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Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
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This article is about the storm which affected the northeastern United States. For the blizzard in the central United States that year, see Great Blizzard of 1978.
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Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
Category 5 "Extreme" (RSI: 18.42)
Boston City Hall following storm
Type
Blizzard
Extratropical cyclone
Ice storm
Winter storm
Formed
February 5, 1978 (1978-02-05)
Dissipated
February 7, 1978 (1978-02-07)
Damage
US$520 million
(US$1.95 billion in 2017 dollars)
Total fatalities
Around 100 fatalities; 4,500 injured
Areas affected
Northeastern United States
Scene on residential street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island following storm
The Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978[1][2] was a catastrophic, historic nor'easter that struck New England, New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area. The "Blizzard of '78" formed on Sunday, February 5, 1978, and broke up on February 7.[3] The storm was primarily known as "Storm Larry" in Connecticut, following the local convention promoted by the Travelers Weather Service on television and radio stations there.[4] Snow fell mostly from Monday morning, February 6, to the evening of Tuesday, February 7. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were hit especially hard by this storm.
Boston received a record-breaking 27.1 inches (69 cm) of snow; Providence also broke a record, with 27.6 inches (70 cm) of snow;[3] Atlantic City broke an all-time storm accumulation, with 20.1 inches (51 cm). Nearly all economic activity was disrupted in the worst-hit areas. The storm killed about 100 people in the Northeast and injured about 4,500.[3] It caused more than US$520 million (US$1.95 billion in 2017 terms[5]) in damage.[3]
Contents
[hide]
1 Meteorological history
1.1 Storm strength
2 Effects
2.1 Conditions
2.2 Winds
2.3 Aftermath and recovery
3 References
4 Further reading
5 External links
Meteorological history[edit]
Car buried by snow in Boston
The storm was formed from an extratropical cyclone off the coast of South Carolina on February 5. An Arctic cold front and a cold air mass then merged with the storm, creating the perfect ingredients for a large and intense low-pressure system.[3][6]
This storm system made its way up the coast and approached southern New England late February 6 and early February 7. Since it developed during a new moon, an unusually large high tide occurred, and the storm brought a massive amount of water along coastal communities.[3] The huge storm surge resulted in broken sea walls and massive property loss.[3]
Strong winds and extremely heavy precipitation brought zero visibility for travelers, and numerous power outages ensued. The precipitation changed to rain on Cape Cod, reducing the total snowfall, but snow continued in the west. By the time it ended, thousands of people were stranded and homeless as a result of the storm.[3]
Storm strength[edit]
The storm's power was made apparent by its sustained hurricane-force winds of approximately 86 mph (138 km/h) with gusts to 111 mph (179 km/h) and the formation of an eye-like structure in the middle.[7] While a typical nor'easter brings steady snow for six to twelve hours, the Blizzard of '78 brought heavy snow for an unprecedented full 33 hours as it was blocked from heading into the North Atlantic by a strong Canadian high pressure area.[3] In many areas in Central and Southern New England, the snow falling at night turned to an icy mix that left a notable layer of solid ice on every external surface. This ice greatly complicated recovery efforts in subsequent days, as it added considerable weight to power lines and tree limbs. Trees that survived the daytime snow did not survive the nighttime ice storm.
An atypical vertical development of storm clouds brought unusual thundersnow to southern New England and Long Island. These storms resulted in lightning and thunder accompanying the snowfall as it fell at 4 inches (10 cm) an hour at times.
Effects[edit]
Conditions[edit]
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Maple Street, Woonsocket, Rhode Island
One of the major problems with the Blizzard of 1978 was the lack of foreknowledge about the storm's severity. Weather forecasting in New England is difficult, and meteorologists had developed a reputation as being inaccurate. Forecasting techniques and technology had improved dramatically in the 1970s, but the public was still quite skeptical. Snow failed to arrive in Monday's pre-dawn hours as predicted, and many locals felt it to be another failed forecast—despite the accuracy of National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters' predictions concerning the Great Blizzard—and they went to work and school as normal. Because of this, people had neither time nor incentive to prepare. The region was already reeling after storms in January 1978 that left nearly two feet of snow in some areas of New England,[8] and had caused the collapse of the roof of the Hartford Civic Center.[9]
Women standing atop a snowdrift in Boston
The government of Massachusetts had a system for notifying major employers to send employees home early in the event of heavy storms. Thousands of employees were sent home starting in the early afternoon of February 6,[10] but thousands more were still caught by the storm. Some did not make it home for several days. Many people were stranded in their cars along roads throughout New England. Fourteen people died on I-95 near Boston because snow piled high enough to prevent poisonous exhaust fumes from escaping from their idling vehicles. I-95 eventually had to be evacuated by cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. More than 3,500 cars were found abandoned and buried on roads during the clean-up. This number excludes the countless other vehicles buried in driveways, on the sides of streets, and in parking lots. Other transportation links were disrupted and shut down throughout the region, stranding public-transit commuters in city centers.
Cars and trucks stuck in snow on Route 128 near Needham, Massachusetts
Snowplows were also stranded in traffic as the snow continued to fall. At one point on I-93 north of Boston, a jackknifed tractor trailer blocked traffic in both directions, with a similar event occurring on Route 128 near Route 138 in Canton. The Neponset River also flooded I-93 in Milton, causing the highway's complete closure.
A massive effort was made to clear Logan Airport runways for 200 National Guard troops' arrivial on 27 C-130 and C-141 military flights from Fort Bragg and Fort Devens, who were called out by the governor.
Some 11,666 college-hockey fans in Boston Garden, then the site of the 26th edition of the annual "Beanpot" college ice hockey tournament, held at the time of the blizzard's outbreak, found weather much different from what they had expected. Some spectators spent the next few days living at the arena, eating hot dogs, and sleeping in the bleachers and locker rooms.[11] Because of the Blizzard, the second round of the Beanpot that year was not held until March 1, 1978, the latest date ever for the tournament's concluding games.
Throughout eastern Massachusetts, automobile traffic was banned for the remainder of the week. Thousands of people walked and skied on the quiet city streets and over the frozen Charles River.
This blizzard was one of the worst in Rhode Island's history, catching off guard many residents and the state government. Although Governor J. Joseph Garrahy had ordered an emergency evacuation of all public buildings, shortly before noon on February 6, too many people had lagged. Providence County, Rhode Island, was the hardest hit by the blizzard; the towns of Lincoln, Smithfield, Woonsocket, and North Smithfield all reported totals of at least 40 inches (100 cm) snow.[3]
In New York City, it was one of the rare times that a snowstorm closed the schools; the New York City Board of Education closed schools for snow again only once in the next 18 years, on April 7, 1982. Most suburban districts in the area close for snow several times each winter, but they rarely do in the city itself because of relatively easy access to subways, whose ability to run is not appreciably affected by moderate snowstorms.
