2009 Ternopil Oblast local election

The Ternopil Oblast local election, 2009 elections in the Ternopil Oblast regional council, were held on March 15, 2009 on December 18, 2008, by the Ukrainian Parliament initiated by Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) but cancelled on 3 March 2009 by the same Parliament, with most members of BYuT voting against holding the snap elections (allegedly because of the fall of the ratings for BYuT). Following a lawsuit filed by Svoboda the Ternopil oblast` court acknowledged this decision illegal on March 11, 2009. The next day BYuT lodged an appeal in the Lviv Administrative Appeal Court against this decision.
On 13 March 2009, President Viktor Yushchenko asked the Constitutional Court to estimate the constitutionality of the Ukrainian Parliament’s decision to cancel the early regional council elections in Ternopil. According to Yuschenko the Constitution reads that Parliament can appoint elections or early elections into the local authorities, but cannot cancel them. The elections were held on 15 March 2009. The Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko called the election "the presentation of cynical election fraud by [Head of the Presidential Secretariat Viktor] Baloha as an expression of the will of the region's citizens".
Some villages reported cases Party of Regions representatives offering 50 hryvnia per vote.
Challenging the results.
On March 24, the Ternopil district administrative court rejected a lawsuit from the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) challenging the results of the elections. Four days later the Kyiv district administrative court banned the official publication of the result of the elections.
On April 7 the Lviv administrative court of appeals ruled to cancel a decision of the Ternopil district administrative court denying consideration of a lawsuit from BYuT against the results of the elections to the Ternopil regional council. The Lviv administrative court of appeals instructed the Ternopil district administrative court to consider the essence of the lawsuit.
On May 11, 2009 BYuT members gave up their twelve seats in Ternopil regional council. As a result, the number of deputies in the regional Ternopil council became 208. The overall number of mandates in the council still constitutes 120, and all the decisions taken by the majority of the council still has to be passed by no less than 61 votes.
On June 16, 2009 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine deemed the parliamentary resolution on canceling early election to Ternopil Regional Council (of March 3, 2009) unconstitutional. This case was initiated by President Viktor Yuschenko.
Results.
The election have been conducted after the proportional electoral system. In an order to conduct the representatives in the Ternopil regional council, party or block must collect not less than 3% voices of electors.
According to political annalist the scores of United Centre and Party of Regions could be caused by mass fraud. Experts were less surprised by the high score of All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" because (according to the think tank "Open Policy") support for rightist parties like "Freedom" typically builds up in conditions of economic and political crisis and "Freedom" has roots in the region. The turnout in Ternopil (city) was only 25%.
Ternopil city council.
The elections to Ternopil city council took place in fall of 2010.


Agnes of Baden, Countess of Holstein-Rendsburg

Agnes of Baden (25 March 1408 – January 1473), was a German noblewoman member of the House of Zähringen and by marriage Countess of Holstein-Rendsburg.
She was a daughter of Bernard I, Margrave of Baden by his second wife Anna of Oettingen.
Life.
In Ettlingen on 23 February 1432 she was betrothed to Gerhard VII, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg. Her older brother Jacob, new Margrave of Baden was very anxious for this marriage because he wanted to obtain political advantages in Schleswig. The marriage was celebrated in Baden on 2 June of that year, but Gerhard VII quickly returned to his domains in order to secure his frontiers without an official wedding night. Officially, the marriage was consummated only on 5 October.
On 15 January 1433 Agnes, pregnant at that time, fell from the stairs at Gottorf Castle. The next day she gave birth healthy twins, Henry and Catherine. This caused surprise and the scandal erupted, because it was clear that the consummation of the marriage and the date of birth were too close to produce living children.
To stop the increased rumours about his paternity, in February Gerhard VII declared in the courtyard of Gottorf Castle in front of his knights that he secretly slept with Agnes before the wedding, and that she'd been a virgin then; therefore, the children were his, and Henry would be capable of inheriting his possessions. In Schleswig Cathedral and in a State Assembly before the clergy and nobility Gerhard VII reaffirmed his word, who was further confirmed by court ladies, doctors and midwives. The matter was ultimately settled by the Bishops of Lübeck and Schleswig. The Count's brother Adolphus VIII supported his declaration. All the scandal received the name of the "Twin Disaster of Gottorf" (de: "Zwillingssturz von Gottorf").
Gerhard VII suffered from a lung disease. Shortly after the declaration in Schleswig Cathedral, his condition worsened, and doctors are unable to help him. Against the medical advise, Agnes and her husband travelled to a spa in her native Baden; however, in the middle of the trip, Gerhard VII became worse and in Cologne they decided to return. Gerhard VII died on 24 July 1433 during the return journey in Emmerich am Rhein. He was buried there.
During her return in Hamburg, Agnes received unexpected news: her brother-in-law Adolphus VIII refused her entry to Holstein, kidnapped her children and denied her rights as a widow, because her dowry was never paid and the recent scandal about the paternity of the twins. Without options, Agnes was forced to return to Baden. She never saw her children again: Henry was drowned in the Schlei River shortly after and Catherine entered in Preetz Priory as a nun. Both children were probably murdered.
Her brother Margrave Jacob of Baden at first strongly supported her rights; however, on 2 June 1436 she was secretly betrothed and married with Hans von Höwen, a former admirer. Margrave Jacob, who at that time was negotiated a new marriage for his sister with one of the sons of Piast Duke Konrad V of Oleśnica, was furious. By order of her brother, in 1437 Agnes was imprisoned for life in Eberstein Castle in Ebersteinburg, where she died blind in the first weeks of 1473.


Osterburg (Groothusen)

The Osterburg is a castle from the High Middle Ages in the village of Groothusen in the municipality of Krummhörn, in the district of Aurich in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Location.
The castles lies at the eastern end of the East Frisian village next to a protected landscape. Today it houses a large quantity of historical memorabilia.
History.
The village of Groothusen was originally built on a long warft in the early Middle Ages and was an important trading centre and meeting place in the Frisian Emsigerland, as well as the provost office for 12 parishes. At that time, like many other places in Krummhörn, it was on the edge of a bay and was accessible to shipping. There were, in those days, three moated castles in the village: the Osterburg, Middelburg and Westerburg. Only the Osterburg - rebuilt in 1490 - has survived; the other two were destroyed by Hamburg forces during feuds in 1400 and 1432.
The Osterburg, is surrounded by a moat in the middle of a park with an old lime tree avenue. The oldest part is a long, two-story hall, which was built around 1490 by the chieftain family of Beninga. Around 1550 the castle was converted into a three-winged manor house, when two lower wings were built in front of the hall. In 1700 the right wing was demolished to make way for a Gulf farmhouse, which was built in 1707. The last structural change to the Osterburg was carried out in 1900, when a hallway was built in front of the hall. So the form of the original building cannot be easily seen from the front. From the rear of the building there is however a view of the original stage of construction.
Today the Osterburg houses a significant collection of cultural and art historical artefacts such as furniture, weapons, a library, items of Old East Frisian culture and a remarkable art collection of ancestral portraits from five centuries.
The castle is now owned by the descendants of the chieftain family of Beninga and may be visited in guided tours arranged by telephone. The left wing has been extended to create guest rooms, where bed and breakfast is offered.


The Death of the White Stallion

The Death of the White Stallion () is a 1985 West German drama film directed by Christian Ziewer. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.


