“Labour isn’t working” read the Conservative Party slogan for the 1979 general election in which they were ultimately and predictably victorious. This sentiment also underpins The Year of the Beaver, though examined from a very different political perspective. The film documents the 2-year-long Grunwick Strike (neutered by the press as ‘The Grunwick Affair’) from the […]
The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) broke out after the Bolshevik seizure of power between the Bolshevik Red Army and anti-Bolshevik White armies. Victory in the Civil War saw the true consolidation of the revolution, which allowed the Bolshevik state to create history. However, millions died during the Civil War, from starvation, disease, the war itself […]
Now that Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has announced his impending retirement, there’s been a whole lot of speculation over his successor. But Christians really needn’t worry. Whoever gets the job can’t be nearly as brilliantly bonkers as some of Williams’ predecessors. Take Archbishop George Abbot for example. In 1621 he straight-up killed […]
Media Secretary Becky Hennell-Smith updates us on the comings and goings of the History Society. History President gives a round up of the Society’s events past and future. History President gives a round up of the Society’s events past and future. Read an update from the History Society about the goings-on in the new academic […]
Dubbed ‘the bloodiest war in history’, the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) shook China, its scars both present and still healing today. In 1843, Hong Xiuquan was converted to Protestantism by Western missionaries and founded a God-worshipping society. As a character in Genesis, Eve’s entire existence is explored in relation to man, whether that be as a […]
Classical Greece has long been perceived by modern Western countries as the birthplace of democracy, and has been used to shape and justify Eurocentric concepts of identity and political thought. When asked to imagine the Ancient Greek world, images of beautifully carved white marble statues, mythology, philosophy and grand architecture instantly come to mind. These […]
Finally, the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons opened its doors to students and as they came trudging in, wet and windswept, it was clear that this visionary building immediately inspired them. Honouring the University’s late inaugural president and vice-chancellor, this building’s ‘distinctly Manchester’ design is reflected throughout. Names of contributors are forever engraved into the floor […]
Over a period spanning 30 years of conflict, the Vietnam War caused the death of approximately 3 million people, including Vietnamese soldiers, civilians and foreign military. Historically, the war is perceived as one of the deadliest conflicts of the 20thcentury; the engagement between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese, supported by American military power, […]
‘Oh What an Artist dies in me’- Nero as he died. Emperor Nero is a famously vicious Roman princeps in a dynasty of similarly notorious individuals. The extent to which this is truly the case is up for some debate however. The most pertinent ancient sources, the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, make their views on […]
Weather may be the most influential actor in human history. From fluctuating harvests to monumental changes in global climate, it will always be largely outside of our control. Storms are a sudden reminder of this. Only last week Hurricane Sandy threatened to under- mine the work of dozens of political operatives working on the Presidential […]
Welcome to this year’s first issue of the Manchester Historian. Ata and I are really excited to take over as editors. Florence and her team last year got the paper off to an incredible start. I was so impressed when I heard that Price Waterhouse Cooper had shortlisted the paper award. So, we’ve got really […]
Greek mythology is filled with wonderfully bizarre tales of bravery, redemption and sex. The purpose of these myths was to explain the customs and history of the Ancient Greeks. The majority of myths revolved around their gods and heroes, all stemming from the ruler of Mount Olympus, Zeus. Greek mythology placed as much emphasis on […]
Since 2016, Polish women have been engaged in a continuous battle against the politicians from Law and Justice, a right-wing populist party led by Jarosław Kaczyński. Today, as the party lost its bid for majority in the Polish parliament, many questions concerning women’s rights start to arise. Is the democratic opposition going to liberalise the […]
Throughout history, women have often played a pivotal but underappreciated role in political resistance. Traditional gender norms of the mid-20th century placed women in less political roles; they were subservient housewives. In reality, many women have been crucial in the fight against totalitarian regimes, the Mirabals illustrating as such. Rafael Trujillo created a regime of […]