The founder of scouting, Robert Stevenson Smith Powell, was born on February 22, 1857 in London in the family of a priest and professor of theology at Oxford University, Baden Powell. He did not remember his father, since he died when Robert was only three years old. The widowed Henrietta Grace, daughter of Admiral W. Smith, had to raise seven children alone, of whom the eldest was 14 years old. In memory of her husband, she changed the family's surname to Baden-Powell (hence the shortened form of his surname - BP, as scouts informally call him). She was a strict and demanding mother. Children not only had to look after themselves from an early age, but also had certain responsibilities around the house.
In 1870, Robert entered the London school - “Charterhouse School”. He was a good football goalkeeper, but not a particularly good student. His classmates loved him for his cheerful character and his exceptional ability to copy his teachers. During the holidays, Robert and his four brothers went to travel around England for the whole summer.
BP did not have enough stars in his studies, which was the reason for his failure to enter Oxford University. I had to think about other possible prospects, for example, the army. The method of replenishing the army's officer corps, then accepted in England, provided for a series of exams and tests for applicants. And here Stevie showed himself in all his brilliance - out of 718 candidates he came fifth. And so at the age of 19, after graduating from school, Robert passed the officer's exam and received the rank junior lieutenant and was assigned to the 13th Hussars. His military service took place in India and Afghanistan. At the age of 26 he became captain.
Receiving a modest salary, Baden-Powell began to earn extra money by writing articles for magazines, illustrating them with his own drawings.
After eight years of service in the colonies, Baden-Powell returned to England, where he joined the military intelligence. In 1915, he published a book of memoirs, “My Spy Adventures,” in which he described his adventures in a fascinating manner and illustrated them himself.
Pretending to be an old butterfly collector, Baden-Powell inspected Austrian fortifications in the Balkans. He skillfully disguised his sketches as images of butterflies. He visited Turkey, Italy and other countries, including Russia.
This was in 1886. Maneuvers took place in Krasnoye Selo, during which new searchlights and a new military balloon were to be tested. Robert Baden-Powell and his brother managed to enter the restricted area without much difficulty. William Hilcourt's biography of Baden-Powell says: "They greeted everyone who was greeted by everyone, and passed by the sentries, who asked them nothing." When the guards left for lunch, the brothers were able to get a good look at the balloon gondola, and then remained in the restricted area until the evening to observe the tests of the searchlights. Both the searchlights and the balloon did not seem as interesting to them as they expected.
On the last day of the maneuvers, the brothers wanted to see the “attack” of the fort (Baden-Powell calls it “Nikolin”). One of the brothers watched the attackers of the fort, and the other watched its defenders.
On the way back, when it was already dark, the brothers were detained on the road by officers accompanying the royal crew. They tried to explain that they were Englishmen who were walking to the railway station and got lost in the dark. They asked the officers who detained them to help them get there, but instead they were taken to St. Petersburg. There they were put under house arrest in one of the hotels, from where they later escaped without much difficulty.
That Baden-Powell was a talented spy is evidenced by another book he wrote immediately after returning from South Africa in 1901. It’s called “To Help Scouts.” It gave general advice on methods of observation and deduction to improve the quality of training of soldiers. In addition to purely military advice, other requirements for an intelligence officer formulated by the BP are noteworthy here: he must be strong, healthy, active, a real intelligence officer has good vision and hearing, he is a good rider and swimmer, knows how to explore and read his surroundings. All these requirements were later presented to young scouts (scout translated from English as scout). This book was a manual for the training of English military intelligence officers; it soon received universal recognition from specialists, was translated into Russian and published in 1902 by the St. Petersburg publishing house of V. A. Berezovsky, a military commissioner. educational institutions. Abroad, this book went through several editions and was translated into many languages. In the preface to the English edition of 1915, Baden-Powell wrote: “The Russians, who previously believed in the “machine theory,” have now also switched to individual training, which consists in raising an intelligence officer in every soldier.”
In 1887 Baden-Powell was sent to South Africa, where blacks put up desperate resistance to the British colonialists. He took part in suppressing the uprising of the Zulu, Ashanti and Matabela. In his memoirs, Baden-Powell later wrote that because of his sudden attacks, the blacks nicknamed him “The Wolf that Never Sleeps.”
With officials from the Protectorate regiment,
formed in 1899 in anticipation of the war in South Africa.
In 1899, Baden-Powell was promoted to colonel and appointed commandant of the Mafking fortress, an important strategic and administrative point and railway junction. Mafking was located in the Cape Colony, near the border of Bechuanaland, a British protectorate.
The Boer War began on October 12, 1899; Boers from the Transvaal surrounded Mafking. The siege lasted seven months (217 days), until 17 May 1900, when Field Marshal Lord Roberts, advancing on the Transvaal capital Pretoria, sent a special detachment to liberate Mafking.
The garrison consisted of 1,250 men, but Baden-Powell mobilized all men capable of bearing arms. Among them were boys 12-14 years old. Of the most efficient, a detachment of scouts was formed, who were tasked not only with observing enemy positions, but also with carrying letters through the ring of Boers besieging the fortress.
In 1901, Colonel R. Baden-Powell was promoted to major general, and in 1908 to lieutenant general.
After the Boer War, BP returned to his homeland in England after for long years absence. One of the heroes of the war, he became very popular. Letters from children came to him from all over the British Empire. He traveled a lot around the country, giving lectures, attending parades of cadets and “brigades,” and corresponding with children and teenagers. Baden-Powell drew attention to the difference between English boys in Africa and in London. It was a surprise for BP to learn that his manual “To Help Scouts” is used not only by the military, but also by teachers working with children in cadet corps, “Boys' Brigade” (since 1902 he became vice-president of this “Brigade”) and church circles. One day, W. Smith approached him with a proposal to rework the book “To Help Scouts” for children and teachers.
In the summer of 1906, BP received the book “Birch Whistle” by mail from the Canadian naturalist and writer Ernest Seton-Thomson. The author's appeal argued that the ills of society could be cured by the simple, natural life of a primitive tribe. The book aroused keen interest among BP.
In 1906 - 1908, having carefully studied the works of Pestalocius, Epictetus, Titus Livy, having analyzed the experience of education among the Spartans, tribes of Africa, Japanese samurai, the traditions of the British and Irish peoples, as well as his military experience as an intelligence officer and military man, Baden-Powell began working on a book (“Intelligence for Boys”). It was written in the form of fireside chats.
Before publishing it, Baden-Powell decided to test his theories in practice. To do this, he gathered a group of 22 boys and spent 8 days with them in the summer of 1907 in a tent camp on Brownsea Island, off the south coast of England (Dorset). The children were divided into five patrols, each led by a designated leader. The eight-day program was rich and vibrant. On the first day, deployment was carried out, patrols were created and responsibilities were distributed, and leaders were instructed. On the second day, camp activities were studied: knitting knots, making fires and cooking, orienteering, and they also did not forget about hygiene. On the third day, BP taught to recognize details environment near and far from the observer, for example, footprints. The fourth day was devoted to the study of animals, birds, plants, and stars. Fifth - chivalry: honor, laws, loyalty to the king, officers, chivalrous attitude towards women (this BP was taken from the traditions of the knightly monastic order of St. John on the island of Malta, where he served in 1890–1893, as well as from the legend of knights Round Table King Arthur). On the sixth day, the children learned to provide assistance in case of burns, fainting, poisoning, and to act in times of panic. On the penultimate day, BP gave the children concepts about colonial geography, history, glorious deeds empire, its army and navy, explained the duties of a true citizen. The last day is the day of games and competitions. Of course, there were no lectures at this camp. BP conveyed all the information to the children in an entertaining, game form. First he showed and told, and then he conducted practical lessons. Everyone liked the camp, and at the beginning of 1908 the book “Scouting for Boys” was published in six separate notebooks.
