Khumbo Hasting Kachali is a Malawian politician who was Vice President of Malawi from April 2012 to May 2014, serving under President Joyce Banda. He is credited with being the first vice president from the Northern Region of Malawi. The three previous vice presidents came from the central and southern regions. Kachali previously held a number of cabinet positions between 2004 and 2010.

Early life and education
Khumbo Kachali was born in 1966 and attended Phwezi Secondary School. He subsequently obtained a Diploma in Project Management from the University of Cambridge, England. He obtained his Master of Science Degree in Strategic Management in 2011 from the University of Derby, England. For his MSc thesis, he wrote a paper titled the Impact of Multiparty Politics on the socio-economic lives of people using his Mzimba constituency as a case study. Derby University of the UK proudly announced their former student and academic product's ascendancy to Malawi's vice presidency on its university website on 13 April 2012.

Before entering politics, Kachali was Second Vice-President for the Malawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and he has been a businessman for years running various enterprises based in Mzuzu and large farming enterprise in Mzimba, his home district. Kachali is a well known Philanthropist assisting many people in education, start-up business capitals and Religious work

Political career
Kachali was treasurer general for the United Democratic Front (UDF) from 2002 to 2004. Kachali was elected to parliament in May 2004. In 2005 he was appointed as second vice-president of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was Minister of Industry, Science & Technology (2004-2006), Deputy Minister for Home Affairs & Internal Security (2006-2007) and Minister of Youth Development & Sports (2007-2008). From 2008 until 2009 he was Minister of Health. He is credited to have been one of very few effective health ministers, bringing together all health sector partners to provide quality services. As vice president, he would later use this experience as minister of health to quell a health staff boycott over allowances at Kamuzu Central Hospital in June 2012. His return also saw the return of essential drugs into Malawi public hospitals, which are the largest healthcare services for the poor after months of pharmacies running dry.

Kachali was appointed Minister of Transport and Public Infrastructure in the cabinet that became effective on 15 June 2009.
He lost his ministerial position in the cabinet shake-up of 9 August 2010.
As Vice President Kachali has been seen as a workhorse of the Joyce Banda administration being delegated to handle controversial and political matters including scandals involving fellow Cabinet Members, management of food shortages and political negotiations with some of the key political leaders. Kachali is credited for engineering defections of high-profile opposition leaders to the ruling Peoples Party. Internally though, some Peoples Party founders and their stooges have been working hard to tarnish his image by fermenting lies or putting up independent candidates in the recent bye-elections in his Mzimba South West Constituency and Mzimba Central where they expected the PP to lose and discredit him. The PP won his former constituency with a majority of over 5000 sending his detractors into political wilderness. He is one of the political heavy weights in the northern region of Malawi.

He represented Malawi at the African Union summit in the year 2012 where he helped champion the election of the first female AU Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma through his well documented support for women empowerment. He also left a landmark on the diplomatic scene by being President Banda's vocal face on the banning of Sudan's fugitive president Al Bashir from attending the initially Malawi bound 2012 AU summit that was as a consequence of the landmark ban transferred to Ethiopia.

His unprecedented hand-pick appointment has raised questions as to whether he enjoys the same immunity that his elected predecessors had over being fired by a standing president. Two of his predecessors, Joyce Banda and Cassim Chilumpha were on separate occasions only saved by the constitution when the then vexed president wanted their heads to roll for what may best be described by some as alleged political insecurities or machinations.

As first vice president of the ruling Peoples Party, he has been at the centre of bringing parliamentary and political stability and he is regarded as "the most loyal and trusted" boy of President Joyce Banda and that has earned him constant attacks from his political competitors, who believe attacking him would weaken the President, who is set for her first presidential election in May 2014.

Rt. Hon. Khumbo Kachali is now the president and founding member of Freedom Party, which was registered with the Registrar of Political parties in Malawi in 2017.

References

1966 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Vice-presidents of Malawi
Government ministers of Malawi
Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi) politicians
Alumni of the University of Derby
United Democratic Front (Malawi) politicians
People's Party (Malawi) politicians

Khumbo Kachali


Richard Walker (1679–1764) was a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Cambridge, noted as a supporter of Richard Bentley in his long legal battle with the fellowship of Trinity College.

Life
He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1706, Cambridge Master of Arts (MA Cantab) in 1710, Bachelor of Divinity (BD) in 1724, and Doctor of Divinity (DD) per regias literas in 1728. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity, but in 1708 left Cambridge to serve a curacy at Upwell in Norfolk. In 1717 Richard Bentley, who had a difference with the junior bursar, John Myers, removed him, and recalled Walker to Cambridge to fill his place. From this time a friendship began between Walker and Bentley, and Walker helped Bentley in his struggle within the college. On 27 April 1734 Bentley was sentenced by the college Visitor, Thomas Green, bishop of Ely, to be deprived of the mastership of Trinity College. On the resignation of John Hacket, the vice-master, on 17 May 1734, Walker was appointed to his place, and refused to carry out the bishop's sentence. On 25 June 1735, at the instance of John Colbatch, a senior fellow, the court of king's bench granted a mandamus addressed to Walker, requiring him to execute the sentence or to show cause for not doing so. Walker, in reply, questioned the title of the bishop to the office of general visitor, and the affair dragged on until 1736, when Green's death put an end to the attempts of Bentley's opponents. Walker was the companion of Bentley's old age, and was introduced by Alexander Pope into the Dunciad''' with his patron.

In 1744 Walker was appointed professor of moral philosophy at Cambridge, and in 1745 he was nominated rector of Thorpland in Norfolk, a living which he exchanged in 1757 for that of Upwell. He was devoted to horticulture, and had a small garden within the precincts of Trinity College which was famous for exotic plants, including the pineapple, banana, coffee shrub, logwood tree, and torch thistle, which, with the aid of a hothouse, he was able to raise. On 16 July 1760 he purchased land from Richard Whish, a vintner, and on 25 Aug. 1762 conveyed the principal part to the university in trust for the establishment of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden which occupied the site until its move one mile south in 1846. In 1763 he published anonymously A Short Account of the late Donation of a Botanic Garden to the University of Cambridge''. He died at Cambridge, unmarried, on 15 December 1764.

Notes

References

1679 births
1764 deaths
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
18th-century English Anglican priests
English gardeners
People from Upwell
Knightbridge Professors of Philosophy

Richard Walker (philosopher)


China: The Rebirth of an Empire is an American documentary film directed by brothers Jesse and Jeremy Veverka that was released in 2010.  The film examines China's economic and political rise in the context of its relationship with its neighbors and a declining United States. The film was named Best Documentary at the 2011 River Bend Film Festival, the 2010 Central Florida Film Festival, the 2010 Astoria/Long Island City Film Festival, and the 2010 Big Easy International Film Festival.  It was reported that the film may have contributed to the Chinese government blocking access to the Internet Movie Database in early 2010 due to political censorship. The film features interviews with late Asia expert Chalmers Johnson.

References

External links

2010 films
2010 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about China
2010s English-language films
2010s American films

China: The Rebirth of an Empire


Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (born March 1, 1953) was elected governor of Sokoto State, Nigeria in April 2007, representing the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Background

Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State was born on 1 March 1953 in Wamakko, Sokoto State. He spent five years (1968-1972) at the Sokoto Teachers' College. After graduation, he worked as a teacher from 1973-1977 before being admitted to the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. He graduated with a B.Sc. in August 1980.
Returning to Nigeria, he taught at Sokoto Teachers College.

Wamakko took a job as Principal Assistant Secretary of Zurmi Local Government Area (LGA), later being promoted to Acting Secretary. He worked at Kaura Namoda LGA, and was appointed Chairman of the Sokoto LGA from 1986-1987. He became General Manager, Hotel Management and Tourism Board, Sokoto. In March 1992, he was promoted to Director-General, Careers and Special Services, Governor's Office, Sokoto in March 1992. He was elected Deputy Governor of Sokoto State to Governor Attahiru Bafarawa in 1999, on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He was re-elected Deputy Governor for a second term in April 2003. He resigned as Deputy Governor of Sokoto State on 15 March 2006.

Governor of Sokoto State

Wamakko ran successfully for Governor of Sokoto State in April 2007 on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform, and assumed office on 29 May 2007.
Following an appeal, his election was annulled in April 2008 on the basis that he had still been a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) when he won the PDP nomination.
Abdullahi Balarabe Salame was appointed Acting Governor (11 April - 28 May 2008) while a re-run was arranged.
It was said that the contest was not so much between Wamakko and Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi of the DPP, as between Wamakko and his predecessor Attahiru Bafarawa, founder of DPP.
Wamakko regained his seat in the May 2008 re-run. His opponent claimed that the election was rigged and said he would appeal to the courts.

In 2007, Wamakko launched the State Poverty Reduction Agency (SPORA) to run programs such as the youth skills acquisition program.
In September 2009, he pleaded for patience over 2,000 housing units nearing completion, saying they were meant for the people of the state, are limited and cannot even go round. He also stated that the state government would not establish a Micro-finance bank or industries, but would support any individual who wish to do so.

