Military history of Spain

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The capture of Rheinfelden (1633). Spain was Europe's dominant power for most of the 16th and 17th centuries and had the largest global empire until the beginning of the 19th century

The military history of Spain, from the period of the Carthaginian conquests over the Phoenicians to the current Afghan War spans a period of more than 2200 years, and includes the history of battles fought in the territory of modern Spain, as well as her former and current overseas possessions and territories, and the military history of the people of Spain, regardless of geography.

Spain's early military history emerged from her location on the western fringes of the Mediterranean, a base for attacks between Roman Rome and Carthage. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Spain was devastated by successive barbarian invasions, with stability only gradually appearing with the later years of the Visigothic kingdom. The early Middle Ages for Spain saw the country forming the front line in a battle between Christian and Islamic forces in the Mediterranean; the Conquista and Reconquista took centuries to reach a military resolution. The 16th and 17th centuries marked the peak of Spanish power, the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Spain acquired vast empire by defeating the centralised states of the Americas, and colonising the Philippines. Her tercio units, backed by imperial gold and silver, were dominant in Europe. It was not until the years after the Thirty Years' War that Spanish military power began to fade; even then, supported by a reinvigorated navy, Spain remained a major military power throughout the 18th century, in competition with Britain and France on the global stage.

The Napoleonic Wars changed Spanish military history dramatically; defeated at home, the Peninsular War saw the development of guerrilla warfare against the occupying French forces. The collapse of central Spanish authority resulted in successful wars of independence amongst Spain's American colonies, drastically reducing the size of her empire, and in turn led to a sequence of civil wars in Spain itself, many fought by frustrated veterans of the French and colonial campaigns. Attempts to reassert imperial power during the mid-19th century, enabled by the development of the steam frigate ultimately failed, leading to the collapse of the remanents of Spain's empire in the Americas and Asia in 1898 at the hands of a rising power, the United States of America. The political tensions that had driven the Carlist Wars remained unchecked, spilling over once again in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–9. Bringing a foretaste of the tactics of the Second World War, several nations used the conflict as a testing ground for new aerial and armoured warfare tactics. In the post-war period, Spain has increasingly turned away from the last remaining colonial conflicts in Africa, and played a growing modern military role within the context of the NATO alliance.

The Classical period: the rise of Rome

In the classical period, Spain was a mix of Celtic and Iberian tribal states, and Greek and Phoenician trading ports, with the largest state being the kingdom of Tartessus. With the eruption of war between Carthage, a Phoenician colony in North Africa and the Greeks, the Carthaginians begin extending their influence in Iberia, creating the city of New Carthage (Cartagena), in hopes of creating a trading empire. Following the First Punic War with Rome, in 237 BC, Hamilcar Barca, the famous Carthaginian general, then began the conquest of Turdetania (the successor state of Tartessus) and Gades to provide a springboard for further attacks on Rome. Hamilcar entrusted the conquest and military governance of the region to his son Hasdrubal the Fair – his other son, Hannibal, would march his troops across Hispania with elephants to lead them on Rome in the Second Punic War. During that war, Rome declared Hispania to be a Roman provincia in 218 BC, beginning a century-long campaign to subdue the people of Iberia to Roman.

Relief from Trajan's Column, depicting the Hispanic-born Emperor's military successes.

After the expulsion of the Carthaginians from Hispania in the Second and Third Punic Wars, Rome attempted to subdue the native tribes. In the northeasterly province of Hispania Citerior, the Celtiberian Wars occupied Roman forces for the better part of the 2nd century. In Hispania Ulterior, the Lusitanian War did the same. The resistance of the Lusitani under Viriathus became legendary across the Empire. In the troubled final years of the Republic, Quintus Sertorius held most of Iberia as a de facto independent sovereign against the partisans of Sulla. His attitude towards the natives and his military reforms – he was a partisan of Marius – secured him the loyalty of the populace and the army and his general success until his assassination. The Spanish era, a dating system predominant in Iberia until the close of the Middle Ages, began in 38 BC. The last region of Hispania to be subjected was the northwest, finally being conquered in the Cantabrian Wars, which ended in 19 BC.[1]

Under Roman rule, Hispania contributed, like the rest of empire, to the Roman military, providing both legionaries, and auxiliary forces, in particular alae cavalry. Hispania also shaped Roman military affairs more subtely. The famous Roman infantry sword, the Gladius, stemmed directly or indirectly from the Spanish development of the Gladius Hispaniensis; with minor alterations, this would form the standard Roman weapon for several centuries. Hispania also provided several of Rome's more famous military Emperors, including Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

The collapse of Rome and barbarian invasions

During the third through 6th centuries, the Roman Empire was beset by numerous barbarian invaders, mostly Germanic, who migrated through her borders and began warring and settling in her territories. While the Vandals and Alans were fighting each other for supremacy in southern Gaul, the confederation of the Suevi crossed the Pyrenees and passing through Vasconia, entered Gallaecia in 409. The Vandals soon followed the Suevi example, with the Alans close behind. The Alans settled in Lusitania and Carthaginiensis and the Siling Vandals in Baetica, while the Asding Vandals vied with the Suevi for Gallaecia. The Visigoths crossed the Pyrenees to expand their kingdom in 416. They pushed the Vandals and Alans south, defeating and killing the Alan king Attaces in 426 and forcing the two tribes to amalgamate and retreat across the Straits of Gibraltar into Africa. For almost thirty years, Spain was the location for vicious tribal conflicts.

The Visigothic kingdom at its height.

The first barbarians to settle were the Suevi, whose king Hermeric, a former foederatus of Rome, ratified a peace with the local Hispano-Roman population in 438. Weary of fighting, Hermeric abdicated in favour of his son Rechila. As the Visigothic kingdom expanded into Iberia, expelling the Vandals and Alans, the Suevi expanded their own realm as far south as Mérida. In 456, the new Catholic king, Rechiar, died in battle with the Visigoth king Theodoric II and the Suevi kingdom began to retreat under Gothic pressure. Beset by internal political conflict, the Suevi capitulated to the Visigoths in 585. Some resistance was maintained for a few years, but soon the last of Suevi resistance was erased.

The Visigoths consolidated a kingdom spanning most of Iberia and Gaul. For the next two centuries, they warred not only amongst themselves in a sequence of succession crises – which followed the election of a new king after every royal death,[2] but also against the Byzantine Empire, which was trying to regain lost territory in the south, the Arian Suevi trying to preserve their hold on Gallaecia, and the Franks pushing south against them from Gaul. The Visigoth military structure was highly decentralised – the great territorial magnates, the duces (dukes), maintained their own armies, as in all the great Germanic kingdoms of Europe at the time. These armies rarely cooperated in campaigns.[3] At the Battle of Vouillé in 507, the Franks under Clovis I wrested control of Aquitaine from the Visigoths. The Visigoths lost all of their territory north of the Pyrenees except the province of Gallia Narbonensis. The first half of the 6th century was largely a failure for the Visigoths. They failed to hold onto their Gallic possessions, they failed to oust the Suevi, and they failed to repulse the Byzantine Empire when it first endeavoured to reassert control over its Iberian provinces, taking advantage of a local rebellion.[4] In 554, Granada and southernmost Hispania Baetica were taken from the Byzantines; under the last Arian king, Leovigild, the Suevi kingdom was annexed in 585 and the war of reconquest against the remainder of the Byzantine territories was begun, finally being completed under King Suintila in 624. The Visigoths faced no serious external threat from then on until the sudden Moorish invasion of 711.

Islamic conquest and Reconquista

For almost seven hundred years, Spain was the battleground for the opposing forces of the Islamic Caliphate and Western Christian forces. Both Muslims and Christian were motivated by religious conviction, which inspired the warfare. The initial Islamic invasion of Iberia was sudden and unexpected. The varied Moorish tribes of Morocco united under the leadership of Arab generals sent by the reigning Umayyad caliph and crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in 711 under the leadership of the Berber Tariq ibn Ziyad. Tariq won a swift victory at the Guadalete and defeated and killed the reigning Gothic king, Roderic.[5] In a campaign lasting eight years, the whole of Iberia was subjected to Umayyad authority, except for the Asturias mountain range in the far northwest and the pockets of resistance in Navarre. The Islamic offensive ultimately paused after the losses it suffered in Frankland and in the Asturias, where battles such as those at Tours and Covadonga showed some of the potential weaknesses of the Arab methods of warfare.[6]

The Islamic conquest was only very slowly undone, over the course of seven centuries in what the Christians of Spain called the Reconquista. Three main forces were involved in this process, the Visigothic holdouts in the Asturias, the holdouts in Navarre and the Pyrenees, and the Franks of Aquitaine. The Reconquista, as a concerted effort to remove the Muslims from the territories they held, commenced in the reign of Alfonso I (739 – 757). Alfonso led an offensive into the valley of the Duero and left the region depopulated, the so-called "Desert of the Duero". For the next century, this prevented any serious Islamic incursions into the Christian territories of the north. During the late 8th and early 9th centuries, the Franks under their Carolingian rulers took up the cause of reconquest along the Mediterranean littoral. By 797, Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, captured Barcelona, establishing a clear bulwark against future invasions. The Basques extended their kingdom as far as Nájera, and a widespread repoblación of the depopulated areas began, extending Christian borders southwards.[7]

Despite a resurgence during the 10th century, the Caliphate of Córdoba's attempts to reverse the Reconquista failed, and by the 11th century, Christian Iberia was united under Sancho the Great, the King of Navarre, whilst the caliphate was divided and engulfed by civil war, the period of the taifas. The 11th century saw the development of a concept of Christian holy war, to be waged against Islam with the purpose of the Christians recapturing long lost territories – the Crusade. Crusading, under other names, also took place in Spain; Franks and Normans and even Papal troops took to Spain in increasing numbers to join the locals in their fight against "the Moor." The last threat of the 11th century came in the form of the Almoravids, who with their well disciplined forces first established a hegemony over Morocco and then extended it over al-Andalus. While the Reconquista paused in the west, to the east Alfonso the Battler, the King of Aragon, redoubled efforts to retake the valley of the Ebro. In 1212, the Reconquistadores gained a decisive victory over the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Shortly after the battle, the Castilians took Baeza and, then, Úbeda, major fortified cities near the battlefield, and gateways to invade Andalucia. Thereafter, Ferdinand III of Castile retook Córdoba in 1236, Jaén in 1246, and Seville in 1248; then he took Arcos, Medina-Sidonia, Jerez and Cádiz, effectively bringing the bulk of the reconquista to a conclusion.

