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proportional representation which many argue will provide a more accurate assessment of the size of political groups and allow minorities to be heard. Most deputies do not represent political parties as they are known in the West, and rarely form Western-style groups in the assembly. Political blocs are usually based on confessional and local interests or on personal/family allegiance rather than on political affinities. The parliament traditionally has played a significant role in financial affairs, since it has the responsibility for levying taxes and passing the budget. It also exercises political control over the cabinet through formal questioning of ministers on policy issues and by requesting a confidence debate. Lebanon's judicial system is based on the Napoleonic Code. Juries are not used in trials. The Lebanese court system has three levels—courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over personal status matters within their own communities, e.g., rules on such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Lebanese political institutions often play a secondary role to highly confessionalized personality-based politics. Powerful families also still play an independent role in mobilizing votes for both local and parliamentary elections. Nonetheless, a lively panoply of domestic political parties, some even predating independence, exists. The largest are all confessional based. The Free Patriotic Movement, The Kataeb Party, also known as the Phalange Party, the National Bloc, National Liberal Party, Lebanese Forces and the Guardians of the Cedars (now outlawed) each have their own base among Christians. Amal and Hezbollah are the main rivals for the organized Shi'a vote, and the PSP (Progressive Socialist Party) is the leading Druze party. While Shi'a and Druze parties command fierce loyalty to their leaderships, there is more factional infighting among many of the Christian parties. Sunni parties have not been the standard vehicle for launching political candidates, and tend to focus across Lebanon's borders on issues that are important to the community at large. Lebanon's Sunni parties include Hizb ut-Tahrir, Future Movement, Independent Nasserist Organization (INO), the Al-Tawhid, and Ahbash. Besides the traditional confessional parties above, new secular parties have emerged amongst which Sabaa and the Party of Lebanon representing a new trend in Lebanese politics towards secularism and a truly democratic society. In addition to domestic parties, there are branches of pan-Arab secular parties (Ba'ath parties, socialist and communist parties) that were active in the 1960s and throughout the period of civil war. There are differences both between and among Muslim and Christian parties regarding the role of religion in state affairs. There is a very high degree of political activism among religious leaders across the sectarian spectrum. The interplay for position and power among the religious, political, and party leaders and groups produces a political tapestry of extraordinary complexity. In the past, the system worked to produce a viable democracy. Events over the last decade and long-term demographic trends, however, have upset the delicate Muslim-Christian-Druze balance and resulted in greater segregation across the social spectrum. Whether in political parties, places of residence, schools, media outlets, even workplaces, there is a lack of regular interaction across sectarian lines to facilitate the exchange of views and promote understanding. All factions have called for a reform of the political system. Some Christians favor political and administrative decentralization of the government, with separate Muslim and Christian sectors operating within the framework of a confederation. Muslims, for the most part, prefer a unified, central government with an enhanced share of power commensurate with their larger share of the population. The reforms of the Ta'if agreement moved in this direction but have not been fully realized. Palestinian refugees, predominantly Sunni Muslims, whose numbers are estimated at between 160,000 and 225,000, are not active on the domestic political scene. On 3 September 2004, the Lebanese Parliament voted 96–29 to amend the constitution to extend President Émile Lahoud's six-year term (which was about to expire) by another three years. The move was supported by Syria, which maintained a large military presence in Lebanon. Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in February 2005. Following the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005, Lebanon held parliamentary elections in four rounds, from 29 May to 19 June. The elections, the first for 33 years without the presence of Syrian military forces, were won by the Quadripartite alliance, which was part the Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition of several parties and organizations newly opposed to Syrian domination of Lebanese politics. In January 2015, the Economist Intelligence Unit released a report stating that Lebanon ranked the second in Middle East and 98th out of 167 countries worldwide for Democracy Index 2014. The index ranks countries according to election processes, pluralism, government functions, political participation, political cultures and fundamental freedoms. From October 2019, there have been mass protests against the government. In August 2020, a large explosion in Beirut killed at least 204 people and caused at least US$3 billion in property damage. Following the explosion and protests against the government, the Prime Minister and his cabinet resigned. Executive branch |President |Michel Aoun |Free Patriotic Movement |31 October 2016 |- |Prime Minister |Najib Mikati |Azm Movement |10 September 2021 |- |Speaker of the Parliament |Nabih Berri |Amal Movement |20 October 1992 |} The President is elected by the Parliament for a six-year term and cannot be reelected again until six years have passed from the end of the first term. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are appointed by the President in consultation with the Parliament; the president is required to be a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni, and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi'a. (See list of the ministers and their political affiliation for a list of ministers.) This confessional system is based on 1932 census data which showed the Maronite Christians as having a substantial majority of the population. The Government of Lebanon continues to refuse to undertake a new census. The President Lebanon operates under a strong semi-presidential system. This system is unique in that it grants the president wide unilateral discretion, does not make him accountable to Parliament (unless for treason), yet is elected by the Parliament. The President has the sole power to appoint the Prime Minister, and may dismiss them at any point (without input from the Chamber of Deputies, which can also force the President to resign). In addition, the President has the sole authority to form a government (which must then receive a vote-of-confidence from Parliament) and dismiss it when they wish. This thus makes Lebanon a president-parliamentary system rather than a premier-presidential system (such as France), as the President does not have to cohabitate with a Prime Minister he dislikes. The historical reason for the broad powers of the President are that their powers were merged with those of the French High Commissioner of Greater Lebanon, thus creating an exceptionally powerful presidency for semi-presidential systems. Following the end of the Lebanese Civil War, the President lost some powers to the Council of Ministers through the Taif Agreement; being the sole person who appoints it, however, they de facto still retains all (or most) of their pre-Taif powers. Legislative branch Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwab in Arabic). Since the elections of 1992 (the first since the reforms of the Taif Agreement of
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Those religious groups most favoured by the 1943 formula sought to preserve it, while those who saw themselves at a disadvantage sought either to revise it after updating key demographic data or to abolish it entirely. Nonetheless, many of the provisions of the national pact were codified in the 1989 Taif Agreement, perpetuating sectarianism as a key element of Lebanese political life. Although moderated somewhat under Ta'if, the Constitution gives the President a strong and influential position. The President has the authority to promulgate laws passed by the Parliament, form the government to issue supplementary regulations to ensure the execution of laws, and to negotiate and ratify treaties. The Parliament is elected by adult suffrage (majority age for election is 21) based on a system of majority or "winner-take-all" for the various confessional groups. There has been a recent effort to switch to proportional representation which many argue will provide a more accurate assessment of the size of political groups and allow minorities to be heard. Most deputies do not represent political parties as they are known in the West, and rarely form Western-style groups in the assembly. Political blocs are usually based on confessional and local interests or on personal/family allegiance rather than on political affinities. The parliament traditionally has played a significant role in financial affairs, since it has the responsibility for levying taxes and passing the budget. It also exercises political control over the cabinet through formal questioning of ministers on policy issues and by requesting a confidence debate. Lebanon's judicial system is based on the Napoleonic Code. Juries are not used in trials. The Lebanese court system has three levels—courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over personal status matters within their own communities, e.g., rules on such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Lebanese political institutions often play a secondary role to highly confessionalized personality-based politics. Powerful families also still play an independent role in mobilizing votes for both local and parliamentary elections. Nonetheless, a lively panoply of domestic political parties, some even predating independence, exists. The largest are all confessional based. The Free Patriotic Movement, The Kataeb Party, also known as the Phalange Party, the National Bloc, National Liberal Party, Lebanese Forces and the Guardians of the Cedars (now outlawed) each have their own base among Christians. Amal and Hezbollah are the main rivals for the organized Shi'a vote, and the PSP (Progressive Socialist Party) is the leading Druze party. While Shi'a and Druze parties command fierce loyalty to their leaderships, there is more factional infighting among many of the Christian parties. Sunni parties have not been the standard vehicle for launching political candidates, and tend to focus across Lebanon's borders on issues that are important to the community at large. Lebanon's Sunni parties include Hizb ut-Tahrir, Future Movement, Independent Nasserist Organization (INO), the Al-Tawhid, and Ahbash. Besides the traditional confessional parties above, new secular parties have emerged amongst which Sabaa and the Party of Lebanon representing a new trend in Lebanese politics towards secularism and a truly democratic society. In addition to domestic parties, there are branches of pan-Arab secular parties (Ba'ath parties, socialist and communist parties) that were active in the 1960s and throughout the period of civil war. There are differences both between and among Muslim and Christian parties regarding the role of religion in state affairs. There is a very high degree of political activism among religious leaders across the sectarian spectrum. The interplay for position and power among the religious, political, and party leaders and groups produces a political tapestry of extraordinary complexity. In the past, the system worked to produce a viable democracy. Events over the last decade and long-term demographic trends, however, have upset the delicate Muslim-Christian-Druze balance and resulted in greater segregation across the social spectrum. Whether in political parties, places of residence, schools, media outlets, even workplaces, there is a lack of regular interaction across sectarian lines to facilitate the exchange of views and promote understanding. All factions have called for a reform of the political system. Some Christians favor political and administrative decentralization of the government, with separate Muslim and Christian sectors operating within the framework of a confederation. Muslims, for the most part, prefer a unified, central government with an enhanced share of power commensurate with their larger share of the population. The reforms of the Ta'if agreement moved in this direction but have not been fully realized. Palestinian refugees, predominantly Sunni Muslims, whose numbers are estimated at between 160,000 and 225,000, are not active on the domestic political scene. On 3 September 2004, the Lebanese Parliament voted 96–29 to amend the constitution to extend President Émile Lahoud's six-year term (which was about to expire) by another three years. The move was supported by Syria, which maintained a large military presence in Lebanon. Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in February 2005. Following the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005, Lebanon held parliamentary elections in four rounds, from 29 May to 19 June. The elections, the first for 33 years without the presence of Syrian military forces, were won by the Quadripartite alliance, which was part the Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition of several parties and organizations newly opposed to Syrian domination of Lebanese politics. In January 2015, the Economist Intelligence Unit released a report stating that Lebanon ranked the second in Middle East and 98th out of 167 countries worldwide for Democracy Index 2014. The index ranks countries according to election processes, pluralism, government functions, political participation, political cultures and fundamental freedoms. From October 2019, there have been mass protests against the government. In August 2020, a large explosion in Beirut killed at least 204 people and caused at least US$3 billion in property damage. Following the explosion and protests against the government, the Prime Minister and his cabinet resigned. Executive branch |President |Michel Aoun |Free Patriotic Movement |31 October 2016 |- |Prime Minister |Najib Mikati |Azm Movement |10 September 2021 |- |Speaker of the Parliament |Nabih Berri |Amal Movement |20 October 1992 |} The President is elected by the Parliament for a six-year term and cannot be reelected again until six years have passed from the end of the first term. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are appointed by the President in consultation with the Parliament; the president is required to be a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni, and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi'a. (See list of the ministers and their political affiliation for a list of ministers.) This confessional system is based on 1932 census data which showed the Maronite Christians as having a substantial majority of the population. The Government of Lebanon continues to refuse to undertake a new census. The President Lebanon operates under a strong semi-presidential system. This system is unique in that it grants the president wide unilateral discretion, does not make him accountable to Parliament (unless for treason), yet is elected by the Parliament. The President has the sole power to appoint the Prime Minister, and may dismiss them at any point (without input from the Chamber of Deputies, which can also force the President to resign). In addition, the President has the sole authority to form a government (which must then receive a vote-of-confidence from Parliament) and dismiss it when they wish. This thus makes Lebanon a president-parliamentary system rather than a premier-presidential system (such as France), as the President
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be used by the UNOCHA. 2019–present economic crisis According to a World Bank report, Lebanon's economy which was structurally strained before the Syrian shock suffered a real blow as an aftermath of the Syrian crisis which brought around 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon. The GDP growth rate declined to around 1 percent in 2018. In August 2019, the USD parallel exchange rate started changing from the official exchange rate; the official exchange rate for the USD had been 1507.5 Lebanese pounds since 1997, while the parallel exchange rate was 1600 Lebanese pounds in the fall of 2019 and would increase to around 4200 Lebanese pounds in May 2020. The USD parallel exchange rate is increasing because of the dollar shortage in Lebanon. In a bid to lower the dollar price, the central bank made an agreement with the licensed exchangers to make the official rates on offer at 3,860/3,910. However, despite the central bank's efforts, on 23 June 2020, the black market dollar reached a staggering rate of LL 6,075 devaluing the Lebanese pound by 75%. This dollar shortage also caused 785 restaurants and cafes to close between September 2019 and February 2020 and caused 25,000 employees to lose their jobs. This economic crisis made Lebanon's gross domestic product fall to about $44 billion, which was about $55 billion the year before. The crisis became worse when the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Lebanese economy. In 2020, the country defaulted for the first time on $30 billion in bonds and tried to seek help from the IMF but the negotiations never reached fruition. The liquidity crisis also lead to a restriction on the withdrawals from US dollar bank accounts. Depositors needed to preserve the value of their savings, especially following press reports about possible haircuts and restructuring of the banking sector. They therefore turned to buying real estate. For example, revenues from land sales of the major real estate developer, Solidere company, soared from nearly $1.3 million to $234.5 million. Also, these depositors turned to buying shares in Solidere company, which lead to a rise of 500% in its price between the start of the liquidity crisis and April 2021. The already battered economy of Lebanon suffered fresh blow with the port blast on 4 August 2020. Economists have claimed that the blasts could result in the contraction of Beirut's GDP by around 20–25% for the year. The current figure surpasses IMF's last forecast of 12% crash in GDP because of the ongoing and increasing economic and political crisis in Lebanon. In March 2021, Lebanon approved an emergency assistance package from the World Bank worth $246 million in order to support struggling families and strengthen the social safety and try to face the economic crisis. On March 16, as the Lebanese pound jumped on the black market from 13,000 to 15,000 against the US dollar, protesters took to the streets, grocery stores closed and bakeries threatened to close. After the meeting of the President Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on March 18, the Lebanese pound dropped from 15000 against the dollar on the black market to 12500. Causes External debt After the civil war, the Lebanese government resorted to massive borrowing to finance its post-war restructuring. The yearly growth of gross debt between 1993 and 1995 was 123 percent and between 1995 and 2000 was 171 percent. Between 2005 and 2018, the yearly growth of debt has averaged around 22 percent and in comparison, the GDP growth rate for the same period has been in single digits with an exception of 2009. This high debt has caused Lebanon to spend a big chunk of its revenues in debt servicing, on an average, close to 45 percent is spent by the government as interest payments. In 1996, interest payments made up almost 68 percent of that year's budget deficit. With debt piling up and growth being minuscule, Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio reached 178 percent by the end of 2019, which makes it the third most indebted country after Greece and Japan. In 2020, Beirut defaulted on a $1.2 billion Eurobond, the first sovereign default since in its history. The nation is currently in discussions with a group of creditors about a possible restructuring of a defaulted Eurobond. A successful restructuring would allow the country to again access external credit markets. Currency crisis Lebanon's national currency, the Lebanese Lira is pegged to the US dollar at 1507 to 1. This fixed rate has been unstable due to the depreciating value of the Lira in the black market. According to reports, the Lira was trading at LBP 8,100 to US$1 in 2019 in the black market. The causes of the depreciating Lira can be traced back to the economy's dependence on imports. Lebanon in 2018 imported US$20 bn worth of goods and exported goods worth only US$3 bn. This trade deficit also widened as the remittances share, which was around 24 percent in 2008 declined to nearly 12 percent in 2018. This coupled with geopolitical tensions of the region, caused the Lira-Dollar peg rate to wither. As a response, the central bank resorted to more borrowing and also issued a directive that required all money transfer offices to cash out transfers in the local currency, further exacerbating the dollar crunch. Corruption and political instability After a devastating explosion in Beirut on 4 August 2020 that killed at least 200 people, the government, headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, announced that his government was stepping down. In his speech, Mr. Diab said that corruption cases were widespread in the country's political and administrative landscape; other calamities hiding in many minds and warehouses, and which pose a great threat, are protected by the class that controls the fate of the country. According to reports, the financial troubles and political inaction had caused growing anger and frustration among people who began protesting in October last year. Protesters demanded an end to corruption and the resignation of political leaders including the then Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. This year, the newly formed government under Diab faced the same accusations of corruption. In November 2019, The central bank of Lebanon was accused of running a Ponzi scheme as it relied on fresh borrowing to service its debt. The bank denied the allegations stating that its action was in par with the 1963 Code of Money and Credit. Amidst the failing banking system, banks resorted to putting informal curbs on dollar withdrawals and international transfers, stirring mass protests and police violence. The pandemic brought the protests to a halt for some time but the port explosion in Beirut once again brought people to the streets, who, as reports state, have lost faith in the political elite. Some estimates state that half of Lebanon's population is living near or below the poverty line and thousands of people have lost their jobs. There have been incessant power cuts and some residents have been calling the blackouts worse than those witnessed in the 1975–1990 civil war. Trade Lebanon's trade balance is structurally negative. In 2017, the trade deficit reached $20.3 billion. The country imported $23.1 billion worth of goods and services, and exported $2.8 billion. Lebanon has a competitive and free market regime and a strong laissez-faire commercial tradition. The Lebanese economy is service-oriented; main growth sectors include banking and tourism. There are no restrictions on foreign exchange or capital movement. Food security Food accounted for 18% of the dollar value of the imports to Lebanon in 2018, according to World Bank statistics. Wheat and livestock are two foodstuffs for which Lebanon is import-dependent. Around 90 percent of imported wheat is sourced from Ukraine and Russia. The wheat reserves of Lebanon are kept in silos at the Port of Beirut and cover about three months of consumption. In 2019, domestic wheat production measured 130,000 tons, while wheat imports measured 570,000 tons. The food security of Lebanon is a subject of debate. On the one hand, administrators of the UNESCWA used the World Food Programme in May 2016 to sell the story that the country imports up to 80% of its needs. On the other hand, domestic audiences are told that the country is almost self-sufficient in food: Corruption According to NGO Transparency International Lebanon ranks 138th out of 180 countries surveyed on the corruption perception index. A poll conducted by Transparency International in 2016 indicated that 92% of Lebanese thought that corruption had increased that year. Moreover 67% of the respondents indicated that they believed that the majority of the political and economical elites were corrupted, and 76% indicated that the government was doing poorly when it came to fighting corruption. As of July 2020, Riad Salamé, Governor of Banque du Liban (the country's central bank) since 1993, has had assets frozen, and is facing an October hearing accused of the embezzlement of central bank assets, and the mismanagement of public funds. The already suffering country was struck by a huge explosion on 4 August 2020. The explosion devastated the Port of Beirut and destroyed many houses, leaving almost 300,000 people homeless. This explosion has led to the demolition of the country's main harbor that was used to import food. Inequality The top 1% richest adults receive approximately a quarter of the total national income, placing Lebanon among the most unequal countries in the world. The bottom 50% of the population is left with 10% of total national income. Lebanon is characterized by a dual social structure, with an extremely rich group at the top, whose income levels are comparable to their counterparts in high-income countries, and a much poorer mass of the population, as in many developing countries. This polarized structure reflects the absence of a broad "middle class": While the middle 40% receives more than the share accruing to the top 10% in Western Europe, and a bit less in the US, it is left with far less income than the top 10% in Lebanon (between 20 and 30 p.p less). The richest captured most of the income growth since 2005: The top 10% saw its income increase by 5 to 15%, while the bottom 50% saw it decrease by 15% and the poorest 10% by a quarter. Lebanese billionaires' wealth represents on average, between 2005 and 2016, 20% of national income as opposed to 2% in China, 5% in France, and 10% in the US. Fiscal haven In 2018 Lebanon ranked 11th on the Financial Secrecy Index. Lebanon has a strong history of banking secrecy but has taken steps to fight money laundering and tax evasion in recent years. As of January 2019, banking secrecy applies to Lebanese nationals living in Lebanon but is not applicable to US citizens and US fiscal residents since the FATCA agreement was introduced. Lebanon is part of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and has signed an agreement to exchange fiscal data with other countries, but as of January 2019, it is not compliant with certain provisions of the treaty. Ali Hassan Khalil, Finance Minister, confirmed that 2019's draft budget showed a deficit of less than 9% of GDP compared to 11.2% in 2018. Khalil also claimed that the economic growth forecast of 1.5 percent could go up to 2% in 2019. Foreign investment There are few restrictions on foreign investment, barring Israeli citizens and entities. There are no country-wide U.S. trade sanctions against Lebanon, although Hezbollah and individuals associated with it have been targeted by the American government. Foreign ownership of real estate is legal under certain conditions. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, "Lebanon has one of the world's highest public debt-to-gross domestic product ratios, rising to over 150% as it takes on more debt to plug budget holes." In January 2019, in a move to boost the economy of Lebanon and help the country overcome its debts, Qatar pledged to buy $500 million's worth of government bonds. In June 2019, Bloomberg reported that Qatar had bought some of the bonds and planned to complete the rest of the investment soon. Remittances Lebanon benefits from its large, cohesive, and entrepreneurial diaspora. Over the course of time, emigration has yielded Lebanese "commercial networks" throughout the world. As a result, remittances from Lebanese abroad to family members within the country total $8.2 billion and account for one fifth of the country's economy. Nassib Ghobril, the head of research and analysis for Byblos Bank, calculates that Lebanese abroad supply Lebanon with about $1,400 per capita every year. Investment The stock market capitalization of listed companies in Lebanon was valued at $9.6 billion in January 2019, down from $11.5 billion in January 2018 Lebanon was unable to attract significant foreign aid to help it rebuild from both the long civil war (1975–89) and the Israeli occupation of the south (1978–2000). In addition, the delicate social balance and the near- dissolution of central government institutions during the civil war handicapped the state as it sought to capture revenues to fund the recovery effort. Thus it accumulated significant debt, which by 2001 had reached $28 billion,
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leading the government to shift its focus from rebuilding infrastructure to improving living conditions. After the end of the civil war, Lebanon enjoyed considerable stability, Beirut's reconstruction was almost complete, and increasing numbers of tourists poured into the nation's resorts. The economy witnessed growth, with bank assets reaching over 75 billion US dollars, Market capitalization was also at an all-time high, estimated at $10.9 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2006. The month-long 2006 war severely damaged Lebanon's economy, especially the tourism sector. Over the course of 2008 Lebanon rebuilt its infrastructure mainly in the real estate and tourism sectors, resulting in a comparatively robust post war economy. Major contributors to the reconstruction of Lebanon include Saudi Arabia (with US$1.5 billion pledged), the European Union (with about $1 billion) and a few other Persian Gulf countries with contributions of up to $800 million. Given the frequent security turmoil it has faced, the Lebanese banking system has adopted a conservative approach, with strict regulations imposed by the central bank to protect the economy from political instability. These regulations have generally left Lebanese banks unscathed by the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Lebanese banks remain, under the current circumstances, high on liquidity and reputed for their security. In late 2008, Moody's shifted Lebanon's sovereign rankings from stable to positive, acknowledging its financial security. Moreover, with an increase of 51% in the Beirut stock market, the index provider MSCI ranked Lebanon the world's best performer in 2008. Lebanon is one of the only seven countries in the world in which the value of the stock market increased in 2008. The Lebanese economy experienced continued resilience, growing 8.5 percent in 2008, 7 percent in 2009 and 8.8% in 2010. However, Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio remained one of the highest in the world. The International Monetary Fund issued a second report on Lebanon in October 2015, where its expectations of the economic growth rate were lowered to 2%, compared to the 2.5% growth rate of the first report, released in April 2015. In October 2019, Lebanon witnessed nationwide protests that erupted over the country's deteriorating economic conditions. Thousands of demonstrations took to the streets of downtown Beirut, calling for the government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to quit over "its utter failure to stop the deterioration of the economic and living conditions in the country". The protests began after the government announced to charge 20 cents per day for voice over internet protocol (VOIP) use over social media apps, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and other applications. During the early part of 2020, the central Bdl melted down and the government needed recourse to the IMF for a shortfall of $50 billion. On 4 August 2020, the explosion of 2,750 tons ammonium nitrate in a Beirut port warehouse caused the destruction of the "only large grain silo" in the country, in addition to more than 200 people killed and several square kilometres of pulverised buildings in the downtown core of the city. By 9 August, Emmanuel Macron had counted over 250 million euros of global contributions to the relief effort. On 10 August, the government of Hassan Diab resigned. The day before, IMF director Kristalina Georgieva had laid down four conditions for the co-operation of her organization: restoring the financial solvency of the state, cutting losses at state-owned companies, passing a law to regulate capital outflows and setting up a social safety net. On 14 August, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) launched a $565 million appeal for donors of aid to victims of the explosions. The UN effort was to focus on: meals, first aid, shelters, and repair of schools. Some of the money that Macron collected would be used by the UNOCHA. 2019–present economic crisis According to a World Bank report, Lebanon's economy which was structurally strained before the Syrian shock suffered a real blow as an aftermath of the Syrian crisis which brought around 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon. The GDP growth rate declined to around 1 percent in 2018. In August 2019, the USD parallel exchange rate started changing from the official exchange rate; the official exchange rate for the USD had been 1507.5 Lebanese pounds since 1997, while the parallel exchange rate was 1600 Lebanese pounds in the fall of 2019 and would increase to around 4200 Lebanese pounds in May 2020. The USD parallel exchange rate is increasing because of the dollar shortage in Lebanon. In a bid to lower the dollar price, the central bank made an agreement with the licensed exchangers to make the official rates on offer at 3,860/3,910. However, despite the central bank's efforts, on 23 June 2020, the black market dollar reached a staggering rate of LL 6,075 devaluing the Lebanese pound by 75%. This dollar shortage also caused 785 restaurants and cafes to close between September 2019 and February 2020 and caused 25,000 employees to lose their jobs. This economic crisis made Lebanon's gross domestic product fall to about $44 billion, which was about $55 billion the year before. The crisis became worse when the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Lebanese economy. In 2020, the country defaulted for the first time on $30 billion in bonds and tried to seek help from the IMF but the negotiations never reached fruition. The liquidity crisis also lead to a restriction on the withdrawals from US dollar bank accounts. Depositors needed to preserve the value of their savings, especially following press reports about possible haircuts and restructuring of the banking sector. They therefore turned to buying real estate. For example, revenues from land sales of the major real estate developer, Solidere company, soared from nearly $1.3 million to $234.5 million. Also, these depositors turned to buying shares in Solidere company, which lead to a rise of 500% in its price between the start of the liquidity crisis and April 2021. The already battered economy of Lebanon suffered fresh blow with the port blast on 4 August 2020. Economists have claimed that the blasts could result in the contraction of Beirut's GDP by around 20–25% for the year. The current figure surpasses IMF's last forecast of 12% crash in GDP because of the ongoing and increasing economic and political crisis in Lebanon. In March 2021, Lebanon approved an emergency assistance package from the World Bank worth $246 million in order to support struggling families and strengthen the social safety and try to face the economic crisis. On March 16, as the Lebanese pound jumped on the black market from 13,000 to 15,000 against the US dollar, protesters took to the streets, grocery stores closed and bakeries threatened to close. After the meeting of the President Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on March 18, the Lebanese pound dropped from 15000 against the dollar on the black market to 12500. Causes External debt After the civil war, the Lebanese government resorted to massive borrowing to finance its post-war restructuring. The yearly growth of gross debt between 1993 and 1995 was 123 percent and between 1995 and 2000 was 171 percent. Between 2005 and 2018, the yearly growth of debt has averaged around 22 percent and in comparison, the GDP growth rate for the same period has been in single digits with an exception of 2009. This high debt has caused Lebanon to spend a big chunk of its revenues in debt servicing, on an average, close to 45 percent is spent by the government as interest payments. In 1996, interest payments made up almost 68 percent of that year's budget deficit. With debt piling up and growth being minuscule, Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio reached 178 percent by the end of 2019, which makes it the third most indebted country after Greece and Japan. In 2020, Beirut defaulted on a $1.2 billion Eurobond, the first sovereign default since in
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years. The U.S. and South Korea financed the rehabilitation of some telephone lines in 1983 and 1984. A second Intelsat satellite earth station was set up in Jouret El-Ballout in 1987, although it also seems to have been destroyed. By the end of the war, Lebanon had only an estimated 150,000 telephone lines (down from 450,000), which were unreliable. The conflict had also ushered in a plethora of informal providers who set up telephone networks using local and international lines illegally. They became so much part of the local landscape that they acquired the nickname of "centrales", which served Lebanese citizens as public payphones. Clandestine satellite terminals also flourished; future prime minister Najib Mikati was renowned to be particularly active in this field. Meanwhile, many subscribers to the official network stopped paying their bills, in a splintering country where centralized administrations could hardly chase users anyway. The postwar boom After the war ended, the telephone system was rebuilt and revamped. Investcom, a subsidiary of the Mikati Group, launched in 1991 the first Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). The same year, Sodetel acquired a monopoly on switching within the network, through its subsidiary Libanpac. Rehabilitating, expanding, and modernizing the infrastructure befell well-established foreign companies, namely Ericsson and Siemens, along with Alcatel, each of which was allotted a certain part of the country. The contract, tendered in 1993 and signed in March 1994, cost Lebanon $430 million and enabled the country to upgrade its telephone switching systems from an aging analogue technology to digital. In parallel, the government moved fast to introduce the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM): Indeed, cellular phones were seen as an appealing alternative to cabled telephone. A tender for two mobile operators was launched in 1993, and the contracts awarded in June 1994, for a period of ten years (extendable by two years). The market was thus organized around a duopoly: Cellis, on one hand, was owned by France Telecom (67%) and the Mikati family's Investcom (33%); LibanCell, on the other, was somewhat less transparent about its shareholders, split between Telecom Finland International, also known as Sonera (14%), the Saudi Almabani (20%), and more anonymous Lebanese entities and investors (66%). Foremost among the latter stood Nizar Dalloul, son of the sitting minister of defense Mohsen Dalloul and a close relative of then prime minister Rafic Hariri. LibanCell claims to have placed the very first GSM call in Lebanon, on 23 December 1994, from the Alexandre Hotel in Beirut. The World Telecommunication Development Report estimated that, by 1996, Lebanon had 200,000 cellular users already, more than any other Arab state. Two years later, they were more than 350,000. Fixed line telecommunications services remained a monopoly in the hands of OGERO, which continued to operate all aspects of the network on behalf of the Ministry of Telecommunications, even after the 2002 telecommunications law provided for a transfer to a joint-stock company to be named Liban Telecom. By 2009, there were 1,816,262 landlines along with 4,890,534 mobile telephones in use in Lebanon, a relatively high penetration rate for both fixed lines and mobiles. Radio broadcasting Radio-Orient, which started broadcasting in 1938, was the second radio to do so in the Arab world, after Cairo. In April 1946, three years after Lebanon's independence, it became Radio Libanaise: Attached to the Ministry of News and Tourism, it was the country's first radio channel, later known as Radio Liban. In January 1958, it moved from the government's seat, at the Serail, to a new building in Senayeh, fitted with seven state-of-the-art studios built by Siemens. Radio Liban remains deeply associated, in Lebanon, with this economically prosperous yet politically tense era, not least for introducing the still lively tradition of broadcasting Feyrouz every morning, to lighten the atmosphere after the daily news. The sector was, at the time, tightly controlled by the state, notably through decree 74 of 1953, which made licensing difficult to achieve and prohibitively expensive. By 1969, there were two licensed radio stations in Beirut, one broadcasting in Arabic and the other in French. Voix du Liban or Voice of Lebanon, which stakes a claim to being the first commercial radio in the country, was founded in 1958 by the Christian party Phalanges, in the context of a brief spell of domestic strife. In the 1950s and 1960s, other political factions set up their own clandestine radio stations. Although the government successfully shut them down, it chose not to confiscate their equipment, paving the way to an explosion of illegal broadcasts in the more favorable context shaped by the civil war. Voix du Liban indeed resumed its activities with the start of hostilities in 1975. The same year, the Sunni faction Mourabitoun launched the Voice of Arab Lebanon. Radio Libre Liban followed in 1978, at the initiative of former president Bachir Gemayel. By 1984, each political organ had acquired a household name: radio Bachir, radio Phalanges, radio Etat (for Radio Liban), radio Walid (in reference to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt), radio Suleiman (Frangieh), etc. At the end of the war, in 1990, some 180 stations were emitting illegally in various parts of the country. The government made a half-hearted attempt to regulate the sector, through the audiovisual media law of 1994. However, authorities implemented its regulations only partially and selectively, in ways that favored religious groups, dominant factions, and affluent businessmen. Many clandestine studios, which in any event were struggling financially, could purchase expensive licenses and chose to shut down. Others continued illegally; tellingly, in September 2002, the government took measures to close 26 unlicensed radios. Radio remained an essential media until the arrival of internet and even beyond. In 1998 Lebanon's radio penetration rate was 906 radios per 1000 people. According to Media Landscape, there were still 2.85 million radios is Lebanon around 2016. An estimated 35 radio stations were active in 2018, of which 20 focused on politics while the others, such as Mix FM, offered entertainment only. Radio Liban continued to run one FM station, which shifted between French, English, and Armenian, and the sole AM radio station, broadcasting solely in Arabic. Radio Lebanon also relays Radio France International at 13:00 (UTC) daily. Among the casualties of Lebanon's post-2019 economic breakdown features Radio One, one of the most popular entertainment channels. Television broadcasting Television broadcasting kicked off in Lebanon as a commercial enterprise from the start, initiated by businessmen Wissam Ezzedine and Joe Arida. On 9 April 1956, they signed an agreement with the government to establish the Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT). Board members included scions of some of the country's most prominent families, notably Naji Pharaon and Gaby Jabre. Capital came mostly from Syrian investors, namely Jamil Mardam-Bey and Rafik Said. The latter was the Middle-East representative for the French Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie sans Fil (CSF), which provided the equipment. The station's first stone was laid in November 1957 in Tallet al-Khayyat, on a plot of land sold by the French embassy. Its first programs were launched on 28 May 1959. Competition came in the form of Tele-Orient, incorporated in 1960 as the Compagnie de Télévision du Liban et du Proche-Orient. Its shareholders were Lebanese bankers: Emile Boustany (Banque de l'Industrie et du Travail), Jean and Elie Abou Jaoud (Banque Libanaise pour le Commerce), and Toufic Assaf (Banque de Beyrouth et des Pays Arabes). Its official launch took place on 6 May 1962. Both firms were granted licenses valid until 1977, and broadcast in Arabic, French, and English. By 1967, the number of television sets across the country was estimated at 170,000. As the civil war set in, the government took the initiative to nationalize and merge CLT and Tele-Orient: In 1977, it formed Tele-Liban, a semi-public company half-owned by the state, and granted a 25-year monopoly on television broadcasting. The war also provided the country's political factions with a suitably chaotic environment in which to start their own televisions, in the absence of any mechanism to officially license more stations. The Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia, pioneered this trend in 1985, with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), which soon spurred emulation from others. Between 1988 and 1994, Tele-Liban's shares were traded by various parties, notably Rafic Hariri, who in the early 1990s bought all privately owned shares. In 1994, the Audio-Visual Media Information Law brought to an end Tele-Liban's official monopoly, while disbanding the more than 40 unlicensed and technically illegal television stations that had mushroomed during the war. The law also established the National Media Council, an advisory body in charge of overseeing the sector and monitoring content. In 1996, the state fully nationalized Tele-Liban, by buying the shares held by its private owner Rafic Hariri, who at the time was also prime minister, minister of finance, and minister of posts and telecommunications. The transaction reportedly cost $12 million. By the end of February 2001, Tele-Liban, which for years had been on the brink of bankruptcy, was shut down. There were 37 television broadcast stations in Lebanon in 2018, although the application of the audiovisual law has caused the closure of a number of TV stations. Some of the most important television networks are the LBC, Murr TV, Al Jadeed, Future TV, Orange TV (OTV), Al-Manar, NBN, and Télé Lumière. These channels are backed by prominent families and the country's diverse political factions, without which they would struggle to survive; advertising revenues indeed would prove insufficient to support even ten of them. Lebanon also has a cabled television market, which functions in unconventional ways. Licensed providers have dwindled over the years. CityTV, founded in 2004, seems to have gone off air around 2018. Digitek likewise appears to have disappears. In 2019, CableVision absorbed Econet, creating a monopoly on legal cable television. CableVision was rumored to be owned by GroupMed, the Hariri family holding, although it is part of the portfolio of GlobalCom Holding, one of the dominant players regarding the internet. However, the sector remains largely informal, with a plethora of unlicensed providers dominating the market. Internet services The development and growth of the internet infrastructure has been relatively slow in Lebanon, alternating between quick adoption of new technologies and almost surreal delays. On 1 February 2019. Lebanon ranked 161 on Net Index, which rated internet speeds worldwide and has since been replaced by Speedtest. On 23 November 2021, Speedtest ranked Lebanon 160 for broadband and 82 for mobile services. The country has shown a high internet penetration rate nonetheless. The number of Internet users was reported at 78.2% as of January 2021. Actual data, however, is patchy at best: The graph below shows the rare years since 2000 for which Lebanese authorities provided figures to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is the relevant agency of the UN. Characteristically, these numbers conflict with other sources, making them difficult to validate. Internet services are administered in Lebanon by the Ministry of Telecommunications and the state-owned company Ogero. The easiest way to understand the country's internet is start at the source, which in Lebanon is primarily submarine cables, and move outward toward end users, which have accessed the internet through increasingly efficient technologies. Submarine cables and international bandwidth Lebanon is connected to the internet through three submarine fiber-optic cables, which provide the bulk of its "international bandwidth", meaning the maximum quantity of data it can transmit to or receive from the rest of the world. The three main landing points of these cables, called international exchanges or gateways, are all operated by Ogero. They are in Ras Beirut, Jdeideh, and Tripoli. Lebanon's international fiber-optic cables form two parallel systems. CADMOS, which started operating in September 1995, is a 230 km cable connecting landing points in Ras Beirut and Jdeideh to Pentaskhinos in Cyprus, and owned by a consortium including the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications. It reportedly had a capacity as low as 622Mbit/s. It is interlinked with BERYTAR, which started operating in April 1997. This 134 km cable connects Lebanese landing points (in Saida, Ras Beirut, and Tripoli) with Tartous in Syria. It is owned jointly by the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications and the Syrian Establishment for Telecommunications, and officially had a capacity of 5Gbit/s, although in 2010 Lebanon's international bandwidth was reported to be less than half of that. The Tartous landing point then connects to Pentaskhinos via the UGARIT cable (1995) and to Egypt's Alexandria via the Aletar cable (1997), which has now been replaced by Alexandros (2013). I-ME-WE, which started operating in December 2010, is a 12,000 km cable with an overall capacity approaching 4Tbit/s, and connecting Southern Asia with Southern Europe via the Red Sea. It is owned by a large consortium including the Lebanese operator Ogero. Its landing point in Lebanon is Tripoli, which links via I-ME-WE to Alexandria, Catania in the Italian island of Sicily, and Marseille on the French coast. When the project was launched, Lebanon was expecting to derive from it around 40Gbit/s, multiplying its international capacity by 20. In 2011, Global Information Society Watch estimated in its annual country report that Lebanon had access to 120Gbit/s via I-ME-WE. Lebanon's heavy dependence on I-ME-WE was on display in July 2012, when the country witnessed complete internet blackouts due to maintenance work on the cable which Ogero reportedly failed to announce. This dependence is all the more acute that the other system is aging, a problem that Lebanese authorities have long been aware of. In 2011, an official at the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications confirmed that CADMOS would be replaced with a new cable dubbed EUROPA, which would bridge to Alexandros. This project involved a partnership with the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA), with which an MoU was signed in 2013. EUROPA was still imminent as the decade came to a close: In June 2019, the Ministry of Telecommunications again announced plans for a new Internet submarine cable to link the country to Europe, to boost the Internet service locally, and to turn Lebanon into a hub for Internet distribution to countries in the region. Lebanon's efforts to increase its international bandwidth are reflected in the figures local authorities have reported over the years to the International Telecommunications Union or ITU. The leap in capacity enabled by I-ME-WE in 2011 appears clearly in the data. However, the claims made in subsequent years are sufficiently inconsistent to warrant verification. Indeed, the Ministry of Telecommunications has published data in its official documents that contradicts the information it submitted in parallel to the ITU. For example, in its "Daring progress" vision of 2015, the Ministry put the country's international bandwidth in 2012 and 2013 at 12.2 and 26.8 Gbit/s respectively. Even as officially reported, Lebanon's increase in international bandwidth has not helped the country significantly improve its ranking on a global scale, despite the government's repeated pledges to "catch up" with the rest of the world. Lebanon's internet backbone Through its network of central offices, the state-owned company Ogero provides the "backbone" telecommunication infrastructure which distributes internet capacity throughout the country. The actual distribution occurs via Data Service Providers (DSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Ogero also doubles up as an ISP. In 1996, as postwar reconstruction was still in full swing. Lebanon started laying into the ground its core fiber-optic network, starting in Beirut. In 2001, Ericsson laid approximately 2000 km of fiber-optic cables to create a high-speed backbone network. Up to 2010, Lebanon's backbone relied mainly, however, on fixed lines in a traditional "public switched telephone network" (PSTN). Only in 2010 did the Ministry of Telecommunications start setting up a fiber-optic transmission network connecting central stations around the country, at a cost of $166 million. Its design included two super-rings and 30 sub-rings representing 4,400 km of cables. The need for a more robust backbone had been made more salient by disruptions incurred during the 2006 war with Israel. The up-haul was officially completed in April 2013. However, two years later, in April 2015, only one sub-ring had actually been turned on. By 2017, fiber-optic cables finally connected approximately 300 central offices, from which the internet could reach end-users over traditional copper cables. Dial-up internet The very first internet services were pioneered by the American University in Beirut, which started in 1991 to set up the first internet node in the country. What was known as AUBnet became active in 1993. The network was then expanded to encompass other institutions,
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tax the company in 1956 led the French government to initiate a lawsuit in its defense at the International Court of Justice. In was only nationalized belatedly, in 1972: The new public entity, the Organisme de Gestion et d'Exploitation de Radio Orient, which would later be known as Ogero, then inherited Radio-Orient's de facto monopoly. Intense investments, during this era, did not go without suspicions of foul-play, coming from Lebanese who were dissatisfied with the pace at which the country's telephone network was developing. One notable target for criticism was Tony Frangieh, who in the early 1970s was appointed Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in a government presided by his own father Suleiman. The civil war's legacy The civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990 saw a back-and-forth movement between further progress and regression. In 1976, Lebanon was a founding member of Arabsat, an intergovernmental organization delivering satellite connections to Arab states. The 1982 Israeli invasion in itself caused destruction, but also set back a U.S.-funded, $325 million plan to repair earlier damage. The two Intelsat stations Lebanon was running in Arbaniyeh were destroyed on 7 May 1983, and remained out of commission in following years. The U.S. and South Korea financed the rehabilitation of some telephone lines in 1983 and 1984. A second Intelsat satellite earth station was set up in Jouret El-Ballout in 1987, although it also seems to have been destroyed. By the end of the war, Lebanon had only an estimated 150,000 telephone lines (down from 450,000), which were unreliable. The conflict had also ushered in a plethora of informal providers who set up telephone networks using local and international lines illegally. They became so much part of the local landscape that they acquired the nickname of "centrales", which served Lebanese citizens as public payphones. Clandestine satellite terminals also flourished; future prime minister Najib Mikati was renowned to be particularly active in this field. Meanwhile, many subscribers to the official network stopped paying their bills, in a splintering country where centralized administrations could hardly chase users anyway. The postwar boom After the war ended, the telephone system was rebuilt and revamped. Investcom, a subsidiary of the Mikati Group, launched in 1991 the first Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). The same year, Sodetel acquired a monopoly on switching within the network, through its subsidiary Libanpac. Rehabilitating, expanding, and modernizing the infrastructure befell well-established foreign companies, namely Ericsson and Siemens, along with Alcatel, each of which was allotted a certain part of the country. The contract, tendered in 1993 and signed in March 1994, cost Lebanon $430 million and enabled the country to upgrade its telephone switching systems from an aging analogue technology to digital. In parallel, the government moved fast to introduce the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM): Indeed, cellular phones were seen as an appealing alternative to cabled telephone. A tender for two mobile operators was launched in 1993, and the contracts awarded in June 1994, for a period of ten years (extendable by two years). The market was thus organized around a duopoly: Cellis, on one hand, was owned by France Telecom (67%) and the Mikati family's Investcom (33%); LibanCell, on the other, was somewhat less transparent about its shareholders, split between Telecom Finland International, also known as Sonera (14%), the Saudi Almabani (20%), and more anonymous Lebanese entities and investors (66%). Foremost among the latter stood Nizar Dalloul, son of the sitting minister of defense Mohsen Dalloul and a close relative of then prime minister Rafic Hariri. LibanCell claims to have placed the very first GSM call in Lebanon, on 23 December 1994, from the Alexandre Hotel in Beirut. The World Telecommunication Development Report estimated that, by 1996, Lebanon had 200,000 cellular users already, more than any other Arab state. Two years later, they were more than 350,000. Fixed line telecommunications services remained a monopoly in the hands of OGERO, which continued to operate all aspects of the network on behalf of the Ministry of Telecommunications, even after the 2002 telecommunications law provided for a transfer to a joint-stock company to be named Liban Telecom. By 2009, there were 1,816,262 landlines along with 4,890,534 mobile telephones in use in Lebanon, a relatively high penetration rate for both fixed lines and mobiles. Radio broadcasting Radio-Orient, which started broadcasting in 1938, was the second radio to do so in the Arab world, after Cairo. In April 1946, three years after Lebanon's independence, it became Radio Libanaise: Attached to the Ministry of News and Tourism, it was the country's first radio channel, later known as Radio Liban. In January 1958, it moved from the government's seat, at the Serail, to a new building in Senayeh, fitted with seven state-of-the-art studios built by Siemens. Radio Liban remains deeply associated, in Lebanon, with this economically prosperous yet politically tense era, not least for introducing the still lively tradition of broadcasting Feyrouz every morning, to lighten the atmosphere after the daily news. The sector was, at the time, tightly controlled by the state, notably through decree 74 of 1953, which made licensing difficult to achieve and prohibitively expensive. By 1969, there were two licensed radio stations in Beirut, one broadcasting in Arabic and the other in French. Voix du Liban or Voice of Lebanon, which stakes a claim to being the first commercial radio in the country, was founded in 1958 by the Christian party Phalanges, in the context of a brief spell of domestic strife. In the 1950s and 1960s, other political factions set up their own clandestine radio stations. Although the government successfully shut them down, it chose not to confiscate their equipment, paving the way to an explosion of illegal broadcasts in the more favorable context shaped by the civil war. Voix du Liban indeed resumed its activities with the start of hostilities in 1975. The same year, the Sunni faction Mourabitoun launched the Voice of Arab Lebanon. Radio Libre Liban followed in 1978, at the initiative of former president Bachir Gemayel. By 1984, each political organ had acquired a household name: radio Bachir, radio Phalanges, radio Etat (for Radio Liban), radio Walid (in reference to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt), radio Suleiman (Frangieh), etc. At the end of the war, in 1990, some 180 stations were emitting illegally in various parts of the country. The government made a half-hearted attempt to regulate the sector, through the audiovisual media law of 1994. However, authorities implemented its regulations only partially and selectively, in ways that favored religious groups, dominant factions, and affluent businessmen. Many clandestine studios, which in any event were struggling financially, could purchase expensive licenses and chose to shut down. Others continued illegally; tellingly, in September 2002, the government took measures to close 26 unlicensed radios. Radio remained an essential media until the arrival of internet and even beyond. In 1998 Lebanon's radio penetration rate was 906 radios per 1000 people. According to Media Landscape, there were still 2.85 million radios is Lebanon around 2016. An estimated 35 radio stations were active in 2018, of which 20 focused on politics while the others, such as Mix FM, offered entertainment only. Radio Liban continued to run one FM station, which shifted between French, English, and Armenian, and the sole AM radio station, broadcasting solely in Arabic. Radio Lebanon also relays Radio France International at 13:00 (UTC) daily. Among the casualties of Lebanon's post-2019 economic breakdown features Radio One, one of the most popular entertainment channels. Television broadcasting Television broadcasting kicked off in Lebanon as a commercial enterprise from the start, initiated by businessmen Wissam Ezzedine and Joe Arida. On 9 April 1956, they signed an agreement with the government to establish the Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT). Board members included scions of some of the country's most prominent families, notably Naji Pharaon and Gaby Jabre. Capital came mostly from Syrian investors, namely Jamil Mardam-Bey and Rafik Said. The latter was the Middle-East representative for the French Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie sans Fil (CSF), which provided the equipment. The station's first stone was laid in November 1957 in Tallet al-Khayyat, on a plot of land sold by the French embassy. Its first programs were launched on 28 May 1959. Competition came in the form of Tele-Orient, incorporated in 1960 as the Compagnie de Télévision du Liban et du Proche-Orient. Its shareholders were Lebanese bankers: Emile Boustany (Banque de l'Industrie et du Travail), Jean and Elie Abou Jaoud (Banque Libanaise pour le Commerce), and Toufic Assaf (Banque de Beyrouth et des Pays Arabes). Its official launch took place on 6 May 1962. Both firms were granted licenses valid until 1977, and broadcast in Arabic, French, and English. By 1967, the number of television sets across the country was estimated at 170,000. As the civil war set in, the government took the initiative to nationalize and merge CLT and Tele-Orient: In 1977, it formed Tele-Liban, a semi-public company half-owned by the state, and granted a 25-year monopoly on television broadcasting. The war also provided the country's political factions with a suitably chaotic environment in which to start their own televisions, in the absence of any mechanism to officially license more stations. The Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia, pioneered this trend in 1985, with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), which soon spurred emulation from others. Between 1988 and 1994, Tele-Liban's shares were traded by various parties, notably Rafic Hariri, who in the early 1990s bought all privately owned shares. In 1994, the Audio-Visual Media Information Law brought to an end Tele-Liban's official monopoly, while disbanding the more than 40 unlicensed and technically illegal television stations that had mushroomed during the war. The law also established the National Media Council, an advisory body in charge of overseeing the sector and monitoring content. In 1996, the state fully nationalized Tele-Liban, by buying the shares held by its private owner Rafic Hariri, who at the time was also prime minister, minister of finance, and minister of posts and telecommunications. The transaction reportedly cost $12 million. By the end of February 2001, Tele-Liban, which for years had been on the brink of bankruptcy, was shut down. There were 37 television broadcast stations in Lebanon in 2018, although the application of the audiovisual law has
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be stopped anywhere along the way simply by hailing. Ferries Apart from the international airport, the Port of Beirut is another port of entry. As a final destination, anyone can also reach Lebanon by ferry from Cyprus, or Greece or by road from Damascus, etc. The Port of Tripoli (Lebanon) is also a port of entry and ferries usually come from Taşucu, Turkey. Taxis and services In order to get from one place to another, people can either use a service or taxis. A "service" is a lot cheaper than a "taxi" as the passenger would be sharing the cab in the first place unlike the latter, where he would have the cab to himself. Cabs can be recognized by their red license plates (indicating that it is licensed for public transportation). The driver would pull aside for if the person hails while seeing him. He will then ask for his destination and then will decide whether he will drive the passenger with the regular fare, an extra, or not at all. Types of taxis in Lebanon Service-taxis One has to specify one's destination and enter the taxi only if one's destination corresponds to the itinerary of the Service-taxi. The driver stops to pick up additional passengers anywhere on the streets and drop them off generally in main squares and main streets. It remains advantageous with very low fares. Service-Taxi Taxi Local LBP 2000 ($1.33) per person or LBP 4000 ($2.66) per person depending on how close/far the destination is. Prices within Beirut could vary depending on traffic and distance but overall should not exceed LBP 4000 per person (Maximum of LBP 5000 for Beirut outskirts). However, the driver could ask for more if the passenger intends to go to an area with high traffic like Hamra Street. Long Distance Starts from LBP 5.000 ($3.33) and goes up from there. For example, from Beirut to Sidon, the drivers usually charge in between LBP 50,000 ($33.33) and LBP 75,000 ($50). Traditional Taxis The driver must not pick up additional passengers. Most of these taxis are not equipped with meters, so it is important to negotiate the fare before embarking. The regular taxi fare starts at LBP 10,000 ($6.66). Online services Uber and Careem are both available in Lebanon as online services which are ordered online through the app and can be paid either online or by cash. These alternatives are sometimes cheaper than traditional taxis in Lebanon. On-call taxis Pick up people who
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usually charge in between LBP 50,000 ($33.33) and LBP 75,000 ($50). Traditional Taxis The driver must not pick up additional passengers. Most of these taxis are not equipped with meters, so it is important to negotiate the fare before embarking. The regular taxi fare starts at LBP 10,000 ($6.66). Online services Uber and Careem are both available in Lebanon as online services which are ordered online through the app and can be paid either online or by cash. These alternatives are sometimes cheaper than traditional taxis in Lebanon. On-call taxis Pick up people who have pre-booked by phone. They don't respond to hails in the street. They don't have a meter so passengers should ask the operator the price when they are booking the taxi, and double check with the driver at the end of the journey. Carpooling Carpolo App (https://www.carpolo.co/download-app) is an alternative mode of transportation in Lebanon. Upon downloading the app, users post their un-used seats and the app connects them with people who have matching rides. It is free for users on the public community and has private communities that can be accessed by invitation only. Carpolo uses gamification to incentivize drivers to list their empty car seats and offers incentives for carpoolers. Port infrastructure Airport The main national airport is the Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport and is located in the southern suburbs. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report ranked the country 51st in terms of air transport infrastructure. In 2017, a delegation from Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority inspected the Rene Mouawad Air Base in order to assess
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percentage of Lebanese and Syrian officers in the force gradually increased in size to approximately 90% of the total number by 1945. Later in 1926, the Lebanese First Sharp Shooters Unit was created out of the Special Troops of the Levant; it is considered to be a direct precursor to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). During World War II, Lebanese troops fought in Lebanon with the Vichy French forces against Free French and British forces. After the Vichy forces in the Middle East surrendered in July 1941, volunteers from the Troupes Spéciales du Levant enlisted in the Free French forces and participated in combat in Italy, North Africa, and southern France. In 1943, prior to the declaration of Lebanese independence, all the military units were combined in one brigade, the Fifth Brigade, under the command of General Fouad Chehab. On the day Lebanon declared independence, the Lebanese Third Sharp Shooters Regiment was placed at the disposal of the Lebanese government in order to maintain security. In June of the same year, the French reconstituted units of the Troupes Spéciales du Levant, which were then attached to the British forces in the Middle East. The majority of the Lebanese Armed Forces remained a part of the French Army in Lebanon. After gaining independence in 1943, the Lebanese government formed an official delegation in 1944 to negotiate with the French the terms related to handing over the LAF. After nearly three weeks of talks, the joint French-British Command decreed that responsibility for armed units under French control were to be handed over to the Independent Government of Lebanon. These units were part of the Troupes Spéciales du Levant and totaled about 3,000 men. On August 1, 1945, at 00:00 hours, the LAF was placed under full authority of the Lebanese National Government; this day is commemorated annually as Lebanese Army Day. After establishing authority over the LAF in 1945, the Lebanese government intentionally kept its armed forces small and weak due to the country's unique internal politics. Christian politicians feared that Muslims might use the armed forces as a vehicle for seizing power in a military coup. They also appeared unwilling to incur the cost of maintaining a large well equipped army. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Lebanon never spent more than 4% of its GNP on the military budget. Many Christian Lebanese also feared that a large army would inevitably force Lebanon into the Arab–Israeli conflict. However, Muslim politicians were also worried that a strong army could be used against Muslim interests because it would be commanded by Christians. At the same time they tended to feel that the military should be strong enough to play a part in the Arab-Israeli struggle. In addition to the two major conflicting views, prominent Lebanese politicians of the myriad of religious denominations in Lebanon have also tended to be feudal warlords commanding their own private militias and feared that a strong army would endanger their personal power. In 1948, the Lebanese Third Sharp Shooters Regiment fought Israeli Forces occupying the Lebanese village of Malkieh in the northern Galilee and captured it, and that by the orders of Lebanese defense minister then, Emir Majid Arslan II. This was the first major combat operation for the Lebanese Armed Forces under the Independent Lebanese Government. Branches Armed Forces Command The LAF Command is headquartered at Yarzeh. The organizational structure of the LAF Command includes: The Commander-in-Chief The Chief of staff Deputy Chiefs of Staff Various Directorates Lebanese Ground Forces The Lebanese Ground Forces, القوات البريّة, literally "Ground Forces", are by far the largest of the three branches of the military. The Lebanese Army Ground Forces consist of: 5 Regional Commands Beirut Region Bekaa Region Mount Lebanon Region North Region South Region 11 Brigades 5 Heavy (Mechanised) Brigades 1st Infantry Brigade 2nd Infantry Brigade 3rd Infantry Brigade 5th Infantry Brigade 6th Infantry Brigade 6 Light Brigades 7th Infantry Brigade 8th Infantry Brigade 9th Infantry Brigade 10th Infantry Brigade 11th Infantry Brigade 12th Infantry Brigade 1st Artillery Regiment 2nd Artillery Regiment Signals Regiment Lebanese Commando Regiment Includes the Mountain Combat Company. Lebanese Airborne Regiment Counter-Sabotage Regiment (Moukafaha) 1st Intervention Force Regiment 2nd Intervention Force Regiment 3rd Intervention Force Regiment 4th Intervention Force Regiment 5th Intervention Force Regiment 6th Intervention Force Regiment Republican Guard Brigade Medical Brigade Support Brigade Logistics Brigade Military Police Army Band Independent Construction Regiment 1st Armored Regiment 1st Land Border Regiment 2nd Land Border Regiment 3rd Land Border Regiment 4th Land Border Regiment The Fourth Brigade was previously active but was disbanded in 1984 Lebanese Air Force The Lebanese Air Force, القوات الجوية اللبنانية, are the aviation branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces. It currently has a number of helicopters including the Bell UH-1H Huey, Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma, Gazelle, Cessna Caravan, Hawker Hunters, and various others. The air force is currently in the process of restoring its jet capabilities and considering the purchase of a small number of fighters or jet trainers. Lebanese Naval Forces The Lebanese Navy, officially the Lebanese Naval Forces, القوات البحرية اللبنانية, is responsible for protecting Lebanon's territorial waters, ports, and fighting illegal smuggling of goods. At the head of the naval hierarchy is the Navy Command, then it branches off into the quarter-general of the Navy, the Department of Naval Equipment Stores, the Naval School, Beirut Naval Base and the Jounieh Naval Base. The navy, which currently lacks a suitable amount of equipment, has approximately 50 vessels of various sizes and roles; however, it is trying to modernize itself and increase its size. Lebanese Special Forces The Lebanese Special Forces are the elite of the Lebanese Army. Those who enroll are subjected to rigorous training regimes and must be in peak physical and mental condition prior to their ascension to such a highly desired position. Each branch of the Armed Forces maintains its own form of Special Forces or Commandos. These include: Commando Regiment (Also known as the Maghaweer) Lebanese Airborne Regiment - Moujawkal Marine Commandos Lebanese counter-terrorism and sabotage unit (Moukafaha) Panthers (part of the Internal Security Force, i.e. police) To ensure the effectiveness of such an elite force, many Commandos are sent overseas to nations such as the US, UK and France to receive extra training in specialized areas that the Lebanese Armed Forces are unable to provide, due to a lack of resources. While training in Lebanon, each Commando is instructed in the art of urban and guerrilla warfare. So rigorous is their domestic training regime that each commando is subjected to a training timetable consisting of 20 hours per day for 3 months, which is divided into different stages. Each stage consists of a specialized form of warfare and its associated tactics. Such tactics include: sabotage, sniping, extraction and covert operations. The Lebanese Special Forces are also well known for killing and eating snakes with their bare hands at graduation ceremonies. In 2008, the Lebanese Armed Forces started establishing the Lebanese Special Operations Command in order to group the LAF's elite units. These special operations forces will include the Airborne Regiment, the Rangers Regiment, the Navy Commandos Regiment, and the Counter-Sabotage Regiment of the Military Intelligence. The initial size of the force will be less than two brigades, around 5,000 troops, but the plan is to enlarge it up to three brigades. Colleges and Schools The Lebanese Armed Forces has six official military colleges and schools that serve a wide variety of functions from officer training to overseeing national youth conscription programs. The recent emphasis on the First Flag Service Center is designed to help overcome the diverse nature of the population. The schools and colleges are: Fouad Shehab Command and Staff College High Center for Military Sport Lebanese Army Military Academy Skiing and Mountain Fighting School Teaching Institute Air Force Aviation School Naval Academy Lebanese Special Forces School The Staff and Command College, Military Academy, and Mountain Skiing Fighting School are training centers for Lebanese soldiers designed to upgrade the quality of their skills while the High Center for Military Sport is designed to keep them in peak physical shape (it also organizes sports groups and teams for international competition as well). The Training Institute is designed to help soldiers specialize in certain aspects of the military, such as artillery and defense. Equipment The Lebanese Army still uses equipment mostly received through donations or friendly prices. Its work horse is the M113 which is commonly used by every regiment and brigade. A collection of Western and Soviet made weaponry and equipment exists ranging from rifles to tanks. However, the Lebanese Army is trying to re-arm and modernize itself through new aid and purchases from different countries such as the United States, Belgium, Russia, and The Netherlands. A list of awaiting-for-delivery armaments is constantly growing and includes M60 Patton tanks, M198 Howitzers, etc. A recent Russian promise to supply Lebanon with T-90 tanks has been in discussion since the Lebanese Defense Minister's last visit to Russia on December 16, 2008. Throughout history the Lebanese Army employed different weapons and equipment which, at the time, were considered state of the art. Most of these arms have either been phased out of service or sold to other countries. Among the major equipment that is not currently active are AMX-13, Saladin, Panhard M3, and Staghound vehicles. Military ranks The military ranks are as follows: Uniforms Training Training of new conscripts takes place in the First Flag Service Center (FFSC). After a week of enlisting, they submit to two training courses, the common
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army and its tactics. Combat History 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War As the civil war escalated, Lebanese militias grew stronger and soon surpassed the regular army. This rapidly undermined the authority of the central government. The government's ability to maintain order was also handicapped by the nature of the Lebanese Army. One of the smallest in the Middle East, it was composed based on a fixed ratio of religions. As members defected to sectarian militias, the army would eventually prove unable to contain the militant groups, rein in the PLO or monitor foreign infiltration. Since the government was Christian-dominated, especially the officers' ranks, trust among Muslims for central institutions, including the army, was low. The disintegration of the Lebanese Army was eventually initiated by Muslim deserters declaring that they would no longer take orders from the Maronite generals. Taif Agreement 1991 On 4 July 1991, following the failure of disarmament negotiations, as required by the Taif agreement, the Lebanese Army attacked Palestinian positions in Southern Lebanon. The offensive, involving 10,000 troops against an estimated 5,000 militia, lasted 3 days and ended with the Army taking all the Palestinian positions around Sidon. In the agreement that followed all heavy weapons were surrendered and infantry weapons only allowed in the two refugee camps, Ain al-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh. 73 people were killed in the fighting, and 200 wounded, mostly Palestinian. 1999–2000 Dinnieh fighting During December 1999–January 2000 an Islamic group launched a failed uprising against the Lebanese authorities in the Dinnieh district. In a period of 8 days of fighting in the snow-blanketed mountains east of the northern port of Tripoli, 14 soldiers and 25 rebels were killed. 2006 War between Hezbollah and Israel In the 2006 Lebanon War the LAF did not engage in a direct conflict with the Israeli Army, despite its threat of retaliation if the IDF pushed too far northward into Lebanon. However, Israel did bomb several Lebanese military bases. While providing aid to civilians, Lebanese troops helped to uphold order in city streets, directed refugees to safer areas, and assisted with overlooking damage done by Israeli attacks. On several occasions, Lebanese troops fired anti-air weapons at Israeli aircraft, but no damage was documented. Overall, 49 Lebanese soldiers were killed. After the 2006 Lebanon War the LAF deployed south of the Litani River for the first time since 1968 to enforce Security Council Resolution 1701. The LAF says it will not, and cannot, disarm Hezbollah by force. On August 3, 2010, the Lebanese army fired at Israeli soldiers whom crane lifted a soldier across the border, to remove a tree off the fence; Israeli troops returned fire. 3 LAF soldiers, one Israeli officer and 1 Lebanese journalist were killed in the incident (After Israeli Artillery & aircraft bombing). According to UN reports, the border fence in the area is actually inside Israel's international border. The UNIFIL force stationed in the south described the shootout as a "serious incident". 2007 North Lebanon conflict The 2007 Lebanon conflict began when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, an Islamic terrorist organization, and the Lebanese Armed Forces on May 20, 2007, in Nahr al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. It has been the most severe internal fighting since Lebanon's 1975–90 civil war. The primary theater of conflict was the Siege of Nahr el-Bared. There was heavy use of the Lebanese artillery in that area to eliminate snipers posted around the cities. The conflict finally ended on September 2, 2007, with the Lebanese Army taking control of the camp after more than three months of heavy fights and a death toll of 155 Commandos and Infantrymen. The LAF Engineering Corps achieved what was seen as a feat of ingenuity during the conflict where they converted a number of UH-1 helicopters into bombers, arming them with 250 kg and 400 kg conventional bombs from old Hunter and Mirage III fighter jets. Some helicopters were also fitted with French Matra rocket pods. This was, according to observers, a decisive step that considerably shortened the conflict. 2008 Clashes in Lebanon During the week-long clashes that occurred at the beginning of May 2008 in Beirut and other regions of the country, the army was unable to prevent rival Lebanese groups from fighting each other. This was because the army, along with the government, had thought it would have been better if rival groups would eventually end the violence and sort out the dispute between them, alone, other than involving the national army which may have led to great divisions between the soldiers, just like in the civil war. It would have also caused an out cry to the soldiers that could have died, leading to even greater divisions and blame to the political forces. However, whenever ceasefire was brought into action in a specific area or district in Beirut or else where in the country, the LAF would straight away enforce peace. On May 13, the national army had announced that if the clashes would not end as soon as possible, it would have to intervene and use force if necessary to stop them. 2011–2017 Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Since the outbreak of conflict in Syria, the Lebanese Army has been deployed to prevent Sunni-Shiite clashes from taking place in the city of Tripoli, as well as in other hot zones such as Arsal and downtown Beirut. Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front terrorist groups
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Syria. The framework for relations was first codified in May 1991, when Lebanon and Syria signed a treaty of mutual cooperation. This treaty came out of the Taif Agreement, which stipulated that "Lebanon is linked to Syria by distinctive ties deriving strength from kinship, history, and common interests." The Lebanese-Syria treaty calls for "coordination and cooperation between the two countries" that would serve the "interests of the two countries within the framework of sovereignty and independence of each." Numerous agreements on political, economic, security, and judicial affairs have followed over the years. After Syria's military withdrawal in 2005, Lebanon's foreign policy charted a more independent course. Bilateral relations Africa Americas Asia Europe Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialed the accord in January 2002, the accord becoming known as the EU-Lebanon Association Agreement. The EU-Lebanon Action Plan from January 19, 2007, gave a new impetus to bilateral relations in the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy. Lebanon is one of the main Mediterranean beneficiaries of community assistance and the EU through its various
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EU-Lebanon Action Plan from January 19, 2007, gave a new impetus to bilateral relations in the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy. Lebanon is one of the main Mediterranean beneficiaries of community assistance and the EU through its various instruments is Lebanon's leading donor. Starting from 2007 financial support is channeled through the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument. A Lebanon Country Strategy Paper 2007–2013 and a National Indicative Program 2007–2010 have been adopted by the EU. The assistance provided was refocused after the Second Lebanon War to engage in real help for the government and the society in reconstruction and reform of the country. Oceania See also Constitution of Lebanon Lebanese diaspora Lebanese identity card Lebanese nationality law Lebanese passport List of diplomatic missions in Lebanon List of diplomatic missions of Lebanon Politics of Lebanon
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now a fully sovereign state and is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The name Lesotho roughly translates to "land of the Sotho". By 2021, Lesotho has a 22.8% HIV prevalence rate among people between 15 and 49 years of age, one of the highest worldwide. History The original inhabitants of Lesotho were the San people. Examples of their rock art can be found in the mountains throughout the area. Rule of Moshoeshoe I (1822–1868) Modern Lesotho, then called Basutoland, emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Moshoeshoe, a son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli lineage, formed his own clan and became a chief around 1804. Between 1820 and 1823, he and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain, joining with former adversaries in resistance against the Lifaqane associated with the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828. Further evolution of the state emerged from conflicts between British and Dutch colonists leaving the Cape Colony following its seizure from the French-allied Dutch by the British in 1795, and also from the Orange River Sovereignty and subsequent Orange Free State. Missionaries Thomas Arbousset, Eugène Casalis and Constant Gosselin from the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, invited by Moshoeshoe I, were placed at Morija, developing Sesotho orthography and printed works in the Sesotho language between 1837 and 1855. Casalis, acting as translator and providing advice on foreign affairs, helped set up diplomatic channels and acquire guns for use against the encroaching Europeans and the Griqua people. Trekboers from the Cape Colony arrived on the western borders of Basutoland and claimed rights to its land, the first of which being Jan de Winnaar, who settled in the Matlakeng area in May–June 1838. Incoming Boers attempted to colonise the land between the two rivers and even north of the Caledon, claiming that it had been abandoned by the Sotho people. Moshoeshoe subsequently signed a treaty with the British Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Thomas Napier, that annexed the Orange River Sovereignty where many Boers had settled. These outraged Boers were suppressed in a brief skirmish in 1848. In 1851, a British force was defeated by the Basotho army at Kolonyama, provoking an embarrassing war for the British. After repelling another British attack in 1852, Moshoeshoe sent an appeal to the British commander that settled the dispute diplomatically, and then defeated the Batlokoa in 1853. In 1854, the British pulled out of the region, and in 1858, Moshoeshoe fought a series of wars with the Boers in what is known as the Free State–Basotho War. As a result, Moshoeshoe lost a great portion of the western lowlands. The last war with the Boers ended in 1867 when Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868. British rule (1869–1966) In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal North with the Boers that defined the boundaries of Basutoland. This treaty effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size by ceding away its western territories. Following the cession in 1869, the British transferred functions from Moshoeshoe's capital in Thaba Bosiu to a police camp on the northwest border, Maseru, until eventually the administration of Basutoland was transferred to the Cape Colony in 1871. Moshoeshoe died on 11 March 1870, marking the end of the traditional era and the beginning of the colonial era of Basutoland. He was buried at Thaba Bosiu. In the Cape Colony period between 1871 and 1884, Basutoland was treated similarly to other territories that had been forcibly annexed, much to the humiliation of the Basotho, leading to the Basuto Gun War in 1880–1881. In 1884, the territory became a Crown colony by the name of Basutoland, with Maseru as its capital. It remained under direct rule by a governor, though effective internal power was wielded by traditional tribal chiefs. In 1905, a railway line was built to connect Maseru to the railway network of South Africa. Independence (1966–present) Basutoland gained its independence from the United Kingdom and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966. In January 1970, the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) lost the first post-independence general elections, with 23 seats to the Basotho Congress Party's (BCP) 36. Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan refused to cede power to the BCP, instead declaring himself Tona Kholo (Sesotho: 'prime minister'), and imprisoning the BCP leadership. BCP began a rebellion and then received training in Libya for its Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) under the pretense of being Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) soldiers of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Deprived of arms and supplies by the Sibeko faction of the PAC in 1978, the 178-strong LLA was rescued from their Tanzanian base by the financial assistance of a Maoist PAC officer, but they launched the guerrilla war with only a handful of old weapons. The main force was defeated in northern Lesotho, and later guerrillas launched sporadic but usually ineffectual attacks. The campaign was severely compromised when BCP's leader, Ntsu Mokhehle, went to Pretoria. In the early 1980s, several Basotho who sympathised with the exiled BCP were threatened with death and attacked by the government of Leabua Jonathan. On 4 September 1981, the family of Benjamin Masilo was attacked. In the attack his 3-year-old grandson died. Exactly four days later, Edgar Mahlomola Motuba, the editor of the popular newspaper Leselinyana la Lesotho, was abducted from his home together with two friends and murdered. The BNP ruled from 1966 until January 1970. What later ensued was a de facto government led by Dr. Leabua Jonathan until 1986 when a military coup forced it out of office. The Transitional Military Council that came to power granted executive powers to King Moshoeshoe II, who was until then a ceremonial monarch. But in 1987 the King was forced into exile after coming up with a six-page memorandum on how he wanted the Lesotho's constitution to be, which would have given him more executive powers than the military government had originally agreed to. His son was installed as King Letsie III in his place. The chairman of the military junta, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya, was ousted in 1991 and replaced by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema, who handed over power to a democratically elected government of the BCP in 1993. Moshoeshoe II returned from exile in 1992 as an ordinary citizen. After the return to democratic government, King Letsie III tried unsuccessfully to persuade the BCP government to reinstate his father (Moshoeshoe II) as head of state. In August 1994, Letsie III staged a military-backed coup that deposed the BCP government, after the BCP government refused to reinstate his father, Moshoeshoe II, according to Lesotho's constitution. The new government did not receive full international recognition. Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) engaged in negotiations to reinstate the BCP government. One of the conditions Letsie III put forward for this was that his father should be re-installed as head of state. After protracted negotiations, the BCP government was reinstated and Letsie III abdicated in favour of his father in 1995, but he ascended the throne again when Moshoeshoe II died at the age of fifty-seven in a supposed road accident, when his car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of 15 January 1996. According to a government statement, Moshoeshoe had set out at 1 am to visit his cattle at Matsieng and was returning to Maseru through the Maluti Mountains when his car left the road. In 1997, the ruling BCP split over leadership disputes. Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), and was followed by a majority of members of parliament, which enabled him to form a new government. Pakalitha Mosisili succeeded Mokhehle as party leader and the LCD won the general elections in 1998. Although the elections were pronounced free and fair by local and international observers and a subsequent special commission appointed by SADC, the opposition political parties rejected the results. Opposition protests in the country intensified, culminating in a peaceful demonstration outside the royal palace in August 1998. Exact details of what followed are greatly disputed, both in Lesotho and South Africa. While the Botswana Defence Force troops were welcomed, tensions with South African National Defence Force troops were high, resulting in fighting. Incidences of sporadic rioting intensified when South African troops hoisted a South African flag over the Royal Palace. By the time the SADC forces withdrew in May 1999, much of the capital of Maseru lay in ruins, and the southern provincial capital towns of Mafeteng and Mohale's Hoek had lost over a third of their commercial real estate. A significant number of South Africans and Basotho also died in the fighting. An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998. The IPA devised a proportional electoral system to ensure that the opposition would be represented in the National Assembly. The new system retained the existing 80 elected Assembly seats, but added 40 seats to be filled on a proportional basis. Elections were held under this new system in May 2002, and the LCD won again, gaining 54 percent of the vote. But for the first time, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats, and despite some irregularities and threats of violence from Major General Lekhanya, Lesotho experienced its first peaceful election. Nine opposition parties now hold all 40 of the proportional seats, with the BNP having the largest share (21). The LCD has 79 of the 80 constituency-based seats. Although its elected members participate in the National Assembly, the BNP has launched several legal challenges to the elections, including a recount; none has been successful. On 30 August 2014, an alleged abortive military "coup" took place, forcing then Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to flee to South Africa for three days. On May 19, 2020, Thomas Thabane formally stepped down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure after he was named as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife. Moeketsi Majoro, the economist and former Minister of Development Planning, was elected as Thabane's successor. Politics The Lesotho Government is a parliamentary or constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, is the head of government and has executive authority. The King of Lesotho, Letsie III, is the head of state and serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in political initiatives. The All Basotho Convention (ABC) leads a coalition government in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. The upper house of parliament, called the Senate, is composed of 22 principal chiefs whose membership is hereditary, and 11 appointees of the king, acting on the advice of the prime minister. The constitution provides for an independent judicial system, made up of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, Magistrate's Courts, and traditional courts that exist predominantly in rural areas. All but one of the Justices on the Court of Appeal are South African jurists. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of religion. Lesotho was ranked 12th out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries in the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. , the People's Charter Movement called for the practical annexation of the country by South Africa due to the HIV epidemic. Nearly a quarter of the population tests positive for HIV. The country has also faced high unemployment, economic collapse, a weak currency and poor travel documents restricting movement. An African Union report called for economic integration of Lesotho with South Africa but stopped short of suggesting annexation. In May 2010 the Charter Movement delivered a petition to the South African High Commission requesting integration. South Africa's home affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa rejected the idea that Lesotho should be treated as a special case. "It is a sovereign country like South Africa. We sent envoys to our neighbours – Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Lesotho – before we enforced the passport rule. When you travel from Britain to South Africa, don't you expect to use a passport?" Foreign relations Lesotho's geographic location makes it extremely vulnerable to political and economic developments in South Africa. It is a member of many regional economic organisations, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). It is also active in the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth, and many other international organisations. Ms 'Mahlompho Mokaeane is the current High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the Court of St. James's. The UN is represented by a resident mission as well, including UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, FAO, WFP, UNFPA, and UNAIDS. Lesotho also has maintained ties with the United Kingdom (Wales in particular), Germany, the United States and other Western states. Although in 1990 it broke relations with China and re-established relations with Taiwan, it later restored ties with China. Lesotho also recognises the State of Palestine. From 2014 up until 2018 Lesotho also recognised the Republic of Kosovo. In the past, it was a strong public opponent of apartheid in South Africa and granted a number of South African refugees political asylum during the apartheid era. In 2019, Lesotho signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Law Lesotho does not have a single code containing its laws; it draws them from a variety of sources including: Constitution, Legislation, Common Law, Judicial precedent, Customary Law, and Authoritative texts. The Constitution of Lesotho came into force after the publication of the Commencement Order. Constitutionally, legislation refers to laws that have been passed by both houses of parliament and have been assented to by the king (section 78(1)). Subordinate legislation refers to laws passed by other bodies to which parliament has by virtue of section 70(2) of the Constitution validly delegated such legislative powers. These include government publications, ministerial orders, ministerial regulations and municipal by-laws. Although Lesotho shares with South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe a mixed general legal system which resulted from the interaction between the Roman-Dutch Civilian law and the English Common Law, its general law operates independently. Lesotho also applies the common law, which refers to unwritten law or law from non-statutory sources, but excludes customary law. Decisions from South African courts are only persuasive, and courts refer to them in formulating their decisions. Decisions from similar jurisdictions can also be cited for their persuasive value. Magistrates' courts decisions do not become precedent since these are lower courts. They are, however, bound by decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The most powerful court in the Lesotho justice system is the Court of Appeal, which is the final appellate forum on all matters. It has a supervisory and review jurisdiction over all the courts of Lesotho. Lesotho has a dual legal system consisting of customary and general laws operating side by side. Customary law is made up of the customs of the Basotho, written and codified in the Laws of Lerotholi. The general law on the other hand consists of Roman Dutch Law imported from the Cape and the Lesotho statutes. The codification of customary law came about after a council was appointed in 1903 to advise the British Resident Commissioner on which laws would be best for governing the Basotho. Until this time, the Basotho customs and laws were passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. The council was given the task of codifying them, and they came up with the Laws of Lerotholi which are applied by customary courts today (local courts). Written works of eminent authors have persuasive value in the courts of Lesotho. These include writings of the old authorities as well as contemporary writers from similar jurisdictions. Districts For administrative purposes, Lesotho is divided into ten districts, each headed by a district administrator. Each district has a capital known as a camptown. The districts are subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community councils. Geography Lesotho covers . It is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above in elevation. Its lowest point of is thus the highest lowest point of any country in the world. Over 80 percent of the country lies above . Lesotho is also the southernmost landlocked country in the world and is entirely surrounded by South Africa. It is by far the largest of the world's three independent states completely surrounded by the territory of another country, with Vatican City and San Marino being the other two. Additionally, it is the only such state outside the Italian peninsula, and the only one that is not a microstate. Lesotho lies between latitudes 28° and 31°S, and longitudes 27° and 30°E. About 12% of Lesotho is arable land, however, this land is vulnerable to soil erosion, and it is estimated that 40 million tons of soil are lost each year due to erosion. Climate Because of its elevation, Lesotho remains cooler throughout the year than other regions at the same latitude. Most of the rain falls as summer thunderstorms. Maseru and surrounding lowlands often reach in summer. Winters can be cold with the lowlands getting down to and the highlands to at times. Snow is common in the highlands between May and September; the
