Wake Wood (sometimes marketed as The Wake Wood) is a 2009 Irish supernatural horror film directed by David Keating and starring Timothy Spall, Eva Birthistle, Ella Connolly and Aidan Gillen. An international co-production between Ireland and the United Kingdom by Hammer Film Productions, the film is set in Donegal,Ireland.

The film received positive reviews and has an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Wake Wood is about a grieving couple, Patrick and Louise, who move to a rural village after the tragic death of their daughter, Alice. They encounter strange rituals led by Arthur, a veterinary colleague, that can bring the dead back to life for three days.

Plot
The film opens to little Alice Daley celebrating her ninth birthday with her parents Patrick, a veterinarian, and Louise, a pharmacist. Before leaving for school, Patrick presents her a pet hamster, while Louise presents her a necklace. On her way home from school, Alice visits a German Shepherd dog in the yard of her father's veterinary practice. All of a sudden, the dog snaps and mauls Alice, causing serious injuries to her body. Patrick and Louise find their daughter in a mauled state, but were too late to save Alice as she succumbs to her injuries and dies.

After her death, Patrick and Louise relocate  to a rural village called Wakewood, where they struggle to cope with the loss of their only child (Louise cannot have any more children). The couple's car mysteriously breaks down one evening in the middle of nowhere and they go to the nearby house of Patrick's veterinary colleague, Arthur, to seek help. There Louise witnesses Arthur leading a strange and bloody pagan ritual but refuses to say anything to Patrick. It becomes apparent that something strange is happening in town and that Arthur knows that Louise saw the ritual.

Soon afterwards a farmer, Mick O'Shea, is accidentally killed by his own bull. Horrified, Louise and Patrick, who witness the accident, plan to leave, but Arthur, who needs their skills (and presumably doesn't want Louise telling what she saw), convinces them to stay by explaining that he has a ritual that brings back the dead, but only for three days, only within the boundaries of the townland, and only if the person has been dead for less than a year. This is the ritual that Louise witnessed. The couple agree to remain, excited to see their only child again.

The ritual requires a piece of the person to be resurrected, and the couple go grave-robbing, cutting off one of Alice's fingers and retrieving her necklace (from the opening scene). The ritual also needs a fresh corpse. At Mick's wake, Arthur asks his widow, Peggy, to use his body, but she refuses, claiming there is something not right about the couple. However, Arthur persuades her by tacitly threatening her that if she refuses he will not resurrect Mick either.

The gruesome ritual goes ahead and Alice is reborn. However, Peggy is still not happy and frightens the little girl, who flees across the townland boundary. As soon as she does so, she collapses with the wounds that killed her appearing on her body. Her parents immediately take her back across the boundary and the wounds disappear. That night Arthur and other villagers come to see them, claiming that something is wrong and Alice must be sent back to her grave immediately. Patrick and Louise persuade them to allow her to stay for the final day.

However, Patrick soon realises that there is something seriously wrong with Alice. She begins killing and mutilating animals. She also tells Louise that she is pregnant, which Louise confirms with a pregnancy test. Alice then murders Peggy and several other villagers before Patrick manages to sedate her. Her parents and the villagers carry her to the woods, where they bury her. Patrick and Louise admit that she has actually been dead for over a year, which has caused her to react in the way she has. As Louise turns to leave, Alice drags her mother down into the grave with her, the penalty for misuse of the ritual.

Sometime later, Arthur resurrects a heavily pregnant Louise. At home, Patrick and Louise talk about the unborn child. Later, in the final scene, Patrick lays out surgical tools.

Cast

Production
Wake Wood was filmed in County Donegal, Ireland, and in Österlen, Scania, Sweden. The selection of Sweden as a shooting location was because of David Keating's love for the Swedish horror film Frostbite. Keating wished to work with the people behind the film, and he hired Chris Maris (the cinematographer on Frostbite) to shoot Wake Wood and Magnus Paulsson (Frostbite's producer) as co-producer. It was the first theatrical release from genre production company Hammer Films in thirty years. The film premiered at the 2009 Lund International Fantastic Film Festival in Sweden. It was released theatrically in UK cinemas on 25 March 2011 and it was released three days later on DVD in the UK on 28 March.

Release
The film received a limited domestic release opening at four cinemas grossing £1,251 for the weekend of 25–27 March 2011.

Home media
Momentum Pictures produced the Region 2 DVD that came out in March 2011. Dark Sky Films released the Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray Disc in June 2011.

Reception
, Wake Wood holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 reviews with an average rating of 6.62/10.

Peter Bradshaw reviewed the film for The Guardian and gave it 4 stars out of five, suggesting the film is "in the tradition of Don't Look Now, The Wicker Man and the communal nightmares of Ira Levin; it's a low-budget film that entertainingly takes its audience to the brink of pure absurdity. But it also riffs nastily and effectively on ideas of taboo, on our perennial yearning for ceremony and ritual to alleviate the sadness of life, and on Larkin's idea that what's truly scary is not dying but being dead."

Tony Vilgotsky of Russian horror webzine Darker gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5. He mentioned that, in his opinion, Wake Wood includes some references to Lucio Fulci's film City of the Living Dead.

Novelisation
A novelisation of the film was written by K. A. John and published by Hammer Books in association with the Random House Group in 2011, .

See also
Pet Sematary, a book by Stephen King, later made into a 1989 film and a 2019 film, which has a similar plot.

References

External links

2009 films
2009 horror films
2000s supernatural films
British supernatural horror films
English-language Irish films
Films about grieving
Films scored by Michael Convertino
Films set in Northern Ireland
Films shot in Northern Ireland
Films shot in Sweden
Hammer Film Productions horror films
Irish supernatural horror films
Folk horror films
2000s English-language films
2000s British films

Wake Wood


Just Louis Fontaine (; 18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 FIFA World Cup tournament. In March 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Football career
Born in Marrakech, French Morocco, to a French father and a Spanish mother, Fontaine moved to Casablanca, where he attended the Lycée Lyautey.

Fontaine began his amateur career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. Nice recruited him in 1953, and he went on to score 44 goals in three seasons for the club. In 1956, he moved to Stade de Reims, where he teamed up with Raymond Kopa from the 1959–60 season. Fontaine scored 121 goals in six seasons at Stade de Reims. In total, Fontaine scored 165 goals in 200 matches in the Ligue 1, and won the championship twice, one time in 1958, and the other in 1960. He also took part in the team that got to the 1958–59 European Cup final against Real Madrid, being that season's top scorer with ten goals.

Wearing the blue shirt of France, Fontaine has an even more impressive record. On his debut on 17 December 1953, Fontaine scored a hat trick as France defeated Luxembourg 8–0. In seven years, he scored 30 goals in 21 matches. However, he will best be remembered for his 1958 FIFA World Cup performance, where he scored 13 goals in just six matches – a feat that included putting four past defending champions West Germany. It is also the highest number of goals ever scored by one player at a single World Cup tournament.  This tally secured him the Golden Boot. , he is tied with Lionel Messi as the fourth-top scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with each of the three ahead of him - Gerd Müller (14 goals), Ronaldo (15 goals) and Miroslav Klose (16 goals) - having played in at least two tournaments.

Fontaine played his last match in July 1962, being forced to retire early (28 years and 11 months old) because of a recurring leg injury. He briefly managed the France national team in 1967, but was replaced after only two friendly games, which ended in defeats. As coach of Morocco, he led the Atlas Lions to 3rd in the 1980 African Cup of Nations, overseeing the emergence of such players as Badou Zaki, Mohammed Timoumi and Aziz Bouderbala. Morocco reached the final stage of 1982 World Cup qualifying but were beaten by Cameroon. As sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain F.C., he managed to help promote the club to the first division.

After retirement

Fontaine was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was chosen as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. With Eugène N'Jo Léa he founded the National Union of Professional Football Players in 1961. He criticized the performance of the French team in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, particularly on the lackluster play of the forwards. Fontaine died in Toulouse, where he had lived for 60 years, on 28 February 2023 at the age of 89.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fontaine goal

Honours
Nice
 French Division 1: 1955–56
 Coupe de France: 1953–54

Reims
 French Division 1: 1957–58, 1959–60, 1961–62
 Coupe de France: 1957–58
 Trophée des Champions: 1958, 1960
 European Cup: runner-up 1958–59

France
 FIFA World Cup third place: 1958

Individual
 Ballon d'Or third-place: 1958
 Golden Foot: 2003, as a football legend
 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: 1958
 French Division top scorer: 1957–58, 1959–60
 European Cup top scorer: 1958–59
 FIFA 100: 2004

References and notes

External links
 UEFA.com – France's Golden Player
 Profile on French federation official site

1933 births
2023 deaths
Footballers from Marrakesh
French men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
OGC Nice players
Stade de Reims players
Ligue 1 players
France men's international footballers
1958 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Golden Players
UEFA Champions League top scorers
FIFA 100
French football managers
France national football team managers
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. managers
Toulouse FC managers
Morocco national football team managers
Ligue 2 managers
Ligue 1 managers
French expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Morocco
French expatriate sportspeople in Morocco
Officers of the Legion of Honour
French people of Spanish descent
Alumni of Lycée Lyautey (Casablanca)

Just Fontaine


Rod McCary (born April 15, 1941) is an American commercial, film and television actor.

Born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. McCary attended at Cathedral High School and University of Denver. He began his career in 1970, as appearing in the film The Christine Jorgensen Story, where he played the role of "Jess Warner".

Later in his career, McCary guest-starred in numerous television programs including Three's Company, It's a Living, Highway to Heaven, Columbo, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, Mama's Family, Dear John, Parks and Recreation, Family Ties, Growing Pains, The Mod Squad, Alice and Hart to Hart. He also starred and co-starred in films, such as, Herbie Rides Again, Night of the Demons 2, Stewardess School, Down 'n Dirty, Terror Among Us, Cheaper to Keep Her and 976-Evil II. In 1975, McCary left the soap opera television series General Hospital, with four other actors.

