Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically attached to the boat, and the rower drives the oar like a lever, exerting force in the same direction as the boat's travel; while paddles are completely hand-held and have no attachment to the boat, and are driven like a cantilever, exerting force opposite to the intended direction of the boat.

In some strict terminologies, using oars for propulsion may be termed either "pulling" or "rowing", with different definitions for each. Where these strict terminologies are used, the definitions are reversed depending on the context. On saltwater a "pulling boat" has each person working one oar on one side, alternating port and starboard along the length of the boat; whilst "rowing" means each person operates two oars, one on each side of the boat. On inland waterways, the opposite applies, with "rowing" being where each person in a crew works one oar and "sculling" (especially in sport rowing) involves each participant using a pair of oars. In a maritime setting "sculling" means propelling a boat with a single oar operated over the stern.

This article focuses on the general types of rowing, such as recreation and transport rather than the sport of competitive rowing which is a specialized case of boat racing using strictly regulated equipment and a highly refined technique.

History of rowing

Ancient Egypt
The beginning of rowing is clouded in history but the use of oars in the way they are used today can be traced back to ancient Egypt. Whether it was invented in Egypt or something learned from Mesopotamia via trade is not known. However, archaeologists have recovered a model of a rowing vessel in a tomb dating back to the 18-19th century BC. The model they found was of a wide boat with shallow bottom, rather like a barge, which was designed to float on the shallow rivers of Mesopotamia. Both the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers were part of this region and flowing from the north to the south they quickly became an integral part of the non-nomadic civilizations.

Rowing vessels, especially galleys, were extensively used in naval warfare and trade in the Mediterranean from classical antiquity onward. Galleys had advantages over sailing ships in light seas with low winds: they were easier to maneuver, capable of short bursts of speed, and able to move independently of the wind.

Ancient Greece
During the classical age of oared galleys, the Greeks dominated the Mediterranean while the Athenians dominated the other Greeks. They used thousands of lower-class citizens to serve as rowers in the fleet. In Classical Athens, a leading naval power at the time, rowing was regarded as an honorable profession of which men should possess some practical knowledge.

The Classical trireme used 170 rowers; later galleys included even larger crews. Trireme oarsmen used leather cushions to slide over their seats, which allowed them to use their leg strength as a modern oarsman does with a sliding seat. Galleys usually had masts and sails, but would lower them at the approach of combat. Greek fleets would even leave their sails and masts on shore (as being unnecessary weight) if possible.

Northern Europe
The use of oars in rowing instead of paddling came rather late to northern Europe, sometime between 500 BC-1 AD. This change might have been hastened by the Roman conquest of Northern Gaul. However, between 500 and 1100 AD, combined sailing and rowing vessels dominated trade and warfare in northern Europe in the time that has come to be known as the Viking Age.

Galleys continued to be used in the Mediterranean until the advent of steam propulsion.

Types of rowing systems

In some localities, rear-facing systems prevail. In other localities, forward-facing systems prevail, especially in crowded areas such as in Venice, Italy and in Asian and Indonesian rivers and harbors. This is not strictly an "either-or", because in different situations it's useful to be able to row a boat facing either way. The current emphasis on the health aspects of rowing has resulted in some new mechanical systems being developed, some (such as the Rantilla rowing method) very different from the traditional rowing systems of the past.

Rearward-facing systems

A seated rower pulls on one or two oars, which lever the boat through the water. The pivot point of the oars (attached solidly to the boat) is the fulcrum for this lever. The person operating the oar is kept in position (when applying maximum force) by a stretcher, a footrest that may be as simple as a wooden bar that can be adjusted by positioning in different pairs of notches in the bottom of the boat.

Different types of pivot points can be used as a fulcrum for the oar.
Thole pins are wooden pegs that are inserted into holes in the top of the gunwale. They are often used in pairs, with the oar resting between them. If used singly, the oar bears against the thole pin on the power stroke and is held in place by a leather strop for the return stroke.
Oar crutchescommonly called "rowlocks" (see below for the strict definition) are metal fittings, usually U-shaped, with a pin underneath that fits into a metal socket on the gunwale. The oar sits in the U-shaped portion and the oar crutch pivots in the socket whilst in use.
A rowlock or oarlock is, in strict terminology, a U-shaped cut-out in the top-most strake of the boat's hullthis cut-out is usually in a wash-strake, a strake that sits above the gunwale. (The term rowlock is often applied to an oar crutch.) A rowlock may be closed when, for instance, a boat is being used under sail. Strictly speaking, this is done with a piece called a shutter, which is habitually mistermed a "poppett".
An oarport is a hole cut through the side of the hull. The oar has to be passed through this hole when it is needed. A slot may be cut in one part of the hole to allow the blade of the oar to get through (as seen in the Gokstad ship).

The traditional terminology, in a strict application, varies between boats operating on salt water and in fresh water. "Rowing" at sea denotes each rower operating a pair of oars, one on each side of the boat. When each person uses a single oar on one side of the boat, that action is termed "pulling". In fresh water terminology, "rowing" is the use of one oar per person, whilst "pulling" denotes each person using two oars.

Traditional boats propelled by oar are fitted with thwarts - seats that go from one side of the hull to the other, as well as forming part of the hull structure. A boat that is "double banked" has two crew members sitting on each thwart, each pulling an oar on their side of the boat. In a "single banked" boat, there is one person on each thwart pulling one oar. Though there is usually an even number of oars used in  single banked boats (alternating port and starboard along the length of the boat) a common exception is the arrangement in many whaleboats, where five oars were often used, three on one side and two on the other.

Forward-facing systems

Push rowing, also called back-watering if used in a boat not designed for forward motion, uses regular oars with a pushing motion to achieve forward-facing travel, sometimes seated and sometimes standing. This is a convenient method of manoeuvring in a narrow waterway or through a busy harbour.

The Venetian rowing (voga alla veneta) is the traditional technique in Venice, Italy in which the rower stands up, facing forward and resting the oar in a special oarlock called fórcola.

The "Rantilla" system of frontrowing oars uses inboard mounted oarlocks rather than a reversing transmission to achieve forward motion of the boat with a pulling motion on the oars.

Another system (also called sculling) involves using a single oar extending from the stern of the boat which is moved side to side underwater somewhat like a fish tail, such as the Chinese yuloh, by which quite large boats can be moved.

Sampans are rowed by foot in Ninh Bình Province of northern Vietnam.

The Intha people of Burma row forwards using their legs.

The pletna of Slovenia is rowed forward in the standing position with two oars.

Rowing propulsion
Rowing is a cyclic (or intermittent) form of propulsion such that in the quasi-steady state the motion of the system (the system comprising the rower, the oars, and the boat), is repeated regularly. In order to maintain the steady-state propulsion of the system without either accelerating or decelerating the system, the sum of all the external forces on the system, averaged over the cycle, must be zero. Thus, the average drag (retarding) force on the system must equal the average propulsion force on the system. The drag forces consist of aerodynamic drag on the superstructure of the system (components of the boat situated above the waterline), as well as the hydrodynamic drag on the submerged portion of the system. The propulsion forces are the forward reaction of the water on the oars while in the water. The oar can be used to provide a drag force (a force acting against the forward motion) when the system is brought to rest.

