Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals

The "Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals" ( ), by the actualist philosopher Giovanni Gentile, formally establishes the political and ideologic foundations of Italian Fascism. It justifies the political violence of the Blackshirt paramilitaries of the National Fascist Party (PNF — "Partito Nazionale Fascista"), in the revolutionary realisation of Italian Fascism as the authoritarian and totalitarian rėgime of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy as "Il Duce" ("The Leader"), from 1922 to 1943.
Overview.
The "Manifesto" is the ideological précis of the 29 March 1925 Conference of Fascist Culture at Bologna. In support of the government of Benito Mussolini, prominent Italian academic and public intellectuals effected the first formal effort at defining the cultural aspirations of Italian Fascism. As conference Chairman, the Neo-idealist philosopher Gentile publicly proclaimed the alliance between Culture and Fascism, thereby challenging intellectualist critics who questioned the Fascist régime's cultural respectability.
The thesis of the "Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals" bases Fascist revolution upon co-operation between Culture and Politics. As a statement of politico-philosophic principles, the "Manifesto" derived from the "Fascism and Culture" ("Fascismo e cultura") lecture Gentile delivered in the "Freedom and Liberalism" ("Libertà e liberalismo") session of the cultural conference; although officially attended by more than 400 Italian intellectuals, the document bears only 250 signatures.
The "Manifesto" was first published in "Il Popolo d'Italia" ("The People of Italy"), the PNF newspaper, then by most Italian newspapers on 21 April 1925 — the national, anniversary-day celebration of the Founding of Rome (ca. 21 April 753 BC). The publication date's symbolism was deepened with the contemporary, legal establishment of the celebration of the 21 April "Natale di Roma" ("Birth of Rome"), established by Royal decree in early 1925 as a replacement for International Workers' Day.
Many culturally influential Italian public intellectuals signed the "Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals", among them:
Although not at the Conference of Fascist Culture, the dramaturge and novelist Luigi Pirandello publicly supported the "Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals" with a letter. Meanwhile, the support of Neapolitan poet Di Giacomo provoked Gentile's falling out with Benedetto Croce, his intellectual mentor, who afterwards responded to the Fascist Government's proclamation with his "Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals".


Congress of Elbasan

The Congress of Elbasan (), also known between Albanians as the Congress of the Albanian schools ("Kongresi i shkollave shqipe"), was held from 2 to 8 September 1909 in Elbasan, today's Albania, back then part of the Vilayet of Monastir of the Ottoman Empire. The congress, sponsored by the local "Bashkimi" literary club, was attended by 35 delegates from central and southern Albania.
The congress aimed to address issues linked to culture and education. The delegates came to a decision that the Manastir club had to introduce the Albanian language in all schools in Albania. The Congress of Manastir had chosen the Latin script as the one to be used to write the language. In addition, the delegates decided to request all the Albanian journalists and publicists to use only the dialect of Elbasan. A very important result of the congress was the establishment of a school for teachers, known as Shkolla Normale e Elbasanit. The school was decided to be in Elbasan as well, and started with six classes on December 1, 1909.
Background.
In 1908, an alphabet congress in Manastir agreed to adopt a Latin character-based Albanian alphabet and the move was considered an important step for Albanian unification. Some conservative Albanian Muslims and clerics opposed the Latin alphabet and preferred an Arabic-based Albanian one because they were concerned that the former undermined ties with the Muslim world. For the Ottoman government the situation was alarming because the Albanians were the largest Muslim community in the European part of the empire (Istanbul excluded). The Albanian national movement was a proof that not only Christians had national feelings and Islam could not keep Ottoman Muslims united. In this circumstances the Ottoman state led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) organised a congress in Debar in 1909 with the intention that Albanians there declare themselves as Ottomans, promise to defend its territorial sovereignty and adopt an Albanian Arabic character script. However they faced a strong opposition from nationally minded Albanians and the Albanian element took total control of the proceedings. While the congress was on progress people of the CUP in Tirane orchestrated an demonstration aimed at Latin alphabet and the local branch of Bashkimi club, the organizer of the Manastir congress. Talat Bey, the interior minister, claimed that the Albanian population supported use of the Turkish alphabet and stayed against the Latin one. However the Bashkimi club did not stop the activity and organized a congress with 120 attendees in Elbasan.
Delegates.
The main organizer of congress was the prominent patriot Lef Nosi. Different patriotic clubs authorized delegates to represent them. There were altogether 35 delegates from all over settlements with Albanian population who represented 8 clubs. The Bashkimi club had branches in sixteen settlements, the Vllazënia club in three, while the other six clubs in one each. Some delegates represented more than one club or branch. Midhat Frashëri represented five branches of Bashkimi and one of Vllazenia, while Osman Joraja represented three branches of Bashkimi and one of Vllazenia. The delegates were Abdullah Bej Koprencka (Pellazg branch in Skrapar), Abdullah Reshidi (Bashkimi branch in Struga), Abdurrahim Kavaja (Vllazenia branch in Kocanë), Ahmet Dakli (Bashkimi branch in Struga), Andrea Ikonomi (Drita branch in Gjirokastër), Dervish Beu (Vllazenia branch in Elbasan), Nikolle Kacorri (Durrës), Emin Haxhi (Bashkimi branch in Elbasan), Grigor M. Cilka (American Mission branch in Korce), Gjergj Qiriazi (Bashkimi branch in Manastir), Hafiz Ibrahimi (Bashkimi branch in Tirane), Hamdi Beu (Bashkimi branch in Ohrid), Haxhi Bajram Beu (Bashkimi branch in Permet and Bashkimi branch in Leskovik), Idhomene Kosturi (Dituria branch in Korce), Irfan Beu (Bashkimi branch in Ohrid), Jahja Efendiu (Durrës), Josif Haxhi Mima (Aferdita branch in Elbasan), Kahreman Beu (Bashkimi branch in Berat), Kristaq Dako (American Mission branch in Tirane), Mihal Gjuraskovici (Durrës), Midhat Frashëri (Vllazenia branch in Filiates and Bashkimi branches in Thessaloniki, Skopje, Ioannina, Jenije-Vardar, Karaferia), Orhan Beu (Dituria branch in Korce and Bashkimi branch in Frasher), Osman Joraja (Vllazenia branch in Filiates, Bashkimi branches in Thessaloniki, Jenije Vardar, Karaferia), Qemal Beu (Bashkimi branch in Berat), Refik Beu (Bashkimi branch in Tirane), Sabri Beu (Bashkimi branch in Peqin), Selman Blloshmi (Bashkimi branch in Starove), Sevasti Qiriazi (American Mission branch in Korce), Simon Shuteriqi (Aferdita branch in Elbasan), Sulejman Leka (Bashkimi branch in Starove), Taqi Buda (Bashkimi branch in Elbasan), Teki Bej Reshiti (Bashkimi branches in Permet and Leskovik), Telha Beu (Bashkimi branch in Gramsh), Thoma Papapano (Drita branch in Gjirokastër), Xhemil Feza (Vllazenia branch in Elbasan).
Afterwards.
The opposition from the pro-Turkish fractions would continue, encouraged by the authorities. In a February 6, 1910 open meeting in Monastir, organized by Rexhep Voka and Arif Hikmet, it was demanded the introduction of an Arabic-scripts based alphabet for the Muslim population. Similar meetings were organized in the cities of Elbasan and Ohrid soon after. The Albanian nationalists responded with the organization of another meeting on 27 February at Shën Ilia near Korçë in support of the Latin-script alphabet. The meeting would be known later in the Albanian historiography as the "Albanian alphabet meeting". At the point, it was decided that another follow up congress should be held in order to bring a final end to the oppositions affirming the decisions of the first congress.


Ali Nayip Zade

Ali Nayip Zade () was a Cretan Muslim who served in high administrative posts in Greece.
Biography.
A personal friend of the Liberal Cretan politician and Prime Minister of Greece Eleftherios Venizelos, Nayip Zade was appointed by him as the first Prefect of Drama and Kavala in 1913. During Greece's expansion in the wake of the Balkan Wars and after World War I Venizelos, anxious to secure the acquiescence to Greek rule the goodwill of the large Muslim populations of Macedonia and Thrace, often appointed Cretan Muslims he knew and trusted to senior administrative posts in areas with a heavy Muslim presence. In 1919, Nayip Zade occupied a senior post in the administration of the Smyrna Zone, before being appointed Prefect of Adrianople, and subsequently Prefect of Lasithi in Crete, a post he kept until the compulsory Greco-Turkish population exchange of 1923.