In October 2009, the Sokoto State Commissioner of Justice said that the state was about to prosecute Wamakko's predecessor Attahiru Bafarawa and five others for alleged misappropriation of N2.919 billion. Bafarawa said the Sokoto commission of inquiry had been set up by Wamakko solely in order to discredit him. He said that Wamakko was his deputy whom the House nearly removed for corrupt tendencies, and that "If there were such illegal deductions and withdrawals, he should be in a better position to answer for them."
Bafarawa asked the commission to invite Wamakko to testify so that certain issues could be clarified, but his request was refused on the ground that to do so was beyond the commission's mandate.

See also
List of governors of Sokoto State

References

1953 births
Living people
Governors of Sokoto State
All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians
Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria
Nigerian Muslims
All Progressives Congress politicians
Members of the Senate (Nigeria)

Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko


Dame Lillian Margery Penson, DBE (18 July 1896 – 17 April 1963) was a professor of modern history at the University of London, and the first woman to serve as Vice-Chancellor of the university.

Early life
She was born in Islington, London, the eldest daughter of a wholesale dairy manager. She was educated privately and then first attended Birkbeck College and then University College, London where she graduated BA in 1917 with a first and in 1921 one of the earliest PhDs.

Career
A full professor at the age of 34, Lillian Penson served as a member of the University of London senate for 20 years. She was a member of the University Court, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Chairman of the Academic Council before being elected in 1948 as Vice-Chancellor of the university. Her accession to this office was put into perspective by a writer who said: "It was not the fact that she was the first woman to become chancellor of a University in the Commonwealth which attracted attention, but rather her vigorous, purposeful, and clear-headed approach to the many problems which the University of London faced."

In addition to her contribution to the University of London, Dame Lillian made an outstanding contribution to the development of higher education in the then colonial territories and she maintained a close interest in those university colleges overseas which, with her wholehearted support, had entered into special relationships with the University of London. Honours flowed to her after she became Vice-Chancellor - honorary degrees from many universities including Cambridge and Oxford, a DBE, and even an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons.

Academic career
Lillian Penson served as professor of Modern History at Bedford College, University of London from 1930 to 1962, before becoming Professor Emeritus. She was a member of the council of university college of Rhodesia and Nyasaland since 1955, and held positions at Birkbeck College and Queen Mary College.

Her primary subject of academic expertise, were the life and diplomatic statecraft of the last Victorian Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, as well as the foreign policies of European Powers preceding the First World War.

As an appreciation to her efforts and as a commemoration, the University of London named one of its Intercollegiate halls after her, the Lillian Penson Hall.

Personal life
She was appointed DBE in 1951. She died at her home, 54 Marine Parade, Brighton, on 17 April 1963. She was unmarried.

In 2017, she featured in a conference, London's Women Historians, held at the Institute of Historical Research.

Honorary degrees

Honorary LL.D., University of Cambridge
Honorary LL.D., University of Leeds
Honorary LL.D., McGill University
Honorary LL.D., University of St Andrews
Honorary LL.D., University of Southampton
Honorary D.C.L., University of Oxford
Honorary D.L., University of Sheffield
Honorary D.L., University of Ontario
Honorary D.L., Queen's University of Belfast
Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons

Books
"The Colonial Agents of the British West Indies" - 1924
"Foreign Affairs under the Third Marquis of Salisbury" - 1962

See also
 List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London

References

Sources
Who's Who 1961-1970 - United Kingdom
University of London

1896 births
1963 deaths
Alumni of University College London
People associated with the University of London
Academics of Bedford College, London
Academics of Queen Mary University of London
Academics of Birkbeck, University of London
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Vice-Chancellors of the University of London
British women historians
20th-century English historians

Lillian Penson


Ambérieux-en-Dombes is a commune. It is found in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the Ain department in the east of France. In 2009, 1,592 people lived in the commune. The inhabitants are the Ambarrois. The most important monument in the commune is the Château d'Ambérieux-en-Dombes, a 14th-century castle. It is listed as a monument historique. It was restored in 2010. Famous people from Ambérieux-en-Dombes include Laurent Capponi, lord of Ambérieux in the 16th century, and Jean Saint-Cyr, a French politician.

Communes in Ain

Ambérieux-en-Dombes


The Snake River Trading Post is a reconstructed fur trade post on the Snake River west of Pine City, Minnesota, United States of America.  The post was established in the fall of 1804 by John Sayer, a partner in the North West Company, and built by his crew of voyageurs.  The site operated for several years, although its exact period of operation is unknown.  It was later destroyed by fire.

The discovery of artifacts in the 1930s revealed the site. Excavation in the 1960s added to knowledge about it, enabling accurate reconstruction of the post. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is operated as a state historic site.

History

The North West Company was formed in Montreal in the mid-1780s from a partnership of British merchants.  The company established a large post at Grand Portage and built several other forts to house wintering voyageurs.  Besides the Snake River forts, they also established forts at Fond du Lac (now part of modern Duluth), Big Sandy Lake, and Leech Lake in Minnesota.

A typical fort would include a dwelling for the clerk, a storehouse, and a bunkhouse for the ten to twenty voyageurs who spent the winter.  During the winters, the voyageurs would collect the pelts of beaver, otter, muskrat, deer, bear, marten, and other animals whose hides were useful.  Dakota and Ojibwe men would kill and skin the animals, while the women would prepare the hides by stretching and drying them.  The hides were typically regarded as the women's property, so they would arrange the sales with the clerk of the trading post.  In return, the clerks would supply the Indians with trade goods, such as firearms, blankets, and cooking utensils.  The fur trade, which had been going on for more than 100 years further east, was mutually beneficial, since the Indians received the products of early industrialization.  The furs were sold to Europeans who made felt hats and fur coats.

The site was rediscovered in 1931 by a local Pine City resident, who found artifacts such as musket flints in the soil.  He returned to the site over the next three decades to explore it.  In 1958, he found a book, Five Fur Traders in the North West, that contained the journal of John Sayer.  The Pine City resident contacted the Minnesota Historical Society and explained what he had found.  The Minnesota Historical Society performed some field testing in 1963 to determine the character of the site. In 1965 through 1967, a group of Hamline University students excavated the site and recovered hundreds of artifacts.  The Minnesota Historical Society reconstructed the post in 1968 and 1969 and opened the site as a historic site in 1970.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The post has been reconstructed and furnished to represent the period from the winter of 1804–05.  The museum is open in the summer, and costumed guides help interpret the site.  The visitor center features exhibits about the post's history, a great room, fireplace and retail store.

The historic site has previously been known as Connor's Fur Post and the North West Company Fur Post. Its name was changed to the Snake River Fur Post in February 2018.

References

External links
Snake River Fur Post, Minnesota Historical Society

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Fur trade
Living museums in Minnesota
Minnesota Historical Society
Minnesota state historic sites
Museums in Pine County, Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Pine County, Minnesota
North West Company
Trading posts in the United States
1804 establishments in Indiana Territory

Snake River Trading Post


Anton Mordasov is a Russian pianist, born in Novosibirsk in 1972.

A student at the Novosibirsk Music College under renowned Professor, Academician, Honored Artist of Russia Mary Lebenzon, in 1990 he won the Rachmaninov Competition and shared the IX Tchaikovsky Competition's 3rd prize with Kevin Kenner and Johan Schmidt. He subsequently settled in the USA, where he won the 1996 Cincinnati Competition. Mordasov teaches at the preparatory department at Texas Christian University. Anton also maintains a private studio at Travis Academy of Fine Arts in Fort Worth. He also teaches at Music Institute of North Texas.

References

Russian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Texas Christian University faculty
1972 births
Living people
Musicians from Novosibirsk
21st-century classical pianists
21st-century Russian male musicians

Anton Mordasov


The London Underground 1938 Stock is a deep-level tube stock that runs on the London Underground from 1938 to present. During their long lives they work on the Bakerloo, Northern, Piccadilly, East London and Central lines.

These trains do still run on the London Underground. The trains were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W. Some trains still run on the Isle of Wight's Island Line as the class 483. In March 2007, South West Trains purchased the rolling stock outright from HSBC Rail for £1. They are the oldest trains used on timetabled services on the National Rail network.

Background
The 1938 tube stock was built as part of the London Passenger Transport Board's New Works Programme, that took place between 1935–1940. The trains are mainly meant to be used on the Northern and Bakerloo lines. Seven more trains were also to be used on the Piccadilly line.

During the 1950s and 1960s the Northern Line only used 1938 and 1949 tube stock trains. These trains were starting to show how old they are by the late 1960s. The first trains were withdrawn from the Northern line in the early 1970s when they were replaced by the 1972 tube stock trains. Some units are still in service from preservation.

References

1938
Metropolitan Cammell multiple units

London Underground 1938 Stock


Jerry Lee Tagge (born April 12, 1950) is a former American football player. He played college football as quarterback at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to consecutive national championships in 1970 and 1971.   Tagge played professionally with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1972 to 1974, the San Antonio Wings of the World Football League (WFL) in 1975, and the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1977 to 1979.

Early life
Tagge was born at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Nebraska, the third child and second son of William Robert (Billy) Tagge and Lois Jurczyk Tagge.

As a teenager in the mid-1960s in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tagge sold concessions at Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers, then coached by Vince Lombardi. He graduated from Green Bay West High School in 1968.

