More Power To You: Seats of Power Walk for IAS 201

This walk was both informative and intellectually stimulating.  Not only did it help me form a more cohesive map of London in my mind, but it also helped me to realize the enormous roles that the military and their campaigns of war have played in Britain’s history and how their extensive experience in battle have molded their government and national identity. 

At the beginning of the walk, we came upon a memorial for the Battle of Britain, which took place in 1941.  The memorial has a really unique design with high relief sculptures of soldiers and scenes from the battle done in bronze.  I liked how they included the quote from Winston Churchill, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Every walk I go on helps me to put a mental map of London together in my mind, and it seems like Trafalgar Square is the center of London.  I always feel as if I’m running into it.  If it does act as the sort of center of activity, it seems very appropriate that it commemorates one of Britain’s most celebrated battles—the Battle of Trafalgar.  As we moved out of the square and down Whitehall, I was surprised to find so many historical landmarks on that street—including Scotland Yard, which I now know the origins of.  Before this walk I had little idea of the historical significance of the Banqueting Hall.  As the sight of Charles I execution and the location of the official offering of the throne to William and Mary, it seems that it has always been an important building to the British government, even though the exterior is rather unpretentious.

As we came upon the Cenotaph shooting up through the center of the street, I really could see Britain’s preoccupation with war, especially WWI.  The monument is clearly very important, both because of its location in the middle of a major thoroughfare but also because of what takes place there each year.  Britain’s remembrance of WWII was also made obvious a little further along the walk by the activity that was taking place around the Cabinet War Rooms.  They were allowing anyone to sidewalk chalk something to commemorate Churchill and his extraordinary efforts during WWII.  It’s obvious that even today they still love and respect Winston Churchill here in England. 

It was interesting to see how important the monarchy still is to Britain.  Although the Queen may not hold very much direct governing authority, there is still a lot of ceremony with regards to the monarchy.  This was evident to me as we passed Admiralty Arch, which constructed only within the last century.  The importance of the monarchy was clear looking at the arch, for only the monarch is allowed to pass through the center archway.

As I completed the walk and reflected upon all of the dozens of war and military memorials I had seen, I realized how significant Britain’s military history is to who they are as a people and a government.