Unification of Castile and Aragon

La rendición de Granada (1882) by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, showing a romanticised version of the final act of the Spanish Reconquista under a unified Castile and Aragon.

Late medieval Spain was divided into the three Christian kingdoms of Navarre, Castile and Aragon, alongside the small, last remaining Islamic state of Granada. The civil wars and conflicts of the late 14th and early 15th century would result in the unification of the Christian kingdoms; combined with advances in naval technology, this would pave the way for the rise of Spain as a dominant European power.

Castile, a medium-sized kingdom with a strong maritime tradition, was plunged into civil war following the death of Alfonso XI in 1349; the conflict between Pedro of Castile and Henry II of Castile became bound up with the wider politics of the Hundred Years' War. With France supporting Henry and his descendants, England exploited opportunities to destabilise the regime. Attempts by John I, Henry's son, to unify Castile and Portugal, resulted in a Portuguese uprising and the intervention of the English John of Gaunt, claiming the Castilian throne by right of marriage. Not until 1387 was the civil war finally concluded, with John of Gaunt accepting a cash settlement.[8] Aragon, a smaller kingdom but with widespread claims to lands across the Mediterranean, also saw internal clashes over dynastic inheritance; Peter IV fought a harsh campaign against his nobles from 1346–9 over his daughter's right to inherit the throne.

The threat of internal stability remained until the marriage of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469. The two monarchs were promptly challenged by Joan of Castile but were swiftly successful. Isabella would go on to establish the Hermandad militia system, which would provide her with a royal counterbalance to any future challenge from the nobility.[9] The two monarchs proceeded to conquer the Kingdom of Granada, the last Islamic state in the Iberian peninsula, which was completed by 1492. In that same year, the Alhambra Decree was issued, expelling all Jews from both Castile and Aragon. Now unified, Spain now enjoyed relative internal stability; rights and lands across the Mediterranean; and a strong tradition of seafaring in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean, which it would maximise in the coming decades.

The conquest of the Americas and the beginnings of empire

The defeat of the Incas by Spanish forces at the battle of Cajamarca, 16 November 1532.

After Christopher Colombus's successful navigation to the New World under Spanish patronage, Spanish forces rapidly began to occupy much of the new territories, rapidly taking the Bahamas and defeating the local Arawak speaking indigenous groups. The efforts of Ferdinand Magellan, reaching the island of Limasawa in 1521,[10] led to the subsequent establishment of the colony of the Philippines under Miguel López de Legazpi which was to become an essential Spanish military base in the Pacific. The challenge of the Barbary Pirates encouraged defensive and punitive expeditions across the Mediterranean, resulting in the conquest of various outposts in North Africa, including Melilla in 1497, Mazalquivir in 1505, Oran in 1509, Algiers in 1510, Tripoli in 1511 and the smaller Plazas de Soberania.

The most dramatic impact of Spanish military power, however, lay in the defeat of the American empires of the Aztecs and Incas. From 1519–21, a coalition army of Spanish soldiers and Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger defeated the Aztec Empire; in 1532, Francisco Pizarro and his brothers Gonzalo and Hernando invaded and occupied the Inca Empire from their base in Panama. Both wars in which very small numbers of Spanish soldiers – the conquistadors – who were mostly veterans of Spain's European or North African campaigns, were backed by local allies and defeated well established empires, shared many similarities. The highly proficient conquistadors benefited from their access to cavalry, steel swords, axes, spears, pikes, halberds, bows, crossbows, helmets and armour, not to mention small cannon, none of which were familiar to local forces. The Spanish also benefited from their immunity to many common European diseases which were to decimate their local enemies.[11]

Spain had one of its worst military defeats in the War by Fire and blood (also known as the Chichimeca war). They were defeated by the native allies of the Great Chichimeca north of the Aztec empire. This war was very distinct considering the natives created arrows that were very effective at penetrating armor. They had to pay the natives for peace.

The Spanish were to fare less well against the less centralised societies of southern Chile, however, particularly once local forces began to adapt to, or actually adopt similar military technologies. Although Pedro de Valdivia was able to successfully invade Chile in 1540, the first great rebellion of the Arauco wars was to begin only 1553 later, marking the beginning of a conflict that would last until the 19th century.[12] Spanish forces, operating at huge distances from their European or even Caribbean centres of power, were frequently available in small numbers; Valdivia had great difficulty in recruiting even the 150 Spanish soldiers he used to invade Chile, and the frequent reversals during the Arauco wars led to losses that often took several years to replace. As time progressed, the advantages of the Spanish began to increasingly centre on their access to early modern firearms, especially the musket, rather than the technologies that had won them their early successes.[13]

The 16th and 17th centuries, Spain's 'Golden Age'

The Battle of Pavia, 1525. Spanish forces capture the French king, Francois I

During the 16th century, Habsburg Spain saw a steady growth in its military power. The Italian Wars (1494–1559) resulted in an ultimate Spanish victory and hegemony in northern Italy by expelling the French. During the war, the Spanish army transformed its organization and tactics, evolving from a primarily pike and halberd wielding force into the first pike and shot formation of arquebusiers and pikemen, known as the colunella. During the 16th century this formation evolved into the tercio infantry formation. The new formation and battle tactics were developed because of Spain's inability to field sufficient cavalry forces to face the heavy French cavalry.[14] Habsburg Spain came to enjoy an axis of allied and neutral territories from Naples through Milan and northwards to the Netherlands, a route for reinforcements that came to be called the Spanish Road.[15] Backed by the financial resources drawn from the Americas,[16] Spain could afford to mount lengthy campaigns against her enemies, such as the long running Dutch revolt (1568–1609), defending Christian Europe from Ottoman raids and invasions, supporting the Catholic cause in the French civil wars and fighting, England during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). The Spanish army grew in size from around 20,000 in the 1470s, to around 300,000 by the 1630s during the Thirty Years' War that tore Europe apart, requiring the recruitment of soldiers from across Europe.[17] With such numbers involved, Spain had trouble funding the war efforts on so many fronts. The non-payment of troops led to many mutinies and events such as the Sack of Antwerp (1576), when unpaid tercio units looted the Dutch city.

In the east, Habsburg Spain fought alongside other Christian allies against the Ottoman Empire, taking part in numerous actions and campaigns in and around the Mediterranean over the period. The naval competition culminated in victory for the Christian alliance at the battle of Lepanto in 1571, the last naval battle in the Mediterranean to see the large scale use of galleys by both sides. In the middle of the century, Spain developed the galleon for naval warfare, using them in convoys to link her possessions in the Philippines, the Americas and Europe.[18][19] The Manila galleons sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean, whilst the Spanish treasure fleets linked Mexico back to Europe.[20]

The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, ended in victory for the Spanish led Christian navy against the Ottoman navy

Spain fought the Castile War against the Bruneian Empire. Spanish forces attempted to conquer Cambodia in the Cambodian–Spanish War[ but were defeated. Moros fought against Spanish invading for centuries in the Spanish–Moro conflict. The Igorot people resisted and fought against the Spanish.

The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) drew in Spain alongside most other European states. Spain entered the conflict with a strong position, but the ongoing fighting gradually eroded her advantages; first Dutch, then Swedish innovations had made the tercio more vulnerable, having less flexibility and firepower than its more modern equivalents.[21] Nevertheless, Spanish armies continued to win major battles and sieges throughout this period across large swathes of Europe. French entry into the war in 1635 put additional pressure on Spain, with the French victory at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 being a major boost for the French, though it proved far from decisive in the long-running Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659). By the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which brought an end to most of the fighting, Spain was clearly exhausted. Politics too had begun to count against Spain. While Spain was fighting France, Portugal — which had been under personal union with Spain for 60 years – acclaimed John IV of Braganza as king in 1640.

