The Ear in the Jar

Beschreibung

The bizarre true story of a smuggler who showed his severed ear to Parliament and convinced Britain to go to war.
"The Ear in the Jar – The jar of pickle juice that started a global war" narrates the strange origins of the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748). Robert Jenkins, a British smuggler, had his ear sliced off by the Spanish Coast Guard in the Caribbean. Seven years later, seeking revenge and political leverage, he marched into the British House of Commons and displayed his shriveled ear, preserved in a jar of pickling fluid, to the Members of Parliament. Author Arthur Lobe details how this theatrical prop whipped the British public into a frenzy, forcing Prime Minister Robert Walpole into a disastrous war with Spain. The conflict cost thousands of lives and solved nothing. "The Ear in the Jar" is a lesson in propaganda and how trivial incidents can be weaponized for geopolitical gain. It shows that the fate of empires can sometimes hang on a single piece of severed cartilage floating in vinegar.

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Arthur Lobe
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War of Jenkins' Ear 1739 Robert Jenkins British Navy Spanish Empire Diplomacy Smuggling

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