Many people were caught in the storm while driving, and many others were trapped in their homes and workplaces, with snow drifts of up to 15 feet (4.6 m), in some places blocking the exits. In many cases, those who had become ill or had been injured during the storm had to be taken to hospitals by snowmobile. Other people left their homes and went for help by cross-country skis and sleds.
The storm caused coastal flooding. The fierce northeast winds from the storm—with the low-pressure area stalled off the island of Martha's Vineyard—combined with high tides and storm surge, resulting from the storm's low pressure. This sent water over low land along the shores of Long Island Sound, Cape Cod Bay, and other bodies of water, causing some of the worst recorded coastal flooding. The flood continued through two days of tide cycles, a total of four successive high tides. Thousands of homes throughout coastal Massachusetts were damaged or destroyed, as was "Motif Number 1", in Rockport, an often painted fisherman's shack renowned in art circles.[12] The Peter Stuyvesant, a former Hudson River Day Line boat turned into a floating restaurant, was sunk in Boston Harbor. The region's fishing fleet was damaged by the storm.[13]
Winds[edit]
The storm's straight-line surface winds destroyed buildings along the coast, often aided by flooding and waves. Wind gusts of 100 mph (160 km/h) were recorded in Plum Island and 110 mph (180 km/h) at First Cliff in Scituate, Massachusetts.[14][15] Duxbury Beach was hit with 85 mph (137 km/h) gusts and 93 mph (150 km/h) in Chatham.[16][17]
Aftermath and recovery[edit]
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National Guard vehicles in Boston
Snow removal in Boston
Boston and Providence recorded all-time highs for 24-hour and storm snowfall.[3] Many people were left without heat, water, food, and electricity for over a week after the storm finished. Approximately 10,000 people moved into emergency shelters. Some 2,500 houses were reported as seriously damaged or destroyed and 54 people were killed, many because of fallen electrical wires. Several people were found dead in downtown Providence, near the central police station; they may have been seeking shelter. Ten-year-old Peter Gosselin, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, disappeared in the deep snow just feet from his home's front door and was not found until three weeks later.[18][19] Most of the Interstate highway system in the region was shut down, with some stretches not reopening to traffic until the following week. Air and rail traffic also were shut down.
The snow fell too quickly for plow trucks to keep up. Plows were further hampered by the number of cars stuck on the roads. In Boston, the deep snow overwhelmed the city's sanitation department, because there was no more room along streets and sidewalks to put the snow; much of it was hauled and dumped in nearby harbors. Throughout the region, the high winds caused enormous drifts.
National Guard emergency management center in Boston
National Guardsmen work with local workers and volunteers in Boston
A state of emergency was declared by governors in the affected states, and the United States National Guard was called out to help clear the roads. Additional troops were flown into Boston to help. It took six days to clear the roads of snow and of the cars and trucks buried in it. Governor Ella T. Grasso ordered all roads in Connecticut closed except for emergency travel, for three days;[20][21] Governor Michael Dukakis, of Massachusetts, did the same for his state.[22] The parking lot of Fenway Park was used for the National Guard to stage its efforts. In Massachusetts, there was no travel ban again until 35 years later, when governor Deval Patrick announced a travel ban on February 8, 2013, running from 4 pm that day until 4 pm the next day, because of the February 2013 nor'easter, whose snowfall rivaled and, in some places, beat that of the Blizzard of '78; in the "Blizzard of '13", the ban was declared before the worst hit; in the Blizzard of '78 this happened after the storm's worst.
Extensive beach erosion occurred on the east coast of Massachusetts. Especially hard-hit were Cape Cod and Cape Ann, both on the eastern shore of Massachusetts. In Truro, on Cape Cod, the Atlantic Ocean broke through to the Pamet River for the first time during this storm, completely washing away the link between the North and South Pamet roads. The town chose not to reconstruct the link, though the right-of-way is open to pedestrians. Monomoy Island was split into north and south parts.
Many homes along the New England and Long Island coastlines were destroyed or washed into the ocean. Many roof collapses occurred across New England from snow load.[23]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "The Blizzard of 1978: The week the state stood still". Quahog.org. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
Jump up ^ "The Blizzard of 1978: Seacoast SAD, February 15, 1978". Hampton.lib.nh.us. 1978-02-15. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k "NWS Boston Page of the 1978 blizzard". Erh.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
Jump up ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=Pos7XDsZauUC&pg=PA204&lpg=PA204&dq=1978+larry+storm&source=bl&ots=ZK03urAAV4&sig=n3cAy8ryvX6cqt9RR3J8pULIPUM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi8ycP5i8DKAhWBWx4KHchpDGoQ6AEIVjAL#v=onepage&q=1978%20larry%20storm&f=false
Jump up ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
Jump up ^ David Epstein (February 6, 2013). "The meteorology behind the blizzard of February 6-7, 1978". The Boston Globe.
Jump up ^ "The Northeast Blizzard Of 1978". Hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
Jump up ^ "The Blizzard of '78... Revisited" National Weather Service.
Jump up ^ [1] Hartford Courant
Jump up ^ "A look back at the Blizzard of 1978". The Boston Globe. January 31, 2008.
Jump up ^ http://www.blizzardof78.org/
Jump up ^ "A look back at the Blizzard of 1978". Boston.com
Jump up ^ Fahey, Rich (February 7, 2008). "A blizzard too furious to forget". The Boston Globe.
Jump up ^ "The Blizzard of '78". Matt Bowling. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
Jump up ^ "Blizzard of 78 - stories outside of Hull, MA". Bruce Simons. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
Jump up ^ "Remembering the Blizzard of '78". WeatherWorks, Inc. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
Jump up ^ Del Santo, T.J. (February 5, 2013). "Blizzard of 1978, 35 Years Later". WPRI Eyewitness News.
Jump up ^ "A defining event in R.I. history". Providence Journal (Projo.com). 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
Jump up ^ "Body of Boy Found as Snow Melts". The Hour (http://www.thehour.com/). 1978-03-01. Retrieved 2013-02-08. External link in |work= (help)
Jump up ^ "Grasso Closes the State" by proclamation". Connecticut State Library. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Blizzard Of 1978: Feb. 6-7, 1978: The Blizzard Of '78 Shut Down The State And Made Heroes Out Of Those With Four-Wheel Drive". Hartford Courant. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
Jump up ^ Boston Herald American, February 10, 1978
Jump up ^ "Hartford Civic Center Arena Roof Collapse". Eng.uab.edu. Archived from the original on 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
Further reading[edit]
Altimari, Daniela, 1998 "Blizzard Of 1978: Feb. 6-7, 1978: The Blizzard Of '78 Shut Down The State And Made Heroes Out Of Those With Four-Wheel Drive", Hartford Courant, February 25, 1998
Earls, Alan R., and Dukakis, Michael S., Greater Boston's Blizzard of 1978, Arcadia Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7385-5519-5
Earls, Alan R., White Apocalpyse -- New England's Blizzard of `78 and its three-day rampage of death and destruction by land and by sea..., Via Appia Press, ISBN 9780999796603
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978.
