The North German Confederation (Germany)

The defeat of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 resulted in a shift in power among the German states away from Austrian hegemony and the abolition of the German Confederation. Prussia, the new sole hegemonic power, subsequently founded the North German Confederation, the first federal state in Germany, which united 22 free cities, small and middle states north of the river Main under Prussian dominance. The new constitution became effective on 1st July 1867, after a draft constitution was presented by Bismarck which was altered by a konstituierender Reichstag. Bismarck planned to make the federal state attractive to southern German states which might later join. The North German Constitution created a national parliament, the Reichstag, and the Bundesrat, the council of the representatives of the allied governments. During the Franco-Prussian War Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg and the North German Confederation united to form a new nation state, which later got the name German Empire. The King of Prussia became German Emperor and the constitution of the Empire was nearly identical to that of the North German Confederation.

The member states of the North German Confederation were 

the Kingdoms of Prussia and Saxony, 

the Grand Duchies of Hesse (only the northern part), Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 

the Duchies of Anhalt, Brunswick, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Saxe-Meiningen, 

the Principalities of Lippe, Reuss-Gera, Reuss-Greiz, Schaumburg-Lippe, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Waldeck and Pyrmont and 

the Free and Hanseatic Cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck.

Sun Yat-sen and the Revolution in China (China, Hong Kong)

Sun Yat-sen was born in Cuiheng in 1866. In 1878 he went to a school in Honolulu and in 1886 he started to study medicine in Hong Kong, where he afterwards worked as doctor. The time he spent in the West nurtured his dissatisfaction with the government of the Qing dynasty and so he started to be active in politics. After he failed riot in 1895 he went into exile in Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan for 16 years. After he heard of the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 he convinced the Western Powers to stop their credit payment for the Qing and returned to China. The Wuchang Uprising became the catalyst to the Xinhai Revolution, which ended the Qing Dynasty and two millennia of imperial rule in China. In 1912 he became the first president of the Republic of China and founded the Nationalist Party, which preceded the Kuomintang. Due to inner conflicts he had to leave China again in 1913 and only returned in 1917. In 1923 he delivered a speech in which he proclaimed his Three Principles of the People. Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing in 1925 and left China in a unfavourable situation.

Today Sun Yat-sen is admired as Father of the Nation in the Republic of China on Taiwan and as Forerunner of the Revolution in the People's Republic of China.

Hong Kong, Macau and the PR China issued a joint stamp
for his 150th birthday on 12th November 2016. 

The Sun Yat-sen Residence Memorial Museum was opened in 1956 next to his former residence in Cuiheng. It is a nationally protected cultural site.

The card is a maxicard with one of the joint stamps from the PR China.

The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum in Hong Kong was opened in 2006 in the Kom Tong Hall. It shows various relics of Sun Yat-sen and focuses on the years he spent in Hong Kong.

Genoa's seafaring past (Italy, Turkey)

Genoa was in the Middle Ages the capital of the Republic of Genoa, a powerful maritime republic and colonial power. In 1451 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa. The Republic of Genoa was an independent state until it was replaced by the Ligurian Republic in 1797, when it became a client state of the Napoleonic France. 

Via Garibaldi (Strade Nuove) and the Palazzo Doria-Tursi

Palazzo Doria Tursi - Palazzo Reale -
 Palazzo Pantaleo Spinola - Palazzo Rosso

In the middle of 13th century the Republic of Genoa was actively trading all over the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It was one of the most important trading nations in the Middle Ages and made its fortunes by maritime trade. The Treaty of Nymphaeum, signed with the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261, helped the Genoese to virtually monopolize the trade in the Black Sea. 

The communities of Genoese merchants were located at key points of trade and communication in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. One of their trading posts was the Galata Tower in Istanbul, their main hub in Anatolia. The Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea are currently on Turkey's Tentative List, as they are considered to be exceptional structures which reflect trading and international relationships of the medieval era.

20.05.2016

The Iberian Peninsula between Christianity and Islam (Spain)

The Umayyad Caliphate had conquered the Iberian peninsula in 8th century, but already in 718 the Reconquista started and the Christians began to establish new kingdoms to foster the power of Christianity on the peninsula. The first kingdom, that was founded by the Christians, was the Kingdom of Asturias in 718. First it was just a small state, but soon started its expansion.

One of the churches built in the Kingdom of Asturias was San Miguel de Lillo in the kingdom's capital Oviedo. The Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias are since 1985 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Cordoba had its period of greatest glory after it had been conquered by the Moorish armies in 711. In 766 it became the capital of the Emirate of al-Andalus and also remained the capital after the emirate became the Caliphate of Cordoba under the Umayyad dynasty in 929. It was an important centre of education and had a big library. In 1236 Cordoba was captured by King Ferdinand III of Castile.

The Great Mosque was built between 784 and 987. After Cordoba had been captured by the Christians, it was turned into a Catholic church.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba is since 1984 on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in 1994 the rest of the city's historic centre was added.

The Alhambra was first built in the 9th century. In the 13th century it was largely renovated by the Moorish Emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of Granada and in 1333 it was converted into a royal palace by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada. 

In 1492 the Reconquista ended when the Emirate of Granada surrendered to the Christian monarchs after the Granada War. 

Afterwards the Alhambra became the Royal Court of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. There Christopher Columbus received the royal endorsement for his expedition. 

The Alhambra is today the best example of Islamic architecture in Spain and also one of the country's most visited sights. Since 1984 is the Alhambra on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

26.11.2016

Hong Kong to China (Hong Kong)

In the 19th century the territory of Hong Kong became a colony of the United Kingdom. Hong Kong Island was acquired in 1842, Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and the New Territories were leased in 1898 for 99 years.

It was considered to be impossible to divide the territory after 99 years and the People's Republic of China anyway considered the status of Hong Kong as illegitimate due to it being a consequence of the "unfair and unequal treaties", so negotiations between the United Kingdom and China began. 

It was decided that a Special Administrative Region would be created and that Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. This became known as "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

On 1st July 1997, 20 years ago, the United Kingdom handed over Hong Kong to China.

The Golden Bauhinia Square is a public area named after the giant statue of a golden Bauhinia blakeana, the flower on Hong Kong's flag. It is located outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the ceremonies for the handover of Hong Kong and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were held. Every day a flag is raised ceremonially on the square.