Although the oar can be conveniently thought of as a lever with a "fixed" pivot point in the water, the blade moves sideways and sternwards through the water, so that the magnitude of the propulsion force developed is the result of a complex interaction between unsteady fluid mechanics (the water flow around the blade) and solid mechanics and dynamics (the handle force applied to the oar, the oar's inertia and bending characteristic, the acceleration of the boat and so on).

Distinction from other watercraft

The distinction between rowing and other forms of water transport, such as canoeing or kayaking, is that in rowing the oars are held in place at a pivot point that is in a fixed position relative to the boat. This point is the load point for the oar to act as a second-class lever (the blade fixed in the water is the fulcrum). In flatwater rowing, the boat (also called a shell or fine boat) is narrow to avoid drag, and the oars are attached to oarlocks ( also called gates ) at the end of outriggers extending from the sides of the boat. Racing boats also have sliding seats to allow the use of the legs in addition to the body to apply power to the oar.

Venetian rowing

In Venice, gondolas and other similar flat-bottomed boats are popular forms of transport propelled by oars which are held in place by an open wooden fórcola. The Voga alla Veneta technique of rowing is considerably different from the style used in international sport rowing, due to the oarsman facing forward in a standing position. This allows the boat to maneuver very quickly and with agility - useful in the narrow and busy canals of Venice. Competitive regattas are also held using the Venetian rowing technique by using both gondolas and other types of vessels.

There are three styles of Venetian rowing, each slightly different. The first consists of a single oarsman with one oar, standing near the stern of the boat where the oar also acts as a rudder. The second style consists of one or two oarsmen, each with two crossed oars (known as a la valesàna). The third style has two or more oarsmen, rowing on alternate sides of the boat.

Design factors

The classic shapes of rowing boats reflect an evolution of hundreds of years of trial and error to get a good shape. Some factors to be considered are waterline length, speed, carrying capacity, stability, windage, weight, seaworthiness, cost, waterline beam, the fullness or fineness of the ends, and trim. Design details are a compromise between competing factors.

Width and height

If the waterline beam (width) is too narrow the boat will be tender and the occupant at risk of falling out, if the beam is too wide the boat will be slow and have more resistance to waves.
Overall beam (width) is important. If the rowlocks are too close together the oars will be difficult to use. If the rowlocks are too far apart then the boat will be overly large and rowing will be inefficient, wasting a rower's effort. Sometimes on narrow, faster rowing boats for protected waters outriggers are added to increase rowlock separation.

If the freeboard (height of the gunwale above the waterline) is too high then windage will be high and as a result, the boat will be caught by the wind and the rower will not be able to control the boat in high winds. If the freeboard is too low, water will enter the boat through waves. If the boat is designed for one person then only a single rowing position is required. If the rower is to carry a passenger at the stern than the boat will be stern heavy and trim will be incorrect.

Length
When it comes to how long the rowing boat should be, it is a compromise between two factors that will affect the speed of the boat. If the boat is too short, the boat will reach a very low maximum speed. If the boat is too long, there will be more friction and more wet surface.
Therefore, the minimum recommended length should be around 16 feet. If the boat is longer than that recommended length, the boat is usually narrower and although faster will generally be more difficult to balance.

Weight
To have good width and the height that ensures the balance of the rowing boat, a weight can be added in the bow, alternatively, the boat can supply a second rowing position further forward for this purpose.

There are some advantages and disadvantages that are attributed to the weight of the rowing boat. A very light boat will most likely start to slow down as soon as the oar stroke has ended. In contrast, a heavier boat will likely continue to move forward.

Most modern style rowing boats are considerably lighter than traditional clinker-built style.

Performance

Spring in the keel or rocker influences how a rowing boat performs. Longer, slender race boats have less rocker of about . A short  pram dinghy has a rocker of . Boats with less rocker are easier to row and faster in flat or nearly flat water. However, in any waves a boat with  of rocker will be more seaworthy—rising over waves rather than going through them. A boat with more rocker can change direction easily whereas a straight keel boat will track well in a straight line but resist turning. High sided and fine-ended boats, such as dories, are affected by wind. Their trim can be altered by using a plastic container of water attached to a rope that can be moved to the bow or stern as need be. Long-distance rowers can keep up a steady 20 strokes per minute compared to a racing shell which can be rowed at 30–40 strokes per minute or more by fit athletes (depending on distance and racing circumstances).

A rower can maintain high stroke-rates per minute for only a brief period. Longer, narrower rowing boats can reach  but most rowing boats of  can be rowed at . Many old rowing boats have very full ends (blunt ends); these may appear at first glance to be bad design as it looks slow, not fast. However a full-ended rowing boat will rise to a sea and not dig in as a finer hulled boat might do, thus a compromise needs to be made between the factors of speed and of seaworthiness. This style of rowing boat was designed to carry a bigger load and the full sections gave far more displacement. Also older boats were often very heavily constructed compared to their modern counterpart, hence weighed far more. A rowing boat designed as a tender carrying occupants to a boat on a mooring might tend to be short, whilst a boat for use on rivers and to travel long distances might be long and narrow.

Oars

Over time the design, of both the oars and the blades, has significantly changed. Typically, the part of the oars that are inboard of the rowlock have stayed the same length but the outboard part has gotten shorter. The different lengths of the oars affect both the energy that the rower has to put in as well as the performance, in terms of speed of the rowing boat.

A short oar makes quick but short strokes possible. A short oar is easier to use in a narrow creek or a crowded anchorage.  This is important in a small tender which may be heavily laden with passengers, limiting the swing of the oars. A short, quick stroke prevents the bow being driven under in choppy waters while heavily laden.
Longer oars can be used to produce longer, slower strokes, which are easier to maintain over long distances. Designers may match oar length to the amount of space provided for oar storage in the boat. Wooden oars are generally made of a light, strong wood, such as fir or ash. The blades can either be flat for general use or spooned for faster propulsion. In modern racing boats, oars are created from a composite of materials such as carbon fiber which makes them lightweight.

Whitehall rowing boats

The origins of this distinctive and practical craft are unclear. In earlier times, however, builders were often sailors or seafaring men. Successful designs for large and small craft alike evolved slowly and as certain desirable qualities were attained and perfected they rarely changed.

Some hold that the Whitehall rowing boat design was introduced from England. However the famed nautical historian Howard I. Chapelle, cites the opinion of the late W. P. Stephens that in New York City there is a Whitehall Street and this was where the Whitehall was first built. Chapelle, Stephens and others agree that the design came into existence some time in the 1820s in New York City, having first been built by navy yard apprentices who had derived their model to some extent from the old naval gig.

See also

 Coastal and ocean rowing
 College rowing
 Ocean rowing
 Racing shell
 Rowing exercise
 Single scull
 Rowing (sport)
 Sculling

References

External links

Watercraft
Human-powered transport

Rowing


Gabor Acs (born 1926 in Budapest) is a Hungarian architect.  He was a member of Order of Architects in Rome.

Education
He enrolled at the Faculty of Architecture-Engineering, University of Budapest, where he graduated in 1948. With the arrival of Soviet Forces, the father decides to leave for Italy with his family, living in Rome. Gabor then moved to Milan for his degree in architecture from the Polytechnic. After graduating in 1953, decided to reach the United States.

