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Baltic states

The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.

All three Baltic countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index. The three governments engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. There is also frequent cooperation in foreign and security policy, defence, energy, and transportation.

Summary
The term Baltic countries (or lands, or states) was, until the early 20th century, used in the context of countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea: Sweden and Denmark, sometimes also the German Empire and the Russian Empire. With the advent of Foreningen Norden (the Nordic Associations), the term Baltic countries was no longer used for Sweden and Denmark.

After the First World War (1914–1918) the term "Baltic states" came to refer to the countries by the Baltic Sea that had gained independence from the former Russian Empire. The term included Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as Finland (which later became grouped among the Nordic countries instead).

After World War II (1939–1945) the term has been used to group the three countries that were occupied by the Soviet Union until 1991: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. At the same time Finland, instead, has been referred to as a member of another geopolitical grouping: the Nordic countries.

Prior to the 20th century
In ninth and 10th centuries after the formation of neighboring Christian states of Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Kievan Rus the lands of the present-day Baltic countries remained "pagan" until the 13th century. Kievan Rus sought to conquer them, and in the 11th century took control of some lands; Orthodoxy began to spread. In the 13th century the military orders of monks based in the lands of the Livonians and Prussians (Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the Teutonic Order, the Livonian Order) and the Kingdom of Denmark conquered most of the territory of modern-day Baltic countries and prevented the Estonians, Curonians, Latvians (Latgalians), Livonians, Prussians, Nadruvians, Selonians, Skalvians and Semigalians from creating their own states. Only the Lithuanians living farthest from the centers of German colonization succeeded in creating their own state. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania concluded the Union of Krevo with the Kingdom of Poland in 1385 and together resisted the advance of the orders to the east. During the secularization of the Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia was created. In its northern part – in the lands of the Lithuanians – the Lithuanian historical area of Lithuania Minor was formed.

In 13th century Catholicism began to spread in Lithuanian lands; Estonians and most Latvians in the 16th century converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. Due to the threat of Russia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland formed the Union of Lublin in 1569 as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 16th to 18th centuries the united Polish–Lithuanian state fought with Denmark, Russia and Sweden for Estonian and Latvian lands in the Livonian and Northern wars. In the middle of 17th century, Sweden conquered and founded the governorates of Estonia and Livonia (with the exception of Courland, Latgale). After the Great Northern War, both governorates became part of the Russian Empire, during the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia also annexed Courland, Latgale, and all of Lithuania.

Estonians and Latvians, ruled by the German orders, Poland–Lithuania, Sweden, and Russia for numerous centuries, managed to preserve their language and culture. The formation of the Lithuanian nation was made difficult due to repression of the Russian imperial authorities after the suppressed uprising of 1830–1831 and the uprising of 1863–1864. In the 19th century the national movement of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians began. Although the historical, economic and cultural development of the nations of the Baltic countries were different, the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian nations were formed by the end of the 19th century. The ideas of unity between Latvians and Lithuanians have been spreading since the end of the 19th century.

Interwar period and independence, 1918–1940

As World War I came to a close, Lithuania declared independence and Latvia formed a provisional government. Estonia had already obtained autonomy from tsarist Russia in 1917, and declared independence in February 1918, but was subsequently occupied by the German Empire until November 1918. Estonia fought a successful war of independence against Soviet Russia in 1918–1920. Latvia and Lithuania followed a similar process, until the completion of the Latvian War of Independence and Lithuanian Wars of Independence in 1920.

During the interwar period the three countries as well as Finland and Poland sometimes were collectively referred to as limitrophe states (from French language), as they together formed a "rim" along the western border of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. They were also part of what Georges Clemenceau considered a strategic cordon sanitaire, the entire territory from Finland in the north to Romania in the south, between Western and Central Europe and potential Bolshevik territorial ambitions.

All three Baltic countries experienced a period of authoritarian rule by a head of state who had come to power after a bloodless coup: Antanas Smetona in Lithuania (1926–1940), Kārlis Ulmanis in Latvia (1934–1940), and Konstantin Päts during the "Era of Silence" (1934–1938) in Estonia, respectively. Some emphasise that the events in Lithuania differed from the other two countries, with Smetona having different motivations as well as securing power eight years before any such events in Latvia or Estonia took place. Despite considerable political turmoil in Finland, no such authoritarian figure took power there. It had, however, been embroiled in a bloody civil war back in 1918, something that had not happened in the Baltic states. Some controversy surrounds the Baltic authoritarian régimes – due to the general stability and rapid economic growth of the period (even if brief), some commenters avoid the label "authoritarian"; others, however, condemn such an "apologetic" attitude, for example in later assessments of Kārlis Ulmanis.

Soviet and German occupations, 1940–1991
In accordance with a secret protocol within the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 that divided Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, the Soviet Army invaded eastern Poland in September 1939, and the Stalinist Soviet government coerced Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into "mutual assistance treaties" which granted USSR the right to establish military bases in these countries. In June 1940, the Red Army occupied all of the territory of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and installed new, pro-Soviet puppet governments. In all three countries simultaneously, rigged elections (in which only pro-Stalinist candidates were allowed to run) were staged in July 1940, the newly assembled "parliaments" in each of the three countries then unanimously applied to join the Soviet Union, and in August 1940 were incorporated into the USSR as the Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR, and Lithuanian SSR.

Repressions, executions and mass deportations followed after that in the Baltics. The Soviet Union attempted to Sovietize its occupied territories, by means such as deportations and instituting the Russian language as the only working language. Between 1940 and 1953, the Soviet government deported more than 200,000 people from the Baltics to remote locations in the Soviet Union. In addition, at least 75,000 were sent to Gulags. About 10% of the adult Baltic population were deported or sent to labor camps. (See June deportation, Soviet deportations from Estonia, Sovietization of the Baltic states)

The Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries was interrupted by Nazi German invasion of the region in 1941. Initially, many Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians considered the German army as liberators, while having hoped for the restoration of each of the three countries' independence, but instead the Nazi German invaders established a civil administration, known as the Reichskommissariat Ostland. During the occupation the Nazi authorities carried out ghettoisations and mass killings of the Jewish populations in Lithuania and Latvia. Over 190,000 Lithuanian Jews, nearly 95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, and 66,000 Latvian Jews were murdered. The German occupation lasted until late 1944 (in Courland, until early 1945), when the countries were reoccupied by the Red Army and Soviet rule was re-established, with the passive agreement of the United States and Britain (see Yalta Conference and Potsdam Agreement).

The forced collectivisation of agriculture began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation in March 1949 (see Operation Priboi). Private farms were confiscated, and farmers were made to join the collective farms. In all three countries, Baltic partisans, known colloquially as the Forest Brothers, Latvian national partisans, and Lithuanian partisans, waged unsuccessful guerrilla warfare against the Soviet occupation for the next eight years in a bid to regain their nations' independence. The armed resistance of the anti-Soviet partisans lasted up to 1953. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the population remained anti-Soviet.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were considered to be under Soviet occupation by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, NATO, and many other countries and international organizations. During the Cold War, Lithuania and Latvia maintained legations in Washington DC, while Estonia had a mission in New York City. Each was staffed initially by diplomats from the last governments before USSR occupation.

Restoration of independence
In the late 1980s, a massive campaign of civil resistance against Soviet rule, known as the Singing revolution, began. On 23 August 1989, the Baltic Way, a two-million-strong human chain, stretched for 600 km from Tallinn to Vilnius. In the wake of this campaign, Gorbachev's government had privately concluded that the departure of the Baltic republics had become "inevitable". This process contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, setting a precedent for the other Soviet republics to secede from the USSR. The Soviet Union recognized the independence of three Baltic states on 6 September 1991. Troops were withdrawn from the region (starting from Lithuania) from August 1993. The last Russian troops were withdrawn from there in August 1994. Skrunda-1, the last Russian military radar in the Baltics, officially suspended operations in August 1998.