East Upper Silesia

East Upper Silesia () is the easternmost extremity of Silesia, the eastern part of the Upper Silesian region around the city of Katowice (). The term is used primarily to denote those areas that became part of the Second Polish Republic on 20 June 1922, as a consequence of the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles. Prior to World War II, the Second Polish Republic administered the area as Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. East Upper Silesia was also known as Polish (Upper) Silesia, and the German (Upper) Silesia was known as West Upper Silesia.
Upper Silesia Plebiscite.
Consequently, to the end of World War I in 1918 various proposals emerged defining the division of Upper Silesia. At the Paris Peace Conference a commission for Polish affairs was created to prepare proposals for Polish borders. In their first two proposals (of 27 March 1919 and of 7 May 1919) most of the future province was ceded, together with the region of Oppeln, to Poland. Yet that was not accepted by the "Big Four", and following David Lloyd George's suggestion, the plebiscite was organized. Before it took place on 20 March 1921, two Silesian Insurrections instigated by Polish inhabitants of the area were organized. After the referendum, in which Poland had 41% of the votes, a plan of division was created that divided Upper Silesia. Following this, the Third Silesian Uprising took place. The Inter-Allied Commission on Upper Silesia, headed by the French general Henri Le Rond suggested a new plan for division of the area, which was prepared by an ambassadors commission in Paris on 20 October 1921. The division - which became effective by 20 June 1922 - still created a situation in which some rural territories that voted mostly for Poland were granted to Germany and some urban territories with a German majority were granted to Poland. The Polish Sejm decided that the easternmost Upper Silesian areas should become an autonomous area within Poland organised as the Silesian Voivodeship and with Silesian Parliament as a constituency and Silesian Voivodeship Council as the executive body. The part of Silesia awarded to Poland was by far the best-developed and richest region of the newly formed state, producing most of Poland's industrial output. Consequently, to the division in 1922, the German-Polish Accord on East Silesia (Geneva Convention) was concluded on 15 May 1922 which dealt with the constitutional and legal future of Upper Silesia as it has partly become Polish territory.
Nazi Germany.
East Upper Silesia was annexed by Nazi Germany along with other Polish areas following the invasion of Poland in 1939, which triggered the outbreak of World War II. Until 1941, the region was administered as "Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz", the easternmost government region of the Silesia Province. From 1941 to 1945, it was part of the Upper Silesia Province. Under Nazi rule, Upper Silesia included the cities of Beuthen, Gleiwitz, Hindenburg in Oberschlesien, Kattowitz, and Königshütte. It also contained the rural districts ("Landkreis") of Bendsburg, Beuthen-Tarnowitz, Bielitz, Kattowitz, Krenau, Ilkenau, Pless, Rybnik, Saybusch, Teschen, and Toszek-Gleiwitz.
In the spring of 1945, the region was occupied by the Red Army after the Silesian Offensives defeated the Wehrmacht there.
Present day.
After the war, East Upper Silesia was restored to Poland. Poland also received West Upper Silesia and most of Lower Silesia as part of the Recovered Territories. Today, the region is roughly represented by the Silesian Voivodeship.


2003 European heat wave

The 2003 European heat wave led to the hottest summer on record in Europe since at least 1540. France was hit especially hard. The heat wave led to health crises in several countries and combined with drought to create a crop shortfall in parts of Southern Europe. Peer-reviewed analysis places the European death toll at more than 70,000.
The predominant heat was recorded in July and August, partly a result of the western European seasonal lag from the maritime influence of the Atlantic warm waters in combination with hot continental air and strong southerly winds.
By country.
France.
In France, 14,802 heat-related deaths (mostly among the elderly) occurred during the heat wave, according to the French National Institute of Health. France does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas, but eight consecutive days with temperatures of more than were recorded in Auxerre, Yonne in early August 2003. Because of the usually relatively mild summers, most people did not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to rehydration), and most single-family homes and residential facilities built in the last 50 years were not equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, while contingency plans were made for a variety of natural and man-made catastrophes, high temperatures had rarely been considered a major hazard.
The catastrophe occurred in August, a month in which many people, including government ministers and physicians, are on holiday. Many bodies were not claimed for many weeks because relatives were on holiday. A refrigerated warehouse outside Paris was used by undertakers as they did not have enough space in their own facilities. On 3 September 2003, 57 bodies were still left unclaimed in the Paris area, and were buried.
The high number of deaths can be explained by the conjunction of seemingly unrelated events. Most nights in France are cool, even in summer. As a consequence, houses (usually of stone, concrete, or brick construction) do not warm too much during the daytime and radiate minimal heat at night, and air conditioning is usually unnecessary. During the heat wave, temperatures remained at record highs even at night, breaking the usual cooling cycle. Elderly persons living by themselves had never faced such extreme heat before and did not know how to react or were too mentally or physically impaired by the heat to make the necessary adaptations themselves. Elderly persons with family support or those residing in nursing homes were more likely to have others who could make the adjustments for them. This led to statistically improbable survival rates with the weakest group having fewer deaths than more physically fit persons; most of the heat victims came from the group of elderly persons not requiring constant medical care, and/or those living alone, without frequent contact with immediate family.
That shortcomings of the nation's health system could allow such a death toll is a controversy in France. The administration of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin laid the blame on families who had left their elderly behind without caring for them, the 35-hour workweek, which affected the amount of time doctors could work, and family practitioners vacationing in August. Many companies traditionally closed in August, so people had no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors were still in the habit of vacationing at the same time. It is not clear that more physicians would have helped, as the main limitation was not the health system, but locating old people needing assistance.
The opposition, as well as many of the editorials of the French local press, have blamed the administration. Many blamed Health Minister Jean-François Mattei for failing to return from his vacation when the heat wave became serious, and his aides for blocking emergency measures in public hospitals (such as the recalling of physicians). A particularly vocal critic was Dr. Patrick Pelloux, head of the union of emergency physicians, who blamed the Raffarin administration for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. Mattei lost his ministerial post in a cabinet reshuffle on 31 March 2004.
Not everyone blamed the government. "The French family structure is more dislocated than elsewhere in Europe, and prevailing social attitudes hold that once older people are closed behind their apartment doors or in nursing homes, they are someone else's problem," said Stéphane Mantion, an official with the French Red Cross. "These thousands of elderly victims didn't die from a heat wave as such, but from the isolation and insufficient assistance they lived with day in and out, and which almost any crisis situation could render fatal."
Moreover, the French episode of heat wave in 2003 shows how heat wave dangers result from the intricate association of natural and social factors. Although research established that heat waves represent a major threat for public health, France had no policy in place. Until the 2003 event, heat waves were a strongly underestimated risk in the French context, which partly explains the high number of victims.
Below are statistics for the month of August 2003 in France.
Portugal.
In Portugal, an estimated 1,866 to 2,039 people died of heat-related causes. 1 August 2003 was the hottest day in centuries, with night temperatures well above . At dawn that same day, a freak storm developed in the southern region of the country. Over the next week, a hot, strong "sirocco" wind contributed to the spread of extensive forest-fires. Five percent of Portugal's countryside and 10% of the forests (215,000 hectares or an estimated ), were destroyed, and 18 people died in the flames. In Amareleja, one of the hottest cities in Europe, temperatures reached as high as .
Luxembourg.
In Findel, Luxembourg, the temperature reached between 8 and 12 August, making it the country's highest temperature since records began in 1947.
Netherlands.
About 1,500 heat-related deaths occurred in the Netherlands, again largely the elderly. The heat wave broke no records, although four tropical weather-designated days in mid-July, preceding the official wave, are not counted due to a cool day in between and the nature of the Netherlands specification/definition of a heat wave. The highest temperature recorded this heatwave was on 7 August, when in Arcen, in Limburg, a temperature of was reached, 0.8 °C below the national record (since 1904). A higher temperature had only been recorded twice before. On 8 August, a temperature of was recorded, and 12 August had a temperature of .
Spain.
Initially, 141 deaths were attributed to the heat wave in Spain. A further research of INE estimated a 12,963 excess of deaths during summer of 2003. Temperature records were broken in various cities, with the heat wave being more felt in typically cooler northern Spain.
Record temperatures were felt in:
Italy.
546 deaths. The summer of 2003 was among the warmest in the last three centuries, and the maximum temperatures of July and August remained above . The high humidity intensified the perception of heat and population suffering.
Several reports about strong positive temperature anomalies exist – for instance from Toscana and Veneto. Temperatures rose far above average in most of the country and reached very high mean values especially in terms of heat persistence. The weather station of Catenanuova, in Sicily, had a monthly mean of in July 2003, with an absolute maximum of on 17 July, with monthly mean maximum temperatures of , and in June, July, and August 2003, respectively.
Some days, the increase in power consumption, paired with a 800MW reduction of the electricity imported from France, itself coping with the heat wave, compelled the Italian power companies to set up Rolling blackouts.
Germany.
In Germany, shipping could not navigate the Elbe or Danube, as a result of low water levels. Around 300 people—mostly elderly—died during the 2003 heatwave in Germany.
Switzerland.
Melting glaciers in the Alps caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland. A new nationwide record temperature of was recorded in Grono, Graubünden.
United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom experienced one of its hottest summers on record with temperatures well above average. However, Atlantic cyclones brought cool and wet weather for a short while at the end of July and beginning of August before the temperatures started to increase substantially from 3 August onwards. Several weather records were broken in the United Kingdom, including a new record for the country's highest ever recorded temperature of at Faversham in Kent on 10 August, which remained the highest recorded temperature in the UK until the heatwave in July 2019. This was the first occasion on which temperatures exceeding have ever been officially recorded in the UK. Scotland also broke its highest temperature record with recorded in Greycrook in the Scottish borders on 9 August.
Due to a number of deaths, the UK government released its Heat Health Watch system, issuing warnings if temperatures rise above 30 °C in the day and 15 °C at night. According to the BBC, over 2,000 people more than usual may have died in the United Kingdom during the 2003 heatwave.
The tarmac melted on part of the M25 between Junctions 26 and 27, and rails buckled from expansion on the hottest day in England in 13 years, while 2 teenaged boys drowned while trying to escape the excessive heat.
Ireland.
The summer of 2003 was warmer than average in Ireland, but the heat was far less pronounced there than in the rest of Europe. August was by far the warmest, sunniest, and driest month, with temperatures roughly 2 °C above average. The highest temperature recorded was at Belderrig, County Mayo on 8 August.
Sweden.
Remarkably, Scandinavia saw a cooler August in 2003 than the previous year when comparative temperatures were very high for the latitude, as the hot air parked over continental Europe. Only the deep southern Sweden saw any type of heatwave effect in the country, with the average high of Lund for August being , which is a very warm temperature average for August. In spite of this, Skåne County stayed below extremes of , indicating a more subtle kind of heat. The records from 1997 and 2002 held up all throughout the country, and the warmest temperature was in Stockholm on 1 August, which was higher than the warmest Irish temperature. Although a comparatively low exposure to the heatwave this is to be expected given the greater continental influence. When compared with the 1961–1990 averages the 2003 August month was still a couple of degrees warmer than a normal August in the southern third of the country.
The bulk of the heat wave in Sweden was instead seen earlier in July in the central and northerly parts of the country, where Stockholm had a July mean of with a high of which although very warm was not record-setting. The warmest summer temperature was set on 17 July in the northern city of Piteå with , which although it is very hot for such a northerly coastal location, was largely unrelated to the latter central European intense heat wave. In northern Sweden, August temperatures are rarely warm due to the decreased exposure of the low but everlasting sun during the summer solstice. As a result, temperatures there peak in July if it is a warm summer.
Effects on crops.
Crops in Southern Europe suffered the most from drought.
Wheat.
These shortfalls in wheat harvest occurred as a result of the long drought.
Many other countries had shortfalls of 5–10%, and the EU total production was down by 10 million tonnes, or 10%.
Grapes.
The heatwave greatly accelerated the ripening of grapes; also, the heat dehydrated the grapes, making for more concentrated juice. By mid-August, the grapes in certain vineyards had already reached their optimal sugar content, possibly resulting in 12.0°–12.5° wines (see alcoholic degree). Because of that, and also of the impending change to rainy weather, the harvest was started much earlier than usual (e.g. in mid-August for areas that are normally harvested in September).
The wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, are predicted to have exceptional quality, especially in France. The heatwave made Hungary fare extremely well in the Vinalies 2003 International wine contest: a total of nine gold and nine silver medals were awarded to Hungarian winemakers.
Effects on the sea.
The anomalous overheating affecting the atmosphere also created anomalies on sea surface stratification in the Mediterranean Sea and on the surface currents, as well. A seasonal current of the central Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS), was affected by the warm temperatures, resulting in modifications in its path and intensity. The AIS is important for the reproduction biology of important pelagic commercial fish species, so the heatwave may have influenced indirectly the stocks of these species.