College career
Tagge played college football at Nebraska under head coach Bob Devaney. In his sophomore year in 1969, Tagge rose to second-string quarterback. His playing time increased until midway through his junior year when he took over the starting position from Van Brownson, leading the team to a 10–0–1 season and a matchup with LSU in the 1971 Orange Bowl. Tagge scored the game-winning touchdown in a 17–12 victory over the Tigers on a quarterback sneak, earning himself Most Valuable Player honors, and the Huskers the AP national championship for 1970. Both #1 Texas and #2 Ohio State lost their bowl games on New Year's Day. (Through the 1973 season, the final UPI coaches' poll was released in December, before the bowls.)

In his senior season in 1971, Tagge quarterbacked the Huskers for the entire season, including the "Game of the Century" against the undefeated Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, a 35–31 victory on  Thanksgiving Day. Nebraska crushed undefeated Alabama, 38–6, in the 1972 Orange Bowl, earning Tagge MVP honors for the second time. The Huskers finished 13–0 in 1971 and were a consensus choice, earning consecutive national titles.  Nebraska had defeated the next three teams in the final AP poll: Oklahoma, Colorado (31–7 in Lincoln), and Alabama. Tagge then played in the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, leading the North to a 24–7 win over the South.

Tagge was the first of three Nebraska Cornhuskers selected in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft, along with running back Jeff Kinney and defensive tackle Larry Jacobson. The eleventh overall pick, Tagge was the first quarterback selected.

Professional career
Tagge's performance earned the notice of Dan Devine, head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Devine was formerly the head coach at Missouri in the Big Eight Conference, through the 1970 season. On his recommendation, the Packers selected Tagge in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft (11th overall). Tagge did not enjoy the success in his hometown that he had at Nebraska, completing only three touchdown passes in 17 games played during three seasons from 1972 to 1974.  Following the 1974 season, Devine left the Packers for Notre Dame. The Packers' new head coach was Bart Starr, who released Tagge during the 1975 preseason, in

Tagge signed with the San Antonio Wings of the short-lived World Football League. He started in the Wings' final game on October 19, 1975 and was intercepted five times; he ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. The Wings folded three days later with the rest of the WFL on

Tagge then moved north to Canada to the CFL, joining the BC Lions in 1977.  He finally saw plenty of playing time as a starter, and was awarded the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy in his first season. He played three seasons with BC, until a knee injury ended his career in 1979.

Post-football career and life
In 1981, Tagge moved to St. Louis, where he sold apartment buildings. He also met his future wife, Betty, whom he married the following year. He returned to Nebraska in 1986, initially selling life insurance, then founded Tagge-Rutherford Financial Services in Omaha, for which he serves as executive vice president.

Career highlights
As the Nebraska Cornhuskers'  quarterback, he led his team to national titles in 1970 and 1971, was named Orange Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1971 and 1972 and shared honors as Hula Bowl MVP with Walt Patulski of Notre Dame, the first selection in the 1972 Draft. Additionally, Tagge was an All-American in 1971 and is a member of the University of Nebraska Hall of Fame.

At Nebraska, Tagge threw for 5,071 yards, completing 377 of 637 passes (59.2%), 32 for touchdowns. He was a first-round draft choice, 11th overall, of the Green Bay Packers in 1972.

In three years with the Packers, Tagge played 17 games completing 136 of 281 passes for 1583 yards,3 TDs, and 17 interceptions. In 1975, he played briefly for the Wings in the WFL, where completed  18 of 34 passes for 265 yards, 1 TD, and 5 interceptions.

In 1977, he moved north to Canada, where he was named a CFL all-star and winner of the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy and runner-up for the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award. In 1977, he completed 232 of 405 passes for 2787 yards, and in 1978, he hit 243 of 430 passes for 3134 yards. He played part of the 1979 season before injuries forced him to retire.

As a professional quarterback, Tagge had 718 completions in 1,304 attempts for 9,277 yards and 38 TDs.

See also
 List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders

References

 Buechler, August F., History of Hall County, Nebraska. Western Publishing and Engraving, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1920.
 Kelly, Michael, "Tagge Finds Peace Off Field," Omaha World-Herald, October 3, 2004.
 Rodgers, Johnny, An Era of Greatness. Champion Publishing, Inc., 2006.

External links

1950 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
American players of Canadian football
BC Lions players
Canadian football quarterbacks
Green Bay Packers players
Nebraska Cornhuskers football players
San Antonio Wings players
Players of American football from Green Bay, Wisconsin

Jerry Tagge


In anti-tank warfare, an anti-tank mine (abbreviated to "AT mine") is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

Compared to anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines typically have a much larger explosive charge, and a fuze designed to be triggered by vehicles or, in some cases, remotely or by tampering with the mine.

History

First World War
The first anti-tank mines were improvised during the First World War as a countermeasure against the first tanks introduced by the British towards the end of the war. Initially they were nothing more than a buried high-explosive shell or mortar bomb with its fuze upright. Later, purpose-built mines were developed, including the Flachmine 17, which was simply a wooden box packed with explosives and triggered either remotely or by a pressure fuze. By the end of the war, the Germans had developed row mining techniques, and mines accounted for 15% of U.S. tank casualties during the  Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Third Battle of the Aisne, Battle of Selle and Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Inter-War Period
The Soviet Union began developing mines in the early 1920s, and in 1924 produced its first anti-tank mine, the EZ mine. The mine, which was developed by Yegorov and Zelinskiy, had a 1 kg charge, which was enough to break the tracks of contemporary tanks. Meanwhile, in Germany, defeat spurred the development of anti-tank mines, with the first truly modern mine, the Tellermine 29, entering service in 1929. It was a disc-shaped device approximately 30 cm across filled with about 5 kg of high explosives. A second mine, the Tellermine 35 was developed in 1935. Anti-tank mines were used by both sides during the Spanish Civil War. Notably, Republican forces lifted mines placed by Nationalist forces and used them against the Nationalists. This spurred the development of anti-handling devices for anti-tank mines.

The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland also saw widespread use of anti-tank mines. Finnish forces, facing a general shortage of anti-tank weapons, could exploit the predictable movements of motorized units imposed by difficult terrain and weather conditions.

Second World War

The German Tellermine was a purpose-built anti-tank mine developed during the period between the first and second world wars, the first model being introduced in 1929. Some variants were of a rectangular shape, but in all cases the outer casing served only as container for the explosives and fuze, without being used to destructive effect (e.g. shrapnel). Tellermine was the prototypical anti-tank mine, with many elements of its design emulated in the Pignone P-1, NR 25, and M6 mine (among others). Because of its rather high operating pressure, a vehicle would need to pass directly over top of the mine to set it off. But since the tracks represent only about 20% of a tank's width, the pressure fuse had a limited area of effect.

As one source has it: "Since they were pressure-detonated, these early anti-tank mines typically did most of their damage to a tank's treads, leaving its crew unharmed and its guns still operational but immobilised and vulnerable to aircraft and enemy anti-tank weapons ... During World War II they (the Wehrmacht) began using a mine with a tilt-rod fuze, a thin rod standing approximately two feet up from the center of the charge and nearly impossible to see after the mine had been buried. As a tank passed over the mine, the rod was pushed forward, causing the charge to detonate directly beneath it. The blast often killed the crew and sometimes exploded onboard ammunition. Now that tank crews were directly at risk, they were less likely to plow through a minefield."

Although other measures such as satchel charges, sticky bombs and bombs designed to magnetically adhere to tanks were developed, they do not fall within the category of land mines as they are not buried and detonated remotely or by pressure. The Hawkins mine was a British anti-tank device that could be employed as a mine laid on the road surface for a tank to run over setting off a crush fuze or thrown at the tank in which case a timer fuze was used.

Shaped charge devices like the Hohl-Sprung mine 4672 were also developed by Germany later in the war, although these did not see widespread use. The most advanced German anti-tank mine of the war was their minimal metal Topfmine.

In contrast to the dinner plate mines such as the German Tellermine were bar mines such as the German Riegel mine 43 and Italian B-2 mine. These were long mines designed to increase the probability of a vehicle triggering it, the B2 consisted of multiple small shaped-charge explosive charges along its length designed to ensure a mobility kill against enemy vehicles by destroying their tracks. This form of mine was the inspiration for the British L9 bar mine.

Modern

Several advances have been made in the development of modern anti-tank mines, including:
more effective explosive payloads (different explosive compounds and shaped charge effects)
use of non-ferrous materials making them harder to detect
new methods of deployment (from aircraft or with artillery)
more sophisticated fuzes (e.g. triggered by magnetic and seismic effects, which make a mine blast resistant, or which ignore the first target vehicle to drive over it and therefore can be used against convoys or mine rollers)
sophisticated "anti-handling" devices to prevent or discourage tampering or removal.

Design
More modern anti-tank mines are usually more advanced than simple containers full of explosives detonated by remote or the vehicles pressure. The biggest advances were made in the following areas:
Power of the explosives (explosives such as RDX).
Shaped charges to increase the armour piercing effect.
Advanced dispersal systems.
More advanced or specific detonation triggers.

Most modern mine bodies or casings are made of plastic material to avoid easy detection. They feature combinations of pressure or magnetically activated detonators to ensure that they are only triggered by vehicles.