History of Corsica

The history of Corsica goes back to antiquity, and was known to Herodotus, who described Phoenician habitation in the 6th century BCE. Etruscans and Carthaginians expelled the Phoenicians, and remained until the Romans arrived during the Punic Wars in 237 BCE. Vandals occupied it in 430 CE, followed by the Byzantine Empire a century later.
Raided by various Germanic and other groups for two centuries, it was conquered in 774 by Charlemagne under the Holy Roman Empire, which fought for control against the Saracens. After a period of feudal anarchy, the island was transferred to the papacy, then to city states Pisa and Genoa, which retained control over it for five centuries, until the establishment of the Corsican Republic in 1755. The French gained control in the 1768 Treaty of Versailles. Corsica was briefly independent as a Kingdom in union with Great Britain after the French Revolution in 1789, with a viceroy and elected Parliament, but returned to French rule in 1796.
Corsica strongly supported the allies in World War I, caring for wounded, and housing POWs. The poilus fought loyally and suffered great casualties. A recession after the war prompted a mass exodus to southern France. Wealthy Corsicans became colonizers in Algeria and Indochina.
After the Fall of France in 1940, Corsica was part of the southern "zone libre" of the Vichy regime. Fascist leader Benito Mussolini agitated for Italian control, supported by Corsican irredentists. In 1942, Italy occupied Corsica with a huge force. German forces took over in 1943 after the Allied armistice with Italy. The Germans faced opposition from the French Resistance, retreating and evacuating the island by October 1943. Corsica then became an Allied air base, supporting the Mediterranean Theater in 1944, and the invasion of southern France in August 1944. Since the war, Corsica has developed a thriving tourism industry, and has been known for its independence movements, sometimes violent.
Prehistory.
The prehistory of Corsica covers the long period from the Upper Paleolithic to the first historical event, the founding of Aléria by the ancient Greeks in 566 BCE.
Geography.
The history of Corsica has been influenced by its strategic position at the heart of the western Mediterranean and its maritime routes, only from Sardinia, from the Isle of Elba, from the coast of Tuscany and from the French port of Nice. At , Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus.
Classical antiquity.
Name.
The ancient Greeks, notably Herodotus, called the island "Kurnos" or "Kyrnos" (from "kur" or "kyr" meaning cape); the name Corsica is Latin and was in use in the Roman Republic.
Why Herodotus used Kyrnos and not some other name remains a mystery, and the phrases of the authors give no clue. The Roman historians, however, believed Corsa or Corsica (rightly or wrongly they interpreted -ica as an adjectival formative ending) was the native name of the island, but they could not give an explanation of its meaning. They did think that the natives were originally Ligures.
Phoenician and Greek footholds.
According to Herodotus, the Phoenicians became the first to colonize the island. Ionian Greeks established a brief foothold in Corsica with the foundation of Aléria in 566 BCE. They were expelled by an alliance of the Etruscans and the Carthaginians following the Battle of Alalia ( 540-535 BCE). The Etruscans, then Carthage, dominated the island until the Roman Republic annexed it in 237 BCE during the period of the Punic Wars.
Roman era.
The island was under Etruscan and Carthaginian influence until 237 BCE, when it was taken over by the Roman Republic. The Etruscans were confined to a few coastal settlements, such as Aléria, and the Carthaginians were strong on neighboring Sardinia. The Romans, however, had a profound influence, colonizing the entire coast, permeating inland and changing the unknown indigenous language to Latin. Corsica remained under Roman rule until its conquest by the Vandals in 430 CE. It was recovered by the Byzantine Empire in 522, adding a late-ancient Greek influence.
Middle Ages.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Corsica was frequented by migrant peoples and corsairs, notably Vandals, who plundered and ravaged at will until the coastal settlements fell into decline and the population occupied the slopes of the mountains. Rampant malaria in the coastal marshes reinforced this decision. Due largely to competition for the island from Ostrogoths Foederati who had settled on the Riviera, the Vandals never penetrated much beyond the coast, and their stay in Corsica was relatively short-lived, just long enough to prejudice the Corsicans against foreign adventurers on Corsican soil.
In 534, the armies of Justinian recovered the island for the empire, but the Byzantines were not able to effectively defend the island from continuing raids by the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, and the Saracens. The Lombards, who had made themselves masters of the war- and famine-shattered Italian Peninsula, conquered the island in 725.
The Lombard supremacy on the island was short lived. In 774, the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered Corsica as he moved to subdue the Lombards and restore the Western Empire. For the next century and a half, the thus established Holy Roman Empire continually warred with the Saracens for control of the island. In 807, Charlemagne's constable Burchard defeated an invading force from Al Andalus. In 930, Berengar II, king of Italy, invaded and subdued the imperial forces. Otto I vanquished Berengar and restored Corsica to imperial control in 965.
Its external threats mostly vanquished, a period of feudal anarchy followed as local Corsican-based nobles warred on each other and struggled for control, culminating in the transfer of the island – at the request of its population – to the papacy in 1077. The Pope yielded civic administration to Pisa in 1090, but contention between the Pisans and their rival Genoese soon engulfed Corsica. Repeated truces proved fleeting as the two naval and trading powers clashed for supremacy in the Western Mediterranean. The various Italian republics that arose began to assume responsibility for the security and prosperity of Corsica, starting with Tuscany, the closest. Corsica was finally removed from the fighting by annexation to the Papal States in 1217.
Renaissance.
Pisa retained control of the island during most of the Middle Ages but at the start of the Renaissance it fell to Genoa in 1284, following the battle of Meloria against Pisa.
Corsica successively was part of the Republic of Genoa for five centuries. Despite take-overs by Aragon between 1296–1434 and France between 1553 and 1559, Corsica would remain under Genoese control until the Corsican Republic of 1755 and under partial control until its purchase by France in 1768.
Bank of Saint George.
However, the dissension and political conflict at home did not always permit Doges of Genoa to govern Corsica well or at all. During such periods the island was subject to destructive conflict between coalitions of signorial families. The Bank of Saint George became involved as a major creditor of the Republic of Genoa. As security for their public loans they had obtained a franchise to collect public money; i.e., taxes.
In 1453 the people of Corsica held a general assembly, or Diet, at Lago Benedetto at which they voted to request the protection of the Bank of Saint George as a credible third-party. In return the bank would get the right to exercise their franchise in Corsica. This third-party solution became immediately popular. The government of Genoa placed Corsica in the bank's hands and the major contenders on Corsica agreed to a peace, some accepting cash payments for their cooperation.
Throughout the next century the bank undertook enterprises in the major coastal cities, sending in troops to secure the strong points, building or rebuilding the citadels, recruiting several hundred colonists per city, mainly Genoese, and constructing quarters for them within a city wall. Most of these "old cities" survive and are populated today, having served as the nucleus of modern Corsican coastal cities.
The natives were at first kept at bay. Typically more or less immediately but certainly by a few generations they were allowed to conurbate with the Genoese, especially as the latter were decimated by malaria and required the assistance of the natives. Some conflict continued but within a few decades peace and order were restored to the island. Genoese watchtowers populated the entire coastline (and are there yet) where the forces of Genoese signori ruling from coastal castles kept a watchful eye for raiders, pirates, bandits and smugglers.
Sampiero Corso.
Having begun its dominion in Corsica by building walled cities from which the Corsicans were to be excluded, the Bank of Saint George in the exercise of its taxation franchise finally became as unpopular in some quarters as the Republic of Genoa. It too generated a population of Corsican exiles, one of whom, Sampiero Corso, immigrated to France and became ultimately a high-ranking officer in the French army. He was thus on hand in Italy during the Italian War of 1551–1559 when the question came up in a conference of the general staff of what to do with Corsica, which was between France and Italy. At the insistence of Corso and other well-placed exiles the Marshal de Termes gave orders, without the knowledge or assent of his commander, Henry II of France, to take Corsica.
In August 1553, the Turkish fleet under Dragut, an ally of the French under a Franco-Ottoman alliance, set sail transporting French troops to Cap Corse in the Invasion of Corsica (1553). Bastia fell on the 24th, Saint-Florent on the 26th, Corte shortly after and Bonifacio in September. Before they could take Calvi the Turks went home in October for unknown reasons. Sampiero Corso proceeded to raise civil war in central Corsica, pitting signor against signor, wasting the villages of his opponents.
That November, Henry II opened negotiations with Genoa but too late. While parlaying the Genoese sent their best commander, Admiral Andrea Doria, with 15,000 men to Cap Corse, recapturing Saint-Florent in February 1554. By 1555, the French had been cleared from most of the coastal cities and Doria left. A Turkish fleet sent to help was decimated by the plague and went home towing empty ships, assisted by Genoese gold. Sampiero fought on in the hinterland.
Peace was finally brokered by Elizabeth I of England. By the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, the French returned Corsica to Genoa. Left without support, Corso went again into exile. Peace was restored, but not before the Genoese had dealt severely with the traitorous Signori.
Enlightenment.
Corsican society had always been relatively egalitarian, and writer Dorothy Carrington claims, "Alone among the peoples of Europe the Corsicans avoided feudal and capitalist oppression."
The Age of Enlightenment overthrew signorial and colonial rule and brought some measure of self-rule to the island. As the Corsican constitution was drawn up in 1755, Corsica is distinguished by having staged the first enlightenment revolution, being upstaged only by the English Revolution of the preceding century. It was the first of a trio: Corsican, American, French, and as such had some influence on the American Revolution. Corsica never did obtain total sovereignty but it shared in the French Revolution, became part of France, and acquired the local autonomy and civil rights established by that revolution.