Jakobstad

Jakobstad (; ; ) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The city of Vaasa is located southwest of Jakobstad.
Origin of the names.
The Swedish name literally means "Jacob's City" or "Jacob's Town", in reference to Jacob De la Gardie. The town was founded at the old harbour of the parish "Pedersöre" and this name lives on in the Finnish name of the municipality, "Pietarsaari", literally "Peter's Island".
History.
The town was founded in 1652 by Ebba Brahe, the widow of the military commander Jacob De la Gardie, and was granted city privileges by Queen Christina of Sweden. The town was founded at the old harbour of the parish "Pedersöre". Pedersöre remains an independent municipality neighbouring Jakobstad.
The city grew slowly at first, with the authorities scarcely promoting any growth. In 1680 the inhabitants were ordered to relocate to the cities of Karleby (Kokkola), Uleåborg (Oulu) and Nykarleby, but the order was rescinded. Wars also contributed to the slow growth, and the city was invaded by Russian troops twice during the Greater Wrath, and large parts of the town were burnt to the ground. A majority of the inhabitants fled the city. While those with means moved across the sea to the Swedish side, others took shelter in the forest or in the archipelago. Many were captured or killed. During the 1720s, some of the previous inhabitants returned, while newcomers also added to the population. The subsequent decades were finally marked by a period of growth, and the current church was built in 1731.
The economic foundation was laid in the mid 18th century, with tar manufacturing and tobacco packaging at its centre. Trade started to develop rapidly in Jakobstad as of 1765, when the cities along the Finnish shore of the Gulf of Bothnia were granted privileges by the Swedish crown to trade directly with foreign countries. This also led to shipbuilding becoming a major activity in Jakobstad. The first ships to sail with goods to foreign countries were the galeas "Jacobstads Wapen" and the brig "Enigheten". Trade and shipbuilding made Jakobstad a wealthy city, and a notable businessman of that time was the merchant and shipbuilder Adolf Lindskog, who also became one of the richest men in Finland.
The early 19th century was a time of upheaval, which saw the 1808–1809 war between Sweden and Russia, as well as a devastating fire in 1835 that destroyed approximately half of the city. Despite this, the economic progress continued, and a brewery, a matchstick factory and several banks were founded after 1850. In 1859, the merchant and shipowner Peter Malm started a steam powered sawmill, which was only the second such installation in Finland. The Crimean War was a major setback to shipping industry, as the British navy puts up an effective blockade and the shipping fleet in Jakobstad during the Åland War was reduced from 26 ships to 9.
Notable businessmen in the 19th century were Otto Malm and Wilhelm Schauman, the latter founding a chicory (coffee substitute) factory in Jakobstad in 1883. This moment in time is usually considered as the start of industrialization in Jakobstad. In 1900, the Strengberg tobacco factory was the largest employer in Jakobstad.
An artillery school was located in Jakobstad during the Finnish civil war. During World War II, the city was bombed once by Soviet bomber planes, causing a few casualties. Up until the 1960s, the town was overwhelmingly Swedish speaking, but as a consequence of industrial expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, the need for additional work force caused a large influx of Finnish speakers. The town remains bilingual with being Swedish and Finnish speakers.
Politics.
Results of the 2017 Finnish municipal election in Jakobstad:
Events.
At the end of November a chamber music festival called Rusk is held annually in Pietarsaari/Jakobstad. At the heart of this festival embracing superb chamber music and various other genres of the arts is the Schauman Hall in the centre of town, but the events also spread out into the surrounding urban environment.
Sports.
The town's football team FF Jaro currently plays in Ykkönen, the second league in Finland. The woman's league football club FC United has been very successful over the years.
Twin towns – sister cities.
Jakobstad is twinned with:


Woerden

Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commuters who work in those cities.
History.
The river Oude Rijn used to flow through the city center of Woerden, but in 1960 the old river was diverted around the city center. The city has a long and rich history in cheese making and trading; for years Gouda cheese for domestic and international use has been produced in this region. Woerden still holds its authentic (since 1885) cheese market at the market place in its center.
Roman castellum.
Woerden is situated on the river Oude Rijn, near the confluence with the former stream. The lower stretch of the Linschoten stream from Montfoort and Linschoten to Woerden silted up a long time ago and its flow was diverted through the Lek and Hollandse IJssel rivers, but at one time it was an important branch of the Rhine delta, connecting the Lower Rhine from Wijk bij Duurstede to the Oude Rijn near Woerden. Near the former confluence was an area that was slightly more elevated than the surroundings, a natural levee, which — in an area that is prone to flooding — made it an attractive location for settlement.
Here, at the highest spot, the Romans built a castellum ("Castellum Laurum"), as part of the limes of the Roman Empire and thus part of the defense lines of the northern border of the Roman Empire. The first castellum was built in the 40s AD and was destroyed in 69 AD during the Batavian rebellion. In 70 AD, the castellum was rebuilt, and the Romans remained until 402 AD, with an interruption lasting from about 275-300 AD.
The Castellum was located at the present site of the medieval Petruschurch and surrounding churchyard. During construction work on a new underground parking facility in the city center of Woerden, the remains of numerous old Roman buildings and a Roman cargo ship were found. During field research, a lot became known about the Roman time in Woerden: the location of the castellum, the zone of defense waters with the entrance road and the remains of a Roman cargo ship.
The dark ages.
Little is known about the period after the Romans left for good in 402 AD. It may be assumed that people continued to live here, but there is little archaeological evidence. A Frankish sword dated from the 8th century has been found on the site of the Roman Castellum in 2012. The area was contested between Frisians and Franks. Frankish King Dagobert I conquered the area around 630, and a small church was built in nearby Utrecht. Around 650, the Frisians came back, destroyed the Frankish church in Utrecht, and the Frisian king established his court there. Then, in 689 king Redbad was defeated by Frankish Duke Pippin of Herstal in the battle of Dorestad and the Franks regained control of the area. King Redbad reconquered Utrecht after Pippin died in 714, but the Frisian victory was short-lived: Duke Charles Martel defeated Redbad in 718. In 734, Charles Martel went on to vanquish the Frisians, in the Battle of the Boarn.
The missionaries followed in the footsteps of the Frankish conquerors: In 695 AD, Willibrord, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" became Bishop of Utrecht, with interruptions due to Frisian incursions. Boniface worked here from 719 to 722. Liudger reports that Boniface preached in "Wyrda", referring to "Wierde", meaning that the place was on higher ground in the area. Around 850, the Bishop had to leave once more, this time because of Viking marauders. Bishop Balderik returned to Utrecht in 918, after the Viking threat subsided. The Bishop claims Woerden as part of his jurisdiction: In a list prepared between 918 and 948 it is mentioned that , meaning: In Woerden everything belongs to Saint Martin, i.e. the church in Utrecht.
Between bishop and count.
The Bishop of Utrecht received land grants, first from the Frankish kings, and later from the Kings of Germany, in particular Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1024 AD, the bishops were made Princes of the Holy Roman Empire and the new Prince-bishopric of Utrecht was formed.
Around 1000 AD, settlement was limited to the river banks; further inland were undeveloped bogs. The bishops used their new authority to stimulate reclamation of this wilderness. Concessions were granted to settlers, who drained the bogs by digging dividing ditches beginning from rivers and streams and stretching about ¾ mile inland, thus creating the characteristic grid of fields still seen today. By about 1300 AD, the reclamation process had been completed.
In the meantime, a competing realm had developed to the west, along the coast. First known as West Frisia it became known as Holland when Floris II, Count of Holland moved his court to Leiden in 1101. The Counts of Holland expanded their influence, and by 1165 they built a fort called Svadeburg, near present-day Zwammerdam, about 7 miles to the west of Woerden. Around 1160, Bishop Godfrey van Rhenen built a castle in Woerden. Once more Woerden became a border town between two belligerent powers, a situation that lasted until 1527 when the Bishop of Utrecht sold his territories to Emperor Charles V and the two statelets were united under Charles' rule. Due to its strategic location on the border between the County of Holland and the Bishopric of Utrecht, various wars have been fought in and around Woerden by the various lords and ladies of these realms.
From about 1131 to 1296, the van Woerden family dominated local affairs in Woerden. Several scions of the family are known as "Herman van Woerden". Originally they were stewards of the castle for the Bishop, but in time they sought to become independent. In 1274 Herman VI van Woerden formed an alliance with Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel, and revolted against bishop-elect John of Nassau. In 1278, Floris V, Count of Holland, intervened on the side of the much-weakened bishop, and defeated the rebellious lords. Gijsbrecht was taken prisoner, and Herman went into exile. In 1281, Floris V was awarded the lands of the rebellious lords, including Amsterdam and Woerden. In a 1288 peace agreement Floris restored the Lordship of Woerden to Herman van Woerden, but now as a vassal of the count. However, Herman did not prove himself to be a trustworthy vassal: in 1296 the humiliated lords Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel and Herman van Woerden entered the scene again as part of a conspiracy. Together with Gerard van Velzen they captured count Floris during a hunting party and the count was assassinated. In the aftermath, Gerard van Velzen was killed, and Herman van Woerden went again into exile. In 1300, John II, Count of Holland awarded the Lordship of Woerden to his brother Guy of Avesnes, who became Bishop of Utrecht the following year. In 1311, Guy returned the Lordship to his nephew, Count William III, and Woerden remained part of Holland thereafter.
Around 1370 bailiff ordered the construction of defensive walls and a moat to fortify the city, in order to shield Holland from renewed hostilities with Utrecht. Woerden received city rights from Albert I, Duke of Bavaria, and Count of Holland in 1372, even though Woerden was still a small town that harboured no more than about 720 citizens. Around the same time the Petruschurch was built; part of its steeple still stands. In 1410 John III, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing had the castle of Woerden constructed, and in 1510 the city hall was built. These buildings still exist, although the castle was extensively altered and renovated through the years.
On 1 November 1425, Woerden chose the side of Philip the Good in the conflict with Jacoba van Beieren, after Philip confirmed the town privileges and promised that the Lordship of Woerden would never be separated from the County of Holland by awarding it to someone else. During the reign of the Dukes of Burgundy, Philip the Good (1419–1467) and Charles the Bold (1467–1477) Woerden enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace, and by 1477 its population had almost tripled to about 1920. Charles the Bold's death before the gates of Nancy was the prelude to renewed unrest, both with Utrecht and the duchy of Guelders, and the town suffered economic hardship because of it.
Heretics and rebels.
The reign of Charles V was a period of relative peace and prosperity for Woerden, despite religious unrest. In April 1522, Charles V introduced the Inquisition in the Low Countries.
Johannes Pistorius Woerdensis (Jan de Bakker), a catholic priest, was the first preacher in the Northern Netherlands to be martyred as a direct result of his religious beliefs. His father was a sexton in Woerden and also tenant of the brickworks, and his surname was derived from that profession.
Jan de Bakker was a pupil of (Johannes Rhodius), headmaster of St. Jerome School of the Brethren of the Common Life in Utrecht. Rode was a proponent of Sacramentarianism, and in 1520 his father called Jan back to Woerden, perhaps out of concern about those heretic views. Jan transferred to Leuven, and in 1522 completed his education there. He returned to Woerden, was ordained in Utrecht as a priest, and assisted his father as sexton and deacon.
Jan started to spread the heretic views, and in May 1523 he and another priest were arrested by the steward of the castle. After a short while they were released, and it is thought that the two travelled to Wittenberg, but there is no evidence he met with Martin Luther. After he returned he continued his preachings, and the conflict with the Roman Catholic Church was further aggravated by the fact that he broke his celibacy, and got married. In the night of 9 May 1525, he was arrested and the next day transferred to The Hague, where he appeared before the Inquisition. He was defrocked and sentenced to death, and on 15 September 1525 burned at the stake in The Hague. His widow saved her live by recanting the heresies and lived out her life in an abbey.
The city magistrates of Woerden were tolerant towards the Lutheran confession. In 1566 this resulted in a confrontation with duke Eric of Brunswick, who was Lord of Woerden at that time.
Although Eric of Brunswick was raised Lutheran he converted to Catholicism in 1547, much to the regret of his mother Elisabeth of Brandenburg. Eric served as commanding officer in the armies of Charles V and Philip II, and fought on their side in the Schmalkaldic War (1546–1547) and the Franco-Habsburg War (1551–1559). During the Battle of St. Quentin (1557) he distinguished himself by taking French Marshals Anne de Montmorency and Jacques d'Albon de Saint-André prisoner. These prisoners were very important to Philip II as a bargaining chip during negotiations for the peace Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. In 1558, Philip II granted Duke Eric of Brunswick the Lordship of Woerden as compensation, over the objection of the city magistrates of Woerden who felt that this was an infringement of promises made by Philip the Good in 1425.
In the wake of iconoclastic riots that swept the country in 1566 a prominent citizen of Woerden, Warnaer Claesz, petitioned the city magistrates to introduce the Augsburg Confession. There was also a disruption of the church worship. As a precaution, the city magistrates removed icons and other valuables from the church and stored them in a safe place, and closed the church. The court of Holland concurred with the actions taken by the city magistrates, but Duke Eric of Brunswick objected. He demanded that Catholic worship would be restored. The city magistrates delayed by questioning his authority in this matter. Duke Eric responded by raising a small army and forced the city magistrates to comply.
Duke Eric was also instrumental in suppressing the ill-fated rebellion of Hendrik van Brederode, Lord of Vianen. After the rebel army was defeated in the Battle of Oosterweel (13 March 1567) Eric of Brunswick captured Vianen on May 5, 1567.
In later history, the town saw occupation by the Spanish (1575, 1576) and the French (1672, 1673, and particularly disastrous in 1813).
Modern era.
In 1989, there was a local redrawing of province boundaries as a result of which Woerden found itself transferred from South Holland to the province of Utrecht. In 2015, the city's refugee centre formed the scene of a violent attack by 20 hooded people, bearing fireworks and pushing down fences.
Geography.
Woerden is located at in the west of the province of Utrecht in the center of the Netherlands.
Woerden is bordered by the municipalities of De Ronde Venen (in the north), Stichtse Vecht (northeast), Utrecht (east), and Montfoort (south) in the province of Utrecht and Bodegraven-Reeuwijk (southwest) and Nieuwkoop (northwest) in the province of South Holland.
The population centers in the municipality are De Meije, Harmelen, Kamerik, Kanis, Woerden, and Zegveld.


2000 in Yugoslavia

The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Yugoslavia.


List of years in Wales

Indexes of individual years in Wales.
2010s - 2000s - 1990s - 1980s - 1970s - 1960s - 1950s - 1940s - 1930s - 1920s - 1910s - 1900s - 1890s - 1880s - 1870s - 1860s - 1850s - 1840s - 1830s - 1820s - 1810s - 1800s - 1790s - 1780s - 1770s - 1760s - 1750s - 1740s - 1730s - 1720s - 1710s - Pre-1710


Anta de Agualva

The Anta de Agualva, also known as the Anta do Carrascal, is a megalithic dolmen situated in an urban area of Agualva-Cacém in the municipality of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. First identified by Carlos Ribeiro in 1875, the dolmen has recently been restored and can be easily visited.
The dolmen is believed to have been made up of a polygonal chamber measuring 3.7 × 3.8 meters and formed by seven vertical stones (orthostats), together with an access corridor. Three large blocks have also been identified that may be fragments of the stone that covered the tomb. A few archaeological fragments were found at the site and they are now deposited in Lisbon's Geological Museum but many more were believed to have been taken prior to Ribeiro's excavations. The artifacts collected, as well as more recent radiocarbon dating, suggest that the chamber was used in the late-Neolithic period between the middle and end of the 4th millennium BC. Later, in the second half of the 3rd millennium or in the second millennium, additional funerary deposits may have been made in the access corridor.
The Anta de Agualva was first identified in 1875 by military engineer and geologist Carlos Ribeiro who excavated this site as well as several other dolmens in the area to the northeast of Lisbon, such as the Anta da Estria, Anta da Pedra dos Mouros, Anta das Pedras Grandes, and Anta do Monte Abraão. The dolmen was registered as a national monument in 1910. In 1944, Georg and Vera Leisner drew up a new plan of the monument similar to that of Ribeiro but, in their case, assuming the existence of a significant tumulus. Further excavations were carried out in 1958 by Veiga Ferreira.
The conservation of the monument has always presented problems related to the lack of clearance of the bush and to urban pressure. In 1994 the Archaeological Museum of São Miguel de Odrinhas carried out a set of actions to safeguard the monument, including clearance of the area. In 2004, a park was inaugurated, denominated "Jardim da Anta" (Garden of the Anta), with the dolmen integrated in the landscaping. In 2017, at the initiative of Sintra City Council, work was carried out on the preservation and restoration of the monument and it was formally opened in April of that year.