21st century
All three are today liberal democracies, with unicameral parliaments elected by popular vote for four-year terms: Riigikogu in Estonia, Saeima in Latvia and Seimas in Lithuania. In Latvia and Estonia, the president is elected by parliament, while Lithuania has a semi-presidential system whereby the president is elected by popular vote. All are part of the European Union (EU) and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Each of the three countries has declared itself to be the restoration of the sovereign nation that had existed from 1918 to 1940, emphasizing their contention that Soviet domination over the Baltic states during the Cold War period had been an illegal occupation and annexation.

The same legal interpretation is shared by the United States, the United Kingdom, and most other Western democracies, who held the forcible incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union to be illegal. At least formally, most Western democracies never considered the three Baltic states to be constituent parts of the Soviet Union. Australia was a brief exception to this support of Baltic independence: in 1974, the Labor government of Australia did recognize Soviet dominion, but this decision was reversed by the next Australian Parliament. Other exceptions included Sweden, which was the first Western country, and one of the very few to ever do so, to recognize the incorporation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union as lawful.

After the Baltic states had restored their independence, integration with Western Europe became a major strategic goal. In 2002, the Baltic governments applied to join the European Union and become members of NATO. All three became NATO members on 29 March 2004, and joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

Regional cooperation
During the Baltic struggle for independence 1989–1992, a personal friendship developed between the (at that time unrecognized) Baltic ministers of foreign affairs and the Nordic ministers of foreign affairs. This friendship led to the creation of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in 1992, and the EuroFaculty in 1993.

Between 1994 and 2004, the BAFTA free trade agreement was established to help prepare the countries for their accession to the EU, rather than out of the Baltic states' desire to trade among themselves. The Baltic countries were more interested in gaining access to the rest of the European market.

Currently, the governments of the Baltic states cooperate in multiple ways, including cooperation among presidents, parliament speakers, heads of government, and foreign ministers. On 8 November 1991, the Baltic Assembly, which includes 15 to 20 MPs from each parliament, was established to facilitate inter-parliamentary cooperation. The Baltic Council of Ministers was established on 13 June 1994 to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation. Since 2003, there is coordination between the two organizations.

Compared with other regional groupings in Europe, such as the Nordic Council or Visegrád Group, Baltic cooperation is rather limited. All three countries are also members of the New Hanseatic League, an informal group of northern EU states formed to advocate a common fiscal position.

Economies
Economically, parallel with political changes and a transition to democracy – as a rule of law states – the nations' previous command economies were transformed via the legislation into market economies, and set up or renewed the major macroeconomic factors: budgetary rules, national audit, national currency and central bank. Generally, they shortly encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth and high government debt. The inflation rate, in the examined area, relatively quickly dropped to below 5% by 2000. Meanwhile, these economies were stabilised, and in 2004 all of them joined the European Union. New macroeconomic requirements have arisen for them; the Maastricht criteria became obligatory and later the Stability and Growth Pact set stricter rules through national legislation by implementing the regulations and directives of the Sixpack, because the financial crisis was a shocking milestone.

All three countries are member states of the European Union, and the Eurozone. They are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain high Human Development Index. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are also members of the OECD. Estonia adopted the euro currency in January 2011, Latvia in January 2014, and Lithuania in January 2015.

Energy security
Usually the concept of energy security is related to the uninterruptible supply, sufficient energy storage, advanced technological development of energy sector and environmental regulations. Other studies add other indicators to this list: diversification of energy suppliers, energy import dependence and vulnerability of political system.

Even now being a part of the European Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are still considered as the most vulnerable EU member states in the energy sphere. Due to their Soviet past, Baltic states have several gas pipelines on their territories coming from Russia. Moreover, several routes of oil delivery also have been sustained from Soviet times: These are ports in Ventspils, Butinge and Tallinn. Therefore, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania play a significant role not only in consuming, but also in distribution of Russian energy fuels extracting transaction fees. So, the overall EU dependence on the Russia's energy supplies from the one hand and the need of Baltic states to import energy fuels from their closer hydrocarbon-rich neighbor creates a tension that could jeopardize the energy security of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

As a part of the EU from 2004, Baltic states must comply with the EU's regulations in energy, environmental and security spheres. One of the most important documents that the EU applied to improve the energy security stance of the Baltic states are European Union climate and energy package, including the Climate and Energy Strategy 2020, that aims to reduce the greenhouse emissions to 20%, increase the energy production from renewables for 20% in overall share and 20% energy efficiency development.

The calculations take into account not only economic, but also technological and energy-related factors: Energy and carbon intensity of transport and households, trade balance of total energy, energy import dependency, diversification of energy mix, etc. It was stated that from 2008, Baltic states experiences a positive change in their energy security score. They diversified their oil import suppliers due to shutdown of Druzhba gas pipeline in 2006 and increased the share of renewable sources in total energy production with the help of the EU policies.

Estonia usually was the best performing country in terms of energy security, but new assessment shows that even though Estonia has the highest share of renewables in the energy production, its energy economy has been still characterized by high rates of carbon intensity. Lithuania, in contrast, achieved the best results on carbon intensity of economy but its energy dependence level is still very high. Latvia performed the best according to all indicators. Especially, the high share of renewables were introduced to the energy production of Latvia, that can be explained by the state's geographical location and favorable natural conditions.

Possible threats to energy security include, firstly, a major risk of energy supply disruption. Even if there are several electricity interconnectors that connect the area with electricity-rich states (Estonia-Finland interconnector, Lithuania-Poland interconnector, Lithuania-Sweden interconnector), the pipeline supply of natural gas and tanker supply of oil are unreliable without modernization of energy infrastructure. Secondly, the dependence on single supplier – Russia – is not healthy both for economics and politics. As it was in 2009 during the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, when states of Eastern Europe were deprived from access to the natural gas deliveries, the reoccurrence of the situation may again lead to economic, political and social crisis. Therefore, the diversification of suppliers is needed. Finally, the low technological enhancement results in slow adaptation of new technologies, such as construction and use of renewable sources of energy. This also poses a threat to energy security of the Baltic states, because slows down the renewable energy consumption and lead to low rates of energy efficiency.

In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Russia's weaponization of energy supplies, the Baltic states were among the best-equipped countries in Central and Eastern Europe to deal with the energy crisis. This was because ever since the early 1990s, the Baltic states were investing in alternative and non-Russian energy supply routes. These included the development of the Būtingė oil terminal, electricity interconnections with Sweden, Finland and Poland, the Klaipėda LNG terminal and Gas Interconnection Poland–Lithuania. All of these and other infrastructure projects allowed the Baltic States to quickly shift away from Russian energy supplies.

Ethnic groups
Estonians are Finnic people, together with the nearby Finns. The Latvians and Lithuanians, linguistically and culturally related to each other, are Baltic Indo-European people. In Latvia exists a small community of Finnic people related to the Estonians, composed of only 250 people, known as Livonians, and they live in the so-called Livonian Coast. The peoples in the Baltic states have together inhabited the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea for millennia, although not always peacefully in ancient times, over which period their populations, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian, have remained remarkably stable within the approximate territorial boundaries of the current Baltic states. While separate peoples with their own customs and traditions, historical factors have introduced cultural similarities in and differences within them.

The populations of each Baltic country belong to several Christian denominations, a reflection of historical circumstances. Both Western and Eastern Christianity had been introduced by the end of the first millennium. The current divide between Lutheranism to the north and Catholicism to the south is the remnant of Swedish and Polish hegemony, respectively, with Orthodox Christianity remaining the dominant religion among Russian and other East Slavic minorities.