Dispersal systems
There are several systems for dispersing mines to quickly cover wide areas, as opposed to a soldier laying each one individually. These system can take the form of cluster bombs or be artillery fired. Cluster bombs contain several mines each, which could be a mixture of anti-personnel mines. When the cluster bomb reaches a preset altitude it disperses the mines over a wide area. Some anti-tank mines are designed to be fired by artillery, and arm themselves once they impact the target area.

Off-route mines

Off-route mines are designed to be effective when detonated next to a vehicle instead of underneath the vehicle. They are useful in cases where the ground or surface is not suitable for burying or concealing a mine. They normally employ a Misznay–Schardin shaped charge to fire a penetrating slug through the target armour. This self forging projectile principle has been used for some French and Soviet off route mines and has earned infamy as an improvised explosive devices (IED) technique in Israel and especially Iraq.

Due to the critical standoff necessary for penetration and the development of standoff neutralization technologies, shaped charge off-route mines using the Munroe effect are more rarely encountered, though the British/French/German ARGES mine with a tandem warhead is an example of one of the more successful.

The term "off-route mine" refers to purpose-designed and manufactured anti-tank mines. Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) are one type of IED that was used in Iraq, but most "home made" IEDs are not employed in this manner.

Countermeasures

The most effective countermeasure deployed against mine fields is mine clearing, using either explosive methods or mechanical methods. Explosive methods, such as the Giant Viper and the SADF Plofadder 160 AT, involve laying explosives across a minefield, either by propelling the charges across the field with rockets, or by dropping them from aircraft, and then detonating the explosive, clearing a path. Mechanical methods include plowing and pressure-forced detonation. In plowing, a specially designed plow attached to the front end of a heavily armored tank is used to push aside the earth and any mines embedded in it, clearing a path as wide as the pushing tank. In pressure-forced detonation, a heavily armored tank pushes a heavy spherical or cylindrical solid metal roller ahead of it, causing mines to detonate.

There are also several ways of making vehicles resistant to the effects of a mine detonation to reduce the chance of crew injury. In case of a mine's blast effect, this can be done by absorbing the blast energy, deflecting it away from the vehicle hull or increasing the distance between the crew and the points where wheels touch the ground–where any detonations are likely to centre.
Another way to protect a vehicle from mines was to attach wooden planks to the sides of armored vehicles to prevent enemy soldiers from attaching magnetic mines.  In the close combat on Iwo Jima, for example, some tanks were protected in this manner.  A Japanese soldier running up from a concealed foxhole would not be able to stick a magnetic mine on the side of a tank encased in wood.
A simple, and highly effective, technique to protect the occupants of a wheeled vehicle is to fill the tires with water.  This will have the effect of absorbing and deflecting the mine's blast energy. Steel plates between the cabin and the wheels can absorb the energy and their effectiveness is enhanced if they can be angled to deflect it away from the cabin.  Increasing the distance between the wheels and passenger cabin, as is done on the South African Casspir personnel carrier, is an effective technique, although there are mobility and ease of driving problems with such a vehicle.  A V-hull vehicle uses a wedge-shaped passenger cabin, with the thin edge of the wedge downwards, to divert blast energy away from occupants.  Improvised measures such as sandbags in the vehicle floor or bulletproof vests placed on the floor may offer a small measure of protection against tiny mines.

Steel plates on the floor and sides and armoured glass will protect the occupants from fragments. Mounting seats from the sides or roof of the vehicle, rather than the floor, will help protect occupants from shocks transmitted through the structure of the vehicle and a four-point seat harness will minimise the chance of injury if the vehicle is flung onto its side or its roof–a mine may throw a vehicle 5 – 10 m from the detonation point.

Police and military can use a robot to remove mines from an area.

Combat use

Anti-tank mines have played an important role in most wars fought since they were first used.

Second World War
Anti-tank mines played a major role on the Eastern front, where they were used in huge quantities by Soviet troops. The most common included the TM-41, TM-44, TMSB, YAM-5, and AKS. In the Battle of Kursk, combat engineers laid a staggering 503,663 AT mines, for a density of 1500 mines per kilometer. This was four times greater than what was seen in the Battle of Moscow.

Furthermore, mobile detachments were tasked with laying more mines directly in the path of advancing enemy tanks. According to one source: "... Each artillery battalion and, in some cases, each artillery battery, had a mobile reserve of 5 to 8 combat engineers equipped with 4 to 5 mines each. Their function was to mine unguarded tank approaches after the direction of the enemy attack had been definitely ascertained. These mines proved highly effective in stopping and even in destroying many enemy tanks."

The Wehrmacht also relied heavily on anti-tank mines to defend the Atlantic Wall, having planted six million mines of all types in Northern France alone. Mines were usually laid in staggered rows about 500 yards (460 meters) deep. Along with the anti-personnel types, there were various model of Tellermines, Topfmines, and Riegel mines. On the Western front, anti-tank mines were responsible for 20-22% of Allied tank losses. Since the majority of these mines were equipped with pressure fuzes (rather than tilt-rods), tanks were more often crippled than destroyed outright.

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, both 'regular' NVA and Viet Cong forces used AT mines. These were of Soviet, Chinese or local manufacture. Anti-tank mines were also used extensively in Cambodia and along the Thai border, planted by Pol Pot's Maoist guerrillas and the Vietnamese army, which invaded Cambodia in 1979 to topple the Khmer Rouge. Millions of these mines remain in the area, despite clearing efforts. It is estimated that they cause hundreds of deaths annually.

Southern Africa
Conflict in southern Africa since the 1960s have often involved Soviet, United States or South African supported irregular armies or fighters engaged in guerrilla warfare. What makes these conflicts significant to the study of anti-tank mines is that they featured the widespread use of these mines in situations other than conventional warfare (or static minefields) and also saw the development of effective mine resistant vehicles. As a result, both Angola and Mozambique are littered with such devices to this day (as with Cambodia).

In the Angolan Civil War or South African Border War that covered vast sparsely populated area of southern Angola and northern Namibia, it was easy for small groups to infiltrate and lay their mines on roads before escaping again often undetected. The anti-tank mines were most often placed on public roads used by civilian and military vehicles and had a great psychological effect.

Mines were often laid in complex arrangements. One tactic was to lay multiple mines on top of each other to increase the blast effect. Another common tactic was to link together several mines placed within a few metres of each other, so that all would detonate when any one was triggered.

It was because of this threat that some of the first successful mine protected vehicles were developed by South African military and police forces. Chief amongst these were the Buffel and Casspir armoured personnel carriers and Ratel armoured fighting vehicle. They employed v-shaped hulls that deflected the blast force away from occupants. In most cases occupants survived anti-tank mine detonations with only minor injuries. The vehicles themselves could often be repaired by replacing the wheels or some drive train components that were designed to be modular and replaceable for exactly this reason.

Most countries involved in Middle Eastern peace keeping missions deploy modern developments of these vehicles like the RG-31 (Canada, United Arab Emirates, United States)
and RG-32 (Sweden).

See also
Mines Advisory Group
Swiss Foundation for Mine Action
List of landmines  (provides extensive details of different types)
Blast resistant mine
Anti-handling device

Examples of Anti-tank mines
Type 72, China (modern)
Tellermine and Topfmine, Nazi Germany (World War II)
TM-83 mine, Russia (modern), an off route mine using the Misznay-Schardin effect
ARGES mine
FFV 028 mine, Sweden
ATM 2000E, Austria
VS-HCT mine, Italy
Hawkins grenade a WWII British munition that was used as a mine, not a grenade.

Mine dispersal systems
GEMSS mine system
GATOR mine system
Volcano mine system

References

External links

 Mines Advisory Group
 German mines of World War 2.
 How Stuff Works
 German anti-tank mines (Archived 2009-10-25)
 Tank casualties during WWII

Explosive weapons
Area denial weapons

Armoured warfare

Anti-tank mine


SMERSH () was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin. The formal justification for its creation was to subvert the attempts by Nazi German forces to infiltrate the Red Army on the Eastern Front.

The official statute of SMERSH listed the following tasks to be performed by the organisation: counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, preventing any other activity of foreign intelligence in the Red Army; fighting "anti-Soviet elements" in the Red Army; protection of the front lines against penetration by spies and "anti-Soviet elements"; investigating traitors, deserters, and self-inflicted wounds in the Red Army; and checking military and civil personnel returning from captivity.

The organisation was officially in existence until 4 May 1946, when its duties were transferred back to the MGB. The head of the agency throughout its existence was Viktor Abakumov, who rose to become Minister of State Security in the postwar years.

Name
Joseph Stalin coined the name "СМЕРШ" (SMERSH) as a portmanteau of the Russian-language phrase Смерть шпиoнам (Smert' shpiónam, "Death to spies"). Originally focused on combating German spies infiltrating the Soviet military, the organization quickly expanded its mandate: to find and eliminate any subversive elements—hence Stalin's inclusive name for it.

