The Crimean War Between Russia and Britain
by M. Concannon
Perhaps the most purposeless war of the modern era is the Crimean War of 1854-1855. For the Russians, the war is another example of its defence against invaders. For the British it says a lot about our ability to succeed even when things go wrong.
After the Napoleonic wars, Russia was growing as a world power. She was gaining land in the Far East, regions which are now former Soviet Republics. Britain, too, was a world power, but was more interested in its navy. Both countries wanted to dominate foreign markets with their manufactured goods.
Naturally, these two expanding powers were going to clash at some point. Turkey’s weakness was a threat to both powers. Its collapse would have threatened Russia’s southern borders, and for Britain, Russia in Turkey would bring a rival to the Mediterranean.
Britain and France collected an Army to stop Russia in Turkey. But Britain’s Army had been small since the Napoleonic wars, thirty years before. Its generals were now too old, and its command structure was weakened by arguments and personal hatred. The cavalry commander, Lord Lucan, and his deputy commander, Lord Cardigan, hated each other intensely. The overall British Commander, Lord Raglan was mad. He still believed that the French were the enemy: “The French are in the yard! The French are in the yard!” His advisors had to remind him that this time it was the Russians who were the enemy, and the French were in fact his ally.
The British and French landed near Sevastopol in 1854, and the Russians retreated into the protecting walls of the fortress of Sevastopol. The British and French moved around to the south to make a naval base at Balaklava for re-supply. The city’s fortifications had strong, modern walls of earth and brick, and heavy defensive guns. The British and French did not imagine that they would spend a year outside these walls, looking for a way in. The Russians tried to break the siege, cutting off the British and French from their base in the battle of Balaklava.
Why does every Englishman know the name of the small Crimean town Balaklava? Two incidents have stuck in our national psyche. The first shows British determination. After capturing some Turkish guns, a division of Russian cavalry charged but was defeated by a single Scottish infantry battalion of the 93rd Highlanders. People called this: ‘The thin red line’, because of the line the Scots formed into, and their red jackets. They should have been cut to pieces, but instead they stood like a wall, and held. Ever since, people in English have used the phrase 'Thin Red Line' about situations where a small force prevents some terrible thing from happening. In Britain and America this phrase has changed into ‘The Thin Blue Line’ to talk about the police.
Secondly, the infamous British ‘Charge of the light brigade’ (гусары) immortalised in Tennyson’s poem, and in Lady Butler’s melodramatic painting, says a lot about our national sense of fatalism. Due to a confused order and arguments between commanders, the British light cavalry brigade charged into a valley, and was surrounded by Russian artillery and infantry. It was suicidal for the British. The phrase ‘The Charge of the light brigade’ has been used by Brits ever since, to express a costly mistake.
Although the charge was costly, it was nothing compared to the losses because of cold and unsanitary conditions in the British camp. Losses due to illness, inadequate winter clothing and starvation were preventable, and hard to understand today. By February 1855, the original army of 51,000 had been reduced to just 12,000, most dying of sickness.
Balaklava itself is also in our modern British vocabulary. The ‘Balaklava helmet’ is a long woolen hat, which had been invented by women back in Britain, knitted, and sent to keep British troops warm during the winter. Today this hat is mainly used by bank-robbers, who want to hide their faces!
The scandal of British incompetence resulted in two institutions. First was the world’s first professional war correspondent, William Howard Russell of the London Times. Russell brought the British government to its knees with his truthful stories of the suffering of British troops. Second was the beginning of professional nursing. The most well known nurse was Florence Nightingale, who revolutionised the care for the sick and wounded by establishing permanent, properly run hospitals. She has been immortalised by her painting appearing on British five-pound notes.
The effects of the war, politically, were few. Russia retreated to its pre-war borders, and Turkey continued its decline. France and Britain were unaffected. Only in the language, and the establishment of nursing and the presence of the press on the battlefield, did we gain something useful from this bitter war.