The Baltic states have historically been in many different spheres of influence, from Danish over Swedish and Polish–Lithuanian, to German (Hansa and Holy Roman Empire), and before independence in the Russian sphere of influence.

The Baltic states are inhabited by several ethnic minorities: in Latvia: 33.0% (including 25.4% Russian, 3.3% Belarusian, 2.2% Ukrainian, and 2.1% Polish), in Estonia: 27.6% (including 22.0% Russian and 10.2% others) and in Lithuania: 12.2% (including 5.6% Polish and 4.5% Russian).

The Soviet Union conducted a policy of Russification by encouraging Russians and other Russian-speaking ethnic groups of the Soviet Union to settle in the Baltics. Today, ethnic Russian immigrants from the former Soviet Union and their descendants make up a sizable group particularly in Latvia (about one-quarter of the total population and close to one-half in the capital Riga) and Estonia (nearly one-quarter of the total population).

Because the three countries had been independent nations prior to their occupation by the Soviet Union, there was a strong feeling of national identity (often labeled "bourgeois nationalism" by the Communist Party) and popular resentment towards the imposed Soviet rule in the three countries, in combination with Soviet cultural policy, which employed superficial multiculturalism (in order for the Soviet Union to appear as a multinational union based on the free will of its peoples) in limits allowed by the communist "internationalist" (but in effect pro-Russification) ideology and under tight control of the Communist Party (those of the Baltic nationals who crossed the line were called "bourgeois nationalists" and repressed). This let Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians preserve a high degree of Europe-oriented national identity. In Soviet times this made them appear as the "West" of the Soviet Union in the cultural and political sense, thus as close to emigration a Russian could get without leaving the USSR.

Languages
The languages of the three Baltic peoples belong to two distinct language families. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages belong to the Indo-European language family and are the only extant (widely recognized) members of the Baltic language group (or more specifically, Eastern Baltic subgroup of Baltic). Latgalian and Samogitian are considered either separate languages or dialects of Latvian and Lithuanian, respectively.

The Estonian language (including its divergent Võro and Seto dialects) is a Finnic language, together with neighboring Finland's Finnish language. It is also related to the now near-extinct Livonian language spoken as a second language by a few dozen people in Latvia.

Apart from the indigenous languages, Low Saxon was the dominant language in Estonia and Latvia in academics, professional life, and upper society from the 13th century until World War I. Polish served a similar function in Lithuania. Numerous Swedish loanwords have made it into the Estonian language; it was under the Swedish rule that schools were established and education propagated in the 17th century. Swedish remains spoken in Estonia, particularly the Estonian Swedish dialect of the Estonian Swedes of northern Estonia and the islands (though many fled to Sweden as the USSR invaded and re-occupied Estonia in 1944). There is also significant proficiency in Finnish in Estonia owing to its linguistic relationship with Estonian and also widespread exposure to Finnish broadcasts during the Soviet era.

Russian was the most commonly studied foreign language at all levels of schooling during the period of Soviet rule in 1944–1991. Despite schooling available and administration conducted in local languages, Russian-speaking settlers were neither encouraged nor motivated to learn the official local languages, so knowledge of some Russian became a practical necessity in daily life in Russian-dominated urban areas. As a result, even to this day most of the three countries' middle age and senior population can understand and speak some Russian, especially people aged over 50 years who went to school during the Soviet rule. The question of assimilation, or integration, of the Russian-speaking immigrants is a major factor in current social and diplomatic affairs.

Since the decline of Russian influence and integration into the European Union economy, English has become the most popular second language in the Baltic states. Although Russian is more widely spoken among older people the vast majority of young people are learning English instead with as many as 80 percent of young Lithuanians professing English proficiency, and similar trends in the other Baltic states.

Baltic Romani is spoken by the Roma.

Etymology of the word Baltic

The term Baltic stems from the name of the Baltic Sea – a hydronym dating back to at least 3rd century B.C. (when Erastothenes mentioned Baltia in an Ancient Greek text) and possibly earlier. There are several theories about its origin, most of which trace it to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *bhel meaning 'white, fair'. This meaning is retained in the two modern Baltic languages, where baltas in Lithuanian and balts in Latvian mean 'white'. However, the modern names of the region and the sea that originate from this root, were not used in either of the two languages prior to the 19th century.

Since the Middle Ages, the Baltic Sea has appeared on maps in Germanic languages as the equivalent of 'East Sea': Ostsee, Østersøen, Oostzee, Östersjön, etc. Indeed, the Baltic Sea lies mostly to the east of Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The term was also used historically to refer to Baltic Dominions of the Swedish Empire (Östersjöprovinserna) and, subsequently, the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire (Остзейские губернии). Terms related to modern name Baltic appear in ancient texts, but had fallen into disuse until reappearing as the adjective Baltisch in German, from which it was adopted in other languages. During the 19th century, Baltic started to supersede Ostsee as the name for the region. Officially, its Russian equivalent Прибалтийский (Pribaltiyskiy) was first used in 1859. This change was a result of the Baltic German elite adopting terms derived from Baltisch to refer to themselves.

The term Baltic countries (or lands, or states) was, until the early 20th century, used in the context of countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea: Sweden and Denmark, sometimes also Germany and the Russian Empire. With the advent of Foreningen Norden (the Nordic Associations), the term was no longer used for Sweden and Denmark. After World War I, the new sovereign states that emerged on the east coast of the Baltic Sea – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland – became known as the Baltic states. Since World War II the term has been used to group the three countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

General statistics
All three are unitary republics, which simultaneously joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, share EET/EEST time zone schedules and the euro currency.

International peer-reviewed media

 * On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics (book series)
 * Journal of Baltic Studies, journal of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS)
 * Lituanus, a journal dedicated to Lithuanian and Baltic art, history, language, literature and related cultural topics
 * The Baltic Course, International Internet Magazine. Analysis and background information on Baltic markets
 * Baltic Reports, English-language daily news website that covers all three Baltic states
 * The Baltic Review, the independent newspaper from the Baltics
 * The Baltic Times, an independent weekly newspaper that covers the latest political, economic, business, and cultural events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
 * The Baltics Today, news about The Baltics

Official statistics of the Baltic states

 * Statistics Estonia
 * Statistics Latvia
 * Statistics Lithuania

title: Baltic states


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Hitachi

Hitachi, Ltd. (株式会社日立製作所) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in a range of industries, including digital systems, power and renewable energy solutions, railway systems, healthcare products, and financial systems. The company was founded as an electrical machinery manufacturing subsidiary of the Kuhara Mining Plant in Hitachi, Ibaraki by Namihei Odaira in 1910. It started as an independent company under its current name in 1920.

Hitachi is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a key component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices. As of June 2024, it has a market capitalisation of 16.9 trillion yen, making it the fourth largest Japanese company by market value. In terms of global recognition, Hitachi was ranked 38th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 and 129th in the 2012 Forbes Global 2000. Hitachi is a highly globalised conglomerate. In the fiscal year 2023, it generated approximately 61% of its total revenue of 9.7 trillion yen from international markets. The major contributors to this global revenue were Asia, Europe, and North America, with each region accounting for 22%, 16%, and 16% of the total revenue, respectively.

Overview
Hitachi, since its founding in 1910 by engineer Namihei Odaira, has been driven by the mission to 'contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products'. This ethos is evident in its leadership, as all its 12 CEOs, including founder Odaira, have been from engineering backgrounds. Remarkably, 8 out of the 12 consecutive CEOs, including Odaira, are alumni of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Engineering.