History
Until 3 February 1941, the 4th Department (Special Section, OO) of the Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB)—the most important security body within the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD)—was responsible for the Soviet Armed Forces' military counter-intelligence. On that date, the Special Section's 12 Sections and one Investigation Unit were separated from GUGB NKVD. The official liquidation of OO GUGB within NKVD was announced on 12 February by a joint order № 00151/003 of NKVD and NKGB USSR. The rest of GUGB was abolished and staff was moved to newly created People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB). Departments of former GUGB were renamed Directorates. For example, former Foreign Department (INO) became Foreign Directorate (INU); political police represented by Secret Political Department (SPO) became Secret Political Directorate (SPU), and so on. The former GUGB 4th Department (OO) was split into three sections. One section, which handled military counter-intelligence in NKVD troops (former 11th Section of GUGB 4th Department OO) became 3rd NKVD Department or OKR (Otdel KontrRazvedki), the chief of OKR NKVD was Aleksander Belyanov, Commissar State Security 3rd rank. On 25 February 1941, Viktor Abakumov became NKVD deputy Commissar in charge of supervising this and several other departments.

The second and most significant part went to the Defense Commissariat Soviet Armed Forces (the NKO) becoming its 3rd Directorate or (3 Upravlenie). The 3rd NKO Directorate took over most of the 4th GUGB Department Sections and was headed by division commissar Anatolii Mikheev, the former and last OO GUGB NKVD chief. The third part of former OO (the 10 Section) became the Navy Commissariat (the Red Fleet) 3rd Directorate. The head of navy KI was Andrei Petrov, a state security captain.

Operation Barbarossa

After the 22 June 1941 German invasion of the USSR, Stalin on 17 July, as Chairman of State Defense Committee, signed special decree  №187 / ss, by which military counterintelligence was returned to the NKVD as a Directorate of Special Departments or UOO, with Viktor Abakumov as chief. UOO on every level was given much more power and a freer hand in decision making than at any time since the creation of Cheka. Also on 19 July, by the order of NKVD №00940, the UOO was moved from Moscow to the city of Kuibyshev. Navy 3rd Directorate was still under Navy control, till 11 January 1942 when it was incorporated into Directorate of Special Departments.

On 2 July 1941, NKGB USSR was incorporated back into the NKVD structure. NKGB did not return as GUGB, but as separate units. The NKVD structure organisation from 31 July 1941  shows that there are independent Directorates as in the 1st: foreign intelligence, 2nd: domestic KI, and so on. There is no GUGB within NKVD after its official liquidation in the beginning of February 1941.

After the situation on the Russian fronts (known as Eastern front) became more stable, on 14 April 1943, the State Defense Committee (GKO), chaired by Stalin, ordered another split of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD USSR) into three organisations:
By decision of the Politburo of the CPSU [then VKP(b)] nr. P 40/91People's Commissariat for State Security or (NKGB) was created for the second time. It was based on NKVD's Directorates. The most important of them were: 1st INU (foreign intelligence), 2nd KRU (domestic counterespionage, fighting anti-Soviet organizations, protection of state economy, house searches, and arrests) NKVD 2nd Department (government and party officials protection) was transferred as NKGB 6th Directorate, NKVD Transportation Directorate was absorbed as NKGB 3rd Directorate and NKVD 4th Directorate was moved to NKGB with the same number. For detailed organization see NKGB. "Regulations of the People's Commissariat of State Security" were approved by SNK in order № 621-191ss from 2 June 1943.
After losing most of the operational units to the NKGB, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) was still a very powerful government apparatus. It was responsible for public order in USSR by using heavily armed police in each corner of the country, running the largest penal labour camps under the Gulag Directorate, POWs camps and NKVD troops with loyal and well-equipped soldiers, that by the end of the war the numbers of NKVD troops were 1½ million strong with their own air force, armored and cavalry units.

Resolution No. 414-138 ss ordered the NKVD's Directorate of Special Departments to be split into three separate military counterintelligence units, within the NKO, Navy Commissariat and NKVD, respectively, as has been done in early 1941. The same order that created GUKR SMERSH within the NKO created a parallel organisation within the Navy Commissariat, the NKVMF. This organization was known as the Navy UKR SMERSH and headed by Peter Gladkov and his two deputies Aleksei Lebedev and Sergei Dukhovich. In reality, Gladkov reported to Abakumov, by then deputy Commissar of the NKO, and Stalin's deputy. Formally Gladkov was subordinate to his superior People's Commissar Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, head of Navy.

OKR SMERSH (Counterintelligence Department) of the NKVD USSR was subordinate to Lavrentiy Beria, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. The NKVD OKR SMERSH was headed by Semion Yukhimovich and later V. Smirnov.

Duties

The GKO officially created SMERSH to ensure the Soviet Union's security from internal political threats and foreign espionage, although it carried out a wide variety of other tasks between 1943 and 1946 as well.  SMERSH's counterintelligence operations included seeking and destroying counter revolutionaries, finding and interrogating enemy agents, hunting Soviet agents who had not returned by the appointed date, and evaluating the usefulness of captured enemy documents. SMERSH also took an active role in the affairs of the Red Army by ensuring the good quality of Red Army facilities, improving discipline, eliminating poor leaders, and preventing desertion, self-inflicted wounds, panic, sabotage and poor discipline. Other SMERSH activities included: exposing collaborators in areas recently captured by the Red Army; exposing and punishing economic crimes such as black market activity; protecting secret material and headquarters from enemy agents and saboteurs; and determining the "patriotism" of those captured, encircled, and those who had returned from foreign countries. SMERSH operatives also controlled partisan operations behind German lines and evaluated the partisans' loyalty to the Soviet Union. SMERSH would then arrest and neutralise anti-Soviet partisans, saboteurs, spies, conspirators, mutineers, deserters, and people designated as traitors and criminal elements at the combat front.

The strategic directorate focused on counter-espionage wet operations and counter-insurgency pacification operations that answered directly to Stalin. In March 1946, SMERSH Chief Directorate was resubordinated to the People's Commissariat of Military Forces (Наркомат Вооруженных Сил, NKVS). The NKVS was later reorganized into the Ministry of Military Forces (МVS) soon thereafter, and SMERSH was officially discontinued 4 May 1946.

Other activities
SMERSH activities included "filtering" the soldiers and forced labourers recovered from captivity. SMERSH was actively involved in the capture of Soviet citizens who had been active in anti-communist armed groups fighting on the side of Nazi Germany such as the Russian Liberation Army, the Cossack Corps of Pyotr Krasnov, and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

As the war concluded, SMERSH was given the assignment of finding Adolf Hitler and, if possible, capturing him alive or recovering his body. Red Army officers and SMERSH agents reportedly found Hitler's partially burned corpse near the Führerbunker after his suicide and conducted an investigation to confirm his death and identify the remains that were secretly buried at SMERSH headquarters in Magdeburg until April 1970, when they were exhumed, completely cremated, and dumped.

SMERSH fought the Armia Krajowa and post-war organisations participating e.g. in the Augustów roundup.

GURK SMERSH HQ Organization
A separate attachment to GKO decision No. 3222-ss/ov detailed the organisation of SMERSH and its branches in the Army:

Defense Commissariat – headed by (at the time of taking post) Defence Commissar Marshal of the Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin
 Main Counterintelligence Directorate headed by (at the time of taking post) Commissar of State Security 2nd rank Viktor Abakumov.
 first deputy: (at the time of taking post) Commissar of State Security 2nd rank – Nikolai Selivanovsky
 deputy: (at the time of taking post)  Commissar of State Security 3nd rank – Pavel Meshik
 deputy: (at the time of taking post) State Security Commissar – Isai Babich
 deputy for staff affairs: (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel – Ivan Vradii
 Secretariat – Secretarial work within GURK SMERSH headed by (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Ivan Chernov
1st Department – Counterintelligence within the Red Army command. Officers assigned to all military units, from the battalion level upward. Also control of political officers within Red Army – headed by State Security Colonel Ivan Gorgonov Apr 29, 1943 – May 27, 1946
2nd Department – CI Operations within foreign POWs, and also filtering of Soviet armed forces officers and servicemen who had been POWs. Those investigations were result of Order No. 270 and Order No. 227. Also collection of intelligence information from areas immediately behind enemy lines headed by (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Sergei Kartashov Apr 29, 1943 – May 1946
 3rd Department – was in charge both of identifying German agents working behind the Red Army front, and of radio games. In the field, officers or branches of the 3rd Dep. were assigned to all military units from the corps and higher. Also cooperation with 2nd dep's of UKRs of fronts and the 4th Sections of OKRs of the armies, (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Georgii Utekhin  Apr/Sep 1943
4th Department – Counterintelligence behind enemy lines. Taking measures like finding the channels of penetration of enemy agents into the units and institutions of the Red Army.  Sending qualified counterintelligence operatives and turned German agents (double agents) to the occupied German territory to penetrate their intelligence organizations, and German administration. 4th GURK Dep frequently cooperated with NKGB Directorates like 1st (foreign intelligence, headed by Pavel Fitin), 2nd (domestic counterintelligence ) run by Pyotr Fedotov and especially with 4th Directorate run by famous penetrator of Manhattan Project, Pavel Sudoplatov. Headed by (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Pyotr Timofeev  Apr/Sep 1943
5th Department – was in charge of supervising UKRs of fronts. It also maintained military field courts, headed by (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Dimitrii Zenichev, and from July 1944 by State Security Colonel Andrei Frolov
 6th Department – (also known as Investigation Unit) This unit was not present in a UKRs and OKRs structures. Unit existed only in the GURK SMERSH headquarters in Moscow. Investigators of 6th Dep worked very closely with 2nd GURK Dep officers. In charge of  (6th Dep) was (at the time of taking post) State Security Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Leonov. (Leonov and at the time his deputy Mikhail Likhachev, played important roles in interrogations of German POWs of highest level.) Likhachev headed SMERSH group at the Nuremberg Trials. Also cases prepared by the 6th Department were tried by the Military Collegium or the OSO of the NKVD USSR.
 7th Department – in charge of statistics and archival data. Also responsible for surveillance of high level military personnel in the Central Committee and the Defense and the Navy Commissariats, as well as those involved in secret work who were send abroad. Dep 7th was head by (at the time of taking post) State Security Colonel Aleksandr Sidorov

At the end of the Second World War, American forces examining captured German intelligence sources determined that SMERSH was composed of six directorates, six departments, and three other branches. Directorates conducted operations involving agents on the "frontline" of the intelligence war whereas departments received and interpreted the information coming in from agents and enemy intercepts. SMERSH also ran three other groups: the Komendatura, which guarded and managed SMERSH installations and prisoners; the Troika, which acted as a military court and could administer punishment without defense from the accused; and the Administrative Bureau and Secretariat, which acted as the personal staff of the SMERSH commander.