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attack his 3-year-old grandson died. Exactly four days later, Edgar Mahlomola Motuba, the editor of the popular newspaper Leselinyana la Lesotho, was abducted from his home together with two friends and murdered. The BNP ruled from 1966 until January 1970. What later ensued was a de facto government led by Dr. Leabua Jonathan until 1986 when a military coup forced it out of office. The Transitional Military Council that came to power granted executive powers to King Moshoeshoe II, who was until then a ceremonial monarch. But in 1987 the King was forced into exile after coming up with a six-page memorandum on how he wanted the Lesotho's constitution to be, which would have given him more executive powers than the military government had originally agreed to. His son was installed as King Letsie III in his place. The chairman of the military junta, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya, was ousted in 1991 and replaced by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema, who handed over power to a democratically elected government of the BCP in 1993. Moshoeshoe II returned from exile in 1992 as an ordinary citizen. After the return to democratic government, King Letsie III tried unsuccessfully to persuade the BCP government to reinstate his father (Moshoeshoe II) as head of state. In August 1994, Letsie III staged a military-backed coup that deposed the BCP government, after the BCP government refused to reinstate his father, Moshoeshoe II, according to Lesotho's constitution. The new government did not receive full international recognition. Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) engaged in negotiations to reinstate the BCP government. One of the conditions Letsie III put forward for this was that his father should be re-installed as head of state. After protracted negotiations, the BCP government was reinstated and Letsie III abdicated in favour of his father in 1995, but he ascended the throne again when Moshoeshoe II died at the age of fifty-seven in a supposed road accident, when his car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of 15 January 1996. According to a government statement, Moshoeshoe had set out at 1 am to visit his cattle at Matsieng and was returning to Maseru through the Maluti Mountains when his car left the road. In 1997, the ruling BCP split over leadership disputes. Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), and was followed by a majority of members of parliament, which enabled him to form a new government. Pakalitha Mosisili succeeded Mokhehle as party leader and the LCD won the general elections in 1998. Although the elections were pronounced free and fair by local and international observers and a subsequent special commission appointed by SADC, the opposition political parties rejected the results. Opposition protests in the country intensified, culminating in a peaceful demonstration outside the royal palace in August 1998. Exact details of what followed are greatly disputed, both in Lesotho and South Africa. While the Botswana Defence Force troops were welcomed, tensions with South African National Defence Force troops were high, resulting in fighting. Incidences of sporadic rioting intensified when South African troops hoisted a South African flag over the Royal Palace. By the time the SADC forces withdrew in May 1999, much of the capital of Maseru lay in ruins, and the southern provincial capital towns of Mafeteng and Mohale's Hoek had lost over a third of their commercial real estate. A significant number of South Africans and Basotho also died in the fighting. An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998. The IPA devised a proportional electoral system to ensure that the opposition would be represented in the National Assembly. The new system retained the existing 80 elected Assembly seats, but added 40 seats to be filled on a proportional basis. Elections were held under this new system in May 2002, and the LCD won again, gaining 54 percent of the vote. But for the first time, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats, and despite some irregularities and threats of violence from Major General Lekhanya, Lesotho experienced its first peaceful election. Nine opposition parties now hold all 40 of the proportional seats, with the BNP having the largest share (21). The LCD has 79 of the 80 constituency-based seats. Although its elected members participate in the National Assembly, the BNP has launched several legal challenges to the elections, including a recount; none has been successful. On 30 August 2014, an alleged abortive military "coup" took place, forcing then Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to flee to South Africa for three days. On May 19, 2020, Thomas Thabane formally stepped down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure after he was named as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife. Moeketsi Majoro, the economist and former Minister of Development Planning, was elected as Thabane's successor. Politics The Lesotho Government is a parliamentary or constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, is the head of government and has executive authority. The King of Lesotho, Letsie III, is the head of state and serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in political initiatives. The All Basotho Convention (ABC) leads a coalition government in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. The upper house of parliament, called the Senate, is composed of 22 principal chiefs whose membership is hereditary, and 11 appointees of the king, acting on the advice of the prime minister. The constitution provides for an independent judicial system, made up of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, Magistrate's Courts, and traditional courts that exist predominantly in rural areas. All but one of the Justices on the Court of Appeal are South African jurists. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of religion. Lesotho was ranked 12th out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries in the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. , the People's Charter Movement called for the practical annexation of the country by South Africa due to the HIV epidemic. Nearly a quarter of the population tests positive for HIV. The country has also faced high unemployment, economic collapse, a weak currency and poor travel documents restricting movement. An African Union report called for economic integration of Lesotho with South Africa but stopped short of suggesting annexation. In May 2010 the Charter Movement delivered a petition to the South African High Commission requesting integration. South Africa's home affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa rejected the idea that Lesotho should be treated as a special case. "It is a sovereign country like South Africa. We sent envoys to our neighbours – Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Lesotho – before we enforced the passport rule. When you travel from Britain to South Africa, don't you expect to use a passport?" Foreign relations Lesotho's geographic location makes it extremely vulnerable to political and economic developments in South Africa. It is a member of many regional economic organisations, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). It is also active in the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth, and many other international organisations. Ms 'Mahlompho Mokaeane is the current High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the Court of St. James's. The UN is represented by a resident mission as well, including UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, FAO, WFP, UNFPA, and UNAIDS. Lesotho also has maintained ties with the United Kingdom (Wales in particular), Germany, the United States and other Western states. Although in 1990 it broke relations with China and re-established relations with Taiwan, it later restored ties with China. Lesotho also recognises the State of Palestine. From 2014 up until 2018 Lesotho also recognised the Republic of Kosovo. In the past, it was a strong public opponent of apartheid in South Africa and granted a number of South African refugees political asylum during the apartheid era. In 2019, Lesotho signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Law Lesotho does not have a single code containing its laws; it draws them from a variety of sources including: Constitution, Legislation, Common Law, Judicial precedent, Customary Law, and Authoritative texts. The Constitution of Lesotho came into force after the publication of the Commencement Order. Constitutionally, legislation refers to laws that have been passed by both houses of parliament and have been assented to by the king (section 78(1)). Subordinate legislation refers to laws passed by other bodies to which parliament has by virtue of section 70(2) of the Constitution validly delegated such legislative powers. These include government publications, ministerial orders, ministerial regulations and municipal by-laws. Although Lesotho shares with South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe a mixed general legal system which resulted from the interaction between the Roman-Dutch Civilian law and the English Common Law, its general law operates independently. Lesotho also applies the common law, which refers to unwritten law or law from non-statutory sources, but excludes customary law. Decisions from South African courts are only persuasive, and courts refer to them in formulating their decisions. Decisions from similar jurisdictions can also be cited for their persuasive value. Magistrates' courts decisions do not become precedent since these are lower courts. They are, however, bound by decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The most powerful court in the Lesotho justice system is the Court of Appeal, which is the final appellate forum on all matters. It has a supervisory and review jurisdiction over all the courts of Lesotho. Lesotho has a dual legal system consisting of customary and general laws operating side by side. Customary law is made up of the customs of the Basotho, written and codified in the Laws of Lerotholi. The general law on the other hand consists of Roman Dutch Law imported from the Cape and the Lesotho statutes. The codification of customary law came about after a council was appointed in 1903 to advise the British Resident Commissioner on which laws would be best for governing the Basotho. Until this time, the Basotho customs and laws were passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. The council was given the task of codifying them, and they came up with the Laws of Lerotholi which are applied by customary courts today (local courts). Written works of eminent authors have persuasive value in the courts of Lesotho. These include writings of the old authorities as well as contemporary writers from similar jurisdictions. Districts For administrative purposes, Lesotho is divided into ten districts, each headed by a district administrator. Each district has a capital known as a camptown. The districts are subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community councils. Geography Lesotho covers . It is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above in elevation. Its lowest point of is thus the highest lowest point of any country in the world. Over 80 percent of the country lies above . Lesotho is also the southernmost landlocked country in the world and is entirely surrounded by South Africa. It is by far the largest of the world's three independent states completely surrounded by the territory of another country, with Vatican City and San Marino being the other two. Additionally, it is the only such state outside the Italian peninsula, and the only one that is not a microstate. Lesotho lies between latitudes 28° and 31°S, and longitudes 27° and 30°E. About 12% of Lesotho is arable land, however, this land is vulnerable to soil erosion, and it is estimated that 40 million tons of soil are lost each year due to erosion. Climate Because of its elevation, Lesotho remains cooler throughout the year than other regions at the same latitude. Most of the rain falls as summer thunderstorms. Maseru and surrounding lowlands often reach in summer. Winters can be cold with the lowlands getting down to and the highlands to at times. Snow is common in the highlands between May and September; the higher peaks can experience snowfalls year-round. Rainfall in Lesotho is highly variable regarding both when and where precipitation occurs. Despite Lesotho's small size, annual precipitation can vary from 500mm annual in one area to 1200mm in another because of elevation. The summer season that stretches from October to April sees the most rainfall, and from December to February, the majority of the country receives over 100mm of rain a month. The least monthly rainfall in Lesotho occurs in June when most regions receive less than 15mm a month. Drought Periodic droughts have a serious effect on Lesotho's majority rural population as many people living outside of urban areas rely on subsistence farming or small scale agriculture as their primary source of income. Droughts in Lesotho are exacerbated by poor agricultural practices. The World Fact Book lists periodic droughts under the 'Natural Hazard' section of Lesotho's section of the publication. In 2007, Lesotho experienced its worst drought in 30 years and was advised by the United Nations to declare a state of emergency to get aid from international organizations. Erratic weather and the corresponding decline of the humanitarian situation still present Lesotho with problems currently. The Famine Early Warning System Network most recently reported that the rainy season of 2018/2019 not only started a month later than normal but also has recorded below-average amounts of rain. Also, data from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation Station (CHIRP) shows rainfall in Lesotho between October 2018 and February 2019 ranged from 55% to 80% below normal rates. In March 2019, the Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Committee conducted a report that initially predicted that 487,857 people in the country need humanitarian assistance because of the effects of drought. There are a variety of different ways drought in Lesotho has led to the need for humanitarian assistance. Poor hygiene practices that result from a lack of clean water can cause cases of typhoid and diarrhea. Lack of available water also indirectly leads to an increased risk for women and girls who collect water for household consumption as they must spend more time and travel long distances while running the risk of being physically or sexually assaulted. Drought in Lesotho also leads to both migration to more urban areas and immigration to South Africa for new opportunities and to escape food insecurity. The report also found that between July 2019 and June 2020 640,000 people in Lesotho are expected to be affected by food insecurity as a result of unproductive harvests as well as the corresponding rise in food prices because of the drought. Wildlife There are known to be 339 bird species in Lesotho, including 10 globally threatened species and 2 introduced species, 17 reptile species, including geckos, snakes and lizards, and 60 mammal species endemic to Lesotho, including the endangered white-tailed rat. Lesotho's flora is Alpine, due to the high and mountainous terrain. The Katse Botanical Gardens houses a collection of medicinal plants and has a large seed bank of plants from the Malibamat'so River area. Three terrestrial ecoregions lie within Lesotho's boundaries: Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands, Drakensberg montane grasslands, and Highveld grasslands. Economy Lesotho is geographically surrounded by South Africa and economically integrated with it. The economy of Lesotho is based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and mining, and depends heavily on inflows of workers' remittances and receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The majority of households subsist on farming. The formal sector employment consists mainly of female workers in the apparel sector, male migrant labour, primarily miners in South Africa for three to nine months, and employment by the Government of Lesotho (GOL). The western lowlands form the main agricultural zone. Almost 50 percent of the population earn income through informal crop cultivation or animal husbandry with nearly two-thirds of the country's income coming from the agricultural sector. The percentage of the population living below USD Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) US$1.25/day fell from 48 percent to 44 percent between 1995 and 2003. The country is among the "Low Human Development" countries (rank 160 of 187 on the Human Development Index as classified by the UNDP, with 52 years of life expectancy at birth. Adult literacy is as high as 82 percent. Among the children below the age of five years, 20 percent are under weight. Lesotho has taken advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to become the largest exporter of garments to the US from sub-Saharan Africa. US brands and retailers sourcing from Lesotho include: Foot Locker, Gap, Gloria Vanderbilt, JCPenney, Levi Strauss, Saks, Sears, Timberland and Wal-Mart. In mid-2004 its employment reached over 50,000, largely female, marking the first time that manufacturing sector workers outnumbered government employees. In 2008 it exported goods worth 487 million dollars mainly to the US. Since 2004, employment in the sector has dwindled to about 45,000 in mid-2011 due to international competition in the garment sector. It was the largest formal sector employer in Lesotho in 2011. In 2007, the average earnings of an employee in the textile sector were US$103 per month, and the official minimum wage for a general textile worker was US$93 per month. The average gross national income per capita in 2008 was US$83 per month. The sector initiated a major program to fight HIV/AIDS called Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS
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the HTC were to be recruited into the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps (AAPC) labor unit due to Afrikaner opposition to armed black units. Mobilization for the AAPC was launched in late July 1941 and by October 18,000 personnel had arrived in the Middle East. The anti-colonial Basutoland Lekhorlu la Bufo (Commoner's League) was banned and its leaders were imprisoned for demanding that training for the recruits be improved and encouraging desertion. The AAPC performed a wide range of manual labor, providing logistical support to the Allied war effort during the North African, Dodecanese and Italian campaigns. During the Italian campaign some AAPC relieved British field artillery units of their duty. On 1 May 1943, British troopship SS Erinpura was torpedoed and sunk, resulting in the loss of 694 men from AAPC's 1919th and 1927th Basuto Companies; the unit's worst loss of life during the war. A total of 21,000 Basuto enlisted during the war, 1,105 of whom perished during its course. Basuto women also contributed to the war effort by knitting warm clothing for the military. From 1948, the South African National Party put its apartheid policies into place, indirectly terminating any support among Basutos and/or UK colonial authorities for the country's incorporation in South Africa. After a 1955 request by the Basutoland Council to legislate its internal affairs, in 1959 a new constitution gave Basutoland its first elected legislature. This was followed in April 1965 with general legislative elections with universal adult suffrage in which the Basotho National Party (BNP) won 31 and the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) won 25 of the 65 seats contested. Kingdom of Lesotho On October 4, 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Senate and an elected National Assembly. Early results of the first post-independence elections in January 1970 indicated that the Basotho National Party (BNP) might lose control. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan, the ruling BNP refused to cede power to the rival Basotholand Congress Party (BCP), although the BCP was widely believed to have won the elections. Citing election irregularities, Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan nullified the elections, declared a national state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the Parliament. In 1973, an appointed Interim National Assembly was established. With an overwhelming progovernment majority, it was largely the instrument of the BNP, led by Prime Minister Jonathan. In addition to the Jonathan regime's alienation of Basotho powerbrokers and the local population, South Africa had virtually closed the country's land borders because of Lesotho support of cross-border operations of the African National Congress (ANC). Moreover, South Africa publicly threatened to pursue more direct action against Lesotho if the Jonathan government did not root out the ANC presence in the country. This internal and external opposition to the government combined to produce violence and internal disorder in Lesotho that eventually led to a military takeover in 1986. Under a January 1986 Military Council decree, state executive and legislative powers were transferred to the King who was to act on the advice of the Military Council, a self-appointed group of leaders of the Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF). A military government chaired by Justin Lekhanya ruled Lesotho in coordination with King Moshoeshoe II and a civilian cabinet appointed by the King. In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, and the Council of Ministers was purged. Lekhanya accused those involved of undermining discipline within the armed forces, subverting existing authority, and causing an impasse on foreign policy that had been damaging to Lesotho's image abroad. Lekhanya announced the establishment of the National Constituent Assembly to formulate a new constitution for Lesotho with the aim of returning the country to democratic, civilian rule by June 1992. Before this transition, however, Lekhanya was ousted in 1991 by a mutiny of junior army officers that left Phisoane Ramaema as Chairman of the Military Council. Because Moshoeshoe II initially refused to return to Lesotho under the new rules of the government in which the King was endowed only with ceremonial powers, Moshoeshoe's son was installed as King Letsie III. In 1992, Moshoeshoe II returned to Lesotho as a regular citizen until 1995 when King Letsie abdicated the throne in favor of his father. After Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996, King Letsie III ascended to the throne again. In 1993, a new constitution was implemented leaving the King without any executive authority and proscribing him from engaging in political affairs. Multiparty elections were then held in which the BCP ascended to power with a landslide victory. Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle headed the new BCP government that had gained every seat in the 65-member National Assembly. In early 1994, political instability increased as first the army, followed by the police and prisons services, engaged in mutinies. In August 1994, King Letsie III, in collaboration with some members of the military, staged a coup, suspended Parliament, and appointed a ruling council. As a result of domestic and international pressures, however, the constitutionally elected government was restored within a month. In 1995, there were isolated incidents of unrest, including a police strike in May to demand higher wages. For the most part, however, there were no serious challenges to Lesotho's constitutional order in the 1995-96 period. In January 1997, armed soldiers put down a violent police mutiny and arrested the mutineers. In 1997, tension within the BCP leadership caused a split in which Dr. Mokhehle abandoned the BCP and established the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) followed by two-thirds of the parliament. This move allowed Mokhehle to remain as Prime Minister and leader of a new ruling party, while relegating the BCP to opposition status. The remaining members of the BCP refused to accept their new status as the opposition party and ceased attending sessions. Multiparty elections were again held in May 1998. Although Mokhehle completed his term as Prime
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annexed an expanse of arable land which they were able to retain following a treaty at Thaba Bosiu. Further conflict led to an unsuccessful attack on Thaba Bosiu and the death of a Boer commandant, Louw Wepener, but by 1867, much of Moshoeshoe's land and most of his fortresses had been taken. Fearing defeat, Moshoeshoe made further appeals to High Commissioner Philip Edmond Wodehouse for British assistance. On 12 March 1868, the British Cabinet agreed to place the territory under British protection and the Boers were ordered to leave. In February 1869, the British and the Boers agreed to the Convention of Aliwal North, which defined the boundaries of the protectorate. The arable land west of the Caledon River remained in Boer hands and is referred to as the Lost or Conquered Territory. Moshoeshoe died in 1870 and was buried atop Thaba Bosiu. Annexation by Cape Colony In 1871 the protectorate was annexed to Cape Colony. The Basotho resisted the British and in 1879 a southern chief, Moorosi, rose in revolt. His campaign was crushed, and he was killed in the fighting. The Basotho then began to fight amongst themselves over the division of Moorosi's lands. The British extended the Cape Peace Preservation Act of 1878 to cover Basutoland and attempted to disarm the natives. Much of the colony rose in revolt in the Gun War (1880-1881), inflicting significant casualties upon the colonial British forces sent to subdue it. A peace treaty of 1881 failed to quell sporadic fighting. Return to Crown colony Cape Town's inability to control the territory led to its return to crown control in 1884 as the Territory of Basutoland. The colony was bound by the Orange River Colony, Natal Colony, and Cape Colony. It was divided into seven administrative districts: Berea, Leribe, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mafeteng, Qacha's Nek and Quthing. The colony was ruled by the British Resident Commissioner, who worked through the pitso (national assembly) of hereditary native chiefs under one paramount chief. Each chief ruled a ward within the territory. The first paramount chief was Lerothodi, the son of Moshoeshoe. During the Second Boer War the colony was neutral. The population grew from around 125,000 in 1875, to 310,000 in 1901, and to 349,000 by 1904. When the Union of South Africa was founded in 1910 the colony was still controlled by the British and moves were made to transfer it to the Union. However the people of Basutoland opposed this and it did not occur. During the course of World War I, over 4,500 Basuto enlisted into the military, most of whom served in the South African Native Labour Corps which fought on the Western Front. In 1916, Basutoland raised over £40,000 for the war effort. A year later, the troopship SS Mendi was sunk off the coast of the Isle of Wight, over 100 Basuto were killed in the sinking. The differing fates of the seSotho-speaking peoples in the Protectorate of Basotholand and in the lands that became the Orange Free State are worth noting. The Orange Free State became a Boer-ruled territory. At the end of the Boer War, it was colonised by the British, and this colony was subsequently incorporated by Britain into the Union of South Africa as one of four provinces. It is still part of the modern day Republic of South Africa, now known as the Free State. In contrast, Basotholand, along with the two other British Protectorates in the sub-Saharan region (Bechuanaland and Swaziland), was precluded from incorporation into the Union of South Africa. These protectorates were individually brought to independence by Britain in the 1960s. By becoming a protectorate, Basotholand and its inhabitants were not subjected to Afrikaner rule, which saved them from experiencing Apartheid, and so generally prospered under more benevolent British rule. Basotho residents of Basotholand had access to better health services and to education, and came to experience greater political emancipation through independence. These lands protected by the British, however, had a much smaller capacity to generate income and wealth than had the "lost territory", which had been granted to the Boers. Following the British entry into World War II, the decision was taken to draw recruits from the High Commission Territories (HTC) of Swaziland, Basutoland and Bechuanaland. Black citizens from the HTC were to be recruited into the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps (AAPC) labor unit due to Afrikaner opposition to armed black units. Mobilization for the AAPC was launched in late July 1941 and by October 18,000 personnel had arrived in the Middle East. The anti-colonial Basutoland Lekhorlu la Bufo (Commoner's League) was banned and its leaders were imprisoned for demanding that training for the recruits be improved and encouraging desertion. The AAPC performed a wide range of manual labor, providing logistical support to the Allied war effort during the North African, Dodecanese and Italian campaigns. During the Italian campaign some AAPC relieved British field artillery units of their duty. On 1 May 1943, British troopship SS Erinpura was torpedoed and sunk, resulting in the loss of 694 men from AAPC's 1919th and 1927th Basuto Companies; the unit's worst loss of life
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another country; the other two are San Marino and Vatican City, both located within Italy. The total length of the South African border is . Lesotho's status as an enclave also means that it is landlocked and largely dependent on South Africa. The nearest major shipping port is Durban. Physical geography Lesotho can be roughly divided into three geographic regions: the lowlands, following the southern banks of the Caledon River, and in the Senqu river valley; the highlands formed by the Drakensberg and Maloti mountain ranges in the east and central parts of the country; and the foothills that form a divide between the lowlands and the highlands. The lowest elevation in the country is at the junction of the Makhaleng and Orange (Senqu) rivers (at the South African border), which at is the highest lowest point of any country. Lesotho is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above in elevation. The highest point is the peak of the Thabana Ntlenyana mountain, which reaches an elevation of . Over 80% of Lesotho lies above . Even though very little of Lesotho is covered in water, the rivers that run across the country are an important part of Lesotho's economy. Much of the country's export income comes from water, and much of its power comes from hydroelectricity. The Orange River rises in the Drakensberg mountains in northeastern Lesotho and flows across the entire length of the country before exiting to South Africa at the Mohale's Hoek District in the southwest. The Caledon River marks the northwestern part of the border with South Africa. Other rivers include the Malibamatso, Matsoku and Senqunyane. The bedrock of Lesotho belongs to the Karoo Supergroup, consisting mostly of shale and sandstone. Peatlands can be found in the highlands of Lesotho, most extensively in the mountainous
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28°30' east longitude. It is the 141st largest country in the world, with a total land area of , of which a negligible percentage is covered with water. Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, making it one of only three countries in the world that are enclaved within another country; the other two are San Marino and Vatican City, both located within Italy. The total length of the South African border is . Lesotho's status as an enclave also means that it is landlocked and largely dependent on South Africa. The nearest major shipping port is Durban. Physical geography Lesotho can be roughly divided into three geographic regions: the lowlands, following the southern banks of the Caledon River, and in the Senqu river valley; the highlands formed by the Drakensberg and Maloti mountain ranges in the east and central parts of the country; and the foothills that form a divide between the lowlands and the highlands. The lowest elevation in the country is at the junction of the Makhaleng and Orange (Senqu) rivers (at the South African border), which at is the highest lowest point of any country. Lesotho is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above in elevation. The highest point is the peak of the Thabana Ntlenyana mountain, which reaches an elevation of . Over 80% of Lesotho lies above . Even though very little of Lesotho is covered in water, the rivers that run across the country are an important part of Lesotho's economy. Much of the country's export income comes from water, and much of its power comes from hydroelectricity. The Orange River rises in the Drakensberg mountains in northeastern Lesotho and flows across the entire length of the country before exiting to
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prepared the following estimates. Fertility and Births Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2014 (DHS Program): Life expectancy at birth Life expectancy from 1950 to 2015 (UN World Population Prospects): Other demographic statistics Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019. One birth every 9 minutes One death every 19 minutes One net migrant every 131 minutes Net gain of one person every 18 minutes The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated. 6,600 people living in Lesotho are from Asia or Europe. They represent 0.3% of the total population of Lesotho. The 5,000 Chinese people form the largest non-African ethnic group in Lesotho. Population 1,962,461 (July 2018 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 31.84% (male 314,155 /female 310,772) 15-24 years: 19.34% (male 181,332 /female 1955,236) 25-54 years: 38.27% (male 366,652 /female 384,333) 55-64 years: 5.02% (male 52,490 /female 46,016) 65 years and over: 5.53% (male 55,804 /female 52,671) (2018 est.) Median age total: 24.4 years. Country comparison to the world: 164th male: 24.4 years female: 24.3 years (2018 est.) Population growth rate 0.24% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 178th Birth rate 24.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 52nd Death rate 15.1 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Total fertility rate 2.59 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 72nd Mother's mean age at first birth 21 years (2014 est.) note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 Contraceptive prevalence rate 60.2% (2014) Net migration rate -6.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 203rd Religions Protestant 47.8% (Pentecostal 23.1%, Lesotho Evangelical 17.3%, Anglican 7.4%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, other Christian 9.1%, non-Christian 1.4%, none 2.3% (2014 est.) Dependency ratios total dependency ratio: 66.9 (2015 est.) youth dependency ratio: 59.5 (2015 est.) elderly dependency ratio: 7.4 (2015 est.) potential support ratio: 13.5 (2015 est.) Urbanization urban population: 30.2% of
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rate of urbanization: 2.83% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 53 years (2018 est.) male: 53 years (2018 est.) female: 53.1 years (2018 est.) Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.) total population: 79.4% (2015 est.) male: 70.1% (2015 est.) female: 88.3% (2015 est.) School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) total: 11 years (2015) male: 10 years (2015) female: 11 years (2015) Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 total: 34.4% (2013 est.) male: NA (2013 est.) female: NA (2013 est.) Ethnic groups and languages Due to Lesotho's long history as a unified nation, that continued even through British colonial rule, the ethnic makeup of the country is very homogenous. Lesotho's ethno-linguistic structure consists almost entirely of the Basotho (singular Mosotho), a Bantu-speaking people: an estimate of 99.7 percent of the people identify as Basotho. The Kwena (Bakoena) are the largest subgroup of the Sotho; other Basotho subgroups include the Natal (North) Nguni, Batloung (the Tlou), Baphuthi (the Phuti), Bafokeng, Bataung (the Tau), Bats'oeneng (the tso'ene) and the Cape (South) Nguni (Thembu). Other ethnic groups include Europeans, numbering in the thousands, and several hundred Asians. Sesotho (Southern Sotho) and English languages are both official. Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and French are also spoken. Religion The population of Lesotho is estimated to be around 90 percent Christian. Roman Catholics, the largest religious group, make up around 45 percent of the population. Evangelicals comprise 26 percent of the population, and Anglican and other Christian groups an additional 19 percent. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Baháʼí, and members of traditional indigenous religions comprise the remaining 10 percent of the population. Education and literacy According to recent estimates, 85 percent of the population 15 and over was literate. Among women the literacy rate was around 95 percent, and among men around 75 percent. As such, Lesotho boasts one of the higher literacy rates in Africa. Although education is not compulsory, the Government of Lesotho is incrementally implementing a programme for free primary education. It was expected that the program would be fully in place by 2006. The National University of Lesotho located in Roma and the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology located in the heart of Maseru, Moshoeshoe 2 are the only universities in the country. In addition, the
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freedom of religion. The Court of Appeal is located in Maseru and consists of a President and 6 justices of Appeal. The High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, as well as appellate jurisdiction from the lower courts and comprises a Chief Justice and other puisne judges. Parallel to the High Court is the Labour Court, which is a specialist court dealing exclusively with industrial and labour matters. Magistrates Courts are presided over by judicial officers (magistrates) employed as civil servants. They are not courts of record and as such their decisions are not binding on future cases. The Chief Justice and Justices of the Court of Appeal are appointed by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister. Puisne judges of the High Court are appointed by the King on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. High Court judges may retire any time after attaining the age of 75 but may be removed from office by the King for malfeasance or infirmity. Chief Justices c. 1968–>1970 Hendrik Rudolf Jacobs (South African) 1974–1975 Joas Tseliso Mapetla
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traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch. Legislative branch Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly has 120 members, elected for a five-year term, 80 in single-seat constituencies and 40 by proportional representation. The Senate has 33 nominated members. Political parties and elections General elections Judicial branch The constitution provides for an independent hierarchical judicial system. The judiciary is made up of the High Court of Lesotho, the Court of Appeal, magistrate's courts, and traditional (customary) courts which exist predominantly in rural areas. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone, or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, association, and the press; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of religion. The Court of Appeal is located in Maseru and consists of a President and 6 justices of Appeal. The High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction
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manufacturing, mining, and depends heavily on inflows of workers’ remittances and receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Lesotho is geographically surrounded by South Africa and is economically integrated with it as well. The majority of households subsist on farming. The formal sector employment consist of mainly the female workers in the apparel sector, the male migrant labor, primarily miners in South Africa for 3 to 9 months and employment in the Government of Lesotho (GOL) . The western lowlands form the main agricultural zone. Almost 50% of the population earn income through informal crop cultivation or animal husbandry with nearly two-thirds of the country's income coming from the agricultural sector. About 70% of the population lives in rural areas and works in agriculture. Lesotho has taken advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to become the largest exporter of garments to the US from sub-Saharan Africa. American Brands and retailers sourcing from Lesotho include: Foot Locker, Gap, Gloria Vanderbilt, JCPenny, Levi Strauss, Saks, Sears, Timberland and Wal-Mart. In mid-2004 its employment reached over 50,000 mainly female workers, marking the first time that manufacturing sector workers outnumbered government employees. In 2008 it exported 487 million dollars mainly to the United States. Since 2004 employment in the sector was somehow reduced to about 45,000, in mid-2011, due to intense international competition in the garment sector. It was the largest formal sector employer in Lesotho in 2011. The sector initiated a major program to fight HIV/AIDS, called Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA). It is an industry-wide program providing prevention and treatment for the workers. Lesotho, is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in which tariffs have been eliminated on the trade of goods between other member countries, which also include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa also form a common currency and exchange control area known as the Rand Monetary Area that uses the South African rand as the common currency. In 1980, Lesotho introduced its own currency, the loti (plural: maloti). One hundred lisente equal one loti. The Loti is at par with the rand. Economic history Until the political insecurity in September 1998, Lesotho's economy had grown steadily since 1992. The riots, however, destroyed nearly 80% of commercial infrastructure in Maseru and two other major towns in the country, having a disastrous effect on the country's economy. Nonetheless, the country has completed several IMF Structural Adjustment Programs, and inflation declined substantially over the course of the 1990s. Lesotho's trade deficit, however, is quite large, with exports representing only a small fraction of imports. The global economic crisis hit the Lesotho economy hard through loss of textile exports and jobs in the sector due largely to the economic slowdown in the United States which is a major export destination, reduced diamond mining
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Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA). It is an industry-wide program providing prevention and treatment for the workers. Lesotho, is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in which tariffs have been eliminated on the trade of goods between other member countries, which also include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa also form a common currency and exchange control area known as the Rand Monetary Area that uses the South African rand as the common currency. In 1980, Lesotho introduced its own currency, the loti (plural: maloti). One hundred lisente equal one loti. The Loti is at par with the rand. Economic history Until the political insecurity in September 1998, Lesotho's economy had grown steadily since 1992. The riots, however, destroyed nearly 80% of commercial infrastructure in Maseru and two other major towns in the country, having a disastrous effect on the country's economy. Nonetheless, the country has completed several IMF Structural Adjustment Programs, and inflation declined substantially over the course of the 1990s. Lesotho's trade deficit, however, is quite large, with exports representing only a small fraction of imports. The global economic crisis hit the Lesotho economy hard through loss of textile exports and jobs in the sector due largely to the economic slowdown in the United States which is a major export destination, reduced diamond mining and exports, including weak prices for diamonds; drop in SACU revenues due to the economic slowdown in the South African economy, and reduction in worker remittances due to weakening of the South African economy and contraction of the mining sector and related job losses in South Africa. In 2009, GDP growth slowed to 0.9 percent. Economic progress Lesotho's progress in moving from a predominantly subsistence-oriented economy to a lower middle income, diversified economy exporting natural resources and manufacturing goods has brought higher, more secure incomes to a significant portion of the population. The percentage of the population living below USD PPP US$1.25/day fell from 48 percent to 44 percent between 1995 and 2003. The unemployment rate in 2008 was 25.29% and rose to 27.2% in 2012. However, the unemployment rate fell to 23.06% in 2017. The percentage of the population living below the poverty line fell from 58% in 2002 to 49.2%
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languages in Lesotho which is Sesotho or English (LTV 292 on DStv). Newspapers Main newspapers in Lesotho: Public Eye newspaper, Public Eye website. Lesotho Times, Lesotho Times website. Sunday Express, Informative News, Informative News website. AllAfrica.com Finite Magazine LENA (Lesotho News Agency) The Post Telephones Calling code +266 International call prefix: 00 Main lines: 43,100 lines in use, 168th in the world (2012). Mobile cellular: 1.3 million lines, 153rd in the world (2012). Telephone system: Rudimentary system consisting of a modest number of landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a small radiotelephone communication system; privatized in 2001, Telecom Lesotho was tasked with providing an additional 50,000 fixed-line connections within five years, a target not met; mobile-cellular service dominates the market and is expanding with a subscribership of roughly 65 per 100 persons in 2011; rural services are scant (2011). Satellite earth station: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011). Telecommunications providers Vodacom Lesotho started operating in 1996 with the Government of Lesotho as a shareholder through its stake in Lesotho Telecommunications Corporation. When the Government of Lesotho began its privatisation process in 1999, it invited bids for this share in Vodacom Lesotho. In July 2000, Sekha-Metsi Consortium, a group of local business people and public figures, was announced as the successful bidder. Sekha-Metsi now holds a 12% share in Vodacom Lesotho with the remaining share held by Vodacom Group. In 2008
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a 12% share in Vodacom Lesotho with the remaining share held by Vodacom Group. In 2008 Vodacom Lesotho introduced its new partnership with Vodafone. Econet Telecom Lesotho is part of the Econet Wireless group and operates as a stand-alone entity with full local board and management control. It is the first African mobile service operator to use ForgetMeNot Africa's eTXT service to enable their customer base to send and receive email via any mobile capable of a simple SMS. Internet Top-level domain: .ls Internet users: 88,602 users, 170th in the world; 4.6% of the population, 189th in the world (2012). 27.93 % of households with internet access as of 2017 Fixed broadband: 2,529 subscriptions, 169th in the world; 0.1% of the population, 163rd in the world (2012). Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012). Internet hosts: 11,030 hosts, 131st in the world (2012). IPv4: 40,448 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 21.0 addresses per 1000 people (2012). Internet Service Providers: 4 ISPs (2013). Internet censorship and surveillance There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight. The Internet is not widely available and almost nonexistent in rural areas due to the lack of communications infrastructure and high cost of access. The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, so long as they do not interfere with "defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health". The government generally respects this right. An independent press, effective judiciary, and functioning democratic political system combine generally to promote freedom of the press; however, harassment of journalists and self-censorship persist. The law prohibits expressions of hatred or contempt for any person because of the person’s race, ethnic affiliation, gender, disability, or color. See also Lesotho Amateur Radio Society
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highland and lowland areas are two-wheeled ‘scotch carts' with pneumatic tyres. They used to be pulled mainly by oxen, but in recent years there has been an increasing tendency to use cows (females), as farmers often do not own oxen. The carts vary in design, some being made with old pickup bodies, some made using old axles, and many being purpose-made to standard designs by small workshops in Lesotho or South Africa. Most are painted red. Discussion with workshops producing carts suggest the main problem is obtaining suitable wheels and axles, as well as other raw materials, that can be afforded by their clients. Basotho ponies are very important in the highlands for riding. Ponies are sometimes used as pack animals to carry goods, but this is relatively uncommon. Donkeys, on the other hand are widely used as pack animals in all parts of the county. Donkeys are quite commonly ridden, mainly by young men and usually without a saddle. It is quite common for women to ride ponies, but relatively few women ride donkeys. A few people, notably older men, ride donkeys fitted with saddles. Mules are relatively uncommon, and may be used for riding or pack transport. The use of ponies, mules and donkeys to pull carts is very low. Very few two-wheeled donkey carts or horse carts, although such carts are very common in other countries in southern, eastern, western and northern Africa. In at least two urban areas (Maputsoe and Mafeteng) a small number of transport entrepreneurs use carts or wagons with pneumatic tyres pulled mainly by single ponies (and occasionally by two donkeys or a mule). In Mafeteng, the transporters use two-wheel carts, while in
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Of the other airports, one has a paved runway between 914 and 1,523 meters in length and one a paved runway with a length of under 914 meters. Four of the airports have unpaved runways of between 914 and 1,523 meters in length, and the others have unpaved runways of less than 914 meters. All of the classifications are made by the length of the longest runway on an airport. Water transport Lesotho is landlocked and completely dependent on South Africa for sea transport. The nearest major port and the transshipping point for the country is Durban. Recently due to delays out of Durban more companies have been using the Port Elizabeth facilities that are 2 hours farther south. Inland water transport is limited to small ferry boats at river crossings, and the Government of Lesotho operates boats at major crossings. Intermediate means of transport The main intermediate means of transport (IMTs) in use are wheelbarrows and work animals. Wheelbarrows are widespread in the urban and rural areas and are commonly used by women and men to transport food aid, grains for milling, water containers, and building materials. The importance of wheelbarrows for water collection is gradually being reduced by the provision of water taps. Also common in both highland and lowland areas are two-wheeled ‘scotch carts' with pneumatic tyres. They used to be pulled mainly by oxen, but in recent years there has been an increasing tendency to use cows (females), as farmers often do not own oxen. The carts vary in design, some being made with old pickup bodies, some made using old axles, and many being purpose-made to standard designs by small workshops in Lesotho or South Africa. Most are painted red. Discussion with workshops producing carts suggest the main problem is obtaining suitable wheels and axles, as well as other raw materials, that can be afforded by their clients. Basotho ponies are very important in the highlands for riding. Ponies are sometimes used as pack animals to carry goods, but this is relatively uncommon. Donkeys,
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South Africa, Ireland, People's Republic of China, Libya, and the European Union all currently retain resident diplomatic missions in Lesotho. Foreign relations of Lesotho are administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations. Lesotho has historically maintained generally close ties with the Republic of Ireland (Lesotho's largest bilateral aid donor), the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other Western states. Although Lesotho decided in 1990 to break relations with the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and re-establish relations with the Republic of China (commonly known by its main island as Taiwan), it had restored ties with the P.R.C. in 1994.
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the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other Western states. Although Lesotho decided in 1990 to break relations with the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and re-establish relations with the Republic of China (commonly known by its main island as Taiwan), it had restored ties with the P.R.C. in 1994. Bilateral relations Lesotho and the Commonwealth of Nations Lesotho, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Swaziland, and Tonga, is a Commonwealth member state with its own monarchy. See also List
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October. The subsequent 2005 elections were internationally regarded as the freest and fairest in Liberian history. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a US-educated economist and former Minister of Finance, was elected as the first female president in Africa. Upon her inauguration, Sirleaf requested the extradition of Taylor from Nigeria and transferred him to the SCSL for trial in The Hague. In 2006, the government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the causes and crimes of the civil war. In 2011, July 26 was proclaimed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be observed as National Independence Day. Following the 2017 Liberian general election, former professional football striker George Weah, one of the greatest African players of all time, was sworn in as president on 22 January 2018, becoming the 4th youngest serving president in Africa. The inauguration marked Liberia's first fully democratic transition in 74 years. Weah cited fighting corruption, reforming the economy, combating illiteracy, and improving life conditions as the main targets of his presidency. Geography Liberia is situated in West Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the country's southwest. It lies between latitudes 4° and 9°N, and longitudes 7° and 12°W. The landscape is characterized by mostly flat to rolling coastal plains that contain mangroves and swamps, which rise to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Tropical rainforests cover the hills, while elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests make up the dominant vegetation in the northern sections. The equatorial climate, in the south of the country, is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August. During the winter months of November to March, dry dust-laden harmattan winds blow inland, causing many problems for residents. Liberia's watershed tends to move in a southwestern pattern towards the sea as new rains move down the forested plateau off the inland mountain range of Guinée Forestière, in Guinea. Cape Mount near the border with Sierra Leone receives the most precipitation in the nation. Liberia's main northwestern boundary is traversed by the Mano River while its southeast limits are bounded by the Cavalla River. Liberia's three largest rivers are St. Paul exiting near Monrovia, the river St. John at Buchanan, and the Cestos River, all of which flow into the Atlantic. The Cavalla is the longest river in the nation at . The highest point wholly within Liberia is Mount Wuteve at above sea level in the northwestern Liberia range of the West Africa Mountains and the Guinea Highlands. However, Mount Nimba near Yekepa, is higher at above sea level but is not wholly within Liberia as Nimba shares a border with Guinea and Ivory Coast and is their tallest mountain as well. Forests Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century. Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within Liberia's borders: Guinean montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and Guinean mangroves. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.79/10, ranking it 116th globally out of 172 countries. Administrative divisions Liberia is divided into fifteen counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 90 districts and further subdivided into clans. The oldest counties are Grand Bassa and Montserrado, both founded in 1839 prior to Liberian independence. Gbarpolu is the newest county, created in 2001. Nimba is the largest of the counties in size at , while Montserrado is the smallest at . Montserrado is also the most populous county with 1,144,806 residents as of the 2008 census. The fifteen counties are administered by superintendents appointed by the president. The Constitution calls for the election of various chiefs at the county and local level, but these elections have not taken place since 1985 due to war and financial constraints. Parallel to the administrative divisions of the country are the local and municipal divisions. Liberia currently does not have any constitutional framework or uniform statutes which deal with the creation or revocation of local governments. All existing local governments – cities, townships, and a borough – were created by specific acts of the Liberian government, and thus the structure and duties/responsibilities of each local government varies greatly from one to the other. Environmental issues Endangered species are hunted for human consumption as bushmeat in Liberia. Species hunted for food in Liberia include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, leopards, duikers, and other monkeys. Bushmeat is often exported to neighboring Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, despite a ban on the cross-border sale of wild animals. Bushmeat is widely eaten in Liberia, and is considered a delicacy. A 2004 public opinion survey found that bushmeat ranked second behind fish amongst residents of the capital Monrovia as a preferred source of protein. Of households where bushmeat was served, 80% of residents said they cooked it "once in a while," while 13% cooked it once a week and 7% cooked bushmeat daily. The survey was conducted during the last civil war, and bushmeat consumption is now believed to be far higher. Liberia is a global biodiversity hotspot—a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans. Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the human activities eroding Liberia's natural forests. A 2004 UN report estimated that 99% of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. Illegal logging has increased in Liberia since the end of the Second Civil War in 2003. In 2012, President Sirleaf granted licenses to companies to cut down 58% of all the primary rainforest left in Liberia. After international protests, many of those logging permits were canceled. In September 2014, Liberia and Norway struck an agreement whereby Liberia ceased all logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid. Pollution is a significant issue in Monrovia. Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank. Climate change Politics The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the United States, is a unitary constitutional republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, headed by the president; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Legislature of Liberia; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and several lower courts. The president serves as head of government, head of state, and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Among the president's other duties are to sign or veto legislative bills, grant pardons, and appoint Cabinet members, judges, and other public officials. Together with the vice president, the president is elected to a six-year term by majority vote in a two-round system and can serve up to two terms in office. The Legislature is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House, led by a speaker, has 73 members apportioned among the 15 counties on the basis of the national census, with each county receiving a minimum of two members. Each House member represents an electoral district within a county as drawn by the National Elections Commission and is elected by a plurality of the popular vote of their district into a six-year term. The Senate is made up of two senators from each county for a total of 30 senators. Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected at-large by a plurality of the popular vote. The vice president serves as the President of the Senate, with a President pro tempore serving in their absence. Liberia's highest judicial authority is the Supreme Court, made up of five members and headed by the Chief Justice of Liberia. Members are nominated to the court by the president and are confirmed by the Senate, serving until the age of 70. The judiciary is further divided into circuit and speciality courts, magistrate courts and justices of the peace. The judicial system is a blend of common law, based on Anglo-American law, and customary law. An informal system of traditional courts still exists within the rural areas of the country, with trial by ordeal remaining common despite being officially outlawed. From 1877 to 1980, the government was dominated by the True Whig Party. Today, over 20 political parties are registered in the country, based largely around personalities and ethnic groups. Most parties suffer from poor organizational capacity. The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature. Military The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the country's armed forces. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable material and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisors, with combat experience in the Second World War also playing a role in training. After UN Security Council Resolution 1509 in September 2003, the United Nations Mission in Liberia arrived to referee the ceasefire with units from Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and China with the view to assist the National Transitional Government of Liberia in forming the new Liberian military. Foreign relations After the turmoil following the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Liberia's internal stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. As in other African countries, China is an important part of the post-conflict reconstruction. In the past, both of Liberia's neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone, have accused Liberia of backing rebels in their countries. Law enforcement and crime The Liberian National Police is the country's national police force. As of October 2007 it has 844 officers in 33 stations in Montserrado County, which contains Monrovia. The National Police Training Academy is in Paynesville City. A history of corruption among police officers diminishes public trust and operational effectiveness. The internal security is characterized by a general lawlessness coupled with the danger that former combatants in the late civil war might reestablish militias to challenge the civil authorities. Rape and sexual assault are frequent in the post-conflict era in Liberia. Liberia has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases. Adolescent girls are the most frequently assaulted, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims. Both male and female homosexuality are illegal in Liberia. On July 20, 2012, the Liberian senate voted unanimously to enact legislation to prohibit and criminalize same-sex marriages. Corruption Corruption is endemic at every level of the Liberian government. When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was "the major public enemy." In 2014, the US ambassador to Liberia said that corruption there was harming people through "unnecessary costs to products and services that are already difficult for many Liberians to afford". Liberia scored a 3.3 on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt) on the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index. This gave it a ranking 87th of 178 countries worldwide and 11th of 47 in Sub-Saharan Africa. This score represented a significant improvement since 2007, when the country scored 2.1 and ranked 150th of 180 countries. When dealing with public-facing government functionaries, 89% of Liberians say they have had to pay a bribe, the highest national percentage in the world according to the organization's 2010 Global Corruption Barometer. Economy The Central Bank of Liberia is responsible for printing and maintaining the Liberian dollar, Liberia's primary currency. Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a formal employment rate of 15%. GDP per capita peaked in 1980 at US$496, when it was comparable to Egypt's (at the time). In 2011, the country's nominal GDP was US$1.154 billion, while nominal GDP per capita stood at US$297, the third-lowest in the world. Historically the Liberian economy has depended heavily on foreign aid, foreign direct investment and exports of natural resources such as iron ore, rubber, and timber. Economic history Following a peak in growth in 1979, the Liberian economy began a steady decline due to economic mismanagement after the 1980 coup. This decline was accelerated by the outbreak of civil war in 1989; GDP was reduced by an estimated 90% between 1989 and
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in the Legislature. Military The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the country's armed forces. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable material and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisors, with combat experience in the Second World War also playing a role in training. After UN Security Council Resolution 1509 in September 2003, the United Nations Mission in Liberia arrived to referee the ceasefire with units from Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and China with the view to assist the National Transitional Government of Liberia in forming the new Liberian military. Foreign relations After the turmoil following the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Liberia's internal stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. As in other African countries, China is an important part of the post-conflict reconstruction. In the past, both of Liberia's neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone, have accused Liberia of backing rebels in their countries. Law enforcement and crime The Liberian National Police is the country's national police force. As of October 2007 it has 844 officers in 33 stations in Montserrado County, which contains Monrovia. The National Police Training Academy is in Paynesville City. A history of corruption among police officers diminishes public trust and operational effectiveness. The internal security is characterized by a general lawlessness coupled with the danger that former combatants in the late civil war might reestablish militias to challenge the civil authorities. Rape and sexual assault are frequent in the post-conflict era in Liberia. Liberia has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases. Adolescent girls are the most frequently assaulted, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims. Both male and female homosexuality are illegal in Liberia. On July 20, 2012, the Liberian senate voted unanimously to enact legislation to prohibit and criminalize same-sex marriages. Corruption Corruption is endemic at every level of the Liberian government. When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was "the major public enemy." In 2014, the US ambassador to Liberia said that corruption there was harming people through "unnecessary costs to products and services that are already difficult for many Liberians to afford". Liberia scored a 3.3 on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt) on the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index. This gave it a ranking 87th of 178 countries worldwide and 11th of 47 in Sub-Saharan Africa. This score represented a significant improvement since 2007, when the country scored 2.1 and ranked 150th of 180 countries. When dealing with public-facing government functionaries, 89% of Liberians say they have had to pay a bribe, the highest national percentage in the world according to the organization's 2010 Global Corruption Barometer. Economy The Central Bank of Liberia is responsible for printing and maintaining the Liberian dollar, Liberia's primary currency. Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a formal employment rate of 15%. GDP per capita peaked in 1980 at US$496, when it was comparable to Egypt's (at the time). In 2011, the country's nominal GDP was US$1.154 billion, while nominal GDP per capita stood at US$297, the third-lowest in the world. Historically the Liberian economy has depended heavily on foreign aid, foreign direct investment and exports of natural resources such as iron ore, rubber, and timber. Economic history Following a peak in growth in 1979, the Liberian economy began a steady decline due to economic mismanagement after the 1980 coup. This decline was accelerated by the outbreak of civil war in 1989; GDP was reduced by an estimated 90% between 1989 and 1995, one of the fastest declines in history. Upon the end of the war in 2003, GDP growth began to accelerate, reaching 9.4% in 2007. The global financial crisis slowed GDP growth to 4.6% in 2009, though a strengthening agricultural sector led by rubber and timber exports increased growth to 5.1% in 2010 and an expected 7.3% in 2011, making the economy one of the 20 fastest-growing in the world. Current impediments to growth include a small domestic market, lack of adequate infrastructure, high transportation costs, poor trade links with neighboring countries and the high dollarization of the economy. Liberia used the United States dollar as its currency from 1943 until 1982 and continues to use the U.S. dollar alongside the Liberian dollar. Following a decrease in inflation beginning in 2003, inflation spiked in 2008 as a result of worldwide food and energy crises, reaching 17.5% before declining to 7.4% in 2009. Liberia's external debt was estimated in 2006 at approximately $4.5 billion, 800% of GDP. As a result of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debt relief from 2007 to 2010, the country's external debt fell to $222.9 million by 2011. While official commodity exports declined during the 1990s as many investors fled the civil war, Liberia's wartime economy featured the exploitation of the region's diamond wealth. The country acted as a major trader in Sierra Leonian blood diamonds, exporting over US$300 million in diamonds in 1999. This led to a United Nations ban on Liberian diamond exports in 2001, which was lifted in 2007 following Liberia's accession to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. In 2003, additional UN sanctions were placed on Liberian timber exports, which had risen from US$5 million in 1997 to over US$100 million in 2002 and were believed to be funding rebels in Sierra Leone. These sanctions were lifted in 2006. Due in large part to foreign aid and investment inflow following the end of the war, Liberia maintains a large account deficit, which peaked at nearly 60% in 2008. Liberia gained observer status with the World Trade Organization in 2010 and became an official member in 2016. Liberia has the highest ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in the world, with US$16 billion in investment since 2006. Following Sirleaf's inauguration in 2006, Liberia signed several multi-billion-dollar concession agreements in the iron ore and palm oil industries with numerous multinational corporations, including ArcelorMittal, BHP and Sime Darby. Palm oil companies like Sime Darby (Malaysia) and Golden Veroleum (USA) have been accused of destroying livelihoods and displacing local communities, enabled by government concessions. Since 1926 Firestone has operated the world's largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Margibi County. As of 2015, it had more than 8,000 mostly Liberian employees, making it the country's largest private employer. Shipping flag of convenience Due to its status as a flag of convenience, Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. It has 3,500 vessels registered under its flag, accounting for 11% of ships worldwide. Major industries Agriculture Mining Telecommunications There are six major newspapers in Liberia, and 45% of the population has a mobile phone service. Much of Liberia's communications infrastructure was destroyed or plundered during the two civil wars (1989–1996 and 1999–2003). With low rates of adult literacy and high poverty rates, television and newspaper use is limited, leaving radio as the predominant means of communicating with the public. Transportation Energy Public electricity services are provided solely by the state-owned Liberia Electricity Corporation, which operates a small grid almost exclusively in the Greater Monrovia District. The vast majority of electric energy services is provided by small, privately owned generators. At $0.54 per kWh, the cost of electricity in Liberia is among the highest in the world. Total capacity in 2013 was 20 MW, a sharp decline from a peak of 191 MW in 1989 before the wars. The repair and expansion of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project, with a maximum capacity of 80 MW, was completed in 2018. Construction of three new heavy fuel oil power plants is expected to boost electrical capacity by 38 MW. In 2013, Liberia began importing power from neighboring Ivory Coast and Guinea through the West African Power Pool. Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011 and planned for auction. Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Woodside Petroleum. Demographics As of the 2017 national census, Liberia was home to 4,694,608 people. Of those, 1,118,241 lived in Montserrado County, the most populous county in the country and home to the capital of Monrovia. The Greater Monrovia District has 970,824 residents. Nimba County is the next most populous county, with 462,026 residents. As revealed in the 2008 census, Monrovia is more than four times more populous than all the county capitals combined. Prior to the 2008 census, the last census had been taken in 1984 and listed the country's population as 2,101,628. The population of Liberia was 1,016,443 in 1962 and increased to 1,503,368 in 1974. , Liberia had the highest population growth rate in the world (4.50% per annum). In 2010 some 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15. Ethnic groups The population includes 16 indigenous ethnic groups and various foreign minorities. Indigenous peoples comprise about 95 percent of the population. The 16 officially recognized ethnic groups include the Kpelle, Bassa, Mano, Gio or Dan, Kru, Grebo, Krahn, Vai, Gola, Mandingo or Mandinka, Mende, Kissi, Gbandi, Loma, Dei or Dewoin, Belleh, and Americo-Liberians or Congo people. The Kpelle comprise more than 20% of the population and are the largest ethnic group in Liberia, residing mostly in Bong County and adjacent areas in central Liberia. Americo-Liberians, who are descendants of African American and West Indian, mostly Barbadian (Bajan) settlers, make up 2.5%. Congo people, descendants of repatriated Congo and Afro-Caribbean slaves who arrived in 1825, make up an estimated 2.5%. These latter two groups established political control in the 19th century which they kept well into the 20th century. Numerous immigrants have come as merchants and become a major part of the business community, including Lebanese, Indians, and other West African nationals. There is a high percentage of interracial marriage between ethnic Liberians and the Lebanese, resulting in a significant mixed-race population especially in and around Monrovia. A small minority of Liberians who are White Africans of European descent reside in the country. The Liberian constitution exercises jus sanguinis, restricting its citizenship to "Negroes or persons of Negro descent." Languages English is the official language and serves as the lingua franca of Liberia. Thirty-one indigenous languages are spoken in Liberia, but each is a first language for only a small percentage of the population. Liberians also speak a variety of creolized dialects collectively known as Liberian English. Largest cities Religion According to the 2008 National Census, 85.6% of the population practiced Christianity, while Muslims represented a minority of 12.2%. A multitude of diverse Protestant confessions such as Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) denominations form the bulk of the Christian population, followed by adherents of the Catholic Church and other non-Protestant Christians. Most of these Christian denominations were brought by African-American settlers moving from the United States into Liberia via the American Colonization Society, while some are indigenous—especially Pentecostal and evangelical Protestant ones. Protestantism was originally associated with Black American settlers and their Americo-Liberian descendants, while native peoples initially held to their own animist forms of African traditional religion before largely adopting Christianity. While Christian, many Liberians also participate in traditional, gender-based indigenous religious secret societies, such as Poro for men and Sande for women. The all-female Sande society practices female circumcision. Muslims comprised 12.2% of the population in 2008, largely represented by the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. Liberian Muslims are divided between Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Sufis, and non-denominational Muslims. In 2008, 0.5% identified adherence to traditional indigenous religions, while 1.5% claimed no religion. A small number of people were Baháʼí, Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist. The Liberian constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right. While separation of church and state is mandated by the Constitution, Liberia is considered a Christian state in practice. Public schools offer biblical studies, though parents may opt their children out. Commerce is prohibited by law on Sunday and major Christian holidays. The government does not require businesses or schools to excuse Muslims for Friday prayers. Education In 2010, the literacy rate of Liberia was estimated at 60.8% (64.8% for males and 56.8% for females). In some areas primary and secondary education is free and compulsory from the ages of 6 to 16, though enforcement of attendance is lax. In other areas children are required to pay a tuition fee to attend school. On average, children attain 10 years of education (11 for boys and 8 for girls). The country's education sector is hampered by inadequate schools and supplies, as well as a lack of qualified teachers. Higher education is provided by a number of public and private universities. The University of Liberia is the country's largest and oldest university. Located in Monrovia, the university opened in 1862. Today it has six colleges, including a medical school and the nation's only law school, Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law. In 2009, Tubman University in Harper, Maryland County was established as the second public university in Liberia. Since 2006, the government has also opened community colleges in Buchanan, Sanniquellie, and Voinjama. Due to student protests late in October 2018, newly elected president George M. Weah abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the public universities in Liberia. Private universities Cuttington University was established by the Episcopal Church of the USA in 1889 in Suakoko, Bong County, as part of its missionary education work among indigenous peoples. It is the nation's oldest private university. Stella Maris Polytechnic, a post-secondary, private institution of higher learning. Founded in 1988, the school is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia. Located on Capitol Hill, the school has approximately 2,000 students. Adventist University of West Africa, a post-secondary learning environment that is situated in Margibi County, on the Roberts International Airport. United Methodist University, a private Christian university located in Liberia, West Africa, it is commonly known amongst locals as UMU. As of 2016, it had approximately 9,118 students. This institution was founded in 1998. African Methodist Episcopal University, a private higher education institution that was founded in 1995. St. Clements University College (Liberia), a private higher education institution that was founded in 2008. Health Hospitals in Liberia include the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia and several others. Life expectancy in Liberia is estimated to be 57.4 years in 2012. With a fertility rate of 5.9 births per woman, the maternal mortality rate stood at 990 per 100,000 births in 2010. A number of highly communicable diseases are widespread, including tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases and malaria. In 2007, the HIV infection rates stood at 2% of the population aged 15–49 whereas the incidence of tuberculosis was 420 per 100,000 people in 2008. Approximately 58.2% – 66% of women are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation. Liberia imports 90% of its rice, a staple food, and is extremely vulnerable to food shortages. In 2007, 20.4% of children under the age of five were malnourished. In 2008, only 17% of the population had access to adequate sanitation facilities. Approximately 95% of the country's healthcare facilities had been destroyed by the time civil war ended in 2003. In 2009, government expenditure on health care per capita was US$22, accounting for 10.6% of total GDP. In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people. In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus in Guinea spread to Liberia. , there were 2,812 confirmed deaths from the ongoing outbreak. In early August 2014 Guinea closed its borders to Liberia to help contain the spread of the virus, as more new cases were being reported in Liberia than in Guinea. On May 9, 2015, Liberia was declared Ebola free after six weeks with no new cases. According to an Overseas Development Institute report, private health expenditure accounts for 64.1% of total spending on health. Culture The religious practices, social customs and cultural standards of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the antebellum American South. The settlers wore top hat and tails and modeled their homes on those of Southern slaveowners. Most Americo-Liberian men were members of the Masonic Order of Liberia, which became heavily involved in the nation's politics. Liberia has a rich history in textile arts and quilting, as the settlers brought with them their sewing and quilting skills. Liberia hosted National Fairs in 1857 and 1858 in which prizes were awarded for various needle arts. One of the most well-known Liberian quilters was Martha Ann Ricks, who presented a quilt featuring the famed Liberian coffee tree to Queen Victoria in 1892. When President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf moved into the Executive Mansion, she reportedly had a Liberian-made quilt installed in her presidential office. A rich literary tradition has existed in Liberia for over a century. Edward Wilmot Blyden, Bai T. Moore, Roland T. Dempster and Wilton G. S. Sankawulo are among Liberia's more prominent authors. Moore's novella Murder in the Cassava Patch is considered Liberia's most celebrated novel. Polygamy One-third of married Liberian women between the ages of 15–49 are in polygamous marriages. Customary law allows men to have up to four wives. Cuisine Liberian cuisine heavily incorporates rice, the country's staple food. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes. Heavy stews spiced with habanero and scotch bonnet chilies are popular and eaten with fufu. Liberia also has a tradition of baking imported from the United States that is unique in West Africa. Sport The most popular sport in Liberia is association football, with President George Weah — the only African to be named FIFA World Player of the Year —
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threats to its sovereignty over unpaid foreign loans and border disputes. In 1912, the U.S. arranged a 40-year international loan of $1.7 million, against which Liberia had to agree to four Western powers (United States, Britain, France, and Germany) controlling Liberian Government revenues until 1926. The American administration of the border police stabilized the frontier with Sierra Leone (then part of the British Empire), and checked French ambitions to annex more Liberian territory. The United States Navy established a coaling station in Liberia. Ensuring American support for Liberian independence, prosperity, and reform was among the high priorities of United States President, William Howard Taft. The United States played a significant role in training the Liberian army, known as the Liberian Frontier Force, with the assistance of African-American officers from the United States Army. The American presence warded off European powers, defeated a series of local rebellions, and helped bring in American technology to develop the resource-rich interior. Democracy was not a high priority, as the 15,000 Americo-Liberians had full control over the approximately 750,000 locals. The Krus and Greboe tribes remained highly reluctant to accept control from Monrovia, but were not powerful enough to overcome a regime strongly supported by the U.S. Army and Navy. The American officers, including Charles Young and Benjamin Davis among others, were skilled at training recruits, helped the government minimize corruption, and advocated for loans from American corporations (while monitoring the resulting flow of fund). World War I Liberia remained neutral for most of World War I. It joined the war on the Allied side on 4 August 1917. After its declaration of war, the resident German merchants were expelled from Liberia. As they constituted the country's largest investors and trading partners, Liberia suffered economically as a result. Firestone concession In 1926, the Liberian government granted a concession to Firestone, an American rubber company, that allowed the company to establish the world's largest rubber plantation at Harbel, Liberia. Concurrently, Firestone had arranged a $5 million private loan to Liberia. By the 1930s, Liberia became virtually bankrupt once again. After receiving pressure from the United States, the Liberian government agreed to an assistance plan from the League of Nations. As stipulated by the plan, two key officials of the league were placed in positions to "advise" the Liberian government. World War II In 1942, Liberia signed a Defense Pact with the United States. Rubber was a strategically important commodity, and Liberia assured the U.S. and its allies that a sufficient supply of natural rubber would be provided. Furthermore, Liberia allowed the U.S. to use its territory as a bridgehead for transports of soldiers and war supplies, in addition to the construction of military bases, airports, the Freeport of Monrovia, roads to the interior, etc. Many of the American personnel who passed through Liberia were black soldiers (who, at the time, were in racially segregated army divisions), and were deployed into military service in Europe. The American military presence boosted the Liberian economy; thousands of laborers descended from the interior to the coastal region. The country's huge iron ore deposits were made accessible to commerce. The Defense Areas Agreement between the U.S. and Liberia entailed the US-financed construction of Roberts Field airport, the Freeport of Monrovia, and roads into the interior of Liberia. By the end of World War II, approximately 5,000 American troops had been stationed in Liberia. Arguments substantiating this notion are that World War II infrastructure developments did not positively affect social and political struggles in Liberia, and that decades after the development from World War II, Americo-Liberians disproportionately controlled and benefited from Liberia's growing economy and increase in foreign investment. Cold War After World War II, the U.S. pressured Liberia to resist the expansion of Soviet influence in Africa during the Cold War. Liberian president William Tubman was agreeable to this policy. Between 1946 and 1960 Liberia received some $500 million in unrestricted foreign investment, mainly from the U.S. From 1962 to 1980, the U.S. donated $280 million in aid to Liberia. In the 1970s under president Tolbert, Liberia strove for a more non-aligned and independent posture, and established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Eastern bloc countries. It also severed ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but announced it supported American involvement in the Vietnam War. End of Americo-Liberian rule President William Tolbert pursued a policy of suppressing opposition. Dissatisfaction over governmental plans to raise the price of rice in 1979 led to protest demonstrations in the streets of Monrovia. Tolbert ordered his troops to fire on the demonstrators, and seventy people were killed. Rioting ensued throughout Liberia, finally leading to a military coup d'état in April 1980. Tolbert was killed during the coup, and several of his ministers were executed soon afterwards, marking the end of Americo-Liberian domination of the country. Samuel Doe and the People's Redemption Council (1980–1989) After a bloody overthrow of the Americo-Liberian régime by indigenous Liberians in 1980, a 'Redemption Council' took control of Liberia. Internal unrest, opposition to the new military regime, and governmental repression steadily grew, until in 1989 Liberia sank into outright tribal and civil war. Coup d’état; relations with U.S. Samuel Kanyon Doe (1951–1990) was a member of the Krahn, a small ethnic group. He was a master sergeant in the Liberian army, and had trained with the U.S. Army Special Forces. On April 12, 1980, Doe led a bloody coup d'état against president Tolbert, in which Tolbert and twenty-six of his supporters were murdered. Ten days later, thirteen of Tolbert's Cabinet members were executed publicly. This ended the 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination. Doe formed a military regime known as the People's Redemption Council (PRC). Many welcomed Doe's takeover, since the majority of the population had always been excluded from power. The PRC also for the time being tolerated a relatively free press. Doe quickly established good relations with the United States, especially after 1981, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan took office. Reagan more than tripled Liberia's financial aid, from $20 million in 1979 to $75 million per year. This soon rose to $95 million per annum. Liberia again became an important Cold War ally of the United States. Liberia protected important U.S. facilities and investments in Africa, and countered the threatened spread of Soviet influence in the continent. Doe closed the Libyan mission in Monrovia and severed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. He agreed to modify the mutual defense pact with the U.S., allowing the U.S. staging rights at 24 hours notice to use Liberia's harbors and airports for the U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces. Under Doe, Liberian ports were opened to American, Canadian, and European merchant ships, which brought in considerable foreign investment from shipping firms and earned Liberia a reputation as a tax haven. Fear of counter-coup; repression Doe had to put down seven coup attempts between 1981 and 1985. In August 1981, he had Thomas Weh Syen and four other PRC members arrested and executed for allegedly conspiring against him. Doe's government then declared amnesty for all political prisoners and exiles, and released sixty political prisoners. However, there soon were more internal rifts in the PRC. Doe became paranoid about the possibility of a counter-coup, and his government grew increasingly corrupt and repressive, banning all political opposition, shutting down newspapers, and jailing reporters. He began to systematically eliminate PRC members who challenged his authority, and to place people of his own ethnic Krahn background in key positions, which intensified popular anger. Meanwhile, the economy deteriorated precipitously. Popular support for Doe's government evaporated. 1985 presidential election A draft constitution providing for a multiparty republic had been issued in 1983 and was approved by referendum in 1984. After the referendum, Doe staged a presidential election on October 15, 1985. Nine political parties sought to challenge Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), but only three were allowed to take part. Prior to the election, more than fifty of Doe's opponents were murdered. Doe was ‘elected’ with 51% of the vote, but the election was heavily rigged. Foreign observers declared the elections fraudulent, and most of the elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Chester Crocker testified before Congress that the election was imperfect but that at least it was a step toward democracy. He further justified his support for the election results with the claim that, in any case, all African elections were known to be rigged at that time. Outbreak of Civil War In November 1985, Doe's former second-in-command Thomas Quiwonkpa led an estimated 500 to 600 people in a failed attempt to seize power; all were killed. Doe was sworn in as president on January 6, 1986. Doe then initiated crackdowns against certain tribes, such as the Gio (or Dan) and Mano, in the north, where most of the coup plotters came from. This government's mistreatment of certain ethnic groups resulted in divisions and violence among indigenous peoples, who until then had coexisted relatively peacefully. In the late 1980s, as fiscal austerity took hold in the United States and the perceived threat of Communism declined with the waning of the Cold War, the U.S. became disenchanted with Doe's government and began cutting off critical foreign aid to Liberia. This, together with the popular opposition, made Doe's position precarious. First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996) In the late 1980s opposition from abroad to Doe’s regime led to economic collapse. Doe had already been repressing and crushing internal opposition for some time, when in November 1985 another coup attempt against him failed. Doe retaliated against tribes such as the Gio (or Dan) and Mano in the north, where most of the coup plotters had come from. Doe's Krahn tribe began attacking other tribes, particularly in Nimba County in the northeast of Liberia, bordering on Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and on Guinea. Some Liberian northerners fled brutal treatment from the Liberian army into the Ivory Coast. Charles Taylor and the NPFL (1980–1989) Charles Taylor, born 1948 in Arthington, Liberia, is son of a Gola mother and either an Americo-Liberian or an Afro-Trinidadian father. Taylor was a student at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.A., from 1972 to 1977, earning a degree in economics. After the 1980 coup d’état he served some time in Doe's government until he was fired in 1983 on accusation of embezzling government funds. He fled Liberia, was arrested in 1984 in Massachusetts on a Liberian warrant for extradition, and jailed in Massachusetts. He escaped from jail the following year and probably fled to Libya. In 1989, while in the Ivory Coast, Taylor assembled a group of rebels into the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), mostly from the Gio and Mano tribes. War December 1989, the NPFL invaded Nimba County in Liberia. Thousands of Gio and Mano joined them, Liberians of other ethnic background as well. The Liberian army (AFL) counterattacked, and retaliated against the whole population of the region. Mid-1990, a war was raging between Krahn on one side, and Gio and Mano on the other. On both sides, thousands of civilians were massacred. By the middle of 1990, Taylor controlled much of the country, and by June laid siege to Monrovia. In July, Yormie Johnson split off from NPFL and formed the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), based around the Gio tribe. Both NPFL and INPFL continued their siege of Monrovia. In August 1990, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an organisation of West African states, created a military intervention force called the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) composed of 4,000 troops, to restore order. President Doe and Yormie Johnson (INPFL) agreed to this intervention, Taylor didn't. On September 9, President Doe paid a visit to the barely established headquarters of ECOMOG in the Free Port of Monrovia. While he was at the ECOMOG headquarters, he was attacked by INPFL, taken to the INPFL's Caldwell base, tortured, and killed. In November 1990, ECOWAS agreed with some principal Liberian players, but without Charles Taylor, on an Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) under President Dr. Amos Sawyer. Sawyer established his authority over most of Monrovia, with the help of a paramilitary police force, the 'Black Berets', under Brownie Samukai, while the rest of the country was in the hands of the various warring factions. In June 1991, former Liberian army fighters formed a rebel group, the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO). They entered western Liberia in September 1991 and gained territories from the NPFL. In 1993, ECOWAS brokered a peace agreement in Cotonou, Benin. On 22 September 1993, the United Nations established the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) to support ECOMOG in implementing the Cotonou agreement. In March 1994, the Interim Government of Amos Sawyer was succeeded by a Council of State of six members headed by David D. Kpormakpor. Renewed armed hostilities broke out in 1994 and persisted. During the course of the year, ULIMO split into two militias: ULIMO-J, a Krahn faction led by Roosevelt Johnson, and ULIMO-K, a Mandigo-based faction under Alhaji G.V. Kromah. Faction leaders agreed to the Akosombo peace agreement in Ghana but with little consequence. In October 1994, the UN reduced its number of UNOMIL observers to about 90 because of the lack of will of combatants to honour peace agreements. In December 1994, the factions and parties signed the Accra agreement, but fighting continued. In August 1995, the factions signed an agreement largely brokered by Jerry Rawlings, Ghanaian President; Charles Taylor agreed. In September 1995, Kpormakpor’s Council of State was succeeded by one under the civilian Wilton G. S. Sankawulo and with the factional heads Charles Taylor, Alhaji Kromah, and George Boley in it. In April 1996, followers of Taylor and Kromah assaulted the headquarters of Roosevelt Johnson in Monrovia, and the peace accord collapsed. In August 1996, a new ceasefire was reached in Abuja, Nigeria. On September 3, 1996, Ruth Perry followed Sankawulo as chairwoman of the Council of State, with the same three militia leaders in it. Second Liberian Civil War (1997–2003) Elections 1997 Charles Taylor won the 1997 presidential elections with 75.33 percent of the vote, while the runner-up, Unity Party leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, received a mere 9.58 percent of the vote. Accordingly, Taylor's National Patriotic Party gained 21 of a possible 26 seats in the Senate, and 49 of a possible 64 seats in the House of Representatives. The election was judged free and fair by some observers although it was charged that Taylor had employed widespread intimidation to achieve victory at the polls. 1997–1999 Bloodshed in Liberia did slow considerably, but it did not end. Violence kept flaring up. During his entire reign, Taylor had to fight insurgencies against his government. Suspicions were rife that Taylor continued to assist rebel forces in neighbouring countries like Sierra Leone, trading weapons for diamonds. President Charles Taylor had fortified his power over Liberia, mostly by purging the security forces of opponents, killing opposition figures, and raising new paramilitary units that were loyal only to him or his
