The History Group

Leader:  Ronald (Yogi) Godwin - history@ashbyu3a.co.uk - phone 01530 467840

Yogi is ably assisted by Jane Barnett, Barbara Ball, Colin Ellis, Jane Harris and Isobel Salt

All Ashby u3a members are welcome at our meetings.

All meetings with speakers will be held at Packington Memorial Hall on the 4th Thursday of the month.
Doors open for Packington meetings at 2.15pm. Admission £2

Details of visits will be advised closer to the time.
The following dates have been arranged, but may be subject to changes which will be announced as and when they are known.

Thursday 22nd January.

A near record turnout attended today for our very own Michael Smith’s presentation on ‘A History of the 20th Century in Cartoons’.

But first Yogi reminded us of events on (or about) this day in history.

1n 1879, the British Army suffered its worst defeat to that date, when a Zulu Impi of about 20,000, armed mainly with assegais, overwhelmed a British detachment of 1800 equipped with the latest rifles, field guns and even a rocket firing unit. The British lost 1300 dead, whilst an estimated 1,000 to 2,00 Zulus died. A large section of the same Impi then went on to be thwarted at Rorke’s Drift by a small unit of about 150 of the Royal Engineers and the 24th Regiment.

Apparently yesterday was National Hugging Day in the USA! In 1793 Louis XVI was guillotined in France, beginning the Reign of Terror. In 1919 the Irish Dail declared for independence. In 1368 the Ming Dynasty began, lasting until 1644. In 1870 A U.S. Army attack on Piegan Blackfeet in Montana resulted in the Marias Massacre. Finally on January 23, 1958, Venezuelan dictator General Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown and fled Venezuela.

Michael then set about illustrating the 20th century with cartoons. These ranged widely, covering the introduction of the Old Age Pension in 1909. 5/- a week for singles and 7/6 for couples. But only for over 70’s. Who numbered about 500,000, mostly women. This changed in 1925 to 65 with wider rules. Then came the Suffragettes, WWI, (“If you can find a better ’ole”) and the Zeppelin raids. The Peace of 1919 was seen as a precursor to more potential conflicts, partly because Victor Clemanceau (The Tiger) insisted on more stringent penalties than President Woodrow Wilson proposed. The era that followed was lampooned as a time for the rich to ignore the advantages provided by the previous generation, especially comparing the flappers to the Suffragettes.

This contrasted with the Jarrow March and all it stood for. Then came WWII, Churchill, Dunkirk and Nazi horrors, and a light-hearted approach to civilian hardship and air raids.

But the end of War saw the Cold War, and the Iron Curtain and the terrible events in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Political blunders like the Suez Canal venture when we found out what the ‘Special Relationship’ really meant. Then came ‘Supermac’, JFK and the effective end of Empire. Internal scandals were noted such as the Profumo Affair, and the demise of Harold Wilson. A brilliant cartoon showing how Margaret Thatcher rose to power by walking up a staircase of crouching men raised quite a laugh. Then came Arthur Scargill, the miners’ leader being seen as a beast to be carved by Ian MacGregor for Thatcher. MacGregor had a very mixed reception. The renewed ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland came in for acid comment, highlighting the conflict between adherents to the same God; and finally, the end of the 20th century, noting the short-lived easing of controls in Iran.

A thoroughly erudite exposition of how the apparently simple medium of the cartoon can convey much more than mere words. Many thanks Michael!

Earlier history meeting