Historically recognised for its technology and industrial products, including electric generators, consumer electronics, trains, computers, and nuclear reactors, Hitachi faced a pivotal moment following the 2008 global financial crisis. This crisis led to a record loss of 787.3 billion yen, prompting a strategic overhaul. The company concentrated its efforts on the 'Social Innovation Business', capitalising on its strengths in infrastructure and IT, and underwent major structural changes. These involved consolidating unprofitable operations and venturing into new fields such as digital systems and renewable energy, adapting to changing market dynamics. As a result of these strategic moves, Hitachi returned to profitability by March 2011.

Today, Hitachi's corporate activities are organised into three large sections: Digital Systems and Services, Green Energy and Mobility, and Connective Industries.

The Digital Systems and Services segment features Lumada, in which Hitachi provides advanced digital solutions that leverage data and technology to drive transformation and efficiency in various industries. This segment focuses on optimising business processes and enhancing operational efficiency through data-driven insights and innovative technologies. This segment accounted for 21.9 per cent of the total revenue in FY2022.

The Green Energy and Mobility segment focuses on developing and providing highly efficient and dependable power systems globally. This includes power generation, transmission, and distribution systems. Additionally, Hitachi offers smart city energy solutions, contributing to sustainable urban development. In the rail industry, the company is a comprehensive system provider, offering everything from rolling stock and traction equipment to signalling, traffic management systems, and maintenance depots. A key component of this segment is the ZeroCarbon suite of solutions, designed to enable fleet operators to transition to electric vehicles, supporting a future with net zero emissions. This segment accounted for 22.9 per cent of the total revenue in FY2022.

In the Connective Industries segment, Hitachi offers a range of infrastructure solutions. This includes building systems such as elevators and escalators, healthcare solutions with a focus on less invasive cancer treatments and diverse medical equipment, and a variety of essential industrial equipment such as air compressors and transformers. Additionally, the segment provides sustainable water and wastewater solutions, integrating advanced treatment technologies with ICT for efficient resource management. This segment accounted for 27.3 per cent of the total revenue in FY2022.

Founding (1910-1945)
Founded in 1910 in Ibaraki Prefecture by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira, Hitachi's first product was Japan's inaugural 4-kilowatt induction motor, designed for copper mining. Originally an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company, Hitachi became independent in 1911 and moved its headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. The company's name 'Hitachi', combining the kanji for 'sun' (日, hi) and 'rise' (立, tachi), was coined by Odaira. While industrial machinery in Japan was usually powered by steam at the time, Odaira built water power stations in the mine and electrified almost all facilities in the factory. This led to the accumulation of expertise in electrical engineering, and helped the company develop various electrical equipment later in its history. In 1924, Hitachi completed Japan's first mainline electric locomotive (JNR Class ED15). In 1932, the company started manufacturing elevators and electric refrigerators.

Post-war reconstruction and expansion (1945-1990)
World War II and its aftermath significantly impacted Hitachi, leading to the destruction of factories, post-war internal discord, and the removal of founder Namihei Odaira by the Allied occupational forces. Hitachi went public in 1949, listing on the Tokyo Exchange (TYO:6501). Odaira returned to the company in 1951 when the purge of key pre-war Japanese figures ended. However, he died in October of the same year at age 77. Despite these challenges, Hitachi demonstrated strong resilience, quickly recovering its pre-war production and technology levels and expanding its business scope. In 1949, Hitachi built its first power shovel, marking the start of what is now Hitachi Construction Machinery. The company also innovated in electric generators during this period. Furthermore, in 1960, Hitachi developed the world's first electric train seat reservation system, MARS-1, for Japanese National Railways, allowing nationwide booking for express train seats. Around the same time, Hitachi began expanding its business overseas, with the establishment of Hitachi America, Ltd. 1959. In 1961, Hitachi began selling fully-automated washing machines and completed its first experimental nuclear reactor. In 1964, the world's first high-speed railway line, the Shinkansen, opened. Hitachi not only built the innovative Series 0 rolling stock but also played a crucial part in developing the equally pioneering Automatic Train Control system (ATC) and the Computer-Aided Traffic Control System (COMTRAC). These contributions helped achieve the Shinkansen's punctual and safe operation. In 1977, Hitachi completed the world's first fully MOX-fuelled nuclear power station, Fugen. This was an innovative initiative, as MOX was seen as an efficient way of utilising plutonium from nuclear waste, which would otherwise have to be stored in security to ensure that it is not used to build nuclear weapons.

In 1978, Hitachi's Twin-Well Hi-CMOS process ushered in a new era in the global semiconductor industry. For instance, the Hitachi HM6147 chip, developed by a Hitachi team led by Toshiaki Masuhara, was able to match the Intel's flagship 2147 HMOS's performance with 87 per cent less power. Until the early 1980s, American semiconductor producers were focusing on the development and production of NMOS transistors, with which they dominated the global market, while Hitachi invested heavily in developing efficient CMOS transistors. This success led to the world's three largest manufacturers by revenue all being Japanese companies by 1987, amongst which Hitachi was counted. Hitachi Europe, Ltd. was established in 1982.

2000s
In 2001, the contactless fare card system Suica was introduced at 424 JR East stations throughout the Greater Tokyo Area. While the card itself was developed using Sony's FeliCa system, Hitachi was responsible for building the server-side system. Other contactless fare card systems such as ICOCA and PASMO have been introduced throughout the country since, almost all of which are modelled after Suica and thus mutually compatible. It is now widely used as a contactless payment system in non-railway business as well, and Hitachi has been involved in the series of developments in this area. At the CES 2007, Hitachi revealed the first consumer HDD with a storage of 1 TB, which was released in the same year. In FY2008, Hitachi lost US$7.8 billion, the largest corporate loss in Japanese history up to that point. Since its zenith in the 1980s and 1990s, a number of departments had suffered a decline in efficiency. However, being one of the largest conglomerates in the world at the time, conflicts of interest existed across the company, making it difficult to implement fundamental solutions. These delays in essential reforms proved detrimental when facing the 2007–2008 financial crisis and led to the record loss. This prompted Hitachi to restructure and sell a number of divisions and businesses under the leadership of Takashi Kawamura. From 2008 to 2018, Hitachi reduced the number of its listed group companies and consolidated subsidiaries in Japan from 22 to 4 and around 400 to 202, respectively, through restructuring and sell-offs. It plans to become a company specializing in IT and infrastructure maintenance in the near future.

2010s
In March 2011, Hitachi agreed to sell its hard disk drive subsidiary, HGST, to Western Digital for a combination of cash and shares worth US$4.3 billion. Due to concerns of a duopoly of WD and Seagate Technology by the EU Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, Hitachi's 3.5" HDD division was sold to Toshiba. The transaction was completed in March 2012.

In January 2012, Hitachi announced it would stop producing televisions in Japan. In September 2012, Hitachi announced that it had invented a long-term data solution out of quartz glass that was capable of preserving information for millions of years. In October 2012, Hitachi agreed to acquire the United Kingdom-based nuclear energy company Horizon Nuclear Power, which plans to construct up to six nuclear power plants in the UK, from E.ON and RWE for £700 million. In November 2012, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries agreed to merge their thermal power generation businesses into a joint venture to be owned 65% by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 35% by Hitachi. The joint venture named Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) began operations in February 2014. In 2020 Hitachi transferred its share of the venture to MHI. In October 2015, Hitachi completed a deal with Johnson Controls to form a joint venture that would take over Hitachi's HVAC business. Hitachi maintained a 40% stake in the resulting company, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning. In May 2016, Hitachi announced it was investing $2.8 billion into its IoT interests. Hitachi’s rail business in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, expanded in the 2010s, with Hitachi Newton Aycliffe starting operations in October 2015.

Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 and the extended temporary closure of most Japanese nuclear plants, Hitachi's nuclear business became unprofitable and in 2016 Hitachi CEO Toshiaki Higashihara argued Japan should consider a merger of the various competing nuclear businesses. Hitachi is taking for 2016 an estimated ¥65 billion write-off in value of a SILEX technology laser uranium enrichment joint venture with General Electric.