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ACS's governing board. In early 1847, the ACS directed Liberian leadership to declare independence. On July 26, 1847, eleven signatories to the Liberian Declaration of Independence established the free and independent Republic of Liberia. It took several years for other nations to recognize Liberia's independence, most notably Britain in 1848 and France in 1852. In the United States, the Southern bloc in Congress refused to recognize Liberian sovereignty. In 1862, however, following the departure of most Southern congressmen due to the American Civil War and the secession of the Southern states, the United States finally established diplomatic relations and welcomed a Liberian delegation to Washington. Americo-Liberian rule (1847–1980) Between 1847 and 1980, the state of Liberia was dominated by the small minority of African-American colonists and their descendants, known collectively as Americo-Liberians. The Americo-Liberian minority, many of whom were mixed-race African Americans, treated the native majority as White Americans had treated them: they were viewed as "racially" inferior and were denied the right to vote. To avoid "racial" contamination, the Americo-Liberians married within themselves. They, but not the natives, received financial support from supporters in the United States. They established plantations and businesses, and were generally richer than the indigenous people of Liberia, exercising overwhelming political power. Politics Politically, Liberia was dominated by two political parties. The Americo-Liberians had limited the franchise to prevent indigenous Liberians from voting in elections. The Liberian Party (later the Republican Party), was supported primarily by mixed-race African Americans from poorer backgrounds, while the True Whig Party received much of its following from richer blacks. From the first presidential election in 1847, the Liberian Party held political dominance. It used its position of power to attempt to cripple its opposition. In 1869, however, the Whigs won the presidential election under Edward James Roye. Although Roye was deposed after two years and the Republicans returned to government, the Whigs regained power in 1878 and maintained power constantly thereafter for over a century. A series of rebellions among the indigenous Liberian population took place between the 1850s and 1920s. In 1854, a newly independent African-American state in the region, the Republic of Maryland, was forced by an insurgency of the Grebo and the Kru people to join Liberia. Liberia's expansion brought the colony into border disputes with the French and British in French Guinea and Sierra Leone, respectively. The presence and protection of the U.S. Navy in West Africa until 1916 ensured that Liberia's territorial acquisitions or independence were never under threat. Society Americo-Liberian and indigenous segregation (1847–1940) The social order in Liberia was dominated by Americo-Liberians. Although descended primarily from peoples of African origin, often with some white DNA from an owner impregnating an enslaved female (see Children of the plantation), the ancestors of most Americo-Liberians had been born in the United States for generations before emigrating to Africa. As a result, they held American cultural, religious, and social values. Like many Americans of the period, the Americo-Liberians held a firm belief in the religious superiority of Christianity, and indigenous animism and culture became systematically oppressed. The Americo-Liberians created communities and a society that reflected closely the American society they had known. They spoke English, and built churches and houses in styles resembling those found in the Southern United States. They were, at first and for many years, technologically far superior to the natives, possessing weapons, tools, knowledge of how to farm, and in many cases literacy. Although they never constituted more than 5% of the population of Liberia, the Americo-Liberians controlled key resources that allowed them to enslave the local native peoples. The Americo-Liberians controlled the native peoples’ access to the ocean, modern technical skills, literacy, higher levels of education, and valuable relationships with many of the United States’ institutions—including the American government. Reflecting the system of segregation in the United States, the Americo-Liberians created a cultural and racial caste system, with themselves at the top and indigenous Liberians at the bottom. They believed in a form of "racial equality," which meant that all residents of Liberia had the potential to become "civilized" through western-style education and conversion to Christianity. Social change (1940–1980) During World War II, thousands of indigenous Liberians migrated from the nation's rural interior to the coastal regions in search of jobs. The Liberian Government had long opposed this kind of migration, but was no longer able to restrain it. In the decades after 1945, the Liberian government received hundreds of millions of dollars of unrestricted foreign investment, which destabilized the Liberian economy. Government revenue rose enormously, but was being grossly embezzled by government officials. Growing economic disparities caused increased hostility between indigenous groups and Americo-Liberians. The social tensions led President Tubman to enfranchise the indigenous Liberians either in 1951 or 1963 (accounts differ). Tubman and his Whig Party continued to repress political opposition and rig elections. Economics The suppression of the transatlantic slave trade in West Africa by the American and British navies after 1808 also produced new settlers, as these two navies would settle liberated slaves in Liberia or Sierra Leone. In the later 19th century, Liberia had to economically compete with European colonies in Africa. The economy of Liberia was always based on the production of agricultural produce for export. In particular, Liberia's important coffee industry was destroyed in the 1870s by the emergence of production in Brazil. New technology that became available in Europe increasingly drove Liberian shipping companies out of business. Although Roye's government attempted to procure funding for a railway in 1871, the plan never materialized. The first railway in Liberia was not constructed until 1945. From the late 19th century, European powers, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, invested in infrastructure in their African colonies, making them more competitive in terms of getting products to market, improving communications, etc. The national currency, the Liberian dollar, collapsed in 1907. The country was later forced to adopt the United States Dollar. The Liberian government was constantly dependent on foreign loans at high rates of exchange, which endangered the country's independence. In 1926, Firestone, an American rubber company, started the world's largest rubber plantation in Liberia. This industry created 25,000 jobs, and rubber quickly became the backbone of the Liberian economy; in the 1950s, rubber accounted for 40% of the national budget. During the 1930s, Liberia signed concession agreements with Dutch, Danish, German, and Polish investors in what has been described as an "open door" economic policy. Between 1946 and 1960, exports of natural resources such as iron, timber and rubber rose significantly. In 1971, Liberia had the world's largest rubber industry, and was the third largest exporter of iron ore. Since 1948, ship registration was another important source of state revenue. From 1962 until 1980, the U.S. donated $280 million in aid to Liberia, in exchange for which Liberia offered its land rent-free for American government facilities. Throughout the 1970s, the price of rubber in the world commodities market was depressed, which put pressure on Liberian state finances. International relations After 1927, the League of Nations investigated accusations that the Liberian government had forcibly recruited and sold indigenous people as contract laborers or slaves. In its 1930 report, the league admonished the Liberian government for "systematically and for years fostering and encouraging a policy of gross intimidation and suppression" by "[suppressing] the native, prevent him from realizing his powers and limitations and prevent him from asserting himself in any way whatever, for the benefit of the dominant and colonizing race, although originally the same African stock as themselves." President Charles D. B. King hastily resigned. Relations with the United States The United States had a long history of intervening in Liberia's internal affairs, and had repeatedly sent naval vessels to help suppress insurrections by indigenous tribes before and after independence (in 1821, 1843, 1876, 1910, and 1915). However, the United States had lost interest in Liberia after 1876 (the end of Reconstruction), and the country instead became closely tied to British capital. Starting in 1909, the U.S. once again became heavily involved in Liberia. By 1909, Liberia faced serious external threats to its sovereignty over unpaid foreign loans and border disputes. In 1912, the U.S. arranged a 40-year international loan of $1.7 million, against which Liberia had to agree to four Western powers (United States, Britain, France, and Germany) controlling Liberian Government revenues until 1926. The American administration of the border police stabilized the frontier with Sierra Leone (then part of the British Empire), and checked French ambitions to annex more Liberian territory. The United States Navy established a coaling station in Liberia. Ensuring American support for Liberian independence, prosperity, and reform was among the high priorities of United States President, William Howard Taft. The United States played a significant role in training the Liberian army, known as the Liberian Frontier Force, with the assistance of African-American officers from the United States Army. The American presence warded off European powers, defeated a series of local rebellions, and helped bring in American technology to develop the resource-rich interior. Democracy was not a high priority, as the 15,000 Americo-Liberians had full control over the approximately 750,000 locals. The Krus and Greboe tribes remained highly reluctant to accept control from Monrovia, but were not powerful enough to overcome a regime strongly supported by the U.S. Army and Navy. The American officers, including Charles Young and Benjamin Davis among others, were skilled at training recruits, helped the government minimize corruption, and advocated for loans from American corporations (while monitoring the resulting flow of fund). World War I Liberia remained neutral for most of World War I. It joined the war on the Allied side on 4 August 1917. After its declaration of war, the resident German merchants were expelled from Liberia. As they constituted the country's largest investors and trading partners, Liberia suffered economically as a result. Firestone concession In 1926, the Liberian government granted a concession to Firestone, an American rubber company, that allowed the company to establish the world's largest rubber plantation at Harbel, Liberia. Concurrently, Firestone had arranged a $5 million private loan to Liberia. By the 1930s, Liberia became virtually bankrupt once again. After receiving pressure from the United States, the Liberian government agreed to an assistance plan from the League of Nations. As stipulated by the plan, two key officials of the league were placed in positions to "advise" the Liberian government. World War II In 1942, Liberia signed a Defense Pact with the United States. Rubber was a strategically important commodity, and Liberia assured the U.S. and its allies that a sufficient supply of natural rubber would be provided. Furthermore, Liberia allowed the U.S. to use its territory as a bridgehead for transports of soldiers and war supplies, in addition to the construction of military bases, airports, the Freeport of Monrovia, roads to the interior, etc. Many of the American personnel who passed through Liberia were black soldiers (who, at the time, were in racially segregated army divisions), and were deployed into military service in Europe. The American military presence boosted the Liberian economy; thousands of laborers descended from the interior to the coastal region. The country's huge iron ore deposits were made accessible to commerce. The Defense Areas Agreement between the U.S. and Liberia entailed the US-financed construction of Roberts Field airport, the Freeport of Monrovia, and roads into the interior of Liberia. By the end of World War II, approximately 5,000 American troops had been stationed in Liberia. Arguments substantiating this notion are that World War II infrastructure developments did not positively affect social and political struggles in Liberia, and that decades after the development from World War II, Americo-Liberians disproportionately controlled and benefited from Liberia's growing economy and increase in foreign investment. Cold War After World War II, the U.S. pressured Liberia to resist the expansion of Soviet influence in Africa during the Cold War. Liberian president William Tubman was agreeable to this policy. Between 1946 and 1960 Liberia received some $500 million in unrestricted foreign investment, mainly from the U.S. From 1962 to 1980, the U.S. donated $280 million in aid to Liberia. In the 1970s under president Tolbert, Liberia strove for a more non-aligned and independent posture, and established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Eastern bloc countries. It also severed ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but announced it supported American involvement in the Vietnam War. End of Americo-Liberian rule President William Tolbert pursued a policy of suppressing opposition. Dissatisfaction over governmental plans to raise the price of rice in 1979 led to protest demonstrations in the streets of Monrovia. Tolbert ordered his troops to fire on the demonstrators, and seventy people were killed. Rioting ensued throughout Liberia, finally leading to a military coup d'état in April 1980. Tolbert was killed during the coup, and several of his ministers were executed soon afterwards, marking the end of Americo-Liberian domination of the country. Samuel Doe and the People's Redemption Council (1980–1989) After a bloody overthrow of the Americo-Liberian régime by indigenous Liberians in 1980, a 'Redemption Council' took control of Liberia. Internal unrest, opposition to the new military regime, and governmental repression steadily grew, until in 1989 Liberia sank into outright tribal and civil war. Coup d’état; relations with U.S. Samuel Kanyon Doe (1951–1990) was a member of the Krahn, a small ethnic group. He was a master sergeant in the Liberian army, and had trained with the U.S. Army Special Forces. On April 12, 1980, Doe led a bloody coup d'état against president Tolbert, in which Tolbert and twenty-six of his supporters were murdered. Ten days later, thirteen of Tolbert's Cabinet members were executed publicly. This ended the 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination. Doe formed a military regime known as the People's Redemption Council (PRC). Many welcomed Doe's takeover, since the majority of the population had always been excluded from power. The PRC also for the time being tolerated a relatively free press. Doe quickly established good relations with the United States, especially after 1981, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan took office. Reagan more than tripled Liberia's financial aid, from $20 million in 1979 to $75 million per year. This soon rose to $95 million per annum. Liberia again became an important Cold War ally of the United States. Liberia protected important U.S. facilities and investments in Africa, and countered the threatened spread of Soviet influence in the continent. Doe closed the Libyan mission in Monrovia and severed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. He agreed to modify the mutual defense pact with the U.S., allowing the U.S. staging rights at 24 hours notice to use Liberia's harbors and airports for the U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces. Under Doe, Liberian ports were opened to American, Canadian, and European merchant ships, which brought in considerable foreign investment from shipping firms and earned Liberia a reputation as a tax haven. Fear of counter-coup; repression Doe had to put down seven coup attempts between 1981 and 1985. In August 1981, he had Thomas Weh Syen and four other PRC members arrested and executed for allegedly conspiring against him. Doe's government then declared amnesty for all political prisoners and exiles, and released sixty political prisoners. However, there soon were more internal rifts in the PRC. Doe became paranoid about the possibility of a counter-coup, and his government grew increasingly corrupt and repressive, banning all political opposition, shutting down newspapers, and jailing reporters. He began to systematically eliminate PRC members who challenged his authority, and to place people of his own ethnic Krahn background in key positions, which intensified popular anger. Meanwhile, the economy deteriorated precipitously. Popular support for Doe's government evaporated. 1985 presidential election A draft constitution providing for a multiparty republic had been issued in 1983 and was approved by referendum in 1984. After the referendum, Doe staged a presidential election on October 15, 1985. Nine political parties sought to challenge Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), but only three were allowed to take part. Prior to the election, more than fifty of Doe's opponents were murdered. Doe was ‘elected’ with 51% of the vote, but the election was heavily rigged. Foreign observers declared the elections fraudulent, and most of the elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Chester Crocker testified before Congress that the election was imperfect but that at least it was a step toward democracy. He further justified his support for the election results with the claim that, in any case, all African elections were known to be rigged at that time. Outbreak of Civil War In November 1985, Doe's former second-in-command Thomas Quiwonkpa led an estimated 500 to 600 people in a failed attempt to seize power; all were killed. Doe was sworn in as president on January 6, 1986. Doe then initiated crackdowns against certain tribes, such as the Gio (or Dan) and Mano, in the north, where most of the coup plotters came from. This government's mistreatment of certain ethnic groups resulted in divisions and violence among indigenous peoples, who until then had coexisted relatively peacefully. In the late 1980s, as fiscal austerity took hold in the United States and the perceived threat of Communism declined with the waning of the Cold War, the U.S. became disenchanted with Doe's government and began cutting off critical foreign aid to Liberia. This, together with the popular opposition, made Doe's position precarious. First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996) In the late 1980s opposition from abroad to Doe’s regime led to economic collapse. Doe had already been repressing and crushing internal opposition for some time, when in November 1985 another coup attempt against him failed. Doe retaliated against tribes such as the Gio (or Dan) and Mano in the north, where most of the coup plotters had come from. Doe's Krahn tribe began attacking other tribes, particularly in Nimba County in the northeast of Liberia, bordering on Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and on Guinea. Some Liberian northerners fled brutal treatment from the Liberian army into the Ivory Coast. Charles Taylor and the NPFL (1980–1989) Charles Taylor, born 1948 in Arthington, Liberia, is son of a Gola mother and either an Americo-Liberian or an Afro-Trinidadian father. Taylor was a student at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.A., from 1972 to 1977, earning a degree in economics. After the 1980 coup d’état he served some time in Doe's government until he was fired in 1983 on accusation of embezzling government funds. He fled Liberia, was arrested in 1984 in Massachusetts on a Liberian warrant for extradition, and jailed in Massachusetts. He escaped from jail the following year and probably fled to Libya. In 1989, while in the Ivory Coast, Taylor assembled a group of rebels into the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), mostly from the Gio and Mano tribes. War December 1989, the NPFL invaded Nimba County in Liberia. Thousands of Gio and Mano joined them, Liberians of other ethnic background as well. The Liberian army (AFL) counterattacked, and retaliated against the whole population of the region. Mid-1990, a war was raging between Krahn on one side, and Gio and Mano on the other. On both sides, thousands of civilians were massacred. By the middle of 1990, Taylor controlled much of the country, and by June laid siege to Monrovia. In July, Yormie Johnson split off from NPFL and formed the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), based around the Gio tribe. Both NPFL and INPFL continued their siege of Monrovia. In August 1990, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an organisation of West African states, created a military intervention force called the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) composed of 4,000 troops, to restore order. President Doe and Yormie Johnson (INPFL) agreed to this intervention, Taylor didn't. On September 9, President Doe paid a visit to the barely established headquarters of ECOMOG in the Free Port of Monrovia. While he was at the ECOMOG headquarters, he was attacked by INPFL, taken to the INPFL's Caldwell base, tortured, and killed. In November 1990, ECOWAS agreed with some principal Liberian players, but without Charles Taylor, on an Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) under President Dr. Amos Sawyer. Sawyer established his authority over most of Monrovia, with the help of a paramilitary police force,
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Easternmost point – unnamed headland at the confluence of the Cavally river and the Hana river, River Gee County. Southernmost point – Kablaké headland, Maryland County. Westernmost point - unnamed headland immediately west of the town of Sewulu at the mouth of the Mano River, Grand Cape Mount County. Borders and maritime claims The total length of Liberia's land borders is : with Sierra Leone on the northwest, with Guinea to the north, and with Ivory Coast. Liberia claims an Exclusive Economic Zone of and . Terrain Liberia has a mostly hilly terrain, it also has rolling plains along the coast to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Elevation extremes The lowest point on Liberia is at sea level on the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point on Liberia is above sea level at Mount Wuteve. Natural resources Natural resources that are found in Liberia include iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold and hydropower. Mining Land use and agriculture arable land: 5.2% permanent crops: 2.1% permanent pastures: 20.8% forest: 44.6% other: 27.3% (2011) Irrigated land 30 square kilometres of
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the sea, with a series of short rivers flowing directly into the sea. These are, from west to east, the Mano River on the border with Sierra Leone, the Mafa River, the Lofa River, the Saint Paul River, the Mesurado River, the Farmington River, the Saint John River, the Timbo River, the Cestos River, the Sehnkwehn River, the Sinoe River, the Dugbe River, the Dubo River, the Grand Cess River and the Cavalla River on the border with Ivory Coast. In the west, the coast is low and sandy, but in the central and eastern parts of the country it is sandy and rocky and of moderate relief, frequently broken by the mouths of the rivers. The coastal plain varies in width, being narrow between Monrovia and Buchanan, but being much wider in the west and in the Cestos Valley in the centre, narrowing again in the eastern end of the country. Further inland the land rises, sometimes with escarpments, to a plateau some above sea level. This is divided by the river valleys and there are hilly ridges between some of the river valleys. The land rises further in the north and northwest of the country, with mountains that exceed in several places, the highest point in the country being in the Wologizi Range at . Extreme points This is a list of the extreme points of Liberia, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Northernmost point – unnamed location on the border with Guinea in the Sodia river immediately north of the town of Voinjama, Lofa County. Easternmost point – unnamed headland at the confluence of the Cavally river and the Hana river, River Gee County. Southernmost point – Kablaké headland, Maryland County. Westernmost point - unnamed headland immediately west of the town of Sewulu at the mouth of the Mano
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ratio: 18.1 (2015 est.) Urbanization urban population: 51.2% of total population (2018) rate of urbanization: 3.41% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) Sex ratio at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population:1 male(s)/female (2018 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 63.8 years (2018 est.) male: 61.6 years (2018 est.) female: 66 years (2018 est.) total population: 57 years (2011 est.) male: 55.44 years female: 58.6 years Ethnic groups There are officially 17 ethnic groups that make up Liberia's indigenous African population, making up maybe 95% of the total: Kpelle, the largest group; Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mandingo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Sapo, Belleh (Kuwaa), Mende and Dey. There are also more or less nomadic groups like the Fula, who engage mostly in trade, and the Fanti, who are often fishermen or traders of fish, usually from Ghana, living seasonally and more and more often permanently in Liberia. Then there are Americo-Liberians, who are descendants of free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in Liberia from 1822 onward and Congo People (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean), making up an estimated 5% of the population. They used to dominate political life in Liberia and still have a lot of influence. There are about 5,000 people of European descent, many of them having settled down as miners, missionaries, business people, and so on. There also is a sizeable number of Lebanese, Indians, and other people with Asian roots who make up a significant part of Liberia's business community. Because of the civil war and its accompanying problem of insecurity, the number of non-Africans in Liberia is low and confined largely to Monrovia and its immediate surroundings. The Liberian Constitution restricts citizenship of Liberia only to people who are either 'Negroes or of Negro descent' wherein the Liberian Constitution / Chapter 4 / Article 27b states: "In order to preserve, foster and maintain the positive Liberian culture, values and character, only persons who are Negroes or of Negro descent shall qualify by birth or by naturalization to be citizens of Liberia." Languages English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence. Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.) total population: 47.6% (2015 est.) male: 62.4% (2015 est.) female: 32.8% (2015 est.) Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 total: 2.3% (2016 est.) male: 2.4% (2016 est.) female: 2.2% (2016 est.) See also Liberia List of countries by population growth rate References Bibliography Ciment, J. (2013) Another America: The Story
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Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2013 (DHS Program): Life expectancy Ethnic communities of Liberia Indigenous The indigenous ethnic groups of Liberia can be linguistically divided into three groups who speak; The isolate Gola language and the Mel languages (particularly Kissi) in the east and Kru languages (particularly Bassa) in the west to which must be added the immigrant communities; Mande-Fu (Kpelle, Gio, Mano, Loma) Mande-Tan (Vai, Mende, Mandingo) Repatriated (Americo-Liberians, Congo, Caribbean) The Gola ethnic group originated somewhere in central Africa. During the Empire of Ancient Ghana they were involved in the land-surveying and jurisprudence of the empire. The other ethnic groups that fall under the Mande-Tan, Mande-Fu were also members of Ancient Ghana. Because of their influence in the judicial aspects of the Ghana, the Gola's social structure dominated through the Poro. With the influx of Islam many groups adopted it while others resisted. The Golas fought three wars with pro-Islamic elements in a changing Ghana. These wars were known as the Kumba Wars. The Golas lost the third of these wars and were forced to retreat toward Sierra Leone. They were pursued by the Mende, Gbandi and Loma. Their battles with the Mende in Sierra Leone forced them to retreat yet again and settle finally in Liberia where they encountered the Dei. Immigrants from Mali The Kpelle, Gio, Mano, Mandingo and Vai groups migrated from the Empire of Mali for various reasons, some escaping political intrigue, others looking for a better life. The Vais, settled in Grand Cape Mount county in the west of Liberia, were the first to invent a form of writing in 1833 or 1834. The reported inventor was Dwalu Bukele of Bandakor along the Robertsport (provincial capital) highway. Immigrants from Côte d'Ivoire In the 16th century; Kru (Tajuasohn), Bassa, Belleh, Krahn, Grebo. 19th century Americo-Liberians: Free black people and emancipated slaves, and their descendants, from the U.S. and the Caribbean Congos is an eponymic term for "recaptives," people rescued from slave ships after the slave trade, not slavery itself, was abolished by Great Britain and the United States. These people were "repatriated" to Liberia (and Sierra Leone if rescued by the British) and their descendants. The term was used because many of these rescued Africans were thought to be from the Congo River Basin. Immigrants from Lebanon In the late 19th century to early 20th century Lebanese merchants, families and businessmen began arriving in Liberia. Lebanese currently own many major businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants, textiles, construction works, factories and other production based companies across the country. Despite living in the country, Lebanese are denied citizenship rights due to Liberia's nationality law and are seen in a political view as foreigners. Religion According to the 2008 National Census, 85.5% of Liberia's population practices Christianity. Muslims comprise 12.2% of the population, largely coming from the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. The vast majority of Muslims are Malikite Sunni, with sizeable Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities. Traditional indigenous religions are practiced by 0.5% of the population, while 1.8% subscribe
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challenging Taylor's control of the country. In August 2003, Taylor resigned and fled the country and vice-president Moses Blah became acting president. On 18 August 2003, the warring parties signed the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement which marked the political end of the conflict. The international community again intervened and helped set up a transitional government (National Transitional Government of Liberia) which was led by Gyude Bryant until the Liberian general election of 2005. For more than a year, over 9,000 census-takers combed the densely forested nation mapping every structure. For three days starting 21 March 2008, they revisited each dwelling and counted the inhabitants. Executive branch |President |George Weah |Congress for Democratic Change |22 January 2018 |- |Vice President |Jewel Taylor |Congress for Democratic Change |22 January 2018 |} The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term (renewable). The cabinet is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Legislative branch Liberia has a bicameral Legislature that consists of the Senate (30 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve nine-year terms) and the House of Representatives (73 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) Political parties and elections Presidential elections House of Representatives elections Senate elections Judicial branch There is a Supreme Court, criminal courts, and appeals court and magistrate courts in the counties. There also are traditional courts and lay courts in the counties. Trial by ordeal is practiced in various parts of Liberia. Administrative divisions The basic unit of local government is the town chief. There are clan chiefs, paramount chiefs, and district commissioners. The counties are governed by superintendents appointed by the President. There are fifteen counties in Liberia. International organization participation ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO See also List of government ministries of Liberia References Further reading Clower, Robert W. "Growth without development. An economic survey of Liberia." (1966). Ellis, Stephen. The Mask of Anarchy updated edition: The destruction of Liberia and the religious dimension of an African civil war. NYU Press, 2007. Fraenkel, Merran. Tribe and class in Monrovia. publ. for the International African Institute by the Oxford Univ. Press, 1970. Gifford, Paul. Christianity and politics in Doe's Liberia. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, 2002. SS Hlophe, Class, ethnicity and politics in Liberia: a
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six months after the rebels first attacked, they had reached the outskirts of Monrovia. The First and Second Liberian Civil War, which was one of Africa's bloodiest, claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Liberians and further displaced a million others into refugee camps in neighboring countries. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened and succeeded in preventing Charles Taylor from capturing Monrovia. Prince Johnson who had been a member of Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) but broke away because of policy differences, formed the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL). Johnson's forces captured and killed Doe on 9 September 1990. An Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) was formed in Gambia under the auspices of ECOWAS in October 1990 and Dr. Amos Sawyer became President. Taylor refused to work with the interim government and continued war. By 1992, several warring factions had emerged in the Liberian civil war, all of which were absorbed in the new transitional government. After several peace accords and declining military power, Taylor finally agreed to the formation of a five-man transitional government. After considerable progress in negotiations conducted by the United States, United Nations, Organization of African Unity, and the Economic Community of West African States, disarmament and demobilization of warring factions were hastily carried out and special elections were held on 19 July 1997 with Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party emerging victorious. Taylor won the election by a large majority, primarily because Liberians feared a return to war had Taylor lost. Unrest continued, and by 2003, two rebel groups were challenging Taylor's control of the country. In August 2003, Taylor resigned and fled the country and vice-president Moses Blah became acting president. On 18 August 2003, the warring parties signed the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement which marked the political end of the conflict. The international community again intervened and helped set up a transitional government (National Transitional Government of Liberia) which was led by Gyude Bryant until the Liberian general election of 2005. For more than a year, over 9,000 census-takers combed the densely forested nation mapping every structure. For three days starting 21 March 2008, they revisited each dwelling and counted the inhabitants. Executive branch |President |George Weah |Congress for Democratic Change |22 January 2018 |- |Vice President |Jewel Taylor |Congress for Democratic Change |22 January 2018 |} The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term (renewable). The cabinet is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Legislative branch Liberia has a bicameral Legislature that consists of the Senate (30 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve nine-year terms) and the House of Representatives (73 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) Political parties and elections Presidential elections House of Representatives elections
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growth rate has slowed down because of a decline in the demand for iron ore on the world market and political upheavals in Liberia. Following a peak in growth in 1979, the Liberian economy began a steady decline due to economic mismanagement following the 1980 coup. This decline was accelerated by the outbreak of civil war in 1989; GDP was reduced by an estimated 90% from 1989 to 1995, one of the fastest declines in history. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Liberia in 2001 for its support to the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in neighboring Sierra Leone. These sanctions have been lifted following elections in 2005. Upon the end of the war in 2003, GDP growth began to accelerate again, reaching a peak of 9.4% in 2007. The global financial crisis slowed GDP growth to 4.6% in 2009, though a strengthening agricultural sector led by rubber and timber exports increased growth to 5.1% in 2010 and an expected 7.3% in 2011, making the economy one of the 20 fastest growing in the world. In March 2010, Bob Johnson, founder of BET, funded the first hotel constructed in Liberia in 20 years. The luxury resort was built in the Paynesville section of Monrovia. Liberia's external debt was estimated in 2006 at approximately $4.5 billion, 800% of GDP. As a result of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debt relief from 2007 to 2010, the country's external debt fell to $222.9 million by 2011. Economic sectors Liberia's business sector is largely controlled by foreigners mainly of Levantine (primarily Lebanese) and Indian descent. There also are limited numbers of Chinese engaged in agriculture. The largest timber concession, Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC), is Indonesian owned. There also are significant numbers of West Africais engaged in cross-border trade. Legal monopolies are possible; for example, Cemenco holds a monopoly on cement production. Unlike almost all other countries in the world, Liberia has not adopted the metric system as its primary system of measurement. Forestry Timber and rubber are Liberia's main export items since the end of the war. Liberia earns more than $100 million and more than $70 million annually from timber and rubber exports, respectively. Mining and resources Alluvial diamond and gold mining activities also account for some economic activity. In recent years (2005 - 2012), foreign investment from ArcelorMittal Steel, BHP Biliton, and China Union is aiding the revitalization of the iron-ore mining sector. Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011 and planned for auction. Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Woodside Petroleum. Shipping flag of
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Liberia earns more than $100 million and more than $70 million annually from timber and rubber exports, respectively. Mining and resources Alluvial diamond and gold mining activities also account for some economic activity. In recent years (2005 - 2012), foreign investment from ArcelorMittal Steel, BHP Biliton, and China Union is aiding the revitalization of the iron-ore mining sector. Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011 and planned for auction. Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Woodside Petroleum. Shipping flag of convenience Liberia maintains an open maritime registry, meaning that owners of ships can register their vessels as Liberian with relatively few restrictions. This has meant that Liberian ship registration is usually understood as the employment of a flag of convenience. Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama, with 4,300 vessels registered under its flag accounting for 12% of ships worldwide. This includes 35% of the world's tanker fleet. Liberia earned more than $18 million from its maritime program in 2000. Foreign aid Liberia has relied heavily on vast amounts of foreign assistance, particularly from the United States, Sweden, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the People's Republic of China, and Romania. But because of the Liberian Government's perceived disregard for human rights, foreign assistance to Liberia has declined drastically. The Republic of China (Taiwan) and Libya are currently the largest donors of direct financial aid to the Liberian Government. Significant amounts of aid continue to come in from Western countries through international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations, avoiding direct aid to the government. Communications Communications in Liberia is the press, radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. There are six major newspapers in Liberia, and 45% of the population has a mobile phone service. Also, the radio stations in Liberia are abundant to the extent that there are over 70 radio stations in the entire country (Liberia). As for Montserrado County, there exist about 30 radio stations. Even as it struggles with economic and political constraints, Liberia's media environment is expanding. The number of registered newspapers and radio stations (many of them community stations) is on the rise despite limited market potential. And politically critical content and investigative pieces do get published or broadcast. Energy Formal electricity services are solely provided by the state-owned Liberia Electricity Corporation, which operates a small grid almost exclusively in the Greater Monrovia District. The vast majority of electric energy services is provided by small privately owned generators. At $0.54 per kWh,
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partnership with Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation. Truth FM UNMIL Radio FM, operated by the United Nations mission. Voice of Firestone Liberia 89.5 FM Television Television sets: 70,000 sets (1997). Pumah TV Channel 4 Television stations: 4 private TV stations, none with national reach; satellite TV service available (2007). Clar TV, private. DC TV, private. Power TV, private. Real TV, private. Liberia Broadcasting System: Government owned Liberia National Television (LNTV). Telephones Calling code: +231 International call prefix: 00 Main lines: 3,200 lines in use, 213th in the world (2011). Mobile cellular: 2.4 million lines, 138th in the world (2012). Telephone system: the limited services available are found almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia; fixed-line service stagnant and extremely limited; telephone coverage extended to a number of other towns and rural areas by four mobile-cellular network operators; mobile-cellular subscription base growing and teledensity reached 50 per 100 persons (2011). Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2010). Communications cables: Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, links countries along the west coast of Africa to each other and on to Portugal and France. The fixed line infrastructure of Liberia was nearly completely destroyed during the civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003). Prior to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 2007, the state-owned Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) held a legal monopoly for all fixed line services in Liberia, and remains the sole licensed fixed line telephone service provider in the country. Two licensed GSM cellular mobile service providers operate in the country: Lonestar Cell and CellCom. Approximately 45% of the population has cell phone service. Internet Top-level domain: .lr Internet users: 317,717 users; 7.3% of the population, 158th in the world (2016 est.). 20,000 users, 194th in the world (2009). Fixed broadband: 78 subscriptions, 193rd in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 192nd in the world (2012). Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012). Internet hosts: 7 hosts, 228th in the world (2012). IPv4: 13,312 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 3.4 addresses per 1000 people (2012). Notable commercial websites While Liberia's commercial internet sector is still behind the majority of African countries there are still a few classifieds sites: liberiacommerce.com Internet censorship and surveillance There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. Libel and national security laws place some limits on freedom of speech. Individuals can generally criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal. Some journalists practice self-censorship. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy,
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and magazines include: Africa League African Nationalist Africa's Luminary (est. 1839) Amulet (est. 1839) Daily Listener (est. 1950) Footprints Today (est. 1984) The Friend Independent Weekly Journal of Commerce and Industry Liberia and West Africa (ceased in 1932) Liberia Herald (est. 1826) Liberian Age (est. 1946) Liberian Herald Liberian News Liberian Recorder (est. 1897) Liberian Star (est. 1839) Monrovia Observer (est. 1878) Palm Magazine SunTimes Weekly Mirror Whirlwind Radio Radios: 790,000 radio receivers (1997). Radio stations: 1 state-owned radio station, but no national public service broadcaster; about 15 independent radio stations broadcasting in Monrovia, with another 25 local stations operating in other areas; transmissions of 2 international broadcasters are available (2007). BBC World Service 103 FM. ELBC FM, public. ELWA FM and SW, private, religious-Christian. Pumah FM 106.3 LUX 106.6 FM, University of Liberia. Radio Liberia FM, operated by the state-run Liberian Broadcasting System (LBS). Radio Veritas FM and SW, religious-Catholic. RFI English FM, the English service of Radio France Internationale. Sky FM STAR Radio FM and SW, operated in partnership with Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation. Truth FM UNMIL Radio FM, operated by the United Nations mission. Voice of Firestone Liberia 89.5 FM Television Television sets: 70,000 sets (1997). Pumah TV Channel 4 Television stations: 4 private TV stations, none with national reach; satellite TV service available (2007). Clar TV, private. DC TV, private. Power TV, private. Real TV, private. Liberia Broadcasting System: Government owned Liberia National Television (LNTV). Telephones Calling code: +231 International call prefix: 00 Main lines: 3,200 lines in use, 213th in the world (2011). Mobile cellular: 2.4 million lines, 138th in the world (2012). Telephone system: the limited services available are found almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia; fixed-line service stagnant and extremely limited; telephone coverage extended to a number of other towns and rural areas by four mobile-cellular network operators; mobile-cellular subscription base growing and teledensity reached 50 per 100 persons (2011). Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2010). Communications cables: Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, links countries along the west coast of Africa to each other and on to Portugal and France. The fixed line infrastructure of Liberia was nearly completely destroyed during the civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003). Prior to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 2007, the state-owned Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) held a legal monopoly for all fixed line services in Liberia, and remains the sole licensed fixed line telephone service provider in the country. Two licensed
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657 km (408 mi) Unpaved: 9,943 km (6,178 mi) (2018) When construction and reconstruction of roads in Liberia is complete, the Trans–West African Coastal Highway will cross the country, connecting it to Freetown (Sierra Leone), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and eventually to 11 other nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Ports and harbors Buchanan - railhead of for civil war affected iron mine at Nimba Greenville Harper Monrovia Merchant marine Liberia is an international flag of convenience for freight shipping. Total: 3,942 (2021) Ships by type: barge carrier 1,487, container ship 878, general cargo 131, oil tanker 851, other 595 (2021) Airports 20 (2017) The main international airport in the country is Roberts International Airport. Airports - with paved runways Total: 2 Over 3,047 m (10,000 ft): 1 1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 8,000 ft): 1 (2017) Airports - with unpaved runways Total: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 8,000 ft): 5 914 to 1,523 m (3,000 to 4,999 ft): 8 Under
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Leone), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and eventually to 11 other nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Ports and harbors Buchanan - railhead of for civil war affected iron mine at Nimba Greenville Harper Monrovia Merchant marine Liberia is an international flag of convenience for freight shipping. Total: 3,942 (2021) Ships by type: barge carrier 1,487, container ship 878, general cargo 131, oil tanker 851, other 595 (2021) Airports 20 (2017) The main international airport in the country is Roberts International Airport. Airports - with paved runways Total: 2 Over 3,047 m (10,000 ft): 1 1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000
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Grand Gedeh County, and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga in Bong County served mostly as providers of personnel for non-military duties. Soldiers in these units were used extensively as policemen, customs and immigration officials, and as tax collectors. Attempted coup (1985) In the aftermath of the rigged elections of 1985, which Doe manipulated to solidify his power, Quiwonkpa returned from his U.S. exile to enter Liberia from Sierra Leone. On November 12, 1985, he entered Monrovia with a group of dissident soldiers, took over the national Liberia Broadcasting System radio station and announced that the 'National Patriotic Forces of Liberia' had seized power. Adekeye says that Quiwonkpa erred in 'fail[ing] to establish control over the country's communications system and resisted a frontal attack on the Executive Mansion.' These mistakes allowed Doe the time to rally the Krahn-dominated Executive Mansion Guard and 1st Infantry Battalion from Camp Schieffelin to reestablish control. Quiwonkpa was captured, killed, and mutilated, his body being dismembered and parts eaten. In the aftermath of the attempted coup, purges took place in Monrovia and in Nimba County, Quiwonkpa's home, against those who had rejoiced after the coup announcement. As many as 1,500 people may have been killed. The AFL was purged of Gio soldiers. Under Samuel Doe the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. The Aviation Unit was founded in 1970 with the delivery of three Cessna U-17C light aircraft. An Aviation Unit aircraft crashed at Spriggs-Payne in 1984. In 1985 it operated three fixed-wing aircraft from Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, including Cessna 172s. Their duties included reconnaissance and transport of light cargo and VIPs. The Aviation Unit was expanded in the 1980s with the delivery of more Cessna aircraft: three 172s, a 206, 207 and two single engined turboprop 208s. The Liberian Air Force was established from the Aviation Unit by an Act of Legislature on August 12, 1987. Its statutory responsibilities were to: protect and defend the air space of the Republic of Liberia; protect lives and properties; provide air mobility for military and civil personnel; assist in search and rescue operations; undertake emergency operations; conduct reconnaissance patrols; participate in joint military operations and perform other duties as may be designated by the Ministry of Defense. The LAF was to be headed by a colonel in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Defense Staff for the Air Force and was mandated to do the following: to train personnel and develop doctrine; advise the Chief of Staff of the AFL on matters relating to the Air Force. In 1989 two refurbished DHC-4 Caribou, a single Piper Aztec light twin and three IAI Arava STOL twins were delivered. First Liberian Civil War (1989–1997) Charles Taylor invaded the country at Butuo in Nimba County on Christmas Eve 1989 with a force of around 150 men, initiating the First Liberian Civil War. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions to Nimba in December 1989 – January 1990, under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen. The Liberian government forces assumed that most of the Mano and Gio peoples in the Nimba region were supporting the rebels. They thus acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion which quickly alienated the local people. Taylor's support rose rapidly, as the Mano and Gio flocked to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia seeking revenge. Many government soldiers deserted, some to join the NPFL. The inability of the AFL to make any headway was one of the reasons why Doe changed his field commander in the area five times in the first six months of the war. Field commanders apparently included Brigadier General Edward Smith. By May 1990 the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga, still under the control of Bowen's troops, but they lost the town to a NPFL assault by the end of May 1990, at which time the NPFL also captured Buchanan on the coast. The NPFL had now gathered an estimated 10,000 fighters while the AFL, splintering, could only summon 2,000. The revolt reached Monrovia by July 1990, and General Dubar left the country for exile in the United States. In place of Dubar, Brigadier General Charles Julu, former commander of the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion, was appointed Chief of Staff. Two Liberian Coast Guard vessels were sunk in the battles for the city. The NPFL had been distributing weapons to Gio civilians after it arrived in Nimba, where many were very interested in taking their revenge on the government after Doe had punished Nimba country for its support of Quiwonkpa in 1983 and 1985. By July 1990 the government began to distribute weapons to civilians in turn, to Krahn and Mandingo who wished to protect themselves. These hastily enlisted civilians became known as '1990 soldiers.' A '1990 soldier' which the President had personally picked, Tailey Yonbu, led a massacre of refugees, mostly Gio and Mano civilians, on the night of July 29/30, 1990 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Sinkor, Monrovia. Some 600 were killed. Because of the previous ethnic purges carried out by Doe's forces, the conflict took on characteristics of an ethnic pogrom. In August 1990 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) despatched a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to Liberia. The force arrived at the Freeport of Monrovia on August 24, 1990, landing from Nigerian and Ghanaian vessels. By the time ECOMOG arrived, Prince Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL were fighting on the outside bounds of the port. A series of peacemaking conferences in regional capitals followed. There were meetings in Bamako in November 1990, Lome in January 1991, and Yamoussoukro in June–October 1991. The first seven peace conferences, including the Yamoussoukro I-IV processes and the Carter Center negotiation leading to the Cotonou Accords, failed due to lack of agreement between the warring factions. The NPFL launched an assault on Monrovia in 1992, which they named 'Operation Octopus.' The civil war lasted until the Abuja Accords of August 1996. The AFL was confined to an enclave around the capital during the conflict, and did not play a significant part in the fighting. Elections in July 1997 finally brought Taylor to power. Under the accords, which led to a break in fighting in 1996 and the Liberian general election, 1997, ECOMOG was to retrain a new national army based on fair ethnic and geographical representation. Yet Taylor denied ECOMOG any role in the restructuring of the AFL, and the force eventually left Liberia by the end of 1998. During the 1990–99 period, Chiefs of Staff included Lieutenant Colonel Davis S. Brapoh, Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen (later Minister of Defense), Lieutenant General A.M.V. Doumuyah, and Lieutenant General Kalilu Abe Kromah, appointed during the interim rule of the Council of State in 1996, who was chief of staff from May 1996 to April 1997. Following Kromah, Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson was appointed, who died in October 1999 following a car accident. Taylor regime (1997–2003) Shortly after the induction of Taylor as elected president of Liberia in August 1997, the Ministry of National Defense determined that the strength of the AFL had risen during the war from 6,500 to 14,981 service members. To begin demobilization, the AFL Chief of Staff published Special Orders No. 1 on January 1, 1998, demobilizing and retiring 2,250 personnel. The demobilization process was delayed and badly managed, and only on April 22, 1998, did payments began to be issued to the demobilizing personnel, without prior explanation of what exactly the payments represented. Demonstrations and protests by the demobilized personnel eventually led to a riot in which three died on May 5, 1998. As a result, Taylor authorised the formation of a commission to submit recommendations on how the AFL should be reorganized. The commission, led by Blamoh Nelson, Director of the Cabinet, submitted its report on December 17, 1998, recommending a 6,000-strong armed forces (5,160 Army, 600 Navy, and 240 Air Force) but the proposal was never implemented. Instead Taylor ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were Krahn brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997 – January 1998, and building up instead the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police, and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as the new Chief of Staff of the AFL (where he would stay until 2006) and John Tarnue as head of the army. Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander. The International Crisis Group writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired. The Second Liberian Civil War originated in clashes in April 1999 but was not a major threat to Taylor until 2000–01. However, on the government side the AFL played only a minor role; irregular ex National Patriotic Front of Liberia militias backed by more privileged Taylor partisans such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit saw most of the fighting. As a result of the Civil War, all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the Liberian Air Force were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable. During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-8, one in Anti-Terrorist Unit markings, could be seen at Spriggs Payne Airport in central Monrovia in mid-2005, apparently a hangover from the war. Meanwhile, during the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. However, on shore, both late 1990s and 2005 sources indicate the Navy included the 2nd Naval District, Buchanan, the 3rd Naval District, Greenville, and the 4th Naval District, Harper. Rebuilding the AFL Part 4 (Articles VI and VII) of the August 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Second Liberian Civil War addressed security sector reform. It declared that future recruits for the new AFL would be screened for their fitness for service as well as prior human rights violations, that the new force would be ethnically balanced and without political bias, and that the new force's mission would be to defend national sovereignty and "in extremis" respond to natural disasters. By March 1, 2005, over a year after the war ended, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had disarmed and demobilized 103,018 people who claimed to have fought for former president Charles Taylor or the two rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) or the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). That year most former AFL elements were concentrated at Camp Schiefflin. The previous AFL personnel, including those of the Navy and Air Force, were slowly retired with pensions obtained by the MND and international partners from a number of international donors. In 2005, the United States provided funding for DynCorp International and Pacific Architects & Engineers, private military contractors, to train a new 4,000-man Liberian military. DynCorp was made responsible for individual training and PA&E unit training. In June–July 2005 the projected force strength was reduced to 2000 men. DynCorp and the U.S. Embassy scrutinized the personnel for the new armed forces thoroughly. Recruits had to pass a literacy test, an aptitude test, a drug test and an HIV test, and their names and faces were put on posters which are distributed to try to make sure none have a history of war crimes or other human rights violations. A new batch of 500 screened personnel started to arrive at the Camp Ware base at VOA Careysburg, inland from Monrovia, for initial training in early November 2007, joining 608 others who had graduated earlier. The Minister of Defense that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appointed in early 2006, Brownie Samukai, had a good public reputation. There appears to be some lack of coordination, at least according to The Wall Street Journal, between the Ministry of National Defense and DynCorp, who is training the new army. The newspaper said in an August 2007 report: Mr. Samukai also complains that he feels sidelined from the formation of an army that, as defense minister, he is supposed to oversee. Neither the State Department nor DynCorp will let him see the company's contract, for instance. And the U.S. insists that instead of talking directly to DynCorp managers, he go through Major Wyatt [chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia] on all matters related to the training. Whether well regarded or not, Samukai has been accused of misusing his power; there have been allegations that he has ordered soldiers to manhandle other senior Liberian government officials—the Comptroller General of the Ministry of Finance in August 2008. On January 11, 2008, a total 485 soldiers graduated from Initial Entry Training class 08-01. The addition of this third class of soldiers, consisting of 468 men and 17 women, raised the total strength of the AFL from 639 to 1,124. As the new Liberian force developed, UNMIL started winding down its initially 15,000 strong peacekeeping mission; by 2008 the force had been reduced to 11,000. In the interim buildup period, President Johnson-Sirleaf decided that a Nigerian officer would act as the Command Officer-In-Charge of the new armed forces. Major General Suraj Abdurrahman succeeded the previous incumbent, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, in early June 2007; Lieutenant General Yusuf had been posted home to Nigeria to become Chief of Army Staff. Luka had succeeded the previous Liberian Chief of Staff, Kpenkpa Y. Konah, in 2006. In mid-July 2008, five reinstated AFL officers returned from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College after training there. These officers include Lt Cols. Sekou S. Sheriff, Boakai B. Kamara, Aaron T. Johnson, Daniel K. Moore and Major Andrew J. Wleh. Subsequently, Aaron T. Johnson was promoted to colonel and confirmed by the Liberian Senate as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFL, immediately subordinate to General Abdurrahman. A number of the current senior AFL officers have been drawn from the ranks of the previous 1993–94 Interim Government of National Unity paramilitary police force, the 'Black Berets.' Facility reconstruction has not been limited to VOA/Camp Ware and Schiefflin/EBK. The Chinese Government offered in 2006 to rebuild Camp Tubman in Gbarnga, and the new facility was opened in April 2009. There is also a plan to rebuild Camp Todee in Todee District, upper Montserrado. The Barclay Training Center (BTC) was handed back to the Government of Liberia on July 31, 2009, at a ceremony attended by the Minister for National Defense and the United States Ambassador after four years of management by DynCorp. In October 2009 a State Partnership Program relationship was begun between the AFL and the U.S. state of Michigan's Michigan National Guard. Of the other large number of security agencies, plans existed as of mid-2008 at least to dissolve the Ministry of National Security, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The 2009–2010 budget appears to indicate however that this consolidation has not taken place. Peacekeeping Operations In 2013, the AFL deployed a platoon as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), marking the first time that the AFL had operated abroad since the United Nations Operation in the Congo in the early 1960s. Initially under Nigerian command, the AFL platoon came under Togo Contingent Command when Nigeria withdrew from the mission. Despite some initial logistical problems the platoon performed admirably, performing patrols and VIP escort duties. The deployment has now seen a number of rotations: Platoon 1 (Capt.? Nathaniel Waka) – 45 personnel strong; June 23, 2013, to June 26, 2014 Platoon 2 (Capt. Ernest A. Appleton) – June 26, 2014, to June 25, 2015 Platoon 3 (Capt. Stephen T. Powo) – June 25, 2015, to September 2, 2016 Platoon 4 (Capt. Forkpah Tarnue) – September 2, 2016, to ... From February 2017 the Mali deployment was increased to a 75-strong contingent, growing to a company of 105 personnel, with additional military observers and staff officers, from September 2018. In August 2019 training was completed of another company, the sixth rotation, due for deployment in September 2019. May 3, 2017, saw the first Liberian soldier killed on deployment with MINUSMA. Corporal Sheriff Ousmane was killed when a rebel group fired mortars into a UN base near Timbuktu. Seven other Liberians were wounded in the bombardment, three seriously so, together with a Swedish peacekeeper. During January 2019 the Ministry of National Defense announced plans to send a platoon-size contingent of peacekeepers to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Structure The Liberian ground forces currently consist of two infantry battalions and supporting units. The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade, was formed on August 29, 2008, at the Barclay Training Center in Monrovia, and the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade in December that year. Both battalions are currently based at the former Camp Schiefflin, which has now been renamed the Edward Binyah Kesselly Barracks, often known simply as 'EBK Barracks.' As a result of the concentration of troops at EBK, the camp was overcrowded, and disturbances among the soldiers have occurred. As of mid-2009, the Ministry of Defense is attempting to alleviate the problem by relocating some personnel to Camp Tubman in Gbarnga. The two battalions and supporting units went through training and preparation for an assessment exercise, a modified US Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program (ARTEP), which was held in late 2009. When declared operational, the 23rd Infantry Brigade was planned to be commanded by a colonel with a headquarters of 113 personnel. Supporting units were to include a band platoon (40 members), engineer company (220 strong), Brigade Training Unit (162 strong, now retitled the Armed Forces Training Command, located at Camp Ware under Major Wleh), and a military police company (105 strong). The force operates according to slightly modified United States Army practices, and uses U.S. doctrine. "..The first battalion started the United States Army Training and Evaluation Programme, which it will complete in September [2009], while the second battalion will complete the programme in December [2009]. At that time, the United States contractors currently training and equipping the force will hand over to the Ministry of National Defense, which will assume responsibility for training and standing up the new army. The United States has indicated that it plans to assign as many as 60 United States serving military personnel to continue mentoring the Armed Forces of Liberia, beginning in January 2010." The two infantry battalions' equipment, partially donated by Romania, includes AKM and PM md. 63 assault rifles, and PK machine guns. It may also include Streit Cougar vehicles. As of December 2010, a Logistics Command is being established within the AFL, taking the same name as a pre-Civil War AFL formation. Colonel Eric Wayma Dennis was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff
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and in Nimba County, Quiwonkpa's home, against those who had rejoiced after the coup announcement. As many as 1,500 people may have been killed. The AFL was purged of Gio soldiers. Under Samuel Doe the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. The Aviation Unit was founded in 1970 with the delivery of three Cessna U-17C light aircraft. An Aviation Unit aircraft crashed at Spriggs-Payne in 1984. In 1985 it operated three fixed-wing aircraft from Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, including Cessna 172s. Their duties included reconnaissance and transport of light cargo and VIPs. The Aviation Unit was expanded in the 1980s with the delivery of more Cessna aircraft: three 172s, a 206, 207 and two single engined turboprop 208s. The Liberian Air Force was established from the Aviation Unit by an Act of Legislature on August 12, 1987. Its statutory responsibilities were to: protect and defend the air space of the Republic of Liberia; protect lives and properties; provide air mobility for military and civil personnel; assist in search and rescue operations; undertake emergency operations; conduct reconnaissance patrols; participate in joint military operations and perform other duties as may be designated by the Ministry of Defense. The LAF was to be headed by a colonel in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Defense Staff for the Air Force and was mandated to do the following: to train personnel and develop doctrine; advise the Chief of Staff of the AFL on matters relating to the Air Force. In 1989 two refurbished DHC-4 Caribou, a single Piper Aztec light twin and three IAI Arava STOL twins were delivered. First Liberian Civil War (1989–1997) Charles Taylor invaded the country at Butuo in Nimba County on Christmas Eve 1989 with a force of around 150 men, initiating the First Liberian Civil War. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions to Nimba in December 1989 – January 1990, under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen. The Liberian government forces assumed that most of the Mano and Gio peoples in the Nimba region were supporting the rebels. They thus acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion which quickly alienated the local people. Taylor's support rose rapidly, as the Mano and Gio flocked to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia seeking revenge. Many government soldiers deserted, some to join the NPFL. The inability of the AFL to make any headway was one of the reasons why Doe changed his field commander in the area five times in the first six months of the war. Field commanders apparently included Brigadier General Edward Smith. By May 1990 the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga, still under the control of Bowen's troops, but they lost the town to a NPFL assault by the end of May 1990, at which time the NPFL also captured Buchanan on the coast. The NPFL had now gathered an estimated 10,000 fighters while the AFL, splintering, could only summon 2,000. The revolt reached Monrovia by July 1990, and General Dubar left the country for exile in the United States. In place of Dubar, Brigadier General Charles Julu, former commander of the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion, was appointed Chief of Staff. Two Liberian Coast Guard vessels were sunk in the battles for the city. The NPFL had been distributing weapons to Gio civilians after it arrived in Nimba, where many were very interested in taking their revenge on the government after Doe had punished Nimba country for its support of Quiwonkpa in 1983 and 1985. By July 1990 the government began to distribute weapons to civilians in turn, to Krahn and Mandingo who wished to protect themselves. These hastily enlisted civilians became known as '1990 soldiers.' A '1990 soldier' which the President had personally picked, Tailey Yonbu, led a massacre of refugees, mostly Gio and Mano civilians, on the night of July 29/30, 1990 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Sinkor, Monrovia. Some 600 were killed. Because of the previous ethnic purges carried out by Doe's forces, the conflict took on characteristics of an ethnic pogrom. In August 1990 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) despatched a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to Liberia. The force arrived at the Freeport of Monrovia on August 24, 1990, landing from Nigerian and Ghanaian vessels. By the time ECOMOG arrived, Prince Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL were fighting on the outside bounds of the port. A series of peacemaking conferences in regional capitals followed. There were meetings in Bamako in November 1990, Lome in January 1991, and Yamoussoukro in June–October 1991. The first seven peace conferences, including the Yamoussoukro I-IV processes and the Carter Center negotiation leading to the Cotonou Accords, failed due to lack of agreement between the warring factions. The NPFL launched an assault on Monrovia in 1992, which they named 'Operation Octopus.' The civil war lasted until the Abuja Accords of August 1996. The AFL was confined to an enclave around the capital during the conflict, and did not play a significant part in the fighting. Elections in July 1997 finally brought Taylor to power. Under the accords, which led to a break in fighting in 1996 and the Liberian general election, 1997, ECOMOG was to retrain a new national army based on fair ethnic and geographical representation. Yet Taylor denied ECOMOG any role in the restructuring of the AFL, and the force eventually left Liberia by the end of 1998. During the 1990–99 period, Chiefs of Staff included Lieutenant Colonel Davis S. Brapoh, Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen (later Minister of Defense), Lieutenant General A.M.V. Doumuyah, and Lieutenant General Kalilu Abe Kromah, appointed during the interim rule of the Council of State in 1996, who was chief of staff from May 1996 to April 1997. Following Kromah, Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson was appointed, who died in October 1999 following a car accident. Taylor regime (1997–2003) Shortly after the induction of Taylor as elected president of Liberia in August 1997, the Ministry of National Defense determined that the strength of the AFL had risen during the war from 6,500 to 14,981 service members. To begin demobilization, the AFL Chief of Staff published Special Orders No. 1 on January 1, 1998, demobilizing and retiring 2,250 personnel. The demobilization process was delayed and badly managed, and only on April 22, 1998, did payments began to be issued to the demobilizing personnel, without prior explanation of what exactly the payments represented. Demonstrations and protests by the demobilized personnel eventually led to a riot in which three died on May 5, 1998. As a result, Taylor authorised the formation of a commission to submit recommendations on how the AFL should be reorganized. The commission, led by Blamoh Nelson, Director of the Cabinet, submitted its report on December 17, 1998, recommending a 6,000-strong armed forces (5,160 Army, 600 Navy, and 240 Air Force) but the proposal was never implemented. Instead Taylor ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were Krahn brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997 – January 1998, and building up instead the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police, and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as the new Chief of Staff of the AFL (where he would stay until 2006) and John Tarnue as head of the army. Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander. The International Crisis Group writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired. The Second Liberian Civil War originated in clashes in April 1999 but was not a major threat to Taylor until 2000–01. However, on the government side the AFL played only a minor role; irregular ex National Patriotic Front of Liberia militias backed by more privileged Taylor partisans such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit saw most of the fighting. As a result of the Civil War, all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the Liberian Air Force were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable. During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-8, one in Anti-Terrorist Unit markings, could be seen at Spriggs Payne Airport in central Monrovia in mid-2005, apparently a hangover from the war. Meanwhile, during the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. However, on shore, both late 1990s and 2005 sources indicate the Navy included the 2nd Naval District, Buchanan, the 3rd Naval District, Greenville, and the 4th Naval District, Harper. Rebuilding the AFL Part 4 (Articles VI and VII) of the August 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Second Liberian Civil War addressed security sector reform. It declared that future recruits for the new AFL would be screened for their fitness for service as well as prior human rights violations, that the new force would be ethnically balanced and without political bias, and that the new force's mission would be to defend national sovereignty and "in extremis" respond to natural disasters. By March 1, 2005, over a year after the war ended, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had disarmed and demobilized 103,018 people who claimed to have fought for former president Charles Taylor or the two rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) or the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). That year most former AFL elements were concentrated at Camp Schiefflin. The previous AFL personnel, including those of the Navy and Air Force, were slowly retired with pensions obtained by the MND and international partners from a number of international donors. In 2005, the United States provided funding for DynCorp International and Pacific Architects & Engineers, private military contractors, to train a new 4,000-man Liberian military. DynCorp was made responsible for individual training and PA&E unit training. In June–July 2005 the projected force strength was reduced to 2000 men. DynCorp and the U.S. Embassy scrutinized the personnel for the new armed forces thoroughly. Recruits had to pass a literacy test, an aptitude test, a drug test and an HIV test, and their names and faces were put on posters which are distributed to try to make sure none have a history of war crimes or other human rights violations. A new batch of 500 screened personnel started to arrive at the Camp Ware base at VOA Careysburg, inland from Monrovia, for initial training in early November 2007, joining 608 others who had graduated earlier. The Minister of Defense that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appointed in early 2006, Brownie Samukai, had a good public reputation. There appears to be some lack of coordination, at least according to The Wall Street Journal, between the Ministry of National Defense and DynCorp, who is training the new army. The newspaper said in an August 2007 report: Mr. Samukai also complains that he feels sidelined from the formation of an army that, as defense minister, he is supposed to oversee. Neither the State Department nor DynCorp will let him see the company's contract, for instance. And the U.S. insists that instead of talking directly to DynCorp managers, he go through Major Wyatt [chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia] on all matters related to the training. Whether well regarded or not, Samukai has been accused of misusing his power; there have been allegations that he has ordered soldiers to manhandle other senior Liberian government officials—the Comptroller General of the Ministry of Finance in August 2008. On January 11, 2008, a total 485 soldiers graduated from Initial Entry Training class 08-01. The addition of this third class of soldiers, consisting of 468 men and 17 women, raised the total strength of the AFL from 639 to 1,124. As the new Liberian force developed, UNMIL started winding down its initially 15,000 strong peacekeeping mission; by 2008 the force had been reduced to 11,000. In the interim buildup period, President Johnson-Sirleaf decided that a Nigerian officer would act as the Command Officer-In-Charge of the new armed forces. Major General Suraj Abdurrahman succeeded the previous incumbent, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, in early June 2007; Lieutenant General Yusuf had been posted home to Nigeria to become Chief of Army Staff. Luka had succeeded the previous Liberian Chief of Staff, Kpenkpa Y. Konah, in 2006. In mid-July 2008, five reinstated AFL officers returned from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College after training there. These officers include Lt Cols. Sekou S. Sheriff, Boakai B. Kamara, Aaron T. Johnson, Daniel K. Moore and Major Andrew J. Wleh. Subsequently, Aaron T. Johnson was promoted to colonel and confirmed by the Liberian Senate as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFL, immediately subordinate to General Abdurrahman. A number of the current senior AFL officers have been drawn from the ranks of the previous 1993–94 Interim Government of National Unity paramilitary police force, the 'Black Berets.' Facility reconstruction has not been limited to VOA/Camp Ware and Schiefflin/EBK. The Chinese Government offered in 2006 to rebuild Camp Tubman in Gbarnga, and the new facility was opened in April 2009. There is also a plan to rebuild Camp Todee in Todee District, upper Montserrado. The Barclay Training Center (BTC) was handed back to the Government of Liberia on July 31, 2009, at a ceremony attended by the Minister for National Defense and the United States Ambassador after four years of management by DynCorp. In October 2009 a State Partnership Program relationship was begun between the AFL and the U.S. state of Michigan's Michigan National Guard. Of the other large number of security agencies, plans existed as of mid-2008 at least to dissolve the Ministry of National Security, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The 2009–2010 budget appears to indicate however that this consolidation has not taken place. Peacekeeping Operations In 2013, the AFL deployed a platoon as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), marking the first time that the AFL had operated abroad since the United Nations Operation in the Congo in the early 1960s. Initially under Nigerian command, the AFL platoon came under Togo Contingent Command when Nigeria withdrew from the mission. Despite some initial logistical problems the platoon performed admirably, performing patrols and VIP escort duties. The deployment has now seen a number of rotations: Platoon 1 (Capt.? Nathaniel Waka) – 45 personnel strong; June 23, 2013, to June 26, 2014 Platoon 2 (Capt. Ernest A. Appleton) – June 26, 2014, to June 25, 2015 Platoon 3 (Capt. Stephen T. Powo) – June 25, 2015, to September 2, 2016 Platoon 4 (Capt. Forkpah Tarnue) – September 2, 2016, to ... From February 2017 the Mali deployment was increased to a 75-strong contingent, growing to a company of 105 personnel, with additional military observers and staff officers, from September 2018. In August 2019 training was completed of another company, the sixth rotation, due for deployment in September 2019. May 3, 2017, saw the first Liberian soldier killed on deployment with MINUSMA. Corporal Sheriff Ousmane was killed when a rebel group fired mortars into a UN base near Timbuktu. Seven other Liberians were wounded in the bombardment, three seriously so, together with a Swedish peacekeeper. During January 2019 the Ministry of National Defense announced plans to send a platoon-size contingent of peacekeepers to the
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Bilateral relations Diplomatic Agreements Liberia is a founding member of the United Nations (see Permanent Representative of Liberia to the United Nations) and its specialized agencies and is a member of the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Development Bank (ADB), Mano River Union (MRU) and the Non-Aligned Movement. Liberia is also a member of the International
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cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. Liberia holds diplomatic relations with many western nations, including its long time partner the United States, as well as Russia, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China. Bilateral relations Diplomatic Agreements Liberia is a founding member of the United Nations (see Permanent Representative of Liberia to the United Nations) and its specialized agencies and is a member of the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Development Bank (ADB), Mano
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sufficiently pronounced to represent a significant obstacle to efforts toward achieving a fully unified Libya. Area and boundaries Area: Total: 1 759 540 km² Land: 1 759 540 km² Water: 0 km² Area - comparative: Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, seven times the size of the United Kingdom, and slightly larger than Alaska. Land boundaries: Total: 4 348 km Border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km Coastline: 1,770 km Maritime claims: Territorial sea: note: Gulf of Sidra closing line – 32 degrees, 30 minutes north. Exclusive economic zone: Climate and hydrology Within Libya as many as five different climatic zones have been recognized, but the dominant climates are the hot-summer Mediterranean climate and the hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification Csa and BWh). In most of the coastal lowland, the climate is Mediterranean, with hot or very hot summers and extremely mild winters. Rainfall is scant. The weather is cooler in the highlands, and frosts occur at maximum elevations. In the desert interior, despite the relatively high elevation, the climate has long, extremely hot summers and high diurnal temperature ranges due to the permanence of cloudless skies and excessively dry atmosphere. The highest official temperature ever recorded was on 13 September 1922 at 'Aziziya, Libya, but that reading is queried. Less than 2% of the national territory receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture, the heaviest precipitation occurring in the Jabal al Akhdar zone of Cyrenaica, where annual rainfall of is recorded. All other areas of the country receive less than , and in the Sahara Desert or less occurs. Rainfall is often erratic, and a pronounced drought may extend over two seasons. For example, epic floods in 1945 left Tripoli underwater for several days, but two years later an unprecedentedly severe drought caused the loss of thousands of head of cattle. Deficiency in rainfall is reflected in an absence of permanent rivers or streams, and the approximately twenty perennial lakes are brackish or salty. In 1987 these circumstances severely limited the country's agricultural potential as a basis for the sound and varied economy Gaddafi sought to establish. The allocation of limited water is considered of sufficient importance to warrant the existence of the Secretariat of Dams and Water Resources, and damaging a source of water can be punished by a heavy fine or imprisonment. The government has constructed a network of dams in wadis, dry watercourses that become torrents after heavy rains. These dams are used both as water reservoirs and for flood and erosion control. The wadis are heavily settled because soil in their bottoms is often suitable for agriculture, and the high water table in their vicinity makes them logical locations for digging wells. In many wadis, however, the water table is declining at an alarming rate, particularly in areas of intensive agriculture and near urban centers. The government has expressed concern over this problem and because of it has diverted water development projects, particularly around Tripoli, to localities where the demand on underground water resources is less intense. It has also undertaken extensive reforestation projects. There
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temperature ranges due to the permanence of cloudless skies and excessively dry atmosphere. The highest official temperature ever recorded was on 13 September 1922 at 'Aziziya, Libya, but that reading is queried. Less than 2% of the national territory receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture, the heaviest precipitation occurring in the Jabal al Akhdar zone of Cyrenaica, where annual rainfall of is recorded. All other areas of the country receive less than , and in the Sahara Desert or less occurs. Rainfall is often erratic, and a pronounced drought may extend over two seasons. For example, epic floods in 1945 left Tripoli underwater for several days, but two years later an unprecedentedly severe drought caused the loss of thousands of head of cattle. Deficiency in rainfall is reflected in an absence of permanent rivers or streams, and the approximately twenty perennial lakes are brackish or salty. In 1987 these circumstances severely limited the country's agricultural potential as a basis for the sound and varied economy Gaddafi sought to establish. The allocation of limited water is considered of sufficient importance to warrant the existence of the Secretariat of Dams and Water Resources, and damaging a source of water can be punished by a heavy fine or imprisonment. The government has constructed a network of dams in wadis, dry watercourses that become torrents after heavy rains. These dams are used both as water reservoirs and for flood and erosion control. The wadis are heavily settled because soil in their bottoms is often suitable for agriculture, and the high water table in their vicinity makes them logical locations for digging wells. In many wadis, however, the water table is declining at an alarming rate, particularly in areas of intensive agriculture and near urban centers. The government has expressed concern over this problem and because of it has diverted water development projects, particularly around Tripoli, to localities where the demand on underground water resources is less intense. It has also undertaken extensive reforestation projects. There are also numerous springs, those best suited for future development occurring along the scarp faces of the Jabal Nafusah and the Jabal al Akhdar. The most talked-about of the water resources, however, are the great subterranean aquifers of the desert. The best known of these lies beneath Kufra Oasis in southeastern Cyrenaica. An aquifer with even greater reputed capacity is located near the oasis community of Sabha in the southwestern desert. In the late 1970s, wells were drilled at Kufra and at Sabha as part of a major agricultural development effort. An even larger undertaking is the so-called Great Manmade River, initiated in 1984. It is intended to tap the tremendous aquifers of the Kufra, Sarir, and Sabha oases and to carry the resulting water to the Mediterranean coast for use in irrigation and industrial projects. Terrain and land use Terrain: mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions Elevation extremes: lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, gypsum Land use: arable land: 0.99% permanent crops: 0.19% other: 98.82% (2011) Irrigated land: 4,700 km² (2003) Total renewable water resources: 0.7 (2011) Environmental issues Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms Environment - current issues: desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea Extreme points This is a list of the extreme points of Libya, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Northernmost point – Ras Ajdir at the point where the border with Tunisia enters the Mediterranean Sea, Nuqat al Khams District Easternmost point – Marsa er Ramla at the point where the border with Egypt enters the Mediterranean Sea, Butnan District Southernmost point - the tripoint with Chad and Sudan, Kufra District Westernmost point - unnamed