Acquario Romano

The Acquario Romano ("Roman Aquarium") is situated in Piazza Manfredo Fanti, Rome, Italy.
Description.
Designed by Ettore Bernich and built between 1885 and 1887, the building hosted an aquarium for few years. It was later used as a depot of the near Teatro dell'Opera, and sometimes as a venue for fairs and exhibitions.
A typical building of the age of king Umberto I, it has a circular plan and shows a pronaos with aediculas. Decorations with marine subject are inserted between the sculptures into the aediculas; between the caryatids are placed some medallions. The cylindrical body of the building is subdivided by lesenes and pilasters.
After a period of abandon, it was restored and used as a museum and seat for performances and concerts. It presently hosts the Casa dell'Architettura.


West Berlin discotheque bombing

On 5 April 1986, three people were killed and 229 injured when "La Belle" discothèque was bombed in the Friedenau district of West Berlin. The entertainment venue was commonly frequented by United States soldiers, and two of the dead and 79 of the injured were Americans.
A bomb placed under a table near the disc jockey's booth exploded at 01:45 CET, instantly killing Nermin Hannay, a Turkish woman, and US Army sergeant Kenneth T. Ford. A second US Army sergeant, James E. Goins, died from his injuries two months later. Some of the victims were left permanently disabled due to the injuries caused by the explosion.
Libya was accused by the US government of sponsoring the bombing, and US President Ronald Reagan ordered retaliatory strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya ten days later. The operation was widely seen as an attempt to kill Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. A 2001 trial in the US found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan Intelligence Service and the Libyan embassy".
Blame and retribution.
Libya was blamed for the bombing after Telex messages from Tripoli to the country's embassy in East Berlin congratulating them on a job well done were intercepted. President Ronald Reagan retaliated by ordering airstrikes against the Libyan capital of Tripoli and city of Benghazi. At least 30 soldiers and 15 civilians were killed. A 2001 trial in the US found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan secret service and the Libyan Embassy".
Trial and conviction.
In spite of reports blaming Libya for the attack on the nightclub, no individual was officially accused of the bombing until the 1990 reunification of Germany and the subsequent opening up of the Stasi archives. Stasi files led German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis to Musbah Abdulghasem Eter, a Libyan who had worked at the Libyan embassy in East Berlin. Stasi files listed him as an agent, and Mehlis said he was the Libyan spy agency's main contact at the embassy.
Eter and four other suspects were arrested in 1996 in Lebanon, Italy, Greece, and Berlin, and put on trial a year later. In 2001, Eter and two Palestinians, Yasser Mohammed Chreidi (or Yassar Al-Shuraidi or Yassir Chraidi) and Ali Chanaa were convicted in Berlin's "Landgericht" of aiding in murder, and Chanaa's former German wife, Verena, was convicted of murder. They were given sentences of 12 to 14 years in prison.
Prosecutor Mehlis proved beyond reasonable doubt that the three men had assembled the bomb in the Chanaas' flat. The explosive was said to have been brought into West Berlin in a Libyan diplomatic bag. Verena Chanaa and her sister, Andrea Häusler, carried it into the La Belle in a travel bag and left five minutes before it exploded. Ms Häusler was acquitted because it could not be proven that she knew a bomb was in the bag.
Background to the bombing.
The judge, Peter Marhofer, said it was not clear whether Gaddafi or Libyan intelligence had actually ordered the attack, though there were indications that they had. Two weeks before the bombing, Gaddafi called for Arab assaults on American interests worldwide after a U.S.-Libyan naval clash in the Mediterranean, in which 35 seamen on a Libyan patrol boat in the western Gulf of Sidra were killed in international waters claimed by the Libyan government.
Chreidi was extradited from Lebanon to Germany in 1996 in connection with the bombing. He had been working for the Libyan Peoples' Bureau in East Berlin at the time of the bombing. Chreidi was said to have connections with Palestinian fighter Abu Nidal, who used to live in Tripoli and was financed by Libya in the 1980s. Eter was reported to be the Libyan spy agency's point man at the embassy in East Berlin.
Compensation.
On 17 August 2003, newspapers reported that Libya had signaled to the German government that it was ready to negotiate compensation for the bombing with lawyers for non-U.S. victims. A year later, on 10 August 2004, Libya concluded an agreement to pay a total of $35 million compensation to non US-citizens
In October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion into a fund to compensate relatives of US-citizens for:


Spiritual national defence

The Spiritual national defence (German: "Geistige Landesverteidigung"; French: "Défense [nationale] spirituelle") was a political-cultural movement in Switzerland which was active from circa 1932 into the 1960s. It was supported by the Swiss authorities, certain institutions, scholars, the press and intellectuals. Its aim was the strengthening of values and customs perceived to be ‘Swiss’ and thus create a defence against totalitarian ideologies.
The movement first directed its attention towards National Socialism and fascism. Later during the Cold War, Swiss spiritual national defence took a stance against communism. Even when the movement was no longer actively promoted by the authorities, it remained alive well into the 1980s. Today Swiss politicians frequently still use terms and metaphors from the spiritual defence ideology.
History.
On 19 June 1935, a social democrat member of the National Council, Fritz Hauser, put forward a postulate in which he called upon the Federal Council to examine how the spiritual independence of culture in Switzerland could be defended in the face of the threat from fascist movements in Germany. One week later, the Swiss Society of Writers (Felix Moeschlin, Karl Naef) presented Federal Councillor Philipp Etter with a proposal for a Swiss cultural policy.
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland gave its approval to the defence proposal – subject to the following condition: "Combating all trends in domestic politics which, in contradiction to the will of the Swiss people, aspire to a diminution of the democratic rights of freedom and self-determination of the citizens and the removal of the influence of the constitutional authorities over the state and its policy." The 1936 Social Democratic Party conference held in Zürich, however, rejected a defence loan. However, unconditional recognition of the legitimacy of national defence followed in January 1937 with the party’s adoption of the ‘Richtlinienbewegung’ (Movement of Guiding Principles).
Statement of the Federal Council regarding Spiritual Defence.
A document of the Federal Council was published on 9 December 1938 relating to the organisation and the task of safeguarding and promoting Swiss culture. This called for the creation under civil law of a cultural foundation to be known as Pro Helvetia, a body which would receive state subsidies. It would guarantee the defence of the common spiritual values of Switzerland in order to counterbalance ‘state sponsored propaganda from neighbouring countries'.
National Socialism and the Second World War.
The call for a spiritual defence of Swiss democracy against fascism through radio and film originated in left wing circles and became all the more relevant with the rise to power of Hitler in 1933. The latter event completed the encirclement of Switzerland, for its neighbours, with the exception of France, were at that time all governed by authoritarian fascist regimes. In this first phase, spiritual defence had a definite anti-German tone: the specific Swiss character, as opposed to that of Germany, was to be given primary emphasis. A special form of spiritual defence was illustrated by the so-called 'Elvetismo' (cp. Helvetism) movement in Canton Ticino which opposed Italian Irredentism. Here the emphasis was placed on the specific character of Ticino as opposed to that of Italy.
The central thrust of spiritual defence was the creation of an ethnic community in Switzerland. This meant the overcoming of class antagonisms and the creation of a Swiss identity – a community of destiny – which would encompass the cultural differences and the four national languages. The term “Helvetic totalitarianism”, as expressed by the Swiss historian Hans Ulrich Jost, falls short for it refers solely to the civil form of spiritual defence. From 1938, the term was adopted officially by the Swiss Federal Council. Federal Councillor Philipp Etter in a pivotal paper placed his primary emphasis upon the affiliation of Switzerland to the three dominant European cultural spheres: cultural diversity, the federal nature of democracy and the reverence accorded to the dignity and freedom of man.
The Swiss National Exhibition held in Zurich in 1939 is regarded as the most effective expression of spiritual defence. The so-called “Landigeist” (homeland spirit) flooded through the land and – coming shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War – gave people a feeling of an unbroken national will for independence against all the demands of Germany and the annexation of the German-speaking cantons into a Greater German Reich. This was especially relevant now that Austria and the Sudetenland had been taken over.
The main problem faced by spiritual defence was the influx of state-directed German and Italian propaganda – mainly in the form of radio broadcasts, books and magazines – which had an influence on Switzerland. To counteract these influences, private and governmental cultural institutions were created for the purpose of putting out "Swiss" propaganda: among these were "Pro Helvetia" [created in 1939], "Neue Helvetische Gesellschaft" ("New Helvetic Society") [created in 1914] and "Heer und Haus" ("Army and Home") [created in November 1939].
The Swiss film industry was heavily promoted in order to cultivate the notion of spiritual defence among cinema audiences. The most important of such films were: "Füsilier Wipf" (by Leopold Lindtberge, 1938) and "Landammann Stauffacher (1941) as well as Franz Schnyder's "Gilberte de Courgenay" (1941). During the Second World War, spiritual defence was strengthened by censorship, which came under the "Abteilung Presse und Funkspruch" (Department of press and broadcasting).
Cold war.
After the Second World War, the movement remained active with its thrust directed towards the danger of communist infiltration. Whereas the Federal Council had adopted a relatively muted and accommodating approach to National Socialism before 1945 (as exemplified by the ominous speech of the Federal President, Marcel Pilet-Golaz, in June 1940) the Council adopted a more defiant tone immediately after the war, stating that the NS leadership must be ‘ruthlessly eradicated’. Echoing the anti-communist spirit of the times, emphasis was placed upon a constitutional democracy and welfare state, and the part-time ('militia-like') character of a powerful Swiss army.
Spiritual defence led increasingly to an attitude of mind known as bunker mentality, a political and spiritual isolationism and a militarization of the civil society. Strong criticism from cultural and intellectual circles forced the Swiss authorities to abandon the official promotion of Spiritual defence after 1962. Nevertheless, the Swiss army kept up the pressure for a will of national defence, and propagated the notion of Switzerland’s unconditional dependence on a numerically strong and well equipped militia – this to exist alongside unconditional political and economic neutrality.
After effects.
The Federal Council continued to use the term Spiritual defence in its vocabulary and pictorial language during the campaign leading up to the 1989 referendum to decide whether Switzerland should retain an army or become demilitarised. (see Group for a Switzerland Without an Army.) The celebrations in 1989 to mark the 50th jubilee of mobilisation continued in the same vein. The occasion of the 60th, diamond jubilee, was supposed to reawaken the spirit of the “active service generation” (those who had been mobilised during the Second World War) in advance of a ballot to decide on the procurement of new equipment for the army. In this connection it is significant that Switzerland was the only country to celebrate mobilisation rather than a peace settlement.
Political parties, too – primarily right wing parties such as the Swiss People's Party – still make use of ideas from the Spiritual defence movement to oppose European integration or any Überfremdung of Switzerland. This happened during the referendum over the proposed adhesion of Switzerland to the European Economic Community in 1992 and in the campaign against Swiss participation in the 2005 Schengen Agreement and Dublin Regulation. Furthermore, other less known aspects of the post war Spiritual defence movement still survive unchallenged, namely the notion of a social market economy or a social partnership.
External links.
The above is a translation of the article in the German Wikipedia at