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| growing high-yield crops | biological control of pests |
| alternative energy sources | practical preventive measures |
| A: | A recent survey showed that 60% of Masai children suffer from trachoma. One way it can be spread is by the use of polluted water or communal water already used by people with the disease. Flies are the main carrier, lured by the milk around a child’s lips and nose. An empty tin with a small hole in the bottom is a simple way to combat the problem. A cupful of clean water is poured into the tin. Children then use drops of clean, uncontaminated water to wash their eyes. |
| B: | Agricultural experts have developed a new prolific variety of cassava, but, unlike Asia’s wheat and rice, the cassava needs no fertiliser or irrigation. The plant has long roots that tap soil moisture deep in the ground, helping it to survive in the droughts that have become common in Africa. |
| C: | The greyback beetle is a serious threat to sugar-cane crops throughout the world. We depend on cane as the raw material from which sugar is made. Marine toads were originally brought over to Puerto Rico and the West Indies in the 19th century to control the beetles and other sugar-cane pests. When the toad was introduced into Australia, it soon posed a threat to Australian wildlife. Native species were displaced, and lizards, snakes, koalas and even crocodiles were attacked. |
| D: | The technical experts and the politicians agree that the barren, windswept cliffs of Scotland are ideal sites for the huge wind turbines which will help to meet Britain’s growing need for power. Some even argue that the scale, shape and motion of the turbines will improve the environment in the same way that a beautiful statue enhances a garden. Locals, like Jim Campbell, are not convinced: “I can see that one of these things on its own might look good to some people, but when you get a hundred of them threshing away then it’s just an eyesore.” |
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2.8.
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In order to reduce poverty, the causes of poverty must be fully understood. This can be difficult, because throughout history, poverty has been the natural economic state of human societies. Before 1700, most persons within a civilization lived on little to no income and fought daily for basic needs in order to survive. Life expectancy was low and high infant mortality rates were normal. Human innovation fueled the population surge seen throughout the world in the middle of the 18th century. For example, the agricultural and industrial revolutions freed many from the pangs of poverty; however, much of the world was still left behind. The industrialization of many western countries employed systems of capitalism which created incentives for citizens to manufacture goods. For the most part, the governments of these countries furthered economic growth by fostering trade and creating lenient tax laws, so business owners were allowed to keep a large percentage of their own profits. In addition, most of the countries had rights to private property and bankruptcy laws to further entice entrepreneurs.
Poverty is incredibly hard to define. The supposed causes and consequences are potentially endless, and the analysis can become exceedingly complex. Over the past few decades alone, the definition of poverty has broadened immensely. In the most literal sense, poverty is having an income level below a set amount. However, throughout history, the definition has been expanded to reflect social aspects of poverty, including a person’s ability to afford basic needs and life expectancy.
Poverty came to the forefront of world politics in the 1970s as a result of numerous publications and a speech to the World Bank governors by Robert MacNamara in 1973. In addition, the definition of poverty expanded to not only include citizens unable to afford basic needs in the form of nutrition levels and subsistence, but also those unable to maintain socio-economic standards set by a given country. The definition of poverty continued to broaden beyond economic means and began to include social criteria such as access to healthcare and life expectancy.
Poverty continued to become increasingly more complex throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. For the first time, there was a focus on factors that were known to increase the effects of poverty, such as drought. In addition, many were beginning to expand the use of gender roles when defining poverty. For all practical purposes, poverty was beginning to be synonymous with lack of livelihood. In fact, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) created the idea of human development: “the denial of opportunities and choices... to lead a long, healthy, creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-esteem and the respect of others.” Poverty has now become much more encompassing than a lack of income.
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Golden billion
ACQUIRING COMMUNICATION SKILLS- eradicate extreme hunger and poverty;
- achieve universal primary education;
- promote gender equality and empower women;
- reduce child mortality;
- improve maternal health;
- combat HIV/AIDC, malaria and other diseases;
- ensure environmental sustainability;
- develop a global partnership for development.
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· Every minute of the day twenty-four people die because they do not have enough food to eat. Three-quarters of them are children under five.
· Water is the main support of life, however, it often brings death in the third World. Two out of three Africans cannot get clean water to drink. Dirty water is the cause of three quarters of all illness there.
· Another cause of death is failure of the food crops because there is not enough rain.
· However, one of the main causes of Africa’s problems is war. Often the weapons come from rich countries such as the USA or South Africa. In the past, poor African countries borrowed too much money from rich countries, and now they are struggling to pay this money back, usually with no success. This is why they have no money for food, education and healthcare. Russia often acquits African countries of their debts. Do you think other countries should follow suit, or that this practice won’t help?