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a vast area of influence for themselves in Sirte and Fezzan by force of arms and by their alliances with neighboring peoples and the Libian administration. Defeated by the Ottoman administration in Tripoli at the end of the 1830s, the survivors of the Awlad Sulayman took refuge in the Lake Chad basin where they reconstituted the conditions for their success in Libia; they controlled trans-Saharan trade and maintained their links with Libian society. Despite the limits imposed on their action by the French colonization of Chad and the Italian colonization of Libia; the Awlad Sulayman retained regional influence during colonial times and appear to maintain it today. In the Second World War Libya was one of the main battlegrounds of North Africa. During the war, the territory was under an Anglo-French military government until it was overrun by the Axis Powers, who, in turn, were defeated by the Allies in 1943. In 1951, the country was granted independence by the United Nations, being governed by King Idris. In 1969, a military coup led by Muammar Gaddafi resulted in the overthrow of King Idris I. Gaddafi then established an anti-Western leadership. In 1970, Gaddafi ordered all British and American military bases closed. The Libyan population has increased rapidly after 1969. They were only 2 million in 1968, and 5 million in 2006. . Many migrant workers came to Libya since 1969. Among the workers were construction workers and laborers from Tunisia, teachers and laborers from Egypt, teachers from Palestine, and doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. 1,000,000 workers, mainly from other neighboring African countries like Sudan, Niger, Chad and Mali, migrated to Libya in the 1990s, after changes were made to Libya's Pan-African policies. Gaddafi used money from the sale of oil to improve the living conditions of the population and to assist Palestinian guerrillas in their fight against the Israelis. In 1979, Libya fought in Uganda to assist the government of Idi Amin in the Ugandan Civil War, and in 1981, fought in the Libyan-Chadian War. Libya had occupied the Aozou Strip; however, in 1990 the International Court of Justice submitted the case and allowed the full recuperation of territory to Chad. In September 2008, Italy and Libya signed a memorandum by which Italy would pay $5 billion over the next 20 years to compensate Libya for its dominion over Libya for its reign of 30 years. Since 2011, the country is swept by Libyan Civil War, which broke out between the Anti-Gaddafi rebels and the Pro-Gaddafi government in 2011, culminating in the death and overthrow of Gaddafi. Nevertheless, even today Libya still continues to generate problems within the area and beyond, greatly affecting its population and the migrant route to Europe. Population Libya has a small population residing in a large land area. Population density is about 50 persons per km² (130/sq. mi.) in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per km² (2.7/sq. mi.) elsewhere. Ninety percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the coast. About 90% of the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the four largest cities, Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and Bayda. As of 2019, twenty-eight percent of the population is estimated to be under the age of 15, but this proportion has decreased considerably during the past decades. Population History Population census Eight population censuses have been carried out in Libya, the first in 1931 and the most recent one in 2006. The population multiplied sixfold between 1931 and 2006. Vital statistics During the past 60 years the demographic situation of Libya changed considerably. Since the 1950s, life expectancy increased steadily and the infant mortality rates decreased. As the fertility rates remained high until the 1980s (the number of births tripled between 1950–55 and 1980–85), population growth was very high for three decades. However, after 1985 a fast decrease in fertility was observed from over 7 children per woman in the beginning of the 1980s to less than 3 in 2005-2010. Because of this decrease in fertility the population growth slowed down and also the proportion of Libyans under the age of 15 decreased from 47% in 1985 to 30% in 2010. Births and deaths Births and deaths Life expectancy at birth 1950-1955: 42.85 years 1955-1960: 45.4 years 1960-1965: 48.1 years 1965-1970: 50.5 years 1970-1975: 52.8 years 1975-1980: 56.45 years 1980-1985: 60.2 years 1985-1990: 63.5 years 1990-1995: 65.85 years 1995-2000: 67.2 years 2000-2005: 68.8 years 2005-2010: 69.9 years CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Vital statistics Population 6,754,507 (July 2018 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 25.53% (male 882,099/ female 842,320) 15-24 years: 16.81% (male 582,247/ female 553,004) 25-54 years: 47.47% (male 1,684,019/ female 1,522,027) 55-64 years: 5.77% (male 197,196/ female 192,320) 65 years and over: 4.43% (male 147,168/ female 152,107) (2018 est.) Median age total: 29.4 years male: 29.5 years female: 29.2 years (2018 est.) Population growth rate 1.45% (2018 est.) Birth rate 17.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Death rate 3.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Net migration rate 0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Total fertility rate 3.71 children born/woman (2000 est.) 3.01 children born/woman (2010 est.) 2.12 children born/woman (2012 est.) 2.03 children born/woman (2018 est.) Urbanization urban population: 80.1% of total population (2018) rate of urbanization: 1.68% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0–14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15–24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 25–54 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 55–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2017 est.) Infant mortality rate total: 10.5 deaths/1,000 live births male: 11.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 76.9 years male: 75.1 years female: 78.7 years (2018 est.) Ethnic and tribal groups Ethnic groups Although the CIA World Factbook claims that Libya's population is 97% Arab and Berber, the 1936 census, which allowed citizens to declare their ethnicity, showed a more diverse population: The population of Libya is primarily of Arab and Berber ancestral origin. Among the non-Arabized Berber groups are the nomadic Tuareg, who inhabit the southern areas as well as parts of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. A few other tribal groups that still speak the native Berber languages are concentrated in the northwestern portion of Tripolitania. In the southeast, there are small populations of Toubou (Tibbu). They occupy between a quarter and a third of the country and also inhabit Niger and Chad. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are from other African nations, including citizens of other North African nations (primarily Egyptians) and West Africans. Tribal groups Libyan society is to a large extent structured along tribal lines, with more than 20 major tribal groups. The major tribal groups of Libya in 2011 were listed: Tripolitania Settled non Bedouin tribes: Misurata Ahali, Misurata Karagula, Geryan, Zawia, Misalata, Zwara Berber, Khumus Tripolitania Bedouin tribes: Warfalla, Tarhona, Al-Zintan, Al-Rijban, Awlad-Suleiman Cyrenaica Beduin: Al-Awagir, Al-Abaydat, Drasa, Al-Barasa, Al-Fawakhir, Al-Zuwayya, Al-Majabra Sirte Beduin:Awlad-Suleiman, Qadhadhfa, Al-Magarha, Al-Magharba, Al-Riyyah, Al-Haraba, Al-Zuwaid, Al-Guwaid Fezzan:Awlad-Suleiman, Hutman, Hassawna; Toubou, Tuareg Kufra: Al-Zuwayya; Toubou Some of the ancient Berber tribes include: Adyrmachidae, Auschisae, Es'bet, Temeh'u, Teh'nu, Rebu, Kehek, KeyKesh, Imukehek, Meshwesh, Macetae, Macatutae, Nasamones, Nitriotae, and Tautamaei. the major tribal groups of Libya,
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1970, Gaddafi ordered all British and American military bases closed. The Libyan population has increased rapidly after 1969. They were only 2 million in 1968, and 5 million in 2006. . Many migrant workers came to Libya since 1969. Among the workers were construction workers and laborers from Tunisia, teachers and laborers from Egypt, teachers from Palestine, and doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. 1,000,000 workers, mainly from other neighboring African countries like Sudan, Niger, Chad and Mali, migrated to Libya in the 1990s, after changes were made to Libya's Pan-African policies. Gaddafi used money from the sale of oil to improve the living conditions of the population and to assist Palestinian guerrillas in their fight against the Israelis. In 1979, Libya fought in Uganda to assist the government of Idi Amin in the Ugandan Civil War, and in 1981, fought in the Libyan-Chadian War. Libya had occupied the Aozou Strip; however, in 1990 the International Court of Justice submitted the case and allowed the full recuperation of territory to Chad. In September 2008, Italy and Libya signed a memorandum by which Italy would pay $5 billion over the next 20 years to compensate Libya for its dominion over Libya for its reign of 30 years. Since 2011, the country is swept by Libyan Civil War, which broke out between the Anti-Gaddafi rebels and the Pro-Gaddafi government in 2011, culminating in the death and overthrow of Gaddafi. Nevertheless, even today Libya still continues to generate problems within the area and beyond, greatly affecting its population and the migrant route to Europe. Population Libya has a small population residing in a large land area. Population density is about 50 persons per km² (130/sq. mi.) in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than one person per km² (2.7/sq. mi.) elsewhere. Ninety percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the coast. About 90% of the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the four largest cities, Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and Bayda. As of 2019, twenty-eight percent of the population is estimated to be under the age of 15, but this proportion has decreased considerably during the past decades. Population History Population census Eight population censuses have been carried out in Libya, the first in 1931 and the most recent one in 2006. The population multiplied sixfold between 1931 and 2006. Vital statistics During the past 60 years the demographic situation of Libya changed considerably. Since the 1950s, life expectancy increased steadily and the infant mortality rates decreased. As the fertility rates remained high until the 1980s (the number of births tripled between 1950–55 and 1980–85), population growth was very high for three decades. However, after 1985 a fast decrease in fertility was observed from over 7 children per woman in the beginning of the 1980s to less than 3 in 2005-2010. Because of this decrease in fertility the population growth slowed down and also the proportion of Libyans under the age of 15 decreased from 47% in 1985 to 30% in 2010. Births and deaths Births and deaths Life expectancy at birth 1950-1955: 42.85 years 1955-1960: 45.4 years 1960-1965: 48.1 years 1965-1970: 50.5 years 1970-1975: 52.8 years 1975-1980: 56.45 years 1980-1985: 60.2 years 1985-1990: 63.5 years 1990-1995: 65.85 years 1995-2000: 67.2 years 2000-2005: 68.8 years 2005-2010: 69.9 years CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Vital statistics Population 6,754,507 (July 2018 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 25.53% (male 882,099/ female 842,320) 15-24 years: 16.81% (male 582,247/ female 553,004) 25-54 years: 47.47% (male 1,684,019/ female 1,522,027) 55-64 years: 5.77% (male 197,196/ female 192,320) 65 years and over: 4.43% (male 147,168/ female 152,107) (2018 est.) Median age total: 29.4 years male: 29.5 years female: 29.2 years (2018 est.) Population growth rate 1.45% (2018 est.) Birth rate 17.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Death rate 3.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Net migration rate 0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Total fertility rate 3.71 children born/woman (2000 est.) 3.01 children born/woman (2010 est.) 2.12 children born/woman (2012 est.) 2.03 children born/woman (2018 est.) Urbanization urban population: 80.1% of total population (2018) rate of urbanization: 1.68% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0–14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15–24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 25–54 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 55–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2017 est.) Infant mortality rate total: 10.5 deaths/1,000 live births male: 11.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 76.9 years male: 75.1 years female: 78.7 years (2018 est.) Ethnic and tribal groups Ethnic groups Although the CIA World Factbook claims that Libya's population is 97% Arab and Berber, the 1936 census, which allowed citizens to declare their ethnicity, showed a more diverse population: The population of Libya is primarily of Arab and Berber ancestral origin. Among the non-Arabized Berber groups are the nomadic Tuareg, who inhabit the southern areas as well as parts of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. A few other tribal groups that still speak the native Berber languages are concentrated in the northwestern portion of Tripolitania. In the southeast, there are small populations of Toubou (Tibbu). They occupy between a quarter and a third of the country and also inhabit Niger and Chad. Among foreign residents, the largest groups are from other African nations, including citizens of other North African nations (primarily Egyptians) and West Africans. Tribal groups Libyan society is to a large extent structured along tribal lines, with more than 20 major tribal groups. The major tribal groups of Libya in 2011 were listed: Tripolitania Settled non Bedouin tribes: Misurata Ahali, Misurata Karagula, Geryan, Zawia, Misalata, Zwara Berber, Khumus Tripolitania Bedouin tribes: Warfalla, Tarhona, Al-Zintan, Al-Rijban, Awlad-Suleiman Cyrenaica Beduin: Al-Awagir, Al-Abaydat, Drasa, Al-Barasa, Al-Fawakhir, Al-Zuwayya, Al-Majabra Sirte Beduin:Awlad-Suleiman, Qadhadhfa, Al-Magarha, Al-Magharba, Al-Riyyah, Al-Haraba, Al-Zuwaid, Al-Guwaid Fezzan:Awlad-Suleiman, Hutman, Hassawna; Toubou, Tuareg Kufra: Al-Zuwayya; Toubou Some of the ancient Berber tribes include: Adyrmachidae, Auschisae, Es'bet, Temeh'u, Teh'nu, Rebu, Kehek, KeyKesh, Imukehek, Meshwesh, Macetae, Macatutae, Nasamones, Nitriotae, and Tautamaei. the major tribal groups of Libya, by region, were as follows: Tripolitania: alawana-Souk El Joma'a, AL-Mahameed, Warfalla, Tarhona, Misurata tribes, Al-Jawary, Siyan Tribe, The Warshfana tribes, Zawia Groups, Ghryan Tribes, AL-Asabea, Al-Fwatir, Awlad Busayf, Zintan, Al-jbalya, Zwara, Alajelat, Al-Nawael tribe, Alalqa tribe, Al-Rijban, al Mashashi, Amaym. Cyrenaica: AJ-JWAZY, Al-Awagir, Magharba, Al-Abaydat, Drasa, Al-Barasa, Al-Fawakhir, Zuwayya, Majabra, Awama, Minfa, Taraki, alawana, Shwa'ir and in Kufra Zuwayya; Toubou. Sirte: Awlad-Suleiman, Qadhadhfa, Magharba, Al-Hosoon, Ferrjan Fezzan: Awlad Suleiman,
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"political face of the revolution", made the introduction of multiparty democracy a cornerstone of its agenda. In June 2011, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father would agree to internationally monitored general elections, and would step down if he lost them, but his offer was refused by the rebels and ignored by the UN Security Council. On 8 March, the NTC issued a statement in which it declared itself to be the "sole representative all over Libya". The council formed an interim governing body on 23 March. As of 20 October 100 countries declared full support to the council by severing all relations with Gaddafi's rule and recognizing the National Transitional Council as the rightful representative of Libya. On 3 August 2011, the NTC issued a Constitutional Declaration which declared the statehood of Libya as a democracy with Islam as its state religion, in which the state guarantees the rule of law and an independent judiciary as well as civic and human basic rights (including freedom of religion and women's rights), and which contains provisions for a phase of transition to a presidential republic with an elected national assembly and a democratically legitimized constitution by 2013. Vice Chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga declared Libya to be "liberated" on 23 October 2011, announcing an official end to the war. Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said Libya would become an Islamic democracy in the wake of Gaddafi's death, though the extent of Islamic law's influence would be determined by elected lawmakers. Ghoga later confirmed that Libya will continue to adhere to all international agreements to which it was signatory prior to the uprising. On 7 July 2012 an election was held for the General National Congress (GNC) to replace the NTC. There were 2,501 candidates for the 200 seats - 136 for political parties and 64 for independent candidates. About 300 candidates' views were considered unacceptable and removed from candidates list, suspected of sympathizing with the defeated forces of the Jamahiriya. Accreditation centers have also been organized in European cities with larger Libyan communities like Berlin and Paris, in order to allow Libyan nationals there to cast their vote. On 8 August 2012 the NTC officially dissolved and transferred power to the General National Congress. Political parties and elections On 7 July 2012, the Legislative body – the General National Congress – was elected. List of parties with seats in the General National Congress National Forces Alliance Justice & Construction National Front Wadi al-Hiya Alliance Union for Homeland National Centrist Party Libyan National Democratic Party The Message The Foundation National Party For Development and Welfare Nation & Prosperity Authenticity & Renewal Authenticity & Progress Moderate Umma Assembly Libik Watani National Gathering of Wadi al-Shati Moderate Youth Party Libyan List for Freedom & Development National Coalition of Parties Libya the Hope Wisdom Party List of parties without seats in the General National Congress Libyan Popular National Movement Democratic Party Homeland Party Party of Reform and Development Libyan Constitutional Union Libyan Amazigh Congress Alhaq and Democracy Party of Benghazi Libyan National Congress Party New Libya Party National Unity of Libya Party Freedom and Development Party of Libya The Patriotic Reform Party National Solidarity Party The Libyan National Party Umma Party Justice and Democracy Party of Libya Libya Future Party Libyan Center Party National
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and from 8 August replaced the National Transitional Council that had governed the country since the end of the Libyan Civil War. The General National Congress was composed of 200 members of which 80 were elected through a party list system of proportional representation, and 120 were elected as independents in multiple-member districts. The executive branch was appointed by the GNC and led by the Prime Minister, while the President of the GNC was the de facto head of state, though not explicitly described as such in the Declaration. The main responsibility of the GNC was to form a constituent assembly which would write Libya's permanent constitution, for approval by a referendum. The law of Libya is based on sharia. On 30 March 2014, the General National Congress voted to replace itself with a new House of Representatives. The new legislature would allocate 30 seats for women, would have 200 seats overall (with individuals able to run as members of political parties) and allow Libyans of foreign nationalities to run for office. While elections were held and lawmakers took office, the former General National Congress rejected the results and reconvened in opposition to the new parliament, which now meets in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk. In early December 2015 both parliaments, the GNC and the House of Representatives, agreed a declaration of principles calling for the formation of a joint ten-person committee to name an interim prime minister and two deputies, leading to new elections within two years. Changes after the 2011 Civil War Political parties were banned in Libya from 1972 until the removal of Gaddafi's government, and all elections were nonpartisan under law. However, during the revolution, the National Transitional Council (NTC), a body formed on 27 February 2011 by anti-Gaddafi forces to act as the "political face of the revolution", made the introduction of multiparty democracy a cornerstone of its agenda. In June 2011, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father would agree to internationally monitored general elections, and would step down if he lost them, but his offer was refused by the rebels and ignored by the UN Security Council. On 8 March, the NTC issued a statement in which it declared itself to be the "sole representative all over Libya". The council formed an interim governing body on 23 March. As of 20 October 100 countries declared full support to the council by severing all relations with Gaddafi's rule and recognizing the National Transitional Council as the rightful representative of Libya. On 3 August 2011, the NTC issued a Constitutional Declaration which declared the statehood of Libya as a democracy with Islam as its state religion, in which the state guarantees the rule of law and an independent judiciary as well as civic and human basic rights (including freedom of religion and women's rights), and which contains provisions for a phase of transition to a presidential republic with an elected national assembly and a democratically legitimized constitution by 2013. Vice Chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga declared Libya to be "liberated" on 23 October 2011, announcing an official end to the war. Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said Libya would become an Islamic democracy in the wake of Gaddafi's death, though the extent of Islamic law's influence would be determined by elected lawmakers. Ghoga later confirmed that Libya will continue to adhere to all international agreements to which it was signatory prior to the uprising. On 7 July 2012 an election was held for the General National Congress (GNC) to replace the NTC. There
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workers represent an estimated fifth of the labor force. Although significant, the proportion of expatriate workers is still below oil producing countries in the Persian Gulf. Foreign workers mainly come from the Maghreb, Egypt, Turkey, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland, Chad, Sudan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They tend to earn relatively high wages, taking either skilled or hard manual jobs. Census data for 2000 show the share of expatriates earning over LD 300 (US$230) per month was 20%, compared to 12% for Libyan nationals. A campaign encouraging conversion of qualified civil servants to entrepreneurs, in the face of public sector over employment and declining productivity, does not seem to be producing the desired results thus far. External trade and finance The Government is in the process of preparing a financial sector reform program. Recent legislation setting corporate governance standards for financial institutions makes progress towards better management and greater operational independence of public banks. However, Libyan public banks still lack management structures supported by skills in critical areas like credit, investment, risk management, and information and control systems. The new banking law reinforces the independence of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and offers a legal framework for regulating banking activities, even if some provisions call for improvement. Despite progress brought by the new banking Law that specifies and limits its duties and responsibilities, the CBL remains the owner of the public banks, with the associated potential conflict of interest between ownership and regulation. Financial sector reform has also progressed with partial interest rate liberalization. Interest rates have been liberalized on deposits, while a lending rate ceiling has been set above the discount rate. The Libyan Stock Exchange, established in 2007, is the first exchange of its kind in the country. In 2011, Libya Oil Holdings had its €38m stake in Irish exploration firm Circle Oil frozen on foot of a European Union order that's been put in place to put pressure on the Gaddafi regime. Statistics Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 11%: NA% highest 10%: NA% Industrial production growth rate: 2.7% (2009) Electricity - production: 24 billion kWh (2007 est) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1998) Electricity - consumption: 22.17 billion kWh (2007 est) Electricity - exports: 104 million kWh (2007) Electricity - imports: 77 million kWh (2007) Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans, cattle, corn International rankings Notes References Energy Information Administration (2007) Libya: Country Analysis Brief World Bank (2006), Libya: Economic Report, Social & Economic Development Group P. Mobbs (2002) Mineral Industry of Libya T. Ahlbrandt (2001) Sirte Basin Province: Sirte-Zelten Total Petroleum System USGS Central Bank Of Libya Economic Bulletin Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya National Authority for Information and Statistics, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Pilat D., Innovation and Productivity in
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experts believe the discovery to be one of the biggest made in Libya for several years. Repsol YPF is joined by a consortium of partners including OMV, Total and Norsk Hydro. Also located in Murzuq Basin is Eni's Elephant field. In October 1997, a consortium led by British company Lasmo, along with Eni and a group of five South Korean companies, announced that it had discovered large recoverable crude reserves about south of Tripoli. Lasmo estimated field production would cost around $1 per barrel. Elephant began production in February 2004. WOC's Waha fields currently produce around . In 2005, ConocoPhillips and co-venturers reached an agreement with NOC to return to its operations in Libya and extend the Waha concession 25 years. ConocoPhillips operates the Waha fields with a 16.33% share in the project. NOC has the largest share of the Waha concession, and additional partners include Marathon and Amerada Hess. Refining and Downstream Libya has five domestic refineries: Notes: 1. Amounts in barrels per day. Diversification In 2007, mining and hydrocarbon industries accounted for well over 95 percent of the Libyan economy. Diversification of the economy into manufacturing industries remain a long-term issue. Although agriculture is the second-largest sector in the economy, Libya depends on imports in most foods. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit farm output, and domestic food production meets only about 25% of demand. Domestic conditions limit output, while higher incomes and a growing population have caused food consumption to rise. Because of low rainfall levels in Libya, agricultural projects such as the Kufra oasis rely on underground water sources. Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Manmade River (GMMR), but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing demand. Libyan agricultural projects and policies are overseen by a General Inspector; there is no Ministry of Agriculture, per se. Libya produced in 2018: 348 thousand tons of potato; 236 thousand tons of watermelon; 215 thousand tons of tomato; 188 thousand tons of olive; 183 thousand tons of onion; 176 thousand tons of date; 138 thousand tons of wheat; 93 thousand tons of barley; 72 thousand tons of vegetable; 60 thousand tons of plum; 53 thousand tons of orange; In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products. Tourism Tourism in Libya Labor market Libya posted a 3.3% rate of population growth during 1960–2003. In 2003, 86% of the population was urban, compared to 45% in 1970. Although no reliable estimates are available, unemployment is reportedly acute: over 50% of the population under the age of 20. Moreover, despite the bias of labor market regulations favoring Libyan workers, the mismatch of the educational system with market demand has produced a large pool of expatriate workers, with typically better-suited education and higher productivity. However, because of shortages for manual labor, Libya has also attracted important numbers of less skilled immigrants. Expatriate workers represent an estimated fifth of the labor force. Although significant, the proportion of expatriate workers is still below oil producing countries in the Persian Gulf. Foreign workers mainly come from the Maghreb, Egypt, Turkey, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland, Chad, Sudan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They tend to earn relatively high wages, taking either skilled or hard manual jobs. Census data for 2000 show the share of expatriates earning over LD 300 (US$230) per month was 20%, compared to 12% for Libyan nationals. A campaign encouraging conversion of qualified civil servants to entrepreneurs, in the face of public sector over employment and declining productivity, does not seem to be producing the desired results thus far. External trade and finance The Government is in the process of preparing a financial sector reform program. Recent legislation setting corporate governance standards for financial institutions makes progress towards better management and greater operational independence of public banks. However, Libyan public banks still lack management structures supported by skills in critical areas like credit, investment, risk management, and information and control systems. The new banking law reinforces the independence of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and offers a legal framework for regulating banking activities, even if some provisions call for improvement. Despite progress brought by the new banking Law that specifies and limits its duties and responsibilities, the CBL remains the owner of the public banks, with the associated potential conflict of interest between ownership and regulation. Financial sector reform has also progressed with partial
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Web sites. This relatively lenient filtering policy coincided with what was arguably a trend toward greater openness and increasing freedom of the press. However, the legal and political climate continued to encourage self-censorship in online media. On 18 February 2011, the day after the first protests that were to lead to the 2011 Libyan revolution, Libya appeared to have withdrawn all of its BGP prefix announcements from the Internet for a short period, cutting it off from the rest of the global Internet. The prefix were re-advertised six hours later. There was no traffic for several hours on 19 and 20 February. Service picked up over the next few days to almost normal levels until, at 6:00am on 3 March, traffic effectively ceased (except for very limited satellite links). The government had severed the underwater backbone fibre-optic cable that runs along the coast, linking networks in the east and servers in the west of the country. Engineers reckon the break is between the cities of Misrata and Khoms, and may be a physical or electronic rupture. From 10 July traffic began increasing again, and after a brief shutdown on 15 July, it was reaching about 15% of its pre-17 February levels up to 22 August, the day Tripoli fell to the rebels. Traffic began increasing again at that point, and as of 2 September was reaching daily levels in excess of 50% and often as high as 75% of pre-war levels. The overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in the fall of 2011 did not end an era of censorship. In 2012, RWB removed Libya from its list of countries under surveillance. Newspapers Following the fall of the Gaddafi regime in August 2011 former state-affiliated dailies have closed and new titles have appeared, many short-lived. Benghazi has emerged as a publishing hub. There are as yet few daily newspapers and print runs are small. Daily newspapers Al-Bilad - private daily Brnieq February - state-owned daily Libya Herald - private online English-language daily New Quryna - Benghazi-based private daily Weekly newspapers Tripoli Post - private English-language weekly Homepage News agencies and websites Al-Tadamun News Agency - originally started in Switzerland in February 2011, later moved
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in 2013 blocking 'pornographic material' however was found to block other non pornographic related websites, including proxy sites and some political websites that belonged to rival groups / governments. [references outdated] Please update Social Media users 1,115,025 users, 19.9% of the population (2012) 904,604 users, 14.0% (2010) Fixed broadband Internet subscriptions 67,300 subscriptions, 111th in the world, 1.0 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2012) 72,800 subscriptions, 98th in the world, 1.2 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2010) Internet hosts 17,926 hosts, 121st in the world (2012) 17,787 hosts, 122nd in the world (2011) IPv4 addresses allocated 299,008 addresses, 105th in the world, 44.4 per 1000 inhabitants (2012) Top-level domain .ly Internet Service Providers (ISPs) The Internet and telecommunications are mainly run by the government through a semi-private telecommunication company Libya Telecom & Technology. The company moderates and controls the use of the Internet in Libya. 23 ISPs Libya Telecom & Technology (LTT) - a state-owned telecommunications company Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology a state-owned telecommunications company Al-Manarah - leading Libyan online community All Libyan Blogs - blog aggregator Bayt Al Shams (BsISP) Modern World Telecom (MWC) Vizocom The Internet and the Libyan revolution In 2006 Reporters Without Borders (RWB) removed Libya from their list of Internet enemies after a fact-finding visit found no evidence of Internet censorship. The OpenNet Initiative’s 2007–2008 technical test results contradicted that conclusion, however. In 2009 ONI classified Internet filtering in Libya as selective in the political area and as no evidence in social, conflict/security, and Internet tools. Prior to the Libyan revolution, Internet filtering under the Gaddafi regime had become more selective, focusing on a few political opposition Web sites. This relatively lenient filtering policy coincided with what was arguably a trend toward greater openness and increasing freedom of the press. However, the legal and political climate continued to encourage self-censorship in online media. On 18 February 2011, the day after the first protests that were to lead to the 2011 Libyan revolution, Libya appeared to have withdrawn all of its BGP prefix announcements from the Internet for a short period, cutting it off from the rest of the global Internet. The prefix were re-advertised six hours later. There was no traffic for several hours on 19 and 20 February. Service picked up over the next few days to almost normal levels until, at 6:00am on 3 March, traffic effectively ceased (except for very limited satellite links). The government had severed the underwater backbone fibre-optic cable that runs along the coast, linking networks in the east and servers in the west of the country. Engineers reckon the break is between the cities of Misrata and Khoms, and may be a physical or electronic rupture. From 10 July traffic began increasing again, and after a brief shutdown on 15 July, it was reaching about 15% of its pre-17 February levels up to 22 August, the day Tripoli fell to the rebels. Traffic began increasing again at that point, and as of 2 September was reaching daily levels in excess of 50% and often as high as 75% of pre-war levels. The overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in the fall of 2011 did not end an era of censorship. In 2012, RWB removed Libya from its list of countries under surveillance. Newspapers Following the fall of the Gaddafi regime in August 2011 former state-affiliated dailies have closed and new titles have appeared, many short-lived. Benghazi has emerged as a publishing hub. There are as yet few daily newspapers and print runs are small. Daily newspapers Al-Bilad - private daily Brnieq February - state-owned daily Libya Herald - private online English-language daily New Quryna - Benghazi-based private daily Weekly newspapers Tripoli Post - private English-language weekly Homepage News agencies and websites Al-Tadamun News Agency - originally started in Switzerland in February 2011, later moved to Benghazi, Libya Libyan News Agency ("Lana")
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is chiefly engaged in shorter trips between towns. Bus fares are low and the standard of comfort, particularly on international routes is good, with air-conditioned vehicles and good service. Taxis are available in the larger towns and are usually hired on a shared basis, although individual hire can be negotiated. The driving skills of taxi drivers are extremely variable. Taxis may have meters, but these are rarely in use. Car hire for self-drive is not recommended in Libya, although it is possible to hire a vehicle from agents in larger hotels. Vehicles are often old and poorly maintained, however, and are unequal to long-distance driving. Driving itself can be hazardous and there is a high rate of road accidents. Regional highways Libya has two routes in the Trans-African Highway network, but only one currently functions as such, the Cairo-Dakar Highway. Ports and harbours Mediterranean Sea (west to east) Zuwara Tripoli Khoms Misrata Ra's Lanuf Brega Benghazi Derna Tobruk Merchant marine Total: 17 ships (1000 GT or over) 96,062 GT/ By type: Cargo 9, Liquified Gas 3, Passenger/Cargo 2, Petroleum Tanker 1, Roll on/Roll off
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previous narrow gauge lines having been dismantled. Plans for a new network have been under development for some time (earthworks were begun between Sirte and Ras Ajdir, Tunisia border, in 2001-5), and in 2008 and 2009 various contracts were placed and construction work started on a standard gauge railway parallel to the coast from the Tunisian border at Ras Ajdir to Tripoli, and on to Misrata, Sirte, Benghazi and Bayda. Another railway line will run inland from Misrata to Sabha at the centre of a mineral-rich area. Highways Total: 83,200 km Paved: 47,590 km Unpaved: 35,610 km (1996 est.) There are about 83,200 km of roads in Libya, 47,590 km of which are surfaced. 983 out of 1000 Libyans have cars, which is the highest rate in Africa. The best roads run along the coast between Tripoli and Tunis in Tunisia; also between Benghazi and Tobruk, connecting with Alexandria in Egypt. A fairly efficient bus service operates along these routes, with two main bus transport companies. One covers long-distance, international routes, while the other is chiefly engaged in shorter trips between towns. Bus fares are low and the standard of comfort, particularly on international routes is good, with air-conditioned vehicles and good service. Taxis are available in the larger towns and are usually hired on a shared basis, although individual hire
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the Aouzou Strip or any other part of Chad. The Libyan Army has ceased to function following the rebel victory in the Libyan civil war. Army equipment The Libyan ground forces had a large amount of mostly Soviet equipment in service. These numbers do not take into account equipment destroyed or captured during the 2011 Libyan civil war. The IISS estimated tank numbers in 2009 as 2,025: T-55 – 1000+ T-54/T-55 T-62 – 600; 462 in store; T-72 – 150; 115 in store. Russian official sources reported in 2010 that T-72s would be modernised with help from Russia. 750 BTR-50 and BTR-60s were also reported by the IISS. The IISS estimated there were 500 BRDM-2 and 700 EE-9 Cascavel reconnaissance vehicles, 1,000 BMP-1s, plus BMDs. Other reported wheeled vehicles in service include 1000 EE-11 Urutu and Czechoslovak OT-64 SKOT. The IISS estimated artillery in service in 2009 as totaling 2,421 pieces. 444 SP artillery pieces were reported: 122 mm – 130 2S1 Carnation; 152 mm – 140: 60 2S3 Akatsiya; 80 M-77 Dana; 155 mm – 174: 14 M-109; 160 VCA 155 Palmaria. 647+ towed artillery pieces were reported: 105 mm – 42+ M-101 122 mm – 250: 190 D-30; 60 D-74; 130 mm – 330 M-46; 152 mm – 25 ML-20. 155 mm – ? M114 155 mm howitzer 830 multiple rocket launchers were reported: 107 mm Type 63 multiple rocket launcher – an estimated 300; 122 mm – 530: ε200 BM-11; ε230 BM-21 Grad; ε100 RM-70 Dana (RM-70 multiple rocket launcher?). The IISS also estimated that Libya had 500 mortars: 82 mm – 428; 120 mm – ε48 120-PM-43 mortar; 160 mm – ε24 160mm Mortar M1943. Surface-to-surface missiles reported in service included FROG-7 and SCUD-B (416 missiles). Anti-tank missiles reported in service included 400 French/German MILAN, and 620+ AT-3, AT-4, and AT-5, all of Soviet manufacture. In 2009 the IISS estimated that Libya had Crotale, SA-7 Grail, SA-9/SA-13 surface-to-air missiles, and AA guns in Army service. A separate Air Defence Command had SA-2 Guideline, SA-3 Goa, SA-5 Gammon, and SA-8b Gecko, plus guns. Reported anti-aircraft artillery included Soviet 57 mm 57 mm S-60, 23 mm self-propelled ZSU-23-4 and ZU-23-2, Czech M53/59 Praga, and Swedish Bofors 40 mm guns. Small arms reported in service included TT pistol, Browning Hi-Power, Beretta M12, FN P90, FN FAL, SKS, AK-47, AKM and AK-103 assault rifles, the FN F2000, Soviet RPD machine gun, RPK machine gun, PK machine guns, DShK heavy machine gun, KPV heavy machine guns, SG-43 Goryunov, and a number of RPG-type and anti-aircraft missile systems: RPG-2, RPG-7, 9K32 Strela-2. Arms and ammunition deliveries Even in the five years between 2005 and 2009, large quantities of arms and ammunition were delivered to Libya. It is not always clear which armed service or police organisation received the weaponry. Bulgaria delivered €1,850,594 worth of material in the category of small arms in 2006. In 2009, the country licensed the delivery of €3.73 million of material in the category of ammunition. It is not clear whether all 3.73 million of material was actually delivered. Serbia exported $1,920,185 of equipment including assault rifles for 'civilian and military end-users' to Libya in 2009. In 2008 Serbia exported $1,613,280 of equipment including automatic rifles and sub-machine guns. There also were large deliveries to brokers acting as intermediaries for several countries including Libya in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Malta delivered €7,936,000 of what were described as 'non-military items' to Libya in 2009. There was a mistake in original reports which gave the value as €79 million. Despite being marked as 'non-military items,' the shipment comprised 1,800 Benelli 12 gauge shotguns, 7,500 semi-automatic Beretta Px4 Storm pistols, and 1,900 cal 9xI9mm Beretta Cx4 Storm semi-automatic carbines. They were destined for the General People's Committee for Public Security, effectively Libya's Ministry of the Interior. Air & Air Defence Forces The Libyan Air Force was created after the US and UK pressured then-ruling King Idris to modernise his armed forces so that they could better stand off against revolutionary regimes in the Middle East. The LAF was created in 1963. The Libyan Air Force had an estimated personnel strength of 22,000 in 2005. There were 13 military airbases in Libya. After US forces had left Libya in 1970, Wheelus Air Base, a previous US facility about seven miles from Tripoli, became a Libyan Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. The base housed the LPAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities. All combat aircraft of the Libyan Air Force that were not in the rebel forces' hands were destroyed by NATO bombings during the civil war, effectively leading to the destruction of the Libyan Air Force. Aircraft MiG-21 – 220 MiG-23 – 130 MiG-25 – 125 Su-22 – 50 Su-24 – 60 G-2 Galeb – 116;(G2A-E version) Mirage 5 – 80 Mirage F1 – 120 Surface-to-Air Missiles include: Almaz S-75 Volga / SA-2 Guideline – 6 Brigades with 18 launchers each; Almaz S-125 Pechora / SA-3 Goa – 9 Brigades with 12 launchers each; Almaz S-200VE Vega / SA-5 Gammon long range missile systems – 8 battalions of 6 launchers each at 4 sites and an estimated 380 missiles; Crotale – 9 acquisition and 27 firing units 9K33 Osa/ SA-8 Gecko – 50 9K38 Igla – 380; 9K34 Strela-3 – 278; ZSU-23-4Shilka – 200; ZSU-57-2 – 75; 2K12 Kub – 50; Navy The Libyan Navy is the maritime force of Libya, established in November 1962. It is a fairly typical small navy with a few missile frigates, corvettes and patrol boats to defend the coastline, but with a very limited self-defence capability. The Navy has always been the smallest of Libya's services and has always been dependent on foreign sources for equipment, spare parts, and training. The total personnel of the Libyan Navy is about 8,000. Its first warship was delivered in 1966. Initially the effective force was limited to smaller vessels, but this changed after the rise of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 1969. From this time, Libya started to buy armaments from Europe and the Soviet Union. The Customs and Harbour police were amalgamated with the Navy in 1970, extending the Navy's mission to include anti-smuggling and customs duties. Originally Libya received six submarines from the Soviet union in 1982, but it is very unlikely that the submarines are still operational. Much of the Libyan Navy was rendered inoperable by NATO bombing in 2011, and the exact number of surviving vessels is unknown. Paramilitary forces Revolutionary Guard Corps The Revolutionary Guard Corps (Liwa Haris al-Jamahiriya) or Jamahiriya Guard was a Libyan paramilitary key protection force of the government of Muammar Gaddafi, until his death in October 2011. Composed of 3,000 men hand-picked from Gaddafi's tribal group in the Sirte region, the Guard was well armed, being provided with T-54 and T-62 tanks, APCs, MRLs, SA-8 and ZSU-23-4 SAMs taken from the army inventory. As of 2005, its commander was Hasan al-Kabir al-Gaddafi, a cousin of the former Libyan leader. The Revolutionary Guard developed from the Revolutionary Committees, even if the latter had at first been introduced only into workplaces and communities, and not extended to the military. After the early 1980s, however, the Revolutionary Guard, as a paramilitary wing of the Revolutionary Committees, became entrenched within the armed forces. They served as a parallel channel of control, a means of ideological indoctrination in the barracks, and an apparatus for monitoring suspicious behavior. The Revolutionary Guards reportedly held the keys to ammunition stockpiles at the main military bases, doling it out in small quantities as needed by the regular forces. Their influence increased after a coup attempt in May 1985, that was blocked mainly thanks to the action of the Revolutionary Guard that engaged regular army units in a series of street battles. Pan-African Legion
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– 42+ M-101 122 mm – 250: 190 D-30; 60 D-74; 130 mm – 330 M-46; 152 mm – 25 ML-20. 155 mm – ? M114 155 mm howitzer 830 multiple rocket launchers were reported: 107 mm Type 63 multiple rocket launcher – an estimated 300; 122 mm – 530: ε200 BM-11; ε230 BM-21 Grad; ε100 RM-70 Dana (RM-70 multiple rocket launcher?). The IISS also estimated that Libya had 500 mortars: 82 mm – 428; 120 mm – ε48 120-PM-43 mortar; 160 mm – ε24 160mm Mortar M1943. Surface-to-surface missiles reported in service included FROG-7 and SCUD-B (416 missiles). Anti-tank missiles reported in service included 400 French/German MILAN, and 620+ AT-3, AT-4, and AT-5, all of Soviet manufacture. In 2009 the IISS estimated that Libya had Crotale, SA-7 Grail, SA-9/SA-13 surface-to-air missiles, and AA guns in Army service. A separate Air Defence Command had SA-2 Guideline, SA-3 Goa, SA-5 Gammon, and SA-8b Gecko, plus guns. Reported anti-aircraft artillery included Soviet 57 mm 57 mm S-60, 23 mm self-propelled ZSU-23-4 and ZU-23-2, Czech M53/59 Praga, and Swedish Bofors 40 mm guns. Small arms reported in service included TT pistol, Browning Hi-Power, Beretta M12, FN P90, FN FAL, SKS, AK-47, AKM and AK-103 assault rifles, the FN F2000, Soviet RPD machine gun, RPK machine gun, PK machine guns, DShK heavy machine gun, KPV heavy machine guns, SG-43 Goryunov, and a number of RPG-type and anti-aircraft missile systems: RPG-2, RPG-7, 9K32 Strela-2. Arms and ammunition deliveries Even in the five years between 2005 and 2009, large quantities of arms and ammunition were delivered to Libya. It is not always clear which armed service or police organisation received the weaponry. Bulgaria delivered €1,850,594 worth of material in the category of small arms in 2006. In 2009, the country licensed the delivery of €3.73 million of material in the category of ammunition. It is not clear whether all 3.73 million of material was actually delivered. Serbia exported $1,920,185 of equipment including assault rifles for 'civilian and military end-users' to Libya in 2009. In 2008 Serbia exported $1,613,280 of equipment including automatic rifles and sub-machine guns. There also were large deliveries to brokers acting as intermediaries for several countries including Libya in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Malta delivered €7,936,000 of what were described as 'non-military items' to Libya in 2009. There was a mistake in original reports which gave the value as €79 million. Despite being marked as 'non-military items,' the shipment comprised 1,800 Benelli 12 gauge shotguns, 7,500 semi-automatic Beretta Px4 Storm pistols, and 1,900 cal 9xI9mm Beretta Cx4 Storm semi-automatic carbines. They were destined for the General People's Committee for Public Security, effectively Libya's Ministry of the Interior. Air & Air Defence Forces The Libyan Air Force was created after the US and UK pressured then-ruling King Idris to modernise his armed forces so that they could better stand off against revolutionary regimes in the Middle East. The LAF was created in 1963. The Libyan Air Force had an estimated personnel strength of 22,000 in 2005. There were 13 military airbases in Libya. After US forces had left Libya in 1970, Wheelus Air Base, a previous US facility about seven miles from Tripoli, became a Libyan Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. The base housed the LPAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities. All combat aircraft of the Libyan Air Force that were not in the rebel forces' hands were destroyed by NATO bombings during the civil war, effectively leading to the destruction of the Libyan Air Force. Aircraft MiG-21 – 220 MiG-23 – 130 MiG-25 – 125 Su-22 – 50 Su-24 – 60 G-2 Galeb – 116;(G2A-E version) Mirage 5 – 80 Mirage F1 – 120 Surface-to-Air Missiles include: Almaz S-75 Volga / SA-2 Guideline – 6 Brigades with 18 launchers each; Almaz S-125 Pechora / SA-3 Goa – 9 Brigades with 12 launchers each; Almaz S-200VE Vega / SA-5 Gammon long range missile systems – 8 battalions of 6 launchers each at 4 sites and an estimated 380 missiles; Crotale – 9 acquisition and 27 firing units 9K33 Osa/ SA-8 Gecko – 50 9K38 Igla – 380; 9K34 Strela-3 – 278; ZSU-23-4Shilka – 200; ZSU-57-2 – 75; 2K12 Kub – 50; Navy The Libyan Navy is the maritime force of Libya, established in November 1962. It is a fairly typical small navy with a few missile frigates, corvettes and patrol boats to defend the coastline, but with a very limited self-defence capability. The Navy has always been the smallest of Libya's services and has always been dependent on foreign sources for equipment, spare parts, and training. The total personnel of the Libyan Navy is about 8,000. Its first warship was delivered in 1966. Initially the effective force was limited to smaller vessels, but this changed after the rise of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 1969. From this time, Libya started to buy armaments from Europe and the Soviet Union. The Customs and Harbour police were amalgamated with the Navy in 1970, extending the Navy's mission to include anti-smuggling and customs duties. Originally Libya received six submarines from the Soviet union in 1982, but it is very unlikely that the submarines are still operational. Much of the Libyan Navy was rendered inoperable by NATO bombing in 2011, and the exact number of surviving vessels is unknown. Paramilitary forces Revolutionary Guard Corps The Revolutionary Guard Corps (Liwa Haris al-Jamahiriya) or Jamahiriya Guard was a Libyan paramilitary key protection force of the government of Muammar Gaddafi, until his death in October 2011. Composed of 3,000 men hand-picked from Gaddafi's tribal group in the Sirte region, the Guard was well armed, being provided with T-54 and T-62 tanks, APCs, MRLs, SA-8 and ZSU-23-4 SAMs taken from the army inventory. As of 2005, its commander was Hasan al-Kabir al-Gaddafi, a cousin of the former Libyan leader. The Revolutionary Guard developed from the Revolutionary Committees, even if the latter had at first been introduced only into workplaces and communities, and not extended to the military. After the early 1980s, however, the Revolutionary Guard, as a paramilitary wing of the Revolutionary Committees, became entrenched within the armed forces. They served as a parallel channel of control, a means of ideological indoctrination in the barracks, and an apparatus for monitoring suspicious behavior. The Revolutionary Guards reportedly held the keys to ammunition stockpiles at the main military bases, doling it out in small quantities as needed by the regular forces. Their influence increased after a coup attempt in May 1985, that was blocked mainly thanks to the action of the Revolutionary Guard that engaged regular army units in a series of street battles. Pan-African Legion In about 1980, Gaddafi introduced the Islamic Pan-African Legion, a body recruited primarily among dissidents from Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, and Chad. West African states with Muslim populations have also been the source of some personnel. Believed to consist of about 7,000 individuals, the force has received training from experienced Palestinian and Syrian instructors. Some of those recruited to the legion were said to have been forcibly impressed from among nationals of neighboring countries who migrated to Libya in search of work. According to the Military Balance published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the force was organized into one armored, one infantry, and one paratroop/commando brigade. It has been supplied with T-54 and T-55 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and EE-9 armored cars. The Islamic Pan-African Legion was reported to have been committed during the fighting in Chad in 1980 and was praised by Gaddafi for its success there. However, it was believed that many of the troops who fled the Chadian attacks of March 1987 were members of the Legion. Islamic Arab Legion In an effort to realise Gaddafi's vision of a united Arab military force, plans for the creation of an Islamic Arab Legion were being announced from time to time. The goal, according to the Libyan press, would be to assemble an army of one million men and women fighters to prepare for the great Arab battle – "the battle of liberating Palestine, of toppling the reactionary regimes, of annihilating the borders, gates, and barriers between the countries of the Arab homeland, and of creating the single Arab Jamahiriya from the ocean to the gulf". In March 1985, it was announced that the National Command of the Revolutionary Forces Command in the Arab Nation had been formed with Gaddafi at its head. A number of smaller radical Arab groups from Lebanon, Tunisia, Sudan, Iraq, the Persian Gulf states, and Jordan were represented at the inaugural meeting. Syrian Ba'ath Party and radical Palestinian factions were also present. Each of these movements was expected to earmark 10 per cent of its forces for service under the new command. As of April 1987, there was no information confirming the existence of such a militia. People's Militia In 1987 the mission of the 45,000 People's Militia was territorial defence, and it was to function under the leadership of local military commanders. Gaddafi contended that it was the People's Militia that met the Egyptian incursions during the border clash of 1977, although the Egyptians insisted that their successful raids had been contested by regular army units. The militia forces are not known to have faced any other test that would permit an appraisal of their performance in home defence or as auxiliaries to the regular army. There was some evidence that local commanders had not responded energetically to their responsibility for training and supervising militia units. Militia units were reportedly generously equipped with arms, transport, and uniforms. In November 1985, it was announced that the first contingent of "armed people" trained as paratroopers had made a demonstration drop. Thousands of People's Militiamen were part of the Libyan expeditionary force that was airlifted to Uganda in 1979. The Libyan troops were supposed to help defend the collapsing regime of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, an ally
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opposed the ANZUS alliance with the United States. In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya because of its activities in Oceania. In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the MV Eksund, which was delivering a 150-ton Libyan arms shipment to European terrorist groups. In 1988, Libya was found to be in the process of constructing a chemical weapons plant at Rabta; former CIA Director Webster has called the Libyan facility "the largest chemical plant that I know for chemical warfare." Libya's relationship with the Soviet Union involved massive Libyan arms purchases from the Soviet bloc and the presence of thousands of east bloc advisers. Libya's use—and heavy loss—of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its war with Chad was a notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet objectives. As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987. In January 1989, there was another encounter over the Gulf of Sidra between U.S. and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets. 1990s In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by prosecutors in the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Six other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Chad and Niger. The UN Security Council demanded that Libya surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of Security Council Resolution 748 on 31 March 1992, imposing international sanctions on the state designed to bring about Libyan compliance. Continued Libyan defiance led to further sanctions by the UN against Libya in November 1993. After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties with Third World countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and East Asia. Following the imposition of U.N. sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished. Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge U.N. sanctions, Gaddafi announced that he was turning his back on pan-Arab ideas, one of the fundamental tenets of his philosophy. Instead, Libya pursued closer bilateral ties, particularly with Egypt and Northwest African nations Tunisia and Morocco. It also has sought to develop its relations with Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to Libyan involvement in several internal African disputes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Libya also has sought to expand its influence in Africa through financial assistance, ranging from aid donations to impoverished neighbors such as Niger to oil subsidies to Zimbabwe. Gaddafi has proposed a borderless "United States of Africa" to transform the continent into a single nation-state ruled by a single government. This plan has been moderately well received, although more powerful would-be participants such as Nigeria and South Africa are skeptical. Gaddafi also trained and supported Charles Taylor, who was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. Libya had close ties with Slobodan Milošević's regime in FR Yugoslavia. Gaddafi aligned himself with the Orthodox Serbs against Bosnia and Herzegovina's Muslims and Kosovo's Albanians. Gaddafi supported Milošević even when Milošević was charged with large-scale ethnic cleansing against Albanians in Kosovo. In 2011, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky revealed in a TV documentary that the Bulgarian government had turned over to Germany an unverified report compiled by its military agency which "made clear" the existence of the plan (Operation Horseshoe), even though the military intelligence warned that the information could not be verified. Gaddafi continued the denunciation of the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Intimating that the allegations against the state were deliberate efforts by the "imperialist axis" to falsely image armed ARBiH death squads in Srebrenica and elsewhere. In 1996, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was enacted, seeking to penalize non-U.S. companies which invest more than $40 million in Libya's oil and gasoline sector in any one year. ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20 million. In 1999, less than a decade after the UN sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the Western world, including turning over the Lockerbie suspects for trial. This diplomatic breakthrough followed years of negotiation, including a visit by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Libya in December 1998, and personal appeals by Nelson Mandela. Eventually UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook persuaded the Americans to accept a trial of the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law, with the UN Security Council agreeing to suspend sanctions as soon as the suspects arrived in the Netherlands for trial. Libya also paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and the appointment of ambassador Sir Richard Dalton, after a 17-year break in diplomatic relations. 2000s As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility at Tarhuna. Citing Libya's support for terrorism and its past regional aggressions the United States voiced concern over this development. In cooperation with like-minded countries, the United States has since sought to bring a halt to the foreign technical assistance deemed essential to the completion of this facility. See Chemical weapon proliferation#Libya. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Gaddafi decided to abandon his weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost 3 billion euros in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772. The decision was welcomed by many western nations and was seen as an important step toward Libya rejoining the international community. Since 2003 the country has made efforts to normalize its ties with the European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation, rather than force, when there is goodwill on both sides. By 2004 George W. Bush had lifted the economic sanctions and official relations resumed with the United States. Libya opened a liaison office in Washington, and the United States opened an office in Tripoli. In January 2004, Congressman Tom Lantos led the first official Congressional delegation visit to Libya. Libya has supported Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir despite charges of a genocide in Darfur. The release, in 2007, of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who had been held since 1999, charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV, was seen as marking a new stage in Libyan-Western relations. The United States removed Gaddafi's regime, after 27 years, from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. On 16 October 2007, Libya was elected to serve on the United Nations Security Council for two years starting in January 2008. In August 2008 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed an agreement to pay Libya $5 billion over 25 years – this was a "complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era", the Italian prime minister said. In September 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Gaddafi and announced that US-Libya relations have entered a 'new phase'. Libyan-Swiss relations strongly suffered after the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi for beating up his domestic servants in Geneva in 2008. In response, Gaddafi removed all his money held in Swiss banks and asked the United Nations to vote to abolish Switzerland as a sovereign nation. In February 2009, Gaddafi was selected to be chairman of the African Union for one year. The same year, the United Kingdom and Libya signed a prisoner-exchange agreement and then Libya requested the transfer of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, who finally returned home in August 2009. On 23 September 2009, Colonel Gaddafi addressed the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, his first visit to the United States. As of 25 October 2009, Canadian visa requests were being denied and Canadian travelers were told they were not welcome in Libya. Specifically, Harper's government was planning to publicly criticize Gaddafi for praising the convicted Lockerbie bomber. The sincerity of the good faith efforts of the Libyan government may be questionable since Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, told a U.S. diplomat in 2009 that the Libyans were willing to host wounded Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara after a failed assassination attempt in 2009. Libya also still provided bounties for heads of refugees who criticized Gaddafi, including 1 million dollars for Ashur Shamis, a Libyan-British journalist. Despite this brief rapprochement with the West, Libya and Gaddafi retained their anti-imperialist stances. In 2009, Gaddafi, along with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, signed a declaration rejecting "intentions to link the legitimate struggle of the people for liberty and self-determination with terrorism." At the meeting, Gaddafi suggested a "South Atlantic Treaty Organization", an anti-imperialist alternative to NATO for the Third World. Gaddafi and Libya always retained its staunch anti-Zionist stance. Throughout the 2000s, Gaddafi and Libya provided support to Palestinian group Hamas, and developed a close relationship with its leader, Khaled Mashal. During the 2008 Gaza War, Libya was the first country to send a shipment of aid to Gaza, Gaddafi also called for Arab volunteers to be sent to Gaza. Whilst it was presented that Gaddafi had "renounced terrorism", he maintained contact and support for many insurgent groups, namely, the FARC and the ELN in Colombia, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Kurdistan National Congress, as well as the Free Papua Movement. Gaddafi also maintained strong links with groups that had previously received support from Libya as armed groups, but had since laid down arms, such as the African National Congress in South Africa, the URNG in Guatemala, SWAPO in Namibia, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and the Communist Party of Chile, who's erstwhile paramilitary wing, the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, received support from Libya. Gaddafi strongly supported and forged close ties with pink tide-era Latin American socialist leaders, such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Evo Morales in Bolivia, José Mujica in Uruguay and Rafael Correa in Ecuador. 2010s During the start of the Arab Spring, Gaddafi condemned the Tunisian revolution in January 2011, saying protesters were misled by WikiLeaks and voicing solidarity with ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The progress made by Gaddafi's government in improving relations with the Western world was swiftly set back by the regime's authoritarian crackdown on protests that began the following month. Many Western countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and eventually Italy condemned Libya for the brutal crackdown on the dissidents. Peru became the first of several countries to sever diplomatic relations with Tripoli on 22 February 2011, followed closely by African Union member state Botswana the following day. Libya was suspended from Arab League proceedings on 22 February 2011, the same day Peru terminated bilateral relations. In response, Gaddafi declared that in the view of his government, "The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League." On 10 March 2011, France became the first country to not just break off relations with the jamahiriya, but transfer diplomatic recognition to the rebel National Transitional Council established in Benghazi, declaring it to be "the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people". As of 20 September 2011, a total of 98 countries have taken this step. On 19 March 2011, a coalition of United Nations member states led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States began military operations in Libyan airspace and territorial waters after the United Nations Security Council approved UNSCR 1973, ostensibly to prevent further attacks on civilians as loyalist forces closed in on Benghazi, the rebel headquarters. In response, Gaddafi declared that a state of "war with no limits" existed between Libya and the members of the coalition. Despite this, he sent a three-page letter to US President Barack Obama imploring him to "annul a wrong and mistaken action" and stop striking Libyan targets, repeatedly referring to him as "our son" and blaming the uprising on the terrorist group al Qaeda. Relations with the West In 2003 Libya began to make policy changes with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan détente. The Libyan government announced its decision to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost $3 billion in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772. Starting in 2003, the Libyan government restored normal diplomatic ties with the European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, "The Libya Model", an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation rather than force when there is goodwill on both sides. On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed a historic cooperation treaty in Benghazi. Under its terms, Italy will pay
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later when Stasi archives were investigated by the reunited Germany. Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were prosecuted by reunited Germany in the 1990s. Germany and the United States learned that the bombing in West Berlin had been ordered from Tripoli. On 14 April 1986, the United States carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon against Gaddafi and members of his regime. Air defenses, three army bases, and two airfields in Tripoli and Benghazi were bombed. The surgical strikes failed to kill Gaddafi but he lost a few dozen military officers. There were around 30 military deaths, and around 15 civilian deaths, including Gaddafi's 6-month-old adopted daughter, allegedly. Gaddafi announced that he had won a spectacular military victory over the United States and the country was officially renamed the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah". However, his speech appeared devoid of passion and even the "victory" celebrations appeared unusual. Criticism of Gaddafi by ordinary Libyan citizens became more bold, such as defacing of Gaddafi posters. The raids against Gaddafi had brought the regime to its weakest point in 17 years. The Chadian–Libyan conflict (1978–1987) ended in disaster for Libya in 1987 with the Toyota War. France supported Chad in this conflict and two years later on 19 September 1989, a French airliner, UTA Flight 772, was destroyed by an in-flight explosion for which Libyan agents were convicted in absentia. The incident bore close similarities to the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 (the Lockerbie Bombing) a year earlier. The downing of these two airliners along with the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing seemed to establish a pattern of reprisal attacks—in the form of terrorist bombings—by Libya or at least Libyan agents. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya for these two acts (with UN Security Council Resolutions 731, 748 and 883). The UN eventually lifted these sanctions (with Resolution 1506) in 2003 when Libya "accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials, renounced terrorism and arranged for payment of appropriate compensation for the families of the victims." In 2008 Libya established a fund to compensate victims of these three terrorist acts (and the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi). Gaddafi fueled a number of Islamist and communist terrorist groups in the Philippines, as well as paramilitaries in Oceania. He attempted to radicalize New Zealand's Māori people in a failed effort to destabilise the U.S. ally. In Australia, he financed trade unions and some politicians who opposed the ANZUS alliance with the United States. In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya because of its activities in Oceania. In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the MV Eksund, which was delivering a 150-ton Libyan arms shipment to European terrorist groups. In 1988, Libya was found to be in the process of constructing a chemical weapons plant at Rabta; former CIA Director Webster has called the Libyan facility "the largest chemical plant that I know for chemical warfare." Libya's relationship with the Soviet Union involved massive Libyan arms purchases from the Soviet bloc and the presence of thousands of east bloc advisers. Libya's use—and heavy loss—of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its war with Chad was a notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet objectives. As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987. In January 1989, there was another encounter over the Gulf of Sidra between U.S. and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets. 1990s In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by prosecutors in the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Six other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Chad and Niger. The UN Security Council demanded that Libya surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of Security Council Resolution 748 on 31 March 1992, imposing international sanctions on the state designed to bring about Libyan compliance. Continued Libyan defiance led to further sanctions by the UN against Libya in November 1993. After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties with Third World countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and East Asia. Following the imposition of U.N. sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished. Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge U.N. sanctions, Gaddafi announced that he was turning his back on pan-Arab ideas, one of the fundamental tenets of his philosophy. Instead, Libya pursued closer bilateral ties, particularly with Egypt and Northwest African nations Tunisia and Morocco. It also has sought to develop its relations with Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to Libyan involvement in several internal African disputes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Libya also has sought to expand its influence in Africa through financial assistance, ranging from aid donations to impoverished neighbors such as Niger to oil subsidies to Zimbabwe. Gaddafi has proposed a borderless "United States of Africa" to transform the continent into a single nation-state ruled by a single government. This plan has been moderately well received, although more powerful would-be participants such as Nigeria and South Africa are skeptical. Gaddafi also trained and supported Charles Taylor, who was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. Libya had close ties with Slobodan Milošević's regime in FR Yugoslavia. Gaddafi aligned himself with the Orthodox Serbs against Bosnia and Herzegovina's Muslims and Kosovo's Albanians. Gaddafi supported Milošević even when Milošević was charged with large-scale ethnic cleansing against Albanians in Kosovo. In 2011, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky revealed in a TV documentary that the Bulgarian government had turned over to Germany an unverified report compiled by its military agency which "made clear" the existence of the plan (Operation Horseshoe), even though the military intelligence warned that the information could not be verified. Gaddafi continued the denunciation of the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Intimating that the allegations against the state were deliberate efforts by the "imperialist axis" to falsely image armed ARBiH death squads in Srebrenica and elsewhere. In 1996, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was enacted, seeking to penalize non-U.S. companies which invest more than $40 million in Libya's oil and gasoline sector in any one year. ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20 million. In 1999, less than a decade after the UN sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the Western world, including turning over the Lockerbie suspects for trial. This diplomatic breakthrough followed years of negotiation, including a visit by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Libya in December 1998, and personal appeals by Nelson Mandela. Eventually UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook persuaded the Americans to accept a trial of the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law, with the UN Security Council agreeing to suspend sanctions as soon as the suspects arrived in the Netherlands for trial. Libya also paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and the appointment of ambassador Sir Richard Dalton, after a 17-year break in diplomatic relations. 2000s As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility at Tarhuna. Citing Libya's support for terrorism and its past regional aggressions the United States voiced concern over this development. In cooperation with like-minded countries, the United States has since sought to bring a halt to the foreign technical assistance deemed essential to the completion of this facility. See Chemical weapon proliferation#Libya. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Gaddafi decided to abandon his weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost 3 billion euros in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772. The decision was welcomed by many western nations and was seen as an important step toward Libya rejoining the international community. Since 2003 the country has made efforts to normalize its ties with the European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation, rather than force, when there is goodwill on both sides. By 2004 George W. Bush had lifted the economic sanctions and official relations resumed with the United States. Libya opened a liaison office in Washington, and the United States opened an office in Tripoli. In January 2004, Congressman Tom Lantos led the first official Congressional delegation visit to Libya. Libya has supported Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir despite charges of a genocide in Darfur. The release, in 2007, of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who had been held since 1999, charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV, was seen as marking a new stage in Libyan-Western relations. The United States removed Gaddafi's regime, after 27 years, from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. On 16 October 2007, Libya was elected to serve on the United Nations Security Council for two years starting in January 2008. In August 2008 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed an agreement to pay Libya $5 billion over 25 years – this was a "complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era", the Italian prime minister said. In September 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Gaddafi and announced that US-Libya relations have entered a 'new phase'. Libyan-Swiss relations strongly suffered after the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi for beating up his domestic servants in Geneva in 2008. In response, Gaddafi removed all his money held in Swiss banks and asked the United Nations to vote to abolish Switzerland as a sovereign nation. In February 2009, Gaddafi was selected to be chairman of the African Union for one year. The same year, the United Kingdom and Libya signed a prisoner-exchange agreement and then Libya requested the transfer of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, who finally returned home in August 2009. On 23 September 2009, Colonel Gaddafi addressed the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, his first visit to the United States. As of 25 October 2009, Canadian visa requests were being denied and Canadian travelers were told they were not welcome in Libya. Specifically, Harper's government was planning to publicly criticize Gaddafi for praising the convicted Lockerbie bomber. The sincerity of the good faith efforts of the Libyan government may be questionable since Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, told a U.S. diplomat in 2009 that the Libyans were willing to host wounded Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara after a failed assassination attempt in 2009. Libya also still provided bounties for heads of refugees who criticized Gaddafi, including 1 million dollars for Ashur Shamis, a Libyan-British journalist. Despite this brief rapprochement with the West, Libya and Gaddafi retained their anti-imperialist stances. In 2009, Gaddafi, along with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, signed a declaration rejecting "intentions to link the legitimate struggle of the people for liberty and self-determination with terrorism." At the meeting, Gaddafi suggested a "South Atlantic Treaty Organization", an anti-imperialist alternative to NATO for the Third World. Gaddafi and Libya always retained its staunch anti-Zionist stance. Throughout the 2000s, Gaddafi and Libya provided support to Palestinian group Hamas, and developed a close relationship with its leader, Khaled Mashal. During the 2008 Gaza War, Libya was the first country to send a shipment of aid to Gaza, Gaddafi also called for Arab volunteers to be sent to Gaza. Whilst it was presented that Gaddafi had "renounced terrorism", he maintained contact and support for many insurgent groups, namely, the FARC and the ELN in Colombia, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Kurdistan National Congress, as well as the Free Papua Movement. Gaddafi also maintained strong links with groups that had previously received support from Libya as armed groups, but had since laid down arms, such as the African National Congress in South Africa, the URNG in Guatemala, SWAPO in Namibia, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and the Communist Party of Chile, who's erstwhile paramilitary wing, the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, received support from Libya. Gaddafi strongly supported and forged close ties with pink tide-era Latin American socialist leaders, such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Evo Morales in Bolivia, José Mujica in Uruguay and Rafael Correa in Ecuador. 2010s During the start of the Arab Spring, Gaddafi condemned the Tunisian revolution in January 2011, saying protesters were misled by WikiLeaks and voicing solidarity with ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The progress made by Gaddafi's government in improving relations with the Western world was swiftly set back by the regime's authoritarian crackdown on protests that began the following month. Many Western countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and eventually Italy condemned Libya for the brutal crackdown on the dissidents. Peru became the first of several countries to sever diplomatic relations with Tripoli on 22 February 2011, followed closely by African Union member state Botswana the following day. Libya was suspended from Arab League proceedings on 22 February 2011, the same day Peru terminated bilateral relations. In response, Gaddafi declared that in the view of his government, "The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League." On 10 March 2011, France became the first country to not just break off relations with the jamahiriya, but transfer diplomatic recognition to the rebel National Transitional Council established in Benghazi, declaring it to be "the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people". As of 20 September 2011, a total of 98 countries have taken this step. On 19 March 2011, a coalition of United Nations member states led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States began military operations in Libyan airspace and territorial waters after the United Nations Security Council approved UNSCR 1973, ostensibly to prevent further attacks on civilians as loyalist forces closed in on Benghazi, the rebel headquarters. In response, Gaddafi declared that a state of "war with no limits" existed between Libya and the members of the coalition. Despite this, he sent a three-page letter to US President Barack Obama imploring him to "annul a wrong and mistaken action" and stop striking Libyan targets, repeatedly referring to him as "our son" and blaming the uprising on the terrorist group al Qaeda. Relations with the West In 2003 Libya began to make policy changes with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan détente. The Libyan government announced its decision to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost $3 billion in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772. Starting in 2003, the Libyan government restored normal diplomatic ties with the European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, "The Libya Model", an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation rather than force when there is goodwill on both sides. On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed a historic cooperation treaty in Benghazi. Under its terms, Italy will pay $5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya will take measures to combat illegal immigration coming from its shores and boost investments in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Germany. In addition, Libyan victims of US airstrikes that followed the Berlin attack will also be compensated with $300 million from the fund. US state department spokesman, Sean McCormack called the move a "laudable milestone ... clearing the way for continued and expanding US-Libyan partnership." This final payment under the US-Libya Claims Settlement Agreement was seen as a major step towards improving ties between the two, which had begun easing after Tripoli halted its arms programmes. George Bush also signed an executive order restoring Libya's immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases. On 17 November 2008, FCO minister Bill Rammell signed five agreements with Libya. Rammell said: "I will today sign four bilateral agreements with my Libyan counterpart, Abdulatti al-Obidi, which will strengthen our judicial ties, as agreed during Tony Blair's visit to Libya in May last year. In addition, we are signing today a Double Taxation Convention which will bring benefits to British business in Libya and Libyan investors in the UK – benefits in terms of certainty, clarity and transparency and reducing tax compliance burdens. We are also in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to protect and promote investment." "UK/Libya relations have significantly improved in recent years, following Libya's voluntary renunciation of WMD. Today we are partners in the UN Security Council. We also wish to assist Libya to establish closer relations with the European Union to continue and strengthen the reintegration of Libya within the international community. We therefore support the commencement of negotiations between Libya and the EU on a framework agreement which should cover a range of issues including political, social, economic, commercial and cultural relations between the EU and Libya." On 21 November 2008, the US Senate confirmed the appointment of Gene Cretz to be the first US ambassador to Libya since 1972. In June 2009, Gaddafi made his first visit to Rome, where he met Prime Minister Berlusconi, President Giorgio Napolitano, Senate President Renato Schifani, and Chamber President Gianfranco Fini, among others. The Democratic Party and Italy of Values opposed the visit, and many protests were staged throughout Italy by human rights organizations and the Radical Party. Gaddafi also took part in the G8 summit in L'Aquila in July as Chairman of the African Union. In the 2005–2009 period, Italy has been the first EU arms exporter towards Libya, with a total value of €276.7m, of which one third only in the last 2008–2009 years. Italian exports cover one third of total EU arms exports towards Libya, and include mainly military aircraft but also missiles and electronic equipment. In the late 2000s, Libyan-US relations soured due to the establishment of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), of which Gaddafi and the Libyan government were highly critical. During the Libyan Civil War, Italy terminated relations with Tripoli and recognized the rebel authority in Benghazi as Libya's legitimate representative, effectively starting relations with the anti-Gaddafi government. The Italian government has urged the international community to follow suit. During the Libyan Civil War, all European Union and NATO member states withdrew diplomatic staff from Tripoli and shut their embassies in the Libyan capital. Several foreign embassies and UN offices were badly damaged by vandals on 1 May 2011, drawing condemnation from the United Kingdom and Italy. The UK also expelled the Libyan ambassador in London from the country. On 1 July 2011, Gaddafi threatened to sponsor attacks against civilians and businesses in Europe in what would be a resumption of his policies of the 1970s and 1980s. International incidents 1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing On 13 November 2001, a German court found four persons, including a former employee of the Libyan embassy in East Berlin, guilty in connection with the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, in which 229 people were injured and two U.S. servicemen were killed. The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. Lockerbie bombing In November 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents, Abdelbaset
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straits following the end of World War II. The Liechtenstein dynasty often resorted to selling family artistic treasures, including the portrait Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Art of the United States in 1967 for 5 million ($ million in dollars), then a record price for a painting. By the late 1970s, Liechtenstein used its low corporate tax rates to draw many companies and became one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in Europe (along with Monaco and San Marino) to not have a tax treaty with the United States, and efforts toward one seem to have stalled. the Prince of Liechtenstein is the world's sixth wealthiest monarch, with an estimated wealth of 3.5 billion. The country's population enjoys one of the world's highest standards of living. Government Liechtenstein has a monarch as head of state, and an elected parliament that enacts the law. It is also a direct democracy, where voters can propose and enact constitutional amendments and legislation independently of the legislature. The Constitution of Liechtenstein was adopted in March 2003, replacing the 1921 constitution. The 1921 constitution had established Liechtenstein as a constitutional monarchy headed by the reigning prince of the Princely House of Liechtenstein; a parliamentary system had been established, although the reigning Prince retained substantial political authority. The reigning Prince is the Head of State and represents Liechtenstein in its international relations (although Switzerland has taken responsibility for much of Liechtenstein's diplomatic relations). The Prince may veto laws adopted by parliament. The Prince may call referendums, propose new legislation, and dissolve parliament, although dissolution of parliament may be subject to a referendum. Executive authority is vested in a collegiate government comprising the head of government (prime minister) and four government councillors (ministers). The head of government and the other ministers are appointed by the Prince upon the proposal of parliament and with its concurrence, and reflect the balance of parties in parliament. The constitution stipulates that at least two government members be chosen from each of the two regions. The members of the government are collectively and individually responsible to parliament; parliament may ask the Prince to remove an individual minister or the entire government. Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral Landtag, made up of 25 members elected for maximum four-year terms according to a proportional representation formula. Fifteen members are elected from the Oberland (Upper Country or region) and ten from the Unterland (Lower Country or region). Parties must receive at least 8% of the national vote to win seats in parliament, i.e., enough for two seats in the 25-seat legislature. Parliament proposes and approves a government, which the Prince formally appoints. Parliament may also pass votes of no confidence in the entire government or individual members. Parliament elects from among its members a "Landesausschuss" (National Committee) made up of the president of the parliament and four additional members. The National Committee is charged with performing functions of parliamentary supervision. Parliament can call for referendums on proposed legislation. Parliament shares the authority to propose new legislation with the Prince and with the number of citizens required for to initiate a referendum. Judicial authority is vested in the Regional Court at Vaduz, the Princely High Court of Appeal at Vaduz, the Princely Supreme Court, the Administrative Court, and the State Court. The State Court rules on the conformity of laws with the constitution and has five members elected by parliament. On 1 July 1984, Liechtenstein became the last country in Europe to grant women the right to vote. The referendum on women's suffrage, in which only men were allowed to participate, passed with 51.3% in favour. New constitution In a national referendum in March 2003, nearly two-thirds of the electorate voted in support of Hans-Adam II's proposed new constitution. The proposed constitution was criticised by many, including the Council of Europe, as expanding the powers of the monarchy (continuing the power to veto any law, and allowing the Prince to dismiss the government or any minister). The Prince threatened that if the constitution failed, he would, among other things, convert some royal property for commercial use and move to Austria. The princely family and the Prince enjoy tremendous public support inside the nation, and the resolution passed with about 64% in favour. A proposal to revoke the Prince's veto powers was rejected by 76% of voters in a 2012 referendum. Municipalities Municipalities in Liechtenstein are entitled to secede from the union by majority vote. The municipalities of Liechtenstein are divided between the two electoral districts of Unterland and Oberland. The country's political division is historical; the Unterland depends on Schellenberg, the Oberland on the county of Vaduz. The communities Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell and Schellenberg belong to Unterland; the municipalities of Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg and Vaduz belong to the much larger Oberland. The autonomy of the Liechtenstein communities is in the upper range compared to the other Central European states along with Switzerland. Despite their small size, the municipalities have complex forms in terms of their territorial extent. In addition to a main part, seven municipalities also comprise one or more enclaves. Citizens' cooperatives, which exist in about half of Liechtenstein's municipalities, own forests and pastures for collective use, as well as parceled areas that are left for private use. International awards In 2013, Liechtenstein won for the first time a SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar recognizing the achieved level of the usage of photovoltaics per population within the state territory. The SolarSuperState Association justified this prize with the cumulative installed photovoltaic power of some 290 Watt per capita at the end of 2012. This placed Liechtenstein second in the world after Germany. Also in 2014, the SolarSuperState Association awarded the second place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar to Liechtenstein. In the years 2015 and 2016, Liechtenstein was honoured with the first place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar because it had the world's biggest cumulative installed photovoltaic power per population. Geography Liechtenstein is situated in the Upper Rhine valley of the European Alps and is bordered to the east by the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and to the south by the canton of Grisons (Switzerland) and to the west by the canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The Rhine forms the entire western border of Liechtenstein. Measured south to north the country is about long. Its highest point, the Grauspitz, is . Despite its Alpine location, prevailing southerly winds make the climate comparatively mild. In winter, the mountain slopes are well suited to winter sports. New surveys using more accurate measurements of the country's borders in 2006 have set its area at , with borders of . Liechtenstein's borders are longer than previously thought. Liechtenstein is one of the world's two doubly landlocked countries – countries wholly surrounded by other landlocked countries (the other is Uzbekistan). Liechtenstein is the sixth-smallest independent nation in the world by area. The principality of Liechtenstein is divided into 11 communes called Gemeinden (singular Gemeinde). The Gemeinden mostly consist of only a single town or village. Five of them (Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell, and Schellenberg) fall within the electoral district Unterland (the lower county), and the remainder (Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg, and Vaduz) within Oberland (the upper county). Climate Despite its alpine location, the prevailing southerly winds temper Liechtenstein's climate. Its climate is continental, with cloudy and cold winters, with frequent rain and snowfall. Summers are cool to slightly warm, cloudy, and humid. The country's climate is relatively mild despite its mountainous location. It is strongly influenced by the action of foehn (warm and dry fall wind), so the vegetation period is prolonged in spring and autumn and temperatures around 15 °C due to the strong foehn are not uncommon even in winter. The mountain ranges of Switzerland and Vorarlberg upstream protect from the cold polar and Atlantic air, creating a typical alpine inland protective layer. The principality has orchards with leafy meadows and a long tradition of viticulture. Liechtenstein's small land area hardly plays a role in climatic differences, but the vertical division into different altitudes is of great importance, so that significant climatic differences arise. In winter the temperature rarely drops below minus 15 degrees Celsius, while in summer the average temperatures range between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius. Annual precipitation measurements amount to an average of about 900 to 1200 millimeters, in the direct alpine region, however, precipitation is often up to 1900 millimeters. The average duration of sunshine is about 1600 hours per year. Rivers and lakes The Rhine is the longest and largest body of water in Liechtenstein. With a length of approximately 27 kilometers, it represents the natural border with Switzerland and is of great importance for Liechtenstein's water supply. Furthermore, the Rhine is an important recreational area for the population. At 10 kilometers, the Samina is the second longest river in the Principality. The troubled river begins at Triesenberg and flows into the Ill in Austria (near Feldkirch). The only naturally formed lake in Liechtenstein is the Gampriner Seelein, which was not formed until 1927 by a flooding of the Rhine with enormous erosion. In addition, there are other artificially created lakes, which are mainly used to generate electricity. One of them is the Steg Reservoir, the largest lake in Liechtenstein. Mountains About half of Liechtenstein's territory is mountainous. Liechtenstein lies entirely in the Rhaetikon and is thus – depending on the classification of the Alps – assigned to the Eastern Alps (two-part division of the Alps) or the Central Alps (three-part division of the Alps). The highest point of Liechtenstein is the Vordere Grauspitz (Vordergrauspitz) with an altitude of 2599 m above sea level, while the lowest point is the Ruggeller Riet with an altitude of 430 m above sea level. In total, there are 32 mountains in Liechtenstein with an altitude of at least 2000 meters. The Falknishorn, at 2452 meters above sea level, is the fifth highest mountain in Liechtenstein and represents the southernmost point of the country. The Liechtenstein-Graubünden-Vorarlberg border triangle is the Naafkopf (2570 m above sea level). In addition to the peaks of the Alpine chain, which belong to the Limestone Alps, two inselbergs, Fläscherberg (1135 m a.s.l.) in the south and Eschnerberg (698 m a.s.l.) in the north, rise from the Rhine Valley and belong to the Helvetic cover or flysch zone of the Alps. Eschnerberg represents an important settlement area in the Liechtenstein Unterland. Economy Despite its limited natural resources, Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in the world with more registered companies than citizens; it has developed a prosperous, highly industrialized free-enterprise economy and boasts a financial service sector as well as a living standard that compares favourably with those of the urban areas of Liechtenstein's much larger European neighbours. Liechtenstein participates in a customs union with Switzerland and employs the Swiss franc as the national currency. The country imports about 85% of its energy. Liechtenstein has been a member of the European Economic Area (an organization serving as a bridge between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union) since May 1995. The government is working to harmonize its economic policies with those of an integrated Europe. In 2008, the unemployment rate stood at 1.5%. Liechtenstein has only one hospital, the Liechtensteinisches Landesspital in Vaduz. As of 2014 the CIA World Factbook estimated the gross domestic product (GDP) on a purchasing power parity basis to be $4.978 billion. As of 2009 the estimate per capita was $139,100, the highest listed for the world.
