🇲🇨🏎 On your marks. Get set. Monac-GO!
This months music, history, food and movies is on the Monaco Grand Prix!
Why does Monaco even exist?
In 1444, Europe is fragmented. Each state wars with another. Constantly.
Monaco (previously Monoikos, Mono
meaning one, oikos
meaning house) was ruled by the House of Grimaldi.
It had a port and slight isolation from the mainland so was a good territory to defend. In fact, humans seem to have settled over 30,000 years before. To cement their claim, the Grimaldi’s inspired their lineage with legends.
Supposedly the road linking Spain and Italy and Monaco’s port were constructed by none other than the demiGod Hercules himself, and moreover was known to the Roman Empire. Caesar himself visited when travelling to France.
But some things were ignored, notably the first Grimaldi, Francois, who pretended to be a monk, gained entry and then attacked to claim Monaco as his.
The beginning of riches
Being a very defendable spit of land, it managed to prove stability and establish a trade centre - where boats could easily port and connections to the mainland were simple too. Monaco became well known for foreign goods, fishing and also building boats.
Revolution and return
In 1793, the French Revolution deposed the Grimaldi’s and brought Monaco into France. The stability was lost and hence too was the prosperity. Moreover, its wealth was consumed by France too - confiscated.
Napoleon's France collapsed in 1814; the European map needed to be redrawn and new states carved out. The Grimaldi’s resurfaced at the Congress of Vienna to state their claim and we’re given Monaco back - though under the rule of Sardinia.
Lemon tax and the 95% land loss
Later, Monaco lost 95% of their Kingdom due to a lemon tax (and probably other things). Menton produced most of Europe’s lemons. This tax would cripple Menton, so they had a referendum to become a free city and then joined with the House of Savoy two years later.
This was a big hit for Monaco, which now lost all it’s agricultural prosperity, but was given a large lump sum payout as compensation for losing that land to France…
To spur economic development, Monaco took a contrarian view to the surrounding states. Casinos.
Casino de Monte Carlo
France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Britain: almost all of Europe had some restrictions on gambling - viewing it as damaging society.
Named after the Prince, Mount Charles a.k.a Monte Carlo, the Casino was built as was the Hotel de Paris, the Oceanographic Museum and the train line to France.
The Grimaldi Royal Family became event organisers - hosting operas, balls, exhibitions. They event started the Monte Carlo Rally - a yearly car racing timed event event starting in various European cities, goes through the alps and that ends in Monaco - which starts an infatuation and continues (scarily) to today.
Not all were happy though.
Prince Albert I hated the Casino and fought to ban and close it. He banned Monogasc citizens from gambling or even working in the Casino.
The citizens though already were struggling with severe unemployment. Moreover, Monaco had gained a reputation for ‘the moral cesspool of Europe’ - the Prince had had two divorces (a Scottish woman who hated the Med and an American who loved a composer) and a prostitute called La Belle Otero.
As such, in 1910 began the Monegasque Revolution - 800 of 1500 citizens stood outside the palace and asked for rights. Asked. Nothing was damaged or broken and Monaco did turn into a law ruled state instead of a kingdom.
Soon after World War I started and, simply put, Monaco went neutral, shut up shop (and gates), and tried to weather the storm - returning to business as soon as it was over.
Burnt from it’s dependency on the Casino tourism, Prince Albert and his son Louis focused on new industries (ie. perfume), increased welfare (healthcare and education), and bolstered its focus on “revels”.
1929 - the First Grand Prix
The revels were aimed to get the rich to come. Normally races were not in cities due to the danger. Prince Louis didn’t seem to mind, people loved the daring and the Automobile Club de Monaco was started.
World War Two
The Axis Italian force controlled Monaco very early into the war, followed by the Nazi’s later. Nazi's pushed to register all Jews. Monaco did deport hundreds to the Nazis. Prince Louis ordered the Monaco police to pre-warn and hence many did escape into France, but it is still a blight, trading human lives.
Post war Glitz and Glamour
Once again, Monaco refocused on tourism. Expanding its hosted events such as the Formula 1.
Prince Rainier III rose to power and focused on turning Monaco into a world famous state. Among these goals, he sought to have a wedding much like the British Queen’s Coronation - a demonstration and advert of wealth. His marriage to the American Actress Grace Kelly, or Princess Grace of Monaco, was filmed and aired around the world - though may not have been the most loving.
Also during this time, the Prince moved Monaco away from a Casino to be a tax haven for the wealthy. This caused diplomatic issue with France’s President Charles de Gaulle and Monaco's French imports were blocked. It resolved into a different tax structure for French citizens.
Speaking of Tax
The only tax Monaco applies is to when you buy things. Earn whatever you want - you will never be charged. Inherit money - congrats! But if you buy something, Monaco wants 1/5th. Interestingly, this tax is similar to the UK VAT tax - both are around 20%.
So why does this work? Because Monaco is small (few citizens to look after), has huge tourism (lots of things bought) and expensive (so 20% is a lot more!).
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| | <-- £500
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On average, 1 square cm of land in Monaco is worth around £500. And to become a citizen, you must have lived in Monaco for 10 years in your own house.
So the festival?
Ahh yes, apologies. The festival is the annual F1 race in the country, and perhaps the most well known race in the world, with maybe the best angle:
The diamond jaguar
Assuming most people know the race, I wanted to tell this story instead - the loss of a £300,000 diamond that was strapped to an F1 car that was promoting a Bank Heist movie.
In short, it was a big publicity thing for a dieing team that wanted to make a buzz - with the Oceans Twelve movie. During the race, one of the drivers clips another, the front wing fails, goes under the car and he crashes into the barrier. And poof! The diamond was gone! They never found it. Learn more here.
Food time!
Similar to the music, Monaco is so small it doesn’t really have anything overtly specific to it - which is affordable…
Socca tapas!
Socca is a chickpea pancake which is tastier than it sounds and a staple around the Riviera region.
We added some olives, a hummus dip and a few other bits to make it a meal!
Movies as rich as the People!
1955 - To catch a thief! ← watch this one
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly going around Monaco stealing stuff.
2005 - Oceans 12
George Clooney, Brad Pitt & Matt Damon robbing Monte Carlo.