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Passage 1:
The nuclear fuel we use is uranium, a resource which is not only plentiful but logical since there is no other day-to-day use for it. It is also extraordinarily efficient: two uranium pellets the size of sugar cubes will meet the electricity needs of one person for an entire year.
Passage 2:
Today the Centre for Alternative Technology produces almost all the electricity it needs using the wind, the sun and water. Water supplies about 55% of the electricity, the wind supplies 25%, and 10% is from solar energy. A diesel generator provides the rest.
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1. What difficulties might arise when trying to persuade people to use alternative sources of energy?
2. What changes in the energy supply would you agree to if you thought it would make a difference to the environment?
3. Do you think there is too much emphasis on environmental issues in the media? Why do you think so? Can media help in solving environmental problems?
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Citations about nature, war and poverty:
1. Seen from within, nature is a war of living powers of will. (Karl Heim)
2. [Nature is] an infinite pleasure-ground, where all may graze, and where the more bite, the longer the grass grows, the sweeter is its flavour, and the more it nourishes. (Thomas Henry Huxley)
3. [Nature is] the background and theatre of the tragedy of man. (John Morley)
4. [Nature is] nothing but the existence of the divine omnipotence. (Immanuel Kant)
5. [Poverty is] the discoverer of all the arts. (Apollonius)
6. [Poverty is] the wicked man’s temper, the good man’s perdition, the proud man’s curse, the melancholy man’s halter. (Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton)
7. Poverty consists in feeling poor. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
8. [Poverty is] a great wealth. (Epicurus)
9. [Poverty is] a great enemy to human happiness; it […] destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult. (Samuel Johnson)
10. To have nothing is not poverty. (Martial)
11. [War is] a biological necessity of the first order. (Friedrich von Bernhardi)
12. [War is] the highest perfection of human knowledge. (Daniel Defoe)
13. [War is] that condition which uses man’s best to do man’s worst. (Harry Emerson Fosdick)
14. [War is] part of God’s world order. (Helmuth von Moltke)
15. [War is] the business of barbarians. (Napoleon)
16. [War is] an art. (Plato)
17. [War is] a series of mathematical problems, to be solved through proper integration and coordination of men and weapons in time and space. (Georgi Zhukov)
18. [War is] an adventure which kills off the best while preserving the unfit. (Irwin Van Grove)
WRITING
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1. International tourism as a threat to wild nature.
2. Protecting wild animals is a waste of resources.
3. Pollution in my city.
4. My share in reducing pollution.
5. A bicycle versus a car.
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‘Earth anxiety’ is worry about our environment. One of the main causes of worry is rubbish. Years ago we used to throw things away and not think twice about it. Now people are beginning to learn facts. Read the statistics for the year 1991.
- In Britain each family threw out about one ton of rubbish a year.
- 90% of this rubbish went into ‘landfill sites’ – big holes in the ground in places far away from the city centres.
- Town councils burned about 8 % of the rubbish.
- Britain only recycled (saved it in some ways and used it again) 2% of all rubbish.
- America produced 160 million tons of rubbish (AmE. garbage) and recycled 10%.
- Britain was very bad at recycling compared to some other European countries:
Britain recycled 16% of all glass bottles.
Holland recycled 62% of all bottles.
Britain recycled 5% of the aluminum from aluminum cans.
Canada recycled 65% of all aluminum cans.
Britain recycled 26% of all waste paper.
Holland recycled 57% of waste paper.
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1. [War is] a time when the laws are silent. (Cicero)
2. [War is] that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood. (Abraham Lincoln)
3. [War is] a drastic medicine for ailing humanity. (Heinrich von Treitschke)
4. [War is] the only proper school of the surgeon. (Hippocrates)
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Голод в США
Систематически недоедают 38 млн. американцев. Таковы шокирующие данные опубликованного в США доклада министерства сельского хозяйства страны. Недоедание и голод, как оказалось, вещи обычные для американских пенсионеров и семей с детьми. Число голодающих растет вместе с числом бедняков.
Число голодающих в США растет вместе с числом бедных. В 2002 году, по данным американского Бюро переписи населения, в США за чертой бедности проживало 34,6 млн. американцев, что на 1,7 миллиона больше, чем в 2001 году. По данным американского Бюро статистики, 32,9 млн. американцев - почти 12% - считаются нищими.