The need for out-of-school education of adolescents has been felt for a long time, and in different countries Many attempts were made to create children's organizations, but what Baden-Powell proposed turned out to be the most suitable.
BP tried to fit everything in one book Child's world and give the child advice that might come in handy someday. That's why all theoretical and practical material the book was arranged according to topics - conversations: from “Scout Laws”, “Tracking”, “Comfort in the Camp”, “How to Become Strong”, “The Nobility of Knights”, “What to Do in Case of Accidents” to “Sobriety”, “How to build bridges”, etc. Emphasis is placed on developing the citizenry through small groups led by older children and guided by adults. BP aroused enthusiasm in children. No one had ever advised them to whistle in difficult moments and don’t be a snob (9th law).
In the early years, the scout laws were dominated by the style of duty, service, and responsibility. For example, the first law: “A scout’s honor must be trusted” had an explanation: “If a scout dishonored his honor by telling a lie or failing to accurately carry out an order given in trust in his honor, he must return his badge and never wear it again. He may also be completely excluded from scouting.” Law two required the child to be faithful to everyone, including his parents. Law three - the duty to help others and be useful, law 7 required obedience, law 8 - ordered to whistle when receiving an order. Laws 4, 5, 6, in which we're talking about about politeness, love for animals, thrift. Therefore, in 1911, a tenth law was added to the nine: “The Scout is pure in thought, word and deed.” He slightly adjusted the style of the laws.
Children's groups began to spring up spontaneously throughout the country, using his book as a basis for their work. BP began to receive a lot of letters in which adults and children demanded clarification, comments and advice. And BP gave up. After consultation with his friends, he established a Correspondence Bureau. With the participation of A. Pearson, the newspapers “Scout” (for children) and “Headwater Gazette” (for instructors) began to be published. The first detachments appeared in North London, and in the spring of 1908, the whole of England was covered with a network of spontaneously arising detachments. Then the movement spread to the colonies. A year later, King Edward VII received the first parade of fourteen thousand scouts from England. In 1909, the first Girl Scout groups appeared. The Scout Association of Great Britain received its legal status by a king's charter on January 4, 1912, and since then the next monarch has confirmed it with a special Act.
At the end of December 1910, General Baden-Powell arrived in St. Petersburg. O. I. Pantyukhov and V. G. Yanchevetsky, the founder of the legion of “young intelligence officers” in St. Petersburg, learned about this from the newspapers and hastened to meet the author of the book “Young Intelligence Officer”. Baden-Powell invited his new acquaintances to visit England and get acquainted with the organization of scouting work on the spot, and he himself soon left for an audience with Emperor Nicholas II, and then to Moscow, where a banquet was held in his honor by local “young scouts”. Baden-Powell did not have time to get acquainted with intelligence work in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo.
In 1910, Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes founded a separate organization for girls, the Girl Guides, and in the same year, King Edward VII persuaded Robert Baden-Powell to resign in order to devote himself entirely to working with the Boy Scouts. In 1910 there were more than 123,000 Boy Scouts in Great Britain and its colonies, scouting work began in the USA, Holland, Italy, Finland and other countries, and in 1911 scouting spread to almost all European countries.
After retiring, BP began to travel a lot around Europe. During these travels, BP met Olav Soames, a pretty, active girl. If the general owed his upbringing to his mother, then his future wife, on the contrary, loved sports, hiking, cycling, and nature thanks to her father. In 1912 they got married and, despite big difference aged, lived happily. They had two girls and one boy. At first, BP’s sister Agness tried to lead the Girl Scout movement, but gradually Olav replaced her at the helm of the girl’s organization.
The first one that flared up soon World War divided the scouts into two warring camps. On one side there were Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the other - England, France, Russia and their allies. Scouts on both front lines honestly performed their duty.
After the war, Baden-Powell took up the task of bringing together the youth of all countries and reconciling the warring peoples with even greater energy. For this purpose, the first international scouting meeting was organized in London in 1920, called the Indian word “jamboree,” in which representatives of 32 countries took part. On the last day of the jamboree, August 6, 1920, Baden-Powell was elected Head of the Scout movement around the world - “Chief Scout of the World" After the international scout jamboree, the International Boy Scout Bureau was created in London.
On August 30, 1922, the Organization of Russian Scouts Abroad, headed by Senior Russian Scout O.I. Pantyukhov, was accepted as a member of this bureau.
According to the rules of the bureau, each state could be represented by only one organization. If there were several scout organizations, they had to unite into a federation.
The second condition of membership was the separation of boys from girls. Mixed troops of boys and girls were prohibited by international scouting rules.
Baden-Powell was a man of exceptional energy. In 1922, he was granted a baronetcy for his scouting activities, and in 1929, the title of “Baron of Gilwell” (Gilwell is the place where Baden-Powell organized courses for scout leaders).
Baden-Powell has written many books about working with scouts. After my own famous book“Scouting for Boys”, intended for leaders of boys 12-16 years old, he published the “Wolf Cubs Handbook” in 1916 (a guide for working with wolf cubs - boys 7-11 years old), and in 1922 - “Rovering to Success” ( journey to success) about working with young men over 17 years old, who in the scouting organization were called “Rovers”. These are only three of Baden-Powell's main manuals on scouting, and there were many more in total.
The last Jamboree in which BP took part was in 1937 in Holland.
In 1937, when Baden-Powell's health failed and doctors prescribed him complete rest, he and his wife moved to Kenya (Africa). He lived there from October 1938 until his death on January 8, 1941, a month and a half before his 84th birthday.
Baden-Powell is buried in the local cemetery, and the road to the cemetery is named after him. The Kenya Scouts erected a memorial plaque at the house where Baden-Powell lived and died.
In 1938, BP was nominated for competition Nobel Prize, but the war prevented the solution of this issue.
It is said that today BP is the most widely read British author in the world after Shakespeare, and his Scouting for Boys has sold worldwide copies in this century, second only to the Bible.
D. Hargrave once remarked that Huckleberry Finn was always hiding in BP’s nature, that there was something in him that could be called “Boy Poltergeism.” Many, many children from a rationalized and dead-boring world flocked to Scouting after him.
THE LAST MESSAGE OF THE CHIEF SCOUT OF THE WORLD
Dear scouts!
If you have seen the play-performance “Peter Pan”, then you remember how the pirate leader always gave his dying speech, fearing that when time will pass dying, then he will not have the opportunity to say everything that is in his soul. It's the same with me, although I don't die in currently, but still I want to send you a farewell word.
Remember this last time what you hear from me, think about it.
I had the most happy life, and I wish each of you to also have a happy life.
I believe that God placed us in this joyful world to be happy and enjoy life.
Happiness doesn't come from being rich or having great success in your career or thinking highly of yourself. One step to happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are still young, so that you can be useful in life and can enjoy life when you are an adult.
By studying nature, you will see what beauty and amazing things God has created for us so that we can admire and enjoy. Be happy with what you have and make the best of it. Look for the bright side in everything, instead of the dark - sad.