The Surrender of Breda, 1625. The Spanish receive the Dutch surrender after a long siege. A tercio unit's pikes can be seen on the right

Spain was forced to accept the independence of the Dutch Republic in 1648, another sign of diminishing power. In the second half of the century, a much reduced and increasingly neglected Spanish army became infamous for being poorly equipped and rarely paid.[22] For the remainder of the century, France continued to grow in relative power under Louis XIV. The Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) ended in defeat. However, despite some Spanish concessions (Roussillon and French Flanders); the Spanish maintained their main territorial holdings in the Low Countries, Italy and Catalonia. The War of Devolution (1667–8) proved a one sided affair, as French forces overcame badly neglected Spanish forces and fortifications, marking the military ascendancy of France. The outcome of the War of the Reunions (1683-1683) had a similar outcome. During the nine years war, Spain also lost Catalonia to France but it was restored to the kingdom in 1687 with the treaty of Ryswick.

European rivalry in the 18th century

The Anglo-Dutch victory in Vigo Bay over a Franco-Spanish convoy in 1702 had unexpected financial consequences

The centre of Spanish military power shifted dramatically in the early 18th century. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was both a civil and international war in which the French backed the Bourbon contender for the Spanish throne and an alliance led by Austria, the Netherlands and Britain backed the Habsburg contender while a divided Spain fought on both sides. The war secured the Spanish throne for the Bourbon Philip as Philip V of Spain at the Peace of Utrecht but in the war's settlement, Spain had to give up the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Sardinia, Sicily, Gibraltar and Minorca to the Habsburg allies. Spain's defeat by the combined alliance of France, Britain, the Netherlands and Austria in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) confirmed the decline from her former dominance, whilst the successful deployment of the Britain's Royal Navy into the Mediterranean, by exploiting the fortress of Gibraltar, gained in 1704 by an Anglo-Dutch force during the war of succession, would create considerable difficulties in the following years.[23]

Globally, Spain remained an important naval and military power, depending on critical sea lanes stretching from Spain through the Caribbean and South America, and westwards towards Manila and the Far East. The 18th century saw an ongoing struggle between the growing naval power of the rising imperial power Great Britain and Spain that worked to maintain it transoceanic links with its overseas empire, still by far the largest of the time. The number of Spanish galleons deploying across the Atlantic sea routes increased significantly in the first half of the century, undoing the decline of the latter 17th century.[24] Britain used the exclusive right to non-Spanish slave trading in Spanish America for thirty years which she had gained at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession as an excuse for increased military intervention, such as during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748).[25] During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), Britain attempted to leverage its existing island bases along the Spanish Main and the Spanish West Indies, briefly occupied Havana and Manila, but in each case the British hold was tenouous and practical and strategic considerations led to their return in exchange for Florida. During the American War of Independence, Spanish forces reconquered Florida and assisted the American rebels with arms and soldiers and by attacks on British trade and supplies. Both Spain and Britain made extensive use of privateers throughout the war, the Spanish exploiting fully the British prejudice against using the convoy system to protect its expensive merchant assets in times of war. The earlier war of the Polish succession was still seen as positive for Spain, as the kingdom did recover the territories lost after the war of Spanish succession, in Italy. However, during the Seven Years' War, three Spanish attempts to conquer Portugal ended in crushing disasters.

Battle of Cartagena de Indias, 1741. Spanish forces defeat a British amphibious attack in the War of Jenkins' Ear

The huge distances involved in warfare between European powers in the Americas usually counted in favour of the defenders. Attacks on Spanish possessions, such as the amphibious assaults launched during the War of Jenkins' Ear ended in failure for the British as their overstretched forces failed to overcome well led defensive actions. Spain's involvement in the American Revolutionary War (1779–83) was largely a success, underlining the resources that Spain still had at its disposal. Spain entered the war after the Battle of Saratoga, with the aim, as in the Seven Years' War, of recovering Gibraltar and Minorca and removing the British threat to their Gulf of Mexico colonies. Their successful defence of the Louisiana Territory, the invasion of Minorca in 1781,[26] and the capture of West Florida from the British, showed a renewed strength in the New World, although the British defence of Gilbratar prevented the Spanish achieving all their war goals.[27]

The Napoleonic Wars and the loss of the Americas

The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya, showing Spanish guerrilla soldiers being executed by Napoleon's troops.

The Napoleonic Wars were to have a tremendous impact on Spanish military history, both within Spain itself and across her American colonies. French armies invaded Spain and in 1808, rapidly deposing the Spanish king. Spain's subsequent liberation struggle marked one of the first national wars and the emergence of large-scale guerrillas, from which the English language borrowed the word.[28] While the French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas (in 1810, a reconstituted national government fortified itself in Cádiz) and proved unable to recruit, train, or equip effective armies, Napoleon's failure to pacify the people of Spain allowed Spanish, British and Portuguese forces to secure Portugal and engage French forces on the frontiers while Spanish guerrilleros wore down the occupiers.[29] Acting in concert, regular and irregular allied forces prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces.[30] The Spanish navy, put to sea in support of France during the War of the Third Coalition in 1805, suffered terrible losses at the Battle of Trafalgar, having been weakened by yellow fever in the preceding years; in many ways this marked the nadir of Spanish naval history.

The Battle of Ayacucho (1824) ensured the ultimate independence of South America

The events in mainland Spain had extensive consequences for her empire. Spain's colonies in the Americas had shown an increasing independence in the years running up to the Peninsular War; British attempts to invade the Río de la Plata in 1806–7, for example, had been rebuffed by well organised local militia.[31] The occupation of the Spanish homeland, however, resulted in first a sequence of uprisings in support of the imprisoned king, and then a struggle for independence that increasingly formed a series of civil wars across the Spanish dominions in the America. The conflict started in 1808, with juntas established in Mexico and Montevideo in reaction to the events of the Peninsular War. The conflict, lasting twenty years, was far from one sided. Patriot forces were often underequipped, largely peasant militia armies commanded by amateur officers; Royalist forces, partially supported from Spain over huge sea distances, were frequently able to gain the upper hand.[32] The Spanish navy was easily able to dominate the local, coastal navies of her colonies. Campaigning across the huge distances of South America, frequently in winter conditions with minimal supplies, resulted in terrible privation. Ultimately, Royalist exhaustion and growing political maturity amongst the new states resulted in the creation of a chain of newly independent countries stretching from Argentina and Chile in the south to Mexico in the north. Only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule.

19th century Carlist Wars and the final days of empire

The Chincha Islands of Peru, being occupied by Spanish sailors on April 14, 1864

In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain's military found itself involved in an increasing number of internal conflicts, distracting military attention from other priorities, and continuing to undermine the Spanish economy.[33] The first of these, the Trienio Liberal (1820–3) involved a revolt by soldiers against King Ferdinand VII while they were being embarked for a campaign in America.[34] France intervened militarily to support the monarchy, restoring order, but this was short-lived. When Ferdinand died in 1833, his fourth wife Maria Cristina became Queen regent on behalf of their infant daughter Isabella II. This splintered the country into two factions known as the Cristinos – the supporters of the Queen regent – and the Carlists, the supporters of Carlos V, who had rejected the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 that abolished the Salic law.[35] The First Carlist War lasted over seven years and the fighting spanned most of the country at one time or another, although the main conflict centered on the Carlist homelands of the Basque Country and Aragon. Many of the military officers involved had served in the Peninsular War a few years before. The Second Carlist War was a minor Catalonian uprising in support of Carlos VI, lasting from 1846 to 1849. The Third Carlist War began after Queen Isabella II was overthrown by a conspiracy of liberal generals in 1868, and left Spain in some disgrace; four years later, the latest Carlist pretender, Carlos VII, decided that only force of arms could win him the throne. This Third Carlist War lasted until 1876.[35]

Battle of Manila Bay, 1898. Old Spanish warships were put back into service and were comprehensively beaten.

Under Isabella II of Spain, there were several, ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to reassert Spanish military influence around the world, often in partnership with France. In 1848 Spain intervened to support Pope Pius IX against local republican opposition. In February 1849, five warships, including the frigates steamed to Gaeta from Barcelona, three more from Cadiz following in May.[36] In total, 4,000 Spanish soldiers were deployed in Gaeta and placed at the Pope's disposition. This marked the Spanish Army's first expeditionary venture into Italy since the War of the Austrian Succession a hundred years prior. In partnership with the French, Spanish columns secured the region. In 1858 Spain joined with France to intervene in Cochin China, donating 300 Filipino troops to the invasion.[37] Spain joined an allied expedition in support of the French intervention in Mexico. In 1859, Spain fought a short war with Morocco, resulting in a stronger Spanish position in North Africa. By the 1860s, Spain had built up a very large navy again, and in 1864 Spain intervened along the South American cost, seizing the guano-rich Chincha Islands from its former colony of Peru. Although the new Spanish steam frigates were superior to local vessels, the huge distances and lack of land support ultimately concluded with Spain handing back the islands at the end of the Chincha Islands War. An attempt to recolonise Santo Domingo similarly failed by 1865 in the face of fierce guerrilla resistance.