Genoese rule in the 18th century was less than satisfactory to Corsicans, who considered it corrupt and ineffective. The Genoese on their part used their citadels and watch towers in an attempt to control a population that without its assent could not be controlled. The Corsicans had a bastion of their own, the mountains, but steadily the number of exiles abroad grew and those began to look for ways and means to free Corsica from all foreign powers. At no point in the Corsican history had the island ever been a nation of its own, nor did it ever achieve that goal. In the 18th century, however, Corsicans were able to establish a partial republic in which the Genoese were penned up in the citadels but ruled nowhere else. The republic began with a search by the exiles for a savior, a man of great ability who could step in and lead them to victory and self-rule.
Revolution of 1729–36.
In 1729, a full-scale revolt broke out in Corsica. In April 1731, having been unable to contain the outbreak, the Genoese appealed to the Emperor Charles VI, as feudal suzerain of the island, for military assistance. The moment was propitious, since the emperor was on good terms with the Duke of Savoy and the King of Spain, and had just signed agreement with the Maritime Powers. In July, 4,000 men of the garrison of Milan were sent to Corsica at the expense of Genoa. The Genoese desired to keep the expedition small and the cost low, but the military expert Eugene of Savoy convinced the emperor to increase the number of troops to 12,000 by 1732. The war degenerated into a guerrilla campaign in the mountains, which the professional forces of the crown could not win.
After negotiations were opened, the Corsicans offered their island's sovereignty to Charles or, if he refused, Eugene. A final agreement was signed at Corte on 13 May 1732, whereby the Genoese would return to power and implement reforms. An amnesty was granted to all rebels and the emperor guaranteed the accord. The emperor was unable to prevent Genoa returning to its former mismanagement, and island rose up again in 1734.
In the second phase of the revolt, the Corsican leader, Giacinto Paoli, requested Spanish assistance. None arrived before the German adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff, who convinced the people to elect him King Theodore of Corsica in March 1736. He left in October to seek support abroad, and was arrested in Amsterdam and thrown in debtors' prison.
Corsican Republic.
A capable advocate of Corsican independence at last stepped forward from the ranks of Corsicans in exile in Italy, Pasquale Paoli, a general and patriot who struggled against Genoa and then France, and became "Il Babbu di a Patria" (Father of the Nation). In 1755 he proclaimed the Corsican Republic. Paoli founded the first University of Corsica (with instruction in Italian). He chose the Moor's head ("Testa Mora"), previously used by Theodore of Corsica, as Corsica's emblem in 1760. Paoli considered the Corsicans to be an Italian people.
Sale and annexation to France.
Seeing that attempts to dislodge Paoli were futile, in 1764 by secret treaty Genoa sold Corsica to the Duc de Choiseul, then minister of the French Navy, who bought it on behalf of the crown. On the quiet, French troops gradually replaced Genoese in the citadels. In 1768, after preparations had been made, an open treaty with Genoa ceded Corsica to France in perpetuity with no possibility of retraction and the Duc appointed a Corsican supporter, Buttafuoco, as administrator. The island rose in revolt. Paoli fought a guerrilla war against fresh French troops under their commander, Comte de Marbeuf, but was defeated in the Battle of Ponte Novu and had to go into exile in Vienna and then London. The French move into Corsica triggered the Corsican Crisis in Britain, where debate raged over the question of British intervention. In 1770, Marbeuf publicly announced the annexation of Corsica and appointed a governor.
Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.
After the French revolution, Corsican leader Pasquale Paoli, who had been exiled under the monarchy, became something of an idol of liberty and democracy. In 1789 he was invited to Paris by the National Constituent Assembly and was celebrated as a hero in front of the assembly. He was afterwards sent back to Corsica having been given the rank of lieutenant-general.
In 1795, after proclaiming the independence of Corsica, a constitution was adopted that made Corsica a kingdom in personal union with Great Britain, represented by a viceroy. The constitution was considered quite democratic for its time, with an elected Parliament and a Council. Sir Gilbert Elliot served as viceroy whereas Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo served as head of government (effectively a prime minister). The island returned to French rule in 1796.
Modern era.
19th century.
From 1854 to 1857 the Société du Télégraphe Électrique or "The Mediterranean Electric Telegraph", a company started by John Watkins Brett, connected La Spezia, Italy with Corsica by submarine cable, being the first to do so. The line ran south along the east coast, partly on land, partly on sea, from Cap Corse to Ajaccio, where a second cable crossed the Strait of Bonifacio. Brett's intended links across Sardinia and through the deeps to Bona, Algeria, failed because of decimation of the crews by malaria and the technical difficulties of laying cable in deep waters. By 1870 Paris could communicate with Algeria by telegraph through Corsica.
First World War and after.
In World War I Corsica responded to the call to arms more intensely than any other allied region. Out of a population estimated by a diplomat of the times to have been about 300,000, some 50,000 Corsican men were under arms: a ratio greater than one of every six Corsican citizens.
The civilian population was correspondingly pro-allied. Prisoners of war were sent to Corsica. There they occupied every available space from rooms in monasteries to cells in citadels. Stone sheds were converted for their use. When all else failed, wooden barracks were constructed on the mountainsides. The prisoners were put to work in agriculture and forestry. Corsica was also turned into a hospital for the wounded. Most of the allies sent medical units or volunteers. The island was so useful as a base that the sea lanes leading to it were under constant surveillance and attack by U-boats.
Corsican poilus fought loyally and with valor. Estimates of casualties vary but most are over 50%. As a result, the survivors became established in the upper echelons of the French military and police. However, the loss of manpower contributed to a recession and mass exodus from Corsica in favor of southern France in the post-war period. Corsicans of means became colonizers during this period, the descendants of the former signori starting agricultural enterprises in Vietnam, Algeria and Puerto Rico. It was on them that the blow of subsequent wars of independence fell most heavily.
Second World War.
After the Allied defeat of 1940, Corsica became part of the Southern zone of Vichy France, and was thus not directly occupied by Axis forces, but fell under ultimate military control of Nazi Germany. A campaign of rhetoric by Benito Mussolini asserting that Corsica belonged to Italy was reinforced by the irredentist movement of Italian-speaking Corsicans (such as Petru Giovacchini) who advocated the unification of the island with Italy.
In November 1942, as part of its invasion of the southern zone, Germany arranged for fascist Italy to occupy Corsica as well as some parts of France up to the Rhône river. The Italian occupation force in Corsica grew to over 85,000 troops, later reinforced by 12,000 German troops – a huge occupation force relative to the size of the local population of 220,000. The French had no troops with which to prevent the occupation. Irredentist propaganda intensified, but the préfet representing the French government restated French sovereignty over the island and stated that the Italian troops were occupiers.
The French Resistance soon began developing under the impetus of loyal local inhabitants (the Maquis named after the 18th-century partisans of Pasquale Paoli), and of Free French leaders starting in December 1942, with Charles de Gaulle eventually sending Paulin Colonna d'Istria from Algeria to unite the movements. Boosted via six visits by the Free French submarine "Casabianca", and further armed by Allied airdrops, the strengthened Resistance was met with fierce repression by the OVRA (Italian fascist police) and the fascist Black Shirts paramilitary groups but gained strength, especially in the countryside.
In July 1943, following the imprisonment of Mussolini, 12,000 German troops came to Corsica. They formally took over the occupation on 9 September 1943, the day after the armistice between Italy and the Allies. Following the Allied landings in Sicily and the Italian surrender, these German troops were joined by the remnants of the Africa Division of the German army, reconstituted as the 90th Panzergrenadier Division with about 40,000 men, which crossed over from Sardinia. They were accompanied by some Italian forces. They faced Resistance forces which had been asked to occupy the mountains to prevent Axis troop movements between the Corsican coasts, as well as a subset of Italian troops that allied with them but whose contribution was hampered as their leadership was ambivalent. The German forces retreated from Bonifacio towards the Northern harbor of Bastia. Elements of the reconstituted French I Corps, from the "4th Moroccan Mountain Division", landed in Ajaccio to counter the German movement and the Germans evacuated Bastia by 4 October 1943, leaving behind 700 dead and 350 POWs.
After Corsica was thus liberated from the forces of the Third Reich, the island started functioning as an Allied air base in support of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in 1944; in particular, groups of the 57th Bomb Wing were stationed along the east coast from Bastia in the north to Solenzara in the south. Corsica was also one of the bases from which Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944, was launched.
While on the island, U.S. Army engineers successfully eradicated the malaria that had been endemic to the coastal areas of Corsica, including half the island's arable land that had been previously uninhabitable.
Modern era.
In recent decades, Corsica has developed a thriving tourism industry, which has attracted a sizeable number of immigrants to the island in search of employment. Various movements, calling for either greater autonomy or complete independence from France, have been launched, some of whom have at times used violent means, like the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica (FLNC). In May 2001, the French government granted the island of Corsica limited autonomy, launching a process of devolution in an attempt to end the push for nationalism.
Corsica served as the start of the 2013 Tour de France, the first time that the event was staged on the island.