Below is the organization of SMERSH based on German Intelligence. The second chart shows another way SMERSH may have been organized.

UKR SMERSH units at the front
GUKR SMERSH directed the work of field directorates, assigned to the fronts. These field organs were referred to as UKR SMERSH (Upravlenie Kontrrazvedki) or Counterintelligence Directorates. The naming distinguished them from the GUKR (HQ) SMERSH headquarters. The difference between GUKR and UKR or OKR was in the status hierarchy in the Red Army Military CI (the same structures were applied in February 1941 to NKO, NKMF and NKVD military counterintelligence units). They were ranked according to their authority. In the case of SMERSH the system of organization was: Main (or Chief) Directorate or GUKR SMERSH, Directorate of Counterintelligence or UKR SMERSH, and Department of Counterintelligence or OKR SMERSH.

GUKR in Moscow consisted of 11 operational and 3 non-operational departments, a total of 646 men. For comparison, GUKR SMERSH's predecessor, UOO NKVD Directorate of Special Departments within the NKVD () consisted of 225 men in 1942. Not all departments corresponded to their UOO NKVD predecessors. With the new focus on the Germans and other enemies, two departments, the 3rd and 4th, transferred from the NKVD/NKGB.[p. 257]

The 3rd Department had the task of capturing German spies in the rear and organizing radio games with their help, and the 4th Department headed counter-intelligence measures behind the front line.
Five of the departments, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th. were involved directly in investigation.

The UKR SMERSH (Counterintelligence Directorate) of the front, directed the OKRs Counterintelligence Departments (Otdiel Kontrrazvedki) within the armies and units. There SMERSH officers were attached to each rifle corps. The OKR at the division level consisted of 21 men, including a head, his deputy, a ciphering officer, investigators, commandant, and a platoon of guards. The OKR of each army included 57 men, while the size of the front UKR depended on how many armies composed the front. If the front consisted of five armies, its UKR included 130 officers, if there were fewer armies, the UKR had 112 officers.

Military Districts had a different structure. For example, the Moscow Military District, the biggest one at the time, had between 109 and 193 officers; they went through special training for filtering POWs. SMERSH units at the fronts were supported by NKVD internal troops for guarding prisoners, for operational work UKR and OKR SMERSH units were supported by regular Red Army servicemen. SMERSH front directorates were provided with a battalion, SMERSH army departments with a company, and SMERSH departments at the regiment, division, or brigade level, a platoon.

Methods
In its counter-espionage and counter-intelligence roles, SMERSH appears to have been extremely successful throughout World War II. SMERSH actions resulted in numerous captures, desertions, and defections of German intelligence officers and agents, some of whom SMERSH turned into double agents. Indeed, the Germans began to consider missions where their losses were less than ninety percent "satisfactory". According to German sources, the Soviets rendered approximately 39,500 German agents useless by the end of the war.

SMERSH utilized a number of different counterintelligence tactics: informants, security troops, radio games, and the passing of disinformation, ensuring both the reliability of the military and the civilian population. SMERSH set up a system of informants by sending a SMERSH officer to each battalion composed of between 1,000 and 1,500 men. Each SMERSH officer would enlist a number of "residents" who recruited their own "reserve resident" and between six and eight informants. Informants reported those sympathetic to the Germans, desertion, unpatriotic attitudes, and low morale and were authorized to take "immediate corrective action" if the need arose. SMERSH recruited between 1,540,000 and 3,400,000 informants, or about twelve percent of the entire Red Army. However, SMERSH coerced up to half of all of its informants to work for them.

In order to secure the Red Army's rear, SMERSH evacuated civilians and set up checkpoints so as to assert physical control. Next, agents sought and arrested "suspicious persons" who might be German agents. Finally, SMERSH interrogated those arrested.

Compared to its predecessor (Directorate of Special Departments – UOO), SMERSH was mostly focused on enemies spies, although Red Army servicemen were still under suspicion.
Abakumov kept Stalin updated on all high-ranking commanders, and on the behavior of a number of leading military officers.

The arrest of a private or junior officer should be approved by a prosecutor;
The arrest of a mid-level commander should be approved by the commander and prosecutor of military unit.
The arrest of a high-level commander should be approved by the Military Council of the [front] and a prosecutor.
The arrest of a commander of the highest level should be authorized by the People's Commissar of Defense [Stalin].

To confuse German intelligence with disinformation, SMERSH utilized radio playbacks and played over 183 radio games over the course of the war. Operation "Opyt'" serves as a good example of the effectiveness of these radio games. Between May and June 1943, SMERSH used three German agents to spread disinformation about the Kursk counteroffensive by suggesting the Red Army had begun to dig in rather than prepare for an attack, thus contributing to the success of the Red Army's surprise attack. Before Operation Bagration, the largest Allied operation of the Second World War, SMERSH caught and "doubled" a number of German agents who tricked the German military into underestimating the number of Soviet troops by 1.2 million men.

SMERSH played a major role in creating and controlling partisan operations behind German lines. After capturing German-held territory and reuniting with the Red Army, SMERSH interviewed partisans in order to determine the partisans' loyalty to the regime.

In popular culture
SMERSH has been popularized due to the organization's prominence as one of the common antagonists in Ian Fleming's early James Bond novels; however, Fleming's portrayal has been generally criticized as quite inaccurate by historians. In later works Fleming abandoned the use of SMERSH as his chosen antagonists, introducing the purely fictional villainous organization SPECTRE.

In all Bond films based on Fleming's works that featured SMERSH, the agency was either changed to SPECTRE or omitted altogether. However, SMERSH is mentioned in From Russia With Love. Also, an operation 'smiert shpionam' ('death to spies') forms part of the plot of The Living Daylights, but this was organized by a Russian General acting without approval of the Soviet Government.

In 1968 L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, began writing that all of the world's governments had been taken over by SMERSH and that the organization was controlling the world through psychiatry, which the Church opposes. Hubbard proposed to defeat the alleged SMERSH infiltration by smuggling Sea Organization members into Switzerland, taking over the World Federation of Mental Health in Geneva, and then discrediting psychiatry by using the front organization to promote eugenics and mass euthanization to the United Nations. Hubbard abandoned the plan after the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health took notice of the Sea Org's plan.

See also

 Military counterintelligence of the Soviet Army
 Gestapo–NKVD Conferences
 Death to Spies

References

External links

 Russia unveils Stalin's spy service BBC report on an exhibition in Moscow marking the 60th anniversary of SMERSH's founding.
 "Track down Soviet war criminals, Ukrainian group urges, By Nathan Wilson

Military of the Soviet Union
NKVD
Intelligence services of World War II
Counterintelligence agencies

SMERSH


The Christopher Center Library (also known as the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources) is the library on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The Christopher Center is Valparaiso's fourth library and replaces the former Henry F. Moellering Library, which was demolished in 2005 to make way for the forthcoming student union. As a result, the facilities holdings within the Christopher Center are now known as The Moellering Collection.

Construction and architecture
Comprising  of space, the building was designed by Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis of Chicago, which sought to "break the mold" of institutional libraries. Part of a $33 million project, the Christopher Center was made possible through gifts from alumni and friends, including a $16 million gift from Jay Christopher and his wife Doris. Support of the University's Three Goals, One Promise campaign made construction of the building possible. Among the major donors to the building project are those whose gifts are recognized in special areas of the building.

The grid-like structure flanking the south and east sides of the building's exterior provides an interesting appearance for the building while serving as a valuable sun screen. This protects the books from harmful, constant exposure to sun rays and helps soften the sunlight entering the two-story reading room overlooking Resurrection Meadow south of the chapel. At the same time, spaces throughout the facility are bathed in natural light.

Building features

The wireless building accommodates current study preferences by replacing study carrels with soft furniture in "living room" settings, several complete with fireplaces. Food and beverages are available at a café on the premises. There are some 2,400 data ports and 88 wireless access points in the building, all connected by  of data cable. Computer clusters are located amply throughout the building, totaling over 250 individual computers available for student use. Sunshades also automatically lower when too much sunlight is entering the building, and raise when it is dark outside.