But to have real happiness, you must also give happiness to other people. Try to leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your time comes to die, you can die with the happy feeling that you did not waste your time, but did the best you could. “Be Prepared” in this direction - live happily and die happily - always stand firm on your Scout Solemn Promise - even after you are no longer a boy - and God will help you with this.
Your friend,
Baden - Powell of Gilvert.
Literature
1. Kudryashov Yu.V. Russian scout movement. Historical sketch. (Scientific ed.). – Arkhangelsk: Pomorsky Publishing House state university, 1997
2. Polchaninov R.V. KNE notes. San Francisco, 1997
3. II category ORYUR. Publishing house RGK ORYUR, 2000
4. Course material for the training of scout leaders “History of the Scout Movement” Chapter 2. From the SCM archive. O.E. Levitsky, Santa Rosa, California, April 1995
From the site materials
The creator of the new pedagogical movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, was born on February 22, 1857 in London. His father, a priest and professor at Oxford University, died when Robert was only 3 years old. Left early without a father, Robert was raised by his mother - a very smart, capable and energetic woman who was the eldest daughter of Admiral William Smith and belonged to the offspring of the Elizabethan hero, Captain Smith, famous for his adventures among the red Indians North America, where he twice almost miraculously escaped death.
All the children of Professor Baden-Powell, and there were 7 of them and the eldest was 14 years old, were distinguished by a wide variety of talents in the field of painting, drawing, music and especially in the field of natural sciences. The mother, while raising them strictly, at the same time perfectly understood the importance of developing independence and personal initiative. Therefore, Robert was already accustomed to great independence in childhood.
The early years of Ste (that was the name of Robert Baden-Powell) and his brothers were full of lessons in outdoor life: searching for rare plants and butterflies, getting to know nature, the life of animals and birds - these were the early interests of B-P’s life, which he retained throughout throughout his subsequent life.
In 1870, that is, when Robert was 13 years old, he was assigned to a closed educational institution - Church House School. He was distinguished by his camaraderie, cheerfulness and tirelessness, as well as artistic ability. All his comrades loved him for these qualities, as well as for his willingness to always help.
Once, during a school play, the actor did not appear, the teacher immediately turned to Robert with a request to occupy the audience's attention. Robert fulfilled the request and made the audience laugh with his stories for fifteen minutes. Robert was very interested in nature and often ran away from school into the picturesque forest located outside the school fence. Here he was engaged in tracking, hunting hares, which he then cooked over a small and smokeless fire so that the teachers would not notice him.
Baden-Powell was a good drawer and loved to sketch the nature around him. During summer holidays he and his brothers traveled extensively around England on foot and by boat, often spending the night under open air. At the age of 12, with his three brothers, Robert set off on a trip along the coast of England and Scotland on a five-ton boat. This was his first voyage, and since he was the youngest, he was appointed cabin boy, cook and scullery maid.
“The first time,” says Baden-Powell, “I failed with pea soup. I didn’t know what kind of meat was needed and what was more, meat or water? As a result, Warrington's elder brother's decision was: Frank will sit and watch you eat it all yourself."
India
In 1876, i.e., at the age of 19, he graduated from Chaterhouse School and entered officer school. Military knowledge interested him, and in terms of success he was among the best. Baden-Powell begins his military service with the rank of sub-lieutenant in the famous hussar regiment"Charge of the Light Brigade" in India, which became famous during the Crimean Campaign. His military career is going very well. In 1882 he was appointed adjutant of the regiment, and in 1883 he was promoted to captain at the age of 26! An excellent sportsman, he won the most popular prize in India, wild boar spear hunting. A tireless hunter, beloved by his comrades for his cheerful character, he already showed great love to the children.
In India, Baden-Powell encounters wild nature and enjoys hunting large and dangerous animals. Long expeditions through wild lands and frequent participation in hunting gradually develop Baden-Powell into a skilled and famous tracker and scout. As a specialist on these issues, he publishes a book for military intelligence officers and organizes a school of reconnaissance art in his regiment, teaching soldiers courage and independence, the ability to act in any conditions, mainly in unfamiliar terrain.
Baden-Powell came up with a special way to find traces of enemy troops. He developed dexterity, observation, resourcefulness and ability to work in his soldiers. B-P taught soldiers to understand traces and use road signs, learned the art of sneaking, blowing a whistle, knots and building bridges.
“If you want to be a good scout,” he said, “be able to find your way day and night in an area unfamiliar to you, be able to find the direction by the sun, stars, hours, by various signs in nature, be able to cook your own food, swim across the river, develop self-sacrifice, dexterity and endurance, sacrifice out of a sense of duty to one’s Motherland.” We know relatively little about Baden-P.’s life in India, where he spent 8 years (1876 -1884). His fame and popularity arose and grew later on the sultry fields of South Africa, in connection with the Boer War.
South Africa
From India in 1884, Baden-Powell was transferred to South Africa, where he clearly demonstrated his brilliant military abilities and covered himself with unfading glory. The British often had to equip military expeditions to pacify the warlike black tribes (Zulu, Matabella, Kafa...) who rebelled against English rule. During these wars, Baden-Powell distinguished himself for his energy, tirelessness and courage. Many times he personally went on reconnaissance missions with one guide or two or three reconnaissance soldiers. Mortal danger was the companion of these reconnaissances; several times he was actually on the verge of death, but he was always saved thanks to his ability to quickly accept correct solution, swiftness and knowledge of nature.
Based on his experience, he compiled a book to teach young soldiers the art of reconnaissance, Aid to Scouting. This book-guide began to be used in schools in England. African military expeditions and constant skirmishes with enemies gave Baden-Powell the opportunity, to an even greater extent, to become an excellent tracker and a skilled intelligence officer.
The savages against whom he fought called him “the WOLF who never sleeps,” for they never managed to take Baden-Powell by surprise. This was the first forest name that the future scout scout received, and this name was given to him by his enemies! "The WOLF who never sleeps"! This is how Baden-Powell was and remained until the end!
Malta
After suppressing the unrest of African tribes, Baden-Powell was appointed in 1890 to the island of Malta as head of British military intelligence for the entire Mediterranean region. Baden-Powell personally carries out numerous secret missions in Austria, Italy, Albania, Turkey and other countries in southern Europe. He was a master of makeup and disguise, sometimes he traveled as a hunter, sometimes as an artist, sometimes as a naturalist who caught butterflies. He later loved to talk about how he was more than once stopped by military patrols who looked at his drawings - often they depicted only innocent butterflies. In fact, in the drawings of butterflies, sketches of the location of troops, fortresses, and artillery were skillfully hidden. And so the “strange Englishman” continued to hunt for butterflies...
London
From Malta, Baden-Powell was transferred to London. Here he is struck by a terrible picture of degradation younger generation. Not without reason, he saw in this signs of the decomposition of the state. Tormented by this question, Baden-Powell often spent whole days on the streets among street boys, trying to get closer to them and understand their motives, their interests, but he saw that nothing good would come of this generation.
Due to unrest in South Africa, Baden-Powell was sent to pacify the Ashanti tribe, which he did brilliantly.
Mefqing
Baden-Powell was promoted to colonel in 1899 and was tasked with strengthening the small town of Mefking, located in the middle of South Africa and lost in the depths of the South African steppes. Mefqing was very important because of its strategic location and the railway. This town was a good base for operations against the Boer Republic - Transvaal. “Whoever holds Mefqing holds all the tribes of the natives under his control” and the fall of Mefqing would serve as a signal for the uprising of all the natives.