In February 2017, Hitachi and Honda announced a partnership to develop, produce and sell motors for electric vehicles. Also in 2017, private equity firm KKR bought Hitachi Kokusai's (itself a subsidiary of Hitachi) semiconductor equipment division, becoming Kokusai Electric. In 2019, Applied Materials announced that it would acquire Kokusai Electric from KKR for US$2.2 billion. The deal was later terminated in 2021. KKR also bought in 2017 Hitachi's power tools subsidiary Hitachi Koki for US$1.3 billion, and later changed its name to Metabo HPT in the US market. In 2018, Hitachi stopped selling televisions in Japan because its market share had dropped to 1%, opting to sell Sony TVs through its existing dealer network. On March 14, 2018, Zoomdata announced its partnership with Hitachi INS Software to help develop big data analytics market in Japan.

In December 2018, Hitachi Ltd. announced it would take over 80% of ABB's power grid division for $6.4 billion renaming it Hitachi-ABB Power Grids in the process. In October2021, the enterprise was rebranded HitachiEnergy. In 2019, Hitachi sold its medical imaging business to Fujifilm for US$1.7 billion. Showa Denko bought Hitachi Chemical from Hitachi and other shareholders, at US$42.97 per share. Until then, Hitachi Chemical had been considered to be a core unit of the group. Hitachi also suspended the ABWR development by its British subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power as it did not provide adequate "economic rationality as a private enterprise" to proceed. In October 2019, the talks between Honda and Hitachi to consolidate their four automotive parts businesses, Showa, Nissin and Keihin of the former and the latter's Hitachi Automotive Systems, have reportedly begun, resulting in the creation of a "mega supplier" named Hitachi Astemo incorporated in January 2021.

2020s
In March 2020, an improved version of the L0 Series SCMaglev rolling stock for the Chuo Shinkansen was introduced, marking the first magnetically levitated train manufactured by Hitachi. In September 2020, Hitachi abandoned plans to create nuclear power plants in Gloucestershire and Wales due to issues with funding due to the impact of COVID-19. In the same month, Hitachi Capital agreed to be bought by its second-largest shareholder, business partner, and former rival Mitsubishi UFJ Lease, which invested in the Hitachi subsidiary in 2016. In November 2020, it announced that Hitachi Metals and Hitachi Construction Machinery, both being some of the last remaining listed subsidiaries, will likely be detached from the group according to the restructuring plan. In December, Hitachi sold a 60% stake in its overseas home appliance business to Turkish Arcelik for US$300 million. In December 2021, it was announced by OPG that they had selected GE-Hitachi to construct two BWRX-300 reactors at the Darlington site in Ontario, Canada. OPG and GE-Hitachi will be collaborating on the design, planning and preparation of license materials for the construction of Canada's first SMR which is planned to enter operation in 2028.

Hitachi, with its focus on energy, information technology, and infrastructure, has seen a significant improvement in profitability since the record loss in 2009. Reflecting this, Hitachi’s market capitalisation has more than octupled since 2010, becoming the fourth largest company in Japan by market capitalisation in June 2024.

Automotive systems

 * Car Information Systems
 * Drive Control
 * Electric Powertrain Systems
 * Engine Management Systems

Construction machinery

 * Hydraulic Excavators
 * Forestry Equipment
 * Mechanical & Hydraulic Cranes
 * Mining Dump Trucks
 * Crawler Dump trucks
 * Wheel Loaders

Defense systems

 * Military vehicles
 * Vetronics
 * Crisis management
 * C4I systems
 * Satellite image processing systems
 * Social Infrastructure security business (in coordination with Hitachi's Infrastructure Systems Group)
 * Electric propulsion technology
 * Electro-mechanical systems (including some robotics research & development)
 * Advanced Combat Infantry Equipment System [ACIES] (JSDF) - Primary contractor

Digital media and consumer products

 * Air conditioning equipment - jointly with Johnson Controls
 * Hitachi Magic Wand
 * Optical disc drives - jointly with optical disc drive division of LG as Hitachi-LG Data Storage
 * White goods (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) - majority stake of ex-Japan business sold to Arcelik.

Electronic systems and equipment

 * Test and measurement equipment
 * Particle therapy equipment
 * Cell culture equipment

Advanced materials

 * Specialty steels
 * Wires and cables

Information and telecommunication systems

 * ATMs
 * Servers
 * Disk array subsystems
 * Data storage and analytics solutions
 * Virtual Storage Platform
 * Internet of Things
 * Hitachi Lumada
 * VOS3 Mainframe computer operating system
 * Software
 * Outsourcing services
 * Telecommunications equipment

Power systems

 * Nuclear and hydrogen power generation systems
 * Power Grids
 * GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Social infrastructure and industrial systems

 * Elevators
 * Escalators
 * Industrial machinery and plants
 * Railway vehicles and systems
 * Hitachi A-train

Others

 * Logistics
 * Property management

Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Vantara is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi which provides hardware, software and services to help companies manage their digital data. Its flagship products are the Virtual Storage Platform (for enterprise storage), Hitachi Unified Storage VM for large-sized companies, Hitachi Unified Storage for small and mid-sized companies, Hitachi Content Platform (archiving and cloud architecture), Hitachi Command Suite (for storage management), Hitachi TrueCopy and Hitachi Universal Replicator (for remote replication), and the Hitachi NAS Platform.

Since September 19, 2017, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has become part of Hitachi Vantara, a new company that unifies the operations of Pentaho, Hitachi Data Systems and Hitachi Insight Group. The company name "Hitachi Data Systems" (HDS) and its logo is no longer used in the market. Hitachi Consulting, the group's international management and technology consulting subsidiary with headquarters in Dallas, Texas, was integrated with Hitachi Vantara in 2019. On November 1, 2023, Hitachi spun off Hitachi Vantara LLC's digital solutions business into a new company, Hitachi Digital Services; Hitachi Vantara now focuses on its storage and hybrid cloud-centric data infrastructure services portfolio.

Hitachi Metals
Among other things, Hitachi Metals supplies materials for aircraft engines and fuselage components (e.g. landing gear), along with finished components for same and other aerospace applications. It also provides materials, components and tools for the automotive and electronics industries. Among the Hitachi Metals facilities is Hitachi Metal Yasugi Works or Tatara Works, one of the oldest furnaces in Japan, famously featured as a main backdrop in Princess Mononoke, a Japanese animation film set in the Muromachi period.

As of September 2020, Hitachi Metals is set to be divested as part of the long-term restructuring plan being executed by the group.

Hitachi Rail
Hitachi is a major rolling stock manufacturer.

Hitachi acquired Italian rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda in 2015, renaming it Hitachi Rail Italy

Hitachi Astemo
Hitachi Astemo, which stands for "Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Mobility", is a 67-33 joint venture between Hitachi and Honda, which merged their four auto parts affiliates and division, the latter's three keiretsu companies Showa Corporation, Keihin Corporation, and Nissin Kogyo, and the former's wholly owned Hitachi Automotive Systems, to be better equipped for the changing car market environment, frequently represented as CASE, for which they will integrate their assets to accelerate development of new technology and software.

Hitachi Astemo is considered a "mega supplier", as annual sales of the four predecessors combined stood at $17 billion, placing it as the second largest among the compatriot auto suppliers.