McCary had also starred in television programs including Harper Valley P.T.A., playing the role of "Bobby Taylor", Just Our Luck, playing the role of "Nelson Marriott" and Shell Game, playing the role of "Bill Bower". He also played tennis at the Plummer Park, from 1970.

McCary is married to Emily, with whom he has a son Cooper.

References

External links

Rotten Tomatoes profile

1941 births
Living people
People from St. Cloud, Minnesota
Male actors from Minnesota
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male soap opera actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
University of Denver alumni

Rod McCary


A cruiser is a warship larger than a destroyer originally made to be capital ships during the World War I and II era, but nowadays they are used for a number of roles. They are most commonly used as command ships, but it is hard to give them a specific role, since most ships nowadays, apart from aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, have very similar roles and sizes. Some of the cruiser's roles include launching many kinds of missiles, standoff, communications and command, bombardment, escorting other ships, and special operations. However, many modern ships also do this, with the main difference being size, firepower, and their intended use. This is because naval technology today that is capable of competing with other ships and winning, is very limited. The same was true in World War II, when most ships were built around big guns and speed. In both times, ships with different technology are considered obsolete or impractical and are not used much.

Older cruisers were called battlecruisers. They used large cannons like most other ships when they were first used but have evolved to use the same weapons and technology as modern destroyers. Cruisers were first built around 1915 but became popular among navies in the early 1930s and are still used today. Cruisers have changed over time and have evolved from the old, large, coal-driven ships to the modern smaller, stealthier, and more efficient vessels. Cruisers are still used today but are very different from the older ones. After battleships stopped being used during the Cold War years, due to being designed around large guns, which by then were beginning to be considered obsolete, cruisers were left as the most powerful surface combatant ship. (Not counting aircraft carriers.) Like with most ships, they are most likely to become stealthier, more efficient, and have more advanced weapons in the foreseeable future.

Ship types

Cruiser


The Uddevalla Suffrage Association () was a late-19th-century political movement founded in Uddevalla, Sweden. Local historians and the Swedish Social Democratic Party consider it the first political predecessor of the Swedish labour movement in the province of Bohuslän. Its purpose was to bring about universal suffrage in Sweden: At the time, suffrage in the country was restricted to men and based on personal wealth, therefore excluding most of the urban and rural working class from the electoral process. The Uddevalla Suffrage Association was one of many groups throughout Sweden that helped bring democratic thought into the common discourse and make way for the political breakthrough of the labour movement.

History

Growth

The foundation of the organization was preceded by an August 1890 election in Gothenburg of a three-person committee intended to foster the creation of regional and local suffrage associations. One of those elected was Ture Malmgren, the owner and editor of the daily newspaper Bohusläningen. On 12 October 1890, the Uddevalla Suffrage Association was formed after a public meeting at the Lancaster School (Lancasterskolan) that was attended by 250 people, described as "mainly men from the manually labouring class". The Association's stated goal was "to gather supporters of the lowering or abolition of the political suffrage limit, and of the equalization of the municipal voting rights".

Malmgren was elected as the Association's first chairman. Other board members were the foreman E. Fredborg as vice chairman, the store manager O. E. Gutke as secretary, the journalist Oskar Malmrot as vice secretary, and the teacher P. Larsson as treasurer. At a formal constituent meeting on 2 November, the membership was reported to exceed 200. Malmgren came to dominate the movement. In speeches, he railed against the graded scale of suffrage, which gave societal and political influence only to the wealthy.

In July 1891, the Association organized its first large rally on Skansberget in central Uddevalla. Between 500 and 600 people attended, and speeches by Malmgren were accompanied by music and singing by the choir of the People's Associations (Folkföreningarna). The same year, the Association joined western Sweden's Suffrage League (Västra Sveriges Rösträttsförbund). In 1893, several prominent members of the Association were elected as delegates to the first People's Riksdag (Folkriksdagen), a national meeting of liberal and socialist supporters of increased voting rights. Three delegates were chosen from Uddevalla: Malmgren, with 2,038 votes; the store owner Albert Andersson, with 1,434 votes; and the locomotive fireman G. A. Dahlqvist, with 615 votes. The debates at the People's Riksdag are said to have been intense, and Malmgren's newspaper stoked the flames. On 18 June 1893, the Association and other pro-democratic forces organized a large rally in central Uddevalla. By this point, Malmgren had resigned as chairman. His successor was Andersson.

Decline
In the late 1890s, the activities of the Uddevalla Suffrage Association declined as the divide between working-class reformists and more liberally-inclined bourgeoisie became larger. Several working-class activists became prominent in the Association, among them Adolf Bremer and M. A. Ljunggren, as the liberals withdrew. In 1898, the first formal Social Democratic Party branch (Uddevalla arbetarkommun) formed from the merger of several trade union branches, and the Association declined even further. With the decline and the increasing importance of working-class members, it also became more radical. Eventually, the group changed its name to the Uddevalla Suffrage and Discussion Association (Uddevalla Rösträtts- och diskussionsförening), with the purpose of debating social issues.

A prominent member of the Uddevalla branch of the Social Democratic Party, Johannes Hermansson, was assigned to write a new set of statutes for the Association's charter. This didn't happen, possibly because of the demands of the liberal faction. Instead, the Association was dissolved on 12 January 1902, after twelve years of existence. Most of its monetary assets were granted to the Social Democratic Party, which was seen as the ideologically closest movement to the Association. However, 100 kronor were given to the city's theatre association, because the Uddevalla Suffrage Association was one of many local movements that owned shares in the theatre.

See also

 Sweden during the late 19th century
 Timeline of women's suffrage
 Tureborg Castle

References

1890 establishments in Sweden
1902 disestablishments in Sweden
Democracy movements
History of Bohuslän
Organizations established in 1890
Uddevalla
Organizations disestablished in 1902

Uddevalla Suffrage Association


Guabiruba is a municipality situated in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, with an estimated 24,382 inhabitants. It is  located in 27°05′09″ S and 48°58′52″ W and 60 m above sea level. It was colonized principally by people from Baden, Germany.

Guabiruba is known as "Pelznickelland".

References

Municipalities in Santa Catarina (state)

Guabiruba


Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter (born Jerzy Szymonowicz; c. 1660 – c. 1711) was a prominent Polish painter and engraver of the Baroque era. He was court painter to king John III Sobieski and a Polish–Lithuanian noble. He is considered one of the most accomplished painters of Classical Baroque in Poland. His works combine the classical approach with native elements.

Life and professional career
Siemiginowski was of Armenian origin. He was born in Lwów (Lviv) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (today part of Ukraine) and was the son of a painter Jerzy Szymonowicz and Teodozja née Korunka. In 1677, he was entrusted to king John III Sobieski by his parents and was sent by the king to study at the Accademia di San Luca  in Rome. Before he went to Rome he probably spent at least a year, possibly two, in Paris. In Rome, he was trained by Lazzaro Baldi, Luigi Garzi and Carlo Maratta. On 11 January 1682 he won an Accademia di San Luca contest with a set of two drawings: Construction of the Tower of Babel and God's anger caused by the building of the tower, and in September of that year was admitted to the Academy as a member. While in Rome, he received the Knighthood of the Golden Spur and the title of Eques Auratus from Pope Innocent XI, and remained under the protecteion of the Pope's nephew Livio Odescalchi.

Shortly after his return to Poland in 1684 he was ennobled by the king and took the name Eleuter (Greek for free, independent). In 1687 the king granted him the village Łuka near Złoczów (Zolochiv) to confirm his nobility. After king John's death he became secretary to king Augustus II the Strong and was court painter to Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski. At that time he still worked at the Wilanów (Sobieski's suburban palace) and supervised the construction of new palace wings. In 1701, he was adopted by the impoverished Siemiginowski noble family (he paid them a substantial sum for the privilege) and since that time he used their name. Siemiginowski was married four times and had 11 children. In 1704, he had a house in Warsaw and a manor house at Wielopole near Warsaw. He died probably between February 28, 1708, and March 13, 1711.

Siemiginowski-Eleuter was the chief artist responsible for the decoration of the interior of the Wilanów Palace near Warsaw. His painting style was heavily influenced by French artists of the Baroque. Similarities with plafonds by Charles Le Brun in his works (especially the ceiling painting in the Pavillon de l'Aurore in the suburban Paris residence of Jean-Baptiste Colbert at Sceaux, 1671 or 1672) making his visit to Paris more probable. Influences of Carlo Maratta and Nicolas Poussin are also visible in his works (especially in his plafond Allegory of Spring in the Queen's Bedroom inspired by Maratta's Flora and Changes in the Kingdom of Flora by Poussin). He painted classicised portraits of members of the royal family and made engravings, including in collaboration with Charles de La Haye. Siemiginowski painted many frescoes, notable for their use of color. His subject ranged from dramatic scenes to peaceful landscapes. Among the most notable of his works are four plafonds of the four seasons in the Wilanów Palace. Siemiginowski established his own school of painting in Wilanów and was a renowned architect (co-designer of the Town Hall in Żółkiew (Zhovkva) among others). Many of his religious paintings in Warsaw (Crucifixion in the Holy Cross Church, Transfiguration in the Capuchin Church among others) were destroyed during the extensive bombardment of the city by the Germans in 1944.

References

Bibliography
 .

Works in Wilanów Palace

Ceiling paintings

Portraits

External links
  Biography

1660 births
1711 deaths
17th-century Polish painters
18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters
18th-century male artists
Court painters of Polish kings
Polish people of Armenian descent
Artists from Lviv
Pupils of Carlo Maratta

Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter


The Industrial Removal Office (IRO) was an agency assisting European Jewish immigrants to the United States in the early 20th century. It was formed in 1901 by the Jewish Agricultural Society. The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau was founded in 1907 as an offshoot of the IRO. The IRO also had an uncertain relationship with the Jewish Territorial Organization, led by Israel Zangwill.

