Name: The Pirate Flag - Making History
Uploaded: 2021-09-16T11:10:00.000+02:00
Duration: 1028 s
Description: The pirate flag flies high at most carnivals and fancy dress parties, but it's got a long and violent history behind it. The scull and crossbones once played an important role in the creation of nation states and the concept of national sovereignty.

La bandera pirata

Geschichte schreiben

La bandiera pirata contro le nazioni

Faire l'histoire

The Pirate Flag

Podróże z piratami

The pirate flag flies high at most carnivals and fancy dress parties, but it's got a long and violent history behind it. The scull and crossbones once played an important role in the creation of nation states and the concept of national sovereignty.

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Making History

The pirate flag flies high at most carnivals and fancy dress parties, but it's got a long and violent history behind it

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China, after having been for centuries at the heart of a world where the adoption of Chinese customs, included how they ate, was the main criterion of civilisation, was looked down upon by the West in the 19th century. Historian Clément Fabre traces the history of the humble chopstick through the ages.

Historian Clément Fabre traces the history of the humble chopstick through the ages.

How Chopsticks Made the Chinese

Paris, 12 May 1588: the so-called "day of the barricades" marked a high point in the Wars of Religion, pitting Catholics against Protestants in 16th century France and Europe. Prompted by the Catholic League, Parisians piled rubbish and barrels full of stones to block the way of King Henry III's troops.

The Barricade: Fortifying an Insurrection

Napoleon's gray frock coat was a way of conveying to Europe that though he was now a statesman, he was first and foremost a man of war. Even more than the legendary bicorne, the frock coat became a piece of visual propaganda, proof of the Emperor's power.

Napoleon's gray frock coat was a way of conveying to Europe that though he was now a statesman, he was first and foremost a man of war

Napoleon: Snappy Dresser?

In 1912 a German archaeologist discovered the bust of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, when he uncovered the workshop of an ancient artist at Amarna. The discovery of this beautiful sculpture caused a sensation at the time and chimed with contemporary ideals of feminine beauty

In 1912 a German archaeologist discovered the bust of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, when he uncovered the workshop of an ancient artist at Amarna. 

The Nefertiti Bust: The Birth of an Icon

Looking at history through the prism of one object. In this episode, the intrauterine device (IDU) in plastic or copper brought birth control to the masses in the 20th century. But this form of contraception has not always been a force for women’s liberation.

The history of the intrauterine device (IDU) , this plastic or copper contraption that brought birth control to the masses.

Birth Control: Emancipation or Forced Sterilisation?

Patrick Boucheron brings history to life through objects. With the inventions of photography the Turin shroud, a relic venerated for centuries, found a new lease of life as the photographic negatives seemed to confirm its sacred status. A relic in the age of mechanical reproduction.

The Turin Shroud - A Relic for the 20th Century

The parasol or beach umbrella is synonymous with summer beach holidays but it has not always been so. Historian Elsa Devienne tells us the social and cultural history of an object that has appeared on and disappeared from our beaches as fashion, tanning practices and our attitudes to our bodies change.

The parasol or beach umbrella is synonymous with summer beach holidays but it has not always been so.

The Parasol and Beach Culture

Claire Judde de Larivière, a specialist in Renaissance Venice, analyses how the drawing of lots partly reduced corruption and constituted a ritual that united the community of patricians in the Venetian Republic. We also understand what links the ballot box and the lottery box, throughout history.

The Lottery Ball and the Politics of Chance

Ostracism is still commonly used in our contemporary political vocabulary to designate exclusion and has its origins in Ancient Greece. Paulin Ismard, a specialist in the political anthropology of ancient Greece, traces the genealogy of a ritual that founded Athenian democracy.

Paulin Ismard, a specialist in the political anthropology of ancient Greece, traces the genealogy of a ritual that founded Athenian democracy.

Ostraca: A Piece of Clay Means Exile

Polished axes from the Neolithic period were the tools used for perhaps the biggest change that man has brought about on Earth: the clearing of the land for agriculture.

Stone Age Axes - Clearing the Land

Is it possible to write a history of our own reflection? Historian Philippe Artières, reflects on the mirror as an object and the action of observing oneself that for ordinary citizens only dates back to the nineteenth century.

Is it possible to write a history of our own reflection? Historian Philippe Artières, reflects on the mirror as an object.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

How did meat become a commodity? By transforming beef into a syrupy, energetic material, the chemist Justus von Liebig revolutionised mass nutrition with his extract of meat.

When Food Meets Chemistry

The object seems recent: its international standardisation is barely a century old, and yet questions of identification and control have never ceased to haunt the history of societies. For the passport was invented to control populations considered dangerous: Vagrants, deserters, illegal immigrants.

The object seems recent: its international standardisation is barely a century old, and yet questions of identification and control have never ceased to haunt the history of societies.

The Passport - A Paper Border

The history of the suit and tie, from the end of the 19th century onwards, overlaps with the Americanisation of the industrial world. Manuel Charpy deciphers the suit's ideal of dynamism and modernity and the social distinctions of the clothes we wear.