Тяжелое положение
В Соединенных Штатах, являющихся одной из самых богатых стран мира, хронически недоедают 38,2 млн. человек, около 14 миллионов из них - дети. Такие цифры обнародовало министерство сельского хозяйства США. По данным исследования, количество голодающих американцев с каждым годом возрастает и за последние пять лет увеличилось на 7 млн. человек.
Наиболее тяжелое положение сложилось в штатах Калифорния, Техас, Арканзас, Миссури, Северная и Южная Каролина, Нью-Мексико и Оклахома. Там наиболее высокий процент малоимущих семей, которые живут на грани голода. Эти люди на регулярной основе вынуждены экономить на еде ради того, чтобы вовремя заплатить за жилье и покрыть другие срочные расходы.
Приведенные минсельхозом данные «являются ошеломляющими и стали для многих неожиданностью», говорит в этой связи директор Центра по изучению проблем нищеты и голода при университете Брэндиса (штат Массачусетс) Лэрри Браун. «Это - абсурд, что в наши дни в нашей стране, являющейся крупнейшим в мире производителем продовольственных товаров, люди не уверены, что смогут обеспечить себя продуктами», - приводит в воскресенье его слова газета «Дейли ньюс» (Daily News).
Цифры доклада не открыли ничего нового для самих американцев. Статистические доклады о голодающих американцах обнародуются ежегодно, и каждый раз дискуссии о реальных цифрах и о самом определении «голодающий американец» вспыхивают с новой силой.
Правительственные круги заявляют о давлении со стороны защитников голодающих и обвиняют их в искажении истинного числа бедствующих. Например, агентство под названием «Бюро прогресса» штата Орегон в 2000 году 
осуществило свое исследование по этой проблеме.
Бюро сделало вывод о том, что голодает только 2,9% населения, а не почти в два раза больше, как это утверждало министерство сельского хозяйства США. Но эта заниженная цифра была сразу же опровергнута.
Продовольственные фонды заявляют, что федеральные данные являются более точными, сообщает The Economist. Представители министерства сельского хозяйства США поясняют, что под понятием «голод» подразумевают нерегулярный или в недостаточном количестве прием пищи всеми или некоторыми членами семьи, в результате чего возникают «неприятные» ощущения.
Репортаж из городка
Несмотря на то, что в США реализуются продовольственные программы против голода, за последние 10 лет число голодающих американцев возросло примерно втрое. В докладе министерства сельского хозяйства США, говорилось, что в 1996-98 годах 10 млн. (9,7 %) американских семей не могли купить в достаточном количестве качественные продукты для поддержания активного и здорового образа жизни. Из них 3,7 млн. семей испытывали чувство голода.
В 2002 году количество голодающих выросло на 8,6% в сравнении с 2001 годом и на 13% в сравнении с 2000-м, передает агентство Associated Press. Как говорилось в докладе министерства, 12 млн. американских семей не были уверены в том, что смогут купить достаточно еды.
Число голодающих в США растет вместе с числом бедных. В 2002 году, по данным американского Бюро переписи населения, в США за чертой бедности проживало 34,6 млн. американцев, что на 1,7 миллиона больше, чем в 2001-м. По данным американского Бюро статистики, 32,9 млн. американцев - почти 12% - считаются нищими.
Газета The New York Times опубликовала в связи с данными бюро репортаж из маленького городка Пэмбрук, расположенного в часе езды от Чикаго. Несколько тысяч жителей – настоящие бедняки - голодают и живут в деревянных домах-развалюхах без воды и отопления. В городе даже нет нормального магазина.
По оценкам исследовательского института Bread for the World Institute, проблема голода затрагивает не только бездомных и безработных жителей США. Высок процент недоедающих среди пожилых американцев, которые не смогли к старости скопить себе достаточно средств.
Показателем того, что проблема голода в США лишь усиливается, является увеличение числа обратившихся за так называемой продовольственной помощью в муниципалитеты США. Около 25 млн. американцев получают Food Stamps – продуктовую помощь.
В декабре 2004 года организация «Конференция мэров городов США» провела опрос. Он показал, что 56% людей, которые обращаются за помощью к муниципалитетам США, - это семьи с детьми. Но, по мнению аналитиков, решить проблему голода в США может не социальная помощь, а обеспечение граждан стабильной работой с высокой зарплатой.