Spain faced a sequence of challenges across her colonies in the second half of the century that would result in a total defeat of empire at the hands of the growing power of the United States. Spain's colony of Cuba rebelled in 1868, leading to a sequence of brutal guerrilla insurgencies and retaliations,[38] through the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), the Little War (1879–1880) and finally the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). Spain, although militarily occupied with the Carlist troubles at home, put increasing resources into the conflict, slowly taking the upper hand,[39] and assisted by American sales of modern weaponry.[40] By 1898, however, increasing U.S. political interests in Cuba were encouraging a more interventionist policy. The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbour provided the trigger for the Spanish–American War, in which Spain's aging navy fared disastrously. Cuba gained its independence and Spain lost its remaining New World colony, Puerto Rico, which together with Guam and the Philippines it ceded to the United States for 20 million dollars. In 1899, Spain sold its remaining Pacific islands – the Northern Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands and Palau – to Germany, reducing Spain's colonial possessions to Spanish Morocco, the Spanish Sahara and Spanish Guinea, all in Africa.

Early 20th century and the Civil War

Although Spain remained neutral during World War I, despite suffering considerable economic losses to German submarines,[41] she was militarily active elsewhere during the early part of the 20th century, attempting to strengthen her position in North Africa. Despite successes in the late 19th century, the first Rif War (1893–4) around Melilla had also shown the potential weakness of the Spanish position along the coast. The second Rif War (1909–10) was initially a fiasco for the under-equipped and undertrained Spanish, until heavy artillery was brought in; in the aftermath of the war, Spain began to raise units of local Regulares. The third Rif War (1920–1926) also began badly for the Spanish, especially after the disaster of Annual (1921), resulting in various changes to the Spanish approach. Working in alliance with French forces in the region, Spain created the Spanish Legion along similar lines to the French Foreign Legion to provide additional experienced forces. Spain also became the first country to deploy chemical weapons by air, dropping mustard gas from aircraft.[42]

Nationalist aircraft bomb Madrid in 1936; the conflict saw the first modern aerial warfare against urban areas.

In 1931, following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, the armed forces of the Spanish Kingdom became the Spanish Republican Armed Forces. The Spanish Civil War (1936–9) began right after the Spanish coup of July 1936, a partially successful coup d'état by a section of the Spanish Army against the government of the Spanish Republic. The ensuing Civil War devastated Spain, ending with the victory of the rebels and the founding of a dictatorship led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the leader of the Nationalist army.

The civil war was marked by the extensive involvement of international units.[43] Many joined the Republican side under the banner of the International Brigades. The Nationalists enjoyed support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, with several new technologies being trialled as a result.[44] The Nationalist side conducted aerial bombing of cities in Republican territory, carried out mainly by the Luftwaffe volunteers of the Condor Legion[45] and the Italian air force volunteers of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie – the most notorious example of this tactic of terror bombings was the bombing of Guernica.[46] The first combat use of the Stuka occurred during the conflict. The civil war influenced European military thinking on the alleged supremacy of the bomber. Armoured warfare was also trialled by Nationalist supporters; German volunteers first used armor in live field conditions in the form of the Panzer Battalion 88, a force built around three companies of PzKpfw I tanks that functioned as a training cadre for Nationalists.

Weakened and politically still fragile, Spain remained officially neutral during World War II. However, to repay Hitler for his assistance in the Civil War, Franco raised a volunteer corps, the Blue Division (with an aerial counterpart, the Blue Squadron), to fight on the Eastern Front. In that way, by only fighting the Soviet Union, Franco could repay Hitler while staying at peace with the Western Allies. Nearly fifty thousand Spanish personnel served from June 1941 til October 1943, seeing fierce action in the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Krasny Bor. After Franco was pressured by Allied leaders to withdraw the Division, a token force of volunteers remained as the Blue Legion. Fighting for the Allies, many exiled Spanish Republicans, called Spanish Maquis, joined the French Resistance. Thousands also served in the Free French Forces; particularly of note is the Ninth Armoured Company under General Leclerc's Second Division. The first Allied unit to enter Paris in 1944, it was almost entirely made up of Spanish exiles.

The post-war period

Spanish Light Infantry in Afghanistan, operating as part of Spain's military commitment to the NATO alliance.

In the post-war period, Spain was initially still heavily influenced by events in North Africa, particularly surrounding its colony of Western Sahara The first of these conflicts, the Ifni War (1956–1958) saw Spanish forces, including Spain's first paratroop unit, clash with the Moroccan Liberation Army, a Moroccan state backed insurgency movement. In 1958, a joint French-Spanish offensive, using massively superior European air power, crushed the revolt.[47] In the 1970s, the rise of another insurgency movement, Polisario, resulted in the Western Sahara War (1973–1991), with Spain withdrawing from its colony in 1975 and transferring its support in the continuing conflict to Morocco.

From the 1950s onwards, however, Spain began to build increasingly close links with the U.S. armed forces. The Spanish Air Force received its first American jets, such as the F-86 Sabre and Lockheed T-33, from America, whilst the equipment of the Spanish military was again modernised in the 1970s to prepare for Spain's membership of NATO in 1982. Spain sent a small medical unit to the Vietnam War, and a team of engineers to the Gulf War with Spain lending airpower to the NATO efforts during the Bosnian War, the Kosovo War and Libyan Civil War. Most recently, Spain has participated in both the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Spanish military cultural legacy

Historically, in addition to Latin military terms that came down from Roman times into modern Spanish through the language, the Spanish adopted a number of Arabic military terms from their Muslim rivals. Subsequently, a number of Spanish military terms have been adopted into French, English and other languages.

Spanish term Original language Original meaning Modern English term Notes
alcaide Arabic kaid master, leader Medieval Spanish military commander or castellan.
alcazaba Arabic al-casbah walled citadel
alcázar Arabic al-qasr castle or palace Could refer to a residence, citadel, or hilltop fortress.
alférez Arabic Used in medieval Castile-León and Navarre to denote the standard-bearer and commander of the royal military household. In modern usage in Spain and Equatorial Guinea, a second lieutenant.
almirante Arabic amir-al-bahr commander of the seas admiral Adopted in Latinisation (ammiratus) by the Siculo-Normans and later brought to Spain by the Catalans after Sicily became part of the Aragonese Crown.
armada Spanish armed (fem.), later navy, fleet armada Came into English usage after the defeat of the Great Armada in 1588.
caballero villano Spanish "commoner knight" A villein who owned a horse and armour and owed cavalry service.
coronel Spanish or Italian (colonnello), ultimately Latin (columnella) diminutive of colonna/columna (column) colonel Rank popularised by the tercios.
destructor Spanish destroyer A large torpedo gunboat, built in Britain for the Spanish Navy to protect the fleet against torpedo boats, a precursor of the modern destroyer type of ship.
flotilla Diminutive of Spanish flota, from French flotte (little) fleet flotilla
granada Spanish pomegranate grenade
guerrilla Spanish diminutive of guerra (war) guerrilla
Quinta Columna Spanish fifth column Fifth Column First used during the Spanish Civil War by Emilio Mola at the siege of Madrid in reference to his supporters within the city.
tercio Spanish third Infantry unit developed by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba during the Italian Wars.

See also

  1. Syme, 1970.
  2. Montgomery, p. 12.
  3. Montgomery, p.11.
  4. Bury, pp. 286–288.
  5. Montgomery, p. 13.
  6. Davis, p. 105.
  7. O'Callaghan, 2002.
  8. Holmes, pp. 62–3.
  9. Holmes, p. 258.
  10. Zaide and Zaide, 2004.
  11. Diamond, pp. 358–9.
  12. Villalobos, p. 55.
  13. Diamond, 1997.
  14. Davies, 1961
  15. Wedgewood, p. 31.
  16. Elton, p. 181.
  17. Anderson, p. 17.
  18. "The galleon evolved in response to Spain's need for an ocean-crossing cargo ship that could beat off corsairs. Pedro de Menéndez, along with Álvaro de Bazán (hero of Lepanto), is credited with developing the prototypes which had the long hull – and sometimes the oars – of a galley married to the poop and prow of a nao or merchantman. Galeones were classed as 1-, 2- or 3-deckers, and stepped two or more masts rigged with square sails and topsails (except for a lateen sail on the mizzenmast). Capacity ranged up to 900 tons or more. Menéndez' San Pelayo of 1565 was a 900 ton galleon which was also called a nao and galeaza. She carried 77 crewmen, 18 gunners, transported 317 soldiers and 26 families, as well as provisions and cargo. Her armament was iron." p. 100 Menéndez: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Captain General of the Ocean Sea Albert C. Manucy, published 1992 by Pineapple Press, Inc
  19. Holmes, p. 235.
  20. Glyn, p. 4
  21. Meade, p. 180.
  22. Anderson, pp. 109–10.
  23. Simms, p. 135.
  24. Walton, p. 177.
  25. Olson, pp. 1121–22
  26. Chartrand, pp. 54–56.
  27. Chartrand, p. 84.
  28. Laqueur, p. 350.
  29. Gates, pp. 33–34.
  30. Chandler, p. 164.
  31. Fletcher, 1991.
  32. Chasteen, p. 53.
  33. Palmer, p. 67.
  34. Fehrenbach, 1970.
  35. 1 2 Holt, 1967.
  36. Fernandez, D. Fernando Sánchez Principales Campañas.
  37. Chapuis, p. 195.
  38. .
  39. Navarro, p. 50.
  40. Navarro, 1998.
  41. McEvoy, William P. (May 10, 2003). "Spain During the First World War". Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  42. Balfour, p. 142.
  43. Baxell, 2004.
  44. Tierney, pp. 68–9.
  45. Edwards, p. 145.
  46. Corum 2007, p. 200.
  47. Casas de la Vega, 1985.