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under some influence of both the Greek and Etruscan civilisations. One of the most important tribal groups in the Alpine region were the Helvetii. In 58 BC, at the Battle of Bibracte, Julius Caesar defeated the Alpine tribes, thereby bringing the region under close control of the Roman Republic. By 15 BC, Tiberius – later the second Roman emperor – with his brother, Drusus, conquered the entirety of the Alpine area. Liechtenstein then became integrated into the Roman province of Raetia. The area was maintained by the Roman army, which maintained large legionary camps at Brigantium (Austria), near Lake Constance, and at Magia (Swiss). The Romans built and maintained a road which ran through the territory. Circa AD 260 Brigantium was destroyed by the Alemanni, a Germanic people who settled in the area in around AD 450. In the Early Middle Ages, the Alemanni settled the eastern Swiss plateau by the 5th century and the valleys of the Alps by the end of the 8th century, with Liechtenstein located at the eastern edge of Alemannia. In the 6th century the entire region became part of the Frankish Empire following Clovis I's victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in AD 504. The area that later became Liechtenstein remained under Frankish hegemony (Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties) until the Treaty of Verdun divided the Carolingian empire in AD 843, following the death of Charlemagne in 814. The territory of present-day Liechtenstein formed part of East Francia. It would later be reunified with Middle Francia under the Holy Roman Empire, around AD 1000. Until about 1100, the predominant language of the area was Romansch, but thereafter German began to gain ground in the territory. In 1300 another Alemannic population – the Walsers, who originated in Valais – entered the region and settled; the mountain village of Triesenberg still preserves today features of Walser dialect. Foundation of a dynasty By 1200, dominions across the Alpine plateau were controlled by the Houses of Savoy, Zähringer, Habsburg, and Kyburg. Other regions were accorded the Imperial immediacy that granted the empire direct control over the mountain passes. When the Kyburg dynasty fell in 1264, the Habsburgs under King Rudolph I (Holy Roman Emperor in 1273) extended their territory to the eastern Alpine plateau that included the territory of Liechtenstein. This region was enfeoffed to the Counts of Hohenems until the sale to the Liechtenstein dynasty in 1699. In 1396 Vaduz (the southern region of Liechtenstein) gained imperial immediacy, i.e. it became subject to the Holy Roman Emperor alone. The family, from which the principality takes its name, originally came from Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria which they had possessed from at least 1140 until the 13th century (and again from 1807 onwards). The Liechtensteins acquired land, predominantly in Moravia, Lower Austria, Silesia, and Styria. As these territories were all held in feudal tenure from more senior feudal lords, particularly various branches of the Habsburgs, the Liechtenstein dynasty was unable to meet a primary requirement to qualify for a seat in the Imperial diet (parliament), the . Even though several Liechtenstein princes served several Habsburg rulers as close advisers, without any territory held directly from the Imperial throne, they held little power in the Holy Roman Empire. For this reason, the family sought to acquire lands that would be classed as (not sellable) or held without any intermediate feudal tenure, directly from the Holy Roman Emperor. During the early 17th century Karl I of Liechtenstein was made a (prince) by the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias after siding with him in a political battle. Hans-Adam I was allowed to purchase the minuscule ('Lordship') of Schellenberg and the county of Vaduz (in 1699 and 1712 respectively) from the Hohenems. Tiny Schellenberg and Vaduz had exactly the political status required: no feudal lord other than their comital sovereign and the suzerain Emperor. Principality On 23 January 1719, after the lands had been purchased, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that Vaduz and Schellenberg were united and elevated the newly formed territory to the dignity of ('principality') with the name "Liechtenstein" in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein". On this date, Liechtenstein became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It is a testimony to the mere political expediency of the purchase that the Princes of Liechtenstein did not visit their new principality for almost 100 years. By the early 19th century, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the Holy Roman Empire came under the effective control of France, following the crushing defeat at Austerlitz by Napoleon in 1805. In 1806 Emperor Francis II abdicated and dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, ending more than 960 years of feudal government. Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the Confederation of the Rhine. This political restructuring had broad consequences for Liechtenstein: the historical imperial, legal, and political institutions had been dissolved. The state ceased to owe an obligation to any feudal lord beyond its borders. Modern publications generally attribute Liechtenstein's sovereignty to these events. Its prince ceased to owe an obligation to any suzerain. From 25 July 1806, when the Confederation of the Rhine was founded, the Prince of Liechtenstein was a member, in fact, a vassal, of its hegemon, styled protector, the French Emperor Napoleon I, until the dissolution of the confederation on 19 October 1813. Soon afterward, Liechtenstein joined the German Confederation (20 June 181523 August 1866), which was presided over by the Emperor of Austria. In 1818, Prince Johann I granted the territory a limited constitution. In that same year Prince Aloys became the first member of the House of Liechtenstein to set foot in the principality that bore their name. The next visit would not occur until 1842. Developments during the 19th century included: 1836: the first factory for making ceramics was opened. 1861: the Savings and Loans Bank was founded along with the first cotton-weaving mill. 1866: the German Confederation was dissolved. 1868: the Liechtenstein Army was disbanded for financial reasons. 1872: a railway line between Switzerland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was constructed through Liechtenstein. 1886: two bridges over the Rhine to Switzerland were built. 20th century Until the end of World War I, Liechtenstein was closely tied first to the Austrian Empire and later to Austria-Hungary; the ruling princes continued to derive much of their wealth from estates in the Habsburg territories, and spent much of their time at their two palaces in Vienna. Johann II appointed Carl von In der Maur, an Austrian aristocrat, to serve as the Governor of Liechtenstein. The economic devastation caused by the war forced the country to conclude a customs and monetary union with its other neighbour, Switzerland. In 1929, 75-year-old Prince Franz I succeeded to the throne. He had just married Elisabeth von Gutmann, a wealthy woman from Vienna whose father was a Jewish businessman from Moravia. Although Liechtenstein had no official Nazi party, a Nazi sympathy movement arose within its National Union party. Local Liechtenstein Nazis identified Elisabeth as their Jewish "problem". In March 1938, just after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Franz named as regent his 31-year-old grandnephew and heir-presumptive, Prince Franz Joseph. Franz died in July that year, and Franz Joseph succeeded to the throne. Franz Joseph II first moved to Liechtenstein in 1938, a few days after Austria's annexation. During World War II, Liechtenstein remained officially neutral, looking to neighbouring Switzerland for assistance and guidance, while family treasures from dynastic lands and possessions in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia were taken to Liechtenstein for safekeeping. At the close of the conflict, Czechoslovakia and Poland, acting to seize what they considered German possessions, expropriated all of the Liechtenstein dynasty's properties in those three regions. The expropriations (subject to modern legal dispute at the International Court of Justice) included over of agricultural and forest land (most notably the UNESCO listed Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape), and several family castles and palaces. In 2005 it was revealed that Jewish slave labourers from the Strasshof concentration camp, provided by the SS, had worked on estates in Austria owned by Liechtenstein's Princely House. Citizens of Liechtenstein were forbidden to enter Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. More recently the diplomatic conflict revolving around the controversial postwar Beneš decrees resulted in Liechtenstein not having international relations with the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Diplomatic relations were established between Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic on 13 July 2009, and with Slovakia on 9 December 2009. In 2019, Liechtenstein celebrated the 300th anniversary of the nation's statehood. Financial centre Liechtenstein was in dire financial straits following the end of World War II. The Liechtenstein dynasty often resorted to selling family artistic treasures, including the portrait Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Art of the United States in 1967 for 5 million ($ million in dollars), then a record price for a painting. By the late 1970s, Liechtenstein used its low corporate tax rates to draw many companies and became one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in Europe (along with Monaco and San Marino) to not have a tax treaty with the United States, and efforts toward one seem to have stalled. the Prince of Liechtenstein is the world's sixth wealthiest monarch, with an estimated wealth of 3.5 billion. The country's population enjoys one of the world's highest standards of living. Government Liechtenstein has a monarch as head of state, and an elected parliament that enacts the law. It is also a direct democracy, where voters can propose and enact constitutional amendments and legislation independently of the legislature. The Constitution of Liechtenstein was adopted in March 2003, replacing the 1921 constitution. The 1921 constitution had established Liechtenstein as a constitutional monarchy headed by the reigning prince of the Princely House of Liechtenstein; a parliamentary system had been established, although the reigning Prince retained substantial political authority. The reigning Prince is the Head of State and represents Liechtenstein in its international relations (although Switzerland has taken responsibility for much of Liechtenstein's diplomatic relations). The Prince may veto laws adopted by parliament. The Prince may call referendums, propose new legislation, and dissolve parliament, although dissolution of parliament may be subject to a referendum. Executive authority is vested in a collegiate government comprising the head of government (prime minister) and four government councillors (ministers). The head of government and the other ministers are appointed by the Prince upon the proposal of parliament and with its concurrence, and reflect the balance of parties in parliament. The constitution stipulates that at least two government members be chosen from each of the two regions. The members of the government are collectively and individually responsible to parliament; parliament may ask the Prince to remove an individual minister or the entire government. Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral Landtag, made up of 25 members elected for maximum four-year terms according to a proportional representation formula. Fifteen members are elected from the Oberland (Upper Country or region) and ten from the Unterland (Lower Country or region). Parties must receive at least 8% of the national vote to win seats in parliament, i.e., enough for two seats in the 25-seat legislature. Parliament proposes and approves a government, which the Prince formally appoints. Parliament may also pass votes of no confidence in the entire government or individual members. Parliament elects from among its members a "Landesausschuss" (National Committee) made up of the president of the parliament and four additional members. The National Committee is charged with performing functions of parliamentary supervision. Parliament can call for referendums on proposed legislation. Parliament shares the authority to propose new legislation with the Prince and with the number of citizens required for to initiate a referendum. Judicial authority is vested in the Regional Court at Vaduz, the Princely High Court of Appeal at Vaduz, the Princely Supreme Court, the Administrative Court, and the State Court. The State Court rules on the conformity of laws with the constitution and has five members elected by parliament. On 1 July 1984, Liechtenstein became the last country in Europe to grant women the right to vote. The referendum on women's suffrage, in which only men were allowed to participate, passed with 51.3% in favour. New constitution In a national referendum in March 2003, nearly two-thirds of the electorate voted in support of Hans-Adam II's proposed new constitution. The proposed constitution was criticised by many, including the Council of Europe, as expanding the powers of the monarchy (continuing the power to veto any law, and allowing the Prince to dismiss the government or any minister). The Prince threatened that if the constitution failed, he would, among other things, convert some royal property for commercial use and move to Austria. The princely family and the Prince enjoy tremendous public support inside the nation, and the resolution passed with about 64% in favour. A proposal to revoke the Prince's veto powers was rejected by 76% of voters in a 2012 referendum. Municipalities Municipalities in Liechtenstein are entitled to secede from the union by majority vote. The municipalities of Liechtenstein are divided between the two electoral districts of Unterland and Oberland. The country's political division is historical; the Unterland depends on Schellenberg, the Oberland on the county of Vaduz. The communities Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell and Schellenberg belong to Unterland; the municipalities of Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg and Vaduz belong to the much larger Oberland. The autonomy of the Liechtenstein communities is in the upper range compared to the other Central European states along with Switzerland. Despite their small size, the municipalities have complex forms in terms of their territorial extent. In addition to a main part, seven municipalities also comprise one or more enclaves. Citizens' cooperatives, which exist in about half of Liechtenstein's municipalities, own forests and pastures for collective use, as well as parceled areas that are left for private use. International awards In 2013, Liechtenstein won for the first time a SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar recognizing the achieved level of the usage of photovoltaics per population within the state territory. The SolarSuperState Association justified this prize with the cumulative installed photovoltaic power of some 290 Watt per capita at the end of 2012. This placed Liechtenstein second in the world after Germany. Also in 2014, the SolarSuperState Association awarded the second place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar to Liechtenstein. In the years 2015 and 2016, Liechtenstein was honoured with the first place SolarSuperState Prize in the category Solar because it had the world's biggest cumulative installed photovoltaic power per population. Geography Liechtenstein is situated in the Upper Rhine valley of the European Alps and is bordered to the east by the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and to the south by the canton of Grisons (Switzerland) and to the west by the canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The Rhine forms the entire western border of Liechtenstein. Measured south to north the country is about long. Its highest point, the Grauspitz, is . Despite its Alpine location, prevailing southerly winds make the climate comparatively mild. In winter, the mountain slopes are well suited to winter sports. New surveys using more accurate measurements of the country's borders in 2006 have set its area at , with borders of . Liechtenstein's borders are longer than previously thought. Liechtenstein is one of the world's two doubly landlocked countries – countries wholly surrounded by other landlocked countries (the other is Uzbekistan). Liechtenstein is the sixth-smallest independent nation in the world by area. The principality of Liechtenstein is divided into 11 communes called Gemeinden (singular Gemeinde). The Gemeinden mostly consist of only a single town or village. Five of them (Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Ruggell, and Schellenberg) fall within the electoral district Unterland (the lower county), and the remainder (Balzers, Planken, Schaan, Triesen, Triesenberg, and Vaduz) within Oberland (the upper county). Climate Despite its alpine location, the prevailing southerly winds temper Liechtenstein's climate. Its climate is continental, with cloudy and cold winters, with frequent rain and snowfall. Summers are cool to slightly warm, cloudy, and humid. The country's climate is relatively mild despite its mountainous location. It is strongly influenced by the action of foehn (warm and dry fall wind), so the vegetation period is prolonged in spring and autumn and temperatures around 15 °C due to the strong foehn are not uncommon even in winter. The mountain ranges of Switzerland and Vorarlberg upstream protect from the cold polar and Atlantic air, creating a typical alpine inland protective layer. The principality has orchards with leafy meadows and a long tradition of viticulture. Liechtenstein's small land area hardly plays a role in climatic differences, but the vertical division into different altitudes is of great importance, so that significant climatic differences arise. In winter the temperature rarely drops below minus 15 degrees Celsius, while in summer the average temperatures range between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius. Annual precipitation measurements amount to an average of about 900 to 1200 millimeters, in the direct alpine region, however, precipitation is often up to 1900 millimeters. The average duration of sunshine is about 1600 hours per year. Rivers and lakes The Rhine is the longest and largest body of water in Liechtenstein. With a length of approximately 27 kilometers, it represents the natural border with Switzerland and is of great importance for Liechtenstein's water supply. Furthermore, the Rhine is an important recreational area for the population. At 10 kilometers, the Samina is the second longest river in the Principality. The troubled river begins at Triesenberg and flows into the Ill in Austria (near Feldkirch). The only naturally formed lake in Liechtenstein is the Gampriner Seelein, which was not formed until 1927 by a flooding of the Rhine with enormous erosion. In addition, there are other artificially created lakes, which are mainly used
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(2,452 m), Triesen East - border post 28, above Nenzinger Himmel West - river Rhine, Balzers highest - Vorder Grauspitz (2,599 m), Triesen lowest - Bangserfeld (429 m), Ruggell Climate Continental; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow or rain; cool to moderately warm, cloudy, humid summers, great variety of microclimates based on elevation. Environment - international agreements Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
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Along with Uzbekistan, Liechtenstein is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world. Statistics Geographic coordinates: Area: 160 km2 (land, 0 km2 water) Land boundaries total: 76 km border countries: Austria 35 km, Switzerland 41 km Lake The only lake in Liechtenstein is the Gampriner Seele. Land use arable land: 21.88% permanent crops: 0% other: 78.12% (2011) Terrain Mostly
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are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Age structure: 0–14 years: 16.1% (male 2,809/female 2,856) 15–64 years: 69% (male 11,970/female 12,326) 65 years and over: 15% (male 2,304/female 2,971) (2011 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.26 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.) Infant mortality rate: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.) Life expectancy at birth: (14 in the world) total population: 81.5 years male: 79.37 years female: 84.19 years (2011 est.) Total fertility rate: 1.69 children born/woman (2011 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult
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spoken. According to the 2000 census, 87.9% of the population is Christian, of which 76% adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, while about 7% are Protestant. The religious affiliation for most of the remainder is Islam - 4.8%, undeclared - 4.1%, and no religion - 2.8%. Population 2019 Resident population by municipalities as of 30 June 2019. 66.2% are Liechtensteiners, the rest are foreigners. Vital statistics since 1901 Ethnic groups Alemannic Germans 86%, Italians, Turks, Albanians, Yugoslavs, and others 14%. Religions CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Age structure: 0–14 years: 16.1% (male 2,809/female 2,856) 15–64 years: 69% (male 11,970/female 12,326) 65 years and over: 15% (male 2,304/female 2,971) (2011 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.26 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.) Infant
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or delegates this function to a plenipotentiary. Some treaties under international law only become valid when they have been ratified by Parliament. On the basis of the names put forward by Parliament, the Prince nominates the government, district and high court judges, the judges of the Supreme Court, and the presidents and their deputies of the Constitutional Court and of the Administrative Court of Appeal. The Prince's other authorities include exercising the right to mitigate and commute punishments that have been imposed with legal force and the abolition — i.e., the dismissal — of investigations that have been initiated. All judgments are issued in the name of the Prince. In August 2004, Prince Hans-Adam handed over the day-to-day running of the country to his son, Crown Prince Alois, while still remaining the official head of state. The Government of Liechtenstein is based on the principle of collegiality; namely, of colleagues collaborating with each other. The government consists of the head of government and four Councilors. The members of the government are proposed by the Parliament and are appointed by the Prince. Only men or women born in Liechtenstein, and who are eligible to be elected to Parliament, may be elected to the government committee. The two electoral areas of the country, the highlands and the lowlands, are entitled to at least two members of the government, and their respective deputies must come from the same area. Legislative branch The Prince's involvement in legislation consists in a right to take initiatives in the form of government bills and in the right to veto parliamentary proposals. The Prince has the power to enact princely decrees. Emergency princely decrees are possible when the security and welfare of the country is at stake. A countersignature by the head of government is, nevertheless, required. The Prince has the right to convene and adjourn parliament and, for serious reasons, to adjourn it for 3 months or to dissolve it. The Landtag of Liechtenstein has 25 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in two multi-seat constituencies. Until 1989, 15 members represented the population of the two constituencies (six for the lowland area and nine for the highland area). Since 1989 the lowland constituency has been entitled to have 10 members and the highland area 15. The Landtag's main task is to discuss and adopt resolutions on constitutional proposals and draft government bills. It has the additional duties of giving its assent to important international treaties; of electing members of the government, judges, and board members of the Principality's institutions; setting the annual budget and approving taxes and other public charges; and supervising the administration of the state. The Landtag observes its rights and duties in the course of sessions of the whole Landtag and through the parliamentary commissions that it elects. All members of the Landtag exercise their mandates in addition to their normal professions or occupations. The President of the Landtag and his deputy are both elected at the opening meeting for the current year. The president convenes the individual meetings during the session, leads them, and represent the Landtag externally. During the parliamentary recess — normally from January to February/March — a "state committee" assumes Parliament's duties, and such a committee must also be elected in the case of any adjournment or dissolution of Parliament. A "state committee" consists of the president of Parliament and four other members. The duties and working procedures of Parliament are laid down in the constitution and in Parliament's standing orders. Moreover, the people of Liechtenstein have very strong
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constitutional monarchy. It has a form of mixed constitution in which political power is shared by the monarch and a democratically elected parliament. There is a two-party system (though there are two minor parties as well) and a form of representative democracy in which the prime minister and head of government is responsible to parliament. However the Prince of Liechtenstein is head of state and exercises considerable political powers. The executive power is exercised by the Cabinet of Liechtenstein (government). Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Landtag (Parliament). The party system is dominated by the conservative Progressive Citizens' Party and the liberal-conservative Patriotic Union. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The country replaced universal male suffrage with universal suffrage in 1984, following a national referendum. On 15 August 2002, in his National Day Address, Prince Hans-Adam II announced that after months of intensive negotiations, a compromise in the debate on constitutional reform had been reached. On 13 September, Prime Minister Otmar Hasler confirmed to Parliament that his government was drafting a bill for Parliament based on the compromise reached between the Prince and the Citizens' Forum. The draft bill, which would increase the executive powers of the monarch, went before Parliament for a first reading in November. Once approved by Parliament, the bill was then presented to voters in a referendum, and approved by 64% of those voting on 16 March 2003. In June 2012, people decided overwhelmingly in the referendum that Crown Prince Alois should be allowed to retain his power of veto over decisions made in nationwide ballots. Executive branch |Prince |Hans-Adam II | |13 November 1989 |- |Prince-regent |Alois | |15 August 2004 |- |Prime Minister |Daniel Risch |Patriotic Union |25 March 2021 |} The monarch is hereditary. Following legislative elections, the head of government is appointed by the prince and proposed and voted on by the parliament. Thus the government is usually composed of the members of the majority party. It is, however, also customary that the leader of the largest minority party in the Diet is appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch. According to the constitution of Liechtenstein, the government is a collegiate body and consists of the head of government and four governmental councilors. Amendment to the constitution or new law have to be adopted by Parliament, signed by both the Prince and the head of government, and published in the Principality's Law Gazette. Prince Hans Adam II is the current head of state. His constitutional powers include the power to veto any legislation, to be used at his discretion, as well as the dissolution of the parliament (this may be subject to a referendum). He represents the state vis-à-vis foreign states. He signs international treaties either in person or delegates this function to a plenipotentiary. Some treaties under international law only become valid when they have been ratified by Parliament. On the basis of the names put forward by Parliament, the Prince nominates the government, district and high court judges, the judges of the Supreme Court, and the presidents and their deputies of the Constitutional Court and of the Administrative Court of Appeal. The Prince's other authorities include exercising the right to mitigate and commute punishments that have been imposed with legal force and the abolition — i.e., the dismissal — of investigations that have been initiated. All judgments are issued in the name of the Prince. In August 2004, Prince Hans-Adam handed over the day-to-day running of the country to his son, Crown Prince Alois, while still remaining the official head of state. The Government of Liechtenstein
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order to benefit from the EU internal market. The capitalist economy and tax system make Liechtenstein a safe, trustworthy and success-oriented place for private and business purposes, especially with its highly modern, internationally laid-out infrastructure and close connections to Switzerland. The Principality of Liechtenstein has gone through economic and cultural development in the last 50 years like no other Western country. In the last half century, Liechtenstein has developed from a mainly agricultural state to one of the most highly industrialized countries in the world. Foreign trade Besides its efficient industry, there also is a strong services sector. Four out of ten employees work in the services sector, a relatively high proportion of whom are foreigners, including those who commute across the border from neighboring Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Industrial exports more than doubled in 20 years from $1.21 billion (SFr. 2.2 billion) in 1988 to $2.9 billion (SFr. 4.6 billion) in 2008. Some 15.7% of Liechtenstein goods are exported to Switzerland, 62.6% to the EU and 21.1% to the rest of the world. The United States has been the most important export market for Liechtenstein in recent times, totaling $561 million (SFr. 876 million); Germany is second, with $479 million (SFr. 748 million) worth of imports, and Switzerland third, with $375 million (SFr. 587 million). About 32% of the country's revenues are invested in research and development, one of the driving forces of the success of Liechtenstein's economy. Total R&D spending in 2000 rose by 20.7% to approximately $140 million (213 million francs). Banking and finance The Principality of Liechtenstein also is known as an important financial centre, primarily because it specializes in financial services for foreign entities. The country's low tax rate, loose incorporation and corporate governance rules, and traditions of strict bank secrecy have contributed significantly to the ability of financial intermediaries in Liechtenstein to attract funds from outside the country's borders. The same factors made the country attractive and vulnerable to money launderers, although late 2009 legislation has strengthened regulatory oversight of illicit funds transfers. Liechtenstein has chartered 17 banks, three non-bank financial companies, and 71 public investment companies, as well as insurance and reinsurance companies. Its 270 licensed fiduciary companies and 81 lawyers serve as nominees for, or manage, more than 73,000 entities (primarily corporations, institutions, or trusts), partly for non-Liechtenstein residents. About one-third of these entities hold the controlling interest in other entities, chartered in countries other than Liechtenstein. The Principality's
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are exported to Switzerland, 62.6% to the EU and 21.1% to the rest of the world. The United States has been the most important export market for Liechtenstein in recent times, totaling $561 million (SFr. 876 million); Germany is second, with $479 million (SFr. 748 million) worth of imports, and Switzerland third, with $375 million (SFr. 587 million). About 32% of the country's revenues are invested in research and development, one of the driving forces of the success of Liechtenstein's economy. Total R&D spending in 2000 rose by 20.7% to approximately $140 million (213 million francs). Banking and finance The Principality of Liechtenstein also is known as an important financial centre, primarily because it specializes in financial services for foreign entities. The country's low tax rate, loose incorporation and corporate governance rules, and traditions of strict bank secrecy have contributed significantly to the ability of financial intermediaries in Liechtenstein to attract funds from outside the country's borders. The same factors made the country attractive and vulnerable to money launderers, although late 2009 legislation has strengthened regulatory oversight of illicit funds transfers. Liechtenstein has chartered 17 banks, three non-bank financial companies, and 71 public investment companies, as well as insurance and reinsurance companies. Its 270 licensed fiduciary companies and 81 lawyers serve as nominees for, or manage, more than 73,000 entities (primarily corporations, institutions, or trusts), partly for non-Liechtenstein residents. About one-third of these entities hold the controlling interest in other entities, chartered in countries other than Liechtenstein. The Principality's laws permit the corporations it charters to issue bearer shares. Until recently, the Principality's banking laws permitted banks to issue numbered accounts, but new regulations require strict know-your-customer practices for all new accounts. Taxation Liechtenstein's standard rate of VAT (Mehrwertsteuer) is identical to Switzerland's for it must mirror the latter's continually and is currently 7.7%. The reduced rate is 2.5%. A special rate of 3.7% is in use in the hotel industry. In July 2015, Liechtenstein and Switzerland signed a new agreement on double taxation, which took effect in December 2016, superseding the previous one from 1995. Some differences on the withholding tax arose, but Switzerland did not agree to introduce this practice to residents of Liechtenstein working in Switzerland. In November 2016, the parliament of the principality decided with a large majority to introduce an agreement of automatic information exchange with 27 new treaty partners, including Switzerland. Data collection will start in 2018, and effectual exchange of account information is planned for 2019. Statistics GDP (PPP): $4.826 billion (2009) GDP – real growth rate: 3.8% (2008) GDP (PPP)
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in the country served by the network. In April 1999, Liechtenstein ceased to be a part of the Swiss telephone numbering plan, in which the country used the Swiss area code "075", opting instead to have a unique country calling code, "+423". There are 44 internet service providers in Liechtenstein and Switzerland combined. Radio and television There are four FM radio broadcast stations in Liechtenstein serving 21,000 radios. The television broadcast system is linked to the Swiss networks, with the Swiss services
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in which the country used the Swiss area code "075", opting instead to have a unique country calling code, "+423". There are 44 internet service providers in Liechtenstein and Switzerland combined. Radio and television There are four FM radio broadcast stations in Liechtenstein serving 21,000 radios. The
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It is not a member of most specialized agencies of the United Nations, with the exceptions of the International Telecommunication Union, the Universal Postal Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Liechtenstein has resorted two times to international dispute settlement by the International Court of Justice, in the Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) case against Guatemala in the 1950s and in a case concerning art property of the Liechtenstein family against Germany in 2005. It lost in both cases. Liechtenstein maintains resident embassies in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Holy See, Switzerland and the United States, along with a number of missions to international organisations. Under a 1919 agreement between Liechtenstein and Switzerland, ambassadors of Switzerland are authorised to represent Liechtenstein in countries and in diplomatic situations unless Liechtenstein opts to send its own ambassador. Liechtenstein is the only country in the world not to host any embassy. There are, however, a number of honorary consulates in the principality. Most of these are situated in the capital Vaduz, however, some are found in Schaan, Schellenberg and Triesen. Relations with individual countries International dispute with Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovakia The country has an international dispute with Czech Republic and Slovakia concerning the estates of its princely family in those countries. After World War II, Czechoslovakia, as it then was, acting to seize what they considered to be German possessions, expropriated the entirety of the Liechtenstein dynasty's hereditary lands and possessions in the Czech
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its princely family in those countries. After World War II, Czechoslovakia, as it then was, acting to seize what they considered to be German possessions, expropriated the entirety of the Liechtenstein dynasty's hereditary lands and possessions in the Czech regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The expropriations (which were the subject of an unsuccessful court case brought by Liechtenstein in the German courts and the International Court of Justice) included over 1,600 km² (which is ten times the size of Liechtenstein) of agricultural and forest land mostly in Moravia, also including several family castles and palaces. An offer from the Czech Republic to return the palaces and castles (without the surrounding land) was rejected by Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein recognised and established diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic on 13 July 2009 and with Slovakia on 9 December 2009. Liechtenstein's ruling prince, Hans-Adam II, has announced that the principality will take no further legal action to recover the appropriated assets. In February 2020, the
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(1323–1324) and establish Catholic Christianity in his country were thwarted by the Samogitians and Gediminas' Orthodox courtiers. In 1325, Casimir, the son of the Polish king Władysław I, married Gediminas' daughter Aldona, who became queen of Poland when Casimir ascended the Polish throne in 1333. The marriage confirmed the prestige of the Lithuanian state under Gediminas, and a defensive alliance with Poland was concluded the same year. Yearly incursions of the Knights resumed in 1328–1340, to which the Lithuanians responded with raids into Prussia and Latvia. The reign of Grand Duke Gediminas constituted the first period in Lithuanian history in which the country was recognized as a great power, mainly due to the extent of its territorial expansion into Ruthenia. Lithuania was unique in Europe as a pagan-ruled "kingdom" and fast-growing military power suspended between the worlds of Byzantine and Latin Christianity. To be able to afford the extremely costly defense against the Teutonic Knights, it had to expand to the east. Gediminas accomplished Lithuania's eastern expansion by challenging the Mongols, who from the 1230s sponsored a Mongol invasion of Rus'. The collapse of the political structure of Kievan Rus' created a partial regional power vacuum that Lithuania was able to exploit. Through alliances and conquest, in competition with the Principality of Moscow, the Lithuanians eventually gained control of vast expanses of the western and southern portions of the former Kievan Rus'. Gediminas' conquests included the western Smolensk region, southern Polesia and (temporarily) Kyiv, which was ruled around 1330 by Gediminas' brother Fiodor. The Lithuanian-controlled area of Ruthenia grew to include most of modern Belarus and Ukraine (the Dnieper River basin) and comprised a massive state that stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 14th century, many Lithuanian princes installed to govern the Ruthenia lands accepted Eastern Christianity and assumed Ruthenian custom and names in order to appeal to the culture of their subjects. Through this means, integration into the Lithuanian state structure was accomplished without disturbing local ways of life. The Ruthenian territories acquired were vastly larger, more densely populated and more highly developed in terms of church organization and literacy than the territories of core Lithuania. Thus the Lithuanian state was able to function because of the contributions of the Ruthenian culture representatives. Historical territories of the former Ruthenian dukedoms were preserved under the Lithuanian rule, and the further they were from Vilnius, the more autonomous the localities tended to be. Lithuanian soldiers and Ruthenians together defended Ruthenian strongholds, at times paying tribute to the Golden Horde for some of the outlying localities. Ruthenian lands may have been ruled jointly by Lithuania and the Golden Horde as condominiums until the time of Vytautas, who stopped paying tribute. Gediminas' state provided a counterbalance against the influence of Moscow and enjoyed good relations with the Ruthenian principalities of Pskov, Veliky Novgorod and Tver. Direct military confrontations with the Principality of Moscow under Ivan I occurred around 1335. Algirdas and Kęstutis Around 1318, Gediminas' elder son Algirdas married Maria of Vitebsk, the daughter of Prince Yaroslav of Vitebsk, and settled in Vitebsk to rule the principality. Of Gediminas' seven sons, four remained pagan and three converted to Orthodox Christianity. Upon his death, Gediminas divided his domains among the seven sons, but Lithuania's precarious military situation, especially on the Teutonic frontier, forced the brothers to keep the country together. From 1345, Algirdas took over as the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In practice, he ruled over Lithuanian Ruthenia only, whereas Lithuania proper was the domain of his equally able brother Kęstutis. Algirdas fought the Golden Horde Tatars and the Principality of Moscow; Kęstutis took upon himself the demanding struggle with the Teutonic Order. The warfare with the Teutonic Order continued from 1345, and in 1348, the Knights defeated the Lithuanians at the Battle of Strėva. Kęstutis requested King Casimir of Poland to mediate with the pope in hopes of converting Lithuania to Christianity, but the result was negative, and Poland took from Lithuania in 1349 the Halych area and some Ruthenian lands further north. Lithuania's situation improved from 1350, when Algirdas formed an alliance with the Principality of Tver. Halych was ceded by Lithuania, which brought peace with Poland in 1352. Secured by those alliances, Algirdas and Kęstutis embarked on the implementation of policies to expand Lithuania's territories further. Bryansk was taken in 1359, and in 1362, Algirdas captured Kyiv after defeating the Mongols at the Battle of Blue Waters. Volhynia, Podolia and left-bank Ukraine were also incorporated. Kęstutis heroically fought for the survival of ethnic Lithuanians by attempting to repel about thirty incursions by the Teutonic Knights and their European guest fighters. Kęstutis also attacked the Teutonic possessions in Prussia on numerous occasions, but the Knights took Kaunas in 1362. The dispute with Poland renewed itself and was settled by the peace of 1366, when Lithuania gave up a part of Volhynia including Volodymyr. A peace with the Livonian Knights was also accomplished in 1367. In 1368, 1370 and 1372, Algirdas invaded the Grand Duchy of Moscow and each time approached Moscow itself. An "eternal" peace (the Treaty of Lyubutsk) was concluded after the last attempt, and it was much needed by Lithuania due to its involvement in heavy fighting with the Knights again in 1373–1377. The two brothers and Gediminas' other offspring left many ambitious sons with inherited territory. Their rivalry weakened the country in the face of the Teutonic expansion and the newly assertive Grand Duchy of Moscow, buoyed by the 1380 victory over the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo and intent on the unification of all Rus' lands under its rule. Jogaila's conflict with Kęstutis, Vytautas Algirdas died in 1377, and his son Jogaila became grand duke while Kęstutis was still alive. The Teutonic pressure was at its peak, and Jogaila was inclined to cease defending Samogitia in order to concentrate on preserving the Ruthenian empire of Lithuania. The Knights exploited the differences between Jogaila and Kęstutis and procured a separate armistice with the older duke in 1379. Jogaila then made overtures to the Teutonic Order and concluded the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with them in 1380, contrary to Kęstutis' principles and interests. Kęstutis felt he could no longer support his nephew and in 1381, when Jogaila's forces were preoccupied with quenching a rebellion in Polotsk, he entered Vilnius in order to remove Jogaila from the throne. A Lithuanian civil war ensued. Kęstutis' two raids against Teutonic possessions in 1382 brought back the tradition of his past exploits, but Jogaila retook Vilnius during his uncle's absence. Kęstutis was captured and died in Jogaila's custody. Kęstutis' son Vytautas escaped. Jogaila agreed to the Treaty of Dubysa with the Order in 1382, an indication of his weakness. A four-year truce stipulated Jogaila's conversion to Catholicism and the cession of half of Samogitia to the Teutonic Knights. Vytautas went to Prussia in seek of the support of the Knights for his claims, including the Duchy of Trakai, which he considered inherited from his father. Jogaila's refusal to submit to the demands of his cousin and the Knights resulted in their joint invasion of Lithuania in 1383. Vytautas, however, having failed to gain the entire duchy, established contacts with the grand duke. Upon receiving from him the areas of Grodno, Podlasie and Brest, Vytautas switched sides in 1384 and destroyed the border strongholds entrusted to him by the Order. In 1384, the two Lithuanian dukes, acting together, waged a successful expedition against the lands ruled by the Order. By that time, for the sake of its long-term survival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had initiated the processes leading to its imminent acceptance of European Christendom. The Teutonic Knights aimed at a territorial unification of their Prussian and Livonian branches by conquering Samogitia and all of Lithuania proper, following the earlier subordination of the Prussian and Latvian tribes. To dominate the neighboring Baltic and Slavic people and expand into a great Baltic power, the Knights used German and other volunteer fighters. They unleashed 96 onslaughts in Lithuania during the period 1345–1382, against which the Lithuanians were able to respond with only 42 retributive raids of their own. Lithuania's Ruthenian empire in the east was also threatened by both the unification of Rus' ambitions of Moscow and the centrifugal activities pursued by the rulers of some of the more distant provinces. 13th–14th century Lithuanian society The Lithuanian state of the later 14th century was primarily binational, Lithuanian and Ruthenian (in territories that correspond to the modern Belarus and Ukraine). Of its 800,000 square kilometers total area, 10% comprised ethnic Lithuania, probably populated by no more than 300,000 inhabitants. Lithuania was dependent for its survival on the human and material resources of the Ruthenian lands. The increasingly differentiated Lithuanian society was led by princes of the Gediminid and Rurik dynasties and the descendants of former kunigas chiefs from families such as the Giedraitis, Olshanski and Svirski. Below them in rank was the regular Lithuanian nobility (or boyars), in Lithuania proper strictly subjected to the princes and generally living on modest family farms, each tended by a few feudal subjects or, more often, slave workers if the boyar could afford them. For their military and administrative services, Lithuanian boyars were compensated by exemptions from public contributions, payments, and Ruthenian land grants. The majority of the ordinary rural workers were free. They were obligated to provide crafts and numerous contributions and services; for not paying these types of debts (or for other offences), one could be forced into slavery. The Ruthenian princes were Orthodox, and many Lithuanian princes also converted to Orthodoxy, even some who resided in Lithuania proper, or at least their wives. The masonry Ruthenian churches and monasteries housed learned monks, their writings (including Gospel translations such as the Ostromir Gospels) and collections of religious art. A Ruthenian quarter populated by Lithuania's Orthodox subjects, and containing their church, existed in Vilnius from the 14th century. The grand dukes' chancery in Vilnius was staffed by Orthodox churchmen, who, trained in the Church Slavonic language, developed Chancery Slavonic, a Ruthenian written language useful for official record keeping. The most important of the Grand Duchy's documents, the Lithuanian Metrica, the Lithuanian Chronicles and the Statutes of Lithuania, were all written in that language. German, Jewish and Armenian settlers were invited to live in Lithuania; the last two groups established their own denominational communities directly under the ruling dukes. The Tatars and Crimean Karaites were entrusted as soldiers for the dukes' personal guard. Towns developed to a much lesser degree than in nearby Prussia or Livonia. Outside of Ruthenia, the only cities were Vilnius (Gediminas' capital from 1323), the old capital of Trakai and Kaunas. Kernavė and Kreva were the other old political centers. Vilnius in the 14th century was a major social, cultural and trading center. It linked economically central and eastern Europe with the Baltic area. Vilnius merchants enjoyed privileges that allowed them to trade over most of the territories of the Lithuanian state. Of the passing Ruthenian, Polish and German merchants (many from Riga), many settled in Vilnius and some built masonry residencies. The city was ruled by a governor named by the grand duke and its system of fortifications included three castles. Foreign currencies and Lithuanian currency (from the 13th century) were widely used. The Lithuanian state maintained a patrimonial power structure. Gediminid rule was hereditary, but the ruler would choose the son he considered most able to be his successor. Councils existed, but could only advise the duke. The huge state was divided into a hierarchy of territorial units administered by designated officials who were also empowered in judicial and military matters. The Lithuanians spoke in a number of Aukštaitian and Samogitian (West-Baltic) dialects. But the tribal peculiarities were disappearing and the increasing use of the name Lietuva was a testimony to the developing Lithuanian sense of separate identity. The forming Lithuanian feudal system preserved many aspects of the earlier societal organization, such as the family clan structure, free peasantry and some slavery. The land belonged now to the ruler and the nobility. Patterns imported primarily from Ruthenia were used for the organization of the state and its structure of power. Following the establishment of Western Christianity at the end of the 14th century, the occurrence of pagan cremation burial ceremonies markedly decreased. Dynastic union with Poland, Christianization of the state Jogaila's Catholic conversion and rule As the power of the Lithuanian warlord dukes expanded to the south and east, the cultivated East Slavic Ruthenians exerted influence on the Lithuanian ruling class. They brought with them the Church Slavonic liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Christian religion, a written language (Chancery Slavonic) that was developed to serve the Lithuanian court's document-producing needs for a few centuries, and a system of laws. By these means, Ruthenians transformed Vilnius into a major center of Kievan Rus' civilization. By the time of Jogaila's acceptance of Catholicism at the Union of Krewo in 1385, many institutions in his realm and members of his family had been to a large extent assimilated already into the Orthodox Christianity and became Russified (in part a result of the deliberate policy of the Gediminid ruling house). Catholic influence and contacts, including those derived from German settlers, traders and missionaries from Riga, had been increasing for some time around the northwest region of the empire, known as Lithuania proper. The Franciscan and Dominican friar orders existed in Vilnius from the time of Gediminas. Kęstutis in 1349 and Algirdas in 1358 negotiated Christianization with the pope, the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish king. The Christianization of Lithuania thus involved both Catholic and Orthodox aspects. Conversion by force as practiced by the Teutonic Knights had actually been an impediment that delayed the progress of Western Christianity in the grand duchy. Jogaila, a grand duke since 1377, was himself still a pagan at the start of his reign. In 1386, agreed to the offer of the Polish crown by leading Polish nobles, who were eager to take advantage of Lithuania's expansion, if he become a Catholic and married the 13-year-old crowned king (not queen) Jadwiga. For the near future, Poland gave Lithuania a valuable ally against increasing threats from the Teutonic Knights and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Lithuania, in which Ruthenians outnumbered ethnic Lithuanians by several times, could ally with either the Grand Duchy of Moscow or Poland. A Russian deal was also negotiated with Dmitry Donskoy in 1383–1384, but Moscow was too distant to be able to assist with the problems posed by the Teutonic orders and presented a difficulty as a center competing for the loyalty of the Orthodox Lithuanian Ruthenians. Jogaila was baptized, given the baptismal name Władysław, married Queen Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland in February 1386. Jogaila's baptism and crowning were followed by the final and official Christianization of Lithuania. In the fall of 1386, the king returned to Lithuania and the next spring and summer participated in mass conversion and baptism ceremonies for the general population. The establishment of a bishopric in Vilnius in 1387 was accompanied by Jogaila's extraordinarily generous endowment of land and peasants to the Church and exemption from state obligations and control. This instantly transformed the Lithuanian Church into the most powerful institution in the country (and future grand dukes lavished even more wealth on it). Lithuanian boyars who accepted baptism were rewarded with a more limited privilege improving their legal rights. Vilnius' townspeople were granted self-government. The Church proceeded with its civilizing mission of literacy and education, and the estates of the realm started to emerge with their own separate identities. Jogaila's orders for his court and followers to convert to Catholicism were meant to deprive the Teutonic Knights of the justification for their practice of forced conversion through military onslaughts. In 1403 the pope prohibited the Order from conducting warfare against Lithuania, and its threat to Lithuania's existence (which had endured for two centuries) was indeed neutralized. In the short term, Jogaila needed Polish support in his struggle with his cousin Vytautas. Lithuania at its peak under Vytautas The Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392 involved the Teutonic Knights, the Poles, and the competing factions loyal to Jogaila and Vytautas in Lithuania. Amid ruthless warfare, the grand duchy was ravaged and threatened with collapse. Jogaila decided that the way out was to make amends and recognize the rights of Vytautas, whose original goal, now largely accomplished, was to recover the lands he considered his inheritance. After negotiations, Vytautas ended up gaining far more than that; from 1392 he became practically the ruler of Lithuania, a self-styled "Duke of Lithuania," under a compromise with Jogaila known as the Ostrów Agreement. Technically, he was merely Jogaila's regent with extended authority. Jogaila realized that cooperating with his able cousin was preferable to attempting to govern (and defend) Lithuania directly from Kraków. Vytautas had been frustrated by Jogaila's Polish arrangements and rejected the prospect of Lithuania's subordination to Poland. Under Vytautas, a considerable centralization of the state took place, and the Catholicized Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. The centralization efforts began in 1393–1395, when Vytautas appropriated their provinces from several powerful regional dukes in Ruthenia. Several invasions of Lithuania by the Teutonic Knights occurred between 1392 and 1394, but they were repelled with the help of Polish forces. Afterwards, the Knights abandoned their goal of conquest of Lithuania proper and concentrated on subjugating and keeping Samogitia. In 1395, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia, the Order's formal superior, prohibited the Knights from raiding Lithuania. In 1395, Vytautas conquered Smolensk, and in 1397, he conducted a victorious expedition against a branch of the Golden Horde. Now he felt he could afford independence from Poland and in 1398 refused to pay the tribute due to Queen Jadwiga. Seeking freedom to pursue his internal and Ruthenian goals, Vytautas had to grant the Teutonic Order a large portion of Samogitia in the Treaty of Salynas of 1398. The conquest of Samogitia by the Teutonic Order greatly improved its military position as well as that of the associated Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Vytautas soon pursued attempts to retake the territory, an undertaking for which needed the help of the Polish king. During Vytautas' reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, but his ambitious plans to subjugate all of Ruthenia were thwarted by his disastrous defeat in 1399 at the Battle of the Vorskla River, inflicted by the Golden Horde. Vytautas survived by fleeing the battlefield with a small unit and realized the necessity of a permanent alliance with Poland. The original Union of Krewo of 1385 was renewed and redefined on several occasions, but each time with little clarity due to the competing Polish and Lithuanian interests. Fresh arrangements were agreed to in the "unions" of Vilnius (1401), Horodło (1413), Grodno (1432) and Vilnius (1499). In the Union of Vilnius, Jogaila granted Vytautas a lifetime rule over the grand duchy. In return, Jogaila preserved his formal supremacy, and Vytautas promised to "stand faithfully with the Crown and the King." Warfare with the Order resumed. In 1403, Pope Boniface IX banned the Knights from attacking Lithuania, but in the same year Lithuania had to agree to the Peace of Raciąż, which mandated the same conditions as in the Treaty of Salynas. Secure in the west, Vytautas turned his attention to the east once again. The campaigns fought between 1401 and 1408 involved Smolensk, Pskov, Moscow and Veliky Novgorod. Smolensk was retained, Pskov and Veliki Novgorod ended up as Lithuanian dependencies, and a lasting territorial division between the Grand Duchy and Moscow was agreed in 1408 in the treaty of Ugra, where a great battle failed to materialize. The decisive war with the Teutonic Knights (the Great War) was preceded in 1409 with a Samogitian uprising supported by Vytautas. Ultimately the Lithuanian–Polish alliance was able to defeat the Knights at the Battle of Grunwald on 15 July 1410, but the allied armies failed to take Marienburg, the Knights' fortress-capital. Nevertheless, the unprecedented total battlefield victory against the Knights permanently removed the threat that they had posed to Lithuania's existence for centuries. The Peace of Thorn (1411) allowed Lithuania to recover Samogotia, but only until the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, and the Knights had to pay a large monetary reparation. The Union of Horodło (1413) incorporated Lithuania into Poland again, but only as a formality. In practical terms, Lithuania became an equal partner with Poland, because each country was obliged to choose its future ruler only with the consent of the other, and the Union was declared to continue even under a new dynasty. Catholic Lithuanian boyars were to enjoy the same privileges as Polish nobles (szlachta). 47 top Lithuanian clans were colligated with 47 Polish noble families to initiate a future brotherhood and facilitate the expected full unity. Two administrative divisions (Vilnius and Trakai) were established in Lithuania, patterned after the existing Polish models. Vytautas practiced religious toleration and his grandiose plans also included attempts to influence the Eastern Orthodox Church, which he wanted to use as a tool to control Moscow and other parts of Ruthenia. In 1416, he elevated Gregory Tsamblak as his chosen Orthodox patriarch for all of Ruthenia (the established Orthodox Metropolitan bishop remained in Vilnius to the end of the 18th century). These efforts were also intended to serve the goal of global unification of the Eastern and Western churches. Tsamblak led an Orthodox delegation to the Council of Constance in 1418. The Orthodox synod, however, would not recognize Tsamblak. The grand duke also established new Catholic bishoprics in Samogitia (1417) and in Lithuanian Ruthenia (Lutsk and Kyiv). The Gollub War with the Teutonic Knights followed and in 1422, in the Treaty of Melno, the grand duchy permanently recovered Samogitia, which terminated its involvement in the wars with the Order. Vytautas' shifting policies and reluctance to pursue the Order made the survival of German East Prussia possible for centuries to come. Samogitia was the last region of Europe to be Christianized (from 1413). Later, different foreign policies were prosecuted by Lithuania and Poland, accompanied by conflicts over Podolia and Volhynia, the grand duchy's territories in the southeast. Vytautas' greatest successes and recognition occurred at the end of his life, when the Crimean Khanate and the Volga Tatars came under his influence. Prince Vasily I of Moscow died in 1425, and Vytautas then administered the Grand Duchy of Moscow together with his daughter, Vasily's widow Sophia of Lithuania. In 1426–1428 Vytautas triumphantly toured the eastern reaches of his empire and collected huge tributes from the local princes. Pskov and Veliki Novgorod were incorporated to the grand duchy in 1426 and 1428. At the Congress of Lutsk in 1429, Vytautas negotiated the issue of his crowning as the King of Lithuania with Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and Jogaila. That ambition was close to being fulfilled, but in the end was thwarted by last-minute intrigues and Vytautas' death. Vytautas' cult and legend originated during his later years and have continued until today. Developments in Lithuania around the first half of the 15th century The dynastic link to Poland resulted in religious, political and cultural ties and increase of Western influence among the native Lithuanian nobility, and to a lesser extent among the Ruthenian boyars from the East, Lithuanian subjects. Catholics were granted preferential treatment and access to offices because of the policies of Vytautas, officially pronounced in 1413 at the Union of Horodło, and even more so of his successors, aimed at asserting the rule of the Catholic Lithuanian elite over the Ruthenian territories. Such policies increased the pressure on the nobility to convert to Catholicism. Ethnic Lithuania proper made up 10% of the area and 20% of the population of the Grand Duchy. Of the Ruthenian provinces, Volhynia was most closely integrated with Lithuania proper. Branches of the Gediminid family as well as other Lithuanian and Ruthenian magnate clans eventually became established there. During the period, a stratum of wealthy landowners, important also as a military force, was coming into being, accompanied by the emerging class of feudal serfs assigned to them. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was for the time being largely preserved as a separate state with separate institutions, but efforts, originating mainly in Poland, were made to bring the Polish and Lithuanian elites and systems closer together. Vilnius and other cities were granted the German system of laws (Magdeburg rights). Crafts and trade were developing quickly. Under Vytautas a network of chanceries functioned, first schools were established and annals written. Taking advantage of the historic opportunities, the great ruler opened Lithuania for the influence of the European culture and integrated his country with European Western Christianity. Under Jagiellonian rulers The Jagiellonian dynasty founded by Jogaila (a member of one of the branches of the Gediminids) ruled Poland and Lithuania continuously between 1386 and 1572. Following the deaths of Vytautas in 1430, another civil war ensued, and Lithuania was ruled by rival successors. Afterwards, the Lithuanian nobility on two occasions technically broke the union between Poland and Lithuania by selecting grand dukes unilaterally from the Jagiellonian dynasty. In 1440, the Lithuanian great lords elevated Casimir, Jogaila's second son, to the rule of the grand duchy. This issue was resolved by Casimir's election as king by the Poles in 1446. In 1492, Jogaila's grandson John Albert became the king of Poland, whereas his grandson Alexander became the grand duke of Lithuania. In 1501 Alexander succeeded John as king of Poland, which resolved the difficulty in the same manner as before. A lasting connection between the two states was beneficial to Poles, Lithuanians, and Ruthenians, Catholic and Orthodox, as well as the Jagiellonian rulers themselves, whose hereditary succession rights in Lithuania practically guaranteed their election as kings in accordance with the customs surrounding the royal elections in Poland. On the Teutonic front, Poland continued its struggle, which in 1466 led to the Peace of Thorn and the recovery of much of the Piast dynasty territorial losses. A secular Duchy of Prussia was established in 1525. Its presence would greatly impact the futures of both Lithuania and Poland. The Tatar Crimean Khanate recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire from 1475. Seeking slaves and booty, the Tatars raided vast portions of the grand duchy of Lithuania, burning Kyiv in 1482 and approaching Vilnius in 1505. Their activity resulted in Lithuania's loss of its distant territories on the Black Sea shores in the 1480s and 1490s. The last two Jagiellon kings were Sigismund I and Sigismund II Augustus, during whose reign the intensity of Tatar raids diminished due to the appearance of the military caste of Cossacks at the southeastern territories and the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Lithuania needed a close alliance with Poland when, at the end of the 15th century, the increasingly assertive Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened some of Lithuania's Rus' principalities with the goal of "recovering" the formerly Orthodox-ruled lands. In 1492, Ivan III of Russia unleashed what turned out to be a series of Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars and Livonian Wars. In 1492, the border of Lithuania's loosely controlled eastern Ruthenian territory ran less than one hundred miles from Moscow. But as a result of the warfare, a third of the grand duchy's land area was ceded to the Russian state in 1503. Then the loss of Smolensk in July 1514 was particularly disastrous, even though it was followed by the successful Battle of Orsha in September, as the Polish interests were reluctantly recognizing the necessity of their own involvement in Lithuania's defense. The peace of 1537 left Gomel as the grand duchy's eastern edge. In the north, the Livonian War took place over the strategically and economically crucial region of Livonia, the traditional territory of the Livonian Order. The Livonian Confederation formed an alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian side in 1557 with the Treaty of Pozvol. Desired by both Lithuania and Poland, Livonia was then incorporated into the Polish Crown by Sigismund II. These developments caused Ivan the Terrible of Russia to launch attacks in Livonia beginning in 1558, and later on Lithuania. The grand duchy's fortress of Polotsk fell in 1563. This was followed by a Lithuanian victory at the Battle of Ula in 1564, but not a recovery of Polotsk. Russian, Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian occupations subdivided Livonia. Toward more integrated union The Polish ruling establishment had been aiming at the incorporation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into Poland since before the Union of Krewo. The Lithuanians were able to fend off this threat in the 14th and 15th centuries, but the dynamics of power changed in the 16th century. In 1508, the Polish Sejm voted funding for Lithuania's defense against Muscovy for the first time, and an army was fielded. The Polish nobility's executionist movement called for full incorporation of the Grand Duchy because of its increasing reliance on the support of the Polish Crown against Moscow's encroachments. This problem only grew more acute during the reign of Sigismund II Augustus, the last Jagiellonian king and grand duke of Lithuania, who had no heir who would inherit and continue the personal union between Poland and Lithuania. The preservation of the Polish-Lithuanian power arrangement appeared to require the monarch to force a decisive solution during his lifetime. The resistance to a closer and more permanent union was coming from Lithuania's ruling families, increasingly Polonized in cultural terms, but attached to the Lithuanian heritage and their patrimonial rule. Legal evolution had lately been taking place in Lithuania nevertheless. In the Privilege of Vilnius of 1563, Sigismund restored full political rights to the Grand Duchy's Orthodox boyars, which had been restricted up to that time by Vytautas and his successors; all members of the nobility were from then officially equal. Elective courts were established in 1565–66, and the Second Lithuanian Statute of 1566 created a hierarchy of local offices patterned on the Polish system. The Lithuanian legislative assembly assumed the same formal powers as the Polish Sejm. The Polish Sejm of January 1569, deliberating in Lublin, was attended by the Lithuanian lords at Sigismund's insistence. Most left town on 1 March, unhappy with the proposals of the Poles to establish rights to acquire property in Lithuania and other issues. Sigismund reacted by announcing the incorporation of the Grand Duchy's Volhynia and Podlasie voivodeships into the Polish Crown. Soon the large Kiev Voivodeship and Bratslav Voivodeship were also annexed. Ruthenian boyars in the formerly southeastern Grand Duchy mostly approved the territorial transfers, since it meant that they would become members of the privileged Polish nobility. But the king also pressured many obstinate deputies to agree on compromises important to the Lithuanian side. The arm twisting, combined with reciprocal guarantees for Lithuanian nobles' rights, resulted in the "voluntary" passage of the Union of Lublin on July 1. The combined polity would be ruled by a common Sejm, but the separate hierarchies of major state offices were to be retained. Many in the Lithuanian establishment found this objectionable, but in the end they were prudent to comply. For the time being, Sigismund managed to preserve the Polish-Lithuanian state as great power. Reforms necessary to protect its long-term success and survival were not undertaken. Lithuanian Renaissance From the 16th to the mid-17th century, culture, arts, and education flourished in Lithuania, fueled by the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. The Lutheran ideas of the Reformation entered the Livonian Confederation by the 1520s, and Lutheranism soon became the prevailing religion in the urban areas of the region, while Lithuania remained Catholic. An influential book dealer was the humanist and bibliophile Francysk Skaryna (c. 1485—1540), who was the founding father of Belarusian letters. He wrote in his native Ruthenian (Chancery Slavonic) language, as was typical for literati in the earlier phase of the Renaissance in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the middle of the 16th century, Polish predominated in literary productions. Many educated Lithuanians came back from studies abroad to help build the active cultural life that distinguished 16th-century Lithuania, sometimes referred to as Lithuanian Renaissance (not to be confused with Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century). At this time, Italian architecture was introduced in Lithuanian cities, and Lithuanian literature written in Latin flourished. Also at this time, the first printed texts in the Lithuanian language emerged, and the formation of written Lithuanian language began. The process was led by Lithuanian scholars Abraomas Kulvietis, Stanislovas Rapalionis, Martynas Mažvydas and Mikalojus Daukša. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) Formation of a new union with Poland With the Union of Lublin of 1569, Poland and Lithuania formed a new state referred to as the Republic of Both Nations, but commonly known as Poland-Lithuania or the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth, which officially consisted of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was ruled by Polish and Lithuanian nobility, together with nobility-elected kings. The Union was designed to have a common foreign policy, customs and currency. Separate Polish and Lithuanian armies were retained, but parallel ministerial and central offices were established according to a practice developed by the Crown. The Lithuanian Tribunal, a high court for the affairs of the nobility, was created in 1581. Languages The Lithuanian language fell into disuse in the circles of the grand ducal court in the second half of the 15th century in favor of Polish. A century later, Polish was commonly used even by the ordinary Lithuanian nobility. Following the Union of Lublin, Polonization increasingly affected all aspects of Lithuanian public life, but it took well over a century for the process to be completed. The 1588 Statutes of Lithuania were still written in the Ruthenian Chancery Slavonic language, just as earlier legal codifications were. From about 1700, Polish was used in the Grand Duchy's official documents as a replacement for Ruthenian and Latin use. The Lithuanian nobility became linguistically and culturally Polonized, while retaining a sense of Lithuanian identity. The integrating process of the Commonwealth nobility was not regarded as Polonization in the sense of modern nationality, but rather as participation in the Sarmatism cultural-ideological current, erroneously understood to imply also a common (Sarmatian) ancestry of all members of the noble class. The Lithuanian language survived, however, in spite of encroachments by the Ruthenian, Polish, Russian, Belarusian and German languages, as a peasant vernacular, and from 1547 in written religious use. Western Lithuania had an important role in the preservation of the Lithuanian language and its culture. In Samogitia, many nobles never ceased to speak Lithuanian natively. Northeastern East Prussia, sometimes referred to as Lithuania Minor, was populated mainly by Lithuanians and predominantly Lutheran. The Lutherans promoted publishing of religious books in local languages, which is why the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas was printed in 1547 in East Prussian Königsberg. Religion The predominantly East Slavic population of the Grand Duchy was mostly Eastern Orthodox, and much of the Lithuanian state's nobility also remained Orthodox. Unlike the common people of the Lithuanian realm, at about the time of the Union of Lublin in 1569 large portions of the nobility converted to Western Christianity. Following the Protestant Reformation movement, many noble families converted to Calvinism in the 1550s and 1560s, and typically a generation later, conforming to the Counter-Reformation trends in the Commonwealth, to Roman Catholicism. The Protestant and Orthodox presence must have been very strong, because according to an undoubtedly exaggerated early 17th-century source, "merely one in a thousand remained a Catholic" in Lithuania at that time. In the early Commonwealth, religious toleration was the norm and was officially enacted by the Warsaw Confederation in 1573. By 1750, nominal Catholics comprised about 80% of the Commonwealth's population, the vast majority of the noble citizenry, and the entire legislature. In the east, there were also the Eastern Orthodox Church adherents. However, Catholics in the Grand Duchy itself were split. Under half were Latin rite with strong allegiance to Rome. The others (mostly non-noble Ruthenians) followed the Eastern rite. They were the so-called Uniates, whose church was established at the Union of Brest in 1596, and they acknowledged only nominal obedience to Rome. At first the advantage went to the advancing Roman Catholic Church pushing back a retreating Orthodox Church. However, after the first partition of the Commonwealth in 1772, the Orthodox had the support of the government and gained the upper hand. The Russian Orthodox Church paid special attention to the Uniates (who had once been Orthodox), and tried to bring them back. The contest was political and spiritual, utilizing missionaries, schools, and pressure exerted by powerful nobles and landlords. By 1800, over 2 million of the Uniates had become Orthodox, and another 1.6 million by 1839. Grand Duchy, its grandeur and decline The Union of Lublin and the integration of the two countries notwithstanding, Lithuania continued to exist as a grand duchy within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for over two centuries. It retained separate laws as well as an army and a treasury. At the time of Union of Lublin, King Sigismund II Augustus removed Ukraine and other territories from Lithuania and incorporated them directly into the Polish Crown. The grand duchy was left with today's Belarus and parts of western Russia, in addition to the core ethnic Lithuanian lands. From 1573, the kings of Poland and the grand dukes of Lithuania were always the same person and were elected by the nobility, who were granted ever increasing privileges in a unique aristocratic political system known as the Golden Liberty. These privileges, especially the liberum veto, led to political anarchy and the eventual dissolution of the state. Within the Commonwealth, the grand duchy made important contributions to European economic, political and cultural life: Western Europe was supplied with grain, along the Danzig to Amsterdam sea route; the early Commonwealth's religious tolerance and democracy among the ruling noble class were unique in Europe; Vilnius was the only European capital located on the border of the worlds of the Western and Eastern Christianity and many religious faiths were practiced there; to the Jews, it was the "Jerusalem of the North" and the town of the Vilna Gaon, their great religious leader; Vilnius University produced numerous illustrious alumni and was one of the most influential centers of learning in its part of Europe; the Vilnius school made significant contributions to European architecture in Baroque style; the Lithuanian legal tradition gave rise to the advanced legal codes known as the Statutes of Lithuania; at the end of the Commonwealth's existence, the Constitution of 3 May 1791 was the first comprehensive written constitution produced in Europe. After the Partitions of Poland, the Vilnius school of Romanticism produced the two great poets: Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. The Commonwealth was greatly weakened by a series of wars, beginning with the Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine in 1648. During the Northern Wars of 1655–1661, the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army in an invasion known as the Deluge, and Vilnius was burned and looted by the Russian forces. Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was again ravaged during the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. Besides war, the Commonwealth suffered the Great Northern War plague outbreak and famine (the worst caused by the Great Frost of 1709). These calamities resulted in the loss of approximately 40% of the country's inhabitants. Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant players in the domestic politics of the Commonwealth. Numerous factions among the nobility, controlled and manipulated by the powerful Magnates of Poland and Lithuania, themselves often in conflict, used their "Golden Liberty" to prevent reforms. Some Lithuanian clans, such as the Radziwiłłs, counted among the most powerful of Commonwealth nobles. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 was a culmination of the belated reform process of the Commonwealth. It attempted to integrate Lithuania and Poland more closely, although the separation was preserved by the added Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations. Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, 1793 and 1795 terminated its existence and saw the Grand Duchy of Lithuania divided between the Russian Empire, which took over 90% of the Duchy's territory, and the Kingdom of Prussia. The Third Partition of 1795 took place after the failure of the Kościuszko Uprising, the last war waged by Poles and Lithuanians to preserve their statehood. Lithuania ceased to exist as a distinct entity for more than a century. Under Imperial Russia, World War I (1795–1918) Post-Commonwealth period (1795–1864); foundations of Lithuanian nationalism Following the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire controlled the majority of Lithuania, including Vilnius, which was a part of the Vilna Governorate. In 1803, Tsar Alexander I revived and upgraded the old Jesuit academy as the imperial Vilnius University, the largest in the Russian Empire. The university and the regional educational system was directed on behalf of the tsar by Prince Adam Czartoryski. In the early years of the 19th century, there were signs that Lithuania might be allowed some separate recognition by the Empire, however this never happened. In 1812, the Lithuanians eagerly welcomed Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée as liberators, with many joining the French invasion of Russia. After the French army's defeat and withdrawal, Tsar Alexander I decided to keep the University of Vilnius open and the Polish-language poet Adam Mickiewicz, a resident of Vilnius in 1815–1824, was able to receive his education
