*LOVE OF MY COUNTRY - AUSTRALIA DAY

AUSTRALIA

"CORE OF MY HEART, MY COUNTRY"

                                      " And freedom’s sons the banner bear,

                                         No shackled slave can breathe the air,"

To-day is Australia Day! I thank God for bringing me to Conception and Birth in this remarkable Country.

Not the most beautiful country in the world, not the strongest country in the world, not the leading country in the world. You can have all that.

My Country is a place of real freedom, of real peace, of frank and trustworthy folk, whose friendship isn't feigned. An open, generally trusting people who are nevertheless not too easily fooled. They abhor pretension and if they have a fault it is a desire to ensure that no-one rises too high - it is called the "tall poppy syndrome" - tall poppies get cut down to size!

AUSTRALIANS GATHERED AT ANZAC COVE GALLIPOLI  -   LEST WE FORGET

Australians are a pragmatic people, no doubt a product of the sometimes harsh extremes of weather, and the lack of almost everything except land in early colonial days. As a result public discourse is not big on principles, but more on what will work. Our political system and legal system are born out of our English colonial origins. Our independence was sought and given, rather than fought for and won. We remain a constitutional monarchy, with the British Monarch as our Head of State, but our pragmatic nature makes the majority of Australians see that we are really and factually independent; and advocates of a Republic have been unable to gain traction. The system works, the pragmatists don't need to fix it.

AUSTRALIAN ICONS

Politically, we are fairly evenly divided between political Conservatives and a Labor based group. The latter have lost a fragile balance of power in the Federal sphere at present,and were rolled out of office at thelast  election. There is an underlying small "c" conservatism in the Australian psyche, which, combined with pragmatism, kills off such ideas as a Republic, identity cards, or anything that excites modern radicals.

One of the best summaries of Australia, the land, is contained in Dorothea Mackellar's 1904 poem "My Country”. It is a fine piece of work, addressed to many of the British citizens of Australia who, at the time it was written, would still speak of "home" and mean England! So it begins:

"The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded lanes,

Of ordered woods and gardens,

Is running in your veins.......................

I know, but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains............

Her beauty and her terror,

The wide brown land for me!

AYERS ROCK

An opal - hearted country,

A willful lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand,

Though Earth holds many splendors,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly!

AMEN to that!

Yet another lady, this time English - born Caroline Carleton, wrote in 1859 the Song of Australia which was set to music by the German Carl Linger. It won a competition sponsored by the South Australian Gawler Institute for a patriotic song. It also has things to say, which merit attention, despite some of the flourishes of its time. It begins:

"There is a land where summer skies

  Are gleaming with a thousand dyes,

  Blending in witching harmonies, in harmonies;

  And grassy knoll, and forest height,

  Are flushing in the rosy light,

  And all above in azure bright-

  Australia!

BOUNTEOUS CROP IN WAKE OF DROUGHT BREAKING RAIN

........

  On hill and plain the clust'ring vine

  Is gushing out with purple wine,

  And cups are quaffed to thee and thine-

  Australia!                

  .........

  There is a land, where floating free,

  From mountain top to girdling sea,

  A proud flag waves exultingly,

  And freedom’s sons the banner bear,

  No shackled slave can breathe the air,

   Fairest of Britain's daughters fair,

   Australia!

I love it!  - Australia, Yes - But the Song of Australia too! Oh, I know it's more than a little over the top! But it has the spirit of my country. And any lady who can write about "gushing out with purple wine and cups are quaffed to thee and thine" has got my vote!

There is another patriotic song by Father Maurice Reilly C.M. Which is more subtle and substantive, which I also love, and which I first heard in First Class at my Convent School in 1946:

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL HYMN

God bless our lovely morning land!

God keep her with enfolding hand

Close to His side.

While booms the distant battle's roar

From out some rude, barbaric shore.

In blessed peace forever more,

There to abide.

............

Land of the dawning! Lo! At last,

The shadows of the night are past;

Across the sea,

Is spreading far the purple light,

The lonely mountain peaks are bright,

And visions crowd upon the sight,

Of days to be.