The Suit: Uniform of the Modern Man

In 12th century Sicily King Roger II had a ceremonial cloak made to show his power and magnificence with beautiful Arabic inscriptions adorning its hems. Religious historian Valérie Theis explores the history of this mysterious mantle

The Mantle of Roger II of Sicily

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One small action can lead to big consequences. This is the story of how Anas Modamani, a Syrian refugee, had his life turned upside after he took a picture with Chancellor Angela Merkel. He went on to take Facebook to court and Germany fined the tech over a million euros.

Domino Effect (1/4)

This is the story of how a refugee taking a picture with Chancellor Angela Merkell morphed into a court case against Facebook

Anas Modamani, and a Fateful Selfie

The Marchioness Casati was admired throughout Europe for her incredible parties and expensive tastes. She was an eccentric patron of the arts, and her face appears again and again in the works of all the notable painters of her day. But she would rip through her inheritance by the age of fifty and end up wondering the streets of London, going though rubbish bins.

The Lost Ones

The Marchioness Casati went from living in a palace to eking out an existence on the streets of London

Luisa Casati, the Ruined Marchioness

On February 14, 2003, in the UN Security Council, Dominique de Villepin refused ratify the Iraq war. He spoke on  behalf of peace and on behalf of the Iraqi people. But his warnings were never heeded and they still ring true today.

Great Speeches that Made History

On February 14, 2003, in the UN Security Council, Dominique de Villepin refused ratify the Iraq war

Against the Iraq War - Dominique de Villepin

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in the worst place at the worst time twice over. On August 6, 1945, he was working in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb exploded over the city. Traumatised by the apocalyptic experience, he just wanted to go back home to his family. Except home was Nagasaki. 

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was traumatised by Hiroshima, and went back home as soon as he could. Except home was Nagasaki. 

Yamaguchi, Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

In the aftermath of Franco's coup d'etat in 1936, Dolores Ibarruri took to the radio waves to call for resistance. Her famous phrase - No Pasarán - became a rallying call to action and continues to be used today.

Great Speeches That Made History

In the aftermath of Franco's coup d'etat in 1936, Dolores Ibarruri took to the radio waves to call for resistance

No Pasarán! - Dolores Ibárruri

On September 19, 1946, at the University of Zurich, Winston Churchill delivered one of his most famous speeches. He advocated for a United States of Europe and for forgiveness between France and Germany. He warned that the horrors of the past could still be repeated without fundamental change. 

Who came up with the term United States of Europe? The answer might surprise you...

Let Europe Arise! - Winston Churchill

Maire Laguerre was walking home from work when she was sexually harassed by a man in the street. When she told her aggressor to get lost, he threw an ashtray at her and punched her in the face. She decided to post the video of her attack online and it went viral, eventually triggering a change in street harassment laws in France.

Domino Effect (2/4)

When Marie told her aggressor to get lost, he punched her in the face. But she refused to back down

Marie Laguerre, Street Harassment Hero

Ahed Tamimi grew up in a small village in occupied Palestine, and protest was in her blood. She had grown up yelling at Israeli soldiers and demonstrating for a free Palestine. So the day that soliders showed up on her family’s property, she didn’t hesitate : she marched up to them and slapped them. Her anger would land her in prison and make her an icon of the resistance.

Domino Effect (4/4)

The viral slap that put a teenager in prison and made her a global icon

Ahed Tamimi, the Kid Activist

In 1924, a woman entered the capital of Tibet after having travelled thousands of kilometres on foot. It was the first time a foreigner had crossed the border of the sacred city. This mythical feat, one of many by Alexandra David-Néel, made the reputation of this explorer, writer, anarchist, feminist and traveller.

Alexandra David-Neel: An Adventurer in Tibet

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From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life. Street-photography captured Parisians from all walks of life and conveyed the optimism and elegance of the period.

From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life.

Paris in the Belle Epoque

284 Russian soldiers are still missing in Afghanistan from the Soviet-Afghan War, a conflict that ended in 1989. ARTE Reportage goes in search of these lost red army soldiers

ARTE Reportage

Afghanistan: Lost Soldiers of the Red Army

The historian Herodotus in the fifth century BC said that Egypt was "a gift from the Nile", and from the pharaohs to Nasser, the Nile has played a vital role in Egypt's fortunes. But Ethiopia now intends to remind leaders in Cairo that the Nile is not just an Egyptian river.

Mapping the World

Ethiopia wants to remind Egypt that the Nile is not just Egyptian

Geopolitics of the Nile

Welcome to Afghanistan, the land of the magnificent mountains of the Hindu Kush and a country of great ethnic diversity. Its complex history is characterised by an almost permanent state of war.

Afghanistan - A Troubled Country

There are an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and in the 20th century, 437 of them erupted in places like the United States, Russia, Indonesia and Japan. Both a blessing and a curse, they have shaped our world on land and at the sea.