Merstone railway station

Merstone railway station, was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Merstone village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway in 1868, opened in 1875 and closed 81 years later. In 1897 a new line opened from Merstone to provide an alternative route to the south-east corner of the island, running initially to St Lawrence and in 1900 to Ventnor West station . Located in the heart of a farming community, Merstone was snowed under during the harsh winter of 1947. The station building was demolished after closure, although the platform is still existent. Merstone station is now an access point onto National Cycle Route 23


Gutenberg, Germany

Gutenberg is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Rüdesheim, whose seat is in the municipality of Rüdesheim an der Nahe. Gutenberg is a winegrowing village.
Geography.
Location.
Flowing through Gutenberg is the Gräfenbach. Gutenberg belongs to the Nahe wine region and lies at the foot of the Soonwald in the Hunsrück. Its elevation is roughly 145 m above sea level and it lies some 7 km from the district seat, Bad Kreuznach. Bad Sobernheim, Idar-Oberstein, Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg and Bingen am Rhein also lie relatively nearby. Gutenberg is distinguished by the consistency of its weather, low rainfall averaging only 480 mm yearly and a great many sunny days. This has led the municipality to adopt the slogan “"Gutenberg – auf der Sonnenseite der Welt"” (“Gutenberg – on the sunny side of the world”).
Neighbouring municipalities.
Clockwise from the north, Gutenberg's neighbours are the municipalities of Windesheim, Guldental, Hargesheim, Roxheim and Wallhausen, all of which likewise lie within the Bad Kreuznach district.
Constituent communities.
Also belonging to Gutenberg is the outlying homestead of Nackmühle.
History.
Antiquity.
Not much can be brought to light about the Gutenberg area's earliest settlers, who were nomads – hunter-gatherers – of the Old Stone Age, and they did not leave much behind for archaeologists to find. In the 1960s, however, a man named Kurt Hochgesand from Waldalgesheim discovered articles from several epochs of the Stone Age in the fields near the Butterberg. Unearthed over the years were parts of a shoe-last celt, a round scraper, flint blades, a crudely worked hoe, half and whole stone hatchets and several siliceous (perhaps chert) blades. The finds were investigated and written up in Mainz journals. Thereafter they were kept under Hochgesand's private ownership.
No finds from the Bronze Age were made within Gutenberg's limits are known. From the Iron Age, when the Celts migrated into the area, three archaeological finds are known: two arm rings and a neck ring from Hallstatt culture (700–450 BC). A man named Josef Wink found these objects in a sandpit in the Weißenborn. In the 1st century BC Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and advanced all the way to the Rhine. Thenceforth the Gutenberg area belonged to the Roman province of Germania Superior. Right at the northern municipal limit ran the old Roman road that led from Bad Kreuznach towards Stromberg, where it linked to the Mainz-Bingen-Trier road, the so-called "Via Ausonia" (locally, the "Ausoniusstraße"). It seems likely that the first Roman archaeological find in what is now Gutenberg was made in the 1620s. In an engraving by Sebastian Furck, published in 1630 in Daniel Meisner and Eberhard Kieser's "Thesaurus Philopoliticus", appears a stone coffin similar to those unearthed at the Roman graveyard in Bad Kreuznach near today's Bosenheimerstraße. An inscription on the engraving reads “"Ist alda mit einem cörper und zwei gläsern darin ein unbekannts materia auch vier schüßlin ausgegraben worden"” (“Was dug up there with a body and two glasses therein an unknown material also four dishes”). What became of this coffin is unknown.
The next major find was not made until 1921. Phillip Stieb IV discovered on his field “im Bauernstück”, likely while he was doing clearing work, two stone chests. Found inside were urns, bottles, small clay lamps, coins and rings from the 1st century AD. The finds were taken to Mainz and put in the Romano-Germanic Central Museum. In 1925, Gustav Behrens, the museum's caretaker of Rhenish-Hessian archaeological monuments, wrote them up in his museum guidebook "Römische Gläser aus Deutschland" (“Roman Glassware from Germany”). Today, this glassware can be found at the local history museum in Bad Kreuznach.
In 1925 the well known local historian Karl Geib undertook an investigation in his field, for which he turned to people who were interested in the subject. In Gutenberg, that was the schoolteacher Meyer. With the help of his answers on the prepared questionnaire it came to light that many archaeological finds from prehistoric and Roman times had been destroyed through people's ignorance.
In 1967, Karl Hochgesand made an interesting discovery on the Butterberg near the Roman road: During clearing work, a plough had struck some stone chests and had destroyed them. They were set aside and seemingly never seen again, until Hochgesand found them and reported this find to the local history museum. Found in the chests were a few Roman enamel fibulae as well as glass and beaker shards. Some of this remained in private ownership and some went to the local history museum. It is noteworthy that all prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds have come to light outside what is now the village. This likely has to do with the ongoing building over time, with new buildings replacing old ones in the village itself. Indeed, most of these finds were made near the old Roman road. Since not only Roman artifacts have been dug up there, but also even older ones, it seems clear that this road had been important for some time, even before the Romans came, and that the Romans simply improved the road. Who actually lived in the village in Roman times may well never be known with certainty, but these archaeological finds leave no doubt that this place was indeed inhabited then.
Name.
The first mention of the village is as "Weihersheim". In 1158, a place named "Weihersheim" had its first documentary mention. On 22 May of that year, Archbishop of Mainz Arnold confirmed to the convent of Ruppertsberg near Bingen its land holdings as they were donated by individual persons. Mentioned among other things were four manors at Weithersheim. This convent had been founded in 1149 by Saint Hildegard, who herself had grown up at Disibodenberg. Once again, in 1184, a place called "Wertdersheim" was mentioned in a document. Pope Lucius III therein likewise confirmed the donations to that convent, and along with them papal protection. In 1187, "Wertdersheim" appeared for the third time in a document that likewise dealt with the Ruppertsberg convent. Archbishop Cunrad of Mainz, a papal legate, freed the convent from taxes and furnished it with specific rights.
A clue to the location comes from yet another document, this one from the monastery at Bingen. It bears the title "Registratio rerum et censum monasterii S. Rupperti ab anno 1147 usque 1270" and comprehensively lists all the convent's land holdings. For Weithersheim, 53 rural areas are named. Among others, it names “"in hahnebach"” and “"in demo sewe"”. These cadastral names appear on modern maps within Gutenberg's limits, in modified or even the same forms as they had in the 13th century. The locality name “"retro ecclesiam"” also crops up, which is Latin. There was already a church at this time, Saint Margaret's ("Kirche St. Margarete"), which stood somewhat more to the northeast than today's church. Weithersheim appears to be Gutenberg, and sometime its name was changed.
It was once assumed that Weithersheim had been a village on the Butterberg that was later abandoned for a newer village called Gutenberg in the valley. Hochgesand's discoveries at the Butterberg, however, seem to belie that assumption, for all his finds were either prehistoric or Roman, and never mediaeval. Furthermore, a temporal overlap in the use of the two names may be noted. Records from Eberbach Abbey and Ruppertsberg, both of which had land holdings at Gutenberg, kept referring to the village as Weithersheim long after those from the Counts of Sponheim had begun using the names "Burg Gutenberg" and "Tal Gutenberg" (“castle” and “dale”), thus putting the lie to any notion that Weithersheim was abandoned and Gutenberg then built to replace it.
The Gutenburg.
The local castle, known as The Gutenburg, is nowadays a ruin. Its construction date is disputed. Some hold that it was built at about the same time as the Dalburg (a castle near Dalberg). Others hold that it has a similar age to the Schöneberger Burg, another nearby, now largely vanished, castle in Schöneberg. Still others say that the tower on the slope dates back to Roman times.
Gutenberg under the Lords "vom Stein".