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to Lithuania and worked on incorporating the Lithuanian peasantry into mainstream politics as the main building block of a modern nation. In 1898, he wrote a poem inspired by the opening strophe of Mickiewicz's masterpiece Pan Tadeusz: "Lithuania, my fatherland! You are like health." The poem became the national anthem of Lithuania, Tautiška giesmė: ("Lithuania, Our Homeland"). As the revival grew, Russian policy became harsher. Attacks took place against Catholic churches while the ban forbidding the Lithuanian press continued. However, in the late 19th century, the language ban was lifted. and some 2,500 books were published in the Lithuanian Latin alphabet. The majority of these were published in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Russian Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast), although some publications reached Lithuania from the United States. A largely standardized written language was achieved by 1900, based on historical and Aukštaitijan (highland) usages. The letters -č-, -š- and -v- were taken from the modern (redesigned) Czech orthography, to avoid the Polish usage for corresponding sounds. The widely accepted Lithuanian Grammar, by Jonas Jablonskis, appeared in 1901. Large numbers of Lithuanians had emigrated to the United States in 1867–1868 after a famine in Lithuania. Between 1868 and 1914, approximately 635,000 people, almost 20 percent of the population, left Lithuania. Lithuanian cities and towns were growing under the Russian rule, but the country remained underdeveloped by the European standards and job opportunities were limited; many Lithuanians left also for the industrial centers of the Russian Empire, such as Riga and Saint Petersburg. Many of Lithuania's cities were dominated by non-Lithuanian-speaking Jews and Poles. Lithuania's nationalist movement continued to grow. During the 1905 Russian Revolution, a large congress of Lithuanian representatives in Vilnius known as the Great Seimas of Vilnius demanded provincial autonomy for Lithuania (by which they meant the northwestern portion of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania) on 5 December of that year. The tsarist regime made a number of concessions as the result of the 1905 uprising. The Baltic states once again were permitted to use their native languages in schooling and public discourse, and Catholic churches were built in Lithuania. Latin characters replaced the Cyrillic alphabet that had been forced upon Lithuanians for four decades. But not even Russian liberals were prepared to concede autonomy similar to that that had already existed in Estonia and Latvia, albeit under Baltic German hegemony. Many Baltic Germans looked toward aligning the Baltics (Lithuania and Courland in particular) with Germany. After the outbreak of hostilities in World War I, Germany occupied Lithuania and Courland in 1915. Vilnius fell to the Germans on 19 September 1915. An alliance with Germany in opposition to both tsarist Russia and Lithuanian nationalism became for the Baltic Germans a real possibility. Lithuania was incorporated into Ober Ost under a German government of occupation. As open annexation could result in a public-relations backlash, the Germans planned to form a network of formally independent states that would in fact be dependent on Germany. Independence (1918–1940) Declaration of independence The German occupation government permitted a Vilnius Conference to convene between 18 September and 22 September 1917, with the demand that Lithuanians declare loyalty to Germany and agree to an annexation. The intent of the conferees was to begin the process of establishing a Lithuanian state based on ethnic identity and language that would be independent of the Russian Empire, Poland, and the German Empire. The mechanism for this process was to be decided by a constituent assembly, but the German government would not permit elections. Furthermore, the publication of the conference's resolution calling for the creation of a Lithuanian state and elections for a constituent assembly was not allowed. The Conference nonetheless elected a 20-member Council of Lithuania (Taryba) and empowered it to act as the executive authority of the Lithuanian people. The Council, led by Jonas Basanavičius, declared Lithuanian independence as a German protectorate on 11 December 1917, and then adopted the outright Act of Independence of Lithuania on 16 February 1918. It proclaimed Lithuania as an independent republic, organized according to democratic principles. The Germans, weakened by the losses on the Western Front, but still present in the country, did not support such a declaration and hindered attempts to establish actual independence. To prevent being incorporated into the German Empire, Lithuanians elected Monaco-born King Mindaugas II as the titular monarch of the Kingdom of Lithuania in July 1918. Mindaugas II never assumed the throne, however. In the meantime, an attempt to revive the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a socialist multi-national federal republic was also taking place under the German occupation. In March 1918, Anton Luckievich and his Belarusian National Council proclaimed a Belarusian People's Republic that was to include Vilnius. Luckievich and the Council fled the Red Army approaching from Russia and left Minsk before it was taken over by the Bolsheviks in December 1918. Upon their arrival in Vilnius, they proposed a Belarusian-Lithuanian federation, which however generated no interest on the part of the Lithuanian leaders, who were in advanced stages of promoting national plans of their own. The Lithuanians were mostly interested only in a state "within ethnographic frontiers," as they perceived it. Nevertheless, a Belarusian unit named 1st Belarusian Regiment (), commanded by Alaksandar Ružancoŭ, was formed mainly from Grodno's inhabitants in 1919 within the Lithuanian Armed Forces, which later also participated in supporting the Independence of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, therefore many members of this unit were awarded with the highest state award of Lithuania – Order of the Cross of Vytis. Moreover, a Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs () was established within the Government of Lithuania, which functioned in 1918–1924, and was led by the ethnic Belarusian ministers such as Jazep Varonka, Dominik Semashko. The ethnic Belarusians were also included into the Council of Lithuania, and the Belarusian political leaders initially requested for a political autonomy of the Belarusian lands with the Belarusian language as the official language in them within the restored Lithuania before losing all control over the Belarusian territories to the Poles and Soviets. In spite of its success in knocking Russia out of World War I by the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk early in 1918, Germany lost the war and signed the Armistice of Compiègne on 11 November 1918. Lithuanians quickly formed their first government, adopted a provisional constitution, and started organizing basic administrative structures. The prime minister of the new government was Augustinas Voldemaras. As the German army was withdrawing from the Eastern Front of World War I, it was followed by Soviet forces whose intention was to spread the global proletarian revolution. They created a number of puppet states, including the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic on 16 December 1918. By the end of December, the Red Army reached Lithuanian borders and started the Lithuanian–Soviet War. On 1 January 1919, the German occupying army withdrew from Vilnius and turned the city over to local Polish self-defense forces. The Lithuanian government evacuated Vilnius and moved west to Kaunas, which became the temporary capital of Lithuania. Vilnius was captured by the Soviet Red Army on 5 January 1919. As the Lithuanian army was in its infant stages, the Soviet forces moved largely unopposed and by mid-January 1919 controlled about ⅔ of the Lithuanian territory. Vilnius was now the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Republic, and soon of the combined Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. From April 1919, the Lithuanian–Soviet War dragged on parallel with the Polish–Soviet War. Polish troops captured Vilnius from the Soviets on 21 April 1919. Poland had territorial claims over Lithuania, especially the Vilnius Region, and these tensions spilled over into the Polish–Lithuanian War. Józef Piłsudski of Poland, seeking a Polish-Lithuanian federation, but unable to find common ground with Lithuanian politicians, in August 1919 made an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Lithuanian government in Kaunas. According to a 1924 publication of Lithuanian President Antanas Smetona, following a successful recapture of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius from Poland, the Lithuanians planned to expand further into the Belarusian territories (the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and considered granting an autonomy to the Belarusian territories, as requested by the Belarusian side, therefore had kept the Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs in force, moreover, Smetona noted that there were a lot of pro-Lithuanian sympathies among the Belarusians. The Belarusian unit of the Lithuanian Armed Forces in Grodno was disbanded by the Poles following the annexation of it by the Polish Armed Forces in April 1919, while the soldiers of this unit were disarmed, looted, and publicly humiliated by the Polish soldiers, who even ripped off the Belarusian officers insignias from their uniforms and trampled these symbols with their feet in public, as documented in the historical documents sent by the Belarusians to the temporary Lithuanian capital Kaunas because this unit refused to carry out the Polish orders and stayed loyal to Lithuania. Following the annexation of Grodno, the Lithuanian yellow–green–red, Belarusian white–red–white flags, and signs with the Coat of arms of Lithuania were torn off and the Polish gendarmes dragged them on the dusty streets for ridicule; instead of them, the Polish signs and flags were raised in their place everywhere in the city. Soldiers and Catholic officers of the Belarusian regiment in Grodno were offered to join the Polish Army, while those who refused were offered to leave or were arrested, put into the concentration camps or deported from the native land by the Poles, part of the Belarusian soldiers and officers of this regiment evacuated to Kaunas and continued serving for Lithuania. The Lithuanian Army, commanded by General Silvestras Žukauskas, withstood Red Army advance near Kėdainiai and in the spring of 1919 the Lithuanians recaptured Šiauliai, Radviliškis, Panevėžys, Ukmergė. By the end of August 1919, the Soviets were pushed out of Lithuanian territory and the Lithuanian units reached Daugava. The Lithuanian Army was then deployed against the paramilitary West Russian Volunteer Army (Bermontians), who invaded northern Lithuania. There were around 50,000 of Bermontians and they were well armed by Germany and supported German and Russian soldiers who sought to retain German control over the former Ober Ost. West Russian Volunteers were defeated and pushed out by the end of 1919. Thus the first phase of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence was over and Lithuanians could direct attention to internal affairs. Democratic period The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania was elected in April 1920 and first met the following May. In June it adopted the third provisional constitution and on 12 July 1920, signed the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty. In the treaty the Soviet Union recognized fully independent Lithuania and its claims to the disputed Vilnius Region; Lithuania secretly allowed the Soviet forces passage through its territory as they moved against Poland. On 14 July 1920, the advancing Soviet army captured Vilnius for a second time from Polish forces. The city was handed back to Lithuanians on 26 August 1920, following the defeat of the Soviet offensive. The victorious Polish army returned and the Soviet–Lithuanian Treaty increased hostilities between Poland and Lithuania. To prevent further fighting, the Suwałki Agreement was signed with Poland on 7 October 1920; it left Vilnius on the Lithuanian side of the armistice line. It never went into effect, however, because Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski, acting on Józef Piłsudski's orders, staged the Żeligowski's Mutiny, a military action presented as a mutiny. He invaded Lithuania on 8 October 1920, captured Vilnius the following day, and established a short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania in eastern Lithuania on 12 October 1920. The republic was a part of Piłsudski's federalist scheme, which never materialized due to opposition from both Polish and Lithuanian nationalists. For 19 years, Kaunas was the temporary capital of Lithuania while the Vilnius region remained under Polish administration. The League of Nations attempted to mediate the dispute, and Paul Hymans proposed plans for a Polish–Lithuanian union, but negotiations broke down as neither side could agree to a compromise. Central Lithuania held a general election in 1922 that was boycotted by the Jews, Lithuanians and Belarusians, then was annexed into Poland on 24 March 1922. The Conference of Ambassadors awarded Vilnius to Poland in March 1923. Lithuania did not accept this decision and broke all relations with Poland. The two countries were officially at war over Vilnius, the historical capital of Lithuania, inhabited at that time largely by Polish-speaking and Jewish populations between 1920 and 1938. The dispute continued to dominate Lithuanian domestic politics and foreign policy and doomed the relations with Poland for the entire interwar period. For administrative purposes, the de facto territory of the country was divided into 23 counties (lt:apskritis). A further 11 counties (including Vilnius) were allocated for the territory occupied by Poland (see also Administrative divisions of Lithuania). The Constituent Assembly, which adjourned in October 1920 due to threats from Poland, gathered again and initiated many reforms needed in the new state. Lithuania obtained international recognition and membership in the League of Nations, passed a law for land reform, introduced a national currency (the litas), and adopted a final constitution in August 1922. Lithuania became a democratic state, with Seimas (parliament) elected by men and women for a three-year term. The Seimas elected the president. The First Seimas of Lithuania was elected in October 1922, but could not form a government as the votes split equally 38–38, and it was forced to dissolve. Its only lasting achievement was the Klaipėda Revolt from 10 January to 15 January 1923. The revolt involved Lithuania Minor, a region traditionally sought by Lithuanian nationalists that remained under German rule after World War I, except for the Klaipėda Region with its large Lithuanian minority. (Various sources give the region's interwar ethnic composition as 41.9 percent German, 27.1 percent Memelländisch, and 26.6 percent Lithuanian.) Lithuania took advantage of the Ruhr Crisis in western Europe and captured the Klaipėda Region, a territory detached from East Prussia by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and placed under a French administration sponsored by the League of Nations. The region was incorporated as an autonomous district of Lithuania in May 1924. For Lithuania, it provided the country's only access to the Baltic Sea, and it was an important industrial center, but the region's numerous German inhabitants resisted Lithuanian rule during the 1930s. The Klaipėda Revolt was the last armed conflict in Lithuania before World War II. The Second Seimas of Lithuania, elected in May 1923, was the only Seimas in independent Lithuania that served its full term. The Seimas continued the land reform, introduced social support systems, and started repaying foreign debt. The first Lithuanian national census took place in 1923. Authoritarian period The Third Seimas of Lithuania was elected in May 1926. For the first time, the bloc led by the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party lost their majority and went into opposition. It was sharply criticized for signing the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact (even though it affirmed Soviet recognition of Lithuanian claims to Poland-held Vilnius) and was accused of "Bolshevizing" Lithuania. As a result of growing tensions, the government was deposed during the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état in December. The coup, organized by the military, was supported by the Lithuanian Nationalists Union (tautininkai) and Lithuanian Christian Democrats. They installed Antanas Smetona as the president and Augustinas Voldemaras as the prime minister. Smetona suppressed the opposition and remained as an authoritarian leader until June 1940. The Seimas thought that the coup was just a temporary measure and that new elections would be called to return Lithuania to democracy. Instead, the legislative body was dissolved in May 1927. Later that year members of the Social Democrats and other leftist parties tried to organize an uprising against Smetona, but were quickly subdued. Voldemaras grew increasingly independent of Smetona and was forced to resign in 1929. Three times in 1930 and once in 1934, he unsuccessfully attempted to return to power. In May 1928, Smetona announced the fifth provisional constitution without consulting the Seimas. The constitution continued to claim that Lithuania was a democratic state while the powers of the president were vastly increased. Smetona's party, the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, steadily grew in size and importance. He adopted the title "tautos vadas" (leader of the nation) and slowly started building a cult of personality. Many prominent political figures married into Smetona's family (for example, Juozas Tūbelis and Stasys Raštikis). When the Nazi Party came into power in Germany, German–Lithuanian relations worsened considerably as the Nazis did not want to accept the loss of the Klaipėda Region (German: Memelland). The Nazis sponsored anti-Lithuanian organizations in the region. In 1934, Lithuania put the activists on trial and sentenced about 100 people, including their leaders Ernst Neumann and Theodor von Sass, to prison terms. That prompted Germany, one of the main trade partners of Lithuania, to declare an embargo of Lithuanian products. In response, Lithuania shifted its exports to Great Britain. That measure did not go far enough to satisfy many groups, and peasants in Suvalkija organized strikes, which were violently suppressed. Smetona's prestige was damaged, and in September 1936, he agreed to call the first elections for the Seimas since the coup of 1926. Before the elections, all political parties were eliminated except for the National Union. Thus 42 of the 49 members of the Fourth Seimas of Lithuania were from the National Union. This assembly functioned as an advisory board to the president, and in February 1938, it adopted a new constitution that granted the president even greater powers. As tensions were rising in Europe following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany (the Anschluss), Poland presented the 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania in March of that year. Poland demanded the re-establishment of the normal diplomatic relations that were broken after the Żeligowski Mutiny in 1920 and threatened military actions in case of refusal. Lithuania, having a weaker military and unable to enlist international support for its cause, accepted the ultimatum. In the event of Polish military action, Adolf Hitler ordered a German military takeover of southwest Lithuania up to the Dubysa River, and his armed forces were being fully mobilized until the news of the Lithuanian acceptance. Relations between Poland and Lithuania became somewhat normalized after the acceptance of the ultimatum, and the parties concluded treaties regarding railway transport, postal exchange, and other means of communication. Lithuania offered diplomatic support to Germany and the Soviet Union in opposition to powers such as France and Estonia that backed Poland in the conflict over Vilnius, but both Germany and the Soviet Union saw fit to encroach on Lithuania's territory and independence anyway. Following the Nazi electoral success in Klaipėda in December 1938, Germany decided to take action to secure control of the entire region. On 20 March 1939, just a few days after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia of 15 March, Lithuania received the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania from foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. It demanded the immediate cession of the Klaipėda Region to Germany. The Lithuanian government accepted the ultimatum to avoid an armed intervention. The Klaipėda Region was directly incorporated into the East Prussian province of the German Reich. This triggered a political crisis in Lithuania and forced Smetona to form a new government that included members of the opposition for the first time since 1926. The loss of Klaipėda was a major blow to the Lithuanian economy and the country shifted into the sphere of German influence. When Germany and the Soviet Union concluded the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939 and divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, Lithuania was assigned to Germany at first, but that changed after Smetona's refusal to participate in the German invasion of Poland. The interwar period of independence gave birth to the development of Lithuanian press, literature, music, arts, and theater as well as a comprehensive system of education with Lithuanian as the language of instruction. The network of primary and secondary schools was expanded and institutions of higher learning were established in Kaunas. Lithuanian society remained heavily agricultural with only 20% of the people living in cities. The influence of the Catholic Church was strong and birth rates high: the population increased by 22% to over three million during 1923–1939, despite emigration to South America and elsewhere. In almost all cities and towns, traditionally dominated by Jews, Poles, Russians and Germans, ethnic Lithuanians became the majority. Lithuanians, for example, constituted 59% of the residents of Kaunas in 1923, as opposed to 7% in 1897. The right-wing dictatorship of 1926–1940 had strangely stabilizing social effects, as it prevented the worst of antisemitic excesses as well as the rise of leftist and rightist political extremism. World War II (1939–1945) First Soviet occupation Secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, adjusted by the German-Soviet Frontier Treaty, divided Eastern Europe into Soviet and Nazi spheres of influence. The three Baltic states fell to the Soviet sphere. During the subsequent invasion of Poland, the Red Army captured Vilnius, regarded by Lithuanians as their capital. According to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Pact of 10 October 1939, Soviet Union transferred Vilnius and surrounding territory to Lithuania in exchange for the stationing of 20,000 Soviet troops within the country. It was a virtual sacrifice of independence, as reflected in a known slogan "Vilnius – mūsų, Lietuva – rusų" (Vilnius is ours, but Lithuania is Russia's). Similar Mutual Assistance Pacts were signed with Latvia and Estonia. When Finland refused to sign its pact, the Winter War broke out. In spring 1940, once the Winter War in Finland was over, the Soviets heightened their diplomatic pressure on Lithuania and issued the 1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania on June 14. The ultimatum demanded the formation of a new pro-Soviet government and admission of an unspecified number of Russian troops. With Soviet troops already stationed within the country, Lithuania could not resist and accepted the ultimatum. President Antanas Smetona fled Lithuania as 150,000 Soviet troops crossed the Lithuanian border. Soviet representative Vladimir Dekanozov formed the new pro-Soviet puppet government, known as the People's Government, headed by Justas Paleckis, and organized show elections for the so-called People's Seimas. During its first session on July 21, the People's Seimas unanimously voted to convert Lithuania into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and petitioned to join the Soviet Union. The application was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on 3 August 1940, which completed the formalization of the annexation. Immediately following the occupation, Soviet authorities began rapid Sovietization of Lithuania. All land was nationalized. To gain support for the new regime among the poorer peasants, large farms were distributed to small landowners. However, in preparation for eventual collectivization, agricultural taxes were dramatically increased in an attempt to bankrupt all farmers. Nationalization of banks, larger enterprises, and real estate resulted in disruptions in production that caused massive shortages of goods. The Lithuanian litas was artificially undervalued and withdrawn by spring 1941. Standards of living plummeted. All religious, cultural, and political organizations were banned, leaving only the Communist Party of Lithuania and its youth branch. An estimated 12,000 "enemies of the people" were arrested. During the June deportation campaign of 1941, some 12,600 people (mostly former military officers, policemen, political figures, intelligentsia and their families) were deported to Gulags in Siberia under the policy of elimination of national elites. Many deportees perished due to inhumane conditions; 3,600 were imprisoned and over 1,000 were killed. Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany (1941–1944) On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. In Franz Walter Stahlecker's report of October 15 to Heinrich Himmler, Stahlecker wrote that he had succeeded in covering up actions of the Vorkommando (German vanguard unit) and made it look like an initiative of the local population to carry out the Kaunas pogrom. The German forces moved rapidly and encountered only sporadic Soviet resistance. Vilnius was captured on 24 June 1941, and Germany controlled all of Lithuania within a week. The retreating Soviet forces murdered between 1,000 and 1,500 people, mostly ethnic Lithuanians (see Rainiai massacre). The Lithuanians generally greeted the Germans as liberators from the oppressive Soviet regime and hoped that Germany would restore some autonomy to their country. The Lithuanian Activist Front organized an anti-Soviet revolt known as the June Uprising in Lithuania, declared independence, and formed a Provisional Government of Lithuania with Juozas Ambrazevičius as prime minister. The Provisional Government was not forcibly dissolved; stripped by the Germans of any actual power, it resigned on 5 August 1941. Germany established the civil administration known as the Reichskommissariat Ostland. Initially, there was substantial cooperation and collaboration between the German forces and some Lithuanians. Lithuanians joined the TDA Battalions and Auxiliary police battalions in hopes that these police units would be later transformed into the regular army of independent Lithuania. Instead, some units were employed by the Germans as auxiliaries in perpetrating the Holocaust. However, soon Lithuanians became disillusioned with harsh German policies of collecting large war provisions, gathering people for forced labor in Germany, conscripting men into the German army, and the lack of true autonomy. These feelings naturally led to the creation of a resistance movement. The most notable resistance organization, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, was formed in 1943. Due to passive resistance, a Waffen-SS division was not established in Lithuania. As a compromise, the Lithuanian general Povilas Plechavičius formed the short-lived Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (LTDF). Lithuanians did not organize armed resistance, still considering the Soviet Union their primary enemy. Armed resistance was conducted by pro-Soviet partisans (mainly Russians, Belarusians and Jews) and Polish Armia Krajowa (AK) in eastern Lithuania. Before the Holocaust, Lithuania was home to a disputed number of Jews: 210,000 according to one estimate, 250,000 according to another. About 90% or more of the Lithuanian Jews were murdered, one of the highest rates in Europe. The Holocaust in Lithuania can be divided into three stages: mass executions (June–December 1941), a ghetto period (1942 – March 1943), and a final liquidation (April 1943 – July 1944). Unlike in other Nazi-occupied countries where the Holocaust was introduced gradually, Einsatzgruppe A started executions in Lithuania on the first days of the German occupation. The executions were carried out by the Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators in three main areas: Kaunas (marked by the Ninth Fort), in Vilnius (marked by the Ponary massacre), and in the countryside (sponsored by the Rollkommando Hamann). An estimated 80% of Lithuanian Jews were killed before 1942. The surviving 43,000 Jews were concentrated in the Vilnius Ghetto, Kaunas Ghetto, Šiauliai Ghetto, and Švenčionys Ghetto and forced to work for the benefit of German military industry. In 1943, the ghettos were either liquidated or turned into concentration camps. Only about 2,000–3,000 Lithuanian Jews were liberated from these camps. More survived by withdrawing into the interior of Russia before the war broke out or by escaping the ghettos and joining the Jewish partisans. Second Soviet occupation In the summer of 1944, the Soviet Red Army reached eastern Lithuania. By July 1944, the area around Vilnius came under control of the Polish Resistance fighters of the Armia Krajowa, who also attempted a takeover of the German-held city during the ill-fated Operation Ostra Brama. The Red Army captured Vilnius with Polish help on 13 July. The Soviet Union re-occupied Lithuania and Joseph Stalin re-established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944 with its capital in Vilnius. The Soviets secured the passive agreement of the United States and Great Britain (see Yalta Conference and Potsdam Agreement) to this annexation. By January 1945, the Soviet forces captured Klaipėda on the Baltic coast. The heaviest physical losses in Lithuania during World War II were suffered in 1944–1945, when the Red Army pushed out the Nazi invaders. It is estimated that Lithuania lost 780,000 people between 1940 and 1954 under the Nazi and Soviet occupations. Soviet period (1944–1990) Stalinist terror and resistance (1944–1953) The Soviet deportations from Lithuania between 1941 and 1952 resulted in the exile of tens of thousands of families to forced settlements in the Soviet Union, especially in Siberia and other remote parts of the country. Between 1944 and 1953, nearly 120,000 people (5% of the population) were deported, and thousands more became political prisoners. Many leading intellectual figures and most Catholic priests were among the deported; many returned to Lithuania after 1953. Approximately 20,000 Lithuanian partisans participated in unsuccessful warfare against the Soviet regime in the 1940s and early 1950s. Most were killed or deported to Siberian gulags. During the years following the German surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, between 40 and 60 thousand civilians and combatants perished in the context of the anti-Soviet insurgency. Considerably more ethnic Lithuanians died after World War II than during it. Lithuanian armed resistance lasted until 1953. Adolfas Ramanauskas (code name Vanagas), the last official commander of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters, was arrested in October 1956 and executed in November 1957. Soviet era (1953–1988) Soviet authorities encouraged the immigration of non-Lithuanian workers, especially Russians, as a way of integrating Lithuania into the Soviet Union and encouraging industrial development, but in Lithuania this process did not assume the massive scale experienced by other European Soviet republics. To a great extent, Lithuanization rather than Russification took place in postwar Vilnius and elements of a national revival characterize the period of Lithuania's existence as a Soviet republic. Lithuania's boundaries and political integrity were determined by Joseph Stalin's decision to grant Vilnius to the Lithuanian SSR again in 1944. Subsequently, most Poles were resettled from Vilnius (but only a minority from the countryside and other parts of the Lithuanian SSR) by the implementation of Soviet and Lithuanian communist policies that mandated their partial replacement by Russian immigrants. Vilnius was then increasingly settled by Lithuanians and assimilated by Lithuanian culture, which fulfilled, albeit under the oppressive and limiting conditions of the Soviet rule, the long-held dream of Lithuanian nationalists. The economy of Lithuania did well in comparison with other regions of the Soviet Union. The national developments in Lithuania followed tacit compromise agreements worked out by the Soviet communists, Lithuanian communists and the Lithuanian intelligentsia. Vilnius University was reopened after the war, operating in the Lithuanian language and with a largely Lithuanian student body. It became a center for Baltic studies. General schools in the Lithuanian SSR provided more instruction in Lithuanian than at any previous time in the country's history. The literary Lithuanian language was standardized and refined further as a language of scholarship and Lithuanian literature. The price the Lithuanian intelligentsia ended up paying for the national privileges was their much increased Communist Party membership after Stalin's death. Between the death of Stalin in 1953 and the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s, Lithuania functioned as a Soviet society, with all its repressions and peculiarities. Agriculture remained collectivized, property nationalized, and criticism of the Soviet system was severely punished. The country remained largely isolated from the non-Soviet world because of travel restrictions, the persecution of the Catholic Church continued and the nominally egalitarian society was extensively corrupted by the practice of connections and privileges for those who served the system. The communist era is represented in the museum of Grūtas Park. Rebirth (1988–1990) Until mid-1988, all political, economic, and cultural life was controlled by the Communist Party of Lithuania (CPL). Lithuanians as well as people in the other two Baltic republics distrusted the Soviet regime even more than people in other regions of the Soviet state, and they gave their own specific and active support to Mikhail Gorbachev's program of social and political reforms known as perestroika and glasnost. Under the leadership of intellectuals, the Reform Movement of Lithuania Sąjūdis was formed in mid-1988, and it declared a program of democratic and national rights, winning nationwide popularity. Inspired by Sąjūdis, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR passed constitutional amendments on the supremacy of Lithuanian laws over Soviet legislation, annulled the 1940 decisions on proclaiming Lithuania a part of the Soviet Union, legalized a multi-party system, and adopted a number of other important decisions, including the return of the national state symbols — the flag of Lithuania and the national anthem. A large number of CPL members also supported the ideas of Sąjūdis, and with Sąjūdis support, Algirdas Brazauskas was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPL in 1988. On 23 August 1989, 50 years after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians joined hands in a human chain that stretched 600 kilometres from Tallinn to Vilnius in order to draw the world's attention to the fate of the Baltic nations. The human chain was called the Baltic Way. In December 1989, the Brazauskas-led CPL declared its independence from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and became a separate social democratic party, renaming itself the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania in 1990. Independence restored (1990–present) Struggle for independence (1990–1991) In early 1990, candidates backed by Sąjūdis won the Lithuanian parliamentary elections. On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR proclaimed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. The Baltic republics were in the forefront of the struggle for independence, and Lithuania was the first of the Soviet republics to declare independence. Vytautas Landsbergis, a leader of the Sąjūdis national movement, became the head of state and Kazimira Prunskienė led the Cabinet of Ministers. Provisional fundamental laws of the state were passed. On 15 March, the Soviet Union demanded revocation of the independence and began employing political and economic sanctions against Lithuania. On 18 April, Soviets imposed economic blockade of Lithuania which lasted until the end of June. The Soviet military was used to seize a few public buildings, but violence was largely contained until January 1991. During the January Events in Lithuania, the Soviet authorities attempted to overthrow the elected government by sponsoring the so-called National Salvation Committee. The Soviets forcibly took over the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 unarmed civilians and injuring 140. During this assault, the only means of contact to the outside world available was an amateur radio station set up in the Lithuanian Parliament building by Tadas Vyšniauskas whose call sign was LY2BAW. The initial cries for help were received by an American amateur radio operators with the call sign N9RD in Indiana and WB9Z in Illinois. N9RD, WB9Z and other radio operators from around the world were able to relay situational updates to relevant authorities until official United States Department of State personnel were able to go on-air. Moscow failed to act further to crush the Lithuanian independence movement, and the Lithuanian government continued to function. During the national referendum on 9 February 1991, more than 90% of those who took part in the voting (76% of all eligible voters) voted in favor of an independent, democratic Lithuania. During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt in August, Soviet military troops took over several communications and other government facilities in Vilnius and other cities, but returned to their barracks when the coup failed. The Lithuanian government banned the Communist Party and ordered confiscation of its property. Following the failed coup, Lithuania received widespread international recognition on 6 September 1991 and was admitted to the United Nations on 17 September. Contemporary Republic of Lithuania (1991–present) As in many countries of the former Soviet Union, the popularity of the independence movement (Sąjūdis in the case of Lithuania) diminished due to worsening economic situation (rising unemployment, inflation, etc.). The Communist Party of Lithuania renamed itself as the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP) and gained a majority of seats against Sąjūdis in the Lithuanian parliamentary elections of 1992. LDDP continued building the independent democratic state and transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a free market economy. In the Lithuanian parliamentary elections of 1996, the voters swung back to the rightist Homeland Union, led by the former Sąjūdis leader Vytautas Landsbergis. As part of the economic transition to capitalism, Lithuania organized a privatization campaign to sell government-owned residential real estate and commercial enterprises. The government issued investment vouchers to be used in privatization instead of actual currency. People cooperated in groups to collect larger amounts of vouchers for the public auctions and the privatization campaign. Lithuania, unlike Russia, did not create a small group of very wealthy and powerful people. The privatization started with small organizations, and large enterprises (such as telecommunication companies or airlines) were sold several years later for hard currency in a bid to attract foreign investors. Lithuania's monetary system was to be based on the Lithuanian litas, the currency used during the interwar period. Due to high inflation and other delays, a temporary currency, the Lithuanian talonas, was introduced (it was commonly referred to as the Vagnorėlis or Vagnorkė after Prime Minister Gediminas Vagnorius). Eventually the litas was issued in June 1993, and the decision was made to set it up with a fixed exchange rate to the United States dollar in 1994 and to the Euro in 2002. Despite Lithuania's achievement of complete independence, sizable numbers of Russian forces remained in its territory. Withdrawal of those forces was one of Lithuania's top foreign policy priorities. Russian troop withdrawal was completed by 31 August 1993. The first military of the reborn country were the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces, who first took an oath at the Supreme Council of Lithuania soon after the declaration of independence. The Lithuanian military built itself to the common standard with the Lithuanian Air Force, Lithuanian Naval Force and Lithuanian Land Force. Interwar paramilitary organisations such as the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, Young Riflemen, and the Lithuanian Scouts were re-established. On 27 April 1993, a partnership with the Pennsylvania National Guard was established as part of the State Partnership Program. Seeking closer ties with the West, Lithuania applied for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership in 1994. The country had to go through a difficult transition from planned to free market economy in order to satisfy the requirements for European Union (EU) membership. In May 2001, Lithuania became the 141st member of the World Trade Organization. In October 2002, Lithuania was invited to join the European Union and one month later to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; it became a member of both in 2004. As a result of the broader global financial crisis, the Lithuanian economy in 2009 experienced its worst recession since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. After a boom in growth sparked by Lithuania's 2004 accession to the European Union, the Gross domestic product contracted by 15% in 2009. Especially since Lithuania's admission into the European Union, large numbers of Lithuanians (up to 20% of the population) have moved abroad in search of better economic opportunities to create a significant demographic problem for the small country. On 1 January 2015, Lithuania joined the eurozone and adopted the European Union's single currency as the last of the Baltic states. On 4 July 2018, Lithuania officially joined OECD. Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019) was the first female President of Lithuania and the first president to be re-elected for a second consecutive term. Historiography Krapauskas (2010) identifies three main tendencies in the recent historiography. The "postmodern school" is heavily influenced by the French Annales School and presents an entirely new agenda
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Baltic sea by Curonian Spit, where Kuršių Nerija National Park was established for its remarkable sand dunes. The Neman River and some of its tributaries are used for internal shipping (in 2000, 89 inland ships carried 900,000 tons of cargo, which is less than 1% of the total goods traffic). Situated between 56.27 and 53.53 latitude and 20.56 and 26.50 longitude, Lithuania is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands no higher than 300 metres. The terrain is marked by numerous small lakes and swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. The growing season lasts 169 days in the east and 202 days in the west, with most farmland consisting of sandy- or clay-loam soils. Limestone, clay, sand, and gravel are Lithuania's primary natural resources, but the coastal shelf offers perhaps of oil deposits, and the southeast could provide high yields of iron ore and granite. According to some geographers, the geographical midpoint of Europe is just north of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius. Geographical position Lithuania is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania's boundaries have changed several times since 1918, but they have been stable since 1945. Currently, Lithuania covers an area of about . About the size of West Virginia, it is larger than Belgium, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands, or Switzerland. Lithuania borders Latvia on the north, Belarus on the east and south, and Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia on the southwest. It is a country of gently rolling hills, many forests, rivers and streams, and lakes. Its principal natural resource is agricultural land. Lithuania's northern neighbor is Latvia. The two countries share a border that extends 453 kilometres. Lithuania's eastern border with Belarus is longer, stretching 502 kilometers. The border with Poland on the south is relatively short, only 91 kilometers, but it is very busy because of international traffic. Lithuania also has a 227-kilometer border with Russia. Russian territory adjacent to Lithuania is Kaliningrad Oblast, which is the northern part of the former German East Prussia, including the city of Kaliningrad. Finally, Lithuania has 108 kilometers of Baltic seashore with an ice-free harbor at Klaipėda. The Baltic coast offers sandy beaches and pine forests and attracts thousands of vacationers. Topography and drainage Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain. Its landscape was shaped by the glaciers of the last Ice Age, which retreated about 25,000–22,000 years BP (Before Present). Lithuania's terrain is an alternation of moderate lowlands and highlands. The highest elevation is 297.84 meters above sea level, found in the eastern part of the republic and separated from the uplands of the western region of Samogitia by the fertile plains of the southwestern and central regions. The landscape is punctuated by 2,833 lakes larger than and 1,600 smaller ponds. The majority of the lakes are found in the eastern part of the country. Lithuania also has 758 rivers longer than . The largest river is the Nemunas (total length ), which originates in Belarus. The other larger waterways are the Neris (), Venta (), and Šešupė () rivers. However, only of Lithuania's rivers are navigable. Once a heavily forested land, Lithuania's territory today consists of only 32.8 percent woodlands—primarily pine, spruce, and birch forests. Ash and oak are very scarce. The forests are rich in mushrooms and berries, as well as a variety of plants. Climate Lithuania has a humid continental climate (Dfb in the Köppen climate classification). Average temperatures on the coast are in January and in July. In Vilnius the average temperatures are in January and in July. Simply speaking, is frequent on summer days and at night. Temperatures occasionally reach in summer. Winters when easterly flows from Siberia predominate, like 1941–42, 1955–56 and 1984–85, are very cold, whereas winters dominated by westerly maritime airflows like 1924–25, 1960–61 and 1988–89 are mild with temperatures above freezing a normal occurrence. occurs almost every winter. Winter extremes are at the coast and in the east of Lithuania. The average annual precipitation is on the coast, in Samogitia highlands, and in the eastern part of the country. Snow occurs every year, it can be snowing from October to April. In some years sleet can fall in September or May. The growing season lasts 202 days in the western part of the country and 169 days in the eastern part. Severe storms are rare in the eastern part of Lithuania and common nearer the coast. The longest measured temperature records from the Baltic area cover about 250 years. The data show that there were warm periods during the latter half of the eighteenth century, and that the nineteenth century was a relatively cool period. An early twentieth century warming culminated in the
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Mar low C=-2.8 | Apr low C=1.5 | May low C=7.0 | Jun low C=10.5 | Jul low C=12.2 | Aug low C=11.9 | Sep low C=8.3 | Oct low C=4.0 | Nov low C=0.1 | Dec low C=-3.7 | year low C=2.7 | Jan record low C=-40.6 | Feb record low C=-42.9 | Mar record low C=-37.5 | Apr record low C=-23.0 | May record low C=-6.8 | Jun record low C=-2.8 | Jul record low C=0.9 | Aug record low C=-2.9 | Sep record low C=-6.3 | Oct record low C=-19.5 | Nov record low C=-23.0 | Dec record low C=-34.0 | year record low C=-42.9 | Jan precipitation mm=36.2 | Feb precipitation mm=30.1 | Mar precipitation mm=33.9 | Apr precipitation mm=42.9 | May precipitation mm=52.0 | Jun precipitation mm=69.0 | Jul precipitation mm=76.9 | Aug precipitation mm=77.0 | Sep precipitation mm=60.3 | Oct precipitation mm=49.9 | Nov precipitation mm=50.4 | Dec precipitation mm=47.0 | year precipitation mm=625.5 | source 1= Records of Lithuanian climate | source 2= Weatherbase<ref name="weatherbase"> Extreme temperatures Extreme temperatures in Lithuania by month Environment Concerned with environmental deterioration, Lithuanian governments have created several national parks and reservations. The country's flora and fauna have suffered, however, from an almost fanatical drainage of land for agricultural use. Environmental problems of a different nature were created by the development of environmentally unsafe industries. Air pollution problems exist mainly in the cities, such as Vilnius, Kaunas, Jonava, Mažeikiai, Elektrėnai, and Naujoji Akmenė—the sites of fertilizer and other chemical plants, an oil refinery, power station, and a cement factory. Water quality has also been an issue. The city of Kaunas, with a population of about 400,000, had no water purification plant until 1999; sewage was sent directly into the Neman River. Tertiary wastewater treatment is scheduled to come on-line in 2007. River and lake pollution are other legacies of Soviet carelessness with the environment. The Courland Lagoon, for example, separated from the Baltic Sea by a strip of high dunes and pine forests, is about 85 percent contaminated. Beaches in the Baltic resorts, such as the well-known vacation area of Palanga, are frequently closed for swimming because of contamination. Forests affected by acid rain are found in the vicinity of Jonava, Mažeikiai, and Elektrėnai, which are the chemical, oil, and power-generation centers. Lithuania was among the first former Soviet republics to introduce environmental regulations. However, because of Moscow's emphasis on increasing production and because of numerous local violations, technological backwardness, and political apathy, serious environmental problems now exist. Natural hazards: hurricane-force storms, blizzards, droughts, floods Environment—current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at former Soviet military bases Environment—international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Natural resources Lithuania has an abundance of limestone, clay, quartz sand, gypsum sand, and dolomite, which are suitable for making high-quality cement, glass, and ceramics. There also is an ample supply of mineral water, but energy sources and industrial materials are all in short supply. Oil was discovered in Lithuania in the 1950s, but only a few wells operate, and all that do are located in the western part of the country. It is estimated that the Baltic Sea shelf and the western region of Lithuania hold commercially viable amounts of oil, but if exploited this oil would satisfy only about 20 percent of Lithuania's annual need for petroleum products for the next twenty years. Lithuania has a large amount of thermal energy along the Baltic Sea coast which could be used to heat hundreds of thousands of homes, as is done in Iceland.
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were spoken. Russian Empire After the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on October 24, 1795, between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Monarchy, the Commonwealth ceased to exist and Lithuania became a part of the Russian empire. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the use of the Polish language noticeably increased in eastern Lithuania and western Belarus. Many Lithuanians, living further east, were unable to receive the Lithuanian printed books smuggled into Lithuania by knygnešiai during the time of the ban on printing books in the Latin alphabet, and they switched to Polish. Although this also used the Latin alphabet, it was much less affected by the ban, because Polish was still used by the politically important class of the nobility, and also used predominantly in the biggest towns of Lithuania, and supported by the church. National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival had begun to intensify by the end of the 19th century, and the number of Lithuanian speakers and people identifying themselves as ethnic Lithuanians started to increase; but at the same time many Polish speaking Lithuanians, especially former szlachta, cut themselves adrift from the Lithuanian nation. There were population losses due to several border changes, Soviet deportations, the Holocaust of the Lithuanian Jews, and German and Polish repatriations during and after World War II. After World War II, the ethnic Lithuanian population remained stable: 79.3% in 1959 to 83.5% in 2002. Lithuania's citizenship law and the Constitution meet international and OSCE standards, guaranteeing universal human and civil rights. Ethnic composition Lithuanians are neither Slavic nor Germanic, although the union with Poland, as well as German and Russian colonization and settlement left cultural and religious influences. Before World War II 1 Source: . The Klaipėda Region was annexed from Germany in 1923, but was not included in the 1923 census. A separate census in the Klaipėda region was held in 1925. After World War II Among the Baltic states, Lithuania has the most homogeneous population. According to the census conducted in 2021, 84.6% of the population identified themselves as Lithuanians, 6.5% as Poles, 5.0% as Russians, 1.0% as Belarusians, and 2.3% as members of other ethnic groups. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius Region, the area controlled by Poland in the interwar period. There are especially large Polish communities in Vilnius district municipality (47% of the population) and Šalčininkai district municipality (76%). The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, an ethnic minority political party, has strong influence in these areas and has representation in the Seimas. The party is most active in local politics and controls several municipal councils. Russians, even though they are almost as numerous as Poles, are much more evenly scattered and lack strong political cohesion. The most prominent community lives in Visaginas (47%). Most of them are engineers who moved with their families from the Russian SFSR to work at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. A number of ethnic Russians (mostly military) left Lithuania after the declaration of independence in 1990. Another major change in the ethnic composition of Lithuania was the extermination of the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Before World War II about 7.5% of the population was Jewish; they were concentrated in cities and towns and had a significant influence on crafts and business. They were called Litvaks and had a strong culture. The population of Vilnius, sometimes nicknamed Northern Jerusalem, was about 30% Jewish. Almost all of these Jews were killed during the Nazi German occupation, or later emigrated to the United States and Israel. Now there are only about 4,000 Jews living in Lithuania. Citizenship Lithuania's membership of the European Union has made Lithuanian citizenship all the more appealing. Lithuanian citizenship is theoretically easier (see court ruling notes below) to obtain than that of many other European countries—only one great-grandparent is necessary to become a Lithuanian citizen. Persons who held citizenship in the Republic of Lithuania prior to June 15, 1940, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (provided that these persons did not repatriate) are eligible for Lithuanian citizenship . Lithuanian citizens are allowed to travel and work throughout the European Union without a visa or other restrictions. Dual citizenship ruled unconstitutional The Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled in November 2006 that a number of provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on citizenship are in conflict with the Lithuanian Constitution. In particular, the court ruled that a number of current provisions of the Citizenship Law implicitly or explicitly allowing dual citizenship are in conflict with the Constitution; such provisions amounted to the unconstitutional practice of making dual citizenship a
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24, 1795, between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Monarchy, the Commonwealth ceased to exist and Lithuania became a part of the Russian empire. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the use of the Polish language noticeably increased in eastern Lithuania and western Belarus. Many Lithuanians, living further east, were unable to receive the Lithuanian printed books smuggled into Lithuania by knygnešiai during the time of the ban on printing books in the Latin alphabet, and they switched to Polish. Although this also used the Latin alphabet, it was much less affected by the ban, because Polish was still used by the politically important class of the nobility, and also used predominantly in the biggest towns of Lithuania, and supported by the church. National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival had begun to intensify by the end of the 19th century, and the number of Lithuanian speakers and people identifying themselves as ethnic Lithuanians started to increase; but at the same time many Polish speaking Lithuanians, especially former szlachta, cut themselves adrift from the Lithuanian nation. There were population losses due to several border changes, Soviet deportations, the Holocaust of the Lithuanian Jews, and German and Polish repatriations during and after World War II. After World War II, the ethnic Lithuanian population remained stable: 79.3% in 1959 to 83.5% in 2002. Lithuania's citizenship law and the Constitution meet international and OSCE standards, guaranteeing universal human and civil rights. Ethnic composition Lithuanians are neither Slavic nor Germanic, although the union with Poland, as well as German and Russian colonization and settlement left cultural and religious influences. Before World War II 1 Source: . The Klaipėda Region was annexed from Germany in 1923, but was not included in the 1923 census. A separate census in the Klaipėda region was held in 1925. After World War II Among the Baltic states, Lithuania has the most homogeneous population. According to the census conducted in 2021, 84.6% of the population identified themselves as Lithuanians, 6.5% as Poles, 5.0% as Russians, 1.0% as Belarusians, and 2.3% as members of other ethnic groups. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius Region, the area controlled by Poland in the interwar period. There are especially large Polish communities in Vilnius district municipality (47% of the population) and Šalčininkai district municipality (76%). The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, an ethnic minority political party, has strong influence in these areas and has representation in the Seimas. The party is most active in local politics and controls several municipal councils. Russians, even though they are almost as numerous as Poles, are much more evenly scattered and lack strong political cohesion. The most prominent community lives in Visaginas (47%). Most of them are engineers who moved with their families from the Russian SFSR to work at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. A number of ethnic Russians (mostly military) left Lithuania after the declaration of independence in 1990. Another major change in the ethnic composition of Lithuania was the extermination of the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Before World War II about 7.5% of the population was Jewish; they were concentrated in cities and towns and had a significant influence on crafts and business. They were called Litvaks and had a strong culture. The population of Vilnius, sometimes nicknamed Northern Jerusalem, was about 30% Jewish. Almost all of these Jews were killed during the Nazi German occupation, or later emigrated to the United States and Israel. Now there are only about 4,000 Jews living in Lithuania. Citizenship Lithuania's membership of the European Union has made Lithuanian citizenship all the more appealing. Lithuanian citizenship is theoretically easier (see court ruling notes below) to obtain than that of many other European countries—only one great-grandparent is necessary to become a Lithuanian citizen. Persons who held citizenship in the Republic of Lithuania prior to June 15, 1940, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (provided that these persons did not repatriate) are eligible for Lithuanian citizenship . Lithuanian citizens are allowed to travel and work throughout the European Union without a visa or other restrictions. Dual citizenship ruled unconstitutional The Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled in November 2006 that a number of provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on citizenship are in conflict with the Lithuanian Constitution. In particular, the court ruled that a number of current provisions of the Citizenship Law implicitly or explicitly allowing dual citizenship are in conflict with the Constitution; such provisions amounted to the unconstitutional practice of making dual citizenship a common phenomenon rather than a rare exception. The provisions of the Citizenship Law announced to be unconstitutional are no longer valid and applicable to the extent stated by the Constitutional Court. The Lithuanian Parliament amended the Citizenship Law substantially as a result of this court ruling, allowing dual citizenship for children of at least one Lithuanian parent who are born abroad, but preventing Lithuanians from retaining their Lithuanian citizenship after obtaining the citizenship of another country. There are some special cases still permitting dual citizenship. See Lithuanian nationality law. Languages The Lithuanian language is the country's sole official language countrywide. It is the first language of almost 85% of population and is also spoken by 286,742 out of 443,514 non-Lithuanians. The Soviet era had imposed the official use of Russian, so most adult Lithuanians are able to speak Russian as a second language, while the Polish population generally speaks Polish. Russians who immigrated after World War II speak Russian as their first language. The younger generation usually speaks English as their second language, while a substantial portion of the total population (37%) speak at least two foreign languages. According to census of 2011, 30% of the population can speak English. Approximately 14,800 pupils started their 2012 school year in schools where the curriculum is conducted in Russian (down from 76,000 in 1991), and about 12,300 enrolled in Polish schools (compared to 11,400 in 1991 and 21,700 in 2001). There are also schools in the Belarusian language, as well as in English, German, and French. There are perhaps 50 speakers of Karaim, a Turkic language spoken by Karaite Jews, in Lithuania. Lithuanian Sign Language and Russian Sign Language are used by the deaf community. Religion As per the 2011 census, 77.2% of Lithuanians identified themselves as Roman Catholic. The Church has been the majority denomination since the Christianisation of Lithuania at the end of the 14th century. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the Hill of Crosses). In the first half of the 20th century, the Lutheran Protestant
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1990, it has kept democratic traditions. Drawing from the interwar experiences, politicians made many different proposals that ranged from strong parliamentarism to a presidential republic with checks and balances similar to the United States. Through compromise, a semi-presidential system was settled. In a referendum on 25 October 1992, the first general vote of the people since their declared independence, 56.75% of the total number of voters supported the new constitution. All major political parties declared their support for Lithuania's membership in NATO and the European Union (EU). Lithuania joined NATO on 29 March 2004. Lithuania joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and Schengen Area on 21 December 2007 and Eurozone on 1 January 2015. Since 1991, Lithuanian voters have shifted from right to left and back again, swinging between the Conservatives, led by Vytautas Landsbergis, and the (formerly Communist) Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, led by president Algirdas Brazauskas. During this period, the prime minister was Gediminas Vagnorius. Valdas Adamkus was the president since 1998. His proposed prime minister was Rolandas Paksas, whose government got off to a rocky start and collapsed within seven months. The alternation between left and right was broken in the October 2000 elections when the Liberal Union and New Union parties won the most votes and were able to form a centrist ruling coalition with minor partners. President Adamkus played a key role in bringing the new centrist parties together. Artūras Paulauskas, the leader of the centre-left New Union (also known as the social-liberal party), became the Chairman of the Seimas. In July 2001, the centre-left New Union party forged an alliance with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and formed a new cabinet under former president Algirdas Brazauskas. On 11 April 2006, Artūras Paulauskas was removed from his position and Viktoras Muntianas was elected Chairman of the Seimas. The cabinet of Algirdas Brazauskas resigned on 31 May 2006, as President Valdas Adamkus expressed no confidence in two of the Ministers, formerly party colleagues of Brazauskas, over ethical principles. Brazauskas decided not to remain in office as acting Prime Minister, and announced that he was finally retiring from politics. Even so, he led the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania for one more year, until 19 May 2007, when he passed the reins to Gediminas Kirkilas. On 27 November 2008, Andrius Kubilius of conservative Homeland Union was appointed as a Prime Minister. In December 2012 Andrius Kubilius was succeeded by Algirdas Butkevičius after his Social Democratic Party became the biggest party in parliamentary elections. In 2016, The Peasant and Green's Union (LGPU) won parliamentary elections. It secured 54 seats in the 141-member parliament (Seimas), making a previously small centrist agrarian party the biggest in parliament. The conservative Homeland Union won 30 seats. The ruling Social Democrats, led by Lithuania’s Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevciu, lost heavily and secured just 17 seats. On 22 November 2016, Saulius Skvernelis of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union, became new Prime Minister. In October 2020, conservative opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) won parliamentary elections with 50 seats. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’ Union of Farmers and Greens came a distant second with just 32 seats. In November 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė became new prime minister, after forming a centre-right coalition government of her TS-LKD and two liberal parties. Government Government in Lithuania is made up of three branches originally envisioned by enlightenment philosopher Baron de Montesquieu: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is separate and is set up to do checks and balances on each other branch. Executive branch The executive branch of the Lithuanian government consists of a President, a Prime Minister, and the President's Council of Ministers. It is in charge of running the government. President The President of Lithuania is the head of state of the country, elected directly for a five-year term and can serve maximum of two terms consecutively. Presidential elections take place in a modified version of the two-round system. If half of voters participate, a candidate must win a majority of the total valid vote in order to win election in the first round. If fewer than half of voters participate, a candidate can win outright with a plurality and at least one third of the total vote. If the first round does not produce a president, a runoff is held between the top two finishers in the first round, with a plurality sufficient to win.
