Thomas history lecture

The popular annual lecture by Dr. Marvin Thomas, professor of history, will this year focus on a watershed event in the history of the Victorian age, the British Empire and modern warfare.

Thomas’s multi-media talk, “Gordon’s Revenge: Omdurman,” will take place at 8 p.m. April 10 in Rice Auditorium in Fisher Hall. It is free and open to the public.

Omdurman still has echoes today, Thomas explained.

“When democratic governments follow an inconsistent foreign policy with the change of every administration, tragic consequences invariably result for all those involved. Military forces being applied by one administration may find themselves compromised by the change of policy of the next administration. The soldiers thus committed may find themselves enmeshed in a situation that it is difficult, if not impossible, from which to extract themselves.

“Such was the fate of Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon in Khartoum. Having sent him to the Sudan on a military mission, Prime Minister William Gladstone changed his mind and refused to send a relief expedition until it was too late. The disaster that followed brought down the Gladstone ministry and it took thirteen years for another administration's change of policy to send Lord Horatio Kitchner to deliver Gordon’s revenge.

“In all of this everyone suffered -- not the least of whom were the Sudanese themselves, not to forget the British soldiers who fought in both campaigns. This is their story.”

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at (814)362-7609 or clh71@pitt.edu.

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