Career
After some experience with architectural design, he became associated with I. M. Pei and Partners in New York. From 1956 to 1963, in association with Pei and Henry N. Cobb, he designed residential buildings in New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and other urban planning projects including the Master Plan of Cleveland, Ohio.

As SGI's chief architect, Gabor Acs, and Watergate complex chief architect Luigi Moretti, flew to New York City on May 17 1962 and defended the complex's design in a special three-hour meeting with United States Commission of Fine Arts members.

Italy
Then he transfers its business in Rome and since 1963, in his office in Piazza Navona, running projects for Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, Guinea, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Monaco, Nigeria, Venezuela, Zaire.
These include in particular:

 in 1963 Port Royal residential tower in Montreal (Canada) and Victoria Place business center working with Luigi Moretti and Pier Luigi Nervi; in 1964: building and offices and gallery trading on Champs Elysees Pan-Am Building in Paris; in 1966: 5 residential towers in Mexico City in 1967: Headquarters of the Red Cross and Expansion, Rue de Berry in Paris; in 1968: residential building Sperlinga Villa, in Palermo; in 1969: the hotel and residential tower Mirabeau in Monaco and the headquarters of the Toyota in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); in 1979: three offices' towers and pedestrian plaza of the complex Fiera District in Bologna, in collaboration with Kenzō Tange; in 1980: National Center for Civil Defence in Rome.

Personal life
Gabor Acs lives in Rome with his wife Armelle.

References

1926 births
Living people
Hungarian architects

Gabor Acs


The Red Guards (, ; ) were the paramilitary units of the labour movement in Finland during the early 1900s. The Red Guards formed the army of Red Finland and were one of the main belligerents of the Finnish Civil War in 1918.

The Red Guards were first established during the 1905 general strike but disbanded a year later until they were re-established after the February Revolution in 1917. The combined strength of the Red Guard was about 30,000 at the beginning of the Civil War, peaking at between 90,000 and 120,000 during the course of the conflict, including more than 2,000 members of the Women's Guards. The Red Guards were defeated in Finland by the Whites in May 1918 and around 80,000 were captured as prisoners of war, where 12,000 to 14,000 of them died in the post-war prison camps due to disease, malnutrition, and execution. Most Red Guards were pardoned by the Government of Finland in late 1918.

Approximately 10,000 to 13,000 Red Guards fled to Soviet Russia where some fought against the Finnish Whites in the Russian Civil War, including the North Russia intervention and the Estonian War of Independence. The Red Guards ceased to exist as an organized force by 1920.

1905 general strike and Sveaborg rebellion

Establishment
The Red Guards came about during a general strike in November 1905. The strike began in reaction to the Russification of Finland and was a joint effort between the Social Democratic labour movement and the political right. The strike lasted only a week, but in the final days differing views created a deep gap between the two parties. The National Guard, which was established for law enforcement as the police began to participate, was likewise split into the working-class Red Guards and the bourgeoisie-aligned Protection Corps. Some minor incidents followed, especially in the capital Helsinki, but violent clashes were avoided. Although the general strike was over, both guards remained active. In 1906, the number of Red Guard members was estimated at 25,000.

Hakaniemi riot
Violence between the two sides finally burst out on 2 August 1906 during the Sveaborg rebellion, a revolt of the Russian Bolshevik sailors in the Sveaborg Fortress in Helsinki. As the mutiny started, the Helsinki Red Guard, led by Johan Kock, joined the rebellion by conducting sabotage in the mainland. In the final day of the revolt, Johan Kock declared a general strike on his own, without permission from the Social Democratic Party, which was leading the Finnish labour movement in the absence of any central trade union. The strike was joined by thousands of Helsinki workers.

The bourgeoisie opposed the strike and sent the Protection Corps to the Hakaniemi working-class district in order to keep the city's tram traffic rolling. At Hakaniemi Square the Protection Corps was surrounded by an angry mob of local people throwing stones. The incident escalated into a gunfight between the Protection Corps and the Red Guards, supported by a squad of Russian sailors. The riot was finally disrupted by the Russian cossacks, ending with two Reds and seven Protection Corps members dead.

200 people were arrested, but only one Red Guard platoon leader was convicted, as there was not enough evidence against the others. The funeral of the slain Reds became a mass demonstration against the violence of the bourgeoisie. The Protection Corps, in turn, arranged a large funeral as a protest against Red violence.

Once the Sveaborg rebellion was suppressed, 900 Russian mutineers and about 100 Red Guard members were arrested. 77 Reds were convicted.

Dissolution
As a result of the Hakaniemi riot, the Senate of Finland banned both guards. The Social Democratic Party had already decided to disband the Red Guards in the party congress held in Oulu in late August. Some delegates opposed the decision and had a secret meeting where an underground organization was established to preserve the Red Guards. The organization was soon revealed to the party leaders but the underground Red Guards were active until the 1907 general election. Their task was to be prepared for the possible revolution in Russia.

1917 re-establishment

February Revolution

The Red Guards were re-established during the 1917 Russian revolution as a result of disputes over law enforcement and the general turmoil in the Grand Duchy of Finland. After the February revolution, the Russian-controlled police force lost its status in Finland. The role of law enforcement was first transferred to the Russian military, which turned it over to local labour organizations. The established unarmed units were temporary and had no further revolutionary goals.

Finally, a new People's Militia was organized in late March in the seventeen largest Finnish towns. The political right did not accept the new arrangement and the Senate formed a committee to solve the dispute.

On 18 July, the so-called "power law" was passed in the Social Democratic majority parliament. The power to enact laws was to be transferred from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki and from the Senate to the parliament. This law would have enabled a purely Social Democratic government to be formed in consequence of the position the party gained in the 1916 election. The Russian Provisional Government refused to approve the law and, with the co-operation of the Finnish bourgeois parties, dissolved the parliament.

In the October 1917 election, the Social Democratic Party lost its majority, although it remained the largest party with 92 seats. The Senate now disbanded the People's Militia and established a police force which left-wing and labour activists were not allowed to join.

Workers' Order Guards
The food shortage launched a large number of agricultural strikes during the summer of 1917. On 13 July, a violent clash between the striking farm workers and their employers occurred in the Western Finnish municipality of Huittinen. The incident is often seen as the beginning of the events which finally led to the Civil War in January 1918. After the Huittinen riot, the right-wing farmers in the Satakunta province started forming Protection Guards and were soon followed in other parts of the country.

The labour movement responded by establishing Workers' Order Guards. By the early October, guards were formed in seventeen towns and twenty rural municipalities, mostly in the industrialized areas of the Turku and Pori, Uusimaa and Viipuri provinces. These units had up to 7,000–8,000 men. On 20 October, the Finnish Trade Union Federation urged the party and trade union locals to establishing Workers' Order Guards throughout the country.

In the next three weeks, the number of guards increase to 237 with more than 30,000 members. The rules of the Guards were published in the party newspapers. The formation was very similar to a common military organization, though the commander was replaced with a five-men committee.