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is held between the top two finishers in the first round, with a plurality sufficient to win. The President, with the approval of the Seimas, is first responsible of appointing the Prime Minister. Upon the Prime Minister's nomination, the President also appoints, under the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers (13 ministries), as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The President also serves as the commander-in-chief, oversees foreign and security policy, addresses political problems of foreign and domestic affairs, proclaims states of emergency, considers the laws adopted by the Seimas, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution. Lithuanian presidents have somewhat greater power than their counterparts in Estonia and Latvia, but have more influence in foreign policy than domestic policy. Former President Rolandas Paksas, who had defeated Adamkus in 2003, was impeached in April 2004 for leaking classified information. Dalia Grybauskaitė, the first female president, served as the President of Lithuania since July 2009 until 2019, winning a reelection bid in 2014. Grybauskaitė succeeded Valdas Adamkus who had served a total of two non-consecutive terms. In 2019, Gitanas Nauseda won Lithuania's presidential runoff election after his opponent Ingrida Šimonytė conceded. Prime Minister The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of government of the country, appointed by the President and approved by the Seimas. The Prime Minister, within 15 days of being appointed, is responsible for choosing Ministers for the President to approve to each of the 13 Ministries. In general, the Prime Minister is in charge of the affairs of the country, maintains homeland security, carries out laws and resolutions of the Seimas and decrees of the President, maintains diplomatic relations with foreign countries and international organizations, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution. In practice, the Prime Minister is mostly responsible for domestic policy, while the President mostly handles foreign policy. Council of Ministers Similar to the cabinet of other nations, the Council of Ministers consists of 13 Ministers chosen by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President. Each Minister is responsible for his or her own Ministry of the Lithuanian government and must give reports on his or her Ministry when directed to. When the Prime Minister resigns or dies, the position is to be filled as soon as possible and the new leader will appoint a new Government. Current office holders |President |Gitanas Nausėda |Independent |12 July 2019 |- |Prime Minister |Ingrida Šimonytė |Independent (endorsed by Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats) |11 December 2020 |} Legislative branch The parliament (Seimas) has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year term. About half of the members are elected in single-member districts (71), and the other half (70) are elected in the nationwide vote using proportional representation by party lists. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas. Political parties and elections 2019 presidential election 2020 parliamentary election 2019 European election Judicial branch The judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) for a single nine-year term are appointed by the Seimas from the candidates presented by the President (three judges), Chairman of Seimas (three judges) and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges). Administrative divisions Lithuania has a three-tier administrative division: the country is
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international capability and better residential access (2010). Domestic: national fibre-optic cable interurban trunk system; rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services has resulted in a steady decline in the number of fixed-line connections; mobile-cellular teledensity stands at about 140 per 100 persons (2010). International: major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite; landline connections to Latvia and Poland (2010). Country calling code: 370. Internet Country code (top-level domain): .lt Internet Service Providers: 32 ISPs (2001). Internet hosts: 1.2 million, 43rd in the world (2012). IPv4: 2.2 million, 0.1% of the world total, 635 per 1000 people (2012). Internet users: 2.4 million users, 85th in the world; 68.0% of the population, 50th in the world (2012). 2.1 million users, 59.2% of the population (2008). Fixed broadband: 688,475 subscribers, 62nd in the world; 19.5% of the population, 49th in the world (2012). Mobile broadband: 301,488 subscribers, 106th in the world; 8.6% of the population, 97th in the world (2012). According to Lithuania's national regulator RRT, around 2 million Lithuanian telephone subscribers (out of a population of 3.3 million people) used mobile internet as of 2014. Lithuania has the highest FTTH (Fiber to the home) penetration rate in Europe (36.8% in September 2016) according to FTTH Council Europe. ADSL services in Lithuania are provided by the monopoly carrier Teo LT. In the future this service might be used by other ISPs for their retail services. According to a study by Ookla Net Metrics, Lithuania had the second fastest Internet download and the fastest upload
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broadcasters operate national and multiple regional channels (2007). Many privately owned local TV stations (2007). Multi-channel cable and satellite TV services are available (2007). Televisions: 1.7 million (1997). Telephones Main lines: 667,300 lines in use (2012), 89th in the world; 819,147 lines (2004). Mobile cellular: 5 million lines, 110th in the world (2012). Telephone system: adequate, but is being modernised to provide an improved international capability and better residential access (2010). Domestic: national fibre-optic cable interurban trunk system; rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services has resulted in a steady decline in the number of fixed-line connections; mobile-cellular teledensity stands at about 140 per 100 persons (2010). International: major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite; landline connections to Latvia and Poland (2010). Country calling code: 370. Internet Country code (top-level domain): .lt Internet Service Providers: 32 ISPs (2001). Internet hosts: 1.2 million, 43rd in the world (2012). IPv4: 2.2 million, 0.1% of the world total, 635 per 1000 people (2012). Internet users: 2.4 million users, 85th in the world; 68.0% of the population, 50th in the world (2012). 2.1 million users, 59.2% of the population (2008). Fixed broadband: 688,475 subscribers, 62nd in the world; 19.5% of the population, 49th in the world (2012). Mobile broadband: 301,488 subscribers, 106th in the world; 8.6% of the population, 97th in the world (2012). According to Lithuania's national regulator RRT, around 2 million Lithuanian telephone subscribers (out of a population of 3.3 million people) used mobile internet as of 2014. Lithuania has the highest FTTH (Fiber to the home) penetration rate in Europe (36.8% in September 2016) according to FTTH Council Europe. ADSL services in Lithuania are provided by the monopoly carrier Teo LT. In the future this service might be used by other ISPs for their retail services. According to a study by Ookla Net Metrics, Lithuania had the second fastest Internet download and the fastest upload speed in the world in June 2013. In 2013 at least two ISPs in Lithuania offered download speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s in their standard packages for home users. In 2014 fastest internet for home users in Lithuania was offered by "Penki" (till 2 December 2018 "Skynet") internet provider. Maximum internet speed was up to 1Gbit/s. In the second and third places are Teo LT and Cgates with maximum internet speed up to 500Mbit/s. Lithuania reportedly is the first country to introduce Local Breakout (LBO) technology offering cheap mobile internet for travellers which allows avoidance of big data roaming charges. Censorship There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible
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ran through Kaunas. After Lithuania becoming an independent country in 1918, there was increased demand for new highways for inner needs. First long-distance highways built exclusively by Lithuanian Government were opened in late 1930s. These are following: Samogitian highway – old highway built in the course 1930s, connecting Kaunas and Klaipėda. Road section between Kaunas and Ariogala is now completely refurbished to motorway, and the road section from Ariogala to Klaipėda is serving as alternative road for a parallelly-built motorway A1 and connects local towns such as Ariogala, Raseiniai, Rietavas. Aukštaitian Highway – old highway built in the 1930s. It connects Kaunas, Kėdainiai, Panevėžys and Biržai to Riga. After building an original route, new routes were built through the course of Soviet Union and after its dissolution. The road was gradually rerouted to avoid larger urban areas, and now runs from Sitkūnai, bypasses Kėdainiai, Panevėžys, Pasvalys, Biržai, and reaches Latvian border to Riga. Rerouted highway now forms part of Via Baltica. Museum Lithuanian Road Museum Railways There is a total of 1,998 route km of railways, of which: 1,807 km are broad gauge of – 122 km of which are electrified 169 km are narrow gauge of – as of 2001 22 km are standard gauge of Rail links with adjacent countries Latvia – yes Belarus – yes Russia (Kaliningrad) – yes Poland – yes – break-of-gauge / Waterways There are that are perennially navigable. Pipelines In 1992, there were of crude oil pipelines, and of natural gas pipelines. Ports and harbours Sea ports Būtingė Klaipėda Šventoji River ports Kaunas Rumšiškės Nida Juodkrantė Merchant marine The merchant marine
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. Continues towards Daugavpils in Latvia. A7 Marijampolė – Kybartai Border Checkpoint, . An important transit route to Kaliningrad Oblast. A8 Sitkūnai – Panevėžys, . A9 Panevėžys – Šiauliai, . Short 10 km expressway section. A10 Panevėžys – Bauska . Continues to Bauska in Latvia. Important transit route to Riga. A11 Šiauliai – Palanga, A12 border with Latvia – Panemunė Border Checkpoint, A13 Klaipėda – Liepaja, A14 Vilnius – Utena, A15 Vilnius – Lida, A16 Vilnius – Marijampolė, A17 Panevėžys Bypass, . A18 Šiauliai Bypass, A19 Vilnius Southern Bypass, A20 Ukmergė Northern Bypass, A21 Panemunė Eastern Bypass, 4 km (2.5 mi) Major highway projects in Interwar Lithuania Before World War I, there were few isolated routes suitable for transit traffic e.g. present-day A12 highway, connecting Riga with Kaliningrad, or present day A6 highway which was part of highway Warsaw-Saint Petersburg that ran through Kaunas. After Lithuania becoming an independent country in 1918, there was increased demand for new highways for inner needs. First long-distance highways built exclusively by Lithuanian Government were opened in late 1930s. These are following: Samogitian highway – old highway built in the course 1930s, connecting Kaunas and Klaipėda. Road section between Kaunas and
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of the remaining part of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army was killed in the Battle of Praga on 4 November 1794. With the uprising defeated, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, together with the Kingdom of Poland, were ended with the Third Partition, with their respective armies being disbanded. Interwar and post-war periods After Lithuania's restoration on 16 February 1918, the country immediately began creating their army. The Ministry of Defence's first order was issued on 23 November 1918 and this date is considered the establishment day of the modern Lithuanian Armed Forces. The newly formed army almost immediately fought three wars of independence. Having won the Lithuanian–Soviet War and the war against the Bermontians, it was defeated in the Polish–Lithuanian War. By the end of 1920, the Lithuanian army had over 41 thousand troops. In interwar, the armour equipment primarily consisted of light tanks and tankettes: British Carden Loyd tankette, French Renault FT-17, Swedish Landsverk-182, German Ehrhardt E-V/4. In 1935, the country opened an advanced military research laboratory, specialising in chemical materials for ammunition as well as defense against chemical warfare. The construction of the laboratory was supervised by Juozas Vėbra. In 1940, Lithuania had a considerable Air Force, consisting of 118 aircraft with about half of them designed and produced locally. During the World War II, Lithuania was invaded by both Nazis and Soviets, which eventually concluded in Soviet occupation. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were transformed into the Lithuanian People's Army in 1940 by the People's Government of Lithuania. Despite Soviet repressions, there was a considerable armed Lithuanian resistance which lasted until the 1950s. Restoration and NATO Following the restoration of independence, the modern armed forces were formally restored on 25 April 1990 with the establishment of the Department of National Defence. After the January Events, the Voluntary National Defence Service was formed from lightly armed volunteers. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were officially restored on 19 November 1992. Western European countries, especially Sweden, helped to form the initial force by selling or donating excess equipment. However, soon Lithuania started modernising its military, becoming the first European country to acquire US-made FGM-148 Javelin systems in 2001, followed by the FIM-92 Stinger purchase in 2002. Lithuania applied for NATO membership in 1994 and eventually joined the alliance in 2004. It has since modernised its Armed Forces and has participated in many international missions, including the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and others. Structure The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Force, Lithuanian Air Force, Lithuanian Naval Force, Lithuanian Special Operations Force and other units: Logistics Command, Training and Doctrine Command, Headquarters Battalion, Military Police. Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Forces and Military Police. The Reserve Forces are under command of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces. Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is a paramilitary organization that cooperates with the Armed Forces, but it is not part of them. However, during the state of war, its armed formations fall under the command of the Armed Forces. The same applies to the State Border Guard Service and the Public Security Service. Lithuanian Land Force The core of the Lithuanian Land Force structure is the Iron Wolf Mechanised Infantry Brigade (MIB "Iron Wolf") consisting of four mechanized infantry battalions and an artillery battalion. It is supported by the Žemaitija Motorized infantry Brigade which has three battalions and one artillery battalion as well. The third, Aukštaitija Light Infantry Brigade, is a reserve formation with active training. Its command, signal and logistic units are manned by professional soldiers. Volunteer Forces form another brigade-size force, consisting of six territorial units. Other auxiliary units include Juozas Vitkus Engineer Battalion and Juozas Lukša Land Force Training Center. The Lithuanian Land forces use equipment compatible with the NATO standards. Since 2007, the standard assault rifle is German Heckler & Koch G36. Units are supplied with modern variants of anti-tank weapons (M72 LAW, Carl Gustaf, AT4, FGM-148 Javelin) as well as man-portable air-defense systems (PZR Grom, RBS-70, FIM-92 Stinger). Modern armoured equipment includes: Oshkosh L-ATV armoured cars, Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (local designation IVF "Vilkas") armed with Spike-LR anti-tank missiles and PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers. The Lithuanian Land forces have been carrying out major modernization with more new weapons and heavier armour being acquired. Lithuania has been restructuring the armed forces so that one-tenth of the Land Forces could at any given time be deployed for international operations, while half of the Land Forces would be prepared to be deployed outside Lithuania's borders. The volunteers have already successfully participated in international operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Lithuanian Air Force The Lithuanian Air Force (LAF) is an integral part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The LAF is formed by professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units are located at various bases across Lithuania: Kaunas (Headquarters and the Airspace Surveillance and Control Command); Karmėlava (Air Space Control Centre); Nemirseta (providing basing for sea search and rescue detachment); Šiauliai (LAF Air Base, Air Force Armament and Equipment Repair Depot); Radviliškis (Air Defence Battalion). The initial formation of the LAF was the 2nd transport squadron with the transfer of 20 An-2 aircraft from civilian to military use, with initial basing at the Barysiai Airport on 27 April 1992. These were joined by four L-39C Albatros aircraft to be used by the 1st fighter (training) squadron. These were in addition to Mil Mi-8 helicopters and a short-range transport aircraft L-410, all of which went through a capital overhaul, upgrade and modernisation in the 2000s. Following the initial acquisitions, the LAF began its aircraft's modernisation by ordering three C-27J Spartan transporters in 2006. In 2013, three Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters were acquired from France and, in 2020, Lithuania announced an order or four Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the USA. Simultaneously, new medium-range and long-range radars were acquired for the Airspace Surveillance and Control Command. Air space is patrolled by jet fighters from other NATO members, which are based out of the city Šiauliai (Zokniai Airport, known as the Aviation base) (see Baltic Air Policing). The European Union's External border (with Kaliningrad and Belarus) is patrolled by Aviation Unit of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service which acquired new helicopters EC-120, EC-135 and EC-145 in the 2000s. Lithuanian Navy The Navy has over 600 personnel. The Navy consists of the Warship Flotilla, the Sea Coastal Surveillance System, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Divers Team, the Naval Logistic Service, Training Center and Maritime Rescue Coordination Center. The flotilla is the core component of the Navy and consists of the Mine Countermeasures Squadron, the Patrol Ships Squadron, and the Harbour Boats Group. The current Commander in Chief of the Lithuanian Navy is Rear Admiral Kęstutis Macijauskas. The Naval base and Headquarters are located in the city of Klaipėda. The Navy uses patrol ships for coastal surveillance. The four newly acquired s replaced the older s and s. Special Operations Force The Lithuanian Special Operations Force of Lithuanian Armed Forces has been in operation de facto since 2002 and it was established de jure on 3 April 2008, when amendments of National Defence System organisation and military service law came into force. The Special Operations Force is formed from the Special Operations Unit. The Special Operations Force is responsible for special reconnaissance, direct actions, and military support. It is also in charge of other tasks, e.g., protection of VIPs in peacetime. Its core is based on the Special Purpose Service, Vytautas the Great Jaeger Battalion and Combat Divers Service. Lithuanian Air Force Special Operations Element is subordinate to the Unit at the level of operations management. Its structure is flexible which makes it easy to form squadrons intended for concrete operations and missions from its elements. The Special Operations Force can be called upon inside the territory of Lithuania when law enforcement agencies lack or do not have the necessary capabilities to react to terrorist attacks. The capabilities of special forces make them the main national response force responsible for counter-terrorism operations and operations to prevent violations of sovereignty. The Special Operations Force Squadron "Aitvaras" was deployed to Afghanistan on the operation "Enduring Freedom". From 2005 to 2006 its squadrons were on standby in NATO Response Force. International cooperation Lithuania is a member of NATO military alliance since 2004. In the European Union, Lithuanian Armed Forces are taking part in Nordic Battle Group since 2008. Lithuanian Armed Forces also participate in the UK Joint Expeditionary Force formed in 2014. In 2009, to encourage regional cooperation, Lithuania joined the initiative to form the Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade. NATO membership Soon after the restoration of independence, Lithuania applied for NATO membership in January 1994. Together with another six Central and Eastern European countries, Lithuania was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the 2002 Prague summit and became a member of the Alliance in March 2004. Lithuania entered NATO on full-fledged rights immediately after the procedures of joining the North Atlantic Treaty were completed and acquired rights to participate in the political decision-making process of the Alliance. Integration into the military structures of NATO became a long-term task of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Mechanised Infantry Brigade "Iron Wolf" was affiliated to the Danish Division based on agreements signed by Denmark and Lithuania in August 2006. Lithuanian Armed Forces started to boost the Brigade's ability to cooperate with the forces of other NATO members. Baltic Air Policing was established by NATO allies since Lithuania and the other Baltic states do not have capabilities to secure their airspace. Fighter jets of NATO members are permanently deployed in Zokniai airport near the city Šiauliai to provide cover for the Baltic states airspace. In 2013, NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence was established in Vilnius. Following the 2016 Warsaw summit, NATO Enhanced Forward Presence was deployed in the Baltic States with the multinational battalion battle group in Lithuania being led
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Central and Eastern Europe. In this key battle, the Lithuanian Army was led by Vytautas the Great. Under him, the Lithuanian Army attacked the lands of the Pskov Republic, in 1426, and the Novgorod Republic, in 1428. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had internal civil wars in the first half of the 15th century. In 1435, Sigismund Kęstutaitis' army defeated the opposing army, which included troops of the Livonian Order, led by Švitrigaila in the Battle of Wiłkomierz. 16th century This century was marked by war of Lithuania against Muscovy and the Crimean Khanate. In the wars with the latter, the Lithuanians won the Battle of Kletsk in 1506. With the strengthening of the Grand Duchy of Moscow from the late 15th century, there were unceasing wars over Lithuania's eastern territories. In 1514, during the fourth war, the Lithuanians triumphed over the numerically larger Muscovite army in the famous Battle of Orsha. However, due to the unfavourable military situation, Lithuania lost a part of its eastern lands, most importantly the strategically important fortress of Smolensk. The Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army fought against Muscovy in the Livonian War, winning against the Muscovite army, twice the Lithuanian army's size, in the Battle of Ula in 1564. Three years into the Livonian War, Livonia became part of Lithuania in 1561 with the Treaty of Vilnius. During this war, the Union of Lublin was made in 1569. In the late 1570s and early 1580s, the Lithuanian and Polish armies cooperated in Stephen Báthory's incursions into Russia. 17th century The 17th century was marked by wars against Sweden, the Tsardom of Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire. The Lithuanian army, together with the Polish army, fought against the Ottoman forces, notably at both Battles of Khotyn in 1621 and 1673. During the war with Sweden from 1600 to 1629, the Lithuanian army defeated the three times larger Swedish forces at the Battle of Kircholm in 1605. However, this war highlighted the Commonwealth's weakness in recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of troops, better arming its soldiers with firearms and bettering their use. Following the war with Sweden, a significant part of Livonia was seized by them as part of Swedish Livonia. During the 17th century's first half, Smolensk returned to Lithuania following the Smolensk War. The Commonwealth's military weakness in the middle and late 17th century was evidenced in the Deluge. In 1655, the much-smaller Lithuanian army was incapable of defending the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius against Muscovite attack. This was the first time that Vilnius was occupied by a foreign state. The Swedish and Muscovite armies together occupied large parts of Lithuania. Nevertheless, Lithuania succeeded in holding out and liberated Vilnius, Kaunas, Samogitia and the eastern Voivodeships, except for Smolensk Voivodeship and other parts. Militarily-speaking, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was weakening. 18th century During the Great Northern War, the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army was no longer defending the country and the Lithuanian magnates' private armies supported different sides. Throughout the 18th century, there were many confederations in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which sought different political goals. The Bar Confederation (1768–1772), which happened partly in Lithuania, was an attempt to stem the increasing Imperial Russian influence. Following this failed attempt, the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth happened. In the face of the possible loss of independence, military reforms were implemented during the Four Years' Sejm (1788–1792), during which the Lithuanian army significantly expanded, reaching the strength 17,500, and being ready for battle. Regardless, the attempts were unsuccessful in making the Commonwealth's armies match those of the neighbouring absolute monarchies and, following the unsuccessful War of 1792, there was the Second Partition. The Polish and Lithuanian armies put up a spirited fight against the Imperial Russian Army and the Prussian Army in the Kościuszko Uprising. In addition to regular forces, many quickly-formed units fought also, e.g. Vilnius National Guard and many irregular units. In the end, the Uprising was defeated and much of the remaining part of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army was killed in the Battle of Praga on 4 November 1794. With the uprising defeated, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, together with the Kingdom of Poland, were ended with the Third Partition, with their respective armies being disbanded. Interwar and post-war periods After Lithuania's restoration on 16 February 1918, the country immediately began creating their army. The Ministry of Defence's first order was issued on 23 November 1918 and this date is considered the establishment day of the modern Lithuanian Armed Forces. The newly formed army almost immediately fought three wars of independence. Having won the Lithuanian–Soviet War and the war against the Bermontians, it was defeated in the Polish–Lithuanian War. By the end of 1920, the Lithuanian army had over 41 thousand troops. In interwar, the armour equipment primarily consisted of light tanks and tankettes: British Carden Loyd tankette, French Renault FT-17, Swedish Landsverk-182, German Ehrhardt E-V/4. In 1935, the country opened an advanced military research laboratory, specialising in chemical materials for ammunition as well as defense against chemical warfare. The construction of the laboratory was supervised by Juozas Vėbra. In 1940, Lithuania had a considerable Air Force, consisting of 118 aircraft with about half of them designed and produced locally. During the World War II, Lithuania was invaded by both Nazis and Soviets, which eventually concluded in Soviet occupation. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were transformed into the Lithuanian People's Army in 1940 by the People's Government of Lithuania. Despite Soviet repressions, there was a considerable armed Lithuanian resistance which lasted until the 1950s. Restoration and NATO Following the restoration of independence, the modern armed forces were formally restored on 25 April 1990 with the establishment of the Department of National Defence. After the January Events, the Voluntary National Defence Service was formed from lightly armed volunteers. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were officially restored on 19 November 1992. Western European countries, especially Sweden, helped to form the initial force by selling or donating excess equipment. However, soon Lithuania started modernising its military, becoming the first European country to acquire US-made FGM-148 Javelin systems in 2001, followed by the FIM-92 Stinger purchase in 2002. Lithuania applied for NATO membership in 1994 and eventually joined the alliance in 2004. It has since modernised its Armed Forces and has participated in many international missions, including the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and others. Structure The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Force, Lithuanian Air Force, Lithuanian Naval Force, Lithuanian Special Operations Force and other units: Logistics Command, Training and Doctrine Command, Headquarters Battalion, Military Police. Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Forces and Military Police. The
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to the wide pan-European market. Foreign direct investments in Lithuania are growing. The country is poised to become energy-independent. The accession to the Schengen space in 2007 has opened up possibilities for the free movement of both citizens and goods across 25 European states. Lithuania's citizens enjoy equal social guarantees while working, travelling, or studying at the Community's countries. The country now benefits from additional EU fund and programme funding in the field of education and science. As an EU citizen, every citizen of Lithuania has the guarantee of consular assistance of EU representative offices in countries where Lithuania has none. Lithuania's membership in NATO On 29 March 2004, Lithuania became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation It is a defensive union based on political and military cooperation of sovereign states. Its members are committed to protecting freedom, guarding shared heritage and civilisation under the principles of democracy, individual freedom, and superiority of law. According to Article 5 of the agreement, all NATO states are obliged to defend one another. Lithuania entered into cooperation with NATO in 1991. Five years later, Lithuania launched its mission to the organisation, and in late 2002, Lithuania and six other states was invited to start negotiations over membership in the Alliance. Today Lithuania sees NATO as the key and most effective collective defence system, one that ensures the security of the state and stands to defer potential aggression, and employs
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based on political and military cooperation of sovereign states. Its members are committed to protecting freedom, guarding shared heritage and civilisation under the principles of democracy, individual freedom, and superiority of law. According to Article 5 of the agreement, all NATO states are obliged to defend one another. Lithuania entered into cooperation with NATO in 1991. Five years later, Lithuania launched its mission to the organisation, and in late 2002, Lithuania and six other states was invited to start negotiations over membership in the Alliance. Today Lithuania sees NATO as the key and most effective collective defence system, one that ensures the security of the state and stands to defer potential aggression, and employs every measure available to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations to contribute to the strengthening of the EU-U.S. relations. Lithuania as a part of the Northern Europe region Lithuania is also an active member in the cooperation between Northern Europe countries. Lithuania is a member of Baltic Council, since its establishment in 1993. Baltic Council is a permanent organisation of international cooperation, located in Tallinn. It operates through the Baltic Assembly and Baltic Council of Ministers. Lithuania also cooperates with Nordic and other two Baltic countries through NB8 cooperation format. The similar format, called NB6 unites Nordic and Baltic countries members of EU. The main goal of NB6 cooperation is to discuss and agree on positions before presenting them in the Council of the European Union and the meetings of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers. The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was established in 1992 in Copenhagen as an informal regional political forum, which main aim is to promote integration process and to affiliate close contacts between the countries of the region. The members of CBSS are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and European Commission. The observer states are Belarus, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Ukraine. The cooperation between the Nordic Council of Ministers and Lithuania is a political cooperation through which experience exchange contributes to realization of joint goals. One of its most important functions is to discover new trends and new possibilities for joint cooperation. The information office aims to represent Nordic concepts and demonstrate Nordic cooperation in Lithuania. Lithuania, together with other
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Although continuity prevailed on the political level, the war caused social upheaval, which laid the foundation for the first trades union in Luxembourg. Interwar period The end of the occupation in November 1918, squared with a time of uncertainty on the international and national levels. The victorious Allies disapproved of the choices made by the local élites, and some Belgian politicians even demanded the (re)integration of the country into a greater Belgium. Within Luxembourg, a strong minority asked for the creation of a republic. In the end, the grand duchy remained a monarchy but was led by a new head of state, Charlotte. In 1921, it entered into an economic and monetary union with Belgium. During most of the 20th century, however, Germany remained its most important economic partner. The introduction of universal suffrage for men and women favored the Rechtspartei (party of the Right) which played the dominant role in the government throughout the 20th century, with the exception of 1925–26 and 1974–79, when the two other important parties, the Liberal and the Social-Democratic parties, formed a coalition. The success of the resulting party was due partly to the support of the church — the population was more than 90 percent Catholic — and of its newspaper, the Luxemburger Wort. On the international level, the interwar period was characterised by an attempt to put Luxembourg on the map. Especially under Joseph Bech, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the country participated more actively in several international organisations, in order to ensure its autonomy. On December 16, 1920, Luxembourg became a member of the League of Nations. On the economic level in the 1920s and the 1930s, the agricultural sector declined in favour of industry, but even more so for the service sector. The proportion of the active population in this last sector rose from 18 percent in 1907 to 31 percent in 1935. In the 1930s, the internal situation deteriorated, as Luxembourgish politics were influenced by European left- and right-wing politics. The government tried to counter communist-led unrest in the industrial areas and continued friendly policies towards Nazi Germany, which led to much criticism. The attempts to quell unrest peaked with the Maulkuerfgesetz, the "muzzle" Law, which was an attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. The law was turned down in a 1937 referendum. Second World War Upon the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the government of Luxembourg observed its neutrality and issued an official proclamation to that effect on September 6, 1939. On May 10, 1940, an invasion by German armed forces swept away the Luxembourgish government and monarchy into exile. The German troops made up of the 1st, 2nd, and 10th Panzer Divisions invaded at 04:35. They did not encounter any significant resistance save for some bridges destroyed and some land mines since the majority of the Luxembourgish Volunteer Corps stayed in their barracks. Luxembourgish police resisted the German troops, but to little avail and the capital city was occupied before noon. Total Luxembourgish casualties amounted to 75 police and soldiers captured, six police wounded, and one soldier wounded. The Luxembourg royal family and their entourage received visas from Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux. They crossed into Portugal and subsequently travelled to the United States in two groups: on the from Lisbon to Baltimore in July 1940, and on the Pan American airliner Yankee Clipper in October 1940. Throughout the war, Grand Duchess Charlotte broadcast via the BBC to Luxembourg to give hope to the people. Luxembourg remained under German military occupation until August 1942, when Nazi Germany formally annexed it as part of the Gau Moselland. The German authorities declared Luxembourgers to be German citizens and called up 13,000 for military service. 2,848 Luxembourgers eventually died fighting in the German army. An estimated 3,500 Jews lived in Luxembourg before the war; an estimated 1,000 to 2,500 were murdered in the Holocaust. Luxembourgish opposition to this annexation took the form of passive resistance at first, as in the Spéngelskrich (lit. "War of the Pins"), and in refusal to speak German. As French was forbidden, many Luxembourgers resorted to resuscitating old Luxembourgish words, which led to a renaissance of the language. The Germans met opposition with deportation, forced labour, forced conscription and, more drastically, with internment, deportation to Nazi concentration camps and execution. Executions took place after the so-called general strike from September 1 to September 3, 1942, which paralysed the administration, agriculture, industry and education in response to the declaration of forced conscription by the German administration on August 30, 1942. The Germans suppressed the strike violently. They executed 21 strikers and deported hundreds more to Nazi concentration camps. The then civilian administrator of Luxembourg, Gauleiter Gustav Simon, had declared conscription necessary to support the German war effort. The general strike in Luxembourg remained one of the few mass strikes against the German war machine in Western Europe. U.S. forces liberated most of the country in September 1944. They entered the capital city on September 10, 1944. During the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) German troops took back most of northern Luxembourg for a few weeks. Allied forces finally expelled the Germans in January 1945. Between December 1944 and February 1945, the recently liberated city of Luxembourg was designated by the OB West (German Army Command in the West) as the target for V-3 siege guns, which were originally intended to bombard London. Two V-3 guns based at Lampaden fired a total of 183 rounds at Luxembourg. However, the V-3 was not very accurate. 142 rounds landed in Luxembourg, with 44 confirmed hits in the urban area, and the total casualties were 10 dead and 35 wounded. The bombardments ended with the American Army nearing Lampaden on February 22, 1945. Altogether, of a pre-war population of 293,000, 5,259 Luxembourgers lost their lives during the hostilities. Modern history (since 1945) After World War II, Luxembourg abandoned its politics of neutrality, when it became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations. It is a signatory of the Treaty of Rome, and constituted a monetary union with Belgium (Benelux Customs Union in 1948), and an economic union with Belgium and the Netherlands, the so-called BeNeLux. Between 1945 and 2005, the economic structure of Luxembourg changed significantly. The crisis of the metallurgy sector, which began in the mid-1970s and lasted till the late 1980s, nearly pushed the country into economic recession, given the monolithic dominance of that sector. The Tripartite Coordination Committee, consisting of members of the government, management representatives, and trade union leaders, succeeded in preventing major social unrest during those years, thus creating the myth of a “Luxembourg model” characterised by social peace. Although in the early years of the 21st century Luxembourg enjoyed one of the highest GNR per capita in the world, this was mainly due to the strength of its financial sector, which gained importance at the end of the 1960s. Thirty-five years later, one-third of the tax proceeds originated from that sector. The harmonisation of the tax system across Europe could, however, seriously undermine the financial situation of the grand duchy. Luxembourg has been one of the strongest advocates of the European Union in the tradition of Robert Schuman. It was one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952 and of the European Economic Community (EEC) (later the European Union) in 1957; in 1999 it joined the euro currency area. Encouraged by the contacts established with the Dutch and Belgian governments in exile, Luxembourg pursued a policy of
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of the Luxembourgish Volunteer Corps stayed in their barracks. Luxembourgish police resisted the German troops, but to little avail and the capital city was occupied before noon. Total Luxembourgish casualties amounted to 75 police and soldiers captured, six police wounded, and one soldier wounded. The Luxembourg royal family and their entourage received visas from Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux. They crossed into Portugal and subsequently travelled to the United States in two groups: on the from Lisbon to Baltimore in July 1940, and on the Pan American airliner Yankee Clipper in October 1940. Throughout the war, Grand Duchess Charlotte broadcast via the BBC to Luxembourg to give hope to the people. Luxembourg remained under German military occupation until August 1942, when Nazi Germany formally annexed it as part of the Gau Moselland. The German authorities declared Luxembourgers to be German citizens and called up 13,000 for military service. 2,848 Luxembourgers eventually died fighting in the German army. An estimated 3,500 Jews lived in Luxembourg before the war; an estimated 1,000 to 2,500 were murdered in the Holocaust. Luxembourgish opposition to this annexation took the form of passive resistance at first, as in the Spéngelskrich (lit. "War of the Pins"), and in refusal to speak German. As French was forbidden, many Luxembourgers resorted to resuscitating old Luxembourgish words, which led to a renaissance of the language. The Germans met opposition with deportation, forced labour, forced conscription and, more drastically, with internment, deportation to Nazi concentration camps and execution. Executions took place after the so-called general strike from September 1 to September 3, 1942, which paralysed the administration, agriculture, industry and education in response to the declaration of forced conscription by the German administration on August 30, 1942. The Germans suppressed the strike violently. They executed 21 strikers and deported hundreds more to Nazi concentration camps. The then civilian administrator of Luxembourg, Gauleiter Gustav Simon, had declared conscription necessary to support the German war effort. The general strike in Luxembourg remained one of the few mass strikes against the German war machine in Western Europe. U.S. forces liberated most of the country in September 1944. They entered the capital city on September 10, 1944. During the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) German troops took back most of northern Luxembourg for a few weeks. Allied forces finally expelled the Germans in January 1945. Between December 1944 and February 1945, the recently liberated city of Luxembourg was designated by the OB West (German Army Command in the West) as the target for V-3 siege guns, which were originally intended to bombard London. Two V-3 guns based at Lampaden fired a total of 183 rounds at Luxembourg. However, the V-3 was not very accurate. 142 rounds landed in Luxembourg, with 44 confirmed hits in the urban area, and the total casualties were 10 dead and 35 wounded. The bombardments ended with the American Army nearing Lampaden on February 22, 1945. Altogether, of a pre-war population of 293,000, 5,259 Luxembourgers lost their lives during the hostilities. Modern history (since 1945) After World War II, Luxembourg abandoned its politics of neutrality, when it became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations. It is a signatory of the Treaty of Rome, and constituted a monetary union with Belgium (Benelux Customs Union in 1948), and an economic union with Belgium and the Netherlands, the so-called BeNeLux. Between 1945 and 2005, the economic structure of Luxembourg changed significantly. The crisis of the metallurgy sector, which began in the mid-1970s and lasted till the late 1980s, nearly pushed the country into economic recession, given the monolithic dominance of that sector. The Tripartite Coordination Committee, consisting of members of the government, management representatives, and trade union leaders, succeeded in preventing major social unrest during those years, thus creating the myth of a “Luxembourg model” characterised by social peace. Although in the early years of the 21st century Luxembourg enjoyed one of the highest GNR per capita in the world, this was mainly due to the strength of its financial sector, which gained importance at the end of the 1960s. Thirty-five years later, one-third of the tax proceeds originated from that sector. The harmonisation of the tax system across Europe could, however, seriously undermine the financial situation of the grand duchy. Luxembourg has been one of the strongest advocates of the European Union in the tradition of Robert Schuman. It was one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952 and of the European Economic Community (EEC) (later the European Union) in 1957; in 1999 it joined the euro currency area. Encouraged by the contacts established with the Dutch and Belgian governments in exile, Luxembourg pursued a policy of presence in international organisations. In the context of the Cold War, Luxembourg clearly opted for the West having joined NATO in 1949. Engagement in European reconstruction was rarely questioned subsequently, either by politicians or by the greater population. Despite its small proportions, Luxembourg often played an intermediary role between larger countries. This role of mediator, especially between the two large and often bellicose nations of Germany and France, was considered one of the main characteristics of its national identity, allowing the Luxembourgers not to have to choose between one of these two neighbours. The country also hosted a large number of European institutions such as the European Court of Justice. Luxembourg's small size no longer seemed to be a challenge to the existence of the country, and the creation of the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (1998) and of the University of Luxembourg (2003) was evidence of the continuing desire to become a “real” nation. The decision in 1985 to declare Lëtzebuergesch (Luxembourgish) the national language was also a step in the affirmation of the country's independence. In fact, the linguistic situation in Luxembourg was characterised by trilingualism: Lëtzebuergesch was the spoken vernacular language, German the written language, in which Luxembourgers were most fluent, and French the language of official letters and law. In 1985, the country became victim to a mysterious bombing spree, which was targeted mostly at electrical masts and other installations. In 1995, Luxembourg provided the president of the European Commission, former Prime Minister Jacques Santer, who later had to resign in March 1999 over corruption accusations against other commission members. Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, followed this European tradition. On 10 September 2004, Mr Juncker became the president of the group of finance ministers from the 12 countries that share the euro, a role that led him to be dubbed "Mr Euro". The present sovereign is Grand Duke Henri. Henri's father, Jean, succeeded his mother, Charlotte, on 12 November 1964. Jean's eldest son, Prince Henri, was appointed "Lieutenant Représentant" (Hereditary Grand Duke) on 4 March 1998. On 24 December 1999, Prime Minister Juncker announced Grand Duke Jean's decision to abdicate the throne on 7 October 2000, in favour of Prince Henri who assumed the title and constitutional duties of Grand Duke. On July 10, 2005, after threats of resignation by Prime Minister Juncker, the proposed European Constitution was approved by 56.52% of voters. In July 2013, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced his resignation following a secret service scandal. He had been prime minister since 1995. In December 2013, openly gay Xavier Bettel was sworn in as the new prime minister to succeed Juncker. Bettel of Democratic Party (DP), formed a coalition of Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens who won a combined majority of 32 out of 60 seats in Luxembourg's snap election on October 20, 2013. However, Juncker's Christian Democrats (CSV) remained the biggest party with 23 seats. In July 2014, European Parliament elected former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker as the President of the European Commission on 1 November 2014, succeeding Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, who had held the post since 2004. In December 2018, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was sworn in for a second term, following the narrow victory of his liberal-led coalition in 2018 parliamentary election. See also List of monarchs of Luxembourg List of prime ministers of Luxembourg Politics of Luxembourg History of rail transport in Luxembourg, 1846 to present day General: History of Europe Footnotes Further reading Arblaster, Paul. A History of the Low Countries (Palgrave Essential Histories) (2005) Blom, J.C.H. History of the Low Countries (2006). Bodenstein, Felicity. "National Museums in Luxembourg." Building National Museums in Europe 1750-2010 (Linköping University Electronic Press, 2011) online. Brühwiler, Ingrid, and Matias Gardin. "Fabricating National Unity in Torn Contexts: World War I in the Multilingual Countries of Switzerland and Luxembourg." in Small Nations and Colonial Peripheries in World War I (Brill, 2016) pp. 140–156. De Bres, Julia, Gabriel Rivera Cosme, and Angela Remesch. "Walking the tightrope of linguistic nationalism in a multilingual state: constructing language in political party programmes in Luxembourg." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 41.9 (2020): 779–793. de Vries, Johan. "Benelux, 1920-1970," in C. M. Cipolla, ed. The Fontana Economic History of Europe: Contemporary Economics Part One (1976) pp 1–71. Fletcher, Willard Allen. “The German Administration in Luxemburg 1940-1942: Towards a ‘De Facto’ Annexation” Historical Journal 13#3 (1970), pp. 533–544. online Garcia, Nuria. "The paradox of contemporary linguistic nationalism: the case of Luxembourg." Nations and Nationalism 20.1 (2014): 113–132. Horner, Kristine, and Jean Jacques Weber. "The language situation in Luxembourg." Current issues in language planning 9.1 (2008): 69-128. Kossmann, E. H. The Low Countries 1780–1940 (1978). Millim, Anne-Marie. "Schooling the gaze: Industry and nation-building in Luxembourgish landscape-writing, 1900–1940." Journal of European Studies 44.2 (2014): 151-169 online. Péporté, Pit. Constructing the Middle Ages: historiography, collective memory and nation-building in Luxembourg (Brill, 2011). Péporté, Pit; Kmec, Sonja; Majerus, Benoît and Margue, Michel Inventing Luxembourg. Representations of the Past, Space and Language from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century, Vol. 1 of the Collection ‘National Cultivation of Culture’, ed. Joep Leerssen (Leiden/Boston: Brill) (2010). Schreiber, Catherina. "Integrating the cosmopolitan and the local–The curricular construction of citizens in Luxembourg in the long 19th century." Encounters in Theory and History of Education 16 (2015): 165-182 online. Thyssen, Geert. "The stranger within: Luxembourg’s early school system as a European prototype of nationally legitimized international blends (ca. 1794–1844)." Paedagogica Historica 49.5 (2013): 625–644. Zariz, Ruth. “The Jews of Luxembourg during the Second
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it an attractive spot for tourists, have led to the growth of a local crafts industry. The town of Esch-sur-Sûre nestles at one end of the lake. Immediately above it, the river has been dammed to form a hydroelectric reservoir extending some up the valley. The Upper Sûre dam was built in the 1960s to meet the country's drinking water requirements. Extreme points Elevation extremes: lowest point: Moselle in Wasserbillig 133 m highest point: Kneiff in Troisvierges 560 m Environment Climate Luxembourg is part of the West European Continental climatic region, and enjoys a temperate climate without extremes. Winters are mild, summers fairly cool, and rainfall is high. Seasonal weather is somewhat different between the northern and southern regions. In the north there is considerable influence from the Atlantic systems, in which the passage of frequent pressure depressions gives rise to unstable weather conditions. This results in overcast skies and considerable drizzle in the winter. Rainfall reaches a year in some areas. In the summer, excessive heat is rare and temperatures drop noticeably at night. Low temperatures and humidity make for what those living in this part of the country call, optimistically, an "invigorating climate". In the south, although the rainfall is not significantly low, at around , and the winters no milder, the principal difference is in the higher summer temperatures, especially in the Moselle Valley. Crops, especially wine grapes, thrive here. With a mean annual temperature of , the sunniest months are May to August. In the spring, the countryside is a riot of wildflowers and blossoms. Flora Luxembourg's flora is characterized by the country's location at the border between the Atlantic-European and Central-European climate zones. In the north, beech and oak trees are plentiful. The oak trees can grow up to , with a diameter of . They supply large quantities of excellent hardwood timber because of their strength. Along the riverbanks, species like the black alder and willows can be found. Alder wood is pale yellow to reddish brown, fine-textured and durable even under water. It is also an important timber tree mainly because of its disease-resistant properties. Willow trees can reach a height of , and are valued for ornamental purposes. The narrow, deeply incised valleys of the north also provide a habitat for rare plants and animals, especially the European otter, a protected species. In the industrial south, among the abandoned quarries and deserted open pit mines, nature has reclaimed her own, and there are flowers everywhere. International agreements Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea Geographical statistics Geographic coordinates: Area: total: 2 586 km2 land: 2 586 km2 water: 0 km2 Natural resources: iron ore (no longer exploited),
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extreme south of the country lies "the land of the red rocks" – a reference to the deposits of minerals found here. Rich in iron ore, the district has been a mining and heavy industrial region since Roman if not earlier times and stretches for over . The tall chimneys of the iron and steel works are typical landmarks of the industrial south. To the east lies the grape-growing valley of the Moselle. Numerous villages nestle in the deep valleys and behind the vineyards along the river banks. Most villages have at least one winery. Also in the east is the "Little Switzerland" area, characterized by wooded glens and ravines in unusual rock formations. Rivers and lakes Luxembourg has a number of minor rivers, such as the Eisch, the Alzette, and the Pétrusse, but the main river is the Moselle with its tributaries-the Sûre and the Our. Together, their courses serve as a natural boundary between Luxembourg and Germany. Along their banks, many of the country's medieval castles can be found. The Moselle actually rises in northeast France and flows north through Luxembourg for to join the mighty Rhine at Koblenz, Germany. The Moselle is long, and is navigable, due to canalization for . Green slopes, covered with vines, flank the meandering course of the river. Rising in Belgium, the Sûre River flows for in an easterly direction through Luxembourg and into the Moselle. Its sinuous course essentially cuts Luxembourg from east to west. The Our River, flowing along the northeastern border, is a tributary of the Sûre. Its valley is surrounded by unspoiled countryside. The Upper Sûre lake is the largest stretch of water in the Grand Duchy. Surrounded by luxuriant vegetation and peaceful creeks, the lake is a centre for water sports, such as sailing, canoeing, and kayaking. Such outdoor activities, which has made it an attractive spot for tourists, have led to the growth of a local crafts industry. The town of Esch-sur-Sûre nestles at one end of the lake. Immediately above it, the river has
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of whom originally come from Portugal, Italy and the two neighbouring countries, France and Belgium. For some years, there has also been a large increase in the number of immigrants and asylum seekers from the countries of Eastern Europe, and especially the new republics to have emerged from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro). These immigrants include a considerable proportion of young people. Immigrants (especially asylum seekers) have a strong impact on the birth rate, accounting for nearly 50% of births in Luxembourg. A more detailed breakdown by nationality shows that the Portuguese community is still the largest group, accounting for almost a third of the foreign population. The Italian population has been stable for the past ten years at approximately 20,000. Some 80,000 foreigners come from bordering countries (France, Belgium and Germany). As of 2020 the population of Russian nationals in Luxembourg is 1,857. Luxembourg Russian Saturday school, Kalinka, serves students ages 3–12 and includes Russian language and cultural classes. In 2014, there were 160 students and 22 teachers in the school. The Japanese Supplementary School in Luxembourg (ルクセンブルグ補習授業校 Rukusenburugu Hoshū Jugyō Kō) is a Japanese supplementary school operated in the country, serving students ages 6–15. It is held at
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of Eastern Europe, and especially the new republics to have emerged from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro). These immigrants include a considerable proportion of young people. Immigrants (especially asylum seekers) have a strong impact on the birth rate, accounting for nearly 50% of births in Luxembourg. A more detailed breakdown by nationality shows that the Portuguese community is still the largest group, accounting for almost a third of the foreign population. The Italian population has been stable for the past ten years at approximately 20,000. Some 80,000 foreigners come from bordering countries (France, Belgium and Germany). As of 2020 the population of Russian nationals in Luxembourg is 1,857. Luxembourg Russian Saturday school, Kalinka, serves students ages 3–12 and includes Russian language and cultural classes. In 2014, there were 160 students and 22 teachers in the school. The Japanese Supplementary School in Luxembourg (ルクセンブルグ補習授業校 Rukusenburugu Hoshū Jugyō Kō) is a Japanese supplementary school operated in the country, serving students ages 6–15. It is held at the International School Luxembourg and as of 2014 has about 60 students. Its operations at the ISL began in 1991. Religious affiliation The predominant religion of the Luxembourg population is Roman Catholic, with Protestant, Anglican, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu minorities. According to a 1979 law, the government forbids collection of data on religious practices, but over 90% is estimated to be baptized Catholic (the Virgin Mary is the Patroness of the city of Luxembourg). The Lutherans are the largest Protestant denomination in the country. Muslims are estimated to number approximately 6000 persons, notably including 1,500 refugees from Montenegro; Orthodox (Albanian, Greek, Montenegrin, Serbian, Russian, and Romanian) adherents are estimated to number approximately 5,000 persons, along with approximately 1,000 Jews. Freedom of religion is provided by the Luxembourg Constitution. CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook. Age structure (2020 est.) 0–14 years: 16.73% (male 54 099; female 51 004) 15–24 years: 11.78% (male 37,946; female 36 061) 25-54 years: 43.93% (male 141,535/female 134,531) 55-64 years: 12.19% (male 39,289/female 37,337) 65 years and over: 15.37% (male 43,595/female 52,984) Dependency ratios total dependency ratio: 42.8 youth dependency ratio: 22.2 elderly dependency ratio:
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Like other West European liberal parties, it advocates a mixture of basic social legislation and minimum government involvement in the economy. It is strongly pro-NATO and defends the idea of a secular state in which religion should not play any role in public life. The DP had been a junior partner in coalition governments with the CSV in 1979–1984 and 1999–2004, and senior partner in a coalition government with the LSAP in 1974–1979. The traditional stronghold of the party is the City of Luxembourg, the Buergermeeschter (Mayor) of the nation's capital coming usually from the ranks of the DP. The Communist Party (KPL), which received 10%-18% of the vote in national elections from World War II to the 1960s, won only two seats in the 1984 elections, one in 1989, and none in 1994. Its small remaining support lies in the heavily industrialized south. The Greens has received growing support since it was officially formed in 1983. It opposes both nuclear weapons and nuclear power and supports environmental and ecological preservation measures. This party generally opposes Luxembourg's military policies, including its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) is a national conservative political party. It endorses a softly eurosceptic line and advocates and promotes intensely the preservation and use of the Luxembourgish language. It is sometimes described as a mildly populist right-wing party. In the June 2004 parliamentary elections, the CSV won 24 seats, the LSAP 14, the DP 10, the Greens 7, and the Alternative Democratic Reform Party 5. The Left and the Communist Party each lost its single seat in part due to their separate campaigns. The Democratic Party which had become the junior coalition partner in 1999 registered heavy losses. The long-reigning CSV was the main winner, partly due to the personal popularity of the prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker (CSV). In July 2004, it chose the LSAP as its coalition partner. Jean Asselborn (LSAP) was appointed as the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration. In 2013, the CSV lost one seat (23 seats instead of 24). A complete list of all governments is maintained on the website of the Government of Luxembourg. In 2008, the bitter controversy over euthanasia had parliament pass a measure which would restrict the legislative veto powers of the Grand Duke, who had opposed the pro-euthanasia law on the grounds of his personal moral standards based on the Christian faith, a problem of private conscience very similar to what had occurred in Belgium in the early 1990s when King Baudouin expressed his opposition to a law liberalizing abortion. In July 2013, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced his resignation following a secret service scandal. He had been prime minister since 1995. In December 2013, openly gay Xavier Bettel was sworn in as the new prime minister to succeed Juncker. Bettel of Democratic Party (DP), formed a coalition of Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens who won a combined majority of 32 out of 60 seats in Luxembourg's snap election on 20 October 2013. However, Juncker's Christian Democrats (CSV) remained the biggest party with 23 seats. In July 2014, European Parliament elected former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker as the President of the European Commission on 1 November 2014, succeeding Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, who had held the post since 2004. In December 2018, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was sworn in for a second term, following the narrow victory of his liberal-led coalition in 2018 parliamentary election. Executive branch | Grand Duke |Henri | n/a | 7 October 2000 |- | Prime Minister | Xavier Bettel | DP | 4 December 2013 |- | Deputy Prime Minister | Etienne Schneider
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what had occurred in Belgium in the early 1990s when King Baudouin expressed his opposition to a law liberalizing abortion. In July 2013, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced his resignation following a secret service scandal. He had been prime minister since 1995. In December 2013, openly gay Xavier Bettel was sworn in as the new prime minister to succeed Juncker. Bettel of Democratic Party (DP), formed a coalition of Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens who won a combined majority of 32 out of 60 seats in Luxembourg's snap election on 20 October 2013. However, Juncker's Christian Democrats (CSV) remained the biggest party with 23 seats. In July 2014, European Parliament elected former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker as the President of the European Commission on 1 November 2014, succeeding Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, who had held the post since 2004. In December 2018, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was sworn in for a second term, following the narrow victory of his liberal-led coalition in 2018 parliamentary election. Executive branch | Grand Duke |Henri | n/a | 7 October 2000 |- | Prime Minister | Xavier Bettel | DP | 4 December 2013 |- | Deputy Prime Minister | Etienne Schneider | LSAP | 4 December 2013 |} Luxembourg has a parliamentary form of government with a constitutional monarchy operating according to absolute primogeniture. According to the constitution of 1868, executive power is exercised by the Grand Duke or Grand Duchess and the cabinet, which consists of a Prime Minister and a variable number of government branch ministers. The Grand Duke has the power to dissolve the legislature and reinstate a new one. However, since 1919, sovereignty has resided with the nation. The monarchy is hereditary within the ruling dynasty of Luxembourg-Nassau. The prime minister and vice prime minister are appointed by the monarch, following popular elections to the Chamber of Deputies. All government members are responsible to the Chamber of Deputies. The government is currently a coalition of the DP, LSAP, and Green Party. Legislative branch The Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourgish: D'Chamber; French: Chambre des Députés) has 60 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation in
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Zürich. The country has specialised in the cross-border fund administration business. As Luxembourg's domestic market is relatively small, the country's financial centre is predominantly international. At the end of March 2009, there were 152 banks in Luxembourg, with over 27,000 employees. Political stability, good communications, easy access to other European centres, skilled multilingual staff, a tradition of banking secrecy and cross-border financial expertise have all contributed to the growth of the financial sector. These factors have contributed to a Corruption Perceptions Index of 8.3 and a DAW Index ranking of 10 in 2012; the latter the highest in Europe. Germany accounts for the largest-single grouping of banks, with Scandinavian, Japanese, and major US banks also heavily represented. Total assets exceeded €929 billion at the end of 2008. More than 9,000 holding companies are established in Luxembourg. The European Investment Bank—the financial institution of the European Union—is also located there. Concern about Luxembourg's banking secrecy laws, and its reputation as a tax haven, led in April 2009 to it being added to a "grey list" of nations with questionable banking arrangements by the G20, a list from which it was removed in 2009. This concern has led Luxembourg to modify its tax legislation to avoid conflict with the tax authorities of European Union Members. For example, the classic tax exempt 1929 Holding Company was outlawed 31 December 2010, as it was deemed an illegal state aid by the European Commission. Steel A key event in the economic history of Luxembourg was the 1876 introduction of English metallurgy. The refining process led to the development of the steel industry in Luxembourg and founding of the Arbed company in 1911. The restructuring of the industry and increasing government ownership in Arbed (31%) began as early as 1974. As a result of timely modernization of facilities, cutbacks in production and employment, government assumption of portions of Arbed's debt, and recent cyclical recovery of the international demand for steel, the company is again profitable. Its productivity is among the highest in the world. US markets account for about 6% of Arbed's output. The company specializes in production of large architectural steel beams and specialized value-added products. There has been, however, a relative decline in the steel sector, offset by Luxembourg's emergence as a financial center. In 2001, through the merger with Aceralia and Usinor, Arbed became Arcelor. Arcelor was taken over in 2006 by Mittal Steel to form Arcelor-Mittal, helmed by Lakshmi Mittal, the largest steel producer in the world. Telecommunications Government policies promote the development of Luxembourg as an audiovisual and communications center. Radio-Television-Luxembourg is Europe's premier private radio and television broadcaster. The government-backed Luxembourg satellite company "Société européenne des satellites" (SES) was created in 1986 to install and operate a satellite telecommunications system for transmission of television programs throughout Europe. The first SES Astra satellite, the 16-channel RCA 4000 Astra 1A, was launched by the Ariane Rocket in December 1988. SES presently constitutes the world largest satellite services company in terms of revenue. Tourism Tourism is an important component of the national economy, representing about 8.3% of GDP in 2009 and employing some 25,000 people or 11.7% of the working population. Despite the current crisis, the Grand Duchy still welcomes over 900,000 visitors a year who spend an average of 2.5 nights in hotels, hostels or on camping sites. Business travel is flourishing representing 44% of overnight stays in the country and 60% in the capital, up 11% and 25% between 2009 and 2010. Agriculture Luxembourg's small but productive agricultural sector is highly subsidized, mainly by the EU and the government. It employs about 1–3% of the work force. Most farmers are engaged in dairy and meat production. Vineyards in the Moselle Valley annually produce about 15 million litres of dry white wine, most of which is consumed within Luxembourg and also in Germany, France, and Belgium on a lesser scale. Data The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. Inflation under 2% is in green. Accounting principles Establishing accounts depends on the size of companies, and referring to three criteria: total of the balance sheet (total of assets without losses of the accounting year), the net amount of the turnover (net, such as it appears on the profit and loss account) and the average number of the workforce.
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March 2009, there were 152 banks in Luxembourg, with over 27,000 employees. Political stability, good communications, easy access to other European centres, skilled multilingual staff, a tradition of banking secrecy and cross-border financial expertise have all contributed to the growth of the financial sector. These factors have contributed to a Corruption Perceptions Index of 8.3 and a DAW Index ranking of 10 in 2012; the latter the highest in Europe. Germany accounts for the largest-single grouping of banks, with Scandinavian, Japanese, and major US banks also heavily represented. Total assets exceeded €929 billion at the end of 2008. More than 9,000 holding companies are established in Luxembourg. The European Investment Bank—the financial institution of the European Union—is also located there. Concern about Luxembourg's banking secrecy laws, and its reputation as a tax haven, led in April 2009 to it being added to a "grey list" of nations with questionable banking arrangements by the G20, a list from which it was removed in 2009. This concern has led Luxembourg to modify its tax legislation to avoid conflict with the tax authorities of European Union Members. For example, the classic tax exempt 1929 Holding Company was outlawed 31 December 2010, as it was deemed an illegal state aid by the European Commission. Steel A key event in the economic history of Luxembourg was the 1876 introduction of English metallurgy. The refining process led to the development of the steel industry in Luxembourg and founding of the Arbed company in 1911. The restructuring of the industry and increasing government ownership in Arbed (31%) began as early as 1974. As a result of timely modernization of facilities, cutbacks in production and employment, government assumption of portions of Arbed's debt, and recent cyclical recovery of the international demand for steel, the company is again profitable. Its productivity is among the highest in the world. US markets account for about 6% of Arbed's output. The company specializes in production of large architectural steel beams and specialized value-added products. There has been, however, a relative decline in the steel sector, offset by Luxembourg's emergence as a financial center. In 2001, through the merger with Aceralia and Usinor, Arbed became Arcelor. Arcelor was taken over in 2006 by Mittal Steel to form Arcelor-Mittal, helmed by Lakshmi Mittal, the largest steel producer in the world. Telecommunications Government policies promote the development of Luxembourg as an audiovisual and communications center. Radio-Television-Luxembourg is Europe's premier private radio and television broadcaster. The government-backed Luxembourg satellite company "Société européenne des satellites" (SES) was created in 1986 to install and operate a satellite telecommunications system for transmission of television programs throughout Europe. The first SES Astra satellite, the 16-channel RCA 4000 Astra 1A, was launched by the Ariane Rocket in December 1988. SES presently constitutes the world largest satellite services company in terms of revenue. Tourism Tourism is an important component of the national economy, representing about 8.3% of GDP in 2009 and employing some 25,000 people or 11.7% of the working population. Despite the current crisis, the Grand Duchy still welcomes over 900,000 visitors a year who spend an average of 2.5 nights in hotels, hostels or on camping sites. Business travel is flourishing representing 44% of overnight stays in the country and 60% in the capital, up 11% and 25% between 2009 and 2010. Agriculture Luxembourg's small but productive agricultural sector is highly subsidized, mainly by the EU and the government. It employs about 1–3% of the work force. Most farmers are engaged in dairy and meat production. Vineyards in the Moselle Valley annually produce about 15 million litres of dry white wine, most of which is consumed
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Telephone system: highly developed, completely automated and efficient system, mainly buried cables domestic: nationwide cellular telephone system; buried cable international: 3 channels leased on TAT-6 coaxial submarine cable (Europe to North America) Radio broadcast stations: AM
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efficient system, mainly buried cables domestic: nationwide cellular telephone system; buried cable international: 3 channels leased on TAT-6 coaxial submarine cable (Europe to North America) Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 2 (1999) Radios: 285,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 5 (1999) Televisions: 285,000 (1998 est.) Internet Service Providers
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AVL (Autobus de la Ville de Luxembourg) buses transporting some 28 million passengers per year (2007). As with the RGTR, AVL contracts out to private operators for a number of services. Most of these buses are in AVL colors but the owner's name is often mentioned on them in small print. Also, the letters on the license plate can give ownership away to those that know how that system works. There are 25 regular bus routes plus special bus services through the night. The TICE or Syndicat des Tramways Intercommunaux dans le Canton d’Esch/Alzette operates several bus routes. They are centered on the city of Esch-sur-Alzette in the southeast of the country. Most are urban and suburban routes but some extend into the surrounding countryside. CFL, the Luxembourg railway company, operates some 17 bus routes, mainly serving towns and villages that are no longer served by rail. A number of smaller cities like Ettelbruck and Wiltz have started their own local services, some of which reach out to nearby villages. These services are not part of the RGTR and national tickets are not always honored. All transport companies work together under the Verkéiersverbond, which covers all bus, tram, and train routes. Starting from 29 Feb 2020, all public transport was made free throughout the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, funded through general taxation. However first class tickets can still be purchased for use on the trains: a ticket valid for 2 hours is €3, whilst a one-day ticket is €6. Trams Luxembourg's historic tramway network closed in 1964 but the city reintroduced trams at the end of 2017. The phased approach initially saw trams running through the Kirchberg quarter to the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge, and later Place de l'Etoile, before the line was eventually extended to the old town in Ville Haute and on towards Luxembourg railway station. Currently under construction are the extensions to the Cloche d'Or business district in the south, and Luxembourg Airport in the north. A new funicular line was also opened allowing connections between trams running along the Kirchberg approach to the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge and a new station serving a CFL rail line located in the Pfaffenthal valley below. The full tramline will enter full operational service in 2023. Water The river Moselle forms a 42 km natural border between Luxembourg and Germany in the southeast of the country. In the summer months, the Princess Marie-Astrid and a few other tourist boats operate regular services along the river. Mertert near Grevenmacher on the Moselle is Luxembourg's only commercial port. With two quays covering a total length of 1.6 km, it offers facilities connecting river, road and rail transport. It is used principally for coal, steel, oil, agricultural goods and building materials. In 2016, the port handled 1.2 million tonnes of cargo. Air Luxembourg Airport at Findel, some 6 km to the north of the city, is Luxembourg's only commercial airport. Thanks to its long runway (4,000 m), even the largest types of aircraft are able to use its facilities. Luxair, Luxembourg's international airline, and Cargolux, a cargo-only airline, operate out of the airport. In
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service frequency is increases. Railways Operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), Luxembourg's railways form the backbone of the country's public transport network, linking the most important towns. The total length of operational (standard gauge) track is 274 km, though it was some 550 km at the end of the Second World War. There are regular services from Luxembourg City to Ettelbruck, Esch-sur-Alzette, Wasserbillig and Kleinbettingen while international routes extend to Trier, Koblenz, Brussels, Liège, Metz and Nancy. The railway network links into Belgium, Germany and France. Some of the cross-border services are run by CFL, others by SNCF, NMBS/SNCB and DB. There is now a frequent high-speed connection to Paris via the LGV Est line. EuroCap-Rail is a proposed high-speed axis connecting Brussels, Luxembourg (city), and Strasbourg. Roads Road network The six Luxembourg motorways cover a total distance of 165 km, linking the capital with Trier (Germany), Thionville (France) and Arlon (Belgium) as well as with Esch-sur-Alzette and Ettelbruck in Luxembourg. Luxembourg's motorways are toll free. The speed limit is normally 130 km/h, 110 km/h in rainy weather. With 56.8 km of motorway per 1,000 km2, Luxembourg probably now has the highest density of motorways in Europe. Luxembourg City is a major business and financial center. Many workers prefer to live in the three neighboring countries and drive to work each day. This creates huge traffic jams during peak commuting hours. Tailbacks on the E411 motorway can extend five or more kilometers into Belgium and can take an hour or more to navigate. The remaining road network in Luxembourg accounts for a total length of 2,730 km, consisting of 839km of trunk roads (RN or routes nationales) and 1,891 km of secondary roads (CR or chemins repris). Bus services Comprehensive bus services linking the towns and villages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are contracted out to private operators by the RGTR (Régime général des transports routiers) under the Ministry of Transport. Luxembourg City is served by 163 of its own AVL (Autobus de la Ville de Luxembourg) buses transporting some 28 million passengers per year (2007). As with the RGTR, AVL contracts out to private operators for a number of services. Most of these buses are in AVL colors but the owner's name is often mentioned on them in small print. Also, the letters on the license plate can give ownership away to those that know how that system works. There are 25 regular bus routes plus special bus services through the night. The TICE or Syndicat des Tramways Intercommunaux dans le Canton d’Esch/Alzette operates several bus routes. They are centered on the city of Esch-sur-Alzette in the southeast of the country. Most are urban and suburban routes but some extend into the surrounding countryside. CFL, the Luxembourg railway company, operates some 17 bus routes, mainly serving towns and villages that are no longer served by rail. A number of smaller cities like Ettelbruck and Wiltz have started their own local services, some of which reach out to nearby villages.