Other subsidiaries
The rest of the group companies include:
 * Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd.
 * Hitachi High-tech
 * Hitachi Construction Machinery
 * Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe)
 * GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (co-owned by GE Vernova)
 * Hitachi Global Life Solutions - Selling home appliances except audiovisual products.
 * Johnson Controls Hitachi - A/C business majority-owned by Johnson Controls since 2015.
 * Hitachi Digital Media Group - Selling electronic products including video projectors under its brand name.
 * Hitachi Plant Technologies - Engaging in the design, development, manufacture, sale, servicing, and execution of social and industrial infrastructure machinery, mechatronics, air-conditioning systems, industrial plants, and energy plant equipment in Asia and internationally.
 * Hitachi Communication Technologies America - Providing communications products and services for the telecommunications, cable TV, utility, enterprise, industrial and other markets.
 * Hitachi Solutions America - A consulting firm and systems integrator focusing primarily on Microsoft Dynamics. Hitachi Solutions America acquired Ignify, a Microsoft Dynamics Solution provider, in December 2015.
 * Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems - producing industrial automation systems and equipment.
 * Hitachi Transport System - providing one-stop logistics services.
 * Hitachi Energy
 * Hitachi Payment Services

Hitachi Capital

 * Leasing
 * Loan guarantees
 * Invoice finance
 * Consumer finance (personal and retail)
 * Business finance

Bought by Mitsubishi, it had been the group's financial business arm.

Hitachi Works
Spin-off entities from Hitachi Works include Hitachi Cable (1956) and Hitachi Canadian Industries Limited (founded 1988 in Saskatoon and closed in 2016 as Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems).

As Hitachi pulled out of MHPS and handed over the control to MHI, Hitachi Works was also transferred, becoming part of Mitsubishi Power.

Others
Other former businesses Hitachi had had include the following:
 * Aircraft
 * Hitachi T.2
 * Hitachi TR.2
 * Aircraft Engines
 * Hitachi Hatsukaze
 * Hitachi Zosen
 * Ships - Business merged with the shipbuilding operation of NKK corporation to form Universal Shipbuilding Corporation
 * Displays
 * Plasma and LCD Televisions - Ceased production. Brand name continues to be licensed to Vestel for TVs sold at Argos in the UK.
 * Small LCDs - Divested to be part of Japan Display
 * Projectors - Sold to Maxell
 * Memory chips - Spun off to be part of Elpida Memory
 * System LSIs - Spun off to be part of Renesas Technology
 * Personal computers(Basic Master) - Ceased production
 * Mobile phones - Merged with Casio's cellphone manufacturing business, then absorbed into NEC Mobile Communications
 * Batteries - Sold to Maxell
 * Drilling instruments (Hitachi Via Mechanics) - Sold to The Longreach Group
 * Hard disk drives - Separated division for this product line as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, then HGST was purchased by Western Digital
 * Mainframe computer hardware - Stopped exporting in 2000; Ceased production in 2017 to focus on the operating system business.
 * Hitachi Kokusai Electric - Sold to KKR
 * Telecommunication equipment
 * Chemical vapor deposition equipment
 * Power tools (Hitachi Koki) - Sold to KKR and renamed Hikoki
 * Car navigation system (Clarion) - Sold to Faurecia
 * Wind turbines - Ceased production
 * Chemical products (Hitachi Chemical) - Sold to Showa Denko and renamed Showa Denko Materials
 * Medical diagnostic equipment - Sold to Fujifilm
 * Thermal power generation system (Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems) - Shares held by Hitachi transferred to Mitsubishi

Educational initiatives
Hitachi has research partnerships with several universities, and funds research centres within these universities. Hitachi-UTokyo Lab., which is a joint research centre with the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, focuses on the realisation of data-driven and more efficient society (Former Chairman and UTokyo alumnus Hiroaki Nakanishi coined the term Society 5.0 for this). Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory (HCL), a Hitachi-funded research centre within the University of Cambridge founded in 1985, now focuses on quantum computation and magnetism. Hitachi conducts similar initiatives with Kyoto University, Hokkaido University and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology as well.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hitachi


text:
Haberdashers' Boys' School

Haberdashers' Boys' School (formally Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School), is a 4–18 boys public school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

The school was founded in 1690 by a Royal Charter granted to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers to establish a hospital for 20 boarders with £32,000 from the legacy of Robert Aske (equivalent to approximately £5M in 2019).

The school relocated in 1903. It occupies 104 acres of green belt countryside in Elstree. The house names in the preparatory and pre–preparatory schools represent the patron saints of the four countries of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

It sits on the same site as the Haberdasher's Girls' School.

1690–1738

Following a bequest of approximately £20,000 made by the merchant Robert Aske to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers on his death in 1689, an almshouse for twenty needy members of the Haberdashers' Company was established in 1690 just outside the City of London at Hoxton. Designed by Robert Hooke, the almshouse comprised a chapel and, at its centre, the school, which provided education for 20 sons of poor freemen between the ages of nine and fifteen. However, the chaplain, Thomas Wright, was then made master of Bunhill School and was thus unable to teach the boys at Aske's. In 1697, therefore, John Pridie was appointed to teach the boys English, the catechism, and basic grammar at a salary of £40 a month. Soon afterward, Pridie secured the right to admit pupils from paying parents, allowing him to increase the amount of money spent on the boys' education. However, this right did not last for long.

In 1701, the school instituted new rules that introduced a cap and gown as the school uniform. The school created the position of a master to teach arithmetic and writing. The school continued to cater to poor pupils, requiring any boy who inherited £100 or more to leave to make way for a less lucky individual. However, the school began to run into financial difficulties; by 1714, the school had reduced itself to only eight pupils. Hardship continued until 1738 when the Court of Assistants, the senior governing body of the Haberdashers' Company, decided that the favourable condition of the company justified restoring the school. At the same time, caps and gowns ceased to be the school uniform, and the school removed Latin from the curriculum.

1738–1825
In 1818, the Charities Commission announced that the school's buildings required repairs that were too expensive for the company's allotted allowance. However, errors in bookkeeping reveal that, whereas it was thought that the school was £7,000 in debt to the company, they were in fact £900 in credit. By 1820 the schoolmaster's basic salary was still fixed at £15. However, the master at this time, William Webb, received gratuities of £20 in both 1818 and 1819. By contrast, the chaplain, matron, and nurse received £50, £16, and £12 respectively, and each of the two maidservants received a salary of £8. The pupil body continued to comprise 20 poor sons of freedmen, and the curriculum consisted of the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) and the catechism.

1825–1874
In 1825, the school erected new buildings on the site. The schoolmaster at this time was himself a former pupil of the school and a liveryman of the company. The company increased the school's allowance by £4 and expanded the school's collection of books. Regular examinations were conducted, with prizes provided for exceptional performance.

In the early days of the school, the chaplain and the schoolmaster both taught but had separate roles. However, in 1830, the school chaplain was dismissed following scandalous behavior with a servant-girl. The school was temporarily closed, and when it re-opened in 1831, J. L. Turner was elected to take both roles and given a salary of £700, from which he had to pay for all costs of the school's management. He was forbidden to take pupils from paying parents. The school replaced the former reading, writing, and arithmetic curriculum with Latin (having removed it in 1738), geography, grammar, accounting, and mathematics. By the end of the year, Turner revealed he had spent £748, which exceeded his salary. However, the company committee was satisfied that the significant improvement in the boys' education merited an increase in funding to £800 per year. At this point, the school conducted examinations on a biannual basis.

In 1849, F. W. Mortimer, headmaster of the City of London School, criticized some of the textbooks used and the teaching of Latin, which he thought would be better replaced by French. In 1858, Thomas Grose, who conducted the school's examinations, echoed Mortimer's earlier criticisms of the study of Latin and repeated his suggestion that the school should teach French instead. In addition, he also recommended the introduction of geometry, business studies, trigonometry, mechanics, and natural philosophy to the curriculum. The schoolmaster at this time, Mr. Carterfield, resisted these suggestions. However, growing dissatisfaction among the school's older pupils led to his resignation later that year. A. Jones became headmaster, as the title had become known. In 1868, inhabitants of the surrounding area petitioned the school to accept the sons of parishioners as pupils.