"THE WARM OF HEART AND STOUT OF HAND"
CREW OF HMAS PERTH - LOST IN THE BATTLE OF SUNDA STRAIT
DEFENDING AUSTRALIA FROM THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN

The future is thine own, loved land,

The warm of heart, the stout of hand,

The noble mind,

Shall build a Nation truly great,

With Christ for King; where love not hate,

Shall be the charter of the State

To all mankind.

There is much more, all warm with faith in God and belief in Australia's promise.

PATRONISING  ENGLISH VIEW AT THE TIME OF FEDERATION !
THE AUSTRALIAN COMMENTS MIGHT HAVE SURPRISED THE CARTOONIST AND EDITOR

In fact, at the time of Federation there was a widespread confidence in Australia's unique character and mission to show the world a new way of true freedom and peace and justice for all. It was a heady idealism, which sadly seemed to be overwhelmed by the tragedy of the First World War, the Great Depression, and the crusade of the Second World War. It still survives in wisps of spirit which are caught here and there. But is largely lost to the national consciousness.

Let's not get too analytical - it is a day for Fair Dinkum CELEBRATION. With a very great deal to celebrate! We can save the “cerebration" for another day!

 

AFRICA - THIRD STOP - TUNISIA

TUNISIA

Background:

Africa covers 6 per cent of the surface of the Earth and provides 20.4 per cent of Earth’s landmass. Occupying this massive and significant territory there are 1.1 Billion people. Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent on Earth.

TUNISIA

The Northernmost country in Africa, and the smallest  in its region (the Mahgreb) Tunisia also contains two of the three points in Africa closest to Europe - the closest is not in Tunisia and is opposite Gibraltar.

Historically, its existence has been an ancient but  turbulent one, due to its position and internal geography.Tunisia has a Mediterranean coastline of 1,148 Kilometres which begins running West to East before sharply turning South in one of the distinctive features of the African coastline.Nestled within this area we find the capital Tunis and also the ruins of ancient Carthage. The internal geography is notable for the including the Eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the Northern reaches of the Sahara Desert but much of the rest of the territory is fertile soil.

The population of Tunisia is approx. 10,800,000.


We can trace the origins of Tunisia back to the Berber tribes which were the principal inhabitants.However in about the 12th Century B.C., the Phoenicians established a trading settlement on the coast, and in the 9th Century B.C. the Phoenicians and some Cypriots established the city of Carthage.  The culture and religion of the city was Phoenician.The "gods" worshipped were Baal and Tanet. Through trading and war, especially with settlements in Sicily, Carthage progressively became the most important power in the Southern Mediterranean.

This growth of Cathaginian muscle brought Carthage into conflict with Rome which viewed itself as the natural pre-eminent power in the region.The First Punic War 264 B.C. - 241 B.C. had been fought over Sicily and Corsica and was won decisively by the Romans.

Briefly - to cover a near cataclysmic period in Roman history : Carthage invaded what is now Spain in 237 B.C. Under Hamilcar Barca. But he died in 230/229 B.C.  His sons Hannibal and Hasdrubal respectively prosecuted and developed plans for the conquest of the whole of the peninsula. So strong was their situation that the Romans concluded a treaty with them, demarcating their borders of influence. In 221 B.C. Hasdrubal was assassinated  and the troops elected Hannibal to take political control as well as his military control. In 219 B.C. the people of Saguntum (Carthaginian control) appealed to Rome for protection from the Carthaginian treatment of them. ( Sounds familiar? : Danzig/Gdansk and the Nazis, and Ukraine to-day?)  This resulted in the Second Punic War 218-211 B.C. 

                                                                  HANNIBAL BARCA
On this occasion Hannibal ( and his Elephants!) crossed the Alps and invaded Italy. He repeatedly inflicted heavy to very heavy defeats on the Roman forces sent to stop him He killed 15,000 Romans at Lake Trasimene  and 50,000 (!) at Cannae. Adding depth to the offence, the Roman Armies had been led by Consuls of Rome.Rome suffered as numerous of its subject colonies abandoned their allegiance and defeats continued. But the resolute Roman character was being forged in this crucible of defeat. And persistence and desperation drove them to gradually win back what they had lost in territory and to bring Hannibal to defeat in 201 B.C. and to gain Spain as compensation for their troubles.