Thunatae

The Thunatae (Ancient Greek: Θουνᾶται) were a Romanized Thraco-Illyrian tribe of Dardania alongside the Galabri. The Thracian Maedi tribe bordered the Thunatae eastwards.
In AD 6, the Dardani were conquered by Rome and became part of the province of Moesia Superior (corresponding to present-day Kosovo, northern fringes of North Macedonia and northern Bulgaria). According to Strabo, the Dardani were not part of Illyria, and they were divided into two sub-groups, the Galabri and the Thunaki.


Zagreb Philological School

Zagreb philological school () was a 19th-century philological school that operated in Zagreb, offering a set of solutions for the issues involved in the standardization of Croatian literary language. It was led by Adolfo Veber Tkalčević. In the 1860s it dominated Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic and ideological conceptions advocated by the members of the Illyrian movement.
Solutions proposed by the Zagreb school were a combination of traditional orthographic practices, as well as amalgamation of various artificial and dialectal features that would satisfy the needs of most native speakers. Among these are:
The most important grammarians of the school were Vjekoslav Babukić, Antun Mažuranić and Adolfo Veber Tkalčević. On the area of lexicography the Croatized Slovak Bogoslav Šulek rose to prominence, particularly in the area of purism where he liberally coined neologisms and borrowed replacement from other Slavic languages for non-Slavic loanwords. The young Vatroslav Jagić was a firm supporter of Zagreb school's ideas, but eventually abandoned them.
The Zagreb philological school was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological School, primarily due to competences of its adherents. It was only with the advent of Croatian Vukovians that Zagreb school started to decline.


Ivan Mikhailovich Obolensky

"Knyaz" Ivan Mikhailovich Obolensky (), or Prince John Obolenski (1853 – 28 February 1910), was an Imperial Russian Lieutenant-General.
He served as the Governor-General of Finland from August 18, 1904 to November 18, 1905. His predecessor Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov was assassinated in June 1904. As soon as his term as Governor-General started, he received a telegram from an unknown sender, saying: "We are expecting you in the near future -stop- The weather here is +200°C -stop- Bobrikov".
He was a member of a Rurikid princely family, whose ancestors once ruled one of the Upper Principalities. His mother was the Romanian-born aristocrat Olga Sturdza, daughter of Alexandru Sturdza (from a non-princely branch, 3rd cousin once removed of the Russian statesman Alexandru Sturdza), grand-treasurer of the Principality of Moldova, by Elena Ghika. His father was "Knyaz" (Prince) Mikhail Aleksandrovich Obolensky (1821–1886).
His term of office saw revolutionary turmoil in both Russia and the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Russian revolution of 1905 resulted in a general strike in Finland and the replacement of the feudal Diet of Finland with the modern Parliament of Finland.
"Knyaz" Obolensky was murdered by revolutionaries in St. Petersburg.


Political Consultative Committee

Political Consultative Committee (, "PKP") was the beginning of the political arm of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland during World War II. It was formed on 26 February 1940 by several Polish political parties continuing their activities underground (Socialist Party, People's Party, National Party and Labor Party). The parties wanted to tighten the cooperation so that they could have more influence over the newly created Association of Armed Struggle (ZWZ) meant by the Polish government in exile as the main unified organization of the Polish resistance. In April 1940 the government in exile recognized the Committee as the country's political representation.
In 1943 it was reformed into the Home Political Representation ("Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna") which in turn in 1944 would become the basis of the Council of National Unity ("Rada Jedności Narodowej").


Grbalj

Grbalj (), denotes a historic, rural region, as well as a tribe of the Montenegrin littoral, and a parish located between town of Budva and the Luštica peninsula, Bay of Kotor in coastal Montenegro. Most of the region now lies within Kotor Municipality. It is a fertile region defined by the Lovćen Mountain to the east, and terminating at the low western hills overlooking the Adriatic sea to its west.
Etymology.
Grbalj was derived from Gripuli or Grupuli, a derivation of Acruvium, the ancient Roman city located in this vicinity (considered most likely at present-day Kotor, Montenegro).
Geography.
The east side of the field, collectively referred to as Upper Grbalj, encompasses ten settlements. Lower Grbalj consists of all settlements at the western edge of the field. Bigova, located within a cove of the same name, is the only settlement situated on the coast. Upper and Lower Grbalj are divided by two creeks. To the south, Kovački Potok ("creek") drains along the alluvial plain of Mrčevo Field into Jaz Bay at the west end of Jaz Beach.
Grbalj's named settlements include Bigova, Bratešići, Višnjeva, Vranovići, Glavati, Glavatičići, Gorovići, Dub, Zagora, Kovači, Krimovica, Kubasi, Lješevići, Nalježići, Pelinovo, Pobrđe, Prijeradi, Sutvara, Trešnjica, Ukropci, Šišići and Mačić.
The Adriatic Highway goes through Grbalj. After its construction, and the subsequent 1979 earthquake, several new settlements were established along its route.
Economy.
The region is an important agricultural area. The southern part of the field consists of orchards, vineyards and vegetable gardens. This part of the field ends with the Jaz beach. The industrial area of Kotor lies at the northern part of the Grbalj field.
History.
Middle Ages.
Grbalj had been a "župa" (county) of the medieval Serbian state of Duklja, and subsequently part of the Grand Principality of Serbia (1091–1217), the medieval Kingdom of Serbia (1217–1346), and the Serbian Empire (1346–1371) until its fall. It was also the personal estate of Stefan Vukanović Nemanjić (fl. 1252). Most of Grbalj became part of the Principality of Zeta (1371-1378). Grbalj was part of the Serbian Despotate from 1421-1439. The regional, "1427 Code of Grbalj" was issued at the župa's Podlastva Monastery. During a transitional period of government, a peasant rebellion erupted in Grbalj (Zeta coast) against Kotor regarding the effects of control by Venice (1451-1452). As part of his efforts to align himself with Venice, Stefanica Crnojević suppressed the rebellion, devastating the region.
In 1497 Firuz Beg captured Grbalj and put Zeta under his effective military control, although it was still part of the Principality of Zeta governed by Stefan II Crnojević. Grbalj eventually became part of what was known as Venetian Albania.
Ottoman period.
The Ottoman Empire census of 1582–83 registered the "vilayet of the Black Mountain" (vilayet-i Kara Dağ, the Montenegro Vilayet), part of the Sanjak of Scutari, as having the following nahiyah, with number of villages: Grbavci with 13 villages, Župa with 11, Malonšići with 7, Pješivci with 14, Cetinje with 16, Rijeka Crnojevića with 31, Crmnica with 11, Paštrovići with 36 and Grbalj with 9 villages; a total of 148 villages.
Contemporary history.
In 1869, Ivo and Jovan Rafailović led a Grbalj uprising against Austria.
Grbalj had been an opština, ("municipality") in post-WWI Yugoslavia.
In 1970, football club OFK Grbalj was founded in Radanovići, Kotor.
Culture.
The Serbian Orthodox Podlastva Monastery lies in Grbalj. People from Grbalj are known by the demonym "Grbljani" and are often perceived as a clan.
Overall, in Montenegro, the Nemanjić cult was more widespread than that of Prince Lazar's, though in Grbalj, the latter cult became particularly popular, with the locals claiming Lazar as a native.


2005 in Albania

The following lists events that happened during 2005 in the Republic of Albania.


2005 in Scotland

Events from the year 2005 in Scotland.


Uberi

The Uberi were a sub-tribe of the Lepontii. Along with the Nantuates, Veragri and Seduni, they were part of the Vallenses, a group of tribes living between the Lake Geneva and the Pennine Alps, in the modern canton of Valais (Switzerland).
Name.
They are mentioned as "Uberi" by Pliny (1st c. AD).
Geography.
The Uberi dwelled at the source of the Rhône river, in the modern upper canton of Valais. Their territory was located north of the Seduni, west of the Lepontii, east of the Nantuates, and south of the Helvetii. After the Roman conquest in 16–15 BC, their territory was initially administered in common with Raetia et Vindelicia under a legatus, then integrated into the Alpes Graiae et Poeninae by Claudius (41–54 AD).
History.
The territory of the Vallenses was occupied by the Roman forces of Augustus after the Alpine campaign of 16–15 BC. The Uberi are mentioned in the Trophy of the Alps.