Background
Jews in the twentieth century were met with antisemitic attitudes in various places. In Spain and Portugal, they had previously been confronted by the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition forced Jews to renounce their faith and convert to Christianity, with the penalty of being exiled if they did not do so. Once Jews converted to Christianity, they were branded New Christians by the Spanish. This served to continuously single out the Jewish even when they attempted to assimilate completely to the society around them. In Romania Jews were faced with similar problems. These struggles caused major migration among Jewish groups.

Establishment
As a consequence of this increase in migration from Jewish groups, immigration records were created, and organizations were formed to facilitate the migration of Jews. A branch of the Jewish Agricultural Society called The Industrial Removal Office (IRO), created and funded by philanthropist Maurice de Hirsch, was created in 1901 in order to help Jewish immigrants to integrate economically, culturally, and permanently into the affairs of American Society in the United States of America.

Activities
Agents from The Industrial Removal Office received applications from Jews and sent them to be reviewed by The New York Bureau, who then responded to The Industrial Removal Office with opportunities that fit their individual clients needs so as to promote a welcoming environment that provided its newcomers a more likely chance at long-term success in their new communities.

Related groups
The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau (JIIB), which was established in 1907, was the branch of The Industrial Removal Office that met with these Jewish immigrants in Galveston and sent them to their new communities. The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau also worked with The Jewish Territorial Organization (ITO), which was founded in 1905 and led by Israel Zangwill, in sending pamphlets to Europe to convince Russian Jews to come to the United States through the port of Galveston, furthering the goals of The Industrial Removal Office. These migrants were put in American communities with the intention of setting up larger Jewish communities around them through the eventual immigration of their friends and family.

Israel Zangwill was hesitant at first in working with the Galveston Immigration Plan, which was furthered by The Industrial Removal Office and The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau, because he did not want to send Jewish immigrants to a place where they could fully assimilate. This was because Israel Zangwill's beliefs were in support of the Zionist movement which advocated for the return of Jewish people to their motherland in Israel. Israel Zangwill wanted a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Later history
With a financial depression in 1907, The Industrial Removal Office was forced to increase the advertisement of their operations and send its agents further away. However, the offices which were in less populated areas of the United States, or were most affected, like Philadelphia and Boston, had to temporarily close at the end of the depression. Following this, and World War I, The Industrial Removal Office was left with very low funds and consequently a decreased reach prompting it to dissolve in 1922.

References

Jewish organizations based in the United States
Russian-Jewish culture in the United States
Immigrant services organizations
Migration-related organizations based in the United States
1907 establishments in the United States
1922 disestablishments in the United States
Jewish organizations established in 1907
Organizations disestablished in 1922

Jewish Industrial Removal Office


In Sumerian mythology, Anu (also An) is a sky-god. Anu is the god of heaven, lord of constellations, and king of the gods, spirits and demons. He lived in the highest heavenly regions. People believed that he could judge people who had committed crimes. His attendant and minister of state is the god Ilabrat.

He is one of the oldest gods in the Sumerian religion. He is part of a triad with Enlil (god of the air) and Enki (god of water). He is called Anu by the Akkadians in Babylonian culture. His Greek name is Uranos. The planet Uranus got its name from the Greek god Uranos.

References

Other websites
Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: An/Anu (God)

Gods and goddesses

Anu


The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC regulates unfair business practices in EU law, as part of European consumer law. It requires corresponding laws to be passed that incorporate it into each member state's legal system.

The Directive is concerned mainly with the "substantive" law (meaning in this context the standards of behaviour required of traders). To some extent it leaves to member states the choice of appropriate domestic enforcement procedures and penalties for non-compliance (Articles 11 to 13 of the Directive).

Contents

Recitals
The recitals state the objective of the Directive to reduce barriers to free trade in the EU while simultaneously ensuring a high level of consumer protection. At issue was that the consumer protection laws are different among the various member states (see Article 1 of the Directive and the recitals to it). The Directive is supposed to reduce these differences while establishing a required minimum level of consumer protection across all member states. This is expected to benefit both business and consumers, as businesses receive a more standardised legal system under which to operate and consumers receive a sufficient and standardised level of protection, regardless of where they choose to make purchases.

The Directive is designed to achieve what is called "maximum harmonisation" of business-to-consumer fair trade.  The idea of "maximum harmonisation" is that it requires member states of the European Union to apply the standards set out in European legislation and prohibits those states from applying lower or higher standards. In other words, the Directive tells European countries to give consumers no more and no less than the level of protection set out in the Directive. That maximum harmonisation is not yet in force.

Chapter 1
The Directive starts with a general prohibition on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (Articles 3(1) and 5(1)) and then goes into progressively greater detail defining what that means.

Article 3(2) states the Directive is expressly "without prejudice to contract law and, in particular, to the rules on the validity, formation or effect of a contract" (see also the 9th recital to the Directive). It does not seek to harmonise unfair competition law regulating "...commercial practices which, although not harming consumers, may hurt competitors and business customers" (8th recital to the Directive).

Chapter 2
Article 5(1) says that "unfair commercial practices" are prohibited, and under article 5(2)(a) these are practices that are "contrary to the requirements of professional diligence" (see further Article 2(h)) and that are likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer (Article 5(2)(b)). The effect of commercial practices on particular kinds of consumers, especially those who are unusually vulnerable, can replace the "average consumer" test if the practices are directed at those kinds of consumers or will foreseeably affect them (Articles 5(2)(b) and 5(3)). The Directive describes two major categories of unfair commercial practices:- those that are misleading (Articles 5(4)(a), 6 and 7) and those that are aggressive (Articles 5(4)(b), 8 and 9). Annex 1 to the Directive sets out a list of "commercial practices that are, in all circumstances, considered unfair" (a black-list of bad behaviour). These are divided into "misleading commercial practices" (23 examples) and "aggressive commercial practices" (8 examples).

On a literal reading of the Directive, misleading or aggressive commercial practices that would not affect the average consumer's economic behaviour, but would distort the economic behaviour of particular kinds of consumer, may be prohibited only by the general clause in Articles 5(1) to 5(3), and not by the specific clauses in Articles 6 to 9. This is because the latter provisions refer exclusively to the "average consumer" (although Article 9(c) also refers to the "exploitation of any specific misfortune or circumstance of such gravity as to impair the consumer's judgement, of which the trader is aware..."). However, it might be fairer to read Articles 5(2)(b) and 5(3) as supplanting the references to the "average consumer" in Articles 6 to 9 in appropriate cases. The UK Government's Department of Trade and Industry published a consultation paper in December 2005, which suggested that that was indeed the intention. There is no clear basis in the text for the favoured interpretation, but the UK Government supports its interpretation with reference to the European Commission's Explanatory Memorandum. This could be important because depending on the answer to this question it may be easier or harder to pin down a breach of the Directive.

The rules referred to in the actual text of the Directive in relation to codes of conduct are quite limited (e.g. Article 6(2)(b), prohibiting non-compliance with codes of conduct in some circumstances, and Article 10). However, the 20th recital states: "It is appropriate to provide a role for codes of conduct ... In sectors where there are specific mandatory requirements ... these will also provide evidence as to the requirements of professional diligence in that sector. ... consumers' organisations could be informed and involved in the drafting of codes of conduct." Subscribers to a code of conduct drafted with the input of and endorsed by a major consumers' organisation could seek to argue during enforcement proceedings that compliance with the code of conduct is therefore evidence that they have not engaged in unfair commercial practices. Those charged with promoting and administering membership of codes of conduct will take note that Article 11(1) in effect contemplates the possibility of class-actions brought by consumer groups against code-owners where the code promotes non-compliance with legal requirements. Taken together, these provisions may be an incentive for those who administer and promote codes of conduct to consult with consumers' groups and take careful legal advice in relation to the drafting of such codes.

Chapters 3 and 4
Chapter 3 envisages a role for businesses in the industry to draft codes of conduct about practices among their competitors.

Chapter 4 requires that member states have, under article 11, "adequate and effective means exist to combat unfair commercial practices". This includes ensuring that consumer groups have standing to take representative legal action on behalf of the people whose interests they represent, or make complaints to the consumer authorities. Article 11(2) requires that public authorities exist (for instance, the Competition and Markets Authority or the Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit). Article 11(3) requires that they should be impartial in fulfilling their role of protecting consumers against unfair business practices.

Implementation
The Directive required the member states to pass laws by no later than 12 June 2007 incorporating it into their own internal national law by 12 December 2007. However, until at least 12 June 2013, Member States will continue to be able to apply more protective national rules diverging from European directives insofar as it is necessary and proportionate to do so (Article 3(5)), meaning that maximum harmonisation may not be complete before that date. There will be a major review of the operation of the Directive by 12 June 2011 (Article 18).

See also

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive
Product Liability Directive
English contract law
National Recovery Administration and Louis Brandeis

Notes

External links
DTI announcement
Text of the Directive 2005/29/EC

Unfair Commercial Practices
Business law
False advertising law
2005 in law
2005 in the European Union


Myco-heterotrophy is a relationship between certain plants and fungi. The plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism on fungi, not from photosynthesis.

In the past, non-photosynthetic plants were thought to get food by breaking down organic matter like fungi do. Such plants were therefore called "saprophytes". That was wrong. It is now known that no plant is physiologically capable of direct breakdown of organic matter.

To get food, non-photosynthetic plants engage in parasitism, by myco-heterotrophy or direct parasitism of other plants.

The interface between the plant and fungal partners in this association is between the roots of the plant and the mycelium of the fungus. Myco-heterotrophy therefore closely resembles mycorrhiza, and is thought to have evolved from mycorrhiza.

References

Parasitic plants
Fungi
Ecology
Plant physiology

Myco-heterotrophy


Director is a 2009 action film directed by Aleks Rosenberg, produced by Alex Cohen, and starring Claudia Davilla, Stephane Kay, Mike Paris and Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated group's Prodigal Sunn. The film is set in Miami, Florida.