In 1213, Eberbach Abbey, then an important monastery near Eltville, found itself at odds with Bertha and her brother Rheinbodo of Bingen. At Saint Peter's Monastery near Kreuznach the two parties met in the presence of Lord Wolfram vom Stein and his son, also named Wolfram. Thereafter, a monk from the Breitenvahs Monastery (now Guldental’s outlying homestead of Breitenfelser Hof) was supposed to hand over 10 pounds in denarii to the siblings from Bingen at Castle Weithersheim. In 1227, Wolfram the Elder (who, somewhat confusingly, was the younger of the two Wolframs mentioned above) decided to take part in the Crusades under Emperor Friedrich. Before he left, he made over to the monastery a further 28 "Morgen" of wildland that the monastery demanded and also two "Morgen" for his salvation. The problem, though, was that the land that he had signed over was not altogether his own. He shared ownership with his siblings. To offset this, Wolfram also gave them parts of his land holdings. From the document in question comes knowledge of other localities that even now have the same or similar names, and also of a few people who then lived in Gutenberg. In 1248, a woman named Agnes von Gudenburg cropped up in a document as Wolfram vom Stein the Younger’s wife. Wolfram the Younger was the Elder’s half-brother, and their father was the Lord Wolfram vom Stein mentioned above. Agnes and Wolfram had stolen some swine from the Breitenfelser Hof, and as compensation they donated 15 "Morgen" of land to Eberbach Abbey, which at the time owned the Breitenfelser Hof. This document is also noteworthy in that it was the first one to mention the name "Gudenburg".
Gutenberg under the Lords "vom Turm".
Agnes’s and Wolfram’s only daughter, Guda, wed Heinrich von Gymnich. It is believed that she sold the castle to a family from Mainz, for in 1301, Mainz treasurer Eberhard’s son Philipp, of the house "de Turri" (rendered “vom Turm” in German, “from the tower”) was calling himself Philipp von Gudenburg.
Gutenberg under the Lords of Sponheim.
In 1318, Count Johann of Sponheim was enfeoffed by an Eberhard, Treasurer of Gutenberg and a Johann Buser. He was given leave to defend the castle and the village as if they were his own. In 1334, Eberhard sold Castle Gutenburg and the village of Weithersheim to Johann, with “people, lands, fields and all appurtenances”. In 1339, Johann endowed “a perpetual Mass at the church at "Weyttersheym" for his and his forebears’ salvation". This now church, Saint Margaret's ("Kirche St. Margarete" or "Kirche St. Margaretha") no longer exists.
In the same year, the childless Count Johann bequeathed the land to his nephew (his late brother Simon II's son), Walram, Count of Sponheim-Kreuznach. In 1350, the castle and the village of Weithersheim became Walram's wife Elisabeth's widow's estate ("Wittum"). Her granddaughter, Elisabeth of Sponheim and Vianden, transferred a one-fifth share of Burg Gutenburg and Tal Gutenburg in 1416 to her brother-in-law, Count Palatine of the Rhine Ludwig. Through her marriage to Ruprecht IV Pipan she was Ludwig's sister-in-law, although by this time, her husband was already long dead. In a "Burgfrieden" (“castle peace”) the very same year, Count Johann of Sponheim, the countess's heir, as well as Count Palatine Ludwig, ruled on who had what rights. After the countess's death, they both divided the castles up. In a 1417 document it is laid down who owned what shares in which castles. From this document can be drawn a rough outline of just what the castle looked like in those days. It can be seen today that what remains of the now ruined castle was only a small part of the whole complex. The document speaks of gatehouses, stables, an outer bailey with towers and a well, which can all still vaguely be made out today.
In 1428, Jakob Margrave of Baden and Friedrich Count of Veldenz, both Johann's kin, received the three fourths of the castles that still belonged to Johann. Jakob transferred, for 20,000 Rhenish guilders, one fourth as a pledge to Count Palatine Ludwig. There is an interesting reference in a copy of this document to “"Burg und Stadt Gutenberg"” (“castle and town of Gutenberg”). Styling Gutenberg a “town” suggested that it had town rights, but this is held to be a simple mistake in the writing. In the same year, a renewed "Burgfrieden" was concluded between Johann's heirs and the Count Palatine. In 1436, Ludwig died and bequeathed to his eldest son, also named Ludwig, among other things, his share of Gutenberg. He, for his part, acknowledged the "Burgfrieden" in two documents that he issued in 1437.
The castle at Gutenberg was thus owned by the Counts of Veldenz, the Margraves of Baden and the Counts Palatine of the Rhine, but none wanted to live there. Not even Meinhard von Koppenstein, who according to a document from the same year was "Amtmann" of Kreuznach, was supposed to govern the castle for the counts. Indeed, only a servant lived there, although there were also five watchmen and attendants, who seem to have lived nearby and did not have to be there at all times. After the Counts of Veldenz died out, their holdings were inherited by the House of Palatinate-Simmern. The castle continued to be owned by the Margraves, the Palatinate-Simmerns and the Counts Palatine until the Rhineland was overrun by French Revolutionary troops in the late 18th century. The respective shares held by each of the counts’ successors to the “Further” County of Sponheim, to which the castle at Gutenberg also belonged, were constantly changing. How complex these ownership arrangements were is something that writer W. Dotzauer tries to display graphically in one of his books. The castle thus lost ever more of its importance and fell into disrepair.
Castle’s ruination.
How unimportant the castle at Gutenberg had already become by Meinhard von Koppenstein's time can be seen in a 1437 document that lists castles and palaces that were to be supplied with weapons, munitions and provisions. The Gutenburg is not listed at all. In the 1620s, Sebastian Furck came down the Gräfenbach valley towards Kreuznach. He drew the Rosenburg in Argenschwang, the Dalburg and the Gutenburg. These drawings were later published as copper engravings in Daniel Meisner's and Eberhard Kieser's "Thesaurus Philopoliticus" in 1630. In contrast to the other two castles, which are shown in these pictures in their full stateliness, the Gutenburg is already a ruin. All that can be recognized of it is tower remnants and the fortified walls. Each engraving is accompanied by an inscription, and the one accompanying the Gutenburg reads:
or in English:
This caption, and also the fact that the castle had now not been occupied for more than 500 years make it clear that it was never destroyed (as so many castles were), but rather that it simply succumbed to the ravages of time. Its stones found new use as building materials in the village down below. After the Congress of Vienna, the Rhineland passed to the Kingdom of Prussia, and all castles and palaces accordingly passed to the Prussian state. In 1838, Gutenberg's castle was bought by the Kreuznach court clerk Meyer, who proceeded to build it “in an old-fashioned style into the most attractive point in the dale”. The stairway tower got a roof with a flag, and on the western tower, battlements were walled and a wooden house was built in the ward. In the time of Romanticism, there was even dancing at the castle. The holes for the wooden floor beams can still be made out today. The castle has been under private ownership ever since:
Population development.
Gutenberg's population development since Napoleonic times is shown in the table below. The figures for the years from 1871 to 1987 are drawn from census data:
Religion.
As at 30 September 2013, there are 973 full-time residents in Gutenberg, and of those, 387 are Evangelical (39.774%), 431 are Catholic (44.296%), 1 is Lutheran (0.103%), 7 (0.719%) belong to other religious groups and 147 (15.108%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.
Politics.
Municipal council.
The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Each council member belongs to one of two voters’ groups; traditional parties won no seats.
Mayor.
Gutenberg's mayor is Jürgen Frank, and his deputies are Christa Dapper, Rosi Stief and Walter Kluge.
Coat of arms.
The municipality's arms might be described thus: Or six lozenges throughout conjoined azure, three and three.
Town partnerships.
Gutenberg fosters partnerships with the following places:
Since 1984, there has been an official partnership between the French commune of Villy-le-Bouveret in the Department of Haute-Savoie, some 30 km south of Geneva, and Gutenberg. Meetings take place every two years with the venue alternating between Gutenberg and Villy. Gutenberg is supported in this endeavour by the club "Freundeskreis Villy-le-Bouveret & Gutenberg e.V."
Culture and sightseeing.
Buildings.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Regular events.
Gutenberg holds a tent kermis (church consecration festival) each year on the second weekend in September.
Clubs.
Gutenberg has a great number of clubs. Currently active in the municipality are the following:
Economy and infrastructure.
Transport.
Gutenberg is served by "Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe GmbH" bus route no. 244 (Bad Kreuznach–Wallhausen–Münchwald). Gutenberg lies within the "Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund", a local public transport association whose fares therefore apply. The local bus route serves Bad Kreuznach station, making the rail service there available to those living in Gutenberg. Running through the village is "Landesstraße" 239. To the south runs "Bundesstraße" 41, which leads to Bad Kreuznach, linking there with other "Bundesstraßen" (48 and 428). To the north lies the Autobahn A 61 (Koblenz–Ludwigshafen), the nearest interchange on which is in Waldlaubersheim.