Finland was now split into two camps; the middle and upper classes, including the wealthy farmers, against the working class, poor peasants and the landless people. The first violent incidents between the Protective Guards and the Workers' Order Guards occurred during the general strike in November 1917. More workers were still joining the Order Guards, as the strike ended on 20 November, the number of members was 40,000–50,000. The newspaperman Ali Aaltonen, who had served as a lieutenant in the Imperial Russian Army, was named the first commander-in-chief of the Workers' Order Guards.

The general strike was the first time the Workers' Order Guards were used as a nationwide organization. In many places, they were actually leading the strike, instead of the strike committees. The guards were acting on their own, searching for food supplies and weapons from wealthy houses. As the right-wing Protection Corps were rather weak, the Workers' Order Guards could usually act without any resistance, although, in some places, the Protection Corps took up arms, which resulted in violent clashes, prefiguring the oncoming Civil War.

The Workers' Order Guards were most powerful in Helsinki as they were armed by the Russian troops. The Helsinki Guard captured a couple hundred people and invaded the House of the Estates, which prevented the Senate from working. The leaders of the Social Democratic Party strictly condemned this kind of action, insisting the militant guards must be taken under the party control. Soon after the general strike, the first congress of the Worker's Order Guards was held in the Tampere Workers' Hall on 16–18 December 1917. By the new rules adopted in the meeting, the guards were now under an unconditional authority of the Social Democratic Party and the Trade Union Federation.

Drift toward war
After Finland gained its independence from Soviet Russia on 6 December 1917, disagreement and discontent were still growing. Incidents occurred across the country as the striking workers and the Workers' Order Guards clashed with the Protection Corps and right-wing bourgeoisie. Unemployed demonstrators surrounded the town hall for two days in Vyborg and in Tampere the city council was captured by the local Workers' Order Guard. In Turku, the Order Guard occupied town offices and captured the chief of police. The Protection Corps attacked the labour activists in some places too.

On 6 January, the Helsinki Workers' Order Guard declared itself independent from the Social Democratic Party. The unit was renamed the Helsinki Red Guard. Three days later, the guard occupied the residence of the Governor-General of Finland. It was now called as the Smolna, like the Bolshevik headquarters in Saint Petersburg. On the same day, the Helsinki Guard sent 200 men to Sipoo to search for guns hidden by the local Protection Corps. The operation escalated into a gunfight in which two Reds were killed.

At the beginning of 1918, the Workers' Order Guards still had very few guns. For example, the largest guard in Helsinki was armed with only 20–30 military rifles. In early January, the commander-in-chief Ali Aaltonen went to Saint Petersburg to acquire weaponry from the Bolsheviks. On 13 January, Aaltonen informed the general staff of the cargo of 10,000 rifles and 10 artillery pieces which would be brought to Finland within a couple of weeks. At the same time, the Protection Corps was preparing to receive 60,000 rifles from Germany.

Up to this point, many of the largest Workers' Order Guards were occupied by radicals who were pushing the Finnish labour movement towards an armed conflict. They were no longer under the authority of the Social Democratic Party or the Trade Union Federation. In order to keep the labour movement united, the party leadership was forced to negotiate with the revolutionary guards. Many of the leading Social Democrats, such as Väinö Tanner, Taavi Tainio and Evert Huttunen, were moderate and opposed armed revolution and the acts of the Order Guards.

In 19–23 January, violent clashes between the Workers' Order Guards and the Protection Corps occurred in eastern Finland in Vyborg and Luumäki and in the western part of the country in Kiikka. In Vyborg, the second largest city in Finland, the Protection Corps was trying to seize control but was expelled from the town. Another serious incident was in Luumäki, as the Protection Corps seized 200 rifles at the Taavetti railway station. Two days later, the Workers' Guards attacked the Protection Corps in order to take the guns back.

Finally, on 25 January, the Senate declared the Protection Corps to be government troops. The Social Democrats and the labour movement interpreted this as a declaration of war against the working class. As a result, the Workers' Order Guards and the Helsinki Red Guard were merged into the paramilitary Red Guard of Finland (Suomen Punainen Kaarti) and the revolution was proclaimed in the late evening of 26 January by lighting a red lantern as a sign on the tower of the Helsinki Workers' Hall. The order for the mobilization came on the next morning from the executive committee of the Trade Union Federation, coinciding with the spontaneous clashing of Red Guards and the Protection Corps.

1918 Civil War

Commanders

The first commander-in-chief of the Red Guards was the former Russian Army lieutenant Ali Aaltonen, who was elected during the general strike in November 1917. As the Civil War started, the task was given to Eero Haapalainen, with the Russian colonel Mikhail Svechnikov as his military advisor from the end of February. Haapalainen was expelled on 20 March and replaced by Eino Rahja, Adolf Taimi and Evert Eloranta. The troika stayed at the office until 10 April, when Kullervo Manner was given the dictator's rights as head of the Red Government and the Red Guards. August Wesley served as the chief of the Red Guards general staff from 16 February to 6 April. On 25 April, Manner fled to Soviet Russia, and for the last ten days of the war, there was no commander-in-chief. The final major battle was fought in Vyborg under the command of Edvard Gylling and Oskar Rantala.

Size

Due to incomplete and destroyed records, the exact number of men who served in the Red Guards is unknown. Historians provide estimates between 80,000 and 100,000 men. As the war started, the number was about 40,000, but by the end of the war, the total strength rose to 80,000–100,000 men and women, including 2,600 female fighters and thousands of women in the unarmed maintenance units. Approximately 40,000 were at the front at any one time. The largest single unit was the Helsinki Red Guard with a strength of 8,000–10,000 men and women. Other major units were the Red Guards of Tampere and Vyborg and the Saint Petersburg Finnish Red Guard. The Female Guards had about 2,000–2,600 members. Russian participation remained low, although 40,000 soldiers of the Imperial Russian Army and the Baltic Fleet were still in Finland. Only a few hundred joined the Red Guards, including a few dozen officers. Most of the Russian troops simply wanted to leave the country and return home. In addition to the Finland-based troops, the Saint Petersburg Bolsheviks supported the Reds in some battles on the Karelian Front.

Organization

The Red Guards were composed of industrial workers, landless rural workers and crofters. Most of them were members of the Finnish Trade Union Federation. The number of middle-class people was very small. The average age was between 20 and 30, the youngest fighters were only 15 to 16-years-old. The Red military units consisted of infantry, artillery and a small unit of cavalry. Weapons and other equipment were mostly received from the Russian troops. In the beginning of February, a train commanded by Jukka Rahja arrived from Saint Petersburg, carrying a cargo of 15,000 rifles, machine-guns, artillery pieces and 2 million cartridges, which the commander-in-chief Ali Aaltonen had purchased from the Bolsheviks. The Reds also had six armoured trains and a couple of aeroplanes which were flown by Russian pilots.

The general staff was located in Helsinki, with major subordinate staffs in Tampere and Vyborg. The infantry was divided into regiments and battalions but in practice, the largest commanded units were companies. A Red Guard company usually consisted of the men of some trade union local. For example, the Helsinki Red Guard had units composed of shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths, sheet metal workers, plumbers, stonemasons and so on. Also some working-class sporting clubs formed their own squads. In the rural areas, the units were assembled by the men of the same locality. The Red Guard fighters received a salary that was sometimes even bigger than what they were paid for their usual work. As there was high unemployment, money was one of the reasons for joining the guards. Very few Reds had any kind of military background. The ones who had served in the Russian Imperial Army were usually voted as company leaders. The Red Guard fighters had a short military training before they were sent to the front line. The battles were usually fought like an ordinary working day. The fighting begun at the dawn and as the Sun set, the men returned to the base. On the Tavastia Front, some troops even spent the nights in Tampere, returning to the front by train in the morning.