Plot
Adriana, a dancer from Caracas, arrives in Miami with her camera and a dream of becoming a famous film director. Answering an ad, she is hired by French Producers, JR and his unstable brother Mark, to direct a podcast mocumentary about a jewelry store robbery for one of JR's wealthy clients. Her dream is quickly shattered when the store manager is badly hurt and she realizes that she is filming an actual robbery. Having no working visa and low on cash she decides to join the brothers and their partner-in-crime, Bull (prodigal Sunn), making reality robbery films and becoming infamous by posting them on the Internet.

Cast
Claudia Davilla as Adriana
Stephane Kay as JR
Mike Paris as Mark
Prodigal Sunn as Bull
Richard Booker as Mr.M
Dominic La Banca as Captain Franck Laplata
James McEvoy as Inspector Nolan McCall
Tina Powers as Flight Attendant

Music
The soundtrack includes music by Fat Joe, Burning Brides, Dan Marciano, Ghostface Killah, Rick Ross, Prodigal Sunn, Sunz Of Man, Michael "MD" Dunston, Papi Shulo and more.

External links

2009 action films

Director (2009 film)


Skull Cave is a small and shallow cave on the central heights of Mackinac Island in Michigan, United States.  The cave was carved during the Algonquin post-glacial period by the waters of Lake Algonquin, a swollen meltwater ancestor of today's Lake Huron.

Skull Cave is primarily of interest for its historical associations.  It is believed to have been used as an inhumation site by Native Americans of the Straits of Mackinac area in the 18th century.

While in active use as a site for human remains, the cave was also used as a refuge in 1763 by fur trader Alexander Henry, a survivor of the capture of Fort Michilimackinac by Native Americans during Pontiac's War.  In his "Memoirs," Henry recalled a night spent as a refugee in the bone-strewn cavern.

Henry recalled his ordeal as follows:

On going into the cave, of which the entrance was nearly ten feet wide, I found the further end to be rounded in its shape, like that of an oven, but with a further aperture, too small, however, to be explored. After thus looking around me, I broke small branches from the trees and spread them for a bed, then wrapped myself in my blanket and slept till day-break. On awaking, I felt myself incommoded by some object upon which I lay, and, removing it, found it to be a bone. This I supposed to be that of a deer, or some other animal, and what might very naturally be looked for in the place in which I was; but when daylight visited my chamber I discovered, with some feelings of horror, that I was lying on nothing less than a heap of human bones and skulls, which covered the floor!

Skull Cave is contained within Mackinac Island State Park.  It is located 0.4 miles (0.6 km) north of Fort Mackinac in the island's interior.  It was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on January 12, 1959, and granted state historical marker #L0004.

References

Mackinac Island State Park
Caves of Michigan
Protected areas of Mackinac County, Michigan
Landforms of Mackinac County, Michigan
Historic district contributing properties in Michigan
Michigan State Historic Sites in Mackinac County

Skull Cave (Mackinac Island)


Execution performed by using an electric chair. It is a method originated in the United States in which the condemned person was strapped in a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. The term silya elektika was a Filipino term which means electic chair. It comes from the word silla electrica that was originally Spanish.

Silya elektrika


Heraclio Bernal (1855-1888) was a bandit from the Sinaloa region of Mexico. He is widely known as the "Thunderbolt of Sinaloa."

Bandit years
Bernal led a group of pistoleros, who operated along the mining zones of the Sierra Madre Occidental, dominating parts of Sinaloa and Durango. The band was believed to have reached up to 100 men strong, often participating in illegal acts such as; robbing stagecoaches, attacking armories, raiding mines for silver which was later sold, and stealing from the rich residents of towns he raided. During Bernal's ten year stint as a bandit and as a political rebel, he managed to evade capture repeatedly due to his established good relations with the lower class and important people of the region he operated within. It is also believed police and soldiers would sell Bernal, and other bandits, weapons and ammunition.

Throughout Bernal's career he was heavily pursued by the local governor Francisco Cañedo, often challenging and mocking him. Stories exist of Bernal challenging Cañedo and President Porfirio Díaz. When Diaz held a dinner for local dignitaries, Bernal is said to have countered with an even more lavish dinner in a neighboring town. While the stories are in doubt, they led to Bernal being viewed as a hero by the people of the surrounding villages.

At some point, probably in 1883, Bernal's group was joined by five of the Parra brothers, including Ignacio Parra whose gang would absorb many of Bernal's members following his death.

In 1885 Bernal attempted to enter government service and sent word to president Díaz of an offer. In exchange for service as an officer, Bernal wanted 30,000 pesos to finance himself and his security. He also demanded the release of any of his captured gang members, including his imprisoned brother. Díaz refused the offer, though it is believed Bernal could have received a pardon had he not requested such a high payment.

Politics and death
In 1887 Bernal entered the role of a political rebel, creating a platform which called for a return to the 1857 Constitution of Mexico, which had barred repeated re-elections of the same candidate. The move to enact such a policy was past its time, as many of those who would have backed Bernal now preferred to have Díaz repeatedly re-elected to maintain control.

In time the government would move soldiers into the Mazatlán region and form anti-guerrilla forces to track down Bernal. A ransom of 10,000 pesos was placed on the capture of Bernal, and he was soon after set up in an ambush by two of his gang members. Bernal died on January 5, 1888.

Ballads/Corridos
Over thirty corridos or folk ballads exist placing Bernal in the role of a hero and promoting his exploits. One of the more popular involves changing of the colors of the horse Bernal is riding on and the features of description:

Aspects of Bernal's life may have evolved into the folk-saint Jesús Malverde.

See also
Outlaw
Folk hero

References

1855 births
1888 deaths
Mexican folklore
Mexican outlaws
Mexican rebels
People from Mazatlán
Sierra Madre Occidental
Mexican bandits

Heraclio Bernal


Volandia Park and Flight Museum is the largest Italian aeronautical museum, as well as one of the largest in Europe. Volandia displays over 100 aircraft. The museum covers an area of ca. 60,000 m2 (645,000 sq ft) of which 20,000 m2 (215,000 sq ft) are indoors. It opened in 2010, after a 10-year preparation phase.

The museum, located in Somma Lombardo and adjacent to the Milan-Malpensa Airport, is placed in the buildings of the historic Officine Aeronautiche Caproni 1910.

Since its foundation in 2010, the park-museum has been enriched with numerous collections, including the Luciano Piazzai Modeling Collection, and the Flaminio Bertoni Museum; it also houses the Gruppo Bertone Collection, which brings together some of the most famous cars designed by the Turin car body shop.

The complex is located within the Ticino Park.

History

During a conference held at the Castello Visconti  in San Vito, in Somma Lombardo, on 11 November 2006, a project was launched for the establishment of a large aeronautical museum to be built at the former Officine Caproni  in Vizzola Ticino (VA ). This museum should have retraced the aeronautical history of Lombard industries, such as Caproni, SIAI-Marchetti from Sesto Calende, Aermacchi, Agusta, and Piero Magni, and of the province of Varese. The chosen site was located near the Milan-Malpensa airport, and was easily accessible from Milan. Numerous local political leaders joined the initiative, such as the president of the province of Varese Marco Reguzzoni, the President of the Regional Council of Lombardy Alberoni, numerous mayors, and aeronautics industry managers such as Carmelo Cosentino (CEO of Alenia Aermacchi) and Giuseppe Orsi (CEO of Agusta Westland), the president of the Aero Club of Italy Giuseppe Leoni, and the Italian Air Force.

Fondazione Museo dell'Aeronautica was set up, of which Reguzzoni became president, who provided to buy at a favorable price from AgustaWestland the area of the former Officine Caproni, including warehouses and offices. The realization was carried out with a commitment signed by the Lombardy Region, the province of Varese, and the mayors of the municipalities of Cardano al Campo, Ferno, Lonate Pozzolo, Gallarate, Samarate, Somma Lombardo, Varese and Vizzola Ticino, and 19 million euros were made available, to be paid out progressively for the restoration of the buildings, the fitting out and the endowment of the exhibition spaces.

The Volandia Park and Museum was officially opened to the public on 8 May 2010. Already in its first year, Volandia could count on a museum heritage of over 30 aircraft and a thousand models on display.
In 2012, following the acquisition of several models, including the American twin-engine Douglas DC-3, a new 4000 m2 exhibition area dedicated to commercial aviation was inaugurated. The Douglas DC-3 by Volandia is the only functioning specimen exhibited in Italy.

From 2018 the museum also houses the Bertone collection, a patrimony composed of 76 cars and including vehicles of great importance such as the Lamborghini Miura, Espada and Countach, a road Lancia Stratos, an Alfa Romeo Giulia SS, a Giulia Sprint, a Montreal and numerous prototypes designed by Nuccio Bertone. The cars of the Turin body shop are added to the works of art, cars and sketches of Flaminio Bertoni, another famous Italian designer and artist.

On 8 April 2017, in the presence of the former football players Claudio Gentile and Pietro Vierchowod, the presidential Douglas DC-9 was inaugurated, an airplane that carried numerous Heads of State and Government, including the President of the Republic Sandro Pertini and Pope John Paul II, and twin of the one who brought the Azzurri home after the victorious World Cup. In 2018 the MD-80 I-SMEL, the first MD-80 of the Meridiana fleet, was donated to the museum park.

In 2019, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, Volandia presented, with the participation of astronaut Paolo Nespoli, the new pavilion of Astronomy and Space. During "Linate Air Show", Volandia has also exposed a Yakovlev Yak-40 completely restored.

On January 25, 2020, a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter arrived at Volandia. The aircraft, from the Luftwaffenmuseum in Berlin, was officially inaugurated on February 8, 2020. From July 4, 2020, the second prototype of the Aermacchi M-346 trainer is also kept in Volandia. Before the exhibition, the aircraft will remain inside the Volandia workshop until the assembly operations are completed.

Collections
The initial intent of the museum was to make the history of world aviation known, with particular attention to the companies that have made the history of flight in Italy, such as the Caproni, the Agusta, the Aermacchi and the SIAI-Marchetti, all based in the Province of Varese. With the acquisition of the Bertoni and Bertone collections, which focus on the automobile and the Ogliari collection, mainly focused on rail and road transport, the museum has taken on the aptitude to range over the entire transport world in general.

