majority upon hiting age 18. The Regency felt he should wait till he was 21 but they compromised on age 19. During that year Hannover drafted a new constitution that limited the Duke’s powers and the moneys and tributes that were due him. On taking power, Charles tried to have the new constitution annulled but none of the other German states agreed. His rule was considered corrupt and wasteful and during the troubles of 1830 his castle was attacked and burned to the ground, Charles escaped to Paris but did not abdicate. His younger brother William arrived in Brunswick a few days later and was welcomed by the people. At first he claimed to be acting as Regent for absent Charles but a year later declared himself Duke. Charles was outraged and tried to put together an armed mercenary force to march on Brunswick, but other German and French leader would not cooperate. He ended up settling in Britain and later Switzerland. He became a fairly notorious figure for although he was married to a lesser noble whose issue could not serve. Charles was constantly sueing gossip magazines for claiming he was often observed soliciting for homosexual sex. He died in Geneva and his fortune went to build a monument to Brunswick there.

Charles II, deposed and exiled Duke of Brunswick

Meanwhile his brother William actually was ruling in Brunswick. He never married and he fathered multiple children out of wedlock. They could not succeed him. William retained his title but allowed the Dutchy to pass into the North German confederation dominated by Prussia. His closest male relative was the recently deposed King of Hannover. Hannover had sided with Austria in the 1866 war with Prussia and was conquered. If William died the Dukedom would pass to the former King. This was not acceptable to Prussia unless he renounced his claim on Hannover which he never did. When William died a new Regency was arrainged under a Prince of Prussia. The former King of Hannover finally figured out how regain his families place at least partially. He renounced his claim in favor of his youngest son  Ernst August who had married the daughter Kaiser Wilhelm II, the grandson of the Prussian King that took his Kingdom. In the good graces of Prussia again, the Regency ended and Ernst became the last Duke of Brunswick. The Weimar republic ended the position in 1919.

William, Duke of Brunswick

Well my drink is empty and one wonders what the regular person in Brunswick thought. From exile, Charles wrote that without him, Brunswick would inevitably fall to the socialists. It did that in 1919 but perhaps the people shouldn’t have been so quick to give up the ruined palace in 1830, could the socialists have been any worse? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.