The Anglo-Boer War begins. Baden-Powell appreciated the importance of this town and quickly strengthened it. To defend the town, which contained about 600 women and children and up to 7,000 natives and had a circumference of about 9 miles, the British had at their disposal only 1,000 soldiers and 300 mobilized townspeople.
The Boers (Dutch farmer settlers) surrounded and besieged the town in large forces, but all their attacks were repulsed. Baden-Powell soon gained fame by leading his squadron through enemy vanguards. With heroic and skillful defense, in extremely difficult conditions, Baden-Powell defends the town entrusted to him for 217 days, i.e. seven months from October 13 to May 18, 1900, until its liberation, and thereby saves general position the entire war campaign.
His assistant Lord Edward Cecil, seeing that the ranks of the defenders were thinning and it was becoming more difficult to carry out the communications service, gathered the Mefking boys and organized them into an auxiliary service of signalmen (transmitting reports, orders, letters, etc.), orderlies, and shell carriers.
The result was a brave squad, which, under the command of their commander Goodyer (their playmate), provided extremely important services to the defense cause and fully deserved the medals with which they were awarded after the end of the war. The brilliant idea of Lord Edward Cecil was the strongest impetus for the beginning of scouting. This is how a distant prototype of the scout organization arose. Baden-Powell had previously noticed that children who grew up in the lap of nature in a friendly active environment are more resilient and more adapted to independent life, and from the experience of the boys from Mefking, he was even more convinced of this.
The main thing, of course, was the attitude of boys to military labor before and after the organization of Goodyer's cadets. The street boys treated the war so calmly that even when shells exploded, they did not leave their street games. But what happened to them when they were given uniforms, weapons and responsibilities? These were the most diligent workers in their field. Neither the threat of death nor difficulties could stop their activities.
Baden-Powell understood Lord Cecil's motives in forcing a reckless crowd of street urchins to submit to strict discipline. The reasons for instilling discipline in the children were:
- Trust placed in youth.
- Their awareness of their own responsibility.
The beginning of scouting
When, after seven months of heroic defense, Mefking was liberated by the arriving English troops, Baden-Powell was already a celebrity, and after the war with the Boers, he returned to England as national hero throughout the country and one of the most popular people in England. Queen Victoria promoted Mefking's defender to the rank of major general. Baden-Powell was only 43 years old. He became the youngest major general in the British army. He is invited to the large post of cavalry inspector. A brilliant military career opens up for Baden-Powell.
In 1901, Baden-Powell returned to England, where he was given a solemn and enthusiastic meeting.
Soon Baden-Powell notices all the shortcomings of the English urban pampered youth, from whom he, as a popular hero, receives a lot of letters. In England it is quite common to write letters even to completely strangers And good tone English society demands that every letter must be answered. Thanks to this correspondence, Baden-Powell recognizes the needs and aspirations of the child's soul. In his response letters, he tells the children about his adventures, about life in the jungles of India and in the endless steppes and wilds of Africa, and gives advice on how to become brave, courageous, resilient and strong.
Baden-Powell soon learns that the book Aid to Scouting, written by him in Africa as a manual for training soldiers in reconnaissance, is a great success among English youth and is adopted as a manual in schools.
Gradually, Baden-Powell comes to the idea that he must help the youth of his country become a worthy successor to the outgoing generation. If the book he wrote to train soldiers in reconnaissance made an impression on the guys, then what would happen if you wrote a book specifically for the guys!
So the idea arose in him to create an organization for young people that would prepare for scouting - intelligence work, in the form interesting games in nature, exercise and hiking, so that eventually the boys develop into real strong, strong-willed men - a worthy replacement.
He set to work and used not only his military experience gained in India and Africa in skirmishes with the Zulus, Kaffirs and Matabellas, but borrowed much from the ideas of previous centuries, ranging from Spartan education of children to the methods of training the Red Indians. Slowly and carefully he created his own educational system.
Scouting
Wanting to try out his system of out-of-school education in practice, in the summer of 1907 he gathered a group of 20 boys from different circles of society and organized with them on Brownsea Island, in Dorset, on the banks of the English Channel, the first scout camp in the world in which he used all the accumulated experience. The results of this camp were brilliant.
By the end of 1907, in the northern part of London - in Hamstead, the first scout troop was organized, and a month later, in the outskirts of London - Putney, the 2nd scout troop was created.
At the beginning of 1908, Baden-Powell published his book SCOUTING FOR BOYS, in which in an entertaining form he talks not only about the experience of living in wildlife, but also about serving the homeland, about chivalry and its traditions and ideals. The book was a tremendous success, was reprinted several times and was translated into most languages abroad, which led to the emergence of scout troops around the world. The scouting movement has spread throughout England, and a women's branch is emerging, led by his wife.
First edition of the book "Intelligence for Boys"
The second life of Baden Powell
The book gave rise to an entire international youth movement, and by 1910 the scouting movement had become so large that Baden-Powell decided that scout training for the younger generation would give the country good citizens and be more beneficial than the standard training of English soldiers.
In 1910, with the rank of lieutenant general, he left military service and devoted his life to scouting, which quickly covered the entire globe.
Taking Radard Kipling’s book “Mowgli” as a basis, Baden-Powell creates a system of working with wolf cubs to educate junior scouts. Later, a senior branch of the organization was created - Rover Scouts.
In 1909, King Edward of England held a review parade, which was attended by 14,000 scouts. After this, in 1910, by a special royal charter, the British Scouts Organization was recognized as a state institution.
After retiring, Baden-P. writes and publishes on the scout movement whole line books, and also travels a lot to different countries, visiting spontaneously emerging scout organizations.
After the First World War (1914-1917), Baden-Powell took an active part in the organization of the International Scout Bureau, which serves to maintain communication among scouts of different nations. From each nationality, only one Scout organization can belong to this Bureau. In order to bring the scouts closer together different nationalities Baden-Powell introduced the idea of international congresses of scout youth, the so-called. World Jamboree (Africans call their traditional holidays, found among some tribes of Africa, with whom Baden-Powell met during the Boer War).
The first such Jamboree took place in 1920 in London, where scouts from different nations gathered from all parts of the world. On the last night of this Jamboree - August 6th, Baden-Powell was selected as a "Chief Scout of the World". It was decided to convene the jamboree every four years.
For his services in educating the younger generation of British youth, Baden-Powell was elevated by King George V of England to the rank of Baron with the title "LORD BADEN-POWELL of GILWELL" - after the name of Gilwell Park, the center of British leadership courses and camps. Until the end of his life, he worked actively for the development of scouting, participating in all scout conferences and Jamborees, constantly visiting scouts from different countries.
The last Jamboree in which Baden-Powell took part was in 1937 in Holland.
Baden-Powell's final years
Having reached the age of 80, he felt tired and returned to live out his remaining years in Africa with his wife Lady Baden-I., who was an excellent assistant in his scouting work and was herself elected as a Senior Girl Scout of the World, the movement of which was also started by Baden-Powell. In their beloved Africa, the couple settled in Kenya, in a quiet, cozy corner, with a delightful view of the forest surrounding them, stretching for many miles, behind which the peaks of snowy mountains could be seen. Here BP died on January 8, 1941, a month and a half before his 84th birthday, maintaining clarity of thought and good spirits until his last breath.
“The wolf who never sleeps” fell asleep in eternal sleep, but the memory of him will never be erased from the hearts of millions of young people around the world, to whom the great founder of world scouting dedicated his life.