Unio Trium Nationum

Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for "Union of the Three Nations") was a pact of mutual aid codified in 1438 by three Estates of Transylvania: the (largely Hungarian) nobility, the Saxon (German) patrician class, and the free military Székelys.
The union was directed against the whole of the peasantry, regardless of ethnicity, in response to the Transylvanian peasant revolt.
In this typical feudal estate parliament, the peasants (whether Hungarian, Saxon, Székely or Romanian in origin) were not represented, and they did not benefit from its acts, as the commoners were not considered to be members of these feudal "nations".
Medieval administrative structure in Transylvania.
In medieval times, Transylvania was organised into two separate types of territorial units. The Noble Counties (Comitates) were ruled by feudal landlords. Here, the majority of population were Hungarian and Romanian serfs. In other regions called Seats, the free Székely and Saxon nations lived without feudal landlords and had the royal privilege to have local authority and self-government.
Events leading to the Union.
With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, one of the first major Ottoman military campaigns against Transylvanian parts of the Kingdom of Hungary was organised in 1421. The invading forces entered the region from Wallachia. The Saxons and Székelys living in the border area tried to defend themselves, but were heavily outnumbered by the intruders. King Sigismund was not able to react promptly because he had recently inherited the Bohemian throne and was involved there in the Hussite Wars. Also, Transylvanian Diets had not been organized for decades and there was no forum to coordinate defence preparations of the three nations. Left alone, the Saxon Burzenland and the Székely Seat of Háromszék, both in the border region, were ravaged. Sigismund reacted to the attack only years later, leading a series of military campaigns against the Ottomans in Wallachia. The Ottomans, allied with the Wallachian Voivode, returned in 1432 and Southern Transylvania suffered serious damages again.
In the same period, nobles and church authorities in Central Transylvania were concerned about protesting and revolting serfs. Hungarian and Romanian (Vlach) peasants were dissatisfied with high taxes and restrictions to their free movement. Scattered peasant protests turned into a serious revolt in 1437, when peasants and Hungarian nobles defeated the troops of the landholders. The Budai Nagy Antal Revolt was triggered by an attempt by the Bishop of Transylvania to collect taxes. Although the revolt was led by Hungarian noble Antal Nagy de Buda, it consisted of a coalition of various elements of Transylvanian society. This included Hungarian and Romanian serfs as well as the burghers of Kolozsvár ("Klausenburg", "Cluj"), and resulted in the lower taxes codified by the Treaty of Kolozsmonostor. Pál Vajdaházi, one of the leaders of the revolt, was referred to in this document as ' (Standard-bearer of the Union of Hungarian and Romanian inhabitants of this province of Hungary). Consequently, it is possible that the rebels considered themselves inhabitants of the Estate of Hungarians and Romanians (').
Brotherly Union (Union of Kápolna).
Despite the pressing issues at hand, the Transylvanian Diet was still not called together by the Voivode, resulting in the various nobles initiating a meeting of the three nations. After a gap of almost half a century, the estates now had the opportunity to discuss Transylvanian issues together. On this occasion, the nobles set up an alliance with Székelys and Saxons who were still afraid of possible Ottoman incursions. The alliance of mutual aid, signed in Kápolna (present-day Căpâlna), was called the "Fraterna Unio" (Brotherly Union), and was designed to protect the parties both from revolts and from Ottoman attacks. While the existence of the Union helped the indigenous inhabitants to re-negotiate and partly modify the terms of the previous agreement, the alliance did not organize any serious military operations until the end of 1437. At that time, the alliance defeated the opposition after the death of King Sigismund in December.
Founding of the Union of Three Nations.
After the successful campaign, the alliance of Hungarian nobles, Székelys, and Saxon elite was codified in the "Unio Trium Nationum" ("Union of Three Nations") on February 2, 1438. Like the Brotherly Union, the new Union provided mutual aid against peasant revolts and Ottoman attacks. The Union ensured that the (Hungarian and Romanian) serfs continued to be excluded from the political life of Transylvania, although they were the majority of the population in the Noble Counties ("Comitates"). The Romanians adhered to Eastern Orthodoxy, which in predominantly Catholic Hungary was considered heretical.
The alliance of the three privileged estates was effective for centuries and provided the framework of internal and international relations of Transylvania. After the 18th century, when the danger of Ottoman or Tatar attacks was over, the Union became an alliance of the three estates to protect their vested rights from those who were not represented in the Transylvanian Diet. In the 19th century, the term "three nations" became charged with ethnic considerations, because Romanians were consequently excluded from Transylvanian government.
In 1711, the Bulgarians of Alvinc and Déva (led by church leader Balázs Marinovics) and the Armenians also claimed the privileges of a fourth and fifth "natio", but their demands were not met with the elevation of their communities to that privileged status.


Riadino-5 Site

The Riadino-5 Site is an archaeological site located on a terrace within the Šešupė River Valley in the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. Unlike most other sites near this area, the Riadino-5 site is one of the first sites of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional period to have been found in the Baltic region, which includes Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and areas of the Russian Federation. Even when compared to other sites of similar age, the Riadino-5 site is still one of the northernmost sites to have been occupied in the Central European region. This makes it one of the oldest sites documenting human habitation, dating back all the way to the Marine Isotope Stage 3, approximately ca 57-26 thousand calendar years ago. The site itself was occupied during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic period within that era between 50 to 44 ka. Upon discovery, the site measured 200 meters by 80 meters. The approximate aging of the site was supported by findings of flint artifacts, using luminescence IRSL dating based on potassium-feldspar sample size and Carbon-14 dating of charcoal and ash layers from the site. At the moment, the exact culture and society of the site occupants has yet to be determined, and is currently undergoing comparative analysis to other similarly dated sites in the vicinity to uncover some answers.
History of the Site.
Geographic Location.
The actual site itself is based around the flow of the Šešupė and Neman Rivers, currently believed to result from runoff of glacially deposited water around the site. The Baltic area in which the site resides has been heavily affected by the Weichselian glaciation of the Marine Isotope Stage 2. During a period without ice, around the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), the average temperature of the region saw an increase over modern temperatures of that same area. These warmer climates allowed for more archaic humans to move into the Baltic region, and occupy sites such as Riadino-5. Over the years, the site has been privy to various forms of erosion that have played key roles in the formation of the site. Wind has blown in to sculpt various dunes as well as ridges of sand, while water erosion gave way to various terraces dating back to the Late Pleistocene era, which provide separation of the site from others. The terraced nature of the site provides some advantages and challenges. While the soil is mostly marshy or peaty, there is a great deal of diversity in foliage and the vegetation that accompanies it. Types of soil include podzolic layers, found in areas with many sand deposits, and alluvial soils that were deposited from the river.
Early Excavations of the Site.
In 2006, a survey of the terraces in the Šešupė River Valley stumbled upon the remains of the site. The initial site size was determined to be 200 meters by 80 meters. Later in 2009-2011, excavations done by Olga Druzhinina dug up another 28 square meters for further study.
Archaeological Characterization.
Artifacts.
In terms of tool diversity, end-scrapers, burins, burin end-scrapers, borers, scrapers, knife blades, bladelets, and other unidentifiable tools have been discovered. Most of the tools and artifacts found at the site were made of a high quality gray flint. The source of the flint originates with the river deposits at the terraces, at which Riadino-5 sits. There's a variety of cores that suggested various flaking techniques were used; cores included cone-shaped, one-platform, prismatic, and formless ones. The size of each core is considerably small, meaning they were well worked upon before being discarded. The flintknapping occurred at the settlement itself as opposed to a secondary location, based on the debris of flakes found on site. Additionally, most flint tools were never moved to a secondary site at any point for extensive working either. Flakes range from 2.5-4.0 centimetres in size, while bladelets have been found ranging from 0.9-1.5 centimetres in width. Evidence of two flintknapping forms are involved: retouch and burin spall. In this instance, retouch involved brute force attack of the dorsal surface of the core stones. The burin, used to engrave objects, was formed by an oblique strike to a burin flake, which created the sharp edge necessary to engrave. The end-scrapers document a wide variety of retouching much like other artifacts, and were combined with burins on blades to form combined tools such as the burin end-scrapers. Since most of the artifacts were not very large, they were likely employed in conjunction with a handle to allow control.
Stratigraphy.
The site has been divided into five different stratigraphic units of varying composition and depth. The first 0.12 meters composes predominantly of topsoil before quickly transitioning to disturbed soil from agricultural activity until the 0.25 meter depth, making the second unit. The third unit, continuing to about 0.50 meters in depth, consists of light, yellow sand deposited from ancient river flows. Within the second layer itself there is also some sand diversity; going deeper into the soil demonstrates a transition from lighter sand to more brownish colored, with some ash interspersed in a sandy layer of intermediate hue. None of the units show any signs of fine lamination. The fourth unit, which contains the culture-bearing horizon, has thick, iron-based sand with much gravel, and also sees the disappearance of ash. Another important find in the third unit is the presence of diorite, which contains feldspar, and helped date the site's occupation using IRSL. Finally, at 0.60 meters of depth, the fifth unit is found, with light gray sand mixed with gravel, tinged brown from touching adjacent layers.
Dating the Site.
Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) Dating.
IRSL Dating is based on a larger concept of Luminescence Dating. It surmises that certain trace elements, in this case Potassium, will gradually decay over time, with ionizing radiation transferring to a mineral grain in the sediment. The presence of feldspar in the fourth unit was the ideal candidate for this analysis. As ionizing radiation becomes trapped in the grain's lattice, it accumulates at a given rate based on background radiation. By stimulating the grain with a different electromagnetic wave, infrared for these dates, it releases the trapped electrons to give a signal proportional to the amount of radiation stored. The age is based on the total absorbed radiation (paleodose) divided by the dosage rate (sediment dosage rate). For the IRSL Dating at Riadino-5, additional trace elements of Uranium and Thorium were also taken into account from gamma-ray spectrometry. Additionally, the samples were used under the multiple-aliquot dosage technique involving exposure of multiple grains at a time. When done to the culture-bearing horizon layer from the fourth unit, approximately encompassing the layers from 0.50 to 0.56 centimetres, a concordant set of ages emerged: 52.4 ± 4.0 ka, 49.2 ± 3.8 ka, and 50.6 ± 3.9 ka. To confirm the exact dating range given the proximity of the samples to one another, an average of the luminescence counts was taken from each sample to create a new sample set. This new "sample" yielded a date range of 50.1 ± 3.9 ka, which corroborates the averaged 50.7 ka dates of the previous three samples. It is this average dating of the culture-bearing horizon that safely documents the site's occupation to the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional era from 50-44 ka.
Radiocarbon Dating Results.
Radiocarbon dating uses the half-life of Carbon-14 to measure the amount of time that has passed since the carbon began decaying in a sample. For the purposes of the Riadino-5 site, both charcoal and ash layers were sampled at 0.23 meters and 0.45 meters below the surface respectively. After calibration, the charcoal yielded an age of 1693-1305 calendar year B.P., and the ash gave an age of 11718-8446 calendar year B.P. with a 95.4% confidence level.


