This Day in History: March 20th through March 25th
March 20, 1815 - Beginning of the Hundred Days Reign of Napoleon
After his defeat in the War of the Sixth Coalition, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was forced into exile on Elba in 1814. However, refusing to accept this exile, Napoleon secretly returned to France in 1815, assembling an army on his march to Paris as the soldiers chose to desert the monarch installed after Napoleon’s exile (Louis XVII), in favor of their Emperor. Napoleon’s entrance into Paris marked the beginning of his Hundred Days Reign, in which he would rule France for 100 days before losing the War of the Seventh Coalition and being forced once again into exile, this time on St. Helena.
March 21, 1935 - The Shah of Persia Requests Nations to Refer to Persia as, “Iran”
Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, this nation in the middle East (and its largest ethnicity) had long been called, “Persia” (from the Greek, “Pérsēs”, meaning, “country”), despite the fact that its people had long referred to the nation as, “Iran” (from the Iranian, “aryān”) which could roughly mean, “Aryan”, or “of the Iranians” (not to be confused with the Nazi usage of, “Aryan”). In 1935, the Shah of Iran requested international usage of “Iran”, in order to smooth over the various ethnic minorities in the country of which “Persian” was just the majority, in the sense of, “We aren’t Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, etc., we are ‘Iranian’”. This is essentially like the president of the US requesting the international community to refer to their nation as the, “United States”, rather than, “California”, or, “Texas”.
March 22, 1945 - The Alexandria Protocol Establishes the Arab League
The foundation of the Arab League, closing coinciding with the fall of colonial regimes in the middle East and North Africa following WWII, was initially meant to prevent further colonialism by creating a united front against European expansion. Since then, it has grown from six nations to include twenty-two, and has accomplished the coordination of various economic and political goals.
March 23, 1879 - First Battle of the War of the Pacific
“The War of the Pacific” is admittedly an oddly grand name for a conflict in South America between Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. The war began over Chilean claims over the coastal region of Bolivia - claims that would be enforced in the peace deal, where Bolivia would be forced to cede its entire coastline to Chile, after the Bolivia-Peru alliance lost after five years of conflict, costing around 10,000 casualties to Chile and 25,000 casualties to Bolivia and Peru.
March 24, 1603 - King James VI of Scotland Become James I of England and Ireland
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth, England lacked a suitable candidate to take the crown. As such, the English government invited King James VI of Scotland to take the throne, which he did, becoming King James I, the first monarch ruling over all kingdoms in the British Isles (Ireland had previously been put under English control). While this created a united crown, it didn’t create a united country, as England and Scotland would continue largely operating separately for about a century, until the act of union which formally created the United Kingdom.
March 25, 1306 - Robert the Bruce Becomes King of Scotland
Despite being most known for leading Scotland in its first War of Independence, Robert the Bruce faced two major obstacles after becoming King in 1306; the obvious problem of the English controlling what was nominally his kingdom, and various rivals throughout the country looking to claim his throne. Throughout 1306 - 1310, Robert had to wage a guerilla war while simultaneously suppressing these rival claimants, finally emerging to fight pitched battles in 1310. In 1314, the Robert won the decisive battle of the Scottish Independence War - the Battle of Bannockburn - allowing him to reclaim most of his country while also letting him make devastating raids into Northern England.