The Blizzard of 78.org
NWS Boston Page of the 1978 blizzard
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Technology during World War I
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The machine gun emerged as one of the decisive technologies during World War I. Picture: British Vickers machine gun crew on the Western Front.
Technology during World War I (1914–1918) reflected a trend toward industrialism and the application of mass-production methods to weapons and to the technology of warfare in general. This trend began at least fifty years prior to World War I during the American Civil War of 1861–1865,[1] and continued through many smaller conflicts in which soldiers and strategists tested new weapons.
One could characterize the earlier years of the First World War as a clash of 20th-century technology with 19th-century military science creating ineffective battles with huge numbers of casualties on both sides. On land, only in the final year of the war did the major armies make effective steps in revolutionizing matters of command and control and tactics to adapt to the modern battlefield and start to harness the myriad new technologies to effective military purposes. Tactical reorganizations (such as shifting the focus of command from the 100+ man company to the 10+ man squad) went hand-in-hand with armored cars, the first submachine guns, and automatic rifles that a single individual soldier could carry and use.
Contents
[hide]
1 Trench warfare
2 Artillery
3 Poison gas
4 Command and control
5 Railways
6 War of attrition
7 Air warfare
8 Tanks
9 Naval warfare
9.1 Submarines
10 Mobility
11 Small arms
12 Flame throwers
13 References
14 External links
Trench warfare[edit]
Main article: Trench warfare
The new metallurgical and chemical industries had created new firepower that briefly simplified defense before new approaches to attack evolved. The application of infantry rifles, rifled artillery and hydraulic recoil mechanisms, zigzag trenches and machine guns made it difficult or nearly impossible to cross defended ground. The hand grenade, long used in crude form, developed rapidly as an aid in attacking trenches. Probably the most important was the introduction of high explosive shells, which dramatically increased the lethality of artillery over the 19th-century equivalents.
Trench warfare led to the development of the concrete pill box, a hardened blockhouse that could be used to deliver machine gun fire. They could be placed across a battlefield with interlocking fields of fire.[2]
Because attacking an entrenched enemy was so difficult, tunnel warfare became a major effort during the war. Once enemy positions were undermined, huge amounts of explosives would be planted and detonated as part preparation for an overland charge. Sensitive listening devices that could detect the sounds of digging were a crucial method of defense against these underground incursions. The British proved especially adept at these tactics, thanks to the skill of their tunnel-digging "sappers" and the sophistication of their listening devices.
Artillery[edit]
7.7 cm FK 16 developed and used by Germany in WWI
At the beginning of the war, artillery was often sited in the front line to fire over open sights at enemy infantry. During the war, the following improvements were made:
The first "box barrage" in history was fired at Neuve Chapelle in 1915; this was the use of a three- or four-sided curtain of shell-fire to prevent the movement of enemy infantry
The wire-cutting No. 106 fuze was developed, specifically designed to explode on contact with barbed wire, or the ground before the shell buried itself in mud, and equally effective as an anti-personnel weapon
The first anti-aircraft guns were devised out of necessity
Indirect counter-battery fire was developed for the first time
Artillery sound ranging and flash spotting, for the location and eventual destruction of enemy batteries
The creeping barrage was perfected
Factors such as weather, air temperature, and barrel wear could for the first time be accurately measured and taken into account when firing indirectly
Forward observers were used to direct artillery positioned out of direct line of sight from the targets, and sophisticated communications and fire plans were developed
The majority of casualties inflicted during the war were the result of artillery fire.
Further information: Artillery of World War I
Poison gas[edit]
Australian infantry with gas masks, Ypres, 1917.
Main article: Poison gas in World War I
At the beginning of the war, Germany had the most advanced chemical industry in the world, accounting for more than 80% of the world's dye and chemical production. Although the use of poison gas had been banned by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, Germany turned to this industry for what it hoped would be a decisive weapon to break the deadlock of trench warfare. Chlorine gas was first used on the battlefield in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. The unknown gas appeared to be a simple smoke screen, used to hide attacking soldiers, and Allied troops were ordered to the front trenches to repel the expected attack. The gas had a devastating effect, killing many defenders or when the wind direction changed and blew the gas back, many attackers. Because the gas killed the attackers, depending on the wind, a more reliable way had to be made to transmit the gas. It began being delivered in artillery shells.[citation needed] Later, mustard gas, phosgene and other gases were used. Britain and France soon followed suit with their own gas weapons. The first defenses against gas were makeshift, mainly rags soaked in water or urine. Later, relatively effective gas masks were developed, and these greatly reduced the effectiveness of gas as a weapon. Although it sometimes resulted in brief tactical advantages and probably caused over 1,000,000 casualties, gas seemed to have had no significant effect on the course of the war.[citation needed]
Command and control[edit]
Main article: Command and control
In the early days of the war, generals tried to direct tactics from headquarters many miles from the front, with messages being carried back and forth by couriers on motorcycles. It was soon realized that more immediate methods of communication were needed.
Radio sets of the period were too heavy to carry into battle, and phone lines laid were quickly broken. Runners, flashing lights, and mirrors were often used instead; dogs were also used, though they were only used occasionally as troops tended to adopt them as pets and men would volunteer to go as runners in the dog's place. There were also aircraft (called "contact patrols") that could carry messages between headquarters and forward positions, sometimes dropping their messages without landing.
The new long-range artillery developed just before the war now had to fire at positions it could not see. Typical tactics were to pound the enemy front lines and then stop to let infantry move forward, hoping that the enemy line was broken, though it rarely was. The lifting and then the creeping barrage were developed to keep artillery fire landing directly in front of the infantry "as it advanced". Communications being impossible, the danger was that the barrage would move too fast — losing the protection — or too slowly — holding up the advance.
There were also countermeasures to these artillery tactics: by aiming a counter barrage directly behind an enemy's creeping barrage, one could target the infantry that was following the creeping barrage. Microphones (Sound ranging) were used to triangulate the position of enemy guns and engage in counter-battery fire. Muzzle flashes of guns could also be spotted and used to target enemy artillery.
Railways[edit]
German ammunition train wrecked by shell fire, c. 1918.