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The founder of scouting, Robert Stevenson Smith Powell, was born on February 22, 1857 in London in the family of a priest and professor of theology at Oxford University, Baden Powell. He did not remember his father, since he died when Robert was only three years old. The widowed Henrietta Grace, daughter of Admiral W. Smith, had to raise seven children alone, of whom the eldest was 14 years old. In memory of her husband, she changed the family's surname to Baden-Powell (hence the shortened form of his surname - BP, as scouts informally call him). She was a strict and demanding mother. Children not only had to look after themselves from an early age, but also had certain responsibilities around the house.
In 1870, Robert entered the London school - “Charterhouse School”. He was a good football goalkeeper, but not a particularly good student. His classmates loved him for his cheerful character and his exceptional ability to copy his teachers. During the holidays, Robert and his four brothers went to travel around England for the whole summer.
BP did not have enough stars in his studies, which was the reason for his failure to enter Oxford University. I had to think about other possible prospects, for example, the army. The method of replenishing the army's officer corps, then accepted in England, provided for a series of exams and tests for applicants. And here Stevie showed himself in all his brilliance - out of 718 candidates he came fifth. And so at the age of 19, after graduating from school, Robert passed the officer's exam, received the rank of junior lieutenant and was appointed to the 13th Hussars. His military service took place in India and Afghanistan. At the age of 26 he became captain.
Receiving a modest salary, Baden-Powell began to earn extra money by writing articles for magazines, illustrating them with his own drawings.
After eight years of service in the colonies, Baden-Powell returned to England, where he joined military intelligence. In 1915, he published a book of memoirs, “My Spy Adventures,” in which he described his adventures in a fascinating manner and illustrated them himself.
Pretending to be an old butterfly collector, Baden-Powell inspected Austrian fortifications in the Balkans. He skillfully disguised his sketches as images of butterflies. He visited Turkey, Italy and other countries, including Russia.
This was in 1886. Maneuvers took place in Krasnoye Selo, during which new searchlights and a new military balloon were to be tested. Robert Baden-Powell and his brother managed to enter the restricted area without much difficulty. William Hilcourt's biography of Baden-Powell says: "They greeted everyone who was greeted by everyone, and passed by the sentries, who asked them nothing." When the guards left for lunch, the brothers were able to get a good look at the balloon gondola, and then remained in the restricted area until the evening to observe the tests of the searchlights. Both the searchlights and the balloon did not seem as interesting to them as they expected.
On the last day of the maneuvers, the brothers wanted to see the “attack” of the fort (Baden-Powell calls it “Nikolin”). One of the brothers watched the attackers of the fort, and the other watched its defenders.
On the way back, when it was already dark, the brothers were detained on the road by officers accompanying the royal crew. They tried to explain that they were Englishmen who were walking to the railway station and got lost in the dark. They asked the officers who detained them to help them get there, but instead they were taken to St. Petersburg. There they were put under house arrest in one of the hotels, from where they later escaped without much difficulty.
That Baden-Powell was a talented spy is evidenced by another book he wrote immediately after returning from South Africa in 1901. It’s called “To Help Scouts.” It gave general advice on methods of observation and deduction to improve the quality of training of soldiers. In addition to purely military advice, other requirements for a scout formulated by the BP are noteworthy here: he must be strong, healthy, active, a real scout has good eyesight and hearing, he is a good horseman and swimmer, he can explore and read those around him. All these requirements were later presented to young scouts (scout translated from English as scout). This book was a manual for the training of English military intelligence officers; it soon received universal recognition from specialists, was translated into Russian and published in 1902 by the St. Petersburg publishing house of V. A. Berezovsky, a commission agent for military educational institutions. Abroad, this book went through several editions and was translated into many languages. In the preface to the English edition of 1915, Baden-Powell wrote: “The Russians, who previously believed in the “machine theory,” have now also switched to individual training, which consists in raising an intelligence officer in every soldier.”
In 1887, Baden-Powell was sent to South Africa, where blacks offered desperate resistance to the British colonialists. He took part in suppressing the uprising of the Zulu, Ashanti and Matabela. In his memoirs, Baden-Powell later wrote that because of his sudden attacks, the blacks nicknamed him “The Wolf that Never Sleeps.”
In 1899, Baden-Powell was promoted to colonel and appointed commandant of the Mafking fortress, an important strategic and administrative point and railway junction. Mafking was located in the Cape Colony, near the border of Bechuanaland, a British protectorate.
The Boer War began on October 12, 1899; Boers from the Transvaal surrounded Mafking. The siege lasted seven months (217 days), until 17 May 1900, when Field Marshal Lord Roberts, advancing on the Transvaal capital Pretoria, sent a special detachment to liberate Mafking.
The garrison consisted of 1,250 men, but Baden-Powell mobilized all men capable of bearing arms. Among them were boys 12-14 years old. Of the most efficient, a detachment of scouts was formed, who were tasked not only with observing enemy positions, but also with carrying letters through the ring of Boers besieging the fortress.
In 1901, Colonel R. Baden-Powell was promoted to major general, and in 1908 to lieutenant general.
After the Boer War, BP returned to his homeland in England after many years of absence. One of the heroes of the war, he became very popular. Letters from children came to him from all over the British Empire. He traveled a lot around the country, giving lectures, attending parades of cadets and “brigades,” and corresponding with children and teenagers. Baden-Powell drew attention to the difference between English boys in Africa and in London. It was a surprise for BP to learn that his manual “To Help Scouts” is used not only by the military, but also by teachers working with children in cadet corps, the “Boys’ Brigade” (since 1902 he became the vice-president of this “Brigade”) and church mugs. One day, W. Smith approached him with a proposal to rework the book “To Help Scouts” for children and teachers.
In the summer of 1906, BP received the book “Birch Whistle” by mail from the Canadian naturalist and writer Ernest Seton-Thomson. The author's appeal argued that the ills of society could be cured by the simple, natural life of a primitive tribe. The book aroused keen interest among BP.
In 1906 - 1908 BP carefully studied the works of Pestalocius, Epictetus, Titus Livy, analyzed the experience of education among the Spartans, African tribes, Japanese samurai, the traditions of the British and Irish peoples, as well as his military experience as a scout and military man, Baden-Powell began working on the book “Scouting for Boys” ” (“Intelligence for boys”). It was written in the form of fireside chats.
Before publishing it, Baden-Powell decided to test his theories in practice. To do this, he gathered a group of 22 boys and spent 8 days with them in the summer of 1907 in a tent camp on Brownsea Island, off the south coast of England (Dorset). The children were divided into five patrols, each led by a designated leader. The eight-day program was rich and vibrant. On the first day, deployment was carried out, patrols were created and responsibilities were distributed, and leaders were instructed. On the second day, camp activities were studied: knitting knots, making fires and cooking, orienteering, and they also did not forget about hygiene. On the third day, BP taught to recognize details of the environment near and far from the observer, for example, footprints. The fourth day was devoted to the study of animals, birds, plants, and stars. Fifth - chivalry: honor, laws, loyalty to the king, officers, chivalrous attitude towards women (this BP was taken from the traditions of the knightly monastic order of St. John on the island of Malta, where he served in 1890-1893, as well as from the legend of the Knights of the Round King Arthur's Table). On the sixth day, the children learned to provide assistance in case of burns, fainting, poisoning, and to act in times of panic. On the penultimate day, BP gave the children concepts about colonial geography, history, the glorious deeds of the empire, its army and navy, and explained the responsibilities of a real citizen. The last day is the day of games and competitions. Of course, there were no lectures at this camp. BP conveyed all the information to the children in an entertaining, playful way. First he showed and told, and then conducted practical classes. Everyone liked the camp, and at the beginning of 1908 the book “Scouting for Boys” was published in six separate notebooks.