Social Studies Worksheets and Study Guides Fifth Grade. Western Region US

The resources above correspond to the standards listed below:

Connecticut Standards

1.1. Describe human and natural characteristics of places and how they shape or place identity.
1.3. Examine ways in which regions are interconnected.
1.4. Identify and evaluate various perspectives associated with places and regions.
1.7. Locate natural and cultural features in their own and nearby communities, in the United States and in other regions of the world, as needed, to answer geographic questions.
2.1. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of major events and trends of United States history (e.g., the American Revolution, the Civil War, industrialization, the Great Depression, the cold war).
2.5. Explain the relationships among the events and trends studied in local, state, national and world history.
CT.3. Geography: Human Systems: Students will interpret spatial patterns of human migration, economic activities and political units in Connecticut, the nation and the world.
3.4. Identify processes that divide Earth's surface into different political and economic units from local to international levels.
4.5. Describe human and natural characteristics of places and how they shape or lace identity.
CT.4. History: Applying History: Students will recognize the continuing importance of historical thinking and historical knowledge in their own lives and in the world in which they live.
4.4. Display empathy for people who have lived in the past.


Busy weekend

Foto 29-11-15 21 44 04

Knowing one’s place

We dogs are easy to understand, if you know what to look for. We live by a few simple rules. Hierarchy is one of them. To us hierarchy is very important. That makes sense, because we live in groups. In groups of dogs or humans, that doesn’t matter to us. In a group you need a  hierarchy to function. Wild dogs need this structure to hunt and get their food. Can you imagine what would happen if every member of the pack would do as he pleases, one chasing a squirrel, the other chasing a rabbit and the rest of them snoozing in the sun because they ‘don’t feel like doing anything today’? Right: they won’t get anything to eat and they will die.

A lot of modern dogs do not need to hunt anymore. We are city dogs and farm dogs: we get fed by humans. But still we need hierarchy. It gives clear rules, a structure for us to function in. Like humans, we like to know the boundaries, so we can feel safe and free inside them. No structure means uncertainty and we do not like that. When there is no structure, we will make one ourselves. It comes natural to us, as you can see when dogs meet for the first time. They will sort out the rules and the hierarchy pretty quick. I noticed that humans do the same: as soon as they meet, they start exploring each others position in order to sort out the hierarchy. Funny, hey? Humans and dogs do not differ that much, surprisingly.

Like I said: we dogs live in groups and it does not matter to us whether it is a group of dogs or humans. We call it our pack, either way. My pack consists of M and P and Chuck. Sometimes it gets enlarged with other temporary members, friends from M and P or me. But this is my core pack. We have a strict hierarchy. Chuck is way down this hierarchy. That is why I let him sleep on my bed, but he has to stay on the ground. And I sleep in the chair. Which is more cosy and soft and also higher. We dogs take things very literal: higher in the hierarchy also means higher in height. A dog that sleeps on the sofa, the bed, in a chair is higher than the ones that stay on the floor. Like Chuck. I can even remove him from the cushion on the floor if I feel like it and he won’t complain, ever. Chuck knows his place, our hierarchy is very clear.

Rude dogs, lazy humans

I find it amazing how silly humans can be. Some humans, I mean. Especially humans with bad mannered dogs. Where I live there are some areas where dogs are allowed to run off leash: the forest and the beach. In Holland everything is very orderly, there are designated areas and rules for everything. I don’t know why, but when you don’t comply you get a fine and that means less money to spend on dog cookies. Which, of course, is bad news. So M complies with these rules and I agree with her, concerning the cookie-consequence.

Anyway, we go to these dog-off-leash-zones a lot. And sometimes we meet bad mannered dogs there, running off leash too. When we are harassed by such a dog and our human tells the human with the bad mannered dog she doesn’t like that, she often gets the reply “this is an off leash zone, so my dog can do as he pleases”. Truly, that is the answer we get a lot. Amazing, isn’t it? As if an off-leash-zone means you can do anything you like! As if it is not their concern that other humans and dogs are being bothered by their dog.

I find this very strange. And very unwise, too, from the point of the bad mannered dog and his human. Humans usually end up in an argument when this happens, but we dogs don’t do arguments. We strike. Not the shy and polite dogs, they will hide behind their human. But dogs like me, we don’t accept it when another dog annoys us. Especially when I am with my friends, the bandidos. When a human is too lazy to discipline his mean dog, we will. We actually like doing it, so I hope we will meet one again soon.

Bubbles strand Nicoline

We just returned from the beach and it was awesome. It has been storming all night, so the sea was rough and the air was clean. I did not meet any friends, M and I were alone. So we played ball and I ran.

Every dog loves the beach. The space, the vastness… no matter rain or sunshine or storm, it is always very nice to be there. Running on the beach is a great way to start the day!

Dig this

Feeling sad?

Foto 25-11-14 22 23 38 (1)

Life is good, even when the days are getting darker.

Salty air

Yesterday AND the day before M was so busy that she did not have time to walk with me! She has been looking at this luminous device for hours on end. While outside the sun was shining! Jeez. What is it with humans that they can’t get their priorities right?

I tried to get her attention, of course. I ran around the rooms, dragging Chuck with me. I jumped up and down in front of M. I made special noises to emphasize the importance of Going Out. It did not work. Until today. I am glad to say that we just returned from the beach, both M and I.

It was glorious, as usual. I ran and fetched balls and got my toes wet. M walked and breathed the healthy salty air. She told me we will go to the beach together again every day, from now on. I’ll remind her of that promise! Starting maybe… at seven in the morning, every morning? So she won’t forget.

By the way, this is what she was so busy with. M wrote a book, a thriller, for an organization. She is kind of proud about it, so I am too.


Letters to the Editor, Feb. 18

I believe that most of us North Americans have been victims of bullying and/or some form of abuse at some time in our lives. As a former counsellor and therapist, I worked with and tried to help many victims of everyday bullying, as well as various other forms of abuse. I found that the biggest problem and challenge that they deal with was that they did not stand up to their bullies and abusers. The best question that I have ever heard a counsellor or therapist ask their clients and patients relative to this was the following: “What parts of yourself don’t you love that allows you to let this bully or abuser to continue to mistreat and abuse you?” This question prompted many people to finally make some serious changes in their lives and to walk away from and leave their abusers.

Stewart Epstein

Rochester, N.Y.

(That is solid advice)

Re “Toronto’s Indigenous communities protest not-guilty verdict in Colten Boushie case” (Kevin Connor, Feb. 10): It is a shame to know that our justice system failed again to provide justice to a member of the indigenous community. Why is it that a “white” man was found “not-guilty” of second degree murder? The man was excused from the crime he committed because it was an accident. His actions were not justified — this injustice adds to the pain of the indigenous community. What are our responsibilities as Canadians to ensure that indigenous people receive justice? Knowing that Justin Trudeau used the indigenous peoples issue as a platform to get elected, we need to make sure he follows through and makes the changes he promised. Canada is on a truth and reconciliation journey, which means that all Canadians are responsible to work together to build stronger relationship with indigenous people. Situations like this are taking us a step away from truth and reconciliation. Protesting about these issues is a great way to show support and fulfil our responsibilities as Canadians towards indigenous people. Everyone is responsible to ensure that the leaders of this nation take initiative and fulfil their responsibilities. We must complete our part by talking about theses issues and raise awareness. It is extremely embarrassing to learn that Canada has failed as a nation. Canada has to do better and we must ensure that we improve as a nation.

Saawi Baloch

(And what of the political interference after the verdict? Where is the fairness in that?)

Re “59,300 part-time jobs cut in January as minimum wage jumps to $14” (The Canadian Press, Feb. 9): As the minimum wage has drastically jumped from $11.40 to $14, an absurd amount of part-time jobs have been cut to compensate for this drastic change. The loss of these job opportunities means that it will be drastically more difficult for Canadians to secure a job so that they may be able to reap some benefits from their workplace. These benefits could range from work experience to the development of personal skills. In my opinion, loss of these part-time jobs could have been avoided if the minimum wage increased continuously throughout the years so corporations and workplaces could have the chance to gradually adjust alongside the increasing wage. Now, prices will go up everywhere to counteract the change. As a result, no real refinement will have been made except for the fact that the cost of living will increase for the unemployed.

Zeina Seaifan

(You’re correct. For political expediency the Wynne government rammed it through and now we are witnessing the negative consequences)

This Week's Flyers


Common Sense Statement on Apple's New Screen-Time-Management Features

Common Sense Media
Monday, June 4, 2018

Today, founder and CEO of Common Sense James Steyer released the following statement:

"Apple's announcement today of new iOS features and functionality focused on digital health and well-being demonstrates to both consumers and the tech industry that it is possible to make tech products work better for all of us.
"With kids and teens spending as much as six to nine hours a day glued to their iPhones, these new features will go a long way in helping parents manage screen time, something we know they have been clamoring for.
"The simple management of notifications will reduce distraction and make it easier to remind kids to put their devices down. Protecting downtime -- especially sleep -- is very important, so expanding the functionality of Do Not Disturb is a positive step. And putting all the information and management tools into a screen-time dashboard gives parents the information and control they want and need.
"We commend Apple for joining the digital well-being movement and hope other tech and social media companies will do the same, as there's a lot more work to do. Kids’ digital well-being has to be a top priority."

