Robert and Olav... The story of one family. History of the Scout Movement Baden-Powell, Robert Information About

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 guards regiment dragoon (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 take care of 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 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 an intelligence officer formulated by the BP are noteworthy here: he must be strong, healthy, active, a real intelligence officer has good eyesight 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 English edition 1915 Baden-Powell wrote: “The Russians, who previously believed in the “machine theory,” have now also switched to individual training, it lies in the fact that a scout is brought up 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.”

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, expelled special squad to free 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 absence. One of the heroes of the war, he became very popular. From all over British Empire he received letters from children. 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 can be cured by simple natural life 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, 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 the book “Scouting 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 - to chivalry: honor, laws, loyalty to the king, officers, chivalrous attitude towards women (BP took this 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, game form. 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 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 children's world 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. This general atmosphere 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 the basis for their work. BP began to receive a lot of letters in which children and children demanded clarifications, 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. Legal status The Scout Association of Great Britain received a charter from the king 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 he future wife On the contrary, she loved sports, hiking, cycling, 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 the one hand 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” (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'm not dying at the moment, I still want to send you a farewell message.

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 does not come from wealth or what you have great success in your career, or because you think 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: Pomorsky Publishing House state university, 1997
2. Polchaninov R.V. KNE notes. San Francisco, 1997
3. II category ORYUR. Publishing house RGK ORUR, 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

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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.

Receiving a modest salary, Baden-Powell began to earn extra money by writing articles for magazines, illustrating them with his own drawings.

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 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 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.”

WITH officials from the Protectorate regiment,
formed in 1899 in anticipation of the war in South Africa.

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, having carefully studied the works of Pestalotia, Epictetus, Titus Livy, analyzing 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 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 intense 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 - to chivalry: honor, laws, loyalty to the king, officers, chivalrous attitude towards women (BP took this 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 the 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.

In 1910, Robert Baden-Powell, along with 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 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 the one hand there were Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the other - England, France, Russia and their allies. Scouts on both front lines honestly performed their duty.

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.

The last Jamboree in which BP took part was in 1937 in Holland.

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.

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 - 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: Pomeranian State University Publishing House, 1997.
2. Polchaninov R.V. KNE notes. San Francisco, 1997
3. II category ORYUR. Publishing house RGK ORUR, 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

, UK

Lord Robert Stephenson Smith Baden-Powell(English) Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, ["beɪdən "pəʊəl]; 22 February - 8 January) - British military leader, founder of the Scout movement and the Guide movement. Less known as a writer and artist.

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Origin

Born in Paddington (London), February 22, 1857, was the sixth of eight sons. His family was not entirely ordinary. His father, an Anglican priest George Baden-Powell was also professor of theology and geometry at Oxford University. The mother was the daughter of the British admiral William Smith. Robert's grandfather, Joseph Brewer Smith, once went to America as a colonist, but then returned to England and was shipwrecked on the way home. In addition, the name Robert Stephenson is the name of his godfather, who was the son of the world famous inventor George Stephenson. Thus, the blood of a priest and the son of a colonist - a brave adventurer - flowed in Baden-Powell's veins at the same time.

Early years

When Robert was three years old, his father died, leaving his mother with seven young children. Mother, Henrietta Grace, was strong woman, confident that her children will succeed. Baden-Powell would say about her in 1933: “ Main secret My success belongs to my mother." She tried to raise all her children to be cheerful, physically resilient and independent. Long journeys on your own sailboat with four brothers across the waters sea coast at any time of the year and in any weather, hunting in the forest strengthened Robert’s body and character and instilled a love of nature.

BP developed the idea of scouting quite carefully - he wanted to make sure that it was viable. Therefore, in the summer of 1907, he gathered a group of 22 boys and organized the first scout camp on Brownsea Island, located in the English Channel. This camp was a great success.

Scouting for boys

Following this, in 1908, BP published the first scouting textbook, Scouting for Boys, in six two-week installments, with his own illustrations. Most likely, BP never dreamed that this book would give rise to the world’s largest youth movement and would be read by tens of millions of young people in hundreds of languages in all corners of the world (it was soon translated into 35 languages). As soon as “playing for kids” began to appear in shop windows and magazine kiosks, scout clubs began to spread en masse in England and many other countries of the world.