Association of Lands Valuation Assessors of Scotland


St Helier railway station (Jersey Eastern Railway)

St Helier railway station was the terminus of the Jersey Eastern Railway (JER) in Saint Helier, the capital of Jersey in the Channel Islands. Opened in 1874, it was situated in a railway cutting at the base of Mont de la Ville below Fort Regent. The station was referred to as St. Helier (Snow Hill) to distinguish it from another railway terminus opened by the Jersey Railway in 1873 at the Weighbridge (now Liberation Square) in St Helier. The station was in passenger operation until the line closed in 1929. Today the site is occupied by the Snow Hill car park.
History.
The Jersey Eastern Railway Company was constructed in response to demand by the inhabitants of the harbour town of Gorey following the opening of the Jersey Railway line in the west of the island. The States of Jersey passed an Act authorising the construction of an eastern railway lone from Snow Hill to Gorey, and on to St Catherine on 31 March 1871 and Royal Assent was received in 1872. On 6 April 1873 the Jersey Eastern Railway Company was registered. It had permission to construct a railway from Snow Hill to Gorey, and on to St Catherines. The line took several years to build and the final section to St Catherines was never completed, with the terminus at Gorey Pier opening in 1891.
The site for the JER's Saint Helier terminus was difficult as there was no route around Mont de la Ville into the town centre. It was decided to excavate a -long, -deep cutting through the rocky outcrop under Fort Regent and Regent Road to provide a terminal station on Hill Street. The excavation works overran and when the Eastern line opened in August 1873, it ran only as far as a temporary terminus adjacent to the JER's locomotive depot at Green Street. Snow Hill station eventually opened on 6 May 1874.
The station approach was a short cobbled crescent running from Hill Street leading to a station building at the north end of the station, which contained the booking office, waiting rooms and station offices. There was one -long platform which could accommodate one long or two short trains, a carriage siding and a turnaround loop.
The station was covered by a canopy. The line out of the station was single-track, with a short section of double track passing under East Road bridge to the Green Street level crossing.
Initially, the line was a success, with 28 trains running between Snow Hill and Gorey each day. In 1881, a steam ferry service commenced operation from Gorey to Carteret in Normandy, France, and the JER offered through tickets from Saint Helier to Paris Saint-Lazare via the newly opened Carteret to Carentan Railway.
Closure.
After years of successful operation, the JER ran into financial difficulties after World War I, and fierce competition from us services run by the Jersey Bus Company drove the company's profits down. In 1929, after a failed merger proposal with the Jersey Railway, the JER went into liquidation and the railway line was closed.
Snow Hill station was demolished and the land below Fort Regent was converted into a bus station by the States of Jersey in 1932. The site was particularly narrow and the bus station was equipped with the unusual feature of a bus turntable to allow buses to turn around more easily. The bus station closed in 1964 when a new bus station opened at Weighbridge, adjacent to St Helier's other disused railway station. Since then, the site of Snow Hill station has been in use as a car park.
Cable car.
In the 1970s, Fort Regent was developed as a tourist attraction. An aerial cable car was opened in April 1970 to transport visitors to the summit. The ground-level station was built on the former Snow Hill station site, at the north end of the car park. The cable car continued in operation until it closed in the late 1980s and the Snow Hill station was demolished. The high-level cable car station was finally demolished in 2018.
Today the site is occupied by a car park; all that remains of the railway station is a stone wall facing hill street. A blue plaque has been fixed to this wall commemorating the station. The Jersey Eastern Railway Terminus Hotel, known as The Eastern Hotel, is still standing on the corner of Hill Street and Snow Hill and is now a listed building.


