Carved by the indigenous Rapa Nui people nearly a millennia ago, the monolithic ‘Moai’ statues of Easter Island have risen to fame as an eccentric icon of modern culture. These vast, imposing structures made of volcanic ash can still be seen scattered throughout the island even to this day, where they have become a popular tourist attraction for visitors from all over the world. Despite their global influence, we actually…
Throughout the history of the past millennia, the English language has come to dominate every corner of the world. From business, to science, to media, to diplomacy, English represents the fundamental pillar that fosters international exchange and cooperation. Fuelled by the growth of the largest imperial power in human history, the language has spread its tendrils across every habitable continent and established itself as the international standard in our increasingly…
On 17th November 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a historic speech to the joint Houses of Parliament, praising Australia-China relations as reaching “a new and higher starting point”. Since then, China’s bilateral relations with the West have declined by almost every possible metric, fuelled by Xi’s relentless pursuit of establishing his nation as a military, economic and political superpower that seeks to challenge the world order created by the…
In the years after the First World War, Germany faced countless social, political and economic challenges that brought it to the brink of complete collapse more than once. Civil unrest and crippling debt plagued the nation, while the severe terms of the Treaty of Versailles caused prices to increase by over one trillion times from 1918 to 1923. After the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the end of the…
Spoken by some 800,000 people in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France, Basque is one of the most unique and bizarre languages that exists anywhere in the world. It is one of the few remaining language isolates and the very last in Europe, meaning it demonstrates no identifiable relationship with any other language and is very much one of a kind. The uniqueness of the Basque language has made…
The Empire of Japan will forever be remembered as one of the most formidable and widely feared empires in history. It was neither the biggest nor the most powerful nation of its time, but the unwavering nationalism and radicalism of its people was what set Japan apart. In the decades leading up to World War II, all levels of Japanese society were dominated by an unwavering, almost unnatural, devotion to…
“It was a cold bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen”. George Orwell’s 1984 is a timeless work of dystopian fiction that has consistently resonated with readers and remained relevant through its deeply gripping storyline. The novel describes a totalitarian superstate in which an all-powerful dictator ‘Big Brother’ has embedded himself into every aspect of society and brainwashed the populace into unwavering obedience, monitoring their every move and…