Railways dominated in this war as in no other. Men and material could get to the front at an unprecedented rate by rail, but trains were very vulnerable at the front itself. Thus, armies could only advance at the pace that they could build or rebuild a railway, e.g. the British advance across Sinai. Motorized transport was only extensively used in the last two years of World War I. After the rail head, troops moved the last mile on foot, and guns and supplies were drawn by horses and trench railways. The German strategy was known beforehand by the Allies simply because of the vast marshaling yards on the Belgian border that had no other purpose than to deliver the mobilized German army to its start point. The German mobilization plan was little more than a vast detailed railway timetable. Railways lacked the flexibility of motor transport and this lack of flexibility percolated through into the conduct of the war.
War of attrition[edit]
All countries involved in the war applied the full force of industrial mass-production to the manufacture of weapons and ammunition, especially artillery shells. Women on the home-front played a crucial role in this by working in munitions factories. This complete mobilization of a nation's resources, or "total war" meant that not only the armies, but also the economies of the warring nations were in competition.
For a time, in 1914–1915, some hoped that the war could be won through an attrition of materiel—that the enemy's supply of artillery shells could be exhausted in futile exchanges. But production was ramped up on both sides and hopes proved futile. In Britain the Shell Crisis of 1915 brought down the British government, and led to the building of HM Factory, Gretna, a huge munitions factory on the English-Scottish border.
The war of attrition then focused on another resource: human lives. In the Battle of Verdun in particular, German Chief of Staff Erich Von Falkenhayn hoped to "bleed France white" through repeated attacks on this French city.
In the end, the war ended through a combination of attrition (of men and material), advances on the battlefield, arrival of American troops in large numbers, and a breakdown of morale and productivity on the German home-front due to an effective naval blockade of her seaports.
Air warfare[edit]
Main article: Aviation in World War I
The Fokker triplane belonging to Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron")
As with most other technologies, the aircraft underwent many improvements during World War I.
While early air spotters were unarmed, they soon began firing at each other with handheld weapons. An arms race commenced, quickly leading to increasingly agile planes equipped with machine guns. A key innovation was the interrupter gear, a Dutch invention[3] that allowed a machine gun to be mounted behind the propeller so the pilot could fire directly ahead, along the plane's flight path.
As the stalemate developed on the ground, with both sides unable to advance even a few miles without a major battle and thousands of casualties, planes became greatly valued for their role gathering intelligence on enemy positions and bombing the enemy's supplies behind the trench lines. Large planes with a pilot and an observer were used to reconnoiter enemy positions and bomb their supply bases. Because they were large and slow, these planes made easy targets for enemy fighter planes. As a result, both sides used fighter aircraft to both attack the enemy's observer planes and protect their own.
Germany led the world in the design of Zeppelins, and used these airships to make occasional bombing raids on military targets, London and other British cities, without any great effect. Later in the war, Germany began attacking English cities with long range strategic bombers. As with the Zeppelin attacks, Germany's strategic bombing of England had limited tactical value, but it was demoralizing and showed the British they could not be completely immune from the effects of the war in their own country. It also forced the British air forces to maintain squadrons of fighters in England to defend against air attack, depriving the British Expeditionary Force of planes, equipment, and personnel badly needed on the Western front.
Manned observation balloons floating high above the trenches were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines, reporting enemy troop positions and directing artillery fire. Balloons commonly had a crew of two, each equipped with parachutes: upon an enemy air attack on the flammable balloon, the crew would jump to safety. At the time, parachutes were too heavy to be used by pilots in aircraft, and smaller versions would not be developed until the end of the war. (In the British case, there arose concerns that they might undermine morale, effectively encouraging cowardice.) Recognized for their value as observer platforms, observation balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by large concentrations of antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft.
By inhibiting the enemy's ability to move in secrecy, aerial reconnaissance over the front can be blamed to some degree for the stalemate of trench warfare.
Tanks[edit]
Main article: Tanks in World War I
Although the concept of the tank had been suggested as early as the 1890s, few authorities showed interest in them until the trench stalemate of World War I caused serious contemplation of unending war and ever escalating casualties. In Britain, a landships committee was formed, and teamed with the inventions committee, set out to develop a practical weapon.
Based on the caterpillar track (first invented in 1770 and perfected in the early 1900s) and the four-stroke gasoline powered internal combustion engine (refined in the 1870s), early World War One tanks were fitted with Maxim type guns or Lewis guns, armor plating, and caterpillar tracks configured to allow crossing of an 8-foot-wide (2.4 m) trench.
Early tanks were unreliable, breaking down often. Though at first they terrified the Germans, their use in the engagements of 1917 provided more opportunities for development than actual battle successes. It was also realized that new tactics had to be developed to best make use of this weapon. In particular, planners learned that tanks needed infantry support and massed formations to be effective. Once tanks could be fielded in the hundreds, such as at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, they began to show their potential. Still, reliability was the primary weakness of tanks throughout the remainder of the war. In the Battle of Amiens, a major Entente counteroffensive near the end of the war, British forces went to field with 534 tanks. After several days, only a few were still in commission, with those that suffered mechanical difficulties outnumbering those disabled by enemy fire.
Regardless of their effects on World War I, tank technology and mechanized warfare had been launched and grew increasingly sophisticated in the years following the war. By World War II, the tank had evolved into a fearsome weapon and restored mobility.[4]
Naval warfare[edit]
Main article: Naval warfare of World War I
The years leading up to the war saw the use of improved metallurgical and mechanical techniques to produce larger ships with larger guns and, in reaction, more armor. The launching of HMS Dreadnought (1906) revolutionized battleship construction, leaving many ships obsolete before they were completed. Consequently, at the start of the war, many navies comprised newer ships and obsolete older ones. The advantage was in long-range gunnery, and naval battles took place at far greater distances than before. The Battle of Jutland (1916) was the only full-scale battle between fleets in the war.
Having the largest surface fleet, the United Kingdom sought to press its advantage. British ships blockaded German ports, hunted down German and Austro-Hungarian ships wherever they might be on the high seas, and supported actions against German colonies. The German surface fleet was largely kept in the North Sea. This situation pushed Germany, in particular, to direct its resources to a new form of naval power: submarines.
Submarines[edit]
World War I was the first conflict in which submarines were a serious weapon of war. In the years shortly before the war, the relatively sophisticated propulsion system of diesel power while surfaced and battery power while submerged was introduced.
The United Kingdom relied heavily on imports to feed its population and supply its war industry, and the German Navy hoped to blockade and starve Britain using U-boats to attack merchant ships in unrestricted submarine warfare. This struggle between German submarines and British counter measures became known as the "First Battle of the Atlantic". As German submarines became more numerous and effective, the British sought ways to protect their merchant ships. "Q-ships", attack vessels disguised as civilian ships, were one early strategy.