The need for out-of-school education for teenagers has been felt for a long time, and many attempts have been made to create children's organizations in different countries, but what Baden-Powell proposed turned out to be the most suitable.
BP tried to fit the entire children's world into one book and give the child advice that might come in handy someday. That is why all the theoretical and practical material in the book was arranged according to topics - conversations: from “Scout Laws”, “Tracking”, “Comfort in Camp”, “How to Become Strong”, “The Nobility of Knights”, “What to Do During Accidents” to “Sobriety”, “How to Build Bridges”, etc. Emphasis is placed on developing the citizenry through small groups led by older children and guided by adults. BP aroused enthusiasm in children. No one had previously advised them to whistle in difficult moments and not to be a snob (9th law).
In the early years, the scout laws were dominated by the style of duty, service, and responsibility. For example, the first law: “A scout’s honor must be trusted” had an explanation: “If a scout dishonored his honor by telling a lie or failing to accurately carry out an order given in trust in his honor, he must return his badge and never wear it again. He may also be completely excluded from scouting.” Law two required the child to be faithful to everyone, including his parents. Law three - the duty to help others and be useful, law 7 required obedience, law 8 - ordered to whistle when receiving an order. Laws 4, 5, 6, which deal with politeness, love for animals, and frugality, did not fit into this general atmosphere. Therefore, in 1911, a tenth law was added to the nine: “The Scout is pure in thought, word and deed.” He slightly adjusted the style of the laws.
Children's groups began to spring up spontaneously throughout the country, using his book as a basis for their work. BP began to receive a lot of letters in which children and children demanded clarification, comments and advice. And BP gave up. After consultation with his friends, he established a Correspondence Bureau. With the participation of A. Pearson, the newspapers “Scout” (for children) and “Headwater Gazette” (for instructors) began to be published. The first detachments appeared in North London, and in the spring of 1908, the whole of England was covered with a network of spontaneously arising detachments. Then the movement spread to the colonies. A year later, King Edward VII received the first parade of fourteen thousand scouts from England. In 1909, the first Girl Scout groups appeared. The Scout Association of Great Britain received its legal status by a king's charter on January 4, 1912, and since then the next monarch has confirmed it with a special Act.
At the end of December 1910, General Baden-Powell arrived in St. Petersburg. O. I. Pantyukhov and V. G. Yanchevetsky, the founder of the legion of “young intelligence officers” in St. Petersburg, learned about this from the newspapers and hastened to meet the author of the book “Young Intelligence Officer”. Baden-Powell invited his new acquaintances to visit England and get acquainted with the organization of scouting work on the spot, and he himself soon left for an audience with Emperor Nicholas II, and then to Moscow, where a banquet was held in his honor by local “young scouts”. Baden-Powell did not have time to get acquainted with intelligence work in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo.
In 1910, Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes founded a separate organization for girls, the Girl Guides, and in the same year, King Edward VII persuaded Robert Baden-Powell to resign in order to devote himself entirely to working with the Boy Scouts. In 1910 there were more than 123,000 Boy Scouts in Great Britain and its colonies, scouting work began in the USA, Holland, Italy, Finland and other countries, and in 1911 scouting spread to almost all countries of Europe.
After retiring, BP began to travel a lot around Europe. During these travels, BP met Olav Soames, a pretty, active girl. If the general owed his upbringing to his mother, then his future wife, on the contrary, loved sports, hiking, cycling, and nature thanks to her father. In 1912, they got married and, despite the large age difference (she was 23, and he was 55), they lived happily. They had two girls and one boy. At first, BP’s sister Agness tried to lead the Girl Scout movement, but gradually Olav replaced her at the helm of the girl’s organization.
The First World War, which soon broke out, divided the scouts into two warring camps. On one side there were Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the other - England, France, Russia and their allies. Scouts on both front lines honestly performed their duty.
After the war, Baden-Powell took up the task of bringing together the youth of all countries and reconciling the warring peoples with even greater energy. For this purpose, the first international scouting meeting was organized in London in 1920, called the Indian word “jamboree,” in which representatives of 32 countries took part. On the last day of the jamboree, August 6, 1920, Baden-Powell was elected Chief Scout of the World. After the international scout jamboree, the International Boy Scout Bureau was created in London.
On August 30, 1922, the Organization of Russian Scouts Abroad, headed by Senior Russian Scout O.I. Pantyukhov, was accepted as a member of this bureau.
According to the rules of the bureau, each state could be represented by only one organization. If there were several scout organizations, they had to unite into a federation.
The second condition of membership was the separation of boys from girls. Mixed troops of boys and girls were prohibited by international scouting rules.
Baden-Powell was a man of exceptional energy. In 1922, he was granted a baronetcy for his scouting activities, and in 1929, the title of “Baron of Gilwell” (Gilwell is the place where Baden-Powell organized courses for scout leaders).
Baden-Powell has written many books about working with scouts. After his most famous book “Scouting for Boys”, intended for leaders of boys 12-16 years old, he published “Wolf Cubs Handbook” in 1916 (a guide for working with wolf cubs - boys 7-11 years old), and in 1922 - “ Rovering to Success” (roaming to success) about working with young men over 17 years old, who in the scouting organization were called “Rovers”. These are only three of Baden-Powell's main manuals on scouting, and there were many more in total.
The last Jamboree in which BP took part was in 1937 in Holland.
In 1937, when Baden-Powell's health failed and doctors prescribed him complete rest, he and his wife moved to Kenya (Africa). He lived there from October 1938 until his death on January 8, 1941, a month and a half before his 84th birthday.
Baden-Powell is buried in the local cemetery, and the road to the cemetery is named after him. The Kenya Scouts erected a memorial plaque at the house where Baden-Powell lived and died.
In 1938, BP was nominated for the Nobel Prize, but the war prevented the resolution of this issue.
It is said that today BP is the most widely read British author in the world after Shakespeare, and his Scouting for Boys has sold worldwide copies in this century, second only to the Bible.
D. Hargrave once remarked that Huckleberry Finn was always hiding in BP’s nature, that there was something in him that could be called “Boy Poltergeism.” Many, many children from a rationalized and dead-boring world flocked to Scouting after him.
http://www.scouts.ru/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1
Sir Robert Stephenson Smith Baden-Powell 1st Baron Baden Powell of Gilwell, founder of the Scouting movement. 1857-1941.
Leader of the British Operation in Matabeleland (1896-97), Captain of the Irregular Horse in South Africa, and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 5th Dragoon Guards (1897-99).
Encarta® 98 Desk Encyclopedia © & 1996-97 Microsoft Corporation. Everyday Life, 1908, Everyday Life, 1910
The People's Chronology
The founder of scouting, Robert Stevenson Smith Powell, was born on February 22, 1857 in London in the family of a priest and professor of theology at Oxford University, Baden Powell. He did not remember his father, since he died when Robert was only three years old. The widowed Henrietta Grace, daughter of Admiral W. Smith, had to raise seven children alone, of whom the eldest was 14 years old. In memory of her husband, she changed the family's surname to Baden-Powell (hence the shortened form of his surname - BP, as scouts informally call him). She was a strict and demanding mother. Children not only had to look after themselves from an early age, but also had certain responsibilities around the house.
