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The Portsmouth Historical Association has organised a host of fascinating talks for its 2024/25 season, bringing some of the region's top scholars to the University of Portsmouth's Park Building. They will cover topics as varied as secret service activities, imperial period Russia, and even nightlife in the eighteenth century - plus lots more besides.

Tuesday 8 October 2024
'Nicholas II and Stalin: A Comparison in Tyranny?'
Dr George Gilbert, University of Southampton
This talk will explore the late imperial period in Russia and the 1930s Soviet Union, considering themes of leadership and rule in these eras. Among the questions to be explored are, to what extent there is a tradition of authoritarian rule in Russia – and, if this is apparent, why? The talk will conclude by considering the endurance of authoritarian rule in Russia today and draw some connections with the country’s turbulent history.

Tuesday 12 November
'The Siege of Portsmouth 1897'
Lewis Sharp, Secretary, Palmerston Forts Society
This is the narrative of a "future fiction" attack on Portsmouth by a French / Russian alliance. The story was written in 1895 and is an interesting example of what was a very popular genre at the time. The story was serialised in the Portsmouth News in the run up to a general election. The owner of the newspaper, and prospective MP, was Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe), who used the story to promote the risks of neglecting the navy and dockyards - which he of course would support if elected.
The talk starts with the political context of why the story was written and the political aftermath. It will then move on to a technical analysis of whether the fictional campaign could have been possible.

Tuesday 10 December
'Taiwan: An Island Safeguarding its Identity'
Dr Isabelle Cockel, University of Portsmouth
This talk follows a chronological order, starting from the 17th century when Taiwan was a Spanish and Dutch colony on their trading routes, and ending with an overview of the socio-economic and political challenges the islanders have encountered since the 1950s. It will touch upon the ‘opening’ of Taiwan to the West when ‘treaty ports’ were established after the Second Opium War; the colonisation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 by Japan after the Qing Empire’s signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki; the ‘retreat’ of the Republic of China from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan under the leadership of  Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek; and the ‘split’ of China between the Communist China, or the Red China, and Taiwan, the Free China, as ideologically known during the Cold War. Against this Cold War background, the talk will discuss the development of Taiwan as an Asian Tiger, thanks to its export-oriented industrialisation, before addressing recent migration from China and Southeast Asia to Taiwan. The incorporation of these regional migrants complicates the demography of the island nation, which was otherwise composed of 98 per cent Han Chinese and 2 per cent Indigenous Peoples, constitutionally recognised as the First Nation. Overall, this talk projects a dynamic and evolving identity more complicated than the usual discourse of the trade-off between Chinese identity and Taiwanese identity.

Tuesday 14 January 2025
'Nightlife in Eighteenth-Century Hampshire'
Dr Julie Gammon and Professor Maria Hayward, University of Southampton
While the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens might epitomize the glamour and sleaze associated with eighteenth century nightlife in London, this talk takes a more local focus. Taking Southampton as a starting point, contextualized with work on Winchester and Portsmouth, it will explore what constituted ‘nightlife’ in the eighteenth century, where events such as the masquerade and dances took place, and who attended them. It will consider where the great and the good of Hampshire would have acquired the clothes they needed to appear at such events, as well as the role of clothing in less reputable evening pursuits, including visits to brothels, molly houses and gaming halls. What the people of eighteenth-century Hampshire did, where they went and what they wore once the sun went down, will be investigated during this talk.  

Tuesday 11 February
Dr James Thomas memorial lecture: 'Looked for by the whole nation: Roger Curtis and the Great Siege of Gibraltar'
Dr Scott Daly
This talk explores the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779-1783) through the actions of Captain Roger Curtis. The siege was a pivotal event during the American Revolutionary War. Curtis’s rescue of Spanish sailors during a grand assault launched by the Allied forces on 13 September 1782 was widely celebrated during the years that followed - despite being less well known today. The lecture looks at how the legacy of this under-appreciated event can shine a new light on the relationship between British naval culture and Gibraltar’s position within her global empire.

Tuesday 11 March
'Winning the Peace: After Edward IV's Victory in 1461'
Dr Gordon McKelvie, University of Winchester
In the early months of 1461 the 18-year-old Edward, Earl of March, was thrust into the limelight, taking over the leadership of the Yorkist cause after the death of his father Richard, Duke of York, at Wakefield. Within months Edward became king, cementing his victory at the Battle of Towton, the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Yet, the skills for military success are different from those for ruling. This talk explores how Edward IV sought to keep the throne he won in 1461.

Tuesday 13 May
'Crown, Cloak and Dagger'
Professor Richard J Aldrich, University of Warwick
This talk will explore the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana. It will show how the British secret services grew out of persistent attempts to assassinate Victoria and then operated on a private and informal basis, drawing on close personal relationships between senior spies, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. This reached its zenith after the murder of the Romanovs and the Russian revolution when, fearing a similar revolt in Britain, King George V considered using private networks to provide intelligence on the loyalty of the armed forces – and of the broader population. It will argue that in 1936, the dramatic abdication of Edward VIII formed a turning point in this relationship. What originally started as family feuding over a romantic liaison with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, escalated into a national security crisis. Fearing the couple’s Nazi sympathies as well as domestic instability, British spies turned their attention to the King. During the Second World War, his successor, King George VI gradually restored trust between the secret world and the House of Windsor. Thereafter, Queen Elizabeth II regularly enacted her constitutional right to advise and warn, raising her eyebrow knowingly at prime ministers and spymasters alike.

All talks will take place in Park Building Room 2.01. They will start at 7pm and finish no later than 8.30pm.

Attendees can pay on arrival (£4 per lecture), or £20 to attend the full series. Students and HA members are free. There is no need to book a place, just turn up.