Consolidating merchant ships into convoys protected by one or more armed navy vessels was adopted later in the war. There was initially a great deal of debate about this approach, out of fear that it would provide German U-boats with a wealth of convenient targets. Thanks to the development of active and passive sonar devices,[5] coupled with increasingly deadly anti-submarine weapons, the convoy system reduced British losses to U-boats to a small fraction of their former level. Lieutenant Otto Weddigen remarked of the second submarine attack of the Great War:
“ How much they feared our submarines and how wide was the agitation caused by good little U-9 is shown by the English reports that a whole flotilla of German submarines had attacked the cruisers and that this flotilla had approached under cover of the flag of Holland. These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only submarine on deck, and she flew the flag she still flies – the German naval ensign. ”
Mobility[edit]
Between late 1914 and early 1918, the Western Front hardly moved. The beginning of the end for Germany was a huge German advance. In 1917, when Russia surrendered after the October Revolution, Germany was able to move many troops to the Western Front. Using new stormtrooper tactics developed by Oskar von Hutier, the Germans pushed forward some tens of kilometers from March to July 1918. These offensives showed that machine guns, barbed wire and trenches were not the only obstacles to mobile warfare.
In the Battle of Amiens of August 1918, the Triple Entente forces began a counterattack that would be called the "Hundred Days Offensive". The Australian and Canadian divisions that spearheaded the attack managed to advance 13 kilometers on the first day alone. These battles marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front and a return to mobile warfare. The sort of unit that now began to emerge combined cyclist infantry and machine guns mounted on motor cycle sidecars. These motor machine gun units had originated in 1915 [1].
The Hindenburg Line fell to the Allies and the Canal du Nord was crossed. In Berlin, Kaiser Wilhelm was told Germany had lost, and must now surrender. Advances continued but political developments inside Germany compelled Germany to sign an armistice on November 11, 1918.
The war was over, but a new mobility-driven form of warfare was beginning to emerge; one that would be mastered by the defeated Germans and deployed in 1939 as their blitzkrieg, or "lightning warfare", embodying all they had learned in 1918.
Small arms[edit]
In 1903, French military theorists noticed that the machine guns of the day, heavy and relatively immobile, were of little use in infantry assaults. They determined that "the machine gun must learn to walk".[6] They researched the possibility of a light machine gun which could be carried by troops. A marching fire tactic was theorised, using incidental suppressive fire, with the advancing troops considered a deadlier threat than the un-aimed bullets, causing the enemy to fall back. The prototype guns were not approved for production, and none were in service when the war began.[6] At the start of hostilities, France quickly turned an existing prototype (the "CS" for Chauchat and Sutter) into the lightweight Chauchat M1915 automatic rifle with a high rate of fire. The French Army was equipped with it, and the first American units to arrive in France used it in 1917 and 1918. Hastily mass-manufactured under desperate wartime pressures, the weapon was prone to jamming and overheating.[7] Seeing the potential of such a gun, the British Army settled upon the American-designed Lewis gun fitted for a .303-inch (7.7 mm) round; infantry platoons provided with the guns were instructed in fire and movement tactics. The Lewis gun was the first true light machine gun that could in theory be operated by one man, though in practice the bulky ammo pans required an entire section of men to keep the gun operating.[8] Soon, the Lewis gun was seen to be useful in marching fire assaults, notably by the Australian Corps in the July 1918 Battle of Hamel.[7][9] To serve the same purpose, the German Army adopted the MG08/15 which was impractically heavy at 48.5 pounds (22 kg) counting the water for cooling and one magazine holding 100 rounds.[9]
In 1918 the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was introduced in the US Army, and with the 15.5-pound (7 kg) weapon came new field tactics. For marching fire assaults, the BAR's shoulder sling was to be adjusted in length to allow the butt of the weapon to be held firmly at the side of the torso just above the hips, with one hand at the trigger and the other hand aiming. A recommended rate of fire was one round per footstep, with eyes kept on the target and the weapon aimed low at first.[10] The tactic was to be employed under conditions of limited field of fire and poor visibility such as advancing through woods.[11][12]
The light machine gun directly affected the organization of the infantry, and, by the middle of 1917, put an end to the tactic of company-sized waves. Platoons and squads became important.
Flame throwers[edit]
The Imperial German Army deployed flame throwers (Flammenwerfer) on the Western Front attempting to flush out French or British soldiers from their trenches. Introduced in 1915, it was used with greatest effect during the Hooge battle of the Western Front on 30 July 1915. The German Army had two main types of flame throwers during the Great War: a small single person version called the Kleinflammenwerfer and a larger multiple person configuration called the Grossflammenwerfer. In the latter, one soldier carried the fuel tank while another aimed the nozzle. Both the large and smaller versions of the flame-thrower were of limited use because their short range left the operator(s) exposed to small arms fire.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Compare: Boot, Max (2006). "The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution". War Made New: Weapons, Warriors, and the Making of the Modern World (reprint ed.). New York: Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9781101216835. Retrieved 2017-01-24. The First Industrial Revolution transformed warfare between the end of the Crimean War (1856) and the start of World War I (1914)
Jump up ^ March, F. A.; Beamish, R. J. (1919), History of the World War: An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War, Leslie-Judge
Jump up ^ http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1369.htm
Jump up ^ Raudzens 1990, pp. 421–426
Jump up ^ Hartcup 1988, pp. 129, 130, 140
^ Jump up to: a b "Fusil mitrailleur Chauchat. FM modèle 1915 C.S.R.G". Les mitrailleuses du premier conflit mondial (in French). mitrailleuse.fr. 2003. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Bull, Stephen; Hook, Adam (2002). World War I Trench Warfare (1916–1918). Elite. 84 (3 ed.). Osprey. pp. 31–32. ISBN 1-84176-198-2.
Jump up ^ P. Griffiths 1994 Battle Tactics of the Western Front p130
^ Jump up to: a b Sheffield, G.D. (2007). War on the Western Front. Osprey. p. 250. ISBN 1-84603-210-5.
Jump up ^ Persons, William Ernest (1920). Military science and tactics. 2. p. 280.
Jump up ^ Blain, W.A. (November–December 1921). "Does the Present Automatic Rifle Meet the Needs of the Rifleman?". The Military Engineer. Society of American Military Engineers. 12–13: 534–535.
Jump up ^ Landing-Force Manual: United States Navy. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1921. p. 447.
External links[edit]
Historical film documents on technology during World War I at www.europeanfilmgateway.eu
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Brahmo Samaj
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Brahmoism
Scripture
Brahmo Dharma
Theology
Monotheism
Pradhanacharya-1
Ram Mohan Roy
Pradhanacharya-2
Dwarkanath Tagore
Pradhanacharya-3
Debendranath Tagore
Founder
Ram Mohan Roy
Origin
1828
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Separated from
Sanātanī Hinduism
Other name(s)
Adi Dharm
Official website
http://true.brahmosamaj.in
Brahmo Samaj (Bengali: ব্রাহ্ম সমাজ Bramho Shômaj) is a Hindu reform movement. It is the societal component of Brahmoism, a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It is practised today mainly as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1839. After the publication of Hemendranath Tagore's Brahmo Anusthan (code of practice) in 1860 which formally divorced Brahmoism from Hinduism, the first Brahmo Samaj was founded in 1861 at Lahore by Pandit Nobin Chandra Roy.