In 1870, Robert entered the London school - “Charterhouse School”. He was a good football goalkeeper, but not a particularly good student. His classmates loved him for his cheerful character and his exceptional ability to copy his teachers. During the holidays, Robert and his four brothers went to travel around England for the whole summer.
BP did not have enough stars in his studies, which was the reason for his failure to enter Oxford University. I had to think about other possible prospects, for example, the army. The method of replenishing the army's officer corps, then accepted in England, provided for a series of exams and tests for applicants. And here Stevie showed himself in all his brilliance - out of 718 candidates he came fifth. And so at the age of 19, after graduating from school, Robert passed the officer's exam, received the rank of junior lieutenant and was appointed to the 13th Hussars. His military service took place in India and Afghanistan. At the age of 26 he became captain.
Receiving a modest salary, Baden-Powell began to earn extra money by writing articles for magazines, illustrating them with his own drawings.
After eight years of service in the colonies, Baden-Powell returned to England, where he joined military intelligence. In 1915, he published a book of memoirs, “My Spy Adventures,” in which he described his adventures in a fascinating manner and illustrated them himself.
Pretending to be an old butterfly collector, Baden-Powell inspected Austrian fortifications in the Balkans. He skillfully disguised his sketches as images of butterflies. He visited Turkey, Italy and other countries, including Russia.
This was in 1886. Maneuvers took place in Krasnoye Selo, during which new searchlights and a new military balloon were to be tested. Robert Baden-Powell and his brother managed to enter the restricted area without much difficulty. William Hilcourt's biography of Baden-Powell says: "They greeted everyone who was greeted by everyone, and passed by the sentries, who asked them nothing." When the guards left for lunch, the brothers were able to get a good look at the balloon gondola, and then remained in the restricted area until the evening to observe the tests of the searchlights. Both the searchlights and the balloon did not seem as interesting to them as they expected.
On the last day of the maneuvers, the brothers wanted to see the “attack” of the fort (Baden-Powell calls it “Nikolin”). One of the brothers watched the attackers of the fort, and the other watched its defenders.
On the way back, when it was already dark, the brothers were detained on the road by officers accompanying the royal crew. They tried to explain that they were Englishmen who were walking to the railway station and got lost in the dark. They asked the officers who detained them to help them get there, but instead they were taken to St. Petersburg. There they were put under house arrest in one of the hotels, from where they later escaped without much difficulty.
That Baden-Powell was a talented spy is evidenced by another book he wrote immediately after returning from South Africa in 1901. It’s called “To Help Scouts.” It gave general advice on methods of observation and deduction to improve the quality of training of soldiers. In addition to purely military advice, other requirements for a scout formulated by the BP are noteworthy here: he must be strong, healthy, active, a real scout has good eyesight and hearing, he is a good horseman and swimmer, he can explore and read those around him. All these requirements were later presented to young scouts (scout translated from English as scout). This book was a manual for the training of English military intelligence officers; it soon received universal recognition from specialists, was translated into Russian and published in 1902 by the St. Petersburg publishing house of V. A. Berezovsky, a commission agent for military educational institutions. Abroad, this book went through several editions and was translated into many languages. In the preface to the English edition of 1915, Baden-Powell wrote: “The Russians, who previously believed in the “machine theory,” have now also switched to individual training, which consists in raising an intelligence officer in every soldier.”
In 1887, Baden-Powell was sent to South Africa, where blacks offered desperate resistance to the British colonialists. He took part in suppressing the uprising of the Zulu, Ashanti and Matabela. In his memoirs, Baden-Powell later wrote that because of his sudden attacks, the blacks nicknamed him “The Wolf that Never Sleeps.”
In 1899, Baden-Powell was promoted to colonel and appointed commandant of the Mafking fortress, an important strategic and administrative point and railway junction. Mafking was located in the Cape Colony, near the border of Bechuanaland, a British protectorate.
The Boer War began on October 12, 1899; Boers from the Transvaal surrounded Mafking. The siege lasted seven months (217 days), until 17 May 1900, when Field Marshal Lord Roberts, advancing on the Transvaal capital Pretoria, sent a special detachment to liberate Mafking.
The garrison consisted of 1,250 men, but Baden-Powell mobilized all men capable of bearing arms. Among them were boys 12-14 years old. Of the most efficient, a detachment of scouts was formed, who were tasked not only with observing enemy positions, but also with carrying letters through the ring of Boers besieging the fortress.
In 1901, Colonel R. Baden-Powell was promoted to major general, and in 1908 to lieutenant general.
After the Boer War, BP returned to his homeland in England after many years of absence. One of the heroes of the war, he became very popular. Letters from children came to him from all over the British Empire. He traveled a lot around the country, giving lectures, attending parades of cadets and “brigades,” and corresponding with children and teenagers. Baden-Powell drew attention to the difference between English boys in Africa and in London. It was a surprise for BP to learn that his manual “To Help Scouts” is used not only by the military, but also by teachers working with children in cadet corps, the “Boys’ Brigade” (since 1902 he became the vice-president of this “Brigade”) and church mugs. One day, W. Smith approached him with a proposal to rework the book “To Help Scouts” for children and teachers.
In the summer of 1906, BP received the book “Birch Whistle” by mail from the Canadian naturalist and writer Ernest Seton-Thomson. The author's appeal argued that the ills of society could be cured by the simple, natural life of a primitive tribe. The book aroused keen interest among BP.
In 1906 - 1908 BP carefully studied the works of Pestalocius, Epictetus, Titus Livy, analyzed the experience of education among the Spartans, African tribes, Japanese samurai, the traditions of the British and Irish peoples, as well as his military experience as a scout and military man, Baden-Powell began working on the book “Scouting for Boys” ” (“Intelligence for boys”). It was written in the form of fireside chats.
Before publishing it, Baden-Powell decided to test his theories in practice. To do this, he gathered a group of 22 boys and spent 8 days with them in the summer of 1907 in a tent camp on Brownsea Island, off the south coast of England (Dorset). The children were divided into five patrols, each led by a designated leader. The eight-day program was rich and vibrant. On the first day, deployment was carried out, patrols were created and responsibilities were distributed, and leaders were instructed. On the second day, camp activities were studied: knitting knots, making fires and cooking, orienteering, and they also did not forget about hygiene. On the third day, BP taught to recognize details of the environment near and far from the observer, for example, footprints. The fourth day was devoted to the study of animals, birds, plants, and stars. Fifth - chivalry: honor, laws, loyalty to the king, officers, chivalrous attitude towards women (this BP was taken from the traditions of the knightly monastic order of St. John on the island of Malta, where he served in 1890–1893, as well as from the legend of the Knights of the Round King Arthur's Table). On the sixth day, the children learned to provide assistance in case of burns, fainting, poisoning, and to act in times of panic. On the penultimate day, BP gave the children concepts about colonial geography, history, the glorious deeds of the empire, its army and navy, and explained the responsibilities of a real citizen. The last day is the day of games and competitions. Of course, there were no lectures at this camp. BP conveyed all the information to the children in an entertaining, playful way. First he showed and told, and then conducted practical classes. Everyone liked the camp, and at the beginning of 1908 the book “Scouting for Boys” was published in six separate notebooks.
The need for out-of-school education for teenagers has been felt for a long time, and many attempts have been made to create children's organizations in different countries, but what Baden-Powell proposed turned out to be the most suitable.