                        DEPICTION OF HANNIBAL'S ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE
 
Hannibal returned to Carthage - from which he had received virtually no support in his long war. His fortunes there did not recover and he was exiled in 195 B.C. and committed suicide abroad in 183/182 B.C.

There is much more to the tale but no room for us to examine it here.

                         CARTHAGO DELENDA EST -THE RUINS OF ANCIENT CARTHAGE
 
The Romans adopted the policy that " Carthage must be destroyed"( " Carthago delenda est")  proposed by 84 yrs old Cato the Elder.They conquered it in 149 B.C. They thoroughly Romanized its culture and commerce and it became a great granary for Rome. It is estimated that the region (including Tripolitania in modern Libya) was then producing 1,000,000 tonnes of cereal per annum and 25% of that was going to Rome. Beans , figs, grapes and other fruits enhanced its value to the Romans and, in due course the production and export of olive oil became substantial. The entire trade was dynamic and valuable, even down to pottery and exotic wild animals for the Roman Arenas.

In time the City became Christian as did the Empire, but it fell under the influence of the heretic Berber Bishop Donatus Magnus - from A.D. 430 to 533 the Germanic Vandals invaded the City and ruled it. At the end of that period it was re-conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire under Belisarius. But in the second half of the 7th Century the Mohammedan hordes swept all before them, and established an Arab Mohammedan rule.This was not always stable as internal Mohammedan tribal/factional hatreds ebbed and flowed. In the 12th Century the Normans of Sicily briefly regained Christian control, but they were defeated in turn by the Arab Almohad Mohammedans who drove out or forced the conversion of or killed the last Christians in Tunisia.

Such is the complexity of the situation that this did not produce stability for long, because former factional Mohammedan enemies again contested the situation. By the 14th and 15th Centuries, the Hafsid Dynasty was trading peacefully with some Christian countries. However, in the late 16th Century the coast was home to the Barbary Pirates who so bedeviled shipping in the Mediterranean.

In the early 1500s Spain took possession of a number of coastal cities. But the Ottoman Empire conquered Tunisia in 1534 restoring Mohammedan control.They carried on governance via the appointment of a Bey who in effect ruled Tunisia as an independent country. This brought Tunis into conflict with the Bey of Algiers who was in a similar independent situation.

In 1881 France conquered establishing a " Protectorate" over Tunisia in view of its unmanageable foreign debt, but left the Beys in some degree of standing until 1957.During the Second World War Nazi and Italian forces were in Tunisia in substantial numbers until the defeat suffered at the hands of the Allies  and the Axis surrender on 13th May 1943.

Tunisia gained its independence from France in 1956 and President Habib Bourgiba led a secular Government until late 1987. He was succeeded by Abidine Ben Ali a military figure who won successive elections until driven out of power in the so-called Arab Spring.He and his family were accused of massive plundering of the country's wealth via corrupt practices. The new democratically elected Government has retained the secular nature of the Government, resisting Mohammedan zealots keen to re- introduce Sharia Law which had been abolished in 1956.Tunisia's " Code of Personal Status" is regarded as one of the most progressive civil codes in the Middle East and in Mohammedan countries.

Tunisia is a member of the European Union's " European Neighbourhood Policy" which aims to develop relations with neighbouring non-member countries.

The country has moderate military forces which have stayed free of political interference. These forces have served on international U.N. deployments in a number of African countries and even in Asia.

The principal trading relationship for Tunisia is that with the European Union. Although unemployment is significant , especially among youth, the Government has been energetic and even innovative in seeking to expand the economy.


And so as I set my tired eyes resolutely West towards Algeria, and extricate myself from tiny , but history strangled Tunisia , I wonder what that relatively large country holds in store.  





 

AFRICA SECOND STOP LIBYA

Background:

Africa covers 6 per cent of the surface of the Earth and provides 20.4 per cent of Earth’s landmass. Occupying this massive and significant territory there are 1.1 Billion people. Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent on Earth.