It was one of the most influential religious movements in India [1] and made a significant contribution to the making of modern India.[2] It was started at Calcutta on 20 August 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Devendranath Tagore as reformation of the prevailing Brahmanism of the time (specifically Kulin practices) and began the Bengal Renaissance of the 19th century pioneering all religious, social and educational advance of the Hindu community in the 19th century. Its Trust Deed was made in 1830 formalising its inception and it was duly and publicly inaugurated in January 1830 by the consecration of the first house of prayer, now known as the Adi Brahmo Samaj.[3] From the Brahmo Samaj springs Brahmoism, the most recent of legally recognised religions in India and Bangladesh, reflecting its foundation on reformed spiritual Hinduism with vital elements of Judeo-Islamic faith and practice.[4][5]
Raja Rammohan Roy founded Brahmo Samaj in 1828 in the name of Brahmo Sabha.
Contents
[hide]
1 Meaning of the name
2 Doctrine
2.1 Brahmo Samaj as incremental propagation of Christianity
3 Divisions of Brahmo Samaj
3.1 Anusthanic versus Ananusthanic Brahmos
4 History and timeline
4.1 Brahmo Sabha
4.2 Brief Eclipse of Brahmo Sabha
4.3 Tattwabodhini period
4.4 First Covenant and merger with the Tattwabodhini Sabha
4.5 Disagreement with the Tattwabodhini
4.6 Expansion of the Tattwabodhini Sabha
4.7 Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj
4.8 First Secession
4.9 Brahmo Samaj and Swami Narendranath Vivekananda
4.10 Current status and number of adherents
5 Social and religious reform
6 See also
7 References and notes
8 External links
Meaning of the name[edit]
The Brahmo Samaj literally denotes community (Sanskrit: 'samaj') of men who worship Brahman the highest reality.[6] In reality Brahmo Samaj does not discriminate between caste, creed or religion and is an assembly of all sorts and descriptions of people without distinction, meeting publicly for the sober, orderly, religious and devout adoration of "the (nameless) unsearchable Eternal, Immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe."[7]
Doctrine[edit]
The following doctrines, as noted in Renaissance of Hinduism, are common to all varieties and offshoots of the Brahmo Samaj:[8]
Brahmo Samajists have no faith in any scripture as an authority.
Brahmo Samajists have no faith in Avatars
Brahmo Samajists denounce polytheism and idol-worship.
Brahmo Samajists are against caste restrictions.
Brahmo Samajists make faith in the doctrines of Karma and Rebirth optional.
Brahmo Samaj as incremental propagation of Christianity[edit]
Writing in 1868, Anglican Christian missionary Matthew Atmore Sherring observed [9] [that]:
What the telegraph, and railroads, and canals, and bridges, and metalled roads are accomplishing, physically, in opening up the country, and in developing its immense resources, so much, and more, Christianity and education are effecting, intellectually in uprooting error and superstition, in imparting right notions respecting virtue and religion, and in elevating the people generally. The most conspicuous and decided illustration of this, is, undoubtedly, visible in some parts of Bengal, particularly in Calcutta and other cities and towns in which the society called the Brahmno Samaj exists. [...] I earnestly hope that, having taken a great step in advance of gross heathenism, the members of the Brahmo Samaj will take another, still further in advance, and yet more decided and will embrace the pure religion of Christ, in its entirety, from which nearly all that is good in their own reformed religion has been derived.
—  M.A. Sherring, The Sacred City of the Hindus: An Account of Benares in Ancient and Modern Times (1868)
But this incremental view has not been endorsed even partially in any writing of Brahmo samaj or its proponents. Hence, this is just a view of the christian missionary Matthew Atmore Sherring.
Divisions of Brahmo Samaj[edit]
Adi Brahmo Samaj
Sadharan Brahmo Samaj
Anusthanic versus Ananusthanic Brahmos[edit]
To understand the differences between the two streams of Brahmo Samaj it is essential to understand that these implicit distinctions are based on caste. The Anusthanic Brahmos are exclusively either Brahmins or casteless, and exclusively adhere to Brahmoism and have no other faith. The Ananusthanic Brahmo Samajists, however, are from the remaining main caste divisions of Hinduism like Kayastha, Baidya etc. and hence within the Karmic / Rebirth wheel to eternally progress (i.e. Sanatan Dharm) to God by moving up caste hierarchies, unlike anusthanic Brahmos for whom the next step after death is reintegration and renewal with 'God'.[10]
History and timeline[edit]
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Brahmo Sabha[edit]
On 20 August 1828 the first assembly of the Brahmo Sabha (progenitor of the Brahmo Samaj) was held at the North Calcutta house of Feringhee Kamal Bose. This day was celebrated by Brahmos as Bhadrotsab (ভাদ্রোৎসব Bhadrotshôb "Bhadro celebration"). These meetings were open to all Brahmins and there was no formal organisation or theology as such.[11][12]
On 8 January 1830 influential progressive members of the closely related Kulin Brahmin clan[13] scurrilously[14] described as Pirali Brahmin ie. ostracised for service in the Mughal Nizaamat of Bengal) of Tagore (Thakur) and Roy (Vandopādhyāya) zumeendar family mutually executed the Trust deed of Brahmo Sabha for the first Adi Brahmo Samaj (place of worship) on Chitpore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), Kolkata, India with Ram Chandra Vidyabagish as first resident superintendent.[15]
On 23 January 1830 or 11th Magh, the Adi Brahmo premises were publicly inaugurated (with about 500 Brahmins and 1 Englishman present). This day is celebrated by Brahmos as Maghotsab (মাঘোৎসব Maghotshôb "Magh celebration").
In November 1830 Rammohun Roy left for England. Akbar II had conferred the title of 'Raja' to Rammohun Roy.[16]
Brief Eclipse of Brahmo Sabha[edit]
With Rammohun's departure for England in 1830, the affairs of Brahmo Sabha were effectively managed by Trustees Dwarkanath Tagore and Pandit Ram Chandra Vidyabagish, with Dwarkanath instructing his diwan to manage affairs.