BP's second life

The new youth movement was constantly developing and by 1910 had reached such proportions that BP realized that scouting should become his life's work. His rich imagination and complete confidence created the conviction that he could do much more for his homeland by raising good citizens of the country from young people than by studying small quantity men for future wars. King Edward VII of Great Britain advised Baden-Powell to leave military service, believing that by spreading his method of education, he would be much more useful to his homeland. BP left the army and began to fully live “the other life,” as he called it, a life dedicated to serving the world through Scouting.

World Scout Fraternity

In 1912, Baden-Powell set off on a trip around the world to meet scouts in different countries. This was just the beginning of Scouting as a worldwide brotherhood. And although the First World War interrupted the development of Scouting for some time, with its end it continued to grow, and in 1920 Scouts from all over the world met for the first time at the World Scout Jamboree (meeting) in London. On the last evening of this Jamboree, August 6, a cheerful group of multilingual Scouts proclaimed BP Chief of the Scouts of the World.

The scouting movement continued to grow. On the day of its 21st anniversary, it already had more than 2 million members in most countries on Earth. King George V honored BP by ennobling him with the title "Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell". However, for all the scouts, he forever remained BP, the Chief of the Scouts of the World.

After the London Jamboree came the turn of the second, which took place in Denmark in 1924, then the third in 1929 in England, the fourth in 1933 in Hungary, the fifth in 1937 in Holland. But the Jambories were only part of Scouting's efforts for world brotherhood. BP traveled a lot, continued correspondence with scout guides from many countries and constantly wrote on educational topics, illustrating his articles and books with his own drawings. He wrote “Textbook for Wolf Cubs” (1916), “My Adventures in the Scout Service” (1916), “Textbook for Scoutmasters” (1920), “What Scouts Can Do” (1921), “The Journey for Success” (1922). In total, BP wrote 32 books. They talk about him as an outstanding military man, writer, artist, actor; he was also interested in amateur cinema; an excellent organizer, honorary doctor of six universities, holder of 28 foreign and 19 scouting awards and distinctions, Baden-Powell himself was a shining example comprehensive self-education for scouts.

: [in 18 volumes] / ed. V. F. Novitsky [and others]; 1911-1915, vol. 4).

Retired

founder of the Scout movement and the Guide movement,
writer, artist

Robert Stephenson Smith Baden-Powell(English) Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell , ["beɪdən"pəʊəl]; 22 February - 8 January) - British military leader, founder of the Scouting and Guide movements. Born in Paddington (London), February 22, 1857, was the sixth of eight sons. His family was not entirely ordinary. His father, the Anglican priest George George Baden-Powell, was also professor of theology and geometry at Oxford University. The mother was the daughter of British Admiral W. T. Smith. Robert's grandfather, Joseph Brewer Smith, once went to America as a colonist, but then returned to England and was shipwrecked on the way home. In addition, the name Robert Stephenson is the name of his godfather, who was the son of the famous iron inventor George Stephenson. Thus, the blood of a priest and the son of a colonist - a brave adventurer - flowed in Baden-Powell's veins at the same time.

Early years

When Robert was three years old, his father died, leaving his mother with seven young children. The mother, Henrietta Grace, was a strong woman who was confident that her children would succeed. Baden-Powell would say about her in 1933: “The main secret of my success belongs to my mother.” She tried to raise all her children to be cheerful, physically resilient and independent. Long journeys on his own sailboat together with four brothers along the waters of the sea coast at any time of the year and in any weather and hunting in the forest strengthened Robert's body and character and instilled a love of nature.

Early years

In 1870, after attending Rose Hill School (Tunbridge Wells), Robert entered the prestigious private Charterhouse School in London, where he received a scholarship. At school he was especially distinguished by his knowledge of natural sciences and sporting achievements. Robert was always at the center of the action whenever there was action in the schoolyard, and quickly became known as a top-notch goalkeeper on the local football team. It was then that his friends first began to call him BP (short for Baden-Powell; this is what scouts all over the world would later call him). At that time, he had a wide range of hobbies: he played the piano, violin, had good acting skills and enjoyed participating in performances, often organizing expeditions to surrounding forests. Whenever they turned to him, he could always put on a spectacle that would captivate the entire school. The artist's talent allowed him to later illustrate his works well. Vacations were usually still spent on sailing and canoeing expeditions with the brothers.