The Red Guards' major problems were a lack of equipment, poor leadership and training, and food shortages at the front. The practice of electing officers democratically made discipline lax. Sometimes this led to a general unwillingness to go on offensive operations or to operate outside their local areas. The Red Guards did not have a clear command structure. Local commanders developed plans of their own, which did not always coincide with the ones composed by general staff in Helsinki. As there were very few trained officers, battlefield tactics had to be kept basic.

War

As the war started on 27 January, the Red Guards occupied the capital, Helsinki, and the largest towns of industrialized southern Finland. The front line was soon established, stretching from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Karelian Isthmus, 30–50 kilometres north of Pori, Tampere, Lahti, Lappeenranta and Vyborg. The Whites occupied rural northern Finland, where the few Red strongholds fell in less than two weeks without any strong resistance. The last Red occupied town in the north was Varkaus, which the Whites seized on 21 February. In the Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Savonia and North Karelia regions most Reds were captured, but in Lapland many were able to flee to Sweden, Norway or Soviet Russia.

The Red military operations were divided into three major theaters: the Western Front (Satakunta and Häme provinces), the Middle Front (Savo province) and the Eastern Front (the Vyborg province). The northernmost area of the Western Front, located north of Tampere, was often known as the Northern Front. The Red Guard general staff worked in Helsinki, with major subordinate staffs in Tampere and Vyborg. As a major railway junction, Lahti was also an important town for the Red military. A large number of units were organized and trained there before they were sent to the eastern fronts in Savo and Karelia.

The Reds launched three major offensives; in the beginning of February, 21 February and 10 March. The goal was to take the east–west railways connecting Ostrobothnia, Savonia and Karelia. From there the Reds could strike at the strongest White strongholds as well as the White capital of Vaasa. However, the offensives failed and the front line remained in the same position from early February to mid-March.

On 15 March, the Whites launched their major offensive against the Reds in the northern Häme where the Red front collapsed in a couple of days. The Whites were now able to besiege Tampere, militarily the most important Red town. The Battle of Tampere was fought from 23 March to 6 April. It was the fiercest battle of the Finnish Civil War, and at the time, also the largest urban battle in the world. The Battle of Tampere ended with mass executions of surrendering Reds, of whom 10,000–11,000 were captured, and thousands fled the surrounding areas.

At the same time, German troops landed on the south coast of Finland and launched their campaign to support the Whites. On 6 April, the Red Government and the Red Guard general staff left Helsinki for Vyborg. The Red units in the western provinces of Satakunta and Finland Proper were given the order to retreat to eastern Finland. The intention was to re-organize the troops behind the river Kymijoki, but the plan was never realized. Instead, the order caused a mass exodus of refugees as tens of thousands of Red Guard fighters, their family members and other Red supporters fled towards the east.

As the Germans seized Helsinki on 13 April, up to 8,000 local Reds surrendered. Thousands of others from the Uusimaa province joined the refugee column that was coming from the west. In two weeks, more than 100,000 Red refugees headed east, in order to flee to Soviet Russia. About 12,000 managed to cross the border, while most of the remaining were captured. In late April, up to 30,000 civilians and Red fighters fell into the hands of the German and White troops in Lahti. The captured were first placed at the Fellman camp, and then transferred to various prison camps across the southern Finland. Although most of the women and children were released, 200–600 Red women were executed and hundreds of others moved into other prison camps. The last major battle took place in Vyborg, which the Whites occupied on 29 April. The last remaining Red stronghold was in the Kymenlaakso province where the Reds finally surrendered to the Germans on 6 May.

Between 23 March and 18 April, some clashes also occurred in the remote eastern Lapland. The Karelian nationalist Iivo Ahava was fighting against the Whites who launched the Viena expedition in order to annex the Russian White Karelia into the newly independent Finland. Ahava formed a Red Guard unit in the Russian town of Kandalaksha of the Reds who had fled from Lapland. Two other Finnish Red Guards were formed in Knyazhaya Guba and Kem. In the mid-March, these units had up to 2,500 men. Ahava managed to stop the Whites and he was also eager to attack their rear in the northern Finland. However, the Red leaders were not interested in supporting him as they considered that the war would be determined in the populated areas of south.

After the war
A substantial number of Finnish Red Guards managed to retreat into Russian-held territories after the Whites' victory in Finland. Many of those who fled to Russia were reorganized into new fighting units and participated in the Russian Civil War and, by extension, World War I. The United Kingdom organized the Murmansk Legion from Red Guard refugees as part of the North Russia Intervention of the Allies. The British hoped to use the Murmansk Legion to fight off the Viena expedition of the Germany-aligned White Finns into East Karelia. Red Guard units served in the 7th Red Army when it fought in the Estonian War of Independence. There, the Finnish Reds clashed with Finnish White volunteers fighting for the Republic of Estonia.

See also
Female Red Guards of the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
Red Guard's March

References

Finnish Civil War
Defunct communist militant groups
Soviet units and formations of the Russian Civil War

Red Guards (Finland)


Ida Henningsdotter Königsmarck (died 1450), was a Swedish noble and fief-holder, known for her legendary defense of Kastelholm Castle on Åland in Swedish Finland during the Engelbrekt Rebellion in 1433.

She was the daughter of the nobleman Henning Königsmarck (d. c. 1415), a German immigrated nobleman and adviser of King Eric of Pomerania, and the sister of Governor Bengt Königsmarck of Kalmar; she was thus the paternal aunt of Kristina Königsmarck. She married nobleman Tomas Von Vitzen (c. 1381-1416) firstly, and secondly to Bengt Pogwisch (d. 1432). Her second spouse was an adviser of King Eric from Holstein and the holder of the fief Kastelholm Castle, and after his death in 1432, she took over his position as fief-holder.

In 1433, the castle was besieged by the rebels during the Engelbrekt Rebellion. Her defense of the castle was described in the Karlskrönikan ('Charles Chronicle') and became legend:

Fru Yda en utlänsk Qvinna;
Bättre Konenungen henne trodde
Än någon then i Sverige bodde;
Thet var nu Svenskom til spott
At Qvinna skulle råda Riksens Slott

(Lady Ida a foreign woman:
Thought of better by the king
Than any living in Sweden;
This was now when the Swedes decided
That woman be entrusted with the defense of the royal castles)

Other sources claim that her son Otto Pogwisch organized the defense and that he surrendered to the rebels.

References
 Engelbrecht Engelbrechtssons historia, Eric Tundeld, 1784
 Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, band 21.
 Königsmarck, släkter, urn:sbl:11939, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, hämtad 2017-12-26.
 http://www.wisthbf.se/slott-torp/allmaent/Rosman-BS-del1-281.pdf

1450 deaths
15th-century Swedish nobility
Women in 15th-century warfare
Year of birth unknown
Women in medieval European warfare
Women in war in Sweden
15th-century Swedish women

Ida Königsmarck


Antanimenabaka is a town and commune () in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Andilamena, which is a part of Alaotra-Mangoro Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 15,000 in 2001 commune census.