Press Contact:
Corbie Kiernan
[email protected]


For example, you would need at least Mex$ 49,904 (282,959 Lek) in Durrës to maintain the same standard of living that you can have with Mex$ 34,000 in Acapulco.

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in Acapulco?

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Kerber downs Barty in Sydney International final

So close! It was still a great run from the Australian.

MORE: Tomic survives Australian Open qualifier | Hewitt's advice for young gun De Minaur

A double-fault midway through the first set cost Barty a crucial break point as Kerber claimed the first set 6-4.

The German took that energy in the second set, breaking Barty in the very first game.

But the Australian won the point back straight away as she looked to get back in the match, until Kerber extended her lead in the eighth game with another break.

The highest-ranked female Australian had a chance to equal the scores a game later, although her world no.22 opponent held serve to claim the ATP trophy.

Barty was looking to become the first Australian woman to win in Sydney since Alicia Molik in 2005.

She managed to overcome compatriot Daria Gavrilova in their semi-final 3-6 6-4 6-2.


Why Project Managers Should Attend Hackathons Too

A few weeks ago, Viget hosted a Pointless Weekend. A “Pointless Weekend” is more or less a Viget-only hackathon. Those who want to participate gather together, brainstorm and select an idea on Thursday, and then spend Friday and Saturday making that idea happen.

Hackathons are pretty common these days and, if you’ve ever attended one, you know they are typically full of developers (front-end and back-end) and designers. Everybody involved is actively participating in the project and making sure it launches. Project Managers (PMs), on the other hand, are usually not found at hackathons which, if nothing else, is a shame for the PMs themselves.

I (a PM) participated in Viget’s Pointless Weekend in the Boulder office. I was part of a team of 3 developers, a designer, and another PM (and all of us teamed up with additional developers and designers located in our Falls Church office). I knew I could provide value by at least coordinating food and beverages (including Saturday morning mimosas); but, I wasn’t sure where else I could contribute. I’m not a developer, per se, and I might be even worse on the design side of things.

I was able to step in as a tester -- and, overall, I helped move things forward in typical PM fashion. The other PM involved here in Boulder was instrumental in actually creating the chromatic scales of the tones we used … but, that’s not why I think it’s important for PMs to participate in these events.

On client (or formal internal) projects, PMs provide value and are necessary because there are many constraints. Projects have budgets, timelines, specific requirements, and, usually, a set user base with expectations. We need to know all those constraints and help the team focus on the right things based on priorities. Events like hackathons, on the other hand, typically have one constraint -- time -- and the team members working on projects usually have a good pulse on it. They have an idea of what they can accomplish, and they seem to instinctively know when to move on from what they are doing in the interest of time. Many projects at hackathons are successfully launched without project managers.

So, then, why should PMs attend?

Watching the team work and communicate

During a normal work day, everybody is busy. We all have deadlines, things we need to do, and meetings we need to attend. So, understandably, we can’t be everywhere at once. Team members (hopefully) communicate with each other as they need to, and we aren’t always present (or able to fully digest the back-and-forth). What sort of conversations do the FEDs and DEVs have? Where do they need to collaborate and when do they need to just hunker down and work? What information is useful for a Designer to get going or for a FED to start integrating designs?

Going into this weekend, I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of those questions; but, coming out of it, I know I do. There’s no substitute for being a fly on the wall in those collaborative conversations. Simply listening gave me a better understanding of what I should be thinking about team communication-wise in my upcoming projects (including how I should be communicating myself).

Learning about the tools and technologies teams use

Certainly, we all feel the stress during a hackathon of trying to get something launched by the end of the weekend; but, that sort of timeline stress is not nearly as poignant as deadlines associated with client work. During the typical work week, many team members are actually working on more than one project at a time and have a looming deadline they need to focus on. That means asking questions that are strictly for our own benefit isn’t always a good idea. This means I can’t always ask someone to take the time and go through an in-depth description of what a new technology or tool is. At hackathons, not only does everyone seem to have more time to go into the details; but, in a lot of cases, they also need to explain it to each other -- so, it feels more of a natural conversation. I learned about some different uses of JavaScript and a new language elixir and know enough now to be able to participate more actively in conversations on future projects.

Team bonding

I’m a big believer in getting to know the people you are working with and in helping teams bond and come together, especially during tough projects. Still, bonding over tough projects or simply a beer after work isn’t the same as coming together and all working towards a goal we’ve defined and are passionate about. We didn’t create our new app for a client or for an internal stakeholder: we did it for us. This type of team bonding is tough to replicate in other environments and is a significant benefit of attending hackathons that your coworkers are going to. If your company doesn’t provide this opportunity, look for a hackathon in your area and get a team of your coworkers to go. You’ll get to know each other better, and you’ll likely walk away with a great experience.

Nobody wants to feel like an extra wheel or feel like they are getting in the way; but, sometimes, the answer to “why are you here?” is simply “to learn and get better,” and that’s okay. Everybody can bring value, even if it’s not immediately obvious, and sometimes that true value-added is most clear days and weeks down the line when we’ve improved our role and work as a result of our experience.


Change Your Way Of Life With These Fitness Tips!

These tips can help you workout more efficiently. Self-education is always the best way to start off a new fitness routine. A little knowledge reduces your chances of wasting your time with ineffective exercises or even risking injury by exercising improperly. Learn what you need to know about the exercises that you choose to do.

Personal Trainer

TIP! Counting calories is a great way to stay fit. When you know the number of calories you ingest every day, you can better determine whether you will gain or lose weight.

TIP! Try not looking at the normal choices when looking for a workout program. There is a large array of regimens that get you the exercise you need without stepping foot in a gym.

One way to motivate yourself is to clearly outline a goal for your new fitness program. You will stop focusing on how hard it is and push yourself harder to achieve the goal. Goals can also keep you motivated as they show you that you are not done progressing.

TIP! With every exercise, exhale after each repetition. This give your body more energy as you take in more air after each exhale.

Keep a detailed, daily journal of what you do. This includes all of your exercises, food, and beverages. Even write down the weather for the day. Doing this will help you notice patterns in your workout activity. If you had to put off exercising a little while, note why.

TIP! Do you want to make you exercise routine super efficient? Stretching has been proven to build strength by up to twenty percent. After each set of exercise, stretch the muscle you just worked for 20 to 30 seconds.

Consider creating a workout schedule if you see yourself consistently missing days where you should be exercising. Write down the times and days when you will be exercising, and never skip a session. If you cannot avoid missing a particular day’s workout, reschedule it for another day and approach it with the same level of commitment.

TIP! It is a common misconception that exercising abs every day is a good idea. However, this is just not the case.

TIP! To improve your sprint, work to increase your stride speed. Be sure that your foot lands firmly under your body rather than to the front.

Do some dips for maximum fitness help. Your shoulders, triceps, and chest all get a good workout from a set of dips. There are other ways to do these as well. It is possible to do dips between two benches that are properly positioned. You could even add a bit of weight to make it tougher.

A simple but very handy fitness tip is to press your tongue to the top of your mouth while doing situps or crunches. Strangely enough, this action keeps the muscles that control your alignment in proper position so that you can get the most out of your sit ups. By doing this, you will successfully avoid injuring yourself.

Don’t bounce your body when you’re stretching out. This will strain the muscle and put it under unnecessary strain. If you bounce while you stretch you won’t become more flexible. You may get hurt if you engage in this practice. You should do strong and steady stretches.

TIP! If you get stronger abs you will increase your fitness level. There are many exercises that can build up the abs like crunches and sit ups.

If you find yourself skipping days in your fitness program, enlisting the help of a friend can put you back on track. Friends can keep you motivated when you exercise and that will help you reach your fitness goals. It’s always good to get fit with someone else. This is because it’s harder to give up when someone’s working with you, and that will allow you to become fit faster.

TIP! Don’t take a long break because of an injury, just make sure to go easy on the affected muscles. Muscles can actually be aided in the healing process by doing gentle, brief exercises at a fraction of the intensity you usually use.

Most people overdo their workouts when they initially start. You must take your time to become accustomed to exercise if you have lead a sedentary lifestyle. It take a while for your muscles to get toned enough to handle strenuous exertion, and you run the risk of injury if you go too fast.

TIP! Work on your abdominals to establish a solid core for your body. Work your abs two to three days a week, but no more; like other muscles, your abdominal muscles require time to rest and recover.

There are many options when it comes to exercise. What is important is finding what works best for your situation. By creating an exercise routine that keeps your motivated and engaged, it will be easier to stay fit. As you learn more about fitness, you are sure to find it increasingly interesting.


University of Sheffield Students Union

University of Sheffield Logo

University of Sheffield Students Union

University of Sheffield Students Union

A Students’ Union is run by students for students. In 1906 the Student Representative Council (SRC) elected by the student body was formed the term ‘Union’ was formally adopted in 1923. The Students’ Union is so much more than a building, yet for many years students did not even have one. In the early 1900s students only had separate male and female common rooms in Firth Court. Dances were held in Firth Hall and generally had to end by midnight. In the 1920s the first building 4 Leavygreave was offered to the SRC as a men’s club. After much lobbying 1 Northumberland Rd was given over to women but a joint building for all students remained a dream.