Robert in India

At the age of 19, Robert entered military service. At the qualifying exam, among several other candidates, he took second place and was immediately assigned to the hussar regiment, bypassing the internship at the officer school. During the Crimean War, this regiment received the rights of mounted infantry in the famous “Light Brigade” of the English army. In addition to his brilliant military service, BP became a captain (at the age of 26) and received the most coveted trophy in all of India for “slaughtering a pig,” that is, for hunting wild boars on horseback only with the help of a small spear. While serving in India, Robert specialized in military intelligence. He also had a chance to visit Afghanistan, the Balkans, Malta, South Africa and other countries.

Participation in wars in Africa

In 1887, BP takes part in a military expedition against the Zulu tribes, and later against the Ashanti tribes and the brutal Matabele warriors. Baden-Powell was promoted automatically until one incident gave him the opportunity to gain fame and become national hero England.

It was 1899, BP was already at the rank of colonel. The situation became so tense that an explosion was expected. Baden-Powell received orders to gather two battalions of cavalry and rush to Mafeking, a town in the heart of South Africa. “Whoever controls Mafeking holds South Africa by the bridle,” was a proverb that circulated among the locals, and its truthfulness was fully confirmed. For 217 days - from October 13, 1899 to May 18, 1900 - BP led the defense of Mafeking, besieged by superior enemy forces. They never managed to overcome his defenses. For this, BP received the rank of major general and became a real national hero of England.

The Birth of Scouting

In 1901 Baden-Powell returned to England as a hero and was showered with various honours. His personal popularity made his military intelligence textbook popular. This was a serious impetus for BP. He realized that he had the opportunity to help the young men of his homeland grow courageous and tempered spiritually and physically. He set to work, assembled a special library for himself and read a lot about the education of young men at all times - from the times Ancient Greece and Sparta before education in old Britain, India and modern educational systems at that time.

BP developed the idea of scouting quite carefully - he wanted to make sure that it was viable. Therefore, in the summer of 1907, he gathered a group of 20 children and organized the first scout camp on Brownsey Island, located in the English Channel. This camp was a great success.

Scouting for boys

BP's second life

The new youth movement was constantly developing and by 1910 had reached such proportions that BP realized that scouting should become his life's work. His fertile imagination and complete confidence created the conviction that he could do much more for his country by training the youth to be good citizens of the country than by training a small number of men for future wars. King Edward VII of Great Britain advised Baden-Powell to leave military service, believing that by spreading his method of education, he would be much more useful to his homeland. BP left the army and began to fully live “the other life,” as he called it, a life dedicated to serving the world through Scouting.

World Scout Fraternity

After the London Jamboree came the turn of the second, which took place in Denmark in 1924, then the third in 1929 in England, the fourth in 1933 in Hungary, the fifth in 1937 in Holland. But the Jambories were only part of Scouting's efforts for world brotherhood. BP traveled a lot, continued correspondence with scout guides from many countries and constantly wrote on educational topics, illustrating his articles and books with his own drawings. He wrote “Textbook for Wolf Cubs” (1916), “My Adventures in the Scout Service” (1916), “Textbook for Scoutmasters” (1920), “What Scouts Can Do” (1921), “The Journey for Success” (1922). In total, BP wrote 32 books. They talk about him as an outstanding military man, writer, artist, actor; he was also interested in amateur cinema; an excellent organizer, honorary doctor of six universities, recipient of 28 foreign and 19 scouting awards and honors, Baden-Powell himself was a shining example of versatile self-education for scouts.

Last years of BP

When BP reached the age of 80, he returned to his beloved Africa with his wife, Lady Olav Baden-Powell, his enthusiastic assistant in all his endeavors, and herself a leader of the world Girl Scouting movement. They settled in Nairi, Kenya, in a peaceful place with beautiful view through deep forests to the snow-capped mountain peaks.

English officer, founder of the scout movement.

Served in various countries The British Empire, including in military intelligence.

Summer 1907 Robert Baden-Powell first assembled a group of 22 boys to the first scout camp on an island in the English Channel.

In 1908 Robert Baden-Powell the first scouting textbook: Scouting for boys, which was translated into 35 languages and scout clubs began to spread en masse in many countries.

“The history of England was made by British adventurers and explorers, the country's scouts, for hundreds of years. Knights of King Arthur, Richard Lionheart and the crusaders carried the testaments of valor to the farthest ends of the earth.