By the time of Rammohun's death in 1833 near Bristol (UK), attendance at the Sabha dwindled and the Telugu Brahmins revived idolatry. The zameendars, being preoccupied in business, had little time for affairs of Sabha, and flame of Sabha was almost extinguished.[17]
Tattwabodhini period[edit]
On 6 October 1839 Debendranath Tagore, son of (Prince) Dwarkanath Tagore, established Tattvaranjini Sabha which was shortly thereafter renamed the Tattwabodhini (Truth-seekers) Sabha. Initially confined to immediate members of the Tagore family, in 2 years it mustered over 500 members. In 1840 Debendranath published a Bangla translation of Katha Upanishad. A modern researcher describes the Sabha's philosophy as modern middle-class (bourgeois) Vedanta.[18] Among its first members were the "two giants of Hindu reformation and Bengal Renaissance, Akshay Kumar Datta "who in 1839 emerged from the life of an anonymous squalor-beset individual" and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar the "indigenous modernizer".[19]
First Covenant and merger with the Tattwabodhini Sabha[edit]
On 7th Pous 1765 Shaka (1843) Debendranath Tagore and twenty other Tattwabodhini stalwarts were formally invited by Pt. Vidyabagish into the Trust of Brahmo Sabha. The Pous Mela at Santiniketan starts on this day.[20] From this day forth, the Tattwabodhini Sabha dedicated itself to promoting Ram Mohan Roy's creed.[21] The other Brahmins who swore the First Covenant of Brahmoism are:-
Shridhar Bhattacharya
Shyamacharan Bhattacharya
Brajendranath Tagore
Girindranath Tagore, brother of Debendranath Tagore & father of Ganendranath Tagore
Anandachandra Bhattacharya
Taraknath Bhattacharya
Haradev Chattopadhyaya, the future father-in-law to MahaAcharya Hemendranath Tagore[22]
Shyamacharan Mukhopadhyaya
Ramnarayan Chattopadhyaya
Sashibhushan Mukhopadhyaya
Disagreement with the Tattwabodhini[edit]
In Nov 1855 the Rev. Charles Dall (a Unitarian minister of Boston) arrived in Calcutta to start his mission and immediately established contact with Debendranath and other Brahmos. Debendranath's suspicion of foreigners alienated Dall and in 1857, Debendranath Tagore barred the entry of the Reverend from the Sabha premises for preaching the name of Christ who some people worship as God within.[23][24] Debendranath then proceeded on spiritual retreat to Simla. Dall, immediately formed a counter group "The friends of Rammmohun Roy Society" and then got admitted a protégé to Sabha. The presence of Dall's protégé Keshub Chandra Sen (a non-Brahmin) into the Calcutta Brahmo Sabha in 1857 while Debendranath was away in Simla caused considerable stress in the movement, with many long time Tattvabodhini Brahmin members publicly leaving the Brahmo Sabha and institutions due to his high-handed ways. In September 1858, Debendranath returned to Calcutta to resolve the simmering disputes. but his conservative mien did not allow him to take decisive steps. He proceeded on a sea voyage to Ceylon accompanied by Sen and his 2nd son Satyendranath (a firm admirer of Mr Sen) but no concord was achieved. In 1859, the venerable and beloved Secretary of the Tattwabodhini Sabha Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar resigned from the Brahmo Sabha in the face of Debendranath's vacillation. A meeting of the Tatwabodhini was promptly summoned with Debendranath resigning from the group he had founded. His third son Hemendranath Tagore then a boy barely 15 years in age, and the favorite pupil of Vidyasgar, was commonly acclaimed as Debendranath's successor to head the Tattwabodhini. In the course of time he would become known as the MahaAcharya (or Great Teacher).
Expansion of the Tattwabodhini Sabha[edit]
Disgusted by politics within the Tagore family and the support to K. C. Sen's faction by his own brother Satyendranath Tagore, Hemendranath took the bold decisions to expand his Sabha out from Calcutta. His close associate Pandit Nobin Chandra Roy who had joined the new institution of "Railways" in 1860 as its "Paymaster" for Upper India was tasked to spread Brahmoism there. With a predominantly monotheistic populace following Islam and Sikhism it was perceived as fertile soil for Rammohun's message. The Tattwabodhini decreed that the uncorrupted faith of the original 1830 Trust Deed would be known there as the Adi Dharm to distinguish it from the distorted versions of the squabbling factions of Calcutta. The steps taken by Hemendranath Tagore, with the blessing of his father, was to institute in 1860 a suit before the Supreme Court to restore the title "Brahmo Samaj" to his faction. After losing in this suit in 1861, Keshub Sen's faction altered the name of their Samaj from "The Brahmo Samaj of India" to "Navabidhan (or the New Dispensation)". With victory in this suit and the promulgation of his Brahmo Anusthan (Code of Brahmaic doctrine and practice) in 1861, Hemendranath's Samaj-ists are henceforth known as the "Anusthanic" Brahmos (or Brahmos who follow the Code). The other factions were designated as "Ananusthanic" Brahmos (or those who do not follow the Code) (this distinction was again to be legally examined before the Privy Council of Great Britain in 1901 and in 1902 the Privy Council upheld the 1897 finding of the Chief Court of the Punjab that the Adi Dharm (anusthanic Brahmos) were definitely not Hindus whereas the Ananusthanics Brahmos of Calcutta fall within Hinduism).
Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj[edit]
In 1861 the Brahmo Somaj (as it was spelled then) was founded at Lahore by Nobin Roy.[25] It included many Bengalis from the Lahore Bar Association. Many branches were opened in the Punjab, at Quetta, Rawalpindi, Amritsar etc.
First Secession[edit]
Disagreement with the Tattvabodhini came to a head publicly between the period of 1 August 1865 till November 1866 with many tiny splinter groups styling themselves as Brahmo. The most notable of these groups styled itself "Brahmo Samaj of India". This period is also referred to in the histories of the secessionists as the "First Schism".[26]
Brahmo Samaj and Swami Narendranath Vivekananda[edit]
Swami Vivekananda was a member of the Brahmo Samaj when he was studying in Scottish Church College, India, from 1881 to 1884, and remained with the Brahmo Samaj until he met his guru, Sri Ramakrishna in November 1881, and eventually became his disciple.[27][28]
Current status and number of adherents[edit]
While the various Calcutta sponsored movements declined after 1920 and faded into obscurity after the Partition of India, the Adi Dharm creed has expanded and is now the 9th largest of India's enumerated religions with 7.83 million adherents, heavily concentrated between the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In the Indian census of 2001 only 177 persons declared themselves a "Brahmo", but the number of subscriber members to Brahmo Samaj is somewhat larger at around 20,000 members.[29][30]
Social and religious reform[edit]
In all fields of social reform, including abolition of the caste system and of the dowry system, emancipation of women, and improving the educational system, the Brahmo Samaj reflected the ideologies of the Bengal Renaissance. Brahmoism, as a means of discussing the dowry system, was a central theme of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's noted 1914 Bengali language novella, Parineeta.
