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The human faith in God is an influential practice which also influences the material and political choices of humans. Religion provides large numbers of people with a basic justification for their lives and can also have a determining influence on the way in which communities put themselves in order as a whole. Believers, and for the purpose of this study specifically Christians, want to experience that their faith practically influence the world in which they live and that it brings hope to mankind. For this reason differences in political views bring along divergent interpretations of the will of God for mankind. The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC, i.e. the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, NGK) of South Africa is a very old and influential church. Although the DRC historically has a special tie with the white Afrikaans-speaking people of South Africa, it was especially during the 20th century that the DRC developed into a national church which provided a theological justification for the apartheid policy of the National Party (NP) and which also maintained the process of apartheid by the development of separate churches for separate races. Especially during the 1980s the DRC experienced enormous pressure from overseas, as well as nationally, to reform. Activism against the apartheid policy took on various forms. Criticism against the theology of the DRC was an important way in which to force the DRC, as well as the government to review the apartheid policy. Although the process took a long time, the 1980s was characterised by the extensive transformation of the apartheid policy in the political arena which caused division among white Afrikaners and the schism of the NP with the establishment of the Conservative Party (CP). In 1986 the DRC, by accepting the policy document Church and Society, decided that the apartheid policy did not rest with any worthy theological appeal. The Church however refused to declare the apartheid policy to be a sin, and therefore contrary to the will of God. Large numbers of Christians across the world did however view the apartheid policy in that light. The refusal of the DRC to take similar steps caused it to still be regarded by numerous observers as a reactionary force in the South African society. The decision of the DRC to abolish the theological justification of the apartheid policy was directly responsible for the establishment of the Afrikaans Protestant Church (APC, i.e. the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk, APK) in 1987. The division in the DRC regarding the resolutions of 1986 however continued as these resolutions paved the way for white and black South Africans to associate with each other in a radical way which for many years had not been possible in South Africa. Consequently the social and political sovereignty of the white Afrikaners, as well as the power balance in South Africa, were threatened. This caused important leaders in the DRC to challenge the 1986 resolutions of the Church. Although die DRC gradually adapted to the changes in the country, several theologians and enlightened leaders within the DRC took the lead in the debate. On synodal level influential decisions were taken by the DRC during the 1980s, but the fact that the DRC church family in general and the DRC in particular could not succeed in becoming one church as had been the case historically, reflects negatively on the Church and restrains the Church in becoming a real force for reconciliation and integration in South Africa. A study of the above-mentioned not only provides insights into the transition from a minority government in South Africa to a democracy, but also into the complex interaction between the DRC and the former NP government.

This study analyzes the life and historical image of Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset. Anne lived throughout most of the Tudor period (1510-1587). Throughout her long life, she rose from a mere lady in waiting to a duchess and wife of the Lord Protector. When her first husband, Edward Seymour, fell from power and met his end on the executioners block in 1552, it was Annes actions that saved the Seymour family from disgrace. While England endured centuries of religious transformation and political turmoil, Anne not only survived but ensured that her family remained influential and close to the throne. Her long court career, beneficial marriages, personal relationships, and devotion to religious reform made Anne an important noblewoman in Tudor England. This study looks at her role as a lady in waiting at court, her relationships with her husbands and children, and her activities as a patroness of reformist literature. The majority of historical scholarship has perpetuated a negative image of Anne Stanhope. Historians throughout the centuries have blamed Anne for her husbands faults, particularly his decision to execute his brother, Thomas Seymour. This study will look closely at contemporary sources to show that this image is problematic. Once her image is restored, a more accurate account of Annes life and her role in Tudor politics, society, and religion can be made. Annes experience was unique in many respects, yet her life can be used to determine many universal characteristics among Tudor noblewomen. This work will use Anne as a framework for understanding the changing political and religious landscape of Tudor England.