Sarre (department)

Sarre was a department in the First French Republic and First French Empire. Its territory is now part of Germany and Belgium. Named after the river Saar (), it was created in 1798 in the aftermath of the Treaty of Campo Formio of 18 October 1797 which ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France.
Despite its name it covered a much larger area than the historical area known as the Saarland. Prior to the French occupation of the area from 1793 onward, its territory had been divided between the Electorate of Trier, Nassau-Saarbrücken and the Electorate of the Palatinate (the Duchy of Zweibrücken and the County of Veldenz). Its territory is now part of the German states Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland as well as a tiny adjacent section of the Belgian province of Liège. Its capital was Trier.
The department was subdivided into the following arrondissements and cantons (situation in 1812):
Its population in 1812 was 277,596, and its area was .
After Napoleon was defeated in 1814, most of the department became part of Prussia, with smaller parts assigned to Duchy of Oldenburg (Birkenfeld) and Bavaria. The cantons of Sankt Wendel and Baumholder were given to Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld as the Principality of Lichtenberg, which was sold to Prussia in 1834. The canton of Meisenheim was given to Hesse-Homburg, which was annexed to Prussia in 1866. The former Schönberg canton would later be included in the Eupen-Sankt Vith-Malmedy plebiscite area following World War I.


Magri

Magri is an Italian and Maltese surname. It may refer to:


Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca

The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral () is the most famous Romanian Orthodox church of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Built in a Romanian Brâncovenesc style, a synthesis of Renaissance and Byzantine architecture, it lies on the Avram Iancu Square, together with the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre and the Avram Iancu Statue.
The Cathedral is the seat of the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crișana and Maramureș. It is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (Romanian: "Adormirea Maicii Domnului").
History.
The cathedral was built between 1923 and 1933, after the Union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom. Nicolae Ivan (1855-1936), the first bishop of the Bishopric of Cluj, had a very important contribution in suggesting the location of the cathedral and in obtaining the necessary funds for its construction, which began on 10 September 1923.
The project of the cathedral was developed by the architects George Cristinel and Constantin Pomponiu, who also designed the Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti.
On 5 November 1933 the Cathedral was officially opened by Miron Cristea, the Patriarch of All Romania, Nicolae Bălan, the Metropolitan of Transylvania and Nicolae Ivan, the Bishop of Cluj. The opening ceremony was also attended, among many others, by King Carol II and Crown Prince Michael I.
Decoration.
The main dome of the Cathedral, inspired by the dome of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, is surrounded by 4 Romanian Brâncovenesc style towers. The 18 large columns supporting the dome are sculpted in stone. The main material used for the construction of the Cathedral was stone extracted from Baciu and Bompotoc.
The interior murals were painted between 1928 and 1933 by artists Anastasie Demian and , both professors at the local Art Academy.


County of Drenthe

The County of Drenthe (, ), was a province of the Holy Roman Empire from 1046, and of the Dutch Republic from 1581 until 1795. It corresponds to the area west of the lower Ems, today the eponymous province of Drenthe in the Netherlands.
Drenthe is first recorded in 820 as a "Gau", the basic division of the Carolingian Empire east of the Rhine. In 1046, the Emperor Henry III granted it to the Bishopric of Utrecht. At the time Drenthe included the city of Groningen, which was governed by a burgrave (prefect) enfeoffed by the bishop. By the 14th century, the prefecture was hereditary and the Lordship of Groningen was "de facto" separate from the County of Drenthe.
Between 1225 and 1240, the free peasants of Drenthe were in conflict with the bishops over his lordship and his tithes. This even resulted in a crusade launched against them. The first and most intense phase of the conflict is retold in an eyewitness account, "Quaedam narracio". In the 14th and 15th centuries, Drenthe was affected by the factional struggle between the Vetkopers and Schieringers. In 1402, it was attached to the "Oversticht", the eastern portion of the bishopric.
In 1412, the county received its own "Landrecht" (territorial law). In 1522, during the Guelders Wars, the county fell to Charles II, Duke of Guelders, but he was forced to cede it to the Habsburg emperor Charles V in the Treaty of Grave of 1536. It was thereafter governed by a Habsburg stadtholder, but because it was only sparsely populated, it had the same stadtholder as the Lordship of Groningen. In the Treaty of Augsburg of 1548, Drenthe was removed from the Westphalian Circle and attached to the Burgundian Circle, making it one of the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands with a special status within the Empire.
During the Dutch Revolt against the Habsburgs, Drenthe joined the Union of Utrecht. Although it became part of the republic, it was not one of the Seven Provinces and did not have a seat in the States General on account of its poverty.


Frendo

Frendo is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:


National Moldavian Party

The National Moldavian Party was a political party in Bessarabia.
History.
Prior to 1917, Bessarabian intelligentsia was divided between noblemen, conservatives, democrats, and socialists. Vasile Stroescu, a rich but very modest filantop boyar, managed to persuade all major factions to leave internal fights and at four day meeting (–) the "National Moldavian Party" was created. In April 1917 the party leadership was elected. It was headed by Vasile Stroescu, having among its members Paul Gore (a renowned conservative), Vladimir Herţa, Pan Halippa (a renowned socialist), Onisifor Ghibu. Among the leaders of the party were general Matei Donici, Ion Pelivan, Daniel Ciugureanu, Gurie Grosu, Nicolae Alexandri, Teofil Ioncu, P. Grosu, Mihail Minciună, Vlad Bogos, F. Corobceanu, Gheorghe Buruiană, Simeon Murafa, Al. Botezat, Alexandru Groapă, Ion Codreanu, Vasile Gafencu.
The party, which demanded autonomy, had a newspaper called "Cuvânt moldovenesc", to which some refugees from Bukovina and Transylvania also contributed. The cornerstone of the National Moldavian Party program was to obtain political, administrative, church, school, and economic autonomy for Bessarabia. They did not hesitate to send members of the respective profession to the various congresses held in Bessarabia throughout 1917, and became very influential.
Ghibu and George Tofan were part of a group of Transylvanian and Bukovinian intellectuals which arrived in Bessarabia in the wake of the February Revolution to help organize schools in Romanian, to print books and newspapers, and to help the Bessarabians in the strife for reorganization of the political and cultural life. Intellectuals from Bukovina, Transylvania, and the Romanian Old Kingdom fleeing the war to Bessarabia, helped with the printing of "Cuvânt moldovenesc", started various language, history, culture, and sciences courses, and set up a People's University ("Universitatea Populară") in Chişinău.
The party was replaced by the Bessarabian Peasants' Party, founded in Chişinău on 23 August 1918.