Aircraft heritage

Volandia's aeronautical museum heritage explores all the main topics related to fixed-wing and rotary-wing flight, from commercial to military aviation. The helicopter heritage is also of great value and size.

The museum preserves and exhibits some of the most iconic models in the history of Italian aeronautics, including the pioneering Caproni Ca.1, the first aircraft to take off from the Malpensa moorland. The Caproni Ca.18 belong to the period of consolidation of the air fleet (first plane of national conception to fully equip an Italian squadron) and the Caproni Ca.113, one of the most famous aerobatic aircraft of the years between the two wars. The era of the jet engine is revived through the Fiat G.91 (the first Italian aircraft to equip the National Acrobatic Patrol), the AMX Ghibli, the trainers MB.326 and MB.339 and the 3 prototypes of SIAI-Marchetti S.211. There are also numerous examples of the era used by other foreign air forces, such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and North American F-86 Sabre, the BAC Jet Provost and the de Havilland Vampire.

The history and development of commercial aviation are represented by the specimens of Douglas DC-3 Dakota, McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Fokker 27, the most commercially successful aircraft of the respective eras. Of significant historical value is also the Douglas DC-9 of the Presidency of the Italian Republic. The President of the Republic Sandro Pertini, Pope John Paul II and other Heads of State and Government traveled on the sample in question at the 31st Wing of the Italian Air Force. The plane also transported the coffin of the Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna, who died tragically following an accident in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, from the Bologna airport to the Paris airport.

In the section of the museum dedicated to the rotating wing, Italian and foreign helicopters are preserved. Particular attention is paid to Agusta models. Among these, the AB.47 G3B1, under the Arma dei Carabinieri from 1966 to 1977, the AgustaWestland AW109 A-II, which allowed the Guardia di Finanza to achieve night-time operational capacity, the AgustaWestland AW139 and the AB.204 and AB.206-A1. A special space is reserved for the AgustaWestland AW609 convertiplane, an aircraft designed and built to obtain an effective synthesis between the helicopter's operational versatility and the airplane's own advantages.

Bertone Collection

Purchased by the Italian Historical Automotoclub in 2015, since 2018 the Bertone Collection has been preserved in the homonymous pavilion of Volanda. The collection includes 76 cars - in addition to a motorcycle and a bicycle - designed by the Turin designer Nuccio Bertone and his collaborators. Among the models on display, a Lamborghini Miura S from 1967, an Alfa Romeo Giulia SS from 1963 and the Lancia Stratos HF, protagonist of an extraordinary series of sporting successes. Prototypes such as the BMW Birusa, the Porsche Karisma, the Ferrari 308 GT4 Rainbow, the Aston Martin Rapid Jet, the two Jaguar PU99 and the Bertone Birusa are also of considerable interest.

Bertoni Museum

The Flaminio Bertoni Museum brings together much of the creative and intellectual production of the designer from Varese, considered one of the greatest car stylists of all time. In addition to the three most famous cars designed by Bertoni (the Citroën Traction Avant of 1934, the 2CV of 1948 and the DS of 1955), the museum also includes numerous sculptures and sketches by the artist.

Piazzai Collection

The Piazzai Collection brings together more than 1200 scale models that trace the history of world aviation from the dawn of pioneering flight to the most recently designed aircraft.

Pavilions

Astronomy and Space Pavilion: museum area that traces the history and development of space exploration, from the first observations of Galileo's Moon in 1609 to recent international missions. The pavilion is equipped with a planetarium equipped with a powerful projector and FullDome videos; in it are also placed the 1:10 scale reproductions of the Usa Saturno V and Soyuz launcher, a vector still used today to supply the International Space Station with material and men. 30 models are also exhibited, on a scale of 1: 114, which narrate 70 years of space launches.
The forms of flight: presentation of the various forms of flight (gliding, fixed wing, rotating wing). On the exhibition route, various devices and aircraft of the Varese and Lombardy aeronautical industries follow one another.
The first flight to Malpensa: section in which the Caproni Ca.1 is located, accompanied by an installation that reproduces the setting of the first - and only - flight of the pioneering aircraft of the Caproni home.
Officina Caproni: reconstruction of the workshop of the first Italian aeronautical company, established at the beginning of the 20th century.
Fixed wing: chronological and thematic exposition, from the first propeller-driven aircraft to the modern jet engine aircraft. From balloon flights to great enterprises with Bleriot XI and Gabardini Seaplane.
Rotating wing: section that focuses on the use of the civil and military helicopter, from the smallest Autogyro to the large helicopters of the Army and the Navy.
Outdoor play area
Indoor play area
Piazzai area
Drones area: space managed by the GULLP association which includes an exhibition part and a real "LAB" dedicated to the study, planning and realization of UAV / Drones aircraft and in general of projects related to flight and new technologies.
The future of flight: pavilion dedicated to the history of AgustaWestland and the AW609 convertiplane..
Ogliari museum.
Simulators area: area dedicated to flight simulation. Ten simulators - four for under 12 and 6 for over 12 - that allow you to experience the experience of flying aboard famous aircraft such as the MB.339 military trainer and the AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter.

See also
List of aerospace museums

References

External links

 Volandia official website
Volandia on Aviation museums of the world

Aerospace museums in Italy
Museums established in 2010
2010 establishments in Italy
Caproni
Somma Lombardo
Museums in Lombardy

Volandia


The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning Syria and Lebanon. The mandate system was supposed to differ from colonialism, with the governing country intended to act as a trustee until the inhabitants were considered eligible for self-government. At that point, the mandate would terminate and an sovereign state would be born.

During the two years that followed the end of the war in 1918—and in accordance with the Sykes–Picot Agreement signed by the United Kingdom and French Third Republic during the war—the British held control of most of Ottoman Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the southern part of Ottoman Syria (Palestine and Transjordan), while the French controlled the rest of Ottoman Syria (including Lebanon, Alexandretta, and portions of Cilicia). In the early 1920s, British and French control of these territories became formalized by the League of Nations' mandate system. And on 29 September 1923 France was assigned the League of Nations mandate of Syria, which included the territory of present-day Lebanon and Alexandretta in addition to modern Syria.

The administration of the region under the French was carried out through a number of different governments and territories, including the Syrian Federation (1922–24), the State of Syria (1925–1930) and the Mandatory Syrian Republic (1930–1946), as well as smaller states: Greater Lebanon, the Alawite State, and the Jabal Druze State. Hatay State was annexed by Turkey in 1939. The French mandate lasted until 1946, when French troops eventually left Syria and Lebanon, which had both declared independence during World War II.

Background

With the defeat of the Ottomans in Syria, British troops, under General Sir Edmund Allenby, entered Damascus in 1918 accompanied by troops of the Arab Revolt led by Faisal, son of Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz. Faisal established the first new postwar Arab government in Damascus in October 1918, and named Ali Rikabi a military governor.

The new Arab administration formed local governments in the major Syrian cities, and the pan-Arab flag was raised all over Syria. The Arabs hoped, with faith in earlier British promises, that the new Arab state would include all the Arab lands stretching from Aleppo in northern Syria to Aden in southern Yemen.

However, in accordance with the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement between Britain and France, General Allenby assigned to the Arab administration only the interior regions of Syria (the eastern zone). Palestine (the southern zone) was reserved for the British. On 8 October, French troops disembarked in Beirut and occupied the Lebanese coastal region south to Naqoura (the western zone), replacing British troops there. The French immediately dissolved the local Arab governments in the region.

France demanded full implementation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement, with Syria under its control. On 26 November 1919, British forces withdrew from Damascus to avoid confrontation with the French, leaving the Arab government to face France. Faisal had travelled several times to Europe since November 1918, trying to convince France and Britain to change their positions, but without success. France's determination to intervene in Syria was shown by the naming of General Henri Gouraud as high commissioner in Syria and Cilicia. At the Paris Peace Conference, Faisal found himself in an even weaker position when the European powers decided to renege on the promises made to the Arabs.

In May 1919, elections were held for the Syrian National Congress, which convened in Damascus. 80% of seats went to conservatives. However, the minority included dynamic Arab nationalist figures such as Jamil Mardam Bey, Shukri al-Kuwatli, Ahmad al-Qadri, Ibrahim Hanano, and Riyad as-Solh. The head was moderate nationalist Hashim al-Atassi.

In June 1919, the American King–Crane Commission arrived in Syria to inquire into local public opinion about the future of the country. The commission's remit extended from Aleppo to Beersheba. They visited 36 major cities, met with more than 2,000 delegations from more than 300 villages, and received more than 3,000 petitions. Their conclusions confirmed the opposition of Syrians to the mandate in their country as well as to the Balfour Declaration, and their demand for a unified Greater Syria encompassing Palestine. The conclusions of the commission were ignored by both Britain and France.

Unrest erupted in Syria when Faisal accepted a compromise with French Prime Minister Clemenceau. Anti-Hashemite demonstrations broke out, and Muslim inhabitants in and around Mount Lebanon revolted in fear of being incorporated into a new, mainly Christian, state of Greater Lebanon. A part of France's claim to these territories in the Levant was that France had been acknowledged as a protector of the minority Christian communities by the Ottoman Empire.

In March 1920, the Congress in Damascus adopted a resolution rejecting the Faisal-Clemenceau accords. The congress declared the independence of Syria in her natural borders (including Southern Syria or Palestine), and proclaimed Faisal the king of all Arabs. Faisal invited Ali Rikabi to form a government. The congress also proclaimed political and economic union with neighboring Iraq and demanded its independence as well.

On 25 April, the supreme inter-Allied council, which was formulating the Treaty of Sèvres, granted France the mandate of Syria (including Lebanon), and granted Britain the Mandate of Palestine (including Jordan), and Iraq. Syrians reacted with violent demonstrations, and a new government headed by Hashim al-Atassi was formed on 7 May 1920. The new government decided to organize general conscription and began forming an army.