In 1874, though not directly related to this school, two new schools, one for boys and one for girls, were set up in Hatcham, South London. They were known as the Haberdashers' Hatcham Schools until 1991, when the two were combined as Haberdashers' Hatcham College, now a state-funded academy.

1874–1961
In 1874, the almshouse, which had housed the school since 1690, closed to give the developing school more space. The school was divided into two halves, one for boys and one, for the first time, for girls. Each half admitted 300 pupils, a significant increase on previous pupil numbers; £5,000 was spent on renovating the Hoxton buildings; and the chaplain, schoolmaster, matron, and almsmen were pensioned. The foundationers were moved to another boarding school.

In 1883, the school increased the leaving age for pupils to 18. In 1898, the school moved the two-halves—the Girls' School to Acton and the boys' to a site just within Hampstead borough, in north-west London – but much closer to Cricklewood. Its formal name was the Haberdashers' Hampstead School. A preparatory section for boys up to 11 years of age was located at Chase Lodge, Mill Hill. In the 1950s, the closure of Mercers School led to transferring a substantial number of boys to the Hampstead site.

1961–1974
In 1961, the Boys' School moved to its present site at Elstree, Hertfordshire, and was renamed Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree. In 1974, the Girls' School at Acton was reunited with its Boys' School counterpart on an adjacent site at Elstree.

Starting with the move to Elstree, like most public schools, Haberdashers' took several boarding pupils. In 1964, these numbered 75 pupils out of a total of 680 in the senior school. Since then, the school has reverted to being a day school with all pupils traveling in each day, mainly via an extensive school coach service.

1974–present
More recently, several buildings on the Elstree campus have been opened, including the new Aske Building (2004), a multi-million-pound science and geography complex, and the Bourne Building, a classics series, information technology, history, and politics classrooms. The Bourne Building also houses the school's largest hall (the Bourne Hall) and the library.

Another significant building in Haberdashers' is the T. W. Taylor Music School (named after a former headmaster), containing at its centre the Seldon Hall (a concert hall), several classrooms used for class music lessons, and smaller tuition rooms used for individual (or small group) tuition in musical instruments. Every two to four years, the school hosts a concert at the Barbican in central London. The school has occasionally organised the concert in collaboration with the Girls' School next door. The director of performance music, Tom Taylor, is in charge of the concert.

The Bourne Building also features an assembly hall inherited from the building that previously stood there. This hall is home to a fine pipe organ, built-in 1897 by Henry Willis & Sons for Hove Town Hall and brought to Elstree in 1962. The instrument retains its original specification of 36 stops on four manuals and pedals and is maintained by the Willis firm.

Buildings and grounds
Haberdashers' is located on the grounds of Aldenham House, a stately home, which became the boarding house in 1961, with accommodation for 80 main school pupils, three staff, and their spouses. The Headmaster and his secretary have offices on the ground floor. Other administrative areas were housed there after boarding ended. Although the school uses the house for various purposes, teaching takes place in several buildings that have been built on the grounds, most built around the Quad, a rectangular area of grass that has restricted access to students. The school has named a majority of the its facilities after persons in the school's history.

At its centre is Aldenham House, a Grade II* listed building, that was formerly the seat of the Lords Aldenham and home to Vicary Gibbs MP. While the school once offered boarding to some students, it has since become an all-day school, with the boarding quarters having been converted to offices.

The Bourne Building, home to the largest of the school's assembly halls, the library, along with several history, ICT and classics classrooms, is next to Aldenham House at the top of the Quadrangle. The library was quite recently refurbished by the school and now contains various open and screened seating areas, as well as desktop and laptop computers. A team of qualified librarians supervises the library, which serves as pupils' principal work area. The Bourne hall hosts music events throughout the year, including musical performances from students across both schools every term.

On the opposite side of the Quad is the old Maths and MFL block, containing the Bates Dining Room and sixth form common room. To the left side of the Bourne Building is the Seldon (formerly TW Taylor) Music School which houses classrooms for the music department, instrumental lessons and a performance hall in the centre called the Seldon Hall which is also used for assemblies. Opposite the music school is the Aske Building, a complex of science and geography classrooms which also contains the Aske Hall used primarily for lectures given by visiting speakers.

Behind the Aske Building, lies the recently constructed multi-purpose sports complex which was opened in 2016 and formally called the Medburn Centre, the complex boasts a 24.96m swimming pool, climbing wall, gymnasium, the Medburn Hall, squash courts, new changing rooms and Joe's Café in the lobby area. The complex was connected to the older McGowan Hall which is a large sports halls used for various activities as well as exams.

In June 2022, the school opened their 2 new buildings on site for core subjects, the Taylor and Hinton buildings, named after former headmasters of the school. The new buildings have state-of-the art classrooms and house the subjects: English, Theology and Philosophy and Modern Foreign Languages (in the Taylor) and Maths and Economics (in the Hinton). As part of the construction a new drama studio was constructed between the Taylor and Bourne buildings acting as a "bridge" and the grounds around these buildings have been uplifted from being an empty playground space with spaces like the "Lime Walk" and "Rain Garden". Behind the new buildings is the oldest building on site: the Design and Art Centre housing the DT and Art subjects. The lower floor has 3 distinct DT workshops and 2 DT computer labs for classes to use and the upper floor has four studios for drawing, painting, printing, sculpture, digital design, textiles and ceramics on top of a dedicated Sixth Form studio and Art and Design library.

On the other side of the school is the Prep School which was extended and renovated in 2019, the newly constructed Pre-Prep school which is set to be complete for October 2022, the Penne's Changing Rooms (which are for Rugby and Cricket players who are playing on the school fields). To the right side of the Penne's is the North Drive Car Park for teachers and support staff and to the left is the Coach Park, but in front of the Penne's is the main field area.

The school remains moderately religious; it previously had a chaplain who takes assemblies as well as teaching. Many assemblies feature prayers from a variety of faiths. Assemblies are regular and mandatory, with most occuring every fortnight. The school hosts an annual carol service at nearby St Albans Cathedral. The chaplain leads the services, which take place at the end of the autumn term. Sports are organised well also, sports days being hosted at the StoneX Stadium alongside the Haberdashers' Schools for Girls every year. Within the school, cricket is played at the indoor nets (in the McGowan Hall) or outdoor nets or on the Croquet Lawn, rugby and football are played on the main field, hockey and tennis are played on the Astroturf, badminton is played indoors in the McGowan and squash is played on the indoor squash courts.

Academic attainment
The school admits pupils based upon a school-specific competitive examination (not the Common Entrance Paper) at either 11+ or 13+ (with entry into the preparatory school at 4+ or 7+). Oxbridge offers statistics are as follows:

Older averages (2001–2006) placed the school at nineteenth in the country.

The school was ranked 15th by The Sunday Times in their 2006 Parent Power feature on the best independent schools, down from 12 in the previous year. According to the Times rankings, Habs came 12th (out of 1,150 schools) in GCSE rankings and 72nd (out of 939) at A-level, though this is largely because most boys at Habs only took three A-levels, and so received a lower total score than other comparable schools. In the same year, the Telegraph placed Habs in 15th place based on A- and AS-level results, and 8th (out of 2703) in their full list ranked by average score per A-level entry.

In the 2015 private school League tables, The Telegraph placed the School 10th in the country for GCSE and achieved a 74% overall A* grade. Similarly, at A-Level, the school gained several places and was listed at 7th in the country having received 83% A*-A grades.