This dissertation examines how American Protestant missionaries in China understood and reacted to the Communist seizure of power in 1949. By studying the personal letters of missionaries, the communications of mission boards , Christian publications and mainstream periodicals, this study demonstrates that missionaries often defied widespread public sentiment and offered a more nuanced understanding of the Chinese Communists. It begins in the Civil War period by examining the divide between missionaries devoted primarily to evangelization and those for whom the social gospel was paramount, the latter being much more likely to try to work under the Communist regime. It then looks at how those missionaries who stayed in China after the Communist victory tried to co-exist with the Communist regime. Although some have assumed that religion would make them targets for hostility from Communists, these missionaries were eventually driven out primarily because of their nationality, especially after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. After returning to the United States, some of the more liberal missionaries continued to support better relations with China despite the overriding anti-communist consensus of this period. They tried to refute the oft-repeated argument that Communism was antithetical to religion by claiming Chinese Christianity was surviving under Communism without missionary support. They rarely defended the Communist hostility toward religion, but argued that it was not an all-out assault as had been seen in Eastern Europe. They also argued that engaging the Chinese would be much more likely to moderate their policies than isolation. These arguments were largely dismissed by Americans at large who were committed to fight against communism. Their arguments were also undermined by provocative Chinese actions throughout the 1950s. By the end of the decade, these liberal missionary voices of dissent were a small minority, but their approach would eventually come to be adopted by the Nixon Administration in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

British suspicion and hostility toward Russia developed early in the nineteenth century. It rapidly assumed the magnitude of a fixed characteristic of the national outlook. That prevailing friction and mutual anxiety should have existed between the two wing-States of Europe was perhaps inevitable. Both had acquired and developed great colonial areas and a subsequent "world policy" to answer the needs of empire.

On December 19, 1918, the Victoria Tribune, an important trade union newspaper of the time in British Columbia, carried the following comment on its editorial page: From its inception the move to send troops to Siberia has been involved in considerable obscurity ... Some day it may be that the whole thing will be cleared up and the public will be let into the secrets of statecraft which launched the country into this extra military expenditure ... Time will reveal some strange things in the great Siberian drama. This editorial comment concerned Canada's participation in the Allied intervention in Russia during 1918-1919. [...]

In 1855, Ju1y 13 fell on a Friday. Between six and seven-o'clock of this rainy (1) summer's evening, a 30-gun (2) corvette, showing the colours of the French Imperial Navy, was being towed to her berth under the battlements of Quebec by the sidewheeler (3) tug "Advance". The guns of the vessel were sounding in salute to the British colours flying over the Citadel, whose own cannon were replying in honour of the tricolour of France (4).

Une étude du genre de celle que nous entreprenons ne saurait commencer abruptement, et pour ce, nous croyons nécessaire de formuler dans cette introduction, un certain nombre de remarques préliminaires sur le Gallicanisme. Le principal problème qui se pose tout naturellement à l'esprit est celui d'une définition. On pourrait décrire le Gallicanisme comme un mouvement d'inspiration à la fois religieuse et politique, voire économique, qui, du XIVe au XIXe siècles, sous prétexte d'assurer l'indépendance du Royaume contre les empiètements de la Papauté, contribua à séparer la France de Rome, en donnant à l'Église gallicane un statut particulier.

Note: Missing Pages 252, 272, and 279. / It is scarcely necessary to stress the prime importance to Canadian history of the existence of the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, providing lines of communication for the development of trade and settlement. From the earliest days of French exploration in North America, men have been excited by the prospect of the vast waterway stretching from the Gulf far into the interior of the continent. Even the ‘Lakehead’ , the westernmost extremity of Lake Superior, did not mark the limit restricting further extension of waterborne commerce, since the earliest travellers and traders employed the canoe, the product of native ingenuity, in making their way westwards, while the portage, by-passing navigational obstructions, became a common feature attending the conduct of the trade in Canada’s first staple.

The period of the Balkan wars was the last major crisis which Great Britain and the European Powers passed through successfully before the outbreak of the First World War. In England, this crisis differed greatly from all previous crises faced by the pre-war Liberal Government in that upon its conclusion, the Cabinet, the Parliament, and the Press were united in their praise and defense of Britain's foreign policy. [...]