In 1866, Keshub Chandra Sen organised the more radical "Brahmo Samaj of India" with overtones of Christianity. He campaigned for the education of women and against child marriages. But he nonetheless arranged a marriage for his own underage daughter. The Brahmo Samaj of India split after this act of underage marriage generated a controversy and his pro-British utterances and leaning towards Christian rites generated more controversies. A third group, "Sadharan (ordinary) Brahmo Samaj", was formed in 1878. It gradually reverted to the teaching of the Upanishads but continued the work of social reform. The movement, always an elite group without significant popular following, lost force in the 20th century.
After the controversy of underage marriage of Keshub Chunder Sen's daughter, the Special Marriages Act of 1872 was enacted to set the minimum age of 14 years for marriage of girls.[31] All Brahmo marriages were thereafter solemnised under this law. Many Indians resented the requirement of the affirmation "I am not Hindu, nor a Mussalman, nor a Christian" for solemnising a marriage under this Act. The requirement of this declaration was imposed by Henry James Sumner Maine, legal member of Governor General's Council appointed by Britain. The 1872 Act was repealed by the Special Marriage Act, 1954 under which any person of any religion could marry. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 applies to all Hindus including followers of the Brahmo Samaj. In India the statutory minimum age of marriage for followers of Brahmo Samaj is the same as for all Indians, viz., 21 years for males and 18 years for females. It is also the age of marriage in Bangladesh.
It also supported social reform movements of people not directly attached to the Samaj, such as Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s movement which promoted widow remarriage.
See also[edit]
Hinduism portal
India portal
Bengal portal
Culture portal
History portal
History of Bengal
Prarthana Samaj
Tattwabodhini Patrika
References and notes[edit]
Jump up ^ J. N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements of India (1915), p. 29
Jump up ^ "Brahmo Samaj and the making of modern India, David Kopf, publ. 1979 Princeton University Press (USA)."
Jump up ^ "Modern Religious movements in India, J.N.Farquhar (1915)" page 29 etc.
Jump up ^ "Official Brahmo website". Brahmosamaj.in. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
Jump up ^ "Bangladesh Law Commission" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-15.
Jump up ^ page 1 Chapter 1 Volume 1 History of the Brahmo Samaj by Sivanath Sastri, 1911, 1st edn. publisher R.Chatterji, Cornwallis St. Calcutta. Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম bramho) literally means "one who worships Brahman", and Samaj (সমাজ shômaj) mean "community of men".
Jump up ^ Trust deed of Brahmo Sabha 1830
Jump up ^ Source: The Gazetteer of India, Volume 1: Country and people. Delhi, Publications Division, Government of India, 1965. CHAPTER VIII – Religion. HINDUISM by Dr. C.P.Ramaswami Aiyar, Dr. Nalinaksha Dutt, Prof. A.R.Wadia, Prof. M.Mujeeb, Dr.Dharm Pal and Fr. Jerome D'Souza, S.J.
Jump up ^ "The Sacred City of the Hindus: An Account of Benares in Ancient and Modern Times, Rev. M.A. Sherring". Trubner and Co., Paternoster Row. 1868.
Jump up ^ "Anusthanic Brahmos, Ananusthnic Brahmo Samaj". World Brahmo Council.
Jump up ^ "Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India" By Kenneth W. Jones page 33-34, publ. 1989 Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 0-521-24986-4 This Sabha was convened at Calcutta by religious reformer Raja Rammohun Roy for his family and friends settled there. The Sabha regularly gathered on Saturday between seven o'clock to nine o'clock. These were informal meetings of Bengali Brahmins (the "twice born"), accompanied by Upanishadic recitations in Sanskrit followed by Bengali translations of the Sanskrit recitation and singing of Brahmo hymns composed by Rammohun.
Jump up ^ "Modern Religious movements in India, J.N.Farquhar (1915)"
Jump up ^ "A History of Brahmin Clans" (Brāhmaṇa Vaṃshõ kā Itihāsa) in Hindi, by Dorilāl Śarmā, published by Rāśtriya Brāmhamana Mahāsabhā, Vimal Building, Jamirābād, Mitranagar, Masūdābād, Aligarh-1, 2nd edn. 1998. and also footnotes to Bengali Brahmin
Jump up ^ "Tagore, (Prince) Dwarkanath". Banglapedia. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Jump up ^ "Online copy of 1830 Trust Deed". brahmosamaj.in. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
Jump up ^ Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India By Kenneth W. Jones page 34, publ. 1989 Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 0-521-24986-4
Jump up ^ H.C.Sarkar-History of the Brahmo Religion (1906)
Jump up ^ <2007: Brian Hatcher "Journal of American Academy of Religion"
Jump up ^ "Brahmo Samaj and the making of modern India, David Kopf, Princeton University press", pp 43–57
Jump up ^ "Rabindra Bharati Museum Kolkata, The Tagores & Society". Rabindrabharatiuniversity.net. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
Jump up ^ "Bourgeois Hinduism", Brian Allison Hatcher. pg 57–58.
Jump up ^ "History of the Brahmo Samaj", S. Sastri. 2nd ed. p.81
Jump up ^ "The Brahmo Samaj and making of Modern India", David Kopf, publ. Princeton Univ.
Jump up ^ "Brahmoism, or a history of reformed Hinduism" (1884), R.C.Dutt
Jump up ^ page.4 "Pakistan journal of history and culture, Volume 11", by National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (Pakistan)
Jump up ^ Pt.Shivnath Shastri: Brahmo History- 1911.Page 106-107, 2nd edn.
Jump up ^ Kumar, Vinod (14 February 2009). "Biography of Swami Vivekananda, India". Swami Vivekananda's Biography Blogspot, India. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
Jump up ^ Chattopadhyaya, Rajagopal (31 December 1999). "Book: "Swami Vivekananda in India: A Corrective Biography"". Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "Brahmo Samaj FAQ Frequently asked Questions". Brahmo.org. 2011-07-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
Jump up ^ Statewise census computation by the Brahmo Conference Organisation
Jump up ^ "Brahma Sabha". Banglapedia. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
External links[edit]
World Brahmo Council
Brahmo Samaj.net
Brahmo Samaj in the Encyclopædia Britannica
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values: ब्राह्म समाज – Hindi

values: ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮೊ ಸಮಾಜ – Kannada

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-kn
display: none;

values: ബ്രഹ്മ സമാജം – Malayalam

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ml
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nl
display: none;

values: ブラフモ・サマージ – Japanese

values: ବ୍ରାହ୍ମ ସମାଜ – Odia

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-or
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-uz
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-pl
display: none;

values: Брахмо-самадж – Russian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-simple
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values: பிரம்ம சமாஜம் – Tamil

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ta
display: none;

values: బ్రహ్మ సమాజం – Telugu

values: พราหโมสมาช – Thai

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-th
display: none;

values: All languages (initial selection from common choices by you and others)

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Brahmo_Samaj rootpage-Brahmo_Samaj skin-vector action-view