The cost of constructing a Union building proved too high for students to raise the funds alone but fortunately they did not need to. The new building was donated ‘as a personal gift to the students of the University, present and future’ by the philanthropist J.G. Graves who funded many major projects in the city such as the Art Gallery. The new building opened in 1936 providing the organisation with a Refectory and facilities for student groups which enabled them to flourish and grow. The University refused to allow the Union to set up a bar, a full Union bar was not permitted until after World War II.

During the war male students were expected to immediately join the military or remain at University and join the Senior Training Corps to prepare them for military life when they left University. Air raid shelters were dug in the quadrangle of Firth Court and University buildings were sandbagged by teams of student volunteers. The Students’ Union organised fire watching rotas at night around the University.

Post World War 2

Following the end of the war and the large number of ex-service men returning to the University to complete their studies, the University finally agreed to the opening of a bar in 1948. For the first time this meant students had a place of their own to socialise in the evenings. During the 1950s the number of students massively increased the early facilities of the Students’ Union struggled to cope. This led to the Students’ Union lobbying the University for more facilities, which despite budget pressures, would be realised as a shared space in the 1960s as University House.

The 1960s brought huge changes to the Students’ Union going from a cosy, overcrowded but friendly environment to a new era with greater space, better facilities but less intimacy. There was also great changes to the outlook of students during this period, formal dances were replaced with concerts by bands such as The Who. In the late sixties the Students’ Union became more political, with protests against the Vietnam War and high profile speakers such as Malcolm X drawing large audiences. The building changed as well with the new University House and Link buildings were completed in 1962 as well as a new bar, said to be the longest student bar in the country, which today is known as Bar One.

The 1970s saw a more militant Students’ Union focused on battling the University and wider political issues such as the Vietnam War and Apartheid. The Students’ Union provided food, drink and nightlife for students at subsidised prices but it was haemorrhaging money. Due to the increasing numbers of students overcrowding was an issue, with long queues for meals. This politically vibrant period also saw a large range of active and engaged societies and committees as well as the creation of Nightline, one of the first in the country in 1971.

As the huge changes of the 1980s swept the country the Students’ Union became increasingly professional and became more ‘commercial’ to survive in the face of severe threats to higher education funding. This played a huge part in the development of the Students’ Union, for example the organisation expanded acquiring the Fox and Duck pub in 1987 which is still part of the Students’ Union to this day. The Octagon was constructed allowing the Students’ Union to put on large gigs and performances. The threat to the University nursery was ended after protests resulted in the nursery being subsidised by the Students’ Union and becoming the first private nursery in the city. This period saw the University and the Students’ Union joining forces in the face of the threats after several decades of confrontation.

By the 1990s the Students’ Union was a very different place. The fears of unemployment led students to focus on their studies changing the culture of the Students’ Union. Union General meetings continued to decline and were eventually abolished but voter turnout increased in officer elections as political factions gave way to independent candidates. Once again a huge increase in student numbers, almost 50%, led to a large scale rebuild which lasted from 1993-1996. This added the Auditorium, what is now Coffee Revolution and the Gallery. The old cinema was converted into what is now called the Interval Café Bar. Increasingly complex welfare issues affecting students led to the creation of the professional Student Advice Centre. The issues of higher education funding did not go away and were regularly opposed but culminated in the introduction of tuition fees by the government.

The 21st Century

SU Building in 2010

At the turn of the century the Students’ Union was working hard to encourage more students to get involved in the organisation. The organisation no longer had a monopoly on the student market and finances remained rather precarious but new services and ideas such as Give It a Go allowed the Students’ Union to maintain its great services. During this period the Students’ Union found itself in a similar position to the 1990s with a building unable to cope with the increasing numbers of students and increasingly unable to cater to their needs. In 2009 the Students’ Union began its latest building project with £5million from HEFCE. It was completed in 2010 and created an impressive new main entrance, with more seating for students, a larger shop and many other outlets were refitted. By a process of continuous revolution the Students’ Union has remained popular with its students allowing it to remain amongst the best in the country.

For a more comprehensive history of Sheffield Students’ Union up until 2006 see Standing up for Students by Helen Mathers.


Here’s the abstract:

“A material arrangement for a fusion reactor comprising at least one material which is configured as a foam-like carrier material for condensable binding and fusing of hydrogen. The carrier material is provided with positively charged vacancies for condensing hydrogen atoms, small pores for receiving the condensate and for accelerating the condensation after previous penetration of atoms or molecules into these, and large pores for transporting a catalyst into the small pores. Furthermore, a method for producing the material arrangement is disclosed.”

One interesting excerpt:

“In addition to hot fusion, various fusion processes in the field of cold fusion have already been described. In this case these frequently lack demonstrable functionality and efficiency. A development in the field of cold fusion towards the use of condensed matter is increasingly indicated.”

The second application is for “Method and Apparatus for Generating and for Fusing Ultra-dense Hydrogen

“A method for generating and for fusing ultra-dense hydrogen in which molecular hydrogen is fed into at least one cavity and catalyzed, where the splitting and subsequent condensation of the molecular hydrogen is initiated on a catalyst of the cavity to form an ultra-dense hydrogen. The ultra-dense hydrogen is exposed to pressure or electromagnetic radiation to initiate fusion of the ultra-dense hydrogen in the at least one cavity and the reaction heat is led out from the at least one cavity. The pressure as mechanical resonance or the electromagnetic radiation as electromagnetic resonance amplifies the field and therefore the effect. Also, an apparatus for carrying out the method is disclosed.”

Airbus has previously filed a LENR-related application (see here), so they seem to be quite serious about this area. Berhard Kotzia is listed as the inventor on these new application, and he was a co-inventor in the earlier one. It’s not clear how much practical research they have done in connection with these applications, however. I suppose it is possible that they are trying to stake an early claim in anticipation of growing competition in the field, without having done much experimentation so far. Ultra-dense hydrogen seems to have become quite a watchword lately.


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1 papers found.

Men with early-stage prostate cancer have multiple options that have similar oncologic efficacy but vary in terms of their impact on quality of life. In low-risk cancer, active surveillance is the option that best preserves patients’ sexual function, but it is unknown if patient preference affects treatment selection. Our objectives were to identify patient characteristics...


近期，我院陈代芬副教授等在《Journal of Alloys and Compounds》合作发表研究成果。
发布时间： 2018-06-17 浏览次数： 17

    近期，我院陈代芬副教授等的Polarization-dependent fluorescence of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots coupling to a single gold-silver alloy nanotube研究成果在《Journal of Alloys and Compounds》上发表。

        The fluorescence intensities of CdSe/ZnSquantum dotson a silvernanowireand a gold-silver alloynanotubewith different molar ratios of gold and silver are investigated under excitation with different polarization angles. The ratio of the fluorescence intensity of perpendicular and parallel polarization excitations is measured to be 4.05 for a silver nanowire and decreases to 1.30, 1.10 and 1.07 for nanotube with Au:Ag molar ratios of 1:4.0, 1:2.5 and 1:1.5, respectively. The numerical simulation results show that the aforementioned experimental phenomena can be attributed to the variation in the distribution of the surface plasmon electromagnetic field under perpendicular polarized light excitation. The electromagnetic field is primarily distributed on the outer surface of the silver nanowire, while the field partially penetrates the interior of the silver nanotube and becomes completely concentrated at the interior of the gold nanotube. This research also found that the productivity and robustness of thechemical synthesisof the alloy nanotubes can be greatly improved by using a microwave reactor.


Case for cement standardisation

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While the incidence of building collapses increases, same set of manufacturers and experts come up with new themes on how to explain away the shortcomings of the building sector. They bring up new ways to curb these incidences, organize seminars to sensitize the general public, blame substandard and shoddy planning, absolves the sector of blame (shifting it to a few bad, unregistered eggs) while, as usual in Nigeria, we move on and several more buildings join the queue. Maybe it is a conspiracy; maybe not!

Without mincing words, the standards we have come to assume for buildings have come from proselytized views milking our ignorance. For someone like me who have never taken the ‘cement talk’ very serious except for the price conspiracy, it is important to share my newfound understanding. To some, it will be elucidative while to others – who understand a thing or two about it – it will support whatever knowledge they already have. Let’s shoot!

What exactly is Cement? “Cement is a fine, gray powder which sets after a few hours when mixed with water, and then hardens in a few days into a solid, strong material.” Cement is made from the mixture of heated limestone, sand, clay and/or shale. Its usage as the major component in constructions means it has to be subjected to strict standards with each individual type/grade used according to the prescribed standards.

There are several types of cements with needs dictating their usage for specific purposes. Ultratech Concrete lists the types  of cement as Ordinary Portland Cement 32.5, 42.53, 52.5 grade (OPC); 53-S (Sleeper Cement); Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), both Fly Ash and Calcined Clay based; Rapid Hardening Portland Cement; Portland Slag Cement (PSC); Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement (SRC); Low Heat Portland Cement; and Hydrophobic Cement.

Here, we are majorly concerned with the OPC and its three main grades namely 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 as they are mostly used in construction. It is important to note that one cannot say a certain grade or type of cement is the best because usage, construction environment, construction method, nature of work to be done etc. dictate the best type of cement to be used in constructions. Each type of cement has to be chosen based on usage.