Books and other traditional information resources mix with computers and access to the Internet on every floor. The computer-driven, robotic Automated Storage and Retrieval System uses space efficiently and allowed the overall shelving capacity in the center to increase to 600,000 volumes without having to increase the size of the building.

Automated storage and retrieval system
Perhaps the best representation of Christopher Center's integration of traditional library services with current technology is the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS). This combination of robotics and computer system has the capacity to store 300,000 files. Two stories high, the system features bins stacked along two aisles. Materials that are used infrequently by students or faculty are maintained in this location.

When one of the 60,000 items is requested, the robotic system locates and retrieves the publication in about 15 seconds. Using a bar code logged into it, the management computer system runs the robot and simultaneously registers the volume's current location in the one of its 1,872 bins. Designed like a combination car-jack and fork lift, the computer-controlled cranes move along the aisles and up or down the stacks of bins to retrieve the requested material and place it on a tray desk in the main circulation area. Provided by a gift from alumnus Herbert F. Stride, this automated storage and retrieval system is one of the first five installed for use in libraries in the nation.

Collections

The Christopher Center Special Collections have a particular strength in Reformation-era theology, with an emphasis on collecting various early editions of the writings of Martin Luther.

Included in the general collections are several decades' worth of back issues of journals and government documents.

The Center collects official government maps from the U.S. Geological Survey, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the CIA, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. It is an Army Map Service depository for a special collection of 70,000 maps. The collection also contains National Geographic Society, maps as well as local, state, national and international maps.

There are 2,200 LPs in the center's audio/visual collection, ranging from classical to blues, retro and jazz. In total, there are over 2,300 sound recordings (CDs, LPs, cassette tapes), 1,900 visual recordings (DVDs and VHS tapes), and 1,400 CD-ROMs for academic and recreational purposes.

References

External links

Official Website
Virtual Tour of the Christopher Center

University and college academic libraries in the United States
Valparaiso University
Libraries in Indiana
Library buildings completed in 2004
Federal depository libraries
Buildings and structures in Valparaiso, Indiana

Christopher Center


Roundhay Park is a large park in the upmarket suburb of Roundhay in North Leeds. The park is home to two lakes, the Waterloo Lake and the Upper Lake.  The Park is also home to Roundhay Mansion, Roundhay Castle and Tropical World.

History
Roundhay Park was a private hunting ground in the thirteenth century.  Thomas Nicholson bought the park in 1803 and in 1811 had John Clarke redesign it as a private park.  At the same time the Roundhay Mansion was built.  In 1871, the park was bought by Leeds City Council for use by the public.  The decision to buy the park was not a popular one, with many people seeing it as a waste of money because the park was so far away from Leeds City Centre.  The city grew though in later years through the industrial revolution and the city's rich residents built houses close to the park.

Lakes

Waterloo Lake
The main lake, Waterloo Lake was built by soldiers after their return from the Napoleonic Wars after the Battle of Waterloo.  The lake is  deep and  in area. It was originally used for boating, but now only fishing.  In the twentieth century the boat house was made into a cafe.  Until 1900 a steamboat called the Maid of Athens ran on the lake.  The dam at the south end was once a waterfall.

The Upper Lake
The Upper Lake is the smaller of the two lakes in the park and is set much higher than Waterloo Lake.  Roundhay Castle is on the hill between the two lakes.  The Upper Lake has a large fountain in the centre.

Concerts
The park has seen many concerts, including Party at the Park, a Madonna concert and more recently a Robbie Williams concert.

Buildings and structures in Leeds
Parks in the United Kingdom

Roundhay Park


The pancreas is an organ that makes hormones and enzymes to help digestion. The pancreas helps break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The pancreas is behind the stomach and is on the left side of the human body.

The part of the pancreas that makes hormones is called the Islets of Langerhans. The Islets of Langerhans are a small part (2%) of the total cells in the pancreas.  The Islets of Langerhans change which chemical they make depending on how much of other chemicals are already in the blood.  So, the pancreas works to keep the level of chemicals in balance in the body.  If the Islets of Langerhans stop working, a person will suffer from a disease called diabetes. Doctors are experimenting with taking the Islets of Langerhans cells from a donor body and putting them into the pancreas of a person with diabetes to make that person well.

The pancreas belongs to two systems of the body: the digestive system for its role in breaking down nutrients, and the endocrine system for producing hormones.

Hormones
The pancreas releases these hormones:
 Insulin (which decreases the amount of glucose or sugar in the blood)
 Glucagon (which increases the amount of glucose in the blood)
 Somatostatin (which reduces production of insulin and glucagon)

Digestive enzymes
The pancreas releases many different enzymes to help digestion:
 Lipase (which breaks down fats)
 Amylase (which breaks down carbohydrates)
 Trypsinogen and Chymotrypsin (which break down proteins)
 Erepsin, which digests peptones into amino acids.

References

Other websites

 Pancreatic Cancer Info

Anatomy of the digestive system

Pancreas


Connie M. Doepke (born 1946) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 33B, which included the Lake Minnetonka area cities of Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Long Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, Shorewood, Tonka Bay, Wayzata, Woodland, and western Minnetonka in Hennepin County, which is part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Republican, she is also a direct marketing consultant, and a former vice president of fashion merchandising for Fingerhut.

Doepke was first elected in 2008, succeeding first-term Rep. John Berns, who did not seek re-election. She was re-elected in 2010. She was a member of the House's K-12 Education Policy and Oversight Committee, of the Commerce and Labor Subcommittee for the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division, and of the Finance subcommittees for the K-12 Education Finance Division and the Transportation Finance and Policy Division.

Doepke graduated from Michigan State University in East Lansing, earning her B.A. in Communication Arts. Prior to moving to Wayzata in 1993, she also lived in Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, working as an executive and consultant in the direct marketing and fashion merchandising industries for Sears, Roebuck and Company, Avon Products, and New Hampton, Inc.

Active in her local community, Doepke served as a board member, chair, vice chair and treasurer of the Wayzata School Board, and also chaired the school district's Citizens Financial Advisory Committee and Legislative Action Committee. She is a board member of the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce, and has served as co-chair of the Business/Education Partnership. She is also a member of the Minneapolis Chapter of Fashion Group International. In 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty appointed her to serve on the board of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

References

External links

 Rep. Doepke Web Page
 Project Votesmart - Rep. Connie Doepke Profile
 Session Weekly 2/13/2009: "From NYC to Minnesota: Business brought Doepke to state, led to public service"
 Connie Doepke Campaign Web Site

1946 births
Living people
People from Wayzata, Minnesota
Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Women state legislators in Minnesota
Michigan State University alumni
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians

Connie Doepke


Thebarton Senior College is a public senior secondary school located in Torrensville in Adelaide, South Australia. The school was established on the site in 1924 as Thebarton Boys Technical High School, with adult re-entry students accepted in 1988 and then formally becoming an adult re-entry college in 1990. From 2012, it is providing senior students with the opportunity of completing their South Australian Certificate of Education, either alone or in conjunction with a nationally accredited vocational certificate.

The College grounds and facilities were upgraded in 2005. It has a gymnasium, cafeteria, library,  study centre and up-to-date technology for use by staff and students. In 2010 a new Language Centre and Technology facilities were completed. During 2013, new library extensions are being built which will provide state-of-the-art study facilities.

Students
The students are senior secondary (mainly aged 16 or over) who wish to complete their secondary education, undertake  vocational programs or learn English in the New Arrivals Program. Many are part-time and there are over 1000 full-time equivalent students. The College draws its students from all parts of the greater metropolitan area but particularly from the central and north western side.

In 2009 the College won the SA Training Award for Best Small Training Provider (fewer than 1500 students) and in 2008 was winner of the VET in Schools Excellence award. The College is a Registered Training Provider for a range of vocational certificates which are recognised nationally and is a Skills for All training provider.

New Arrivals Program
The College is the only adult New Arrivals Program provider in South Australia. The New Arrivals Program is an intensive English language acquisition course for newly arrived adult migrant and refugee students. While the focus of the program is to provide non-English-speaking students with the level of language proficiency needed to undertake future SACE studies, mathematics, science and computing are integral to the curriculum and also have a language emphasis.

External links
Thebarton Senior College

Public schools in South Australia
Australian schools providing vocational education

Thebarton Senior College


Steve Turre (né Stephen Johnson Turre; born 12 September 1948 Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz trombonist, a pioneering musical seashell virtuoso, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level who, for  years, has been active in jazz, rock, and Latin jazz – in live venues, recording studios, television, and cinema production. As a studio musician, Turre is among the most prolific living jazz trombonist in the world. As a member of a television orchestra, this is Turre's  year as trombonist with the Saturday Night Live Band.

Selected discography

As leader

As sideman

References

External links

 Official site

Jazz discographies
Discographies of American artists

Steve Turre discography


Norbert Earl Hecker (May 26, 1927 – March 14, 2004) was an American football player and coach who was part of eight National Football League (NFL) championship teams, but may be best remembered as the first head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

Early life and career
Born and raised in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, Hecker served in the U.S. Army during World War II, then returned home to attend nearby Baldwin-Wallace College.  In his years at the school, he showed himself to be an outstanding athlete by competing in four sports, most notably in football, where he won small college All-American honors in 1950 at wide receiver.  After having seen time as a reserve during the previous two years, Hecker caught 34 passes for 646 yards as a senior, including 13 catches in a single game.