For the main academic subjects taken by boys to GCSE (which consist of mathematics, the sciences, and English), IGCSE papers are written. Mathematics and the sciences use Edexcel IGCSE papers; English use AQA papers and the humanities – the school offers history, geography, and theology and philosophy – write the Cambridge International Examinations. The modern foreign languages department (MFL) also uses Cambridge International Examinations. Those pupils in the higher sets may sit an additional paper from the Institute of Linguistics. The head of Maths is currently Andy Ward, the head of English is Ian Wheeler, and the head of science is Dr Hobbs.

Houses
The school sorts the boys into one of six school houses, each house having their own 'house colour' used on the standard and house ties worn by pupils:

 * Calverts (orange, previously dark blue)
 * Hendersons (red)
 * Joblings (green)
 * Meadows (purple)
 * Russells (light blue)
 * Strouts (yellow)

The names for these houses derive from the names of their original housemasters. While the school places pupils in tutor groups, these are purely for pastoral purposes and are taught in mixed, or streamed, sets. The school awards several shields at the end of the academic year for competitions between the houses. These shields include:

 * Junior Work and Conduct
 * Middle-School Work and Conduct
 * Senior Work and Conduct
 * The Crossman Shield, awarded for success in inter-house sporting competitions
 * The Dunton Shield, awarded to the house with the highest number of points in the above four categories combined

Throughout the year, there are numerous inter-house events, including sporting and non-sporting competitions such as inter-house debating, inter-house chess, inter-house scrabble, inter-house backgammon, and inter-house bridge, inter-house MasterChef, and inter-house target shooting. The school expects each boy to represent their house in at least one activity. However, many boys represent their houses in multiple activities.

In the preparatory and pre-preparatory schools, the houses are the following:
 * Andrews (blue, representing Scotland)
 * Davids (yellow, representing Wales)
 * Georges (red, representing England)
 * Patricks (green, representing Northern Ireland)

The house names represent the patron saints of the four countries of the United Kingdom (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland). Bands on students' ties reflect these house colours.

House Shields
Every year, students participate in a variety of interhouse events to contribute to the Crossman and Dunton shields, which are the main accolades awarded in the school.

Progress grades
Students receive reports every term which grade them based on performance in lessons, in terms of attainment, and attitude to learning. They are graded, "Exceeding", "Good", and "Concern" accordingly.

Ties
Several ties are available for participation in extra-curricular activities and contributions to specific areas of school life (such as art). These ties include:

 * House tie (awarded to boys who have made exceptional contributions to their house, in inter-house events, or through reports and tracking grades)
 * Art tie (awarded to boys who have made an outstanding contribution to art)
 * Rugby tie (awarded to boys who are selected for and attend the rugby tour of the year)
 * Aske tie (awarded to boys who have made an outstanding all-round contribution to the school)
 * Senior Honours Tie
 * Prefects' tie (awarded to 50 boys selected as prefects in their U6th year)

Fees
The total cost of attending the main school (years 7–13) in 2023-2025 is £25,998.00 (£8,666.00 per term). The prep school's (also located on the same site) fees are the same as the main school. The termly cost excludes extras such as coach fare, lunch, and instrumental lessons.

Coat of arms
The school's coat of arms and motto is lent by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. The arms are blazoned:

Barry wavy of six argent and azure on a bend gules a lion passant guardant Or, on a wreath argent and azure colours issuing from clouds two naked arms embowed holding a laurel wreath all proper, on either side a goat of India argent flecked gules and membered Or

Motto: Serve and Obey

These armorial bearings, including the crest of two arms holding a wreath, were granted to the Haberdashers' Company on 8 November 1570 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux.

Co-curricular activities
There are many pupil-run societies at Haberdashers', usually presided over by a teacher.

The director of Co-curricular is Andrew Simm.

The school has a strong reputation for debating. In 2010, two out of the four members of the England Worlds Competition Team were pupils at Haberdashers', while two out of the four teams in the Oxford Union finals were from the school. In April 2012, the school's public speaking team won the East England Public Speaking competition, and in the national final, the team became national runners-up.

The school participates in Model United Nations, partaking in several international conferences. In December 2014, twelve boys from the lower sixth attended the Paris International Model United Nations Conference held at the UNESCO Chambers in Paris. The conference awarded five boys the 'best delegate' award, and Habs won the (only three-times awarded) 'best school' accolade. The school also hosts its own MUN conference, HabsMUN, which over 450 delegates attend. The school held the first HabsMUN in 2009, and in 2017 the conference received THIMUN accreditation (one of only four conferences in the UK). Previous attendees have included several American and international schools that travel solely for the conference. HabsMUN boasts a standalone website, the MyHabsMUN online portal, and a mobile app for delegates and advisors.

Pupils in year 10 and above may take part in the Haberdashers' detachment of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). The CCF comprises Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force sections. The corps takes cadets on a field day each term to participate in section-specific activities. Pupils in year 10 have the option to partake in Outdoor Leadership instead of CCF, or SCS (school community service). It is run by James Dunlop, and activities consist of Scuba Diving, Rock Climbing, Orienteering, as well as others. Previous field days have included trips to Wales, as well as Scuba Diving trips to Lanzarote.

Students who do not participate in the Combined Cadet Force or Outdoor Leadership are required to do school community service (SCS) once a week. This can range from helping out in local nursing homes to teaching skills such as debating to younger pupils. As with CCF, SCS is designed to encourage a sense of responsibility within a community and benefit other people both within and outside the school. Sport is a significant activity at the school, with a plethora of different teams and a wide array of sports, including cricket, rugby, fencing and squash. A new multi-million-pound sports complex was completed in January 2016, named the Medburn Centre.

At the end of every term, student participate in "Half Award" assemblies, where students who have excelled in Music, Drama or Sport are given certificates.

Other Haberdashers' Schools

 * Haberdashers' School for Girls was established in Hoxton. It moved to Acton in 1898 and, in 1974, to its current location next to the Boys' School in Elstree.
 * Haberdashers' Hatcham College, formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys' & Girls' schools, based in New Cross, SE London.
 * The Haberdashers' Company was also involved in the foundation of other schools such as the boarding Monmouth School. However, these are not associated with Robert Aske.
 * Haberdashers' Crayford Academy, formerly Barnes Cray Primary School, based in Crayford, SE London.
 * Haberdashers' Knights Academy, Bromley Kent

Notable former associates

 * Laurence Broderick, sculptor, former head of Art
 * John Dudderidge, Olympic canoeist, taught chemistry
 * Julian Hails, former footballer, taught mathematics
 * Jamie Hewitt, cricketer, teaches PE
 * John Knight, former footballer, taught chemistry
 * Clive Rees, former rugby player, taught PE
 * David Thomas, Olympic hockey player, was director of PE
 * Doug Yeabsley, former cricketer and rugby player, taught chemistry
 * Wayne Thomas, former footballer, teaches PE

Controversies
In 2020, the former caretaker Justin Terry, 45, mixed cocaine with chemicals before pressing it inside his on-site lodge at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, and was found by police with two kilo (2.2lb) blocks of the drug along with £37,000 cash hidden underneath his bed. He was jailed for 8 years.

As a result of discussion in 2021, Robert Aske's name was dropped from the boys' and girls' Haberdashers' Schools in Elstree, due to his previous links with the slave trade; although it was retained by their governing body. At the same time, the school's motto was changed, from "Serve and Obey" to "Together, boundless". The motto reflected the Christian values of the school, not its links with slavery, but was seen to be inappropriate following the discovery.

Other references

 * J. S. Cockburn, H. P. F.  King, K. G. T.  McDonnell (1969) A History of the County of Middlesex. Volume 1: Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, The Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes to 1870, Private Education from Sixteenth Century.  Boydell & Brewer (ISBN 978-0-19-722713-8)
 * J. W. Wigley Serve and Obey, a History of the School

title: Haberdashers' Boys' School