BP tried to fit the entire children's world into one book and give the child advice that might come in handy someday. That is why all the theoretical and practical material in the book was arranged according to topics - conversations: from “Scout Laws”, “Tracking”, “Comfort in Camp”, “How to Become Strong”, “The Nobility of Knights”, “What to Do During Accidents” to “Sobriety”, “How to Build Bridges”, etc. Emphasis is placed on developing the citizenry through small groups led by older children and guided by adults. BP aroused enthusiasm in children. No one had previously advised them to whistle in difficult moments and not to be a snob (9th law).
In the early years, the scout laws were dominated by the style of duty, service, and responsibility. For example, the first law: “A scout’s honor must be trusted” had an explanation: “If a scout dishonored his honor by telling a lie or failing to accurately carry out an order given in trust in his honor, he must return his badge and never wear it again. He may also be completely excluded from scouting.” Law two required the child to be faithful to everyone, including his parents. Law three - the duty to help others and be useful, law 7 required obedience, law 8 - ordered to whistle when receiving an order. Laws 4, 5, 6, which deal with politeness, love for animals, and frugality, did not fit into this general atmosphere. Therefore, in 1911, a tenth law was added to the nine: “The Scout is pure in thought, word and deed.” He slightly adjusted the style of the laws.
Children's groups began to spring up spontaneously throughout the country, using his book as a basis for their work. BP began to receive a lot of letters in which children and children demanded clarification, comments and advice. And BP gave up. After consultation with his friends, he established a Correspondence Bureau. With the participation of A. Pearson, the newspapers “Scout” (for children) and “Headwater Gazette” (for instructors) began to be published. The first detachments appeared in North London, and in the spring of 1908, the whole of England was covered with a network of spontaneously arising detachments. Then the movement spread to the colonies. A year later, King Edward VII received the first parade of fourteen thousand scouts from England. In 1909, the first Girl Scout groups appeared. The Scout Association of Great Britain received its legal status by a king's charter on January 4, 1912, and since then the next monarch has confirmed it with a special Act.
At the end of December 1910, General Baden-Powell arrived in St. Petersburg. O. I. Pantyukhov and V. G. Yanchevetsky, the founder of the legion of “young intelligence officers” in St. Petersburg, learned about this from the newspapers and hastened to meet the author of the book “Young Intelligence Officer”. Baden-Powell invited his new acquaintances to visit England and get acquainted with the organization of scouting work on the spot, and he himself soon left for an audience with Emperor Nicholas II, and then to Moscow, where a banquet was held in his honor by local “young scouts”. Baden-Powell did not have time to get acquainted with intelligence work in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo.
In 1910, Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes founded a separate organization for girls, the Girl Guides, and in the same year, King Edward VII persuaded Robert Baden-Powell to resign in order to devote himself entirely to working with the Boy Scouts. In 1910 there were more than 123,000 Boy Scouts in Great Britain and its colonies, scouting work began in the USA, Holland, Italy, Finland and other countries, and in 1911 scouting spread to almost all countries of Europe.
After retiring, BP began to travel a lot around Europe. During these travels, BP met Olav Soames, a pretty, active girl. If the general owed his upbringing to his mother, then his future wife, on the contrary, loved sports, hiking, cycling, and nature thanks to her father. In 1912 they got married and, despite the large age difference, lived happily. They had two girls and one boy. At first, BP’s sister Agness tried to lead the Girl Scout movement, but gradually Olav replaced her at the helm of the girl’s organization.
The First World War, which soon broke out, divided the scouts into two warring camps. On one side there were Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the other - England, France, Russia and their allies. Scouts on both front lines honestly performed their duty.
After the war, Baden-Powell took up the task of bringing together the youth of all countries and reconciling the warring peoples with even greater energy. For this purpose, the first international scouting meeting was organized in London in 1920, called the Indian word “jamboree,” in which representatives of 32 countries took part. On the last day of the jamboree, August 6, 1920, Baden-Powell was elected Chief Scout of the World. After the international scout jamboree, the International Boy Scout Bureau was created in London.
On August 30, 1922, the Organization of Russian Scouts Abroad, headed by Senior Russian Scout O.I. Pantyukhov, was accepted as a member of this bureau.
According to the rules of the bureau, each state could be represented by only one organization. If there were several scout organizations, they had to unite into a federation.
The second condition of membership was the separation of boys from girls. Mixed troops of boys and girls were prohibited by international scouting rules.
Baden-Powell was a man of exceptional energy. In 1922, he was granted a baronetcy for his scouting activities, and in 1929, the title of “Baron of Gilwell” (Gilwell is the place where Baden-Powell organized courses for scout leaders).
Baden-Powell has written many books about working with scouts. After his most famous book “Scouting for Boys”, intended for leaders of boys 12-16 years old, he published “Wolf Cubs Handbook” in 1916 (a guide for working with wolf cubs - boys 7-11 years old), and in 1922 - “ Rovering to Success” (roaming to success) about working with young men over 17 years old, who in the scouting organization were called “Rovers”. These are only three of Baden-Powell's main manuals on scouting, and there were many more in total.
The last Jamboree in which BP took part was in 1937 in Holland.
In 1937, when Baden-Powell's health failed and doctors prescribed him complete rest, he and his wife moved to Kenya (Africa). He lived there from October 1938 until his death on January 8, 1941, a month and a half before his 84th birthday.
Baden-Powell is buried in the local cemetery, and the road to the cemetery is named after him. The Kenya Scouts erected a memorial plaque at the house where Baden-Powell lived and died.
In 1938, BP was nominated for the Nobel Prize, but the war prevented the resolution of this issue.
It is said that today BP is the most widely read British author in the world after Shakespeare, and his Scouting for Boys has sold worldwide copies in this century, second only to the Bible.
D. Hargrave once remarked that Huckleberry Finn was always hiding in BP’s nature, that there was something in him that could be called “Boy Poltergeism.” Many, many children from a rationalized and dead-boring world flocked to Scouting after him.
THE LAST MESSAGE OF THE CHIEF SCOUT OF THE WORLD
Dear scouts!
If you have seen the play-performance “Peter Pan”, then you remember how the leader of the pirates always gave his dying speech, fearing that when the time to die passed, he would not have the opportunity to say everything that was in his soul. It's the same with me, although I'm not dying at the moment, I still want to send you a farewell message.
Remember, this is the last time you will hear from me, so think about it.
I have had the happiest life, and I wish each of you to have a happy life too.
I believe that God placed us in this joyful world to be happy and enjoy life.
Happiness doesn't come from being rich or having great success in your career or thinking highly of yourself. One step to happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are still young, so that you can be useful in life and can enjoy life when you are an adult.
By studying nature, you will see what beauty and amazing things God has created for us so that we can admire and enjoy. Be happy with what you have and make the best of it. Look for the bright side in everything, instead of the dark - sad.
But to have real happiness, you must also give happiness to other people. Try to leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your time comes to die, you can die with the happy feeling that you did not waste your time, but did the best you could. “Be Prepared” in this direction, to live happily and to die happily - always hold fast to your Scout Solemn Promise - even after you are no longer a boy - and God will help you with this.
Your friend,
Baden - Powell of Givel.
Literature
1. Kudryashov Yu.V. Russian scout movement. Historical sketch. (Scientific ed.). – Arkhangelsk: Pomeranian State University Publishing House, 1997.
2. Polchaninov R.V. KNE notes. San Francisco, 1997
3. II category ORYUR. Publishing house RGK ORYUR, 2000
4. Course material for the training of scout leaders “History of the Scout Movement” Chapter 2. From the SCM archive. O.E. Levitsky, Santa Rosa, California, April 1995
Tire builder. Alenin Roman
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