The 32.5 grade OPC is suitable for general concrete works, block making and plastering where the structures are not taken to very high stresses. According to GharExpert, “It is not suitable where ‘Sulphate’ is in the soil or in the ground water”. 42.5 grade OPC on the other hand is notably “used in general civil engineering construction work i.e. brick masonry, plastering, pointing, flooring and in RCC Work”. 52.5 is used where high early strength in the first 28 days is required and it is basically utilized by builders of heavy infrastructure such as bridges, fly overs, large span structures and high rise structures where such structures take on high tensile strength.

There has been a raging storm in the country recently due to the request by professionals for Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to standardize the cement market. Cement is not cement as we were made to believe. There are instances where 32.5 grade OPC (that several professionals are bandying against) is the best; there are also situations where cement much lower in strength than 32.5 grade OPC is advised. Such examples are majorly in non-structural usage like masonry and plastering mortals.

The unique Nigerian terrain also ought to be considered. Here is where I identify with and accept these clamours. In a country where adherence to standardization is not a common language, where professionals and hired supervisors cut corners to maximize profit, it is important to have minimum cement grade strength. With all the seminars and sensitization campaigns that have gone into this exercise in the past, the result of such aggressive campaigns have not been seen as most building engineers resort to the cheapest grade in the market for building projects they are not suitable for.

The Nigerian businessman is profit oriented. Profit is his first worry and as such, having two minimum grade strength of cement encourages him to prioritize profit by plucking for the cheapest which in most cases is ill-suitable for the construction he intends to embark on. Here is where SON’s 42.5 grade OPC standard makes the most sense. As we can see in the different usages highlighted earlier on, the 42.5 grade can effectively substitute in most cases where we may require the 32.5 grade.

As a template in the Nigeria terrain, policies are not what we lack but the required will to effectively make these policies work. How do we enforce the 42.5 grade strength when all the needs of standardization have been taken care of? Who enforces standardization in manufacturing plants? Who supervises building constructions to ensure that the policy on right grades are adhered to (test case is our aviation industry where we still struggle with enforcement)? Are there plans to involve insurance companies (to request for all standardization documents before insuring a building)? Should we be afraid that it would go the way of everything else in Nigeria, where with enough cash; you get all required documents irrespective of adherence to laid down rules or policy thrust?

We should all understand that cement standardization is the first step in a long list of procedures aimed at stopping the incidences of building collapses that must be taken serious. The government shouldn’t go to sleep thinking the job is done with standardization as the real war on misapplication of standards starts then. The public must be effectively enlightened on the new standards; made to understand that this policy is about safeguarding their lives and properties and as such must buy wholly into it.

Remember that in building and construction, it is SAFETY FIRST! All other considerations follow.

  • Olajiga lives in Lagos.


Real GDP

Real GDP

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Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a macroeconomic measure of the value of output
Output (economics)
Output in economics is the "quantity of goods or services produced in a given time period, by a firm, industry, or country," whether consumed or used for further production.The concept of national output is absolutely essential in the field of macroeconomics...

 economy adjusted for price changes (that is, inflation or deflation). The adjustment transforms the money-value measure, called nominal GDP, into an index
Index (economics)

 for quantity of total output. Nominal gross domestic product is defined as the market value
Market value

 of all final goods and services
Goods and services

 produced in a geographical region, usually a country. That market value depends on two things: the actual quantities of goods and services produced, and their respective prices (referred in lower case below). The relation between the nominal and real values is given the following definitional relation:
GDP = Real GDP x Price

where GDP stands for nominal GDP and Price stands for the price index
Price index

 of GDP.

Real GDP is a prime example of the distinction between real vs. nominal values in economics

If adequate price and quantity data are known, GDP can be found by:
GDP = ∑ ptqt
Where p are prices, q are quantities, and t indicates the current year.

Then real GDP can be found by substituting the current-year prices with the prices in some base year.
Real GDP = ∑ pbqt
Where b denotes the base years.

If a set of real GDPs from various years are calculated, each using the quantities from its own year, but all using the prices from the same base year, the differences in those real GDPs will reflect only differences in volume.

An index called the GDP deflator
GDP deflator
In economics, the GDP deflator is a measure of the level of prices of all new, domestically produced, final goods and services in an economy...

 can be obtained by dividing, for each year, the GDP by the real GDP. It gives an indication of the overall level of price change (inflation or deflation) in the economy.
GDP deflator for year t  =  GDPt  /  Real GDPt

"GDP" may refer to "nominal" or "current" or "historical" GDP, to distinguish it from the real GDP. The real GDP is sometimes called "constant" GDP because it is expressed in terms of constant prices. Depending on context, "GDP" may also refer to real GDP,
Real GDP growth on an annual basis is the nominal and abnormal GDP growth rate adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percentage.
Because Real GDP is adjusted for changes in prices and inflation throughout the year, it can be thought of in terms of 'purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...

'. As a result, individual purchasing power can be measured by Real GDP per capita
Per capita
Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita . The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head", i.e. per individual or per person...

, i.e., real GDP divided by the size of the population.

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He said that the call has been made by the government and that all parties in the industry should come together and start working out the plans and how the entire eco-system could be channeled for the liberisation so that they can be more competitive against the big boys. Syed Zainal said that the time is right and that it is only natural that the industry moves forward towards this direction. He however pointed out that the major obstacle is the differences in opinions among the companies and if all parties can agreed that what needs to be done is for the good of the industry, then it would be good for everyone. For the industry to remain viable in the long run, consolidation would be important because the industry needs to be continuously effective.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the prime minister had in his speech during the company’s 25th Anniversary celebration called on the local car makers to consider mergers so that the automotive industry would remain competitive and that structural changes in the industry are needed to increase its capacity. He said that if over-capacity is going to become an obstacle for the industry to grow, then mergers would become the ideal solution for these companies to become ‘stronger, bigger and more able companies’.

He also said that while innovation is important, volume would be vital for the company to remain competitive both on the local and global automotive scene, hence he called on Proton to use Lotus which is an international brand to help them reach better economies of scale and to leverage on this strength. He said that both Proton and Lotus must combine its forces and go forward. Syed Zainal concurred with the Prime Minister on the point that Proton must, in the long run achieve greater economies of scale and using Lotus to springboard this initiative might be the best option.


1. ITV Report

Potential lithium ‘hotspots’ can be identified from space, study finds

A composite map shows different data used to identify potential lithium sites including changes in vegetation (Satellite Applications Catapult/PA)

Satellites detecting changes in trees from space could help identify potential “hotspots” of lithium situated underground in Cornwall, researchers have said.

Global demand for lithium, a vital component in “next generation” batteries for electric vehicles and storage for renewable power, is expected to grow by around 400% by 2025.

Lithium in hot brine springs in Cornwall could provide the UK with a domestic source of the metal, which has been described as “the new gasoline” due to its potential to help in the shift to low-carbon energy supplies.

Now a study has shown that satellites can detect changes in vegetation and surface minerals, which, when combined with geological data, could indicate potential locations of lithium in the county once famous for its tin mines.

This kind of remote sensing could significantly cut the cost of lithium exploration and also reduce the environmental impact of mining by better targeting prospective sites, the team behind the research said.

The study of two areas of Cornwall combined different types of remote sensing techniques to better predict areas that may contain brine pools with lithium in them below the surface and identify target sites for further work.

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Along with other measures such as heat mapping and geological faults, the team looked for potential indicators of lithium in vegetation cover; for example, how healthy plants are, to help indicate where hotspots of lithium might be.

Prospectors could then drill down into the ground to pump out the hot, salty water which contains lithium and extract the metal rather than needing large-scale open-cast mines.

The team have also used the same range of satellite data to create an map showing where important habitats, flood risk areas and towns are situated to help with environmental monitoring of future mining.

Dr Cristian Rossi, principal Earth observation specialist, Satellite Applications Catapult, who led the study, said: “We are very excited by the findings of this project.

“This approach to lithium exploration, which includes the estimation of multiple surface indicators, has not been attempted before and may be highly applicable across the wider mining industry.

“We have shown that by combining a range of satellite data and expertise in UK mining, geology and Earth Observation, we can accurately map the environmental baseline and also delineate areas where lithium is more likely to be present at depth.

“These are the first digital maps that display potential lithium hotspots for initial investigation and validation.”

Jeremy Wrathall, founder and chief executive of project partner Cornish Lithium, said: “The results of the study, and our collaboration with other project partners, has enabled our company to significantly advance our exploration programme and to better prioritise areas on which to focus our exploration for lithium-bearing brines in Cornwall.”

The team was led by the Satellite Applications Catapult, established to transform the UK’s capability for innovation in the technology and drive growth, and received £850,000 from Innovate UK.


USPS Rebrand by GrandArmy

The United States’ post offices are generally known as a place of misery
and wasted time. “Efficient” is rarely a word used to describe their locations or services.
Recently the USPS took a big step in cleaning up their reputation, thanks to a comprehensive rebrand by GrandArmy
agency. The facelift will affect all materials used in the post offices—from tags, signs and boxes to kiosks, welcome signs and
window stickers. With over 31,000 retail outposts across the US, this makes the
project the largest of this ilk in US history.