These decisions provoked adverse reactions by France as well as by the Maronite patriarchate of Mount Lebanon, which denounced the decisions as a "coup d'état". In Beirut, the Christian press expressed its hostility to the decisions of Faisal's government. Lebanese nationalists used the crisis against Faisal's government to convene a council of Christian figures in Baabda that proclaimed the independence of Lebanon on 22 March 1920.

On 14 July 1920, General Gouraud issued an ultimatum to Faisal, giving him the choice between submission or abdication. Realizing that the power balance was not in his favor, Faisal chose to cooperate. However, the young minister of war, Youssef al-Azmeh, refused to comply. In the resulting Franco-Syrian War, Syrian troops under al-Azmeh, composed of the little remaining troops of the Arab army along with Bedouin horsemen and civilian volunteers, met the better trained 12,000-strong French forces under General Mariano Goybet at the Battle of Maysaloun. The French won the battle in less than a day and Azmeh died on the battlefield, along with many of the Syrian troops, while the remaining troops possibly defected. General Goybet captured Damascus with little resistance on 24 July 1920, and the mandate was written in London two years later on 24 July 1922.

States created during the French Mandate

Arriving in Lebanon, the French were received as liberators by the Christian community, but in the rest of Syria, they faced strong resistance.

The mandate region was subdivided into six states. They were the states of Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawites (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921, modern-day Hatay), and the State of Greater Lebanon (1920), which became later the modern country of Lebanon.

The borders of these states were based in part on the sectarian geography in Syria. Many of the different Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and to the division it created, as shown by the numerous revolts that the French encountered in all of the Syrian states. The Maronite Christians of Mount Lebanon, on the other hand, were a community with a dream of independence that was being realized under the French. Therefore, Greater Lebanon was the exception among the newly formed states.

It took France three years from 1920 to 1923 to gain full control over Syria and to quell all the insurgencies that broke out, notably in the Alawite territories, Mount Druze and Aleppo.

Although there were uprisings in the different states, the French deliberately gave different ethnic and religious groups in the Levant their own lands in the hopes of prolonging their rule. The French hoped to fragment the various groups in the region, to mitigate support for the Syrian nationalist movement seeking to end colonial rule. The administration of the state governments was heavily dominated by the French. Local authorities were given very little power and did not have the authority to independently decide policy. The small amount of power that local leaders had could easily be overruled by French officials. The French did everything in their power to prevent people in the Levant from developing self-sufficient governing bodies.

State of Greater Lebanon

On 3 August 1920, Arrêté 299 of the Haut-commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban linked the cazas of Hasbaya, Rachaya, Maallaka and Baalbeck to what was then known as the Autonomous Territory of Lebanon. Then on 31 August 1920, General Gouraud signed Arrêté 318 delimiting the State of Greater Lebanon, with explanatory notes stating that Lebanon would be treated separately from the rest of Syria. On 1 September 1920, General Gouraud publicly proclaimed the creation of the State of Greater Lebanon (, ) at a ceremony in Beirut.

Greater Lebanon was created by France to be a "safe haven" for the Maronite population of the mutasarrifia (Ottoman administrative unit) of Mount Lebanon. Mt. Lebanon, an area with a Maronite majority, had enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy during the Ottoman era. However, in addition to the Maronite Mutasarrifia other, mainly Muslim, regions were added, forming "Greater" Lebanon. Those regions correspond today to North Lebanon, South Lebanon, Biqa' valley, and Beirut. The capital of Greater Lebanon was Beirut. The new state was granted a flag, merging the French flag with the cedar of Lebanon.
Maronites were the majority in Lebanon and managed to preserve its independence; an independence that created a unique precedent in the Arab world, as Lebanon was the first Arab country in which Christians were not a minority. The State of Greater Lebanon existed until 23 May 1926, after which it became the Lebanese Republic.

Most Muslims in Greater Lebanon rejected the new state upon its creation. Some believe that the continuous Muslim demand for reunification with Syria eventually brought about an armed conflict between Muslims and Christians in 1958 when Lebanese Muslims wanted to join the newly proclaimed United Arab Republic, while Lebanese Christians were strongly opposed. However, most members of the Lebanese Muslim communities and their political elites were committed to the idea of being Lebanese citizens by the late 1930s, even though they also tended to nurture Arab nationalist sentiments.

State of Alawites

On 19 August 1920, General Gouraud signed Arrêté 314 which added to the autonomous sandjak of Alexandretta the cazas of Jisr el-Choughour, the madriyehs of Baher and Bujack (caza of Latakia), the moudiriyeh of Kinsaba (caza of Sahyoun) "with a view to the formation of the territories of Greater Lebanon and the Ansarieh Mountains"; where the "Ansarieh Mountains" area was to become the Alawite State. On 31 August 1920, the same day that the decree creating Greater Lebanon was signed, General Gouraud signed Arrêté 319 delimiting the State of Alawites, and Arrêté 317 adding the caza of Massyaf (Omranie) into the new State.

The State of Alawites (, ) was located on the Syrian coast and incorporated a majority of Alawites, a branch of Shia Islam. The port city of Latakia was the capital of this state. Initially it was an autonomous territory under French rule known as the "Alawite Territories". It became part of the Syrian Federation in 1922, but left the federation again in 1924 and became the "State of Alawites". On 22 September 1930, it was renamed the "Independent Government of Latakia". The population at this time was 278,000. The government of Latakia finally joined the Syrian Republic on 5 December 1936. This state witnessed several rebellions against the French, including that of Salih al-Ali (1918–1920).

On 28 June 1922, Arrêté 1459 created a "Federation of the Autonomous States of Syria" which included the State of Aleppo, the State of Damascus and the State of the Alawis. However, two and a half years later on 5 December 1924, Arrêté 2979 and Arrêté 2980 established the Alawite State as an independent state with Latakia as its capital, and separately unified the States of Aleppo and Damascus into a single State called "État de Syrie" ("State of Syria"), formally established on 1 January 1925.

In 1936, both Jebel Druze and the Alawite State were incorporated into the State of Syria.

State of Syria

On 1 September 1920, the day after the creation of Greater Lebanon and the Alawite State, Arrêté 330 separated out of the previous "Gouvernement de Damas" ("Government of Damascus") an independent government known as the "Gouvernement d'Alep" ("Government of Aleppo"), including the autonomous sandjak of Alexandretta, which retained its administrative autonomy. The terms "Gouvernement d'Alep" "Gouvernement de Damas" were used interchangeably with "l'État d'Alep" and "l'État de Damas" – for example, Arrete 279 1 October 1920 stated in its preamble: "Vu l'arrêté No 330 du 1er Septembre 1920 créant l'État d'Alep".

The State of Aleppo (1920–1925, , ) included a majority of Sunni Muslims. It covered northern Syria in addition to the entire fertile basin of river Euphrates of eastern Syria. These regions represented much of the agricultural and mineral wealth of Syria. The autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta was added to the state of Aleppo in 1923. The capital was the northern city of Aleppo, which had large Christian and Jewish communities in addition to the Sunni Muslims. The state also incorporated minorities of Shiites and Alawites. Ethnic Kurds and Assyrians inhabited the eastern regions alongside the Arabs. The General Governors of the state were Kamil Pasha al-Qudsi (1920–1922) Mustafa Bey Barmada (1923) and Mar'i Pasha Al Mallah (1924-1925).

The State of Damascus was a French mandate from 1920 to 1925. The capital was Damascus.

The primarily Sunni population of the states of Aleppo and Damascus were strongly opposed to the division of Syria. This resulted in its quick end in 1925, when France united the states of Aleppo and Damascus into the State of Syria.

Sanjak of Alexandretta

The Sanjak of Alexandretta became an autonomous province of Syria under Article 7 of the French-Turkish treaty of 20 October 1921: "A special administrative regime shall be established for the district of Alexandretta. The Turkish inhabitants of this district shall enjoy facility for their cultural development. The Turkish language shall have official recognition".

In 1923, Alexandretta was attached to the State of Aleppo, and in 1925 it was directly attached to the French mandate of Syria, still with special administrative status. The sanjak was given autonomy in November 1937 in an arrangement brokered by the League. Under its new statute, the sanjak became 'distinct but not separated' from the French Mandate of Syria on the diplomatic level, linked to both France and Turkey for defence matters.

In 1938, the Turkish military went into the Syrian province and expelled most of its Alawite Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of Alexandretta's population.

The allocation of seats in the sanjak assembly was based on the 1938 census held by the French authorities under international supervision. The assembly was appointed in the summer of 1938, and the French-Turkish treaty settling the status of the Sanjak was signed on 4 July 1938.

On 2 September 1938, the assembly proclaimed the Sanjak of Alexandretta as the Hatay State. The republic lasted for one year under joint French and Turkish military supervision. The name Hatay itself was proposed by Atatürk and the government was under Turkish control.
In 1939, following a popular referendum, the Hatay State became a Turkish province.

State of Jabal Druze

On 24 October 1922, Arrêté 1641 established the "" ("Autonomous State of Jabal Druze")

It was created for the Druze population of southern Syria. It had a population of some 50,000 and its capital in As-Suwayda.

In 1936, both Jebel Druze and the Alawite State were incorporated into the State of Syria.

Demands for autonomy not granted by the French Mandate authorities

Al-Jazira Province

In 1936–1937, there was some autonomist agitation among Assyrians and Kurds, supported by some Bedouins, in the province of Al-Jazira. Its partisans wanted the French troops to stay in the province in the event of a Syrian independence, as they feared the nationalist Damascus government would replace minority officials by Muslim Arabs from the capital. The French authorities refused to consider any new status of autonomy inside Syria.

Golan Region
In Quneitra and the Golan Region, there was a sizeable Circassian community. For the same reasons as their Assyrian, Kurdish and Bedouin counterparts in Al-Jazira province in 1936–1937, several Circassian leaders wanted a special autonomy status for their region in 1938, as they feared the prospect of living in an independent Syrian republic under a nationalist Arab government hostile towards the minorities. They also wanted the Golan region to become a national homeland for Circassian refugees from the Caucasus. A Circassian battalion served in the French Army of the Levant and had helped it against the Arab nationalist uprisings. As in Al-Jazira Province, the French authorities refused to grant any autonomy status to the Golan Circassians.