Primary and junior level secondary education are available in town. The majority 75% of the population of the commune are farmers, while an additional 20% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crop is rice, while other important products are peanuts, beans, maize and cassava.  Services provide employment for 5% of the population.

Transport
Route nationale 32

References and notes

Populated places in Alaotra-Mangoro

Antanimenabaka


Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards.  His Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony nominations make him one of few black individuals to be nominated for the four major American entertainment awards (EGOT).

Following early roles in Hamburger Hill (1987), and as the gangster "Rocket" in the film Colors (1988), Cheadle built his career in the 1990s with roles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996), Rosewood (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), and Bulworth (1998). His collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh resulted in the films Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000), The Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007), and No Sudden Move (2021). Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the historical drama film Hotel Rwanda (2004). He was the co-producer of Crash, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2005. Cheadle extended his global recognition with his role as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning with Iron Man 2 (2010), and garnered a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his guest appearance as the character in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). He will lead the film Armor Wars as part of the franchise.

His television work includes appearances in Night Court (1988), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Booker (1990), Picket Fences (1993–1995), The Bernie Mac Show (2002), ER (2002), and as Marty Kaan in House of Lies (2012–2016) for which he won a Golden Globe Award in 2013 and four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. From 2019 to 2021, Cheadle starred in the series Black Monday, earning two Emmy Award nominations.

In 2016, he received his first Grammy Award, winning Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the soundtrack Miles Ahead. In 2022, he received a second Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration of the audiobook Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis; he also received a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop.

Early life
Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Bettye Cheadle (née North), a teacher, and Donald Frank Cheadle Sr., a clinical psychologist. He has a sister, Cindy, and a brother, Colin. His family moved from city to city throughout his childhood. He attended Hartley Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1970 to 1974. Cheadle graduated in 1982 from East High School in Denver, Colorado. During high school, he played saxophone in the jazz band, sang in choirs, and was active in the theater department, performing in musicals, plays, and mime shows.

Cheadle went on to attend the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater in 1986.

Career

Cheadle became eligible for his Screen Actors Guild card when he appeared as a burger joint employee in the 1985 comedy Moving Violations. In 1987, he received a small role in the 7th season of Hill Street Blues, where he played a teenager with learning difficulties. This was followed by an appearance in Hamburger Hill the same year. Cheadle secured the role of Jack in the April 1, 1988, "Jung and the Restless" episode of Night Court; although his character was 16 years old, Cheadle was 23 at the time.

Cheadle then played the role of Rocket in the 1988 movie Colors. In 1989, he appeared in a music video for Angela Winbush's number-two hit single "It's the Real Thing" as a car wash employee performing dance moves. In 1990, he appeared in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled "Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy", playing Will Smith's friend and Hilary's first love interest, Ice Tray. In 1992, he had a starring role in The Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace. He subsequently played district attorney John Littleton on three seasons of Picket Fences.

Cheadle first received widespread notice for his portrayal of Mouse Alexander in the 1995 film Devil in a Blue Dress, for which he won Best Supporting Actor awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics and earned nominations for similar awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the NAACP Image Awards. Following soon thereafter was his performance in the title role of the 1996 HBO TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault. In 1997, he starred in John Singleton's historical drama Rosewood and in the disaster film Volcano. In the same year, he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's period drama Boogie Nights. The following year, he appeared in Out of Sight. The film was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name and the first of Cheadle's many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh.

Cheadle's portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack won him a Golden Globe Award and earned him an Emmy nomination. A year later he starred as Grant Wiggins, a school teacher in the film A Lesson Before Dying, which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. It was based on the novel of the same name by Ernest J. Gaines. He had two major film roles in 2000, starring as Montel Gordon, a DEA agent in Traffic and as Luke Graham in the sci-fi film Mission to Mars. The following year, he played Basher Tarr in the heist film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. Cheadle made a guest appearance in the ninth season of the television series ER, playing the role of Paul Nathan, a medical student who suffers from Parkinson's disease. For this performance he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Cheadle appeared in NFL commercials promoting the Super Bowl from 2002 to 2005. He so regularly appeared for the NFL in its Super Bowl advertising that in 2006, in a drive to get fans to submit their own advertising ideas, the NFL sought his permission to reference his previous commercials to portray themselves as having no new ideas: "he quickly signed off on the idea and found it funny." Abe Sutton (along with Etan Bednarsh), one of the finalists in this NFL contest, played on this commercial by proposing an ad in which every player on a football team is Don Cheadle.

In 2005, Cheadle was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina in the film Hotel Rwanda. He also starred in and co-produced Crash, which won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Picture. For his performance in Crash, Cheadle was nominated for the BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Supporting Actor. He played the main character in the movie Traitor.

In March 2007, Cheadle starred with comedian Adam Sandler in Mike Binder's Reign Over Me, a comedy-drama about a man who has slipped away from reality after the death of his wife and three daughters on 9/11. The film was a box office flop, earning a domestic gross of $22.2 million. Cheadle later starred in the 2009 DreamWorks Pictures film Hotel for Dogs. Cheadle was to make his directorial debut with the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues, but in July 2007, he stated, Tishomingo' is dead..."

In 2009, Cheadle and Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder worked on a potential comedy show on NBC. The "project revolve[d] around mismatched brothers who reunite to open a private security company." Cheadle and McGruder were slated to serve as executive producers, while McGruder was expected to write the script.

Also in 2009, Cheadle performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and its companion volume Voices of a People's History of the United States.

In 2010, Cheadle assumed the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine in Iron Man 2 (2010), replacing Terrence Howard. Cheadle reprised this role in the films Iron Man 3 (2013) as the Iron Patriot, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as the Disney+ TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and What If...?
(2021), and will reprise the role in the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion (2023) and theatrical film Armor Wars (TBA).

From 2012 to 2016, Cheadle starred in the Showtime TV series House of Lies. In 2013, he won the Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on the show. He was in the show for five seasons until it ended in 2016.

Cheadle spent 10 years writing and producing the film Miles Ahead (2016) based on the life of jazz musician Miles Davis. Cheadle also directed and starred in the film. Locations for the movie were found in Cincinnati.

In 2018, Cheadle guest-starred in the first-season finale of DuckTales, providing Donald Duck's new voice box. He later guest-starred again in 2020 during season three after a wish Donald made to Gene the Genie had altered reality.

In 2021, Cheadle starred in the period crime thriller No Sudden Move, in which he played Curt Goynes, a gangster in 1950s Detroit. Around that same year, Cheadle played a villain role in Space Jam: A New Legacy, providing the role of the main antagonist Al-G Rhythm.

Political activism

Cheadle has campaigned to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Cheadle and John Prendergast co-authored a book about this issue entitled Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. With George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, David Pressman and Jerry Weintraub, Cheadle co-founded the Not on Our Watch Project, an organization focusing global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Cheadle was awarded the BET Humanitarian award of the year in 2007 for his humanitarian work for the people of Darfur and Rwanda.