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were joined by Luxembourg officers, who had received training in Britain. Several Luxembourg NCOs and half of the country's troops had fought in North Africa in the French Foreign Legion. The rest were people who had escaped from Luxembourg, and young men evading forcible conscription into the Wehrmacht by fleeing to Britain. The Luxembourg unit landed in Normandy on 6 August 1944—at approximately the same time as the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the French 2nd DB ("division blindée") commanded by General Leclerc—two months after the D-Day landings. The Luxembourg Battery was equipped with four Ordnance QF 25 pounder howitzers, which were named after the four daughters of Grand Duchess Charlotte: Princesses Elisabeth, Marie Adelaide, Marie Gabriele and Alix. Post-Liberation Luxembourg Armed Forces In 1944, obligatory military service was introduced. In 1945, the Corps de la Garde Grand Ducale (Grand Ducal Guard Corps) garrisoned in the Saint-Esprit barracks in Luxembourg City and the 1st and 2nd infantry battalions were established, one in Walferdange and the other in Dudelange. The Luxembourg Armed Forces took charge of part of the French zone of occupation in Germany, the 2nd Battalion occupying part of the Bitburg district and a detachment from the 1st Battalion part of the Saarburg district. The 2nd Battalion remained in Bitburg until 1955. Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Brussels in March 1948, and the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Setting up an army after the war proved more difficult than predicted. To a certain extent, the authorities could rely on escaped German conscripts and Luxembourgers who had joined Allied armies; however, they had to find a way to train officers. Initially, British military advisers came to Luxembourg, where training was carried out by British officers and NCOs. But officer training, in the long term, would have to be done in military schools abroad. Belgium and France were both interested in helping and offered solutions. In the end, the government opted for a compromise solution, by sending some officer cadets to the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in France and others to the Royal Military Academy in Belgium. This eventually led to disunity within the Luxembourg officer corps due to differences in training and promotion. In 1951, the Grand Ducal Guard relocated to Walferdange and integrated with the Commandement des Troupes. The Guard had special units for reconnaissance, radiac reconnaissance, and anti-air warfare. From 1955, it was organised into a headquarters company, a garrison platoon, a reconnaissance company and two training companies. In 1959, the Commandement des Troupes was disbanded and the Grand Ducal Guard was integrated into the Commandement du Territoire (Territorial Command). The force was reduced to a single company, a corporals' training school, and a weapons platoon. In 1960, the Grand Ducal Guard was again reorganised into four platoons, temporarily grouped into intervention and reinforcement detachments. In 1964, the Grand Ducal Guard was organized into a HQ, three platoons, a reinforcement platoon, and the NCO school. On 28 February 1966, the Grand Ducal Guard was officially disbanded. Korean War In 1950, seventeen countries, including Luxembourg, decided to send armed forces to assist the Republic of Korea. The Luxembourg contingent was incorporated into the Belgian United Nations Command or the Korean Volunteer Corps. The Belgo-Luxemburgish battalion arrived in Korea in 1951, and was attached to the US 3rd Infantry Division. Two Luxembourger soldiers were killed and 17 were wounded in the war. The Belgo-Luxembourg battalion was disbanded in 1955. Groupement Tactique Régimentaire and Home Command In 1954, the Groupement Tactique Régimentaire (GTR) (Regimental Tactical Group) was established as Luxembourg’s contribution to NATO. It consisted of three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, and support, medical, transport, signals, engineering, heavy mortar, reconnaissance, and headquarters companies. The GTR was disbanded in 1959. In addition to the GTR, the Army also included the Territorial Command, composed of headquarters, military police, movement and transportation companies, a static guard battalion, and a mobile battalion. 1st Artillery Battalion In 1961, the 1st Artillery Battalion was placed at NATO's disposal. The battalion was organised into three batteries, each with six field howitzers (British 25 pounder guns converted to 105 mm caliber) from the former GTR artillery battalion, an HQ battery, and a service battery. In 1963, the battalion was attached to the US 8th Infantry Division. In 1966, the Grand Ducal Guard was disbanded and its tasks were transferred to and performed by the 1st Artillery Battalion until it too was disbanded, in 1967. 1st Infantry Battalion Compulsory military service was abolished in 1967 and the 1st Infantry Battalion was established, consisting of a headquarters and services unit, two motorized infantry companies, and a reconnaissance company with two reconnaissance (recce) platoons and an anti-tank platoon. From 1968 onwards, it formed a part of NATO’s ACE Mobile Force (Land) (AMF(L)). In 1985, a reinforced company—consisting of an AMF Company with two recce platoons and an anti-tank platoon, a forward air-control team, a national support element for logistics, and a medical support element—replaced the battalion. In 2002 the AMF(L) was dissolved. Recent international operations Luxembourg has participated in the Eurocorps since 1994, has contributed troops to the UNPROFOR and IFOR missions in former Yugoslavia, and has participated with a small contingent in the current NATO SFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Luxembourg Armed Forces are integrated into the Multinational Beluga Force under Belgian command. Luxembourg troops have also deployed to Afghanistan, to support ISAF. Luxembourg financially supported international peacekeeping missions during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, in Rwanda, and in Albania. The army has also participated in humanitarian relief missions such as setting up refugee camps for Kurds and providing emergency supplies to Albania. Luxembourg Armed Forces Organization The army is under civilian control, with the Grand Duke as Commander-in-Chief. The Minister for Defence, François Bausch (starting 5 December 2018), oversees army operations. The professional head of the army is the Chief of Defence, currently Steve Thull, who answers to the minister. The Grand Duke and the Chief of Defence are the only generals, with colonels as Deputy Chief of Defence and head of the Military Training Centre. Until 1999, the army was integrated into the Force Publique (Public Force), which included the Gendarmerie and the Police, until the Gendarmerie was merged with the Grand Ducal Police under a different minister in 2000. The army has been an all-volunteer force since 1967. It has a strength of 414 professional soldiers with a total budget of approximately $389 million, or 0.57% of GDP in 2021. The Luxembourg Army is a battalion-sized formation with four separate compagnies (companies) under the control of the Centre Militaire (Military Centre), located in the Caserne Grand-Duc Jean barracks on Herrenberg hill near the town of Diekirch. Luxembourg has no navy, as the country is landlocked. It has an air force since 2021 and aircraft. Compagnie A Compagnie A, the first of two rifle companies that forms the Luxembourg contingent of the Eurocorps, is normally integrated into the Belgian contribution during operations. As such, it participates in Eurocorps' contribution to the NATO Response Force (entire company) and the EU Battlegroups (one platoon). The company consists of a command element and three reconnaissance platoons of four sections each, plus a command section. Each section is equipped with two armoured M1114 HMMWVs, each armed with a .50 caliber M2 Browning
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1840, Luxembourg’s militiamen served in units of the Royal Netherlands Army. Enlisted men served for five years: the first year consisted of active service, but during each of the subsequent four years of service they were mobilised only three times per year. Federal Contingent (1841-1867) In 1839, William I became a party to the Treaty of London by which the Grand-Duchy lost its western, francophone territories to the Belgian province of Luxembourg. Due to the country's population having been halved, with the loss of 160,000 inhabitants, the militia lost half its strength. Under the terms of the treaty, Luxembourg and the newly formed Duchy of Limburg, both members of the German Confederation, were together required to provide a federal contingent consisting of a light infantry battalion garrisoned in Echternach, a cavalry squadron in Diekirch, and an artillery detachment in Ettelbruck. In 1846, the cavalry and artillery units were disbanded and the Luxembourg contingent was separated from that of Limburg. The Luxembourg contingent now consisted of two light infantry battalions, one in Echternach and the second in Diekirch; two reserve companies; and a depot company. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian war resulted in the dissolution of the German Confederation. Luxembourg was declared neutral in perpetuity by the 1867 Treaty of London, and in accordance, its fortress was demolished in the following years. In 1867, the Prussian garrison left the fortress, and the two battalions of Luxembourg light infantry entered the city of Luxembourg that September. A new military organization was established in 1867, consisting of two battalions, known as the Corps des Chasseurs Luxembourgeois, having a total strength of 1,568 officers and men. In 1868, the contingent came to consist of one light infantry battalion of four companies, with a strength of 500 men. On 16 February 1881, the light infantry battalion was disbanded with the abolition of the militia-based system. Gendarmes and Volunteers Corps On 16 February 1881, the Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires (Corps of Gendarmes and Volunteers) was established. It was composed of two companies, a company of gendarmes and one of volunteers. In 1939, a corps of auxiliary volunteers was established and attached to the company of volunteers. Following the occupation of Luxembourg by Germany in May 1940, recruitment for the company of volunteers continued until 4 December 1940, when they were moved to Weimar, Germany, to be trained as German police. Luxembourg Battery In 1944 during World War II, the Luxembourg Government, while exiled in London, made agreements for a group of seventy Luxembourg volunteers to be assigned to the Artillery Group of the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, commonly known as Brigade Piron, Jean-Baptiste Piron being the chief of this unit. This contingent was named the Luxembourg Battery. Initially, it was built up and trained by two Belgian officers. Later, from August 1944, these were joined by Luxembourg officers, who had received training in Britain. Several Luxembourg NCOs and half of the country's troops had fought in North Africa in the French Foreign Legion. The rest were people who had escaped from Luxembourg, and young men evading forcible conscription into the Wehrmacht by fleeing to Britain. The Luxembourg unit landed in Normandy on 6 August 1944—at approximately the same time as the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the French 2nd DB ("division blindée") commanded by General Leclerc—two months after the D-Day landings. The Luxembourg Battery was equipped with four Ordnance QF 25 pounder howitzers, which were named after the four daughters of Grand Duchess Charlotte: Princesses Elisabeth, Marie Adelaide, Marie Gabriele and Alix. Post-Liberation Luxembourg Armed Forces In 1944, obligatory military service was introduced. In 1945, the Corps de la Garde Grand Ducale (Grand Ducal Guard Corps) garrisoned in the Saint-Esprit barracks in Luxembourg City and the 1st and 2nd infantry battalions were established, one in Walferdange and the other in Dudelange. The Luxembourg Armed Forces took charge of part of the French zone of occupation in Germany, the 2nd Battalion occupying part of the Bitburg district and a detachment from the 1st Battalion part of the Saarburg district. The 2nd Battalion remained in Bitburg until 1955. Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Brussels in March 1948, and the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Setting up an army after the war proved more difficult than predicted. To a certain extent, the authorities could rely on escaped German conscripts and Luxembourgers who had joined Allied armies; however, they had to find a way to train officers. Initially, British military advisers came to Luxembourg, where training was carried out by British officers and NCOs. But officer training, in the long term, would have to be done in military schools abroad. Belgium and France were both interested in helping and offered solutions. In the end, the government opted for a compromise solution, by sending some officer cadets to the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in France and others to the Royal Military Academy in Belgium. This eventually led to disunity within the Luxembourg officer corps due to differences in training and promotion. In 1951, the Grand Ducal Guard relocated to Walferdange and integrated with the Commandement des Troupes. The Guard had special units for reconnaissance, radiac reconnaissance, and anti-air warfare. From 1955, it was organised into a headquarters company, a garrison platoon, a reconnaissance company and two training companies. In 1959, the Commandement des Troupes was disbanded and the Grand Ducal Guard was integrated into the Commandement du Territoire (Territorial Command). The force was reduced to a single company, a corporals' training school, and a weapons platoon. In 1960, the Grand Ducal Guard was again reorganised into four platoons, temporarily grouped into intervention and reinforcement detachments. In 1964, the Grand Ducal Guard was organized into a HQ, three platoons, a reinforcement platoon, and the NCO school. On 28 February 1966, the Grand Ducal Guard was officially disbanded. Korean War In 1950, seventeen countries, including Luxembourg, decided to send armed forces to assist the Republic of Korea. The Luxembourg contingent was incorporated into the Belgian United Nations Command or the Korean Volunteer Corps. The Belgo-Luxemburgish battalion arrived in Korea in 1951, and was attached to the US 3rd Infantry Division. Two Luxembourger soldiers were killed and 17 were wounded in the war. The Belgo-Luxembourg battalion was disbanded in 1955. Groupement Tactique Régimentaire and Home Command In 1954, the Groupement Tactique Régimentaire (GTR) (Regimental Tactical Group) was established as Luxembourg’s contribution to NATO. It consisted of three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, and support, medical, transport, signals, engineering,
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and ECSC were incorporated into it in 1993. Luxembourg is a founding member of the Schengen Area, abolishing internal borders amongst its member states, named after the Luxembourg village where the original agreement — since incorporated into EU law — was signed in 1985. At the same time, the majority of Luxembourgers have consistently believed that European unity makes sense only in the context of a dynamic transatlantic relationship, and thus have traditionally pursued a pro-NATO, pro-US foreign policy. Luxembourg is the site of the European Court of Justice, the European Investment Bank, the European Court of Auditors, the secretariat of the European Parliament, the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat), and other EU bodies. Relations by continent Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Relations by
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Community (EEC). Subsequently, Luxembourg became a founding member state of the European Union (EU) when the EEC and ECSC were incorporated into it in 1993. Luxembourg is a founding member of the Schengen Area, abolishing internal borders amongst its member states, named after the Luxembourg village where the original agreement — since incorporated into EU law — was signed in 1985. At the same time, the majority of Luxembourgers have consistently believed that European unity makes sense only in the context of a dynamic transatlantic relationship, and thus have traditionally pursued a
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of a pair of tracks, except for the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly line, which shares track with the District line between Acton Town and Hanger Lane Junction and with the Metropolitan line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge; and the Bakerloo line, which shares track with London Overground's Watford DC Line for its aboveground section north of Queen's Park. Fifty-five per cent of the system runs on the surface. There are of cut-and-cover tunnel and of tube tunnel. Many of the central London underground stations on deep-level tube routes are higher than the running lines to assist deceleration when arriving and acceleration when departing. Trains generally run on the left-hand track. In some places, the tunnels are above each other (for example, the Central line east of St Paul's station), or the running tunnels are on the right (for example on the Victoria line between Warren Street and King's Cross St. Pancras, to allow cross-platform interchange with the Northern line at Euston). The lines are electrified with a four-rail DC system: a conductor rail between the rails is energised at −210 V and a rail outside the running rails at +420 V, giving a potential difference of 630 V. On the sections of line shared with mainline trains, such as the District line from East Putney to Wimbledon and Gunnersbury to Richmond, and the Bakerloo line north of Queen's Park, the centre rail is bonded to the running rails. The average speed on the Underground is . Outside the tunnels of central London, many lines' trains tend to travel at over in the suburban and countryside areas. The Metropolitan line can reach speeds of . Lines The London Underground was used by 296 million passengers in 2020–21. Services using former and current main lines The Underground uses several railways and alignments that were built by main-line railway companies. Bakerloo line Between Queen's Park and Harrow & Wealdstone this runs over the Watford DC Line also used by London Overground, alongside the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) main line that opened in 1837. The route was laid out by the LNWR in 1912–15 and is part of the Network Rail system. Central line The railway from just south of Leyton to just south of Loughton was built by Eastern Counties Railway in 1856 on the same alignment in use today. The Underground also uses the line built in 1865 by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) between Loughton to Ongar via Epping. The connection to the main line south of Leyton was closed in 1970 and removed in 1972. The line from Epping to Ongar was closed in 1994; most of the line is in use today by the heritage Epping Ongar Railway. The line between Newbury Park and Woodford junction (west of Roding Valley) via Hainault was built by the GER in 1903, the connections to the main line south of Newbury Park closing in 1947 (in the Ilford direction) and 1956 (in the Seven Kings direction). Central line The line from just north of White City to Ealing Broadway was built in 1917 by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and passenger service introduced by the Underground in 1920. North Acton to West Ruislip was built by GWR on behalf of the Underground in 1947–8 alongside the pre-existing tracks from Old Oak Common junction towards and beyond, which date from 1904. , the original Old Oak Common junction to route has one main-line train a day to and from Paddington. District line South of Kensington Olympia short sections of the 1862 West London Railway (WLR) and its 1863 West London Extension Railway (WLER) were used when District extended from Earl's Court in 1872. The District had its own bay platform at Olympia built in 1958 along with track on the bed of the 1862–3 WLR/WLER northbound. The southbound WLR/WLER became the new northbound main line at that time, and a new southbound main-line track was built through the site of former goods yard. The 1872 junction closed in 1958, and a further connection to the WLR just south of Olympia closed in 1992. The branch is now segregated. The line between Campbell Road junction (now closed), near Bromley-by-Bow, and Barking was built by the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTSR) in 1858. The slow tracks were built 1903–05, when District services were extended from Bow Road (though there were no District services east of East Ham from 1905 to 1932). The slow tracks were shared with LTSR stopping and goods trains until segregated by 1962, when main-line trains stopped serving intermediate stations. The railway from Barking to Upminster was built by LTSR in 1885 and the District extended over the route in 1902. District withdrew between 1905 and 1932, when the route was quadrupled. Main-line trains ceased serving intermediate stations in 1962, and the District line today only uses the 1932 slow tracks. The westbound track between east of Ravenscourt Park and Turnham Green and Turnham Green to Richmond (also used by London Overground) follows the alignment of a railway built by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1869. The eastbound track between Turnham Green and east of Ravenscourt Park follows the alignment built in 1911; this was closed 1916 but was re-used when the Piccadilly line was extended in 1932. The line between East Putney and Wimbledon was built by the LSWR in 1889. The last scheduled main-line service ran in 1941 but it still sees a few through Waterloo passenger services at the start and end of the daily timetable. The route is also used for scheduled ECS movements to/from Wimbledon Park depot and for Waterloo services diverted during disruptions and track closures elsewhere. Hammersmith & City Between Paddington and Westbourne Park Underground station, the line runs alongside the main line. The Great Western main line opened in 1838, serving a temporary terminus the other side of Bishop's Road. When the current Paddington station opened in 1854, the line passed to the south of the old station. On opening in 1864, the Hammersmith & City Railway (then part of the Metropolitan Railway) ran via the main line to a junction at Westbourne Park, until 1867 when two tracks opened to the south of the main line, with a crossing near Westbourne Bridge, Paddington. The current two tracks to the north of the main line and the subway east of Westbourne Park opened in 1878. The Hammersmith & City route is now completely segregated from the main line. Jubilee line The rail route between Canning Town and Stratford was built by the GER in 1846, with passenger services starting in 1847. The original alignment was quadrupled "in stages between 1860 and 1892" for freight services before the extra (western) tracks were lifted as traffic declined during the 20th century, and were re-laid for Jubilee line services that started in 1999. The current Docklands Light Railway (ex-North London line) uses the original eastern alignment and the Jubilee uses the western alignment. Northern line The line from East Finchley to Mill Hill East was opened in 1867, and from Finchley Central to High Barnet in 1872, both by the Great Northern Railway. Piccadilly line The westbound track between east of Ravenscourt Park and Turnham Green was built by LSWR in 1869, and originally used for eastbound main-line and District services. The eastbound track was built in 1911; it closed in 1916 but was re-used when the Piccadilly line was extended in 1932. Main line services using LU tracks Chiltern Railways shares track with the Metropolitan Line between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham. Three South Western Railway passenger trains a day use District Line tracks between Wimbledon and East Putney. Trains London Underground trains come in two sizes, larger sub-surface trains and smaller deep-tube trains. Since the early 1960s all passenger trains have been electric multiple units with sliding doors and a train last ran with a guard in 2000. All lines use fixed length trains with between six and eight cars, except for the Waterloo & City line that uses four cars. New trains are designed for maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars and have regenerative braking and public address systems. Since 1999 all new stock has had to comply with accessibility regulations that require such things as access and room for wheelchairs, and the size and location of door controls. All underground trains are required to comply with The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 (RVAR 2010) by 2020. Stock on sub-surface lines is identified by a letter (such as S Stock, used on the Metropolitan line), while tube stock is identified by the year of intended introduction (for example, 1996 Stock, used on the Jubilee line). Depots The Underground is served by the following depots: Bakerloo: Stonebridge Park, Queen's Park, London Road Central: Hainault, Ruislip, White City Circle: Hammersmith District: Ealing Common, Lillie Bridge Depot, Upminster Hammersmith & City: Hammersmith Jubilee: Neasden, Stratford Market Metropolitan: Neasden Northern: Edgware, Golders Green, Highgate, Morden Piccadilly: Cockfosters, Northfields Victoria: Northumberland Park Waterloo & City: Waterloo London Underground: Acton Works Disused and abandoned stations In the years since the first parts of the London Underground opened, many stations and routes have been closed. Some stations were closed because of low passenger numbers rendering them uneconomical; some became redundant after lines were re-routed or replacements were constructed; and others are no longer served by the Underground but remain open to National Rail main line services. In some cases, such as Aldwych, the buildings remain and are used for other purposes. In others, such as British Museum, all evidence of the station has been lost through demolition. Ventilation and cooling When the Bakerloo line opened in 1906 it was advertised with a maximum temperature of , but over time the tube tunnels have warmed up. In 1938 approval was given for a ventilation improvement programme, and a refrigeration unit was installed in a lift shaft at Tottenham Court Road. Temperatures of were reported in the 2006 European heat wave. It was claimed in 2002 that, if animals were being transported, temperatures on the Tube would break European Commission animal welfare laws. A 2000 study reported that air quality was seventy-three times worse than at street level, with a passenger inhaling the same mass of particulates during a twenty-minute journey on the Northern line as when smoking a cigarette. The main purpose of the London Underground's ventilation fans is to extract hot air from the tunnels, and fans across the network are being refurbished, although complaints of noise from local residents preclude their use at full power at night. In June 2006 a groundwater cooling system was installed at Victoria station. In 2012, air-cooling units were installed on platforms at Green Park station using cool deep groundwater and at Oxford Circus using chiller units at the top of an adjacent building. New air-conditioned trains have been introduced on the sub-surface lines, but was initially ruled out for the tube trains due to space being considered limited on tube trains for air-conditioning units and that these would heat the tunnels even more. The New Tube for London, which will replace the trains for the Bakerloo, Central, Waterloo and City and Piccadilly lines, is planned to have air conditioning for the new trains along with better energy conservation and regenerative braking. In the original Tube design, trains passing through close fitting tunnels act as pistons to create air pressure gradients between stations. This pressure difference drives ventilation between platforms and the surface exits through the passenger foot network. This system depends on adequate cross-sectional area of the airspace above the passengers’ heads in the foot tunnels and escalators, where laminar airflow is proportional to the fourth power of the radius, the Hagen–Poiseuille equation. It also depends on an absence of turbulence in the tunnel headspace. In many stations the ventilation system is now ineffective because of alterations that reduce tunnel diameters and increase turbulence. An example is Green Park tube station, where false ceiling panels attached to metal frames have been installed that reduce the above-head airspace diameter by more than half in many parts. This has the effect of reducing laminar airflow by 94%. Originally air turbulence was kept to a minimum by keeping all signage flat to the tunnel walls. Now the ventilation space above head height is crowded with ducting, conduits, cameras, speakers and equipment acting as a baffle plates with predictable reductions in flow. Often electronic signs have their flat surface at right angles to the main air flow, causing choked flow. Temporary sign boards that stand at the top of escalators also maximise turbulence. The alterations to the ventilation system are important, not only to heat exchange, but also the quality of the air at platform level, particularly given its asbestos content. Lifts and escalators Originally access to the deep-tube platforms was by a lift. Each lift was staffed, and at some quiet stations in the 1920s the ticket office was moved into the lift, or it was arranged that the lift could be controlled from the ticket office. The first escalator on the London Underground was installed in 1911 between the District and Piccadilly platforms at Earl's Court and from the following year new deep-level stations were provided with escalators instead of lifts. The escalators had a diagonal shunt at the top landing. In 1921 a recorded voice instructed passengers to stand on the right and signs followed in the Second World War. Travellers were asked to stand on the right so that anyone wishing to overtake them would have a clear passage on the left side of the escalator. The first 'comb' type escalator was installed in 1924 at Clapham Common. In the 1920s and 1930s many lifts were replaced by escalators. After the fatal 1987 King's Cross fire, all wooden escalators were replaced with metal ones and the mechanisms are regularly degreased to lower the potential for fires. The only wooden escalator not to be replaced was at Greenford station, which remained until March 2014 when TfL replaced it with the first incline lift on the UK transport network in October 2015. There are 426 escalators on the London Underground system and the longest, at , is at Angel. The shortest, at Stratford, gives a vertical rise of . There are 184 lifts, and numbers have increased in recent years because of investment in making tube stations accessible. Over 28 stations will have lifts installed over the next 10 years, bring the total of step-free stations to over 100. Wi-Fi and mobile phone reception In mid-2012 London Underground, in partnership with Virgin Media, tried out Wi-Fi hot spots in many stations, but not in the tunnels, that allowed passengers free internet access. The free trial proved successful and was extended to the end of 2012 whereupon it switched to a service freely available to subscribers to Virgin Media and others, or as a paid-for service. It was not previously possible to use mobile phones on most parts of the Underground (excluding services running overground or occasionally subsurface, depending on the phone and carrier) using native 2G, 3G or 4G networks, and a project to extend coverage before the 2012 Olympics was abandoned because of commercial and technical difficulties. This partially changed in March 2020, when 4G signal was made available on parts of the Jubilee line, between Westminster and Canning Town, throughout the stations and tunnels. UK subscribers to the Three mobile network can use the InTouch app to route their voice calls and texts messages via the Virgin Media Wifi network at 138 London Transport stations. The EE network also has recently released a WiFi calling feature available on the iPhone. Proposed improvements and expansions Proposed line extensions Croxley Rail Link The Croxley Rail Link involves re-routing the Metropolitan line's Watford branch from the current terminus at Watford over part of the disused Croxley Green branch line to with stations at Cassiobridge, Watford Vicarage Road and (which is currently only a part of London Overground). Funding was agreed in December 2011, and the final approval for the extension was given on 24 July 2013, with the aim of completion by 2020. In 2015, TfL took over responsibility for designing and building the extension from Hertfordshire County Council, and after further detailed design work concluded that an additional £50 million would be needed. As of November 2017, the project is on hold awaiting additional funding. Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham In 1931, the extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Camberwell was approved, with stations at Albany Road and an interchange at . With post-war austerity, the plan was abandoned. In 2006, Ken Livingstone, the then Mayor of London, announced that within twenty years Camberwell would have a tube station. Plans for an extension from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham via the Old Kent Road and are currently being developed by Transport for London, with possible completion by 2029. Bakerloo line extension to Watford Junction In 2007, as part of the planning for the transfer of the North London line to what became London Overground, TfL proposed re-extending the Bakerloo line to . Central line extension to Uxbridge In 2011, the London Borough of Hillingdon proposed that the Central line be extended from West Ruislip to Uxbridge via Ickenham, claiming this would cut traffic on the A40 in the area. Euston to Canary Wharf line { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-color": "#0300ff", "marker-size": "medium", "marker-symbol": "london-underground" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.13376712799072266, 51.528049916748806 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-color": "#0300ff", "marker-size": "medium", "marker-symbol": "london-underground" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.019429922103881836, 51.503573721641914 ] } } ] } According to the New Civil Engineer, the Canary Wharf Group has suggested the construction of a new rail line between Euston and Canary Wharf. The proposal is being considered by the government. Northern line to Clapham Junction Provision has been made for a possible future extension to from the current terminus at Battersea Power Station by notifying the London Borough of Wandsworth of a reserved course under Battersea Park and adjacent streets. Line improvements Bakerloo line The thirty-six 1972-stock trains on the Bakerloo line have already exceeded their original design life of 40 years. London Underground is therefore extending their operational life by making major repairs to many of the trains to maintain reliability. The Bakerloo line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled articulated trains and a new signalling system to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line is predicted to run a maximum of 27 trains per hour, a 25% increase on the current 21 trains per hour during peak periods. Central line The Central line was the first line to be modernised in the 1990s, with 85 new 1992-stock trains and a new automatic signalling system installed to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line runs 34 trains per hour for half an hour in the morning peak but is unable to operate more frequently because of a lack of additional trains. The 85 existing 1992-stock trains are the most unreliable on the London Underground as they are equipped with the first generation of solid-state direct-current thyristor-control traction equipment. The trains often break down, have to be withdrawn from service at short notice and at times are not available when required, leading to gaps in service at peak times. Although relatively modern and well within their design life, the trains need work in the medium term to ensure the continued reliability of the traction control equipment and maintain fleet serviceability until renewal, which is expected between 2028 and 2032. Major work is to be undertaken on the fleet to ensure their continued reliability with brakes, traction control systems, doors, automatic control systems being repaired or replaced, among other components. The Central line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled walkthrough trains and a new automatic signalling system. The line is predicted to run 36 trains per hour, a 25% increase compared to the present service of 34 trains for the busiest 30 minutes in the morning and evening peaks and 27–30 trains per hour during the rest of the peak. Jubilee line The signalling system on the Jubilee line has been replaced to increase capacity on the line by 20%—the line now runs 30 trains per hour at peak times, compared to the previous 24 trains per hour. As with the Victoria line, the service frequency is planned to increase to 36 trains per hour. To enable this, ventilation, power supply and control and signalling systems will be adapted and modified to allow the increase in frequency. London Underground also plans to add up to an additional 18 trains to the current fleet of 63 trains of 1996 stock. Northern line The signalling system on the Northern line has been replaced to increase capacity on the line by 20%, as the line now runs 24 trains per hour at peak times, compared to 20 previously. Capacity can be increased further if the operation of the Charing Cross and Bank branches is separated. To enable this up to 50 additional trains will be built in addition to the current 106 1995 stock. Five trains will be required for the Northern line extension and 45 to increase frequencies on the rest of the line. This, combined with segregation of trains at Camden Town junction, will allow 30–36 trains per hour compared to 24 trains per hour currently. Piccadilly line The eighty-six 1973 stock trains that operate on the Piccadilly line are some of the most reliable trains on the London Underground. The trains have exceeded their design life of around 40 years and are in need of
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at , is at Angel. The shortest, at Stratford, gives a vertical rise of . There are 184 lifts, and numbers have increased in recent years because of investment in making tube stations accessible. Over 28 stations will have lifts installed over the next 10 years, bring the total of step-free stations to over 100. Wi-Fi and mobile phone reception In mid-2012 London Underground, in partnership with Virgin Media, tried out Wi-Fi hot spots in many stations, but not in the tunnels, that allowed passengers free internet access. The free trial proved successful and was extended to the end of 2012 whereupon it switched to a service freely available to subscribers to Virgin Media and others, or as a paid-for service. It was not previously possible to use mobile phones on most parts of the Underground (excluding services running overground or occasionally subsurface, depending on the phone and carrier) using native 2G, 3G or 4G networks, and a project to extend coverage before the 2012 Olympics was abandoned because of commercial and technical difficulties. This partially changed in March 2020, when 4G signal was made available on parts of the Jubilee line, between Westminster and Canning Town, throughout the stations and tunnels. UK subscribers to the Three mobile network can use the InTouch app to route their voice calls and texts messages via the Virgin Media Wifi network at 138 London Transport stations. The EE network also has recently released a WiFi calling feature available on the iPhone. Proposed improvements and expansions Proposed line extensions Croxley Rail Link The Croxley Rail Link involves re-routing the Metropolitan line's Watford branch from the current terminus at Watford over part of the disused Croxley Green branch line to with stations at Cassiobridge, Watford Vicarage Road and (which is currently only a part of London Overground). Funding was agreed in December 2011, and the final approval for the extension was given on 24 July 2013, with the aim of completion by 2020. In 2015, TfL took over responsibility for designing and building the extension from Hertfordshire County Council, and after further detailed design work concluded that an additional £50 million would be needed. As of November 2017, the project is on hold awaiting additional funding. Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham In 1931, the extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Camberwell was approved, with stations at Albany Road and an interchange at . With post-war austerity, the plan was abandoned. In 2006, Ken Livingstone, the then Mayor of London, announced that within twenty years Camberwell would have a tube station. Plans for an extension from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham via the Old Kent Road and are currently being developed by Transport for London, with possible completion by 2029. Bakerloo line extension to Watford Junction In 2007, as part of the planning for the transfer of the North London line to what became London Overground, TfL proposed re-extending the Bakerloo line to . Central line extension to Uxbridge In 2011, the London Borough of Hillingdon proposed that the Central line be extended from West Ruislip to Uxbridge via Ickenham, claiming this would cut traffic on the A40 in the area. Euston to Canary Wharf line { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-color": "#0300ff", "marker-size": "medium", "marker-symbol": "london-underground" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.13376712799072266, 51.528049916748806 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-color": "#0300ff", "marker-size": "medium", "marker-symbol": "london-underground" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.019429922103881836, 51.503573721641914 ] } } ] } According to the New Civil Engineer, the Canary Wharf Group has suggested the construction of a new rail line between Euston and Canary Wharf. The proposal is being considered by the government. Northern line to Clapham Junction Provision has been made for a possible future extension to from the current terminus at Battersea Power Station by notifying the London Borough of Wandsworth of a reserved course under Battersea Park and adjacent streets. Line improvements Bakerloo line The thirty-six 1972-stock trains on the Bakerloo line have already exceeded their original design life of 40 years. London Underground is therefore extending their operational life by making major repairs to many of the trains to maintain reliability. The Bakerloo line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled articulated trains and a new signalling system to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line is predicted to run a maximum of 27 trains per hour, a 25% increase on the current 21 trains per hour during peak periods. Central line The Central line was the first line to be modernised in the 1990s, with 85 new 1992-stock trains and a new automatic signalling system installed to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line runs 34 trains per hour for half an hour in the morning peak but is unable to operate more frequently because of a lack of additional trains. The 85 existing 1992-stock trains are the most unreliable on the London Underground as they are equipped with the first generation of solid-state direct-current thyristor-control traction equipment. The trains often break down, have to be withdrawn from service at short notice and at times are not available when required, leading to gaps in service at peak times. Although relatively modern and well within their design life, the trains need work in the medium term to ensure the continued reliability of the traction control equipment and maintain fleet serviceability until renewal, which is expected between 2028 and 2032. Major work is to be undertaken on the fleet to ensure their continued reliability with brakes, traction control systems, doors, automatic control systems being repaired or replaced, among other components. The Central line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled walkthrough trains and a new automatic signalling system. The line is predicted to run 36 trains per hour, a 25% increase compared to the present service of 34 trains for the busiest 30 minutes in the morning and evening peaks and 27–30 trains per hour during the rest of the peak. Jubilee line The signalling system on the Jubilee line has been replaced to increase capacity on the line by 20%—the line now runs 30 trains per hour at peak times, compared to the previous 24 trains per hour. As with the Victoria line, the service frequency is planned to increase to 36 trains per hour. To enable this, ventilation, power supply and control and signalling systems will be adapted and modified to allow the increase in frequency. London Underground also plans to add up to an additional 18 trains to the current fleet of 63 trains of 1996 stock. Northern line The signalling system on the Northern line has been replaced to increase capacity on the line by 20%, as the line now runs 24 trains per hour at peak times, compared to 20 previously. Capacity can be increased further if the operation of the Charing Cross and Bank branches is separated. To enable this up to 50 additional trains will be built in addition to the current 106 1995 stock. Five trains will be required for the Northern line extension and 45 to increase frequencies on the rest of the line. This, combined with segregation of trains at Camden Town junction, will allow 30–36 trains per hour compared to 24 trains per hour currently. Piccadilly line The eighty-six 1973 stock trains that operate on the Piccadilly line are some of the most reliable trains on the London Underground. The trains have exceeded their design life of around 40 years and are in need of replacement. The Piccadilly line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled walk-through trains and a new signalling system to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line is predicted to run 30–36 trains per hour, up to a 60% increase compared to the 24–25 train per hour service provided today. The line will be the first to be upgraded as part of the New Tube for London Project, as passenger numbers have increased over recent years and are expected to increase further. This line is important in this project because it currently provides a less frequent service than other lines. Victoria line The signalling system on the Victoria line has been replaced to increase capacity on the line by around 25%; the line now runs up to 36 trains per hour compared to 27–28 previously. The trains have been replaced with 47 new higher-capacity 2009-stock trains. The peak frequency was increased to 36 trains per hour in 2016 after track works were completed to the layout of the points at Walthamstow Central crossover, which transfers northbound trains to the southbound line for their return journey. This resulted in a 40% increase in capacity between Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central. Waterloo & City line The line was upgraded with five new 1992-stock trains in the early 1990s, at the same time as the Central line was upgraded. The line operates under traditional signalling and does not use Automatic Train Operation. The line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled walk-through trains and a new signalling system to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line is predicted to run 30 trains per hour, an increase of up to 50% on the current 21 trains per hour. The line may also be one of the first to be upgraded, alongside the Piccadilly line, with new trains, systems and platform-edge doors to test the systems before the Central and Bakerloo lines are upgraded. Subsurface lines (District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle) New S Stock trains have been introduced on the sub-surface (District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle) lines. These were all delivered by 2017. 191 trains have been introduced: 58 for the Metropolitan line and 133 for the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines. The track, electrical supply and signalling systems are also being upgraded in a programme to increase peak-hour capacity. The replacement of the signalling system and the introduction of Automatic Train Operation and Control is scheduled for 2019–22. A control room for the sub-surface network has been built in Hammersmith and an automatic train control (ATC) system is to replace ageing signalling equipment dating from between the mid-1920s and late 1980s, including the signal cabin at Edgware Road, the control room at Earl's Court, and the signalling centre at Baker Street. Bombardier won the contract in June 2011 but was released by agreement in December 2013, and London Underground has now issued another signalling contract, with Thales. New trains for deep-level lines In mid-2014 Transport for London issued a tender for up to 18 trains for the Jubilee line and up to 50 trains for the Northern line. These would be used to increase frequencies and cover the Battersea extension on the Northern line. In early 2014 the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly and Waterloo & City line rolling-stock replacement project was renamed New Tube for London (NTfL) and moved from the feasibility stage to the design and specification stage. The study had showed that, with new generation trains and re-signalling: Piccadilly line capacity could be increased by 60% with 33 trains per hour (tph) at peak times by 2025. Central line capacity increased by 25% with 33 tph at peak times by 2030. Waterloo & City line capacity increased by 50% by 2032, after the track at Waterloo station is remodelled. Bakerloo line capacity could be increased by 25% with 27 tph at peak times by 2033. The project is estimated to cost £16.42 billion (£9.86 billion at 2013 prices). A notice was published on 28 February 2014 in the Official Journal of the European Union asking for expressions of interest in building the trains. On 9 October 2014 TFL published a shortlist of those (Alstom, Siemens, Hitachi, CAF and Bombardier) who had expressed an interest in supplying 250 trains for between £1.0 billion and £2.5 billion, and on the same day opened an exhibition with a design by PriestmanGoode. The fully automated trains may be able to run without drivers, but the ASLEF and RMT trade unions that represent the drivers strongly oppose this, saying it would affect safety. The invitation to tender for the trains was issued in January 2016; the specifications for the Piccadilly line infrastructure are expected in 2016, and the first train is due to run on the Piccadilly line in 2023. Siemens Mobility's Inspiro design was selected in June 2018 in a £1.5 billion contract. Travelling Ticketing The Underground received £2.669 billion in fares in 2016/17 and uses Transport for London's zonal fare system to calculate fares. There are nine zones, zone 1 being the central zone, which includes the loop of the Circle line with a few stations to the south of River Thames. The only London Underground stations in Zones 7 to 9 are on the Metropolitan line beyond Moor Park, outside London region. Some stations are in two zones, and the cheapest fare applies. Paper tickets, the contactless Oyster cards, contactless debit or credit cards and Apple Pay and Android Pay smartphones and watches can be used for travel. Single and return tickets are available in either format, but Travelcards (season tickets) for longer than a day are available only on Oyster cards. TfL introduced the Oyster card in 2003; this is a pre-payment smartcard with an embedded contactless RFID chip. It can be loaded with Travelcards and used on the Underground, the Overground, buses, trams, the Docklands Light Railway, and National Rail services within London. Fares for single journeys are cheaper than paper tickets, and a daily cap limits the total cost in a day to the price of a Day Travelcard. The Oyster card must be 'touched in' at the start and end of a journey, otherwise it is regarded as 'incomplete' and the maximum fare is charged. In March 2012 the cost of this in the previous year to travellers was £66.5 million. In 2014, TfL became the first public transport provider in the world to accept payment from contactless bank cards. The Underground first started accepting contactless debit and credit cards in September 2014. This was followed by the adoption of Apple Pay in 2015 and Android Pay in 2016, allowing payment using a contactless-enabled phone or smartwatch. Over 500 million journeys have taken place using contactless, and TfL has become one of Europe's largest contactless merchants, with around 1 in 10 contactless transactions in the UK taking place on across the TfL network. This technology, developed in-house by TfL, has been licensed to other major cities like New York City and Boston. A concessionary fare scheme is operated by London Councils for residents who are disabled or meet certain age criteria. Residents born before 1951 were eligible after their 60th birthday, whereas those born in 1955 will need to wait until they are 66. Called a "Freedom Pass" it allows free travel on TfL-operated routes at all times and is valid on some National Rail services within London at weekends and after 09:30 on Monday to Fridays. Since 2010, the Freedom Pass has included an embedded holder's photograph; it lasts five years between renewals. In addition to automatic and staffed faregates at stations, the Underground also operates on a proof-of-payment system. The system is patrolled by both uniformed and plain-clothes fare inspectors with hand-held Oyster-card readers. Passengers travelling without a valid ticket must pay a penalty fare of £80 (£40 if paid within 21 days) and can be prosecuted for fare evasion under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 and Transport for London Byelaws. Hours of operation The tube closes overnight during the week, but since 2016, the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, and Victoria lines, as well as a short section of the London Overground have operated all night on Friday and Saturday nights. The first trains run from about 05:00 and the last trains until just after 01:00, with later starting times on Sunday mornings. The nightly closures are used for maintenance, but some lines stay open on New Year's Eve and run for longer hours during major public events such as the 2012 London Olympics. Some lines are occasionally closed for scheduled engineering work at weekends. The Underground runs a limited service on Christmas Eve with some lines closing early, and does not operate on Christmas Day. Since 2010 a dispute between London Underground and trade unions over holiday pay has resulted in a limited service on Boxing Day. Night Tube On 19 August 2016, London Underground launched a 24-hour service on the Victoria and Central lines with plans in place to extend this to the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee lines starting on Friday morning and continuing right through until Sunday evening. The Night Tube proposal was originally scheduled to start on 12 September 2015, following completion of upgrades, but in August 2015 it was announced that the start date for the Night Tube had been pushed back because of ongoing talks about contract terms between trade unions and London Underground. On 23 May 2016 it was announced that the night service would launch on 19 August 2016 for the Central and Victoria lines. The service operates on the: Central line between Ealing Broadway and Hainault via Newbury Park or Loughton. No service on the West Ruislip Branch, between Woodford and Hainault via Grange Hill or between Loughton and Epping. Northern line between Morden and Edgware / High Barnet via Charing Cross. No service on Mill Hill East or Bank branches. Piccadilly line between Cockfosters and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5. No service to Terminal 4 or between Acton Town and Uxbridge. Jubilee line Full line – Stratford to Stanmore. Victoria line Full line – Walthamstow Central to Brixton. The Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, and the Central line between White City and Leytonstone, operate at 10-minute intervals. The Central line operates at 20-minute intervals between Leytonstone and Hainault, between Leytonstone and Loughton, and between White City and Ealing Broadway. The Northern line operates at roughly 8-minute intervals between Morden and Camden Town via Charing Cross, and at 15-minute intervals between Camden Town and Edgware and between Camden Town and High Barnet. Night Tube services were suspended in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accessibility Accessibility for people with limited mobility was not considered when most of the system was built, and before 1993 fire regulations prohibited wheelchairs on the Underground. The stations on the Jubilee Line Extension, opened in 1999, were the first stations on the system designed with accessibility in mind, but retrofitting accessibility features to the older stations is a major investment that is planned to take over twenty years. A 2010 London Assembly report concluded that over 10% of people in London had reduced mobility and, with an ageing population, numbers will increase in the future. The standard issue tube map indicates stations that are step-free from street to platforms. There can also be a step from platform to train as large as and a gap between the train and curved platforms, and these distances are marked on the map. Access from platform to train at some stations can be assisted using a boarding ramp operated by staff, and a section has been raised on some platforms to reduce the step. , there are 90 stations with step-free access from platform to train, and there are plans to provide step-free access at another 11 stations by 2024. By 2016 a third of stations had platform humps that reduce the step from platform to train. New trains, such as those being introduced on the sub-surface network, have access and room for wheelchairs, improved audio and visual information systems and accessible door controls. Delays and overcrowding During peak hours, stations can get so crowded that they need to be closed. Passengers may not get on the first train and the majority of passengers do not find a seat on their trains, some trains having more than four passengers every square metre. When asked, passengers report overcrowding as the aspect of the network that they are least satisfied with, and overcrowding has been linked to poor productivity and potential poor heart health. Capacity increases have been overtaken by increased demand, and peak overcrowding has increased by 16 percent since 2004–05. Compared with 2003–04, the reliability of the network had increased in 2010–11, with lost customer hours reduced from 54 million to 40 million. Passengers are entitled to a refund if their journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more due to circumstances within the control of TfL, and in 2010, 330,000 passengers out of a potential 11 million Tube passengers claimed compensation for delays. Mobile phone apps and services have been developed to help passengers claim their refund more efficiently. Safety London Underground is authorised to operate trains by the Office of Rail Regulation. there had been 310 days since the last major incident, when a passenger had died after falling on the track. there have been nine consecutive years in which no employee fatalities have occurred. A special staff training facility was opened at West Ashfield tube station in TFL's Ashfield House, West Kensington in 2010 at a cost of £800,000. Meanwhile, Mayor of London Boris Johnson decided it should be demolished along with the Earls Court Exhibition Centre as part of Europe's biggest regeneration scheme. In November 2011 it was reported that 80 people had died by suicide in the previous year on the London Underground, up from 46 in 2000. Most platforms at deep tube stations have pits, often referred to as 'suicide pits', beneath the track. These were constructed in 1926 to aid drainage of water from the platforms, but also halve the likelihood of a fatality when a passenger falls or jumps in front of a train. Fast and semi-fast services The Metropolitan line operates express services, known as "fast" or "semi-fast", which do not stop at certain stations, thus decreasing total travelling time and increasing capacity. Stopping services, which stop at every station on the route, may be described as "all-stations" services. Fast and semi-fast services operate only during peak hours; southbound only in the mornings, northbound only in the evenings. The Tube Challenge The Tube Challenge is the competition for the fastest time to travel to all London Underground stations, tracked by Guinness World Records since 1960. The goal is to visit all the stations on the system, but not necessarily using all the lines; participants may connect between stations on foot, or by using other forms of public transport. As of 2021, the record for fastest completion was held by Steve Wilson (UK) and Andi James (Finland), who completed the challenge in 15 hours, 45 minutes and 38 seconds on 21 May 2015. Design and the arts Map Early maps of the Metropolitan and District railways were city maps with the lines superimposed, and the District published a pocket map in 1897. A Central London Railway route diagram appears on a 1904 postcard and 1905 poster, similar maps appearing in District Railway cars in 1908. In the same year, following a marketing agreement between the operators, a joint central area map that included all the lines was published. A new map was published in 1921 without any background details, but the central area was squashed, requiring smaller letters and arrows. Although Fred H. Stingemore enlarged the central area of the map, it was Harry Beck who took this further by distorting geography and simplifying the map so that the railways appeared as straight lines with equally spaced stations. He presented his original draft in 1931, and after initial rejection it was first printed in 1933. Today's tube map is an evolution of that original design, and the ideas are used by many metro systems around the world. The current standard tube map shows the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Emirates Air Line, London Tramlink and the London Underground; a more detailed map covering a larger area, published by National Rail and Transport for London, includes suburban railway services. The tube map came second in a BBC and London Transport Museum poll asking for a favourite UK design icon of the 20th century and the underground's 150th anniversary was celebrated by a Google Doodle on the search engine. Commissioned by Art on the Underground, the cover of the pocket map is designed by various British and international artists, one of the largest public art commissions in the UK. Roundel While the first use of a roundel in a London transport context was the trademark of the London General Omnibus Company registered in 1905, it was first used on the Underground in 1908 when the UERL placed a solid red circle behind station nameboards on platforms to highlight the name. The word "UNDERGROUND" was placed in a roundel instead of a station name on posters in 1912 by Charles Sharland and Alfred France, as well as on undated and possibly earlier posters from the same period. Frank Pick, impressed by the Paris Metro, thought the solid red disc cumbersome and took a version where the disc became a ring from a 1915 Sharland poster and gave it to Edward Johnston to develop, and registered the symbol as a trademark in 1917. The roundel was first printed on a map cover using the Johnston typeface in June 1919, and printed in colour the following October. After the UERL was absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, it used forms of the roundel for buses, trams and coaches, as well as the Underground. The words "London Transport" were added inside the ring, above and below the bar. The Carr-Edwards report, published in 1938 as possibly the first attempt at a graphics standards manual, introduced stricter guidelines. Between 1948 and 1957 the word "Underground" in the bar was replaced by "London Transport". , forms of the roundel, with differing colours for the ring and bar, are used for other TfL services, such as London Buses, Tramlink, London Overground, London River Services and Docklands Light Railway. Crossrail will also be identified with a roundel. The 100th anniversary of the roundel was celebrated in 2008 by TfL commissioning 100 artists to produce works that celebrate the design. In 2016, Tate Modern commissioned conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin to "reimagine" the roundel, changing its colours for the first time since the sign was introduced. His design was displayed at Southwark Station in collaboration with Art on the Underground to mark the opening weekend of the new Tate Modern gallery situated near the station. Architecture Seventy of the 272 London Underground stations use buildings that are on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, and five have entrances in listed buildings. The Metropolitan Railway's original seven stations were inspired by Italianate designs, with the platforms lit by daylight from above and by gas lights in large glass globes. Early District Railway stations were similar and on both railways the further from central London the station the simpler the construction. The City & South London Railway opened with red-brick buildings, designed by Thomas Phillips Figgis, topped with a lead-covered dome that contained the lift mechanism and weather vane (still visible at many stations e.g. Clapham Common. The Central London Railway appointed Harry Bell Measures as architect, who designed its pinkish-brown steel-framed buildings with larger entrances. In the first decade of the 20th century Leslie Green established a house style for the tube stations built by the UERL, which were clad in ox-blood faience blocks. Green pioneered using building design to guide passengers with direction signs on tiled walls, with the stations given a unique identity with patterns on the platform walls. Many of these tile patterns survive, though a significant number of these are now replicas. Harry W. Ford was responsible for the design of at least 17 UERL and District Railway stations, including Barons Court and Embankment, and claimed to have first thought of enlarging the U and D in the UNDERGROUND wordmark. The Met's architect Charles Walter Clark had used a neo-classical design for rebuilding Baker Street and Paddington Praed Street stations before the First World War and, although the fashion had changed, continued with Farringdon in 1923. The buildings had metal lettering attached to pale walls. Clark would later design "Chiltern Court", the large, luxurious block of apartments at Baker Street, that opened in 1929. In the 1920s and 1930s, Charles Holden designed a series of modernist and art-deco stations some of which he described as his 'brick boxes with concrete lids'. Holden's design for the Underground's headquarters building at 55 Broadway included avant-garde sculptures by Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill and Henry Moore. When the Central line was extended east, the stations were simplified Holden proto-Brutalist designs, and a cavernous concourse built at Gants Hill
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system (LTS) is a system or network of enormous proportions or complexity. The study of LTSs is a subdiscipline of history of science and technology. The
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a subdiscipline of history of science and technology. The book Rescuing Prometheus by Thomas P. Hughes documents the development of four such systems, including the
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Law, Theological, Medicine and Philosophy. They were the cornerstones, and for more than 200 years this system was in effect. Towards the end of the 17th century, the number of students hovered around 100. Some notable professors in the early days were Samuel Pufendorf, a juridical historian; and Canutus Hahn and Kristian Papke in philosophy. The Scanian War in 1676 led to a shut-down, which lasted until 1682. The university was re-opened largely due to regional patriots, but the university was not to enjoy a high status until well into the 19th century. Lecturing rooms were few, and lectures were held in the Lund Cathedral and its adjacent chapel. The professors were underpaid. In 1716, Charles XII of Sweden entered Lund. He stayed in Lund for two years, in between his warlike expeditions. Lund and the university attracted a temporary attention boost. The most notable lecturer during this time was Andreas Rydelius. Peace was finally restored with the death of Charles XII in 1718, and during the first half of the 18th century, the university was granted added funds. The number of students was now well around 500. Despite not being on par with Uppsala University, it had still built a solid reputation and managed to attract prominent professors. Around 1760 the university's reputation dropped as the number of students fell below 200, most of whom hailed from around the province. However, by 1780 its reputation was largely restored and continued to rise through the 1820s. This was largely owing to popular and well-educated lecturers particularly in philology; the prominent professor Esaias Tegnér was a particularly notable character with widespread authority. He, in turn, attracted others towards Lund. One of these was the young theological student C. G. Brunius, who studied ancient languages under Tegnér and were later to become a professor of Greek. With time he was to devote himself to architecture and he redesigned several of Lund's buildings, as well as churches of the province. In 1829, the murder at Locus Peccatorum occurred in the Locus Peccatorum residence at the university. Jacob Wilhelm Blomdahl, a theology student, beat his fellow student Anders Landén to death in the night. Blomdahl was later executed for the murder, and the controversy the murder created around the conditions of student life were a factor in the creation of Akademiska Föreningen in the 1830s. In 1845 and 1862 Lund co-hosted Nordic student meetings together with the University of Copenhagen. A student called Elsa Collin was the first woman in the whole of Sweden to take part in a spex. 20th century – present In the early 20th century, the university had a student population as small as one thousand, consisting largely of upper-class pupils training to become civil servants, lawyers and doctors. In the coming decades, it started to grow significantly until it became one of the country's largest. In 1964 the social sciences were split from the Faculty of Humanities. Lund Institute of Technology was established in 1961 but was merged with Lund University eight years later. In recent years, Lund University has been very popular among applicants to Swedish higher education institutions, both nationally and internationally. For studies starting in autumn 2012, Lund received 11,160 foreign master's applications from 152 countries, which was roughly one third of all international applications to Swedish universities. Women at the university The first woman to study in Lund was Hildegard Björck (spring of 1880) who had previously studied in Uppsala and had there been the first Swedish woman ever to get an academic degree. Her tenure in Lund was however very brief and the medical student Hedda Andersson who entered the university later in 1880 (two years before the next woman to do so) is usually mentioned as the first woman at Lund University. Hilma Borelius was the first woman who finished a doctorate in Lund, in 1910. The first woman to be appointed to a professor's chair was the historian Birgitta Odén (1965). In 1992 Boel Flodgren, Professor of Business Law, was appointed rector magnificus (or, strictly speaking, rectrix magnifica) of Lund University. As such, she was the first woman to be the head of a European university. Campus The university's facilities are mainly located in the small city of Lund in Scania, about 15 km away from central Malmö and 50 km from Copenhagen. The large student and staff population makes an impact on the city, effectively making it a university town. Over a hundred university buildings scatter around town, most of them in an area covering more than 1 km2, stretching towards the north-east from Lundagård park in the very centre of town. Buildings in and around Lundagård include the main building, Kungshuset, the Historical Museum and the Academic Society's headquarters. The main library building is located in a park 400 meters to the north, followed by the large hospital complex. Lund University has a satellite campus in nearby Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city. The Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts' three academies: Malmö Art Academy, Malmö Academy of Music and Malmö Theatre Academy, are all located in Malmö. The city is also the location of Skåne University Hospital, where Lund University performs a considerable amount of research and medical training. Campus Helsingborg is, as the name suggests, located in the city of Helsingborg, almost 50 km from Lund. Opened in 2000, it consists of a building in the city center, right next to the central train station and the harbor. Nearly 3,000 students are based on the campus. The Department of Service Management and the Department of Communication and Media are among those located at the campus in Helsingborg. Teaching and training at the School of Aviation (LUSA) take place at an airfield next to the town of Ljungbyhed, about 40 km away from Lund. Museums The Biological Museum is a research collection, not having public exhibitions. It possesses between 10 and 13 million specimens of plants and animals. The museum was founded by Kilian Stobaeus , a teacher of Carl Linnaeus, in 1735. It is divided into three sections: the herbarium, the entomological collections and the zoological collections. The collections are particularly rich in specimens from Sweden and the other Nordic countries, and hold approximately 10,000 type specimens The collections were previously known as the Botanical Museum and Museum of Zoology. These were merged into the Biological Museum in 2005. The museum is a part of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences. It holds the historically important collections of Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt, Carl Gustaf Thomson, Carl Adolph Agardh, Anders Jahan Retzius, Erik Acharius, Axel Gustaf Gyllenkrok and Sven Nilsson. Library Lund University library was established in 1668 at the same time as the university and is one of Sweden's oldest and largest libraries. Since 1698 it has received legal deposit copies of everything printed in the country. Today six Swedish libraries receive legal deposit copies, but only Lund and the Royal Library in Stockholm are required to keep everything for posterity. Swedish imprints make up half of the collections, which amount to 170,000 linear meters of shelving (2006). The library serves 620,000 loans per year, the staff is 200 full-time equivalents, and the 33 branch libraries house 2600 reading room desks. The current main building at Helgonabacken opened in 1907. It was named Sweden's most beautiful building in 2019. The old library building was Liberiet close to the city's cathedral. Liberiet was built as a library in the 15th century but now serves as a cafe. Hospital Education and research in the health sciences at the university are operated in cooperation with Skåne University Hospital, located in both Lund and Malmö. Medical education takes place in the Biomedical Centre, next to the hospital in Lund. Nursing and occupational therapy are taught in the Health Sciences Centre nearby. The university also operates the Clinical Research Centre in Malmö, featuring many specialized laboratories. There are over 100 faculty. Accommodation LU Accommodation offers housing in the cities of Lund, Malmö and Helsingborg. There are different room types including dormitory rooms, studio flats, one and two-bedroom apartments. Organisation Administration The University Board is the university's highest decision-making body. The Board comprises the Vice-Chancellor, representatives of the teaching staff and students, and representatives of the community and business sector. Chair of the board is Margot Wallström. Executive power lies with the Vice-Chancellor and the University Management Group, to which most other administrative bodies are subordinate. Faculties Lund University is divided into nine faculties: Faculties of Humanities and Theology Faculty of Engineering (LTH) Faculty of Fine & Performing Arts Faculty of Law Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Science Faculty of Social Sciences School of Aviation School of Economics and Management Research centres The university is also organised into more than 20 institutes and research centres, such as: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) Biomedical Centre Centre for Biomechanics Centre for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering - Kemicentrum Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies Centre for European Studies Centre for Geographical Information Systems (GIS Centrum) Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE) Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University Centre for Molecular Protein Science Centre for Risk Analysis and Management (LUCRAM) International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University (IIIEE) Lund Functional Food Science Centre Lund Center for the History of Knowledge (LUCK) Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC) MAX lab - Accelerator physics, synchrotron radiation and nuclear physics research Pufendorf Institute Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Swedish South Asian Studies Network Academics Education The university offers over 270 educational programs, including 100 international master's programs, and around 2,200 independent courses. Many courses are offered in English for the benefit of international exchange students. There are several programs allowing foreign students to study at the university. Notable foreign students include United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who spent time at Lund University in the 1960s conducting research. The university offers 6 of the 10 most popular master's programs in Sweden (2021), in terms of the numbers of applications. Five of those programs are offered at the School of Economics and Management (LUSEM). The LUSEM Master's in Finance ranks #37 in the world, according to the Financial Times annual global ranking. Students are awarded ECTS credits for all completed courses. Research Lund University is well known as one of Scandinavia's largest research universities. It ranks among top performers in the European Union in terms of papers accepted for publication in scientific journals. It is one of Sweden's top receiver of research grants, most of which come from government-funded bodies. The EU is the university's second largest external research funder and Lund is the 23rd largest receiver of funding within the union's Seventh Framework Programme. The university is active in many internationally important research areas such as nanotechnology, climate change and stem cell biology. Innovation One of the most famous innovations based on research from Lund University is diagnostic ultrasound, which is today a routine method of examination in hospitals around the world. Other examples of pioneering innovations are the artificial kidney, which laid the foundations for the multinational company Gambro and which makes life easier for dialysis patients worldwide, and Bluetooth technology, which enables wireless communication over short distances. Here is a sample selection of discoveries from Lund through the ages. 1847: Ice Age theory 1887: Rydberg's constant 1916: The M series and new methods of measurement 1926: The first respirator 1944: The Tetrahedron – milk packaging for the modern era 1946: The artificial kidney 1953: Medical ultrasound 1956: Human chromosome number 1957: Dopamine 1962: The Falck-Hillarp method, Partial differential equations 1963: Lactose intolerance 1966: Asthma medicine 1967: Nicorette 1969: New x-ray contrast agent 1970: The modern-day medical ventilator 1972: The Inkjet printer 1987: Inhalator for asthma medicine 1991: Laser cancer treatment, Proviva 1993: Qlik – data visualization software 1994: Bluetooth 1997: Precise biometrics – fingerprint reader 1999: Digital diagnostic support 2004: Facial recognition technology 2008: Cancer diagnostics using MR technology 2009: Treatment of pre-eclampsia 2012: The world's most water-efficient shower 2013: A unique new method for simpler and more accurate cancer diagnosis 2014: Protein diagnostics of cancer Rankings Lund University is commonly ranked within the top 100 in the world by several ranking agencies. Lund was ranked 87th in the world in the 2022 QS World University Rankings. It is the most popular university in Sweden for international applicants and was ranked as the 40th most international university in the world by Times Higher in 2021. The QS World University Rankings by Subject for 2021 places Lund in the top 50 in the following subjects: Geography (24th), Development Studies (32nd), Environmental Sciences (44th) and Nursing (47th). QS also has a separate ranking for business Master's (the QS Business Masters Rankings), where Lund University is ranked in the categories 'Marketing'(42nd) and 'Finance'(47th) in 2022. Additionally, the Times Higher subject rankings for 2021 places Lund in 65th place in Law. In 2014, the National Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ecuador (Senescyt), as a parameter for awarding scholarships,
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(44th) and Nursing (47th). QS also has a separate ranking for business Master's (the QS Business Masters Rankings), where Lund University is ranked in the categories 'Marketing'(42nd) and 'Finance'(47th) in 2022. Additionally, the Times Higher subject rankings for 2021 places Lund in 65th place in Law. In 2014, the National Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ecuador (Senescyt), as a parameter for awarding scholarships, created a list of top Universities around the world placing Lund University in Top 1 in "Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics" and Top 3 in both fields: "Information Technology and Communication" and "Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction". In 2018, Lund placed 82nd in the world in the Times Higher Global University Employability Ranking. In 2020, Lund placed 91–100 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Ranking. In 2021, Lund placed 40th in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) Most International Universities Rankings. Student life Lund student life is based on three central structures: the student nations, the Academic Society (AF) and the student unions. Before July 1, 2010, students were required to enroll in a student union, nation and AF in order to receive grades at the university, but this is no longer compulsory. Students may still enroll in these organizations if they wish. Student nations The nations in Lund are a central part of the university's history, initially serving as residential colleges for students, organized by geographic origin. Östgöta Nation, the oldest nation, was established in 1668, two years after the university was founded. While the nations still offer limited housing, today they are best described as student societies. Today students may enroll in any nation, although the nations still preserve their geographic names. In most cases, it does not matter what nation one enrolls in, but different nations offer different activities for interested students. Each nation has student housing, but the accommodations in no way meet demand, and they are usually appointed according to a queue system. Each nation has at least one pub evening per week, with a following night club. The solemn peak event in the course of an activity year is the organization of student balls once a year. Most well known of the nation balls (as opposed to balls organized by student unions) is the ball hosted by Göteborgs Nation - called the "Gustaf II Adolf Ball" (also known as the "GA-Ball"). Most nations also host at least one banquet per week, where a three-course dinner is served. Each nation also has different activities for students interested in sports, arts, or partying. All activities within the nations are voluntary. The Academic Society In 1830, Professor Carl Adolph Agardh formed Akademiska Föreningen (The Academic Society), commonly referred to as AF, with the goal of "developing and cultivating the academic life" by bringing students and faculty from all departments and student nations together in one organization. Prince Oscar, then Sweden's Chancellor of Education, donated 2000 Kronor to help found the society. In 1848, construction began on AF-borgen (the AF Fortress), which is located opposite the Main Building in Lundagård. To this day, AF is the center of student life in Lund, featuring many theater companies, a prize-winning student radio (Radio AF), and organizing the enormous Lundakarnevalen (the Lund Carnival) every four years. "AF Bostäder", an independent foundation with close ties to Akademiska Föreningen, maintains over 5,700 student residences in Lund. Student unions The student unions represent students in various decision-making boards within the university and counsel students regarding their rights, housing and career options. There are nine student unions, one for each faculty and an additional union for doctoral students. Lund's Doctoral Student Union is further divided into councils, one for each faculty except for the faculties of engineering and fine and performing arts. The unions are incorporated into the Association of Lund University Student Unions (LUS). It has two full-time representatives who go to weekly meetings with the vice-chancellor and other organizational university bodies. The student union association runs services such as a loan institute, a day-care center and a website with housing information. It also publishes the monthly Lundagård magazine. Notable people Alumni and faculty of Lund University are associated with, among other things: four Nobel Prizes, a Fields Medal, the creation of the first implantable pacemaker, the development of echocardiography, the spread of modern physiotherapy, the discovery of the role of dopamine as an independent neurotransmitter, the determination of the number of chromosomes of man, the establishment of osseointegration, the development of the Bluetooth technology, and the development of the modern-day medical ventilator. The following is a selected list of some notable people who have been affiliated with Lund University as students or academics. Humanities and economics Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) was a notable jurist and philosopher known for his natural law theories, influencing Adam Smith as well as Thomas Jefferson. Olof von Dalin (1708–1763) was an influential Swedish writer and historian of the late enlightenment era. Peter Wieselgren (1800–1877) was a Swedish priest, literature critic and prominent leader of the Swedish temperance movement. Knut Wicksell (1851–1926) was an influential economist, sometimes considered one of the founders of modern macroeconomics. Oscar Olsson (1877–1950) was an important developer of self-education in Sweden and known as the father of study circles. Bertil Ohlin (1899–1979) received the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 1977 for theories concerning international trade and capital, and was the leader of the Liberal's Peoples Party (Folkpartiet) for 23 years. Gunnar Jarring (1907–2002) was Sweden's ambassador in UN 1956–1958, and Sweden's ambassador in Washington DC 1958–1964. Britta Holmström (1911–1992) was the founder of Individuell Människohjälp (IM), a human rights organization with activities in 12 countries. Torsten Hägerstrand (1916–2004) was an internationally renowned geographer, considered the father of 'time geography' and receiver of the Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud in 1992. Judith Wallerstein (1921–2012) was a renowned psychologist and internationally recognized authority on the effects of marriage and divorce on children and their parents. The first person from Iceland to earn a degree in archaeology, Ólafía Einarsdóttir, studied for her MA and PhD at Lund. Biology and medicine Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), began his academic career in Lund by studying medicine and botany for a year before moving to Uppsala. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology. Pehr Henrik Ling (1776–1839) is considered the prime developer of natural gymnastics, the father of Swedish massage, and one of the most important contributors to the development and spread of modern physical therapy. Carl Adolph Agardh (1787–1859) made important contributions to the study of algae and played an important role as a politician in raising educational standards in Sweden. Elias Magnus Fries (1794–1878) was a notable botanist who played a prominent role in the creation of the modern taxonomy of mushrooms. Nils Alwall (1904–1986) was a pioneer in hemodialysis who constructed the first practical dialysis machine, commercialized by The Gambro Company. Rune Elmqvist (1906–1996) was a physician and medical engineer who developed the first implantable pacemaker as well as the first inkjet ECG printer. Lars Leksell (1907–1986) was a notable neurosurgeon who was the father of radiosurgery and later the inventor of the Gamma Knife. Inge Edler (1911–2001) developed the medical ultrasonography in 1953, commonly known as echocardiography, together with Hellmuth Hertz, and was awarded the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award in 1977. Sune Bergström (1916–2004) and Bengt Samuelsson (1934–) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 for "discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances". Arvid Carlsson (1923–) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000 for "discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system" and is noted for having discovered the role of dopamine as an independent neurotransmitter. Mathematics, engineering and physical sciences Per Georg Scheutz (1785–1873) was a Swedish lawyer, publicist and inventor who created the first working programmable difference engine with a printing unit. Martin Wiberg (1826–1905) was a prolific inventor who, among many things, created the first difference engine the size of the sewing machine that could calculate and print logarithmic tables. Johannes Rydberg (1854–1919) was a renowned physicist famous for the Rydberg formula and the Rydberg constant. Carl Charlier (1862–1934) was an internationally acclaimed astronomer who made important contributions to
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Mr Murbles, barrister Sir Impey Biggs, journalist Salcombe Hardy, and family friend and financial whiz the Honourable Freddy Arbuthnot, who finds himself entangled in the case in the first of the Wimsey books, Whose Body? (1923). Sayers wrote no more Wimsey murder mysteries, and only one story involving him, after the outbreak of World War II. In The Wimsey Papers, a series of fictionalised commentaries in the form of mock letters between members of the Wimsey family published in The Spectator, there is a reference to Harriet's difficulty in continuing to write murder mysteries at a time when European dictators were openly committing mass murders with impunity; this seems to have reflected Sayers' own wartime feeling. The Wimsey Papers included a reference to Wimsey and Bunter setting out during the war on a secret mission of espionage in Europe, and provide the ironic epitaph Wimsey writes for himself: "Here lies an anachronism in the vague expectation of eternity". The papers also incidentally show that in addition to his thorough knowledge of the classics of English literature, Wimsey is familiar — though in fundamental disagreement — with the works of Karl Marx, and well able to debate with Marxists on their home ground. The only occasion when Sayers returned to Wimsey was the 1942 short story "Talboys". The story is set in a quiet rural environment, the war at that time devastating Europe received only a single oblique reference, and the case Wimsey undertakes is just to clear his young son of the false accusation of stealing fruit from the neighbor's tree. Though Sayers lived until 1957, she never again took up the Wimsey books after this final effort. In effect, rather than killing off her detective, as Conan Doyle unsuccessfully tried with his, Sayers pensioned Wimsey off to a happy, satisfying old age. Thus, Peter Wimsey remained forever fixed on the background of inter-war England, and the books are nowadays often read for their evocation of that period as much as for the detective mysteries. It was left to Jill Paton Walsh to extend Wimsey's career through and beyond the Second World War. In the continuations Thrones, Dominations (1998), A Presumption of Death (2002), The Attenbury Emeralds (2010), and The Late Scholar (2014), Harriet lives with the children at Talboys, Wimsey and Bunter have returned successfully from their secret mission in 1940, and his nephew Lord St. George is killed while serving as an RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain. Consequently, when Wimsey's brother dies of a heart attack in 1951 during a fire in Bredon Hall, Wimsey becomes — very reluctantly — the Duke of Denver. Their Graces are then drawn into a mystery at a fictional Oxford college. Origins In How I Came to Invent the Character of Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayers wrote: Janet Hitchman, in the preface to Striding Folly, remarks that "Wimsey may have been the sad ghost of a wartime lover(...). Oxford, as everywhere in the country, was filled with bereaved women, but it may have been more noticeable in university towns where a whole year's intake could be wiped out in France in less than an hour." There is, however, no verifiable evidence of any such World War I lover of Sayers on whom the character of Wimsey might be based. Another theory is that Wimsey was based, at least in part, on Eric Whelpton, who was a close friend of Sayers at Oxford. Ian Carmichael, who played the part of Wimsey in the first BBC television adaptation and studied the character and the books thoroughly, said that the character was Sayers' conception of the 'ideal man', based in part on her earlier romantic misfortunes. Social satire Many episodes in the Wimsey books express a mild satire on the British class system, in particular in depicting the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter. The two of them are clearly the best and closest of friends, yet Bunter is invariably punctilious in using "my lord" even when they are alone, and "his lordship" in company. In a brief passage written from Bunter's point of view in Busman's Honeymoon Bunter is seen, even in the privacy of his own mind, to be thinking of his employer as "His Lordship". Wimsey and Bunter even mock the Jeeves and Wooster relationship. In Whose Body?, when Wimsey is caught by a severe recurrence of his First World War shell-shock and nightmares and being taken care of by Bunter, the two of them revert to being "Major Wimsey" and "Sergeant Bunter". In that role, Bunter, sitting at the bedside of the sleeping Wimsey, is seen to mutter affectionately, "Bloody little fool!" In "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran", the staunchly democratic Dr Hartman invites Bunter to sit down to eat together with himself and Wimsey, at the doctor's modest apartment. Wimsey does not object, but Bunter strongly does: "If I may state my own preference, sir, it would be to wait upon you and his lordship in the usual manner". Whereupon Wimsey remarks: "Bunter likes me to know my place". At the conclusion of Strong Poison, Inspector Parker asks "What would one naturally do if one found one's water-bottle empty?" (a point of crucial importance in solving the book's mystery). Wimsey promptly answers, "Ring the bell." Whereupon Miss Murchison, the indefatigable investigator employed by Wimsey for much of this book, comments "Or, if one wasn't accustomed to be waited on, one might use the water from the bedroom jug." George Orwell was highly critical of this aspect of the Wimsey books: "... Even she [Sayers] is not so far removed from Peg's Paper as might appear at a casual glance. It is, after all, a very ancient trick to write novels with a lord for a hero. Where Miss Sayers has shown more astuteness than most is in perceiving that you can carry that kind of thing off a great deal better if you pretend to treat it as a joke. By being, on the surface, a little ironical about Lord Peter Wimsey and his noble ancestors, she is enabled to lay on the snobbishness ('his lordship' etc.) much thicker than any overt snob would dare to do". In fact, Sayers took the trouble to make the character halfway plausible by having his manner result from the stress of fighting in the Great War (which included an episode of being buried alive). Wimsey was not like that before the War, but afterward attempted to cope with his haunting memories by adopting “a mask of impenetrable frivolity”. Thus, it is Wimsey himself who is laying it on thick, since the character requires that type of mockery, either of himself or of public perceptions of his class. Dramatic adaptations Film In 1935, the British film The Silent Passenger was released, in which Lord Peter, played by well-known comic actor Peter Haddon, solved a mystery on the boat train crossing the English Channel. Sayers disliked the film and James Brabazon describes it as an "oddity, in which Dorothy's contribution was altered out of all recognition." The novel Busman's Honeymoon was originally a stage play by Sayers and her friend Muriel St. Clare Byrne. A 1940 film of Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon), stars Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings as Lord and Lady Peter and Seymour Hicks as Bunter. Television A BBC television version of the play Busman's Honeymoon with Harold Warrender as Lord Peter, was transmitted live on the BBC Television Service on 2 October 1947. A second live BBC version was broadcast on 3 October 1957, with Peter Gray as Wimsey. Several other Lord Peter Wimsey novels were made into television productions by the BBC, in two separate series. Wimsey was played by Ian Carmichael, with Bunter being played by Glyn Houston (with Derek Newark stepping in for The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club), in a series of separate serials under the umbrella title Lord Peter Wimsey, that ran between 1972 and 1975, adapting five novels (Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise and The Nine Tailors). Edward Petherbridge played Lord Peter for BBC Television in 1987, in which three of the four major Wimsey/Vane novels (Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night) were dramatised under the umbrella title A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery. Harriet Vane was played by Harriet Walter and Bunter was played by Richard Morant. The BBC was unable to secure the rights to turn Busman's Honeymoon into a proposed fourth and last part of the planned 13-episode series, so the series was produced as ten episodes. (Edward Petherbridge later played Wimsey in the UK production of the Busman's Honeymoon play staged at the Lyric Hammersmith and on tour in 1988, with the role of Harriet being taken by his real-life spouse, Emily Richard.) Both sets of adaptations were critically successful, with both Carmichael and Petherbridge's respective performances being widely praised. However, the two portrayals are quite different from one another: Carmichael's Peter is eccentric, jolly and foppish with occasional glimpses of the inner wistful, romantic soul, whereas Petherbridge's portrayal was more calm, solemn and had a stiff upper lip, subtly downplaying many of the character's eccentricities. Both the 1970s productions and the 1987 series are now available on videotape and DVD. Radio Adaptations of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels appeared on BBC Radio from the 1930s onwards. An adaptation of the short story "The Footsteps That Ran" dramatised by John Cheatle appeared on the BBC Home Service in November 1939 with Cecil Trouncer as Wimsey. Rex Harrison took on the role in an adaptation of "Absolutely Everywhere" on the Home Service on 5 March 1940. The short story "The Man With No Face" was dramatised by Audrey Lucas for the Home Service Saturday-Night Theatre play, broadcast on 3 April 1943 with Robert Holmes in the lead role. A four-part adaptation of The Nine Tailors adapted by Giles Cooper and starring Alan Wheatley as Wimsey was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1954. Ian Carmichael reprised his television role as Lord Peter in ten radio adaptations for BBC Radio 4 of Sayers's Wimsey novels between 1973 and 1983, all of which have been available on cassette and CD from the BBC Radio Collection. These co-starred Peter Jones as Bunter. In the original series no adaptation was made of the seminal Gaudy Night, perhaps because the leading character in this novel is Harriet and not Peter; this was corrected in 2005 when a version specially recorded for the BBC Radio Collection was released starring Carmichael and Joanna David. The CD also includes a panel discussion on the novel, the major participants in which are P. D. James and Jill Paton Walsh. Gaudy Night was released as an unabridged audio book read by Ian Carmichael in 1993. Gary Bond starred as Lord Peter Wimsey and John Cater as Bunter in two single-episode BBC Radio 4 adaptations: The Nine Tailors on 25 December 1986 and Whose Body on 26 December 1987. Simon Russell Beale played Wimsey in an adaptation of Strong Poison dramatised by Michael Bakewell in 1999. Bibliography Novels With year of first publication Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) (U.S. title originally The Dawson Pedigree) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1930) The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) Murder Must Advertise (1933) The Nine Tailors (1934) Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937) Thrones, Dominations (1998) Unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsh Short story collections Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) Hangman's Holiday (1933) Also contains non-Wimsey stories In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) Also contains non-Wimsey stories Striding Folly (1972) Lord Peter (1972) Uncollected Lord Peter Wimsey stories The Locked Room. Bodies from the Library: Volume 2, Ed. Tony Medawar (HarperCollins, 2019). In addition there are The Wimsey Papers, published between Nov. 1939 and Jan. 1940 in The Spectator Magazine—a series of mock letters by members of the Wimsey family, being in effect fictionalised commentaries on life in England in the early months of the war. Books about Lord Peter by other authors Ask a Policeman (1934), a collaborative novel by members of The Detection Club, wherein several authors 'exchanged' detectives. The Lord Peter Wimsey sequence was penned by Anthony Berkeley. The Wimsey Family: A Fragmentary History compiled from correspondence with Dorothy L. Sayers (1977) by C. W. Scott-Giles, Victor Gollancz, London. Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook (1981) by Elizabeth Bond Ryan and William J. Eakins The Lord Peter Wimsey Companion (2002) by Stephan P. Clarke published by The Dorothy L. Sayers Society. Conundrums for the Long Week-End : England, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey (2000) by Robert Kuhn McGregor, Ethan Lewis A Presumption of Death (2002) by Jill Paton Walsh The Attenbury Emeralds (2010) by Jill Paton Walsh The Late Scholar (2014) by Jill Paton Walsh Lord Peter Wimsey has also been included by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer as a member of the Wold Newton family. References External links Lord Peter Wimsey chronology Lord Peter Wimsey portrait at Balliol, Oxford Extensive review of the Wimsey books in "Second Glance: Dorothy Sayers and the Last Golden Age" by Joanna Scutts Lord Peter Wimsey in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Literary characters introduced in 1923 Characters in British novels of the 20th century Dorothy L. Sayers characters Fictional amateur detectives Fictional gentleman detectives Fictional male detectives Fictional people educated
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finds himself entangled in the case in the first of the Wimsey books, Whose Body? (1923). Sayers wrote no more Wimsey murder mysteries, and only one story involving him, after the outbreak of World War II. In The Wimsey Papers, a series of fictionalised commentaries in the form of mock letters between members of the Wimsey family published in The Spectator, there is a reference to Harriet's difficulty in continuing to write murder mysteries at a time when European dictators were openly committing mass murders with impunity; this seems to have reflected Sayers' own wartime feeling. The Wimsey Papers included a reference to Wimsey and Bunter setting out during the war on a secret mission of espionage in Europe, and provide the ironic epitaph Wimsey writes for himself: "Here lies an anachronism in the vague expectation of eternity". The papers also incidentally show that in addition to his thorough knowledge of the classics of English literature, Wimsey is familiar — though in fundamental disagreement — with the works of Karl Marx, and well able to debate with Marxists on their home ground. The only occasion when Sayers returned to Wimsey was the 1942 short story "Talboys". The story is set in a quiet rural environment, the war at that time devastating Europe received only a single oblique reference, and the case Wimsey undertakes is just to clear his young son of the false accusation of stealing fruit from the neighbor's tree. Though Sayers lived until 1957, she never again took up the Wimsey books after this final effort. In effect, rather than killing off her detective, as Conan Doyle unsuccessfully tried with his, Sayers pensioned Wimsey off to a happy, satisfying old age. Thus, Peter Wimsey remained forever fixed on the background of inter-war England, and the books are nowadays often read for their evocation of that period as much as for the detective mysteries. It was left to Jill Paton Walsh to extend Wimsey's career through and beyond the Second World War. In the continuations Thrones, Dominations (1998), A Presumption of Death (2002), The Attenbury Emeralds (2010), and The Late Scholar (2014), Harriet lives with the children at Talboys, Wimsey and Bunter have returned successfully from their secret mission in 1940, and his nephew Lord St. George is killed while serving as an RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain. Consequently, when Wimsey's brother dies of a heart attack in 1951 during a fire in Bredon Hall, Wimsey becomes — very reluctantly — the Duke of Denver. Their Graces are then drawn into a mystery at a fictional Oxford college. Origins In How I Came to Invent the Character of Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayers wrote: Janet Hitchman, in the preface to Striding