A World of Volcanoes

Germany in the 21st century is unthinkable without Angela Merkel, leading the country for the last 16 years. Ms Merkel grew up in the GDR before beginning her political career in the united Germany. A look at the Germany she leads as she approaches the end of her political career.

A look at the Germany of Angela Merket as she approaches the end of her political career after 16 years as chancellor.

Germany: Angela Merkeland?

After eight years of restauration, one of the greatest works of art ever made looks once again as its creators intended. The monumental tableau that is the Ghent Altarpiece, also known as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, captures the viewer with its intense realism and complicated symbolism. A full immersion into this revolutionary work that looked forward to the modern world.

The monumental tableau that is the Ghent Altarpiece captures the viewer with its intense realism and complicated symbolism.

Secrets of the Ghent Altarpiece

20 years ago, on September 11, 2001, 3,000 people died when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes. Mapping the World looks back on the 20-year struggle against Islamic terrorism, from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda to the so-called Islamic State, Boko Haram, and other jihadist organisations.

Mapping the World looks back on the 20-year struggle against Islamic terrorism

20 Years of War against Terrorism

The Orkiestra Historyczna of Poland, conducted by Martyna Pastuszka, offers us the opportunity to rediscover princely music in the beautiful setting of the Margravial Opera House.

Bayreuth Baroque 2021

Martyna Pastuszka and Orkiestra Historyczna

Four women comic book artists from the Arab World, Tunisian Nadia Khiari, Lebanese Lena Merhej, Moroccan Zainab Fasiki and Egyptian Deena Mohamed open the doors of their studios and tell us about their experiences and their struggles. Ten years after the beginning of the Arab Spring how can they express themselves in the medium as Arab women?

Four women comic book artists from the Arab World open the doors of their studios and tell us about their experiences and their struggles. 

4 Arab Women Comic Book Artists

A century ago the Treaty of Trianon formally ended World War I between the Kingdom of Hungary and the allied powers. Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory at Trianon which is still a contentious subject in Hungarian politics and society.

Hungary's Trauma

1974: ABBA’s victory at the Eurovision Song Contest was a taste of things to come. But a year later, when it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time. On Channel 1 was the Eurovision and on Channel 2, a rival, parody version of the competition designed to mock ABBA and mainstream music as hopelessly capitalist and try hard.

ABBA

When it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time in a bid to take down ABBA

Report from a dogs’ home that specialises in unmanageable and dangerous hounds. Dog trainer Vanessa Bokr knows better than most how aggressive some breeds of dog can be. She works tirelessly to retrain unwanted dangerous dogs in the hope that they can find new homes rather than be put down.

Abused Dogs Learn to Love

Report from a dogs’ home that specialises in unmanageable and dangerous hounds.

Re: Hellhounds

In 2016, Colombia the country signed a historic peace treaty with the FARC rebels. This was intended to mend the deep rift in Colombian society, which has long been divided into two extreme camps: on the one hand the Marxist revolutionary guerrilla, on the other the ultra-conservative right and paramilitary militias. But the violence that has shaped the recent history of the country is far from over.

Colombia is still struggling to control violence from extreme groups and drug cartels

Colombia: A Nation in Revolt

Infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar had four hippos flown over from Africa to populate his very own zoo on his private estate in Columbia. After his death in 1993, the hippos escaped and have been colonising local waterways ever since. Conservationists are now waging a war against this invasive species which is harmful to the local ecosystem and highly dangerous to humans.

Geo Reportage

Infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar had four hippos flown over from Africa to populate his very own zoo on his private estate in Columbia. But then they escaped.

Pablo Escobar's Hippos

Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than him. German photographer Daniel Josefsohn, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, made his mark in advertising with his irreverent aesthetic and punk sensibility. It was his spontaneous, imperfect images shot for an MTV campaign in 1994 that first made him famous.

Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than than German photographer Daniel Josefsohn.

DJ Punk - The Photographer Daniel Josefsohn

Since 1963, a unique railway line has traversed Mauritania and its oceans of sand. The 2.5-kilometre-long desert train, with more than 100 wagons, was built to transport iron ore to the Atlantic coast and has become a vital means of transport for the desert inhabitants.

GEO Reportage

The 2.5-kilometre-long desert train, with more than 100 wagons, was built to transport iron ore to the Atlantic coast and has become a vital means of transport for the desert inhabitants.

Mauritania: The Desert Train

20 years later, the survivors of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York are still deeply scarred by their experiences. This report meets these forgotten people as they struggle to overcome the trauma of that tragic day.

Arte Reportage

20 years later, the survivors of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York are still deeply scarred by their experiences. 

USA: 9-11 Survivors' Long Struggle

Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents. With the city authorities considering measures to push sex workers out of the area, does this spell the end for the historic trade in the city centre?

Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents.

Re: Mass Tourism in Amsterdam's Red Light District

Yo-Yo Ma performs Samuel Barber's formidable 1946 cello concerto. Too often reduced to his Adagio for strings in Europe, this performance reveals Barber in all of his power, proving him to be one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century.