Economy

Already in 1921, the French wanted to develop the agricultural sector and over a feasibility study of the Union Economique de Syrie the North-East Syrian and the Alawite State were deemed profitable for the cotton cultivation. Investments began in 1924, but it took until the 1930s to produce more than the level reached in 1925. By 1933, Palestine was the largest importer of Syrian goods, while the French held a share of 7.5% of the imports. Between the two World Wars, France became the largest trader of goods of the French Mandate. From 1933 onwards, Japan was also a large source for imports.

Kingdom of Syria (1918-1920)

Heads of Government

King

French Mandate of Syria (1920-1939)

Acting Heads of State

President

Heads of State

Presidents

High Commissioners

 26 Nov 1919 – 23 Nov 1922: Henri Gouraud
 23 Nov 1922 – 17 Apr 1923: Robert de Caix (acting)
 19 Apr 1923 – 29 Nov 1924: Maxime Weygand
 29 Nov 1924 – 23 Dec 1925: Maurice Sarrail
 23 Dec 1925 – 23 Jun 1926: Henry de Jouvenel
 Aug 1926 – 16 Jul 1933: Auguste Henri Ponsot
 16 Jul 1933 – Jan 1939: Damien de Martel
 Jan 1939 – Nov 1940: Gabriel Puaux
 24 Nov 1940 – 27 Nov 1940: Jean Chiappe (died on flight to take office)
 6 Dec 1940 – 16 Jun 1941: Henri Dentz
 24 Jun 1941 – 7 Jun 1943: Georges Catroux
 7 Jun 1943 – 23 Nov 1943: Jean Helleu
 23 Nov 1943 – 23 Jan 1944: Yves Chataigneau
 23 Jan 1944 – 1 Sep 1946: Étienne Paul-Émile-Marie Beynet

See also

 French colonial empire
 French colonial flags
 French Lebanese
 List of French possessions and colonies
 Modern history of Syria

Notes

Further reading

Primary sources
 Haut-commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban, Recueil des actes administratifs du Haut-commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban, Bibliothèque numérique patrimoniale, Aix-Marseille University
 Haut-commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban, Bulletin officiel des actes administratifs du Haut commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban, Bibliothèque numérique patrimoniale, Aix-Marseille University

Secondary sources
 Hakim, Carol. 2019. "The French Mandate in Lebanon." The American Historical Review, Volume 124, Issue 5, Pages 1689–1693
 Hyam Mallat (2012), Comprendre la formation des États du Liban et la Syrie a l'aune des boulerversements actuels dans le monde arabe (in French)
 Hourani (1946), Syria and Lebanon: A Political Essay, page 180 onwards

External links

 Timeline of the French Mandate period (archived 28 February 2012)
 Mandat Syria-Liban ... (1920–1946)

League of Nations mandates
20th century in Lebanon
20th century in Syria
History of the Levant
Former countries in the Middle East
Former colonies in Asia
Mandate for Syria
Mandate for Syria
Former countries of the interwar period
Political entities in the Land of Israel
Sykes–Picot Agreement

States and territories established in 1923
States and territories disestablished in 1946

1946 disestablishments in Asia
1923 establishments in the French colonial empire
1946 disestablishments in the French colonial empire
France–Lebanon relations
France–Syria relations

Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon


Aktzin (alternate spellings: Aktsin, Aktsini, Aktziní) was the god of rain, thunder and lightning for the Totonac people in ancient Mexico.  Variants of this deity were known as Tláloc to the Aztecs and Chaac to the Mayas.

Aktzin was typically depicted as a male figure wearing some form of headdress and rings over his eyes, similar to spectacles.  In one hand he held a hammer or axe which would produce thunder and lightning as it struck the clouds.  Water poured from his other hand, either from his palm or from a vessel which he held.  These elements represented the life-giving and sometimes destructive forces of the weather.

The Spanish conquerors led by Hernán Cortés encountered this civilization in 1519 after their initial contact with the Mayas of the Yucatán Peninsula.  The Totonac territories were located near the Gulf coast in what is today the state of Veracruz.  See also Tajín (City of the Thunder God), an archaeological zone with the remains of the  Totonac capital city dating back over 1,000 years.

Mesoamerican mythology and religion
Mesoamerican deities
Sky and weather gods
Thunder gods
Rain deities
Totonac

Aktzin


Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal, DFC (6 December 1916 – 13 August 1982) was the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He served in the IAF from 1939 until his retirement in 1973.  He was the CAS at the time of Operation Chengiz Khan, the preemptive strikes that were carried out by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that marked the formal initiation of hostilities of the war.

Slated to study law in England, Lal instead joined the Air Force Volunteer Reserve at the outbreak of World War II. After serving as a navigation instructor, he trained as a pilot and joined No. 7 Squadron IAF. He later commanded this squadron during the Burma Campaign and mentioned in dispatches as well as being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1945, he was absorbed into the permanent cadre of the Indian Air Force. After the Partition of India in 1947, he served as the Director of Planning and Training at Air HQ. In 1949, he attended the RAF Staff College, Andover. He led the Air Force team which brought King Tribhuvan to safety in 1950. Lal served as the Military Secretary to the Cabinet from 1953 to 1956 in the rank of air commodore. He became the first Indian to break the sound barrier, in 1954.

After commanding Training Command, he was deputed to the Indian Airlines Corporation for five years. He also served as the general manager of Indian Airlines Corporation from 1957 to 1962. During this time, he fell out of favour with Minister of Defence V. K. Krishna Menon, and his services were terminated in 1962. With the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War, he was re-instated and took over as Air Officer Maintenance at Air HQ. After a short stint heading Western Air Command, he served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. From 1966 to 1969, Lal served as the  managing director and later chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Lal took over as the seventh Chief of the Air Staff in 1969. Under his command, the IAF scored a decisive victory against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, the second and third highest civilian awards of India. After retiring from the IAF, Lal served as the chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines and later chairman of Air India.

Early life and education
Lal was born on 6 December 1916 in Ludhiana. He attended the Modern School and the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. Having qualified for a diploma in journalism at King's College, London in 1938, Lal expected to return to full-time study of law at the Inns of Court in the fall of 1939. With the outbreak of World War II, his plans were shelved.

Since he held a civilian pilot license, Lal was invited to join the Air Force Volunteer reserve. After appearing before the Selection Board at Safdarjung, Lal arrived at the Air Force Station Risalpur (now Pakistan Air Force Academy). Since there was a shortage of navigators, Lal was recruited as a navigator to begin with and would be trained as a pilot later.

Military career

World War II
Lal was commissioned in November 1939 as a pilot officer and posted to Karachi as an observer. He was later posted back to Risalpur as a navigation instructor. After a short stint at the Coastal Defence Flight in Calcutta, Lal was posted as a navigation instructor at No. 1 Flying Training School at Ambala. It was here that he was also trained as a pilot. He flew the Hawker Audax and the Hawker Hart.

In 1943, Flight Lieutenant Lal joined, as a combat pilot, No. 7 Squadron, commanded by Squadron Leader Hem Chaudhuri. The squadron was equipped with Vultee A-31 Vengeance dive bombers and supported the Chindits. The squadron also helped in relieving the Siege of Imphal.

In June 1944, Lal was promoted to the acting rank of squadron leader and took command of No. 7 Squadron. Under him, the squadron converted to fighters. From early 1944 to March 1945, the squadron was very active in the Burma Campaign. He led the squadron in a tactical reconnaissance role in support of the XIV Army, from North Burma all the way till Rangoon. He was mentioned in dispatches in December 1944. In October 1945, Lal was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

The citation for his DFC reads as follows:

After the war, Lal was absorbed into the permanent cadre of the IAF. He moved to the Manning department at Air Headquarters. In August 1946, he took over the inter-service recruiting centre at Calcutta. He was sent for a senior commanders' course to the United Kingdom in December 1946.

Post-Independence
On 15 August 1947, with the Partition of India, a new Air Headquarters of the Dominion of India was formed. Lal was appointed the Director of Planning and Training at Air HQ. In November 1947, he was promoted to the acting rank of group captain. Realising that the planning and training were vast responsibilities, it was divided into two departments. In late 1948, Group Captain Arjan Singh took over as Director of Training, while Lal continued as Director of Planning.

Along with Group Captain Minoo Merwan Engineer, Lal embarked for United Kingdom, having been selected to attend the RAF Staff College, Andover in May 1949. After completing the year-long course, he returned to India and was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer of No. 1 Operational Command (later Western Air Command), serving in that capacity for three years.

In November 1950, there were tensions in the Kingdom of Nepal. King Tribhuvan faced a coup d'état from the Rana dynasty. He took refuge in the Indian embassy. With two Dakota aircraft, Lal led the Indian Air Force team that brought the king to safety in New Delhi. In January 1953, he was promoted to the acting rank of air commodore and posted to the Cabinet Secretariat as deputy secretary (military). He led a team of three in October 1954, consisting of Group Captain (later Air Chief Marshal) Hrushikesh Moolgavkar and Flight Lieutenant (later air commodore) Roshan Lal Suri, to Europe to select new aircraft for the IAF. The team rejected the Supermarine Swift and chose the Folland Gnat, a decision which would serve India and the IAF well during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. During this tour, he became the first Indian to break the sound barrier. After a three-year stint at the Cabinet Secretariat, he took over as the air officer commanding Training Command in Bangalore.