At the 2007 World Series of Poker, Cheadle and poker player Annie Duke organized an annual charity poker tournament, Ante Up for Africa.

On December 13, 2007, Cheadle and fellow actor George Clooney were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome for their work to stop the genocide and relieve the suffering of the people of Darfur.

Cheadle has worked with the United Nations on climate change concerns. He and Harrison Ford created a documentary event series entitled Years of Living Dangerously that provided first-hand reports on those affected by, and seeking solutions to climate change. He is also on the advisory board of Citizens' Climate Lobby.

In 2010, Cheadle was named U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador. Also in 2010, he and Prendergast published their second book: The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes.

On his 2019 Saturday Night Live appearance, he wore a T-shirt saying "protect trans kids".

Personal life
In 2008, Cheadle's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test revealed that Cheadle is of Cameroonian descent. Another DNA test revealed that among his African ancestry, one-third comes from the region from Senegal to Liberia, just over one-quarter comes from the Congo-Angola region, and the rest comes from western Nigeria and Benin.

Cheadle married his long-time partner, actress and Rosewood co-star Bridgid Coulter, in early 2020. The couple has been together for more than 28 years and have two children.

Filmography and awards

References

External links

 Don Cheadle at UNEP's official website

1964 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
African-American film directors
African-American film producers
African-American male actors
African-American television producers
American environmentalists
American film producers
American LGBT rights activists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Cameroonian descent
American people of Tikar descent
American philanthropists
American poker players
Audiobook narrators
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
California Institute of the Arts alumni
Film directors from Colorado
Film directors from Missouri
Film producers from Missouri
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Denver
Male actors from Kansas City, Missouri
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Television producers from Missouri
Tikar people
Tony Award winners
United Nations goodwill ambassadors

Don Cheadle


An oligopsony (from Greek ὀλίγοι (oligoi) "few" and ὀψωνία (opsōnia) "purchase") is a market form in which the number of buyers is small while the number of sellers in theory could be large. This typically happens in a market for inputs where numerous suppliers are competing to sell their product to a small number of (often large and powerful) buyers. It contrasts with an oligopoly, where there are many buyers but few sellers. An oligopsony is a form of imperfect competition.

The terms monopoly (one seller), monopsony (one buyer), and bilateral monopoly have a similar relationship.

Industry examples
In each of these cases, the buyers have a major advantage over the sellers. They can play off one supplier against another, thus lowering their costs. They can also dictate exact specifications to suppliers, for delivery schedules, quality, and (in the case of agricultural products) crop varieties. They also pass off much of the risks of overproduction, natural losses, and variations in cyclical demand to the suppliers.

Agriculture
One example of an oligopsony in the world economy is cocoa, where three firms (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Barry Callebaut) buy the vast majority of world cocoa bean production, mostly from small farmers in third-world countries. Likewise, American tobacco growers face an oligopsony of cigarette makers, where three companies (Altria, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard Tobacco Company) buy almost 90% of all tobacco grown in the US and other countries.

Publishing
In U.S. publishing, five publishers known as the Big Five account for about two thirds of books published. Each of the companies runs a series of specialized imprints, which cater to different market segments and often carry the name of formerly independent publishers. Imprints create the illusion that there are many publishers, but imprints within each publisher co-ordinate to avoid competing with one another when they seek to acquire new books from authors.

Thus, authors have fewer truly-independent outlets for their work. That depresses advances paid to authors and creates pressure for authors to cater to the tastes of the publishers in order to ensure publication, reducing viewpoint diversity.

Retail
Over at least 30 years, supermarkets in developed economies around the world have acquired an increasing share of grocery markets. In doing so, they have increased their influence over suppliers—what food is grown and how it is processed and packaged—with impacts reaching deep into the lives and livelihoods of farmers and workers worldwide.
In addition to increasing their market share with consumers, consolidation of suppliers means that retailers can exercise significant market power. In some countries, this has led to allegations of abuse, unethical and illegal conduct.

The situation in Australia is a good example since two retailers, Coles and Woolworths control 70% of the national food market.

References

Sources
 Bhaskar, V., A. Manning and T. To (2002) 'Oligopsony and Monopsonistic Competition in Labor Markets,' Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 155–174.
 Bhaskar, V. and T. To (2003) 'Oligopsony and the Distribution of Wages,' European Economic Review, 47, 371–399.

Market structure
Imperfect competition
Oligopoly

he:אוליגופול#אוליגופסון ואוליגופול דו צדדי

Oligopsony


Georgina Pope RRC (1862–1938) was a Canadian nurse who served with distinction in the Second Boer War and First World War.

Early life and upbringing
Georgina Fane Pope was born January 1, 1862, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  The daughter of William Pope, a Father of Confederation, she was a product of P.E.I gentility and could have doubtlessly had a comfortable marriage and became an island socialite. However, she instead traveled to New York, where she trained as a nurse at Bellevue Hospital.

Career
After the training, she became the superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women, at Washington D.C., where she opened a school for nurses.

In October 1899, after completing nursing studies at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, she volunteered for nursing service in the Second Boer War.  Placed in command of the first group of nurses to go overseas, she served for more than a year in South Africa.  For the first five months she and four other volunteer nurses served at British hospitals north of Cape Town.  After, Pope and another sister proceeded north to Kroonstad where, despite shortages in food and medical supplies, took charge of a military hospital and successfully cared for 230 sufferers of enteric fever.

On September 21, 1901, Pope, along with two other nurses, Deborah Hurcomb and Sarah Forbes, received medals for their war service from the Duke of York, later King George V, during his tour to the Outposts of the British Empire.  She returned there in 1902 with the Canadian Army Nursing Service as senior sister in charge of a second group of 8 Canadian nurses.  She served at a hospital in Natal until the end of the war in May that year.
On October 31, 1902, she became the first Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross, awarded to her for meritorious and distinguished service in the field.

In 1908 she was appointed first Matron of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

In 1917, aged 55, Pope, although in poor health went to work near Ypres and served for the remainder of World War I until 1918.

Later life
Pope served in England and France during the First World War.

Georgina Pope died June 6, 1938. She was granted a full military funeral.  Georgina is one of fourteen figures from Canada's military history commemorated at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa.

Legacy
In 2012 Canadian artist Laurie McGaw designed a five dollar coin in honour of four nurses.  Georgina Pope stands in the foreground of the coin in front of three others.  The coin is made of fine silver and is 99.99% pure, and its production was limited to 10,000.

References

Sources

 Collections Canada: Georgina Pope Government of Canada Archives
 War Museum of Canada: Georgina Pope War Museum of Canada

1862 births
1938 deaths
Canadian military nurses
Female wartime nurses
Military history of Canada
Canadian women in World War I
Canadian female military personnel
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
People from Charlottetown
Female nurses in World War I
People of the Second Boer War
Members of the Royal Red Cross
Canadian women nurses

Georgina Pope


Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont (1750 in Arnedo, La Rioja, Spain – March 6, 1815, in Mexico City) was bishop of Mexico and, from July 19, 1809, to May 8, 1810, viceroy of New Spain.

