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While searching for some topic of interest to bumble on about in this blog, I remembered an article I read ages ago that left an impression. Maybe the weather is something that most of us at CSAG think about on a daily basis (I hope), but it is interesting to hear how the weather has helped shaped history – and thus the societal world we live in.  As will be discussed shortly, the weather can be a huge deciding point in what happens when, and it is interesting to hear about events that may or may not have happened because of weather conditions (and I’m not talking about a picnic at Kirstenbosch event).

Sunshine over Hiroshima

On the 6th August 1945 it was a fine summer day in Hiroshima. At 7:09am a weather reconnaissance plane passed overhead and radioed back: “Cloud cover less than three-tenths. Advice: bomb primary.” Thus, the sky was clear enough to drop the first nuclear weapon used in war. The lack of cloud cover sealed Hiroshima’s fate, and spared the back-up target. Even more dramatic was the effect of cloud cover on Kokura. On the 8th August 1945, the second nuclear weapon was loaded into a B-29, however the skies were overcast over the primary target, Kokura. Instead, the bomb was released over the backup target: Nagasaki.

Napoleon Invades Russia

In the year 1812, the infamous Napoleon assembled the largest army Europe had ever seen, more than 600 000 men strong. His plan was to march into Russia, and his last concern was the approaching winter chills. Napoleon confidently captured Moscow; his soldiers pillaged the city, stealing jewels, furs, and war prizes. However, it was too soon to be celebrating – since Napoleon had failed to consider how very very cold Russia can be. As Napoleon’s army marched away with their prizes, temperatures dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Many soldiers died of frostbite and starvation, and in one 24-hour period 50 000 horses died from the cold – leaving men to struggle on foot through the icy environment. Even with their stolen furs to wrap themselves up in – of the 600 000 men who marched into Russia, only 150 000 limped home. This was the beginning of the end for Napoleon’s empire, and heralded the emergence of Russia as a power in Europe.

The First Kamikaze

In the 13th century, Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongol Empire, set his sights on the conquest of Japan, but was defeated by not one, but two monsoons. Shinto priests, who believed the storms were the result of prayer, called them kamikaze or “divine wind.”

A Slave Revolt Washed Away

If the weather had not interfered, the 30th August 1800 might have been remembered as the day that thousands of slaves in Richmond, Virginia, followed a man named Gabriel and rose up against their masters, took the city armory and freed all the slaves. Instead, a violent rainstorm kept the conspirators from gathering long enough for word of the plot to get out.

Hail Storms Speed the Onset of the French Revolution

In a country already suffering from an economic crisis because of debt it incurred helping the American colonists in their war against England, a spring drought was causing food prices to skyrocket when a final blow came in the form of a hailstorm, which destroyed crops and laid waste to farms in France. The hungry populace was ready for extreme change, and the French Revolution soon followed.

 


Reference

Lee, L. 2006. LiveScience [online] 10 Surprising Ways Weather Has Changed History

2 Responses to “5 Ways Weather Has Changed History”

  1. peter j

    Nice blog Claire!
    “A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon…and changes the course of history!!!” ????

  2. Joseph

    Inevitably, I am tempted to think about how recent and possible future weather events might affect history. Perhaps a previous blog by Dave Morrison yields one possibility?