Professional career
Hecker lived in Olmsted Falls Ohio, and his family still lives there. Hecker was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round of the 1951 NFL Draft, and during his first season with the team, played on both sides of the ball, missing only one game after suffering a fractured cheekbone.  On defense, he returned one turnover for a touchdown that season, but his most important contribution came in the NFL title game on December 23, when his game-saving tackle helped the Rams defeat the Cleveland Browns, 24–17.

During the following off-season, Hecker married Barbara Anne Ritchie on April 4, a union that would last 46 years until her death.  The family ties became even stronger when his brother Bob joined him in the Los Angeles secondary, but Hecker's time with the Rams would end after the conclusion of the 1953 NFL season, when, after intercepting seven passes for the year, he was dealt to the Washington Redskins.  However, before playing a down with his new team, he signed to play with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts on June 8, 1954.

After just one season with his new team, the Argonauts released Hecker and the team's other American imports on December 14.  After first choosing to stay up north with the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hecker changed his mind and reported to the Redskins' training camp on August 2, 1955.  In his first season, he had a team-high six interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Off the field, Hecker also made an impact as one of 12 players who started the National Football League Players Association in 1956, briefly serving as the team representative.

Hecker closed out his career after two more years of action, scoring another defensive touchdown in 1957 and finishing with 28 interceptions for his career. He also had two touchdown receptions, while also seeing periodic duty as the team's placekicker.

Continuing knee troubles played a major role in Hecker's release from the Redskins on September 7, 1958, with the veteran returning to Canada for one final season as a player-coach with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Coaching career
On February 23, 1959, Hecker began his coaching career by signing as an assistant under new Green Bay Packers' coach Vince Lombardi.

Inheriting a team that had won just once in 1958, Lombardi finished with a winning record in his first season, then narrowly missed  capturing the NFL title the following year.  In each of the next two campaigns, the Packers won the championship, then added another in 1965.  The latter title resulted in Hecker being hired by the expansion Falcons as their first head coach on January 26, 1966.

Lombardi was initially pursued as the first Atlanta coach, but after deciding to stay with Green Bay, was asked for recommendations for Atlanta's first coach. At the time, Lombardi did not recommend Hecker and the Atlanta owner, Rankin Smith Sr., thinking Lombardi was trying to pull one over on him, decided to hire Hecker. The next three years would be an exercise in frustration for Hecker who managed just four wins in his 31 games at the helm.  One bad omen of this misery came in the team's first exhibition game when the Falcons' kicker Wade Traynham completely missed the ball on the kickoff.  Following the inaugural 3–11 season, the Falcons were plagued by injuries in 1967 and declined to a 1–12–1 mark, the lone win coming in a one-point mid-season contest against the Minnesota Vikings.

When Atlanta began the 1968 NFL season by dropping their first three games, Hecker was fired on October 1 and replaced by former Viking head coach Norm Van Brocklin. After reaching a settlement on the remaining two years of his contract, Hecker accepted the defensive coordinator position with the New York Giants on February 12, 1969.  He had also been under consideration for a post with the Redskins, who had just hired the previously-retired Lombardi.

Following a 6–8 season that began with the preseason dismissal of head coach Allie Sherman, the Giants came close to reaching the postseason in 1970 with a 9–5 mark. However, when the team slipped to 4–10 the next year and gave up 362 points, Hecker was fired on December 23, 1971.  He resurfaced at Stanford University, first under Jack Christiansen from 1972 to 1976, then Bill Walsh the next two seasons.

When Walsh was hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, Hecker came along as an assistant coach.  After struggling for two seasons, the 49ers stunned the NFL by winning the championship in 1981, capping their turnaround season with a 26–21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.  San Francisco would go on to win three more Super Bowls, with Hecker eventually moving into a front office position until his retirement in 1991.

Hecker closed out his career in 1995 with the Amsterdam Admirals of the World League of American Football, handling both coaching and front office duties.  He died of cancer in 2004.

External links

 Encyclopedia of Baldwin Wallace History: Norb Hecker

References

1927 births
2004 deaths
Atlanta Falcons head coaches
Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets football players
Green Bay Packers coaches
Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches
Hamilton Tiger-Cats players
Los Angeles Rams players
New York Giants coaches
San Francisco 49ers coaches
Stanford Cardinal football coaches
Toronto Argonauts players
Washington Redskins players
People from Berea, Ohio
Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Deaths from cancer in California
People from Olmsted Falls, Ohio
United States Army personnel of World War II

Norb Hecker


Desmond Dinan, (born  1957) an Irish academic (originally from Cork), is the Jean Monnet Professor at the George Mason School of Public Policy, in Arlington, Virginia, US. He is the author of a number of textbooks on European integration and its history. He lives and works in the United States. He is married and has three children.

Bibliography
 Dinan, Desmond (1993). Historical Dictionary of the European Community. Metuchen : The Scarecrow Press.
 Dinan, Desmond (1994). Ever Closer Union?: An Introduction to the European Community. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan.
 Dinan, Desmond (1999). Ever Closer Union?: An Introduction to European Integration. Basingstoke : Palgrave : Macmillan.
 Dinan, Desmond (2000). Encyclopedia of the European Union. Boulder : Lynne Rienner.
 Dinan, Desmond (2004). Europe Recast: A History of European Union. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan.

References
bio on George Mason University
Book review on "Europe recast":
Jan-Henrik Meyer: "Review essay: Postwar European integration: Europe Recast" on: Dinan, Desmond: Europe Recast. A History of European Union. Basingstoke 2004. In: H-Soz-u-Kult, 22.09.2006, .

Scholars and academics from County Cork
1957 births
Living people
George Mason University faculty

Desmond Dinan


Iberian Communist Youth (in Spanish: Juventud Comunista Ibérica, JCI) was the youth wing of the Iberian Communist Federation, and later of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). JCI had its main strength in Catalonia and the Llevant (Land of Valencia and Murcia). The 1934 conference of JCI elected Germinal Vidal as the general secretary of JCI. After his death, Wilebaldo Solano from Valencia was elected in his place.

POUM provided some paramilitary training for JCI.

JCI started publishing Juventud Comunista as its weekly central organ in 1936. Juventud Comunista was published from Barcelona. Other JCI publications were Generación roja (Barcelona, began publication in May 1937), Juventud obrera (Barcelona, from July 12, 1937, weekly) and La Antorcha, itself a continuation of the 1920–21 El Comunista that was renamed with upon formation of the Communist Party of Spain (Madrid, from 1936, weekly).

JCI was a member organization of the International Bureau of Revolutionary Socialist Youth. Solano was elected general secretary of the Bureau at a conference in Brussels in 1937.

In 1937 JCI formed the Revolutionary Youth Front (FJR) together with the Libertarian Youth (JJ.LL.) and other youth groups.

References

Youth wings of political parties in Spain

Iberian Communist Youth


On 28 November 1966, Michel Micombero, Burundi's 26-year-old Prime Minister, ousted the 19-year-old king (mwami) of Burundi, Ntare V, in a coup d'état. Ntare was out of the country at the time and the coup leaders quickly succeeded in taking control. Micombero declared an end to the monarchy and the Kingdom of Burundi became a republic with Micombero as its first President.

Background
The November coup of 1966 was the last of three coups to take place in Burundi during 1965 and 1966. The previous coups (in October 1965 and July 1966) followed the assassination of the country's Prime Minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe on 15 January 1965, and the country's first parliamentary election in May 1965. The assassinations, attempted coups, contentious elections and ethnic cleansing campaigns combined to make the period immediately following independence a tumultuous one for Burundian society.

On 8 July 1966 Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye announced that he was assuming the role of head of state of Burundi. He suspended the constitution, dismissed Prime Minister Léopold Biha, and asked Captain Michel Micombero to form a new government. On 12 July Micombero's government was installed with himself as prime minister. On 1 September, Ndizeye had himself crowned as Mwami Ntare V. Tension developed between Ntare, who wanted to actively rule as a monarch, and Micombero's government, which had aligned itself to reform and saw little need for an involved king.

Events

In his first move, Micombero announced the dissolution of the royal government and assumed the prerogatives of the head of state. Artémon Simbananiye, who served as Minister of Justice, was appointed Prosecutor General of the Republic. The governors of the provinces were replaced by officers. Before the formation of the new government, the National Revolutionary Committee was established on a temporary basis under the chairmanship of Micombero, which consisted only of officers.

Speaking on the radio, Micombero said:

Aftermath
There was little overt public response to Micombero's coup, and administration officials noted that rural residents seemed to be in a "stupor" in wake of the takeover. The new regime requested that its local officials report on how the population received its assumption of power. Some farmers feared civil war and refused to tend to their plots while citizens in the commune of Busiga felt that the coup meant the dissolution of the royalist UPRONA and its usurpation by the republican Parti du Peuple.

President Grégoire Kayibanda of Rwanda immediately extended his country's recognition to the new government of Burundi. Burundi's relations with Rwanda subsequently improved, and diplomatic relations between the two states were resumed.

References

Works cited

November coup
Burundi
Military coups in Burundi
1960s coups d'état and coup attempts
November 1966 events in Africa

November 1966 Burundian coup d'état