LIBYA

We continue our study of Africa, moving from last week’s subject Egypt, to the West  and into Libya. Libya lies on the coast of the Mediterranean and is bounded by Egypt in the East, Tunisia and Algeria in the West and Niger, Chad and Sudan in the South. Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa in area, and seventeenth largest in the world.

Only 2% of the territory of Libya receives sufficient rainfall for stable agriculture. Much of the remaining 98% is part of the Sahara Desert.

The population of Libya is approx.. 6,240,000. Mohammedanism is the dominant religion of the country. The languages spoken are local Arabic, Berber and Italian. There are two large cities – Tripoli with over 1,000,000 people and Benghazi . Libya has the tenth largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. 

Since the beginning of recorded history, Libya has been occupied by the Berber people. But the country has had Phoenician Trading colonies, and later was variously ruled by the Greeks in city states, then by the Persians, the Egyptians and Greek Egyptians and then the Romans. It became a Christian nation in due course until , in the seventh Century the bloody invasion of the Mohammedans brought it under Arab Mohammedan domination. This was briefly interrupted by the actions of the Spanish and the Knights of Saint John occupying Tripoli until the Ottoman rule began in 1551. It lasted until the Italians invaded in 1911 and they were not removed until the Second World War.In 1951 Libya became an independent Kingdom, but a military coup in 1969 led eventually to the assumption of power by Muammar Gaddafi , more generally known as Colonel Gaddafi. He retained power until 2011 when a Revolution overthrew him and a democratic election led to a new Government and a rival Islamic “Government” of Tripoli.

The deposing of Gaddafi removed from the world stage one of its most colourful characters in his exotic gowns and splendid tents, but he had been a cunning survivor for a long time despite his numerous outrageous actions internationally.

   



 Colonel Gaddafi in military splendour, and entertaining none other than Vladimir Putin in a tent pitched in New York City.



In Roman times, there were extensive settlements across North Africa and the region of modern day  Libya was no exception. Modern day Tripoli gains its name for the region known as Tripolitania for the three great cities within it –Leptis Magna , Oea and Sabratha. The ruins of Leptis Magna are testimony to the greatness and modernity of that Roman city as the image shows. Much has been written about them and the sophistication of their drainage, water storage and other features. The Romans were attracted to the region because of its abundant production of grains- wheat and corn, and Olives and Olive oil and all of this readily accessible to them from Rome’s port of Ostia. The Roman settlements of North Africa became famous for not only produce , but for education and especially the education of lawyers.

                                 Leptis Magna  a small portion of the ruins


In due course it happened that Septimius Severus (ruled AD 193 – the year of the 5 Emperors -to AD 211) became Emperor and he was a native of Leptis Magna.

Reflecting on these ruins and those of a large number of other Roman cities in North Africa, one quickly realises that what seems so powerful and energetic “to-day” can swiftly descend into the rubbish bin of History under the assaults of barbarians.

It is sad to note that just as she has been in the past, Libya is surrounded by strife in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria , Niger, Chad and Sudan. Most of this strife , as within Libya itself, comes from Mohammedan zealots.

 

AFRICA THE BEGINNING : EGYPT

AFRICA OBJECT OF MY STUDY

My AFRICA begins with EGYPT

Background: 

Africa covers 6 per cent of the surface of the Earth

 and provides 20.4 per cent of Earth’s landmass. 

Occupying this massive and significant territory there are 1.1 Billion people. 

Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent on Earth.

We begin by studying Egypt.

Set in the North Eastern corner of Africa, Egypt at once presents us with an anomaly – a significant portion of its territory –Sinai- is not in Africa but adjacent to it.

Unlike much of Africa, the recorded history of Egypt is exceptionally long and detailed by world standards, and is characterised by  super abundance of ruins, artifacts and written records. Although Egypt is largely desert, the rich fertile soil of the Nile Valley and the regularity of its annual inundation, provided the means to encourage and support a mighty civilisation thousands of years B.C. It was a civilisation that was to become the object of the keen interest of the Romans, because it held out the promise of abundant, regular grain supplies.