Feliks Kibbermann

Feliks (Felix) Kibbermann (3 December 1902, in Rakvere – 27 December 1993, in Tartu) was an Estonian chess master, philologist of German language, lexicographer and pedagogue.
Chess.
Before World War II, he tied for 3rd-5th with Ilmar Raud and Viktor Uulberg in the 5th Estonian Championship at Tallinn 1933 (Gunnar Friedemann won), and lost a match to Paul Keres at Tallinn 1935 (+1 –3 =0). Kibbermann represented Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad at Warsaw 1935 (+2 –5 =2). In October 1937, he played in a training tournament in Tallinn (Keres won).
During the war, he shared first with Johannes Türn in 11th EST-ch at Tallinn 1941, but lost a play-off match for the title (+0 –3 =1). He participated in Estonian championships in 1942 and 1943, both won by Keres. In 1946, he tied for 11-12th in Tallinn (EST-ch, Raul Renter won).


Nibelungenwerk

The Nibelungenwerk (also known as the Nibelungenwerke or Ni-Werk) was the largest and most modern tank assembly factory in Nazi Germany, located near the Austrian town of St. Valentin. As the only German tank production facility which had a well-structured production line, the Nibelungenwerk produced more than half of all of Nazi Germany's Panzer IV tanks.
History.
The Nibelungenwerk was built as part of the Four Year Plan after the Anschluss as part of an armaments centre, along with the Eisenwerke Oberdonau. There had been plans dating back to 1939 to build an armaments plant in the Herzograd Forest near the Lower Austrian community of Sankt Valentin, which was conveniently located at a railway junction. The construction cost of 65 million Reichsmarks was paid by the Reichswerke Hermann Göring and the factory was from the outset very generously specified. Although the bulk of new construction projects for the armaments industry were frozen at the time, that did not affect the Nibelungenwerk as Hermann Göring, a representative for the four-year plan, favoured the project.
The official opening took place in 1942, and eventual monthly production capacity was planned to be 320 tanks, although this was never achieved.
Expansion stages.
The Nibelungenwerk was built in four stages:
Eventually, the factory consisted of a total of nine halls. Seven halls were 120 meters long and 60 meters wide and made of reinforced concrete. The other two halls were of steel construction and were 120 meters long and 120 meters wide. In order to maintain production even after bombing raids, the factory was supplied with electricity, compressed air, heat and water through an underground system. The factory was also connected to two railway lines, with each hall having its own siding.
Workforce.
In the late autumn of 1941, the workforce stood at 4,800 people, mainly from Austria and Germany. During the course of the war, many Austrian and German workers were conscripted and replaced by foreign prisoners of war. In numerical order these were French, Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs, Russians and, finally, 600 concentration camp inmates. The number of workers at the end of 1944 amounted to about 8,500 people. Due to the growing shortage of skilled workers and the time-consuming training and instruction of foreign workers, relatively large-scale concessions were made to the increasingly important foreign workers. Thus, in addition to the toleration of a brothel in the camp settlement, the skilled workers were allowed holidays, which after the successful Allied invasion of Normandy had the consequence that many Frenchmen did not return. In August 1944, an external camp of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex was built on the site, in which 1,500 prisoners were accommodated and used for forced labour.
Production.
Of the total of 8,500 Panzer IVs produced, nearly 4,800 were produced in the Nibelungenwerk.
After completion of the four expansion stages, the plant was the largest tank factory under Axis control. In addition to the Panzer IV, 576 self-propelled guns (Sturmgeschütz IV and Jagdpanzer IV) were produced and the factory also converted the Porsche version of the Tiger I to the Elefant.
The Nibelungenwerk was the only German tank factory which had a well-structured assembly line, with main and secondary lines. The production lines consisted of simple load-carriers, which were coupled with rods and moved forward with a cable. The production station times varied between four minutes, for the wheel suspension, to several hours, for the final assembly. As only a third of the required individual parts were manufactured in-house, the production line was dependent on undisturbed supply logistics, and on October 17, 1944, the plant was badly damaged in an air raid. As a result, almost all the production had to be outsourced.
Nevertheless, of 3,125 Panzer IVs produced in 1944, 2,845 were produced in the Nibelungenwerk. At the end of 1944 production of the Jagdtiger began. The conversion of the production took place without any problems, since the cranes and other technical equipment were over-specified. In the last days of the war, 65 Panther tanks and Tigers were repaired.
On May 8, 1945, American troops of the 259th Infantry Regiment of Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart's 65th Infantry Division occupied the city liberating the Nibelungenwerk's French and Soviet prisoners of war and Czech forced labourers.
After the Red Army occupied the factory on May 9, 1945, production continued on a small scale, so that some Panzer IVs could be made available for the victory parade in Moscow.
The Nibelungenwerk after the war.
The former supplier company Eisenwerke Oberdonau is today the most important steel factory in Austria and belongs to Voestalpine.
After the State Treaty in 1955, the Republic of Austria took over the Nibelungenwerk. In 1957, the plant was incorporated into Steyr-Daimler-Puch and in 1974 the entire tractor assembly of the Steyr group was transferred to the site.
Today, the former Nibelungenwerk and the associated grounds belong to the Canadian automotive supplier Magna International. The agricultural machinery manufacturer CNH Global has its European headquarters in St. Valentin and uses three former Nibelungenwerk halls for the production of tractor cabins. The former Nibelungenwerk's entrance building and canteen are still in use, and the hall located to the east is used by Magna International for the production of vehicle components. The former tank testing site is also owned by Magna International.


Cave of Pego do Diabo

The Cave of Pego do Diabo (also known as "Loca do Gato" or Cat's Den) is a small karst cave in a Turonian limestone outcrop located about 250 metres above sea level in the municipality of Loures, about 20 km north of Lisbon in Portugal. The erosion of the outcrop resulted in a set of openings in the rocks wide enough to be exploited by humans. Several archaeological studies have been conducted within the cave, which give insights into the duration of Neanderthal presence on the Iberian Peninsula and to the presence of carnivorous animals during the Paleolithic.
The cave consists of a narrow passage about 13 metres long and one metre wide, with a chamber at the end that is about two metres wide. First officially explored in 1965–66 by the Portuguese Speleological Society, it was surveyed in 1976 by the "Grupo para o Estudio do Paleolitico Portugues" (Group for the Study of the Portuguese Palaeolithic) and at the end of the 1980s by Prof. João Zilhão. About half of the accessible area of the cave has been studied.
The stratigraphic profile carried out by Zilhão identified six layers to a depth of about 1.4 metres. The upper layer (Layer A), which was only observed at the end of the cave, is indicative of probable use for funerals. Layer 1 contained a mixture of modern and Pleistocene items while Layer 2 contained artifacts of the Upper Paleolithic associated with animal remains. Layer 3 also had animal remains but with distinct colouration, possibly caused by manganese oxides. There were few archaeological materials in Layer 4 and Layer 5 was archaeologically sterile.
Zilhão's research using radiocarbon dating looked for evidence of Neanderthals during the late Aurignacian period (37000-33000 Before the Present). He believed his excavations established a secure terminus ante quem of 34500 years BP for the demise of Neanderthals in the area, although more recent research by Zilhão and others suggests it was earlier than that. This has important implications for the interpretation of the anatomy of the Lapedo child, a complete skeleton found by Zilhão near Leiria in Portugal and believed to be the result of interbreeding between a Neanderthal and a modern human. The dating of the last of the region's Neanderthals to five millennia before the child was borne counters suggestions that Neanderthals could have survived in southwest Iberia until as late as the Last Glacial Maximum (26500 BP). Crossbreeding between immediate ancestors has to be ruled out and the Neanderthal features of the child must represent admixture at the time of contact. Zilhao also considered that his findings had implications for the idea that Neanderthals remained in the Gibraltar area until ca.32-28000 BP. He believed that, as hunter-gatherers living at low population densities, residual Neanderthals could not have survived for several millennia as a separate biological entity.
Work by Maria João Valente analysed the fauna of Layers 1 and 2 associated with the Upper Paleolithic. She noted that the cave contained bones of humans, together with those of wolves, bears, and hyenas, the Iberian lynx and other small carnivores and birds of prey, and their prey such as rabbits. She hypothesised that there would have been competition between humans and animals for use of the cave and noted that the consecutive use of caves by human communities and carnivores had been identified elsewhere. However, an alternative interpretation was that human groups could have carried animal bones into the caves.