Ralley, Drake, Captain Smith and other English soldiers and sailors of the Queen Elizabeth they boldly walked towards the unknown dangers of foreign seas, and also set out to fight a powerful enemy in order to conquer and give new lands to their Fatherland, thereby expanding the boundaries of the small kingdom of England at that time.

The captain in Australia and Lord Claeys in India discovered new countries. Speke, Becker and Livingston paved their way through the deserts and forests of Africa; Franklin and Ross were not deterred polar ice and snow.

In the 1900s, hunter Selous and Lieutenant Alexander Boyd crossed Africa.

Along with these brave souls, there were women, for example, Mrs. Darling risked her life to save victims of a shipwreck, Florence Nightingale cared for the wounded in the Crimean campaign. And many other selfless women missionaries and sisters of mercy worked in all parts of the world.

It's a glorious life, but it takes preparation.

It is best to learn the art of intelligence from childhood. This art will always be useful, no matter what profession a person chooses, whether he is a military man or a civilian. Englishman W. Crooks assured that the knowledge acquired by a scout is useful even for a scientist.

Therefore, I will tell you how you can learn the art of intelligence yourself and how you can put it into practice at home. This art is easy, and it is very interesting once you get used to it a little. It is best given to those who join the “young intelligence officers” brigade. […]

Each knight had a squire and several warriors with him (just as the leader of your patrol has a corporal and four or five scouts). No matter what happened, the knight's servants always remained faithful to him and adhered to the same rules as their master:
- honor was sacred to them;
- they were devoted to God, the Sovereign and the Fatherland;
- were polite to women and attentive to children and the infirm;
- helped everyone who needed it;
- gave money and food wherever it was needed, and saved their money in order to be able to do this;
- learned to wield weapons in order to be able to defend their faith and Fatherland;
- took care of their own health and developed physical strength in order to be able to perform their duties well.

And you, scouts, should imitate these valiant knights, who, to the best of their ability, contributed to creating one of the most powerful powers in the world from the tiny British kingdom.

The knights had one wonderful rule: every day they had to do someone a good service.

Follow this rule too. When you wake up in the morning, remember that during the day you must do someone a good favor, and when you go to bed in the evening, try to remember who you did good to whom that day.

If you accidentally forgot to perform a good service during the day, then you must correct your guilt by providing two services the next day. Remember that as a scout you have honorably pledged to do this.

A good service can be the most insignificant, for example, putting a penny in a mug for the poor, helping an old lady cross the street, giving up your seat to someone, removing an orange peel from a panel if you see that it is lying in such a way that someone could slip on it and fall - all these are also good services, but every day one must be rendered and, moreover, without any reward for it, otherwise it will no longer be considered a good service.”

Robert Baden-Poel, How to raise a real man from a young man, M., “Ast”; St. Petersburg "Polygon", 2004, p. 11-12 and 21-22.

“Captain John Smith, who did not smoke and never used foul language, used an anti-foul language remedy, which is also used by our scouts. He wrote in his diary that his people, not accustomed to the axe, once chopping wood and blistering their tender hands, almost after two blows on the third they burst out with curses that drowned out the blows of the axe. Then he invented a remedy against foul language, which consisted in the fact that every time a person indulged in swearing was noted, and in the evening for each swearing he received a mug of water poured into his sleeve. This remedy “cleansed” the guilty so much that soon not a single bad word was heard for weeks.”

Robert Baden-Poel, How to raise a real man from a young man, M., “Ast”; St. Petersburg "Polygon", 2004, p. 236.

King Edward VII of Great Britain advised Robert Baden-Powell to leave military service and devote himself to scouting.

In 1912 Robert Baden-Powell went on a world tour to meet with scouts in different countries of the world.

In the USSR pioneer movement, including even the slogan: “Always ready!”, was largely copied from the Skatoo movement.

In the world, the number of participants in the scatut movement is counting in the tens of millions...

Robert and Olav... The story of one family. History of the Scout Movement Baden-Powell, Robert Information About

THE LAST MESSAGE OF THE CHIEF SCOUT OF THE WORLD

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Subtitles

Origin

Early years

Scouting for boys

BP's second life

World Scout Fraternity

Early years

Early years

Robert in India

Participation in wars in Africa

The Birth of Scouting

Scouting for boys

BP's second life

World Scout Fraternity

Last years of BP

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