Ecclesiastical career
Lizana did his religious studies at Calatayud and Zaragoza, where in 1771 he received his doctorate in canon and civil law. In 1772 he was teaching at the University of Alcalá de Henares. In 1795 he was designated bishop in partibus of Taumasia, and in 1801, bishop of Teruel. In 1802 he was named archbishop of Mexico, where he arrived in January 1803.

His ecclesiastical administration was characterized by works of social welfare, which he pursued with diligence and honor. He expanded and furnished the Hospital of San Lázaro and endowed the Hospicio de Pobres (poorhouse) and the Casa de Niños Expósitos (foundling home). In the University he founded the chair of ecclesiastical discipline.

Political career
He was among those who asked Marshal Pedro de Garibay to assume the position of viceroy after the coup that deposed José de Iturrigaray. Garibay did so, but when the Junta de Aranjuez became aware of his advanced age and the fact that he was a puppet of the rich merchants and the Real Audiencia, they named Archbishop Lizana to replace him on an interim basis (February 1809). The archbishop was chosen because the Junta was aware that Catholics did not support Napoleon after the imprisonment of Pope Pius VII in 1809. Lizana named his cousin, Inquisitor Juan Sáenz de Alfaro, to handle his ecclesiastical duties so that Lizana himself could concentrate on his political duties. Sáenz de Alfaro was not a popular choice.

He formed new units of provincial militia, and imported arms from Britain. He confiscated the property in New Spain of the Marqués de Branciforte and the Duque de Terranova, nobles in Spain who had declared for King Joseph I (Joseph Bonaparte). He obtained a loan of 3 million pesos in gold on the property. From this and other sources, Lizana was able to remit 9 million pesos to Spain. As a personal contribution to the war effort in Spain, he accepted no salary.

Like Garibay, he encountered opposition from the pro-independence party. New Spain had been transformed by the events in the mother country. Anonymous political tracts and clandestine lampoons circulated. Political juntas were formed to seek independence. The Audiencia came in for much criticism for its coup against Iturrigaray. This was felt to be the final closure of the legal route for political change. The only way remaining was direct action. The viceroy was informed of these events, but took no action against them. For this reason the Spaniards in the Audiencia accused him of being a partisan of the Criollos.

A pro-independence conspiracy was discovered in Vallodalid (Morelia, Michoacán). This was headed by Lieutenant José Mariano Michelena and Father Vicente de Santa María. They were arrested, and Lizana ordered them brought to Mexico City so that he could speak to them. The conspirators proposed to the viceroy (as related by Michelena) to form a junta to govern New Spain in the name of King Ferdinand VII and to take all possible measures to extend the reign of this "august" sovereign. Lizana found no criminal offense in the conspirators, and ordered them set free, to the great disgust of the pro-Spanish party.

After leaving the viceroyalty
Because of this and other failings, and also in consideration of his advanced age, the regency in Aranjuez removed the archbishop from the viceroyalty. They ordered the Real Audiencia to fill in until the arrival of the next viceroy, Francisco Javier Venegas. Lizana continued as archbishop. He was awarded the Cross of Carlos III. He died on March 6, 1815, in Mexico City.

References
 "Lizana y Beaumont, Francisco Javier," Enciclopedia de México, v. 8. Mexico City: 1987.
 García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
 Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, .

External links
Catholic Hierarchy

1750 births
1811 deaths
People from Arnedo
Viceroys of New Spain
19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Mexico
Roman Catholic archbishops of Mexico (city)

Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont


Home Interiors and Gifts was a direct sales company specializing in decorating accessories, which were sold by more than 140,000 representatives through home parties in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Highland Capital Management later owned a majority interest in the company. The company is defunct since 2008.

History
Mary Crowley founded Home Interiors on December 5, 1957. Its product lines included artificial flowers, candles, framed artwork, mirrors, sconces, small furniture, and shelves. The company bought many of its products from its own manufacturing subsidiaries such as Laredo Candle Company. Her son, Don Carter, joined her in managing the business.

By 1982 Home Interiors had a sales force of 38,000 and gross sales of over $400 million.  By 1984 the stated figures were $450 million in sales by a sales force of 39,000, mostly women, who sell door to door and at parties where women socialized as they bought "figurines" and other home decorations.

Home Interiors under Crowley's leadership had a charismatic culture that was conservative, Christian, individualistic, and featured self-help rhetoric; the company promoted the fact that it offered women flexible working schedules, membership in an enthusiastic community of saleswomen, and income.

Buyout
In 1994, Home Interiors and Gifts was sold to the investment firm of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in a $1 billion leveraged buyout. The company sold more than $850 million annually in silk and polyester flower arrangements, porcelain puppies and other decorative household items at home parties.

The company announced on April 29, 2008, that it and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code for the  Northern District of Texas (filing number 08-31961) in order to re-align the Company's business operations and restructure its debt. The Company intends to work with its constituencies to exit bankruptcy as expeditiously as possible, while executing on its reorganization plans. In addition to the Company, Dallas Woodcraft Company, LLC, Laredo Candle Company, LLC, HIG Holdings, LLC, Titan Sourcing, LLC, DWC GP, LLC and Home Interiors de Puerto Rico, Inc., filed voluntary petitions. Home Interiors' Mexican and Canadian subsidiaries as well as Domistyle, Inc. were not a part of the filing.

After bankruptcy Home Interiors was bought by Penny and Steve Carlile, the owners and founders of Home & Garden Party founded in 1996. They merged the two companies renaming it Celebrating Home and it continues to operate from Home and Garden Party's headquarters in Marshall, TX.  After the merger Heather Chastain (former president of Home Interiors) became president of Celebrating Home. She has since been removed from her position and is no longer with the company.  Home Interiors Mexico operation was also purchased by the Carliles but it continues to operate under the Home Interiors name as an independent entity.

In 2006, Home Interiors was generating $500 million in annual sales with Mike Lohner as CEO.  Lohner resigned when Dallas-based investment fund Highland Capital Management acquired a majority interest in Home Interiors. He was replaced as president and chief executive officer by Richard W. Heath, who had founded Dallas-based BeautiControl Cosmetics Inc. in 1981.

Further reading
 "Eight More Industrial Park Acres Sold", McKinney Daily Courier-Gazette (Nov 26, 1972).
 "Home Interiors founder motivates her sales staff with spiritual philosophy" by O.J. Parsons, Spokane Spokesman-Review (Oct 31, 1984).
 "Home Interiors & Gifts Is Leader in Direct Sales", The Madison Messenger (Oct 19, 2001).
 "Meredith backs line of products" by Patt Johnson, The Des Moines Register (June 10, 2003).
 "Home Interiors knows it's what's on the inside that counts" by Joanne Bockman, The Des Moines Register (February 10, 2005).
 "Home and Garden Party acquires Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc" by Steve Bandy, The Marshall News Messenger (December 19, 2008).

References

Manufacturing companies based in Texas
Direct sales companies
Home decor retailers
Retail companies of the United States
Companies based in Carrollton, Texas

Home Interiors and Gifts


"Mercy" is a song by pop rock band OneRepublic, from their debut album, Dreaming Out Loud. The song helped gain the band's popularity on MySpace, and was voted as one of the best songs on MySpace. The song was released as a single in the autumn of 2008 promoting their tour of the UK.

OneRepublic songs
2008 songs

Mercy (song)