Egypt became familiar to Western civilisation not only through its interaction with Roman and Greek civilisation, but more importantly through its integration into the story of the Old and even the New Testaments. These associations created and kept alive a strong interest in matters Egyptian, whether it be regarding Joseph and his coat of many colours or Moses and the Exodus and the watery end of Pharaoh’s Army, or Kadesh ,and then finally, the Flight into Egypt which appealed as a  perpetual mystery as to detail. 

In the 18^th and 19^th Centuries exploration of Egyptian ruins and tombs exploded in the most unscientific way, further titillating the popular imagination. Then came the Corsican Corporal – the Emperor (self-styled) Napoleon Bonaparte  and his team of more scientific researchers and artists to record their findings. Egyptology had arrived! In 1799 the French soldier Bouchard discovered what has become known as the Rosetta Stone. This stele is rightly famous for with its triple inscription in Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Demotic Script and Ancient Greek, it provided the key to understanding ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs after Champollion perfected the translation. This in effect, unlocked the whole of millennia of Egyptian ruins and tombs and the civilisation that produced them, to our understanding. Later archaeological activities by the British and the Americans , each with their successive waves of wealth, saw the most intense levels of activity in Egypt. But no doubt the height of interest was achieved by the discovery of the still richly endowed tomb of the minor Pharaoh Tutankamen son of the “heretic” Pharaoh Akhenaten . Although the tomb had been disturbed in antiquity, it had been hastily but effectively re-packed with nearly all its treasures, sealed up and undiscovered until Howard Carter located it in 1922.

  

But the “modern” history of Egypt is something else again.

POLITICS

After a long period of relative stability under the successive Governments of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak – all autocratic with strong military backing, the country was swept by a popular revolutionary sentiment sympathetic to the so-called Arab Spring movement. In fact the powerful Muslim Brotherhood was at work seeking to ensure that its interests benefited in the process. There was an interim Government for a year. The Muslim Brotherhood was pleased to see Muslim Mohammed Morsi elected as the first ever democratically elected Head of Government in Egypt’s long history. Their glee was short-lived when the Army forced him out promising fresh elections in the future. It is quite clear, even at the level of popular demonstrations that the country is strongly divided between Islamist and anti-Islamist opinion.

African though she is, Egypt has played a vital role in the Middle Eastern political scene following World War II and the establishment of the modern State of Israel  in 1948 by United Nations fiat. This action set off a chain reaction which continues until to-day. The action led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their ancestral homes. Their grievances and the sympathetic reaction of the surrounding Mohammedan States, including Egypt, led to many conflicts and reached a peak in the "Six Day War" of 1967 which was started by a pre-emptive strike by Israel against Egypt which was outstandingly successful and subsequently successful attacks on Jordan and Syria when they endeavoured to come to Egypt's aid. In 1978 the Camp David Accords brought a prolonged period of relative peace and Egypt and Israel became mutually wary but non- belligerent neighbours.

People

A surprisingly high proportion (91%) of the population is ethnically Egyptian – surprising given the cosmopolitan nature of much of North Africa and the Middle East. Some 923,000 Egyptians live in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and 332,000 Egyptians live in Libya Egypt’s African neighbour to the West. In 2013 the Egyptian population was 84 Millions making the country the most populous in the Middle East and the third most populous in Africa.

Given its size and very long recorded history, Egypt is remarkable in having retained its integrity as a country through the whole time, having changed its religion three times –pagan, Christian and then in bloody conquest, Mohammedan.

Economy

The country has a reasonably diverse economy, but it must be remembered that it is heavily buttressed by United States foreign aid which in recent years has run at the rate of US 2.2 Billions per annum. Tourism has been a long term strength of the economy bringing in around US 10 Billions per annum. Egypt exports Coal – mined in Sinai, Natural Gas –of which she has large reserves, hydro electric power is generated from the great Aswan High Dam and the historic agricultural output of the Nile Valley remains a significant part of her wealth.

Summary

So much for Egypt! It was an interesting exercise, bringing together much that I always knew supplemented by research on the Internet for specific dates and numbers. The most important result, has been to fix firmly in my mind the actual geographic location of Egypt, which I "knew" but somehow never had fixed "photographically" in my memory.

Next we take a step to the West and look at neighbouring Libya - a very different kettle of fish!

Till next week!