Peace of Nicias

The Peace of Nicias, was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in March 421 BC that ended the first half of the Peloponnesian War.
In 425 BC, the Spartans had lost the Battles of Pylos and Sphacteria, a severe defeat resulting in the Athenians holding 292 prisoners. At least 120 were Spartiates, who had recovered by 424 BC, when the Spartan general Brasidas captured Amphipolis. In the same year, the Athenians suffered a major defeat in Boeotia at the Battle of Delium, and in 422 BC, they were defeated again at the Battle of Amphipolis in their attempt to take back that city. Both Brasidas, the leading Spartan general, and Cleon, the leading politician in Athens, were killed at Amphipolis. By then, both sides were exhausted and ready for peace.
The negotiations were begun by Pleistoanax, King of Sparta, and the Athenian general Nicias. Both decided to return everything that they had conquered during the war except for Nisaea, which would remain in Athenian hands, and Plataea, which remained under the control of Thebes. Most notably, Amphipolis would be returned to Athens, and the Athenians would release the prisoners taken at Sphacteria. Temples throughout Greece would be open to worshippers from all cities, and the oracle at Delphi would regain its autonomy. Athens could continue to collect tribute from the states from which it had received it since the time of Aristides, but Athens could not force them to become allies. Athens also agreed to come to Sparta's aid if the helots revolted. All of Sparta's allies agreed to sign the peace, except for Boeotia, Corinth, Elis, and Megara.
Seventeen representatives from each side swore an oath to uphold the treaty, which was meant to last for fifty years. The Spartan representatives were the kings Pleistoanax and Agis II, Pleistolas, Damagetus, Chionis, Metagenes, Acanthus, Daithus, Ischagoras, Philocharidas, Zeuxidas, Antiphus, Tellis, Alcindas, Empedias, Menas, and Laphilus. The Athenian representatives were Lampon, Isthmonicus, Nicias, Laches, Euthydemus, Procles, Pythodorus, Hagnon, Myrtilus, Thrasycles, Theagenes, Aristocrates, Iolcius, Timocrates, Leon, Lamachus, and Demosthenes. However, Athens's chief goal, the restoration of Amphipolis, was denied when Clearidas obtained from the Spartans a clause in the treaty negating the transfer. Thus, the treaty was broken from the start and, after several more failures, was formally abandoned in 414 BC. Thus, the Peloponnesian War resumed in its second stage.


Izmail

Izmail (, translit. "Izmayil"; , translit. "Izmail," formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); or "Smil"; , ) is a historic city on the Danube river in Odessa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. Administratively, Izmail is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It also serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven districts of Odessa Oblast, though it is not a part of the district.
In Russian historiography Izmail is associated with the 18th century sacking of Ottoman fortress of Izmail by Russian general Alexander Suvorov.
It is the largest Ukrainian port in the Danube Delta, on its Chilia branch. As such, Izmail is a center of the food processing industry and a popular regional tourist destination. It is also a base of the Ukrainian Navy and the Ukrainian Sea Guard units operating on the river. The World Wildlife Fund's "Isles of Izmail Regional Landscape Park" is located nearby. Population:
History.
The fortress of Izmail was built by Genoese merchants in the 12th century. It belonged for a short period of time to Wallachia (14th century) – as the territory north of the Danube was one of the possessions of the Basarabs (later the land being named after them, "Bessarabia"). The town was first mentioned with the name "Ismailiye", derived from the name of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Izmail.
From the end of the 14th century, Izmail was under the rule of Moldavia. In 1484, the Ottoman state conquered the territory, which became from that moment an Ottoman protectorate (under direct rule from 1538). Since the early 16th century it was the main Ottoman fortress in the Budjak region. In 1569 Sultan Selim II settled Izmail with his Nogai subjects, originally from the North Caucasus.
After Russian general Nicholas Repnin took the fortress of Izmail in 1770, it was heavily refortified by the Turks, so as never to be captured again. The Sultan boasted that the fortress was impregnable, but during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 the Russian Army commander Alexander Suvorov successfully stormed it on 22 December 1790. Ottoman forces inside the fortress had the orders to stand their ground to the end, haughtily declining the Russian ultimatum. The defeat was seen as a catastrophe in the Ottoman Empire, while in Russia it was glorified in the country's first national anthem, "Let the thunder of victory sound!".
Suvorov announced the capture of Ismail in 1791 to the Empress Catherine in a doggerel couplet, after the assault had been pressed from house to house, room to room, most of the garrison and support forces in the city had been killed in three days, a few hundred taken into captivity. For all his bluffness, Suvorov later told an English traveler that when all was over he went back to his tent and wept.
At the end of the war, Izmail was returned to the Ottoman Empire, but Russian forces took it for the third time on 14 September 1809. After it was ceded to Russia with the rest of Bessarabia by the 1812 Treaty of Bucharest, the town was rebuilt thoroughly. The Intercession Cathedral (1822–36), the churches of Nativity (1823), St. Nicholas (1833) and several others date back to that time. Izmail's oldest building is the small Turkish mosque, erected either in the 15th or 16th centuries, converted into a church in 1810 and currently housing a museum dedicated to the 1790 storm of Izmail.

After Russia lost the Crimean War, the town returned to the Principality of Moldavia, which would soon become part of the Romanian Principalities. Russia gained control of Izmail again after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. With the breakup of the Russian Empire in 1917 and in the aftermath of World War I, the city was occupied by the Romanian Army on 22 January 1918, after a skirmish with troops of the Danube flotilla. Later that year, the Sfatul Țării of Chișinău, which claimed to be the representative of the whole of Bessarabia, voted to formally unite the region with Romania. This union was recognized by the United Kingdom, France and Italy in the Treaty of Paris, but not by the Soviet Union which had territorial claims over Bessarabia.
In 1940, and again during World War II, it was occupied by the Soviet Red Army and included (August 1940) in the Ukrainian SSR; the region was occupied in 1941–1944 by the Romanian Army participating in Operation Barbarossa. During the Soviet period following World War II, many Russians and Ukrainians migrated to the town, gradually changing its ethnic composition. Izmail Oblast was formed in 1940 and the town remained its administrative center until the oblast was merged to Odessa Oblast in 1954. Since 24 August 1991, Izmail has been part of independent Ukraine.
Geography.
Climate.
Under the Köppen classification, Izmail has a humid continental climate ("Dfa") with four distinct seasons and generous precipitation year-round, typical for the inland South. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures somewhat moderated by the city's elevation. Winters are cool but variable, with an average of 48 freezing days per year.
Demographics.
Before 1920, the population of Izmail was estimated at 37,000. During that time, approximately 11,000 of the population were Jewish, 8,000 Romanians and 6,000 Germans. Additional members of the population were Russians, Bulgarians, Turks and Cossacks.
The national composition (2001): Russians - 43.7% (33,600), Ukrainians - 38.0% (29,200), Bulgarians - 10.0% (7,700) and Romanians - 4.3% (3,300). In 2010, the population was 75,300. The population also consists of many other nationalities: Gagauz, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, etc. - 75 nationalities.