The Political Importance of Printing Banknotes in Exile
Printing several tonnes of paper money in British exile, storing it there temporarily and shipping it back home after the end of the war – this may seem very bizarre at first. On closer...
Printing several tonnes of paper money in British exile, storing it there temporarily and shipping it back home after the end of the war – this may seem very bizarre at first. On closer...
With “mon cher ami” Paul van Zeeland, Belgian foreign politician, began a letter to the Polish political advisor Józef Retinger in 1946, in which he proposed an initial meeting to establish an association for...
During the “London Moment”, the central banks of the occupied countries were essential[1]: on one hand, they helped the national governments-in-exile to achieve financial security, on the other, they facilitated the exchange of knowledge...
The history of governments-in-exile residing in London during the Second World War often includes the fate of European monarchs being forced to flee their countries and finding themselves in unaccustomed circumstances. One rather tragic...
When Nazi Germany invaded mainland Greece in April 1941, the Greek King Georg II formed a government that first departed to Crete. As the Germans were occupying Crete, the government fled to Egypt in...
Compared to the rest of Britain, London features an above-average percentage of ethnic minorities, which make up almost 20% of the population (4.2% Caribbean, 6.6% Indian, 7.0% African).[1] However, only 4% of London’s approximately...
Opening Scene: A heated debate is raging in the British Parliament: Clement Attlee, head of the opposition Labour Party, explains to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain what he thinks of his appeasement policy and explains his condition for a coalition government: His condition is called Winston Churchill. (Not Lord Halifax, as favoured by the Conservatives.) Thus, Churchill is present in the film before he even appears for the first time.
At the southern side of Hyde Park, just a couple of steps from the golden Albert Memorial, lies a Polish island in the centre of London. Situated in Princes Garden next to various embassies,...
On Whitehall in Westminster, London’s government district, the cenotaph commemorates the British soldiers killed in the First World War. Until today, it is at the centre of Remembrance Day service, taking place on the...
He had no talent for playing the violin, but was full of promise with the paintbrush. But he was not allowed to make full use of it because of his mother’s fear that he...
Since I first went online to research the history of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) a few years ago, the party has given its website a thorough makeover. Much cleaner and containing a...
Christmas in London still exemplifies the experience of European governments-in-exile in London: Since 1947, every year, the large Christmas tree on Trafalgar Square is presented to the people of London by the city of...
The blog’s subject, Europeans in wartime London, has been covered by a couple of feature films. There is the classic: Ernst Lubitsch’s „To be or not to be“ from 1947 about a Polish theatre...
In the all-time ranking of historic speeches, London wartime speeches feature prominently, and Charles de Gaulle’s first calls for resistance are certainly high up on the list. His address to the French nation right after his...
After the November 2015 Paris attacks, the London Eye was illuminated in blue, white and red, the colours of the French flag, as a memorial to the attacks. The British People – as the...
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