Indian Airlines Corporation
In November 1957, Lal's services were loaned to the Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) for five years. He took over as the general manager of IAC. He simultaneously served as a member of the board of directors of IAC and Air India. The IAC fleet was modernised and the company showed its first profits during his tenure. During this time, the IAF and the IAC were looking for a replacement for the Dakotas. The three aircraft in the fray were the Hawker Siddeley HS 748, the Fokker F27 Friendship and the Lockheed CL-49. The minister of defence, V. K. Krishna Menon, wanted the HS 748 while Lal had his doubts. Eventually, Krishna Menon had his way and the HS 748 was selected to be manufactured in India. In November 1959, Lal was promoted to the acting rank of air vice marshal.

In November 1960, Air India inaugurated its service to Tokyo, Japan. Lal and Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, then Chief the Air Staff (CAS) were passengers on this flight. After landing in Tokyo, on 8 November 1960, Mukerjee was having a meal in a restaurant with a friend, an officer in the Indian Navy. A piece of food got lodged in his windpipe, choking him to death. Before a doctor was called for and could attend, Mukerjee had died. The next day, Lal came back with Mukerjee's body to Palam Airport, New Delhi.

The falling out with Menon led to Lal being informed that his services were no longer required by the IAF at the end of his term with IAC in September 1962. His services were not required by the Ministry of Civil Aviation either. The prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, offered him a job in a public sector steel mill but Lal refused. On 30 September 1962, he was paid out provident fund, pension and gratuity and left the service.

Return to IAF
In October 1962, the Sino-Indian War broke out and with the defeat came Menon's resignation on 31 October. Lal was re-instated in service in December as Air Officer Maintenance at Air Headquarters. After about a year as AOM, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command which was recently upgraded to a full-fledged command. Lal then took over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) in from Air Marshal Arjan Singh who assumed office as the Chief of the Air Staff.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Lal served as the VCAS. For distinguished service of a high order during the war, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. On 15 January 1966, in recognition of the contribution of the IAF, the post of the CAS was upgraded to the rank of Air Chief Marshal and that of the VCAS to the rank of Air Marshal. Lal was promoted to the acting rank of air marshal, the first VCAS to hold the rank.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
In September 1966, Lal was deputed to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and took over as the managing director. He brought about many innovations at HAL. He brought in a management specialist from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to take a fresh look at problems. A management information system was introduced for the first time. To improve productivity and lower costs, a production planning and control system was introduced. Under Lal, corporate policies regarding multiple aspects of human resource management were framed. He was instrumental in the establishment of the production lines for the new Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and Folland Gnat fighters, and HS 748 transport aircraft.

Chief of Air Staff
On 16 July 1969, Lal was promoted to the rank of air chief marshal, the second Indian officer to hold the rank, and assumed the office of Chief of the Air Staff.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation War, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis. In 1970, East Pakistanis demanded autonomy for the state, but the Pakistani government failed to satisfy these demands and, in early 1971, a demand for secession took root in East Pakistan. In March, the Pakistan Armed Forces launched a fierce campaign to curb the secessionists, the latter including soldiers and police from East Pakistan. Thousands of East Pakistanis died, and nearly ten million refugees fled to West Bengal, a neighbouring Indian state. In April, India decided to assist in the formation of the new nation of Bangladesh.

The war started on 3 December 1971 with Operation Chengiz Khan. Aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) mounted simultaneous attacks on seven IAF bases – Srinagar, Awantipur, Pathankot, Uttarlai, Jodhpur, Ambala and Agra. A radar station on the border was also hit.  The IAF struck back. By 21:00hrs, the Canberras of the No. 35 Squadron and No. 106 Squadron, as well as No. 5 and No. 16 Squadrons, were armed for a foray deep into Pakistan. These flew against eight Western Pakistani airbases: Murid, Mianwali, Sargodha, Chandhar, Risalewala, Rafiqui, and Masroor. In total, 23 combat sorties were launched that night, inflicting heavy damage on Sargodha and Masroor airbases. The PAF units stationed on these airfields had to operate from taxiways for the following two days. Through the night the Indian Air Force also struck the main East Pakistani airfields of Tejgaon, and later Kurmitola. At the same time, the Indian Air Force was deploying additional aircraft to its forward airfields for strikes that were to follow the next morning. Within days, India achieved air superiority.

Lal ensured that the Indian Army and the IAF worked closely with each other. The advance HQs of Western Air Command and Eastern Air Command were alongside their respective army commands. The advance HQs, under an air commodore, were responsible for providing support to the Army as required. Each corps HQ under the commands had a tactical air centre, commanded by a group captain, who reported to the advance HQ. In the field, forward air controllers were responsible for directing strikes called out in the support of the Army.

The war lasted less than a fortnight and saw more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers taken prisoner. It ended with the unconditional surrender of Pakistan's eastern half and resulted in the birth of Bangladesh as a new nation. The IAF flew over 7300 sorties in 14 days, an average of about 500 sorties per day. About 86 PAF aircraft were downed, at the cost of 42 IAF aircraft.

For his services to the nation, Lal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in January 1972. Lal retired from service on 16 January 1973 after serving for over 33 years. He handed over charge to Air Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra.

Post-retirement
In April 1973, Lal was appointed full-time chairman and managing director (CMD) of the Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC). With the IAC increasing in magnitude and complexity, a need for appointing a full-time CMD was felt. Lal was also a part of the 21-member apex body constituted by the Ministry of Labour to delve into the problems of industrial relations for industries in the private sector. In August 1976, he was removed from the chairmanship after a falling out with Sanjay Gandhi. With the new government being formed in March 1977, Lal was appointed part-time Chairman of Indian Airlines in July. Lal also served as the chairman of the Indian Tube Company, a part of the Tata Group.

In February 1978, J. R. D. Tata, the founder and long-time chairman of Air India was unceremoniously dropped from the board by Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Lal, who was the chairman of Indian Airlines was appointed chairman of Air India as well. Two senior executives, Managing Director K G Appusamy and Deputy Managing Director Nari Dastur, resigned in protest.

Death and legacy
Lal died of a heart attack while visiting London on 13 August 1982. His body was brought back on an Air India flight. He was cremated with full military honours. Among the pall bearers were the former chief ACM, Arjan Singh, and the serving chief, ACM Dilbagh Singh. Wreaths were laid by the Minister of Defence R Venkataraman and the chiefs of the three service – COAS General K. V. Krishna Rao, CNS Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson and CAS ACM Dilbagh Singh

Lal was working on his memoirs and the history of the IAF when he died. His wife, Ela Lal edited and completed the book and My years with the IAF was published in 1986.

The Indian Air Force won its most decisive victory under the leadership of Lal. He was regarded as an exemplary aviator and administrator. Unlike earlier Chiefs, he was not a fighter jock, but an instructor and manager. The Air Force organises an annual 'Air Chief Marshal P C Lal Memorial lecture'.

Awards and decorations

Source:

Dates of rank

See also
 Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
 Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda

References

Bibliography

1916 births
1982 deaths
Alumni of King's College London
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service
Chiefs of Air Staff (India)
Vice Chiefs of Air Staff (India)
Indian Air Force air marshals
Air marshals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Indian Air Force officers
Indian military aviators
Brahmos
Indian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Modern School (New Delhi) alumni
Bishop Cotton School Shimla alumni

Pratap Chandra Lal


John Granville Colpoys Keane (born 12 September 1954) is a British artist, whose paintings have contemporary political and social themes.

Life and work

John Keane was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. He was educated at Wellington College (1968–72) and Camberwell School of Art (1972–76).

He is a political painter, whose subjects often concern contentious political, social and military issues.

In 1990, the Imperial War Museum commissioned him as an official war artist in the Gulf War.

2001–02, he exhibited paintings which were derived from an expedition with Greenpeace during their campaign in the Amazon against illegal logging.

In 2002, he painted Mo Mowlam, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The original idea was to represent her with other major figures in the Good Friday Agreement (Gerry Adams, John Hume and David Trimble), but four years of talks as to where the individuals should be placed ended with Trimble's withdrawal and the plan was abandoned.

In 2004, he toured his show, The Inconvenience of History, internationally.  This was based on trips in liaison with Christian Aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He also worked on paintings about the 2002 Moscow Theatre siege, using documentary footage as a source: "The process has continued my methods of developing the imagery with the aid of a computer, prior to committing paint to canvas in works both large and small scale."

In 2006, 57 Hours in the House of Culture was a show at Flowers East gallery, London, and Sakharov Museum, Moscow, about the Chechen War.

His more recent work, Guantanamerica, bases paintings about "issues of representation and dehumanisation of detainees at Guantánamo Bay" on low resolution internet files.

In 2010, he became known for a commissioned portrait of the former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan.

In November 2019, along with other public figures, Keane signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.

He is a visiting research fellow at Camberwell College of Arts.

Residencies and commissions
These include:
2002 Project in Israel with Christian Aid
2005 Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery of Sir Bill Morris
2006 Portrait for the BBC of Greg Dyke
2006 Project in Angola with Christian Aid

Bibliography
Exhibition Catalogues
John Keane: Back to Fundamentals [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 14 February – 14 March 2003] London.
John Keane: Fifty Seven Hours in the House of Culture [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 31 March – 30 April 2006] London.
John Keane: Guantanamerica [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers 2006] New York.
John Keane: Gulf [Catalogue of the exhibition held at The Imperial War Museum 26 March – 31 May 1992] London.
John Keane: Intelligent Design [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 20 March – 18 April 2009] London.
John Keane: Making a Killing [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 2000] London.
John Keane: Saving the Bloody Planet [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 2001] London.
John Keane: The Struggle for the Control of the Television Station [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 1 July – 1 August 1993] London.
John Keane: Truth, Lies, & Super-8 [Catalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 27 September – 26 October 1997] London.

Monographs
Lawson, M. (1995) Conflicts of Interest: John Keane. Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh

References

External links
John Keane official web site
John Keane at Flowers East gallery
John Keane's Moscow diary
John Keane on the Turner Prize
 John Keane at National Portrait Gallery, London (npg.org.uk)

1954 births
Living people
20th-century English painters
English male painters
21st-century English painters
British war artists
People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
People from Harpenden
Artists commissioned by the Imperial War Museum
English contemporary artists
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
20th-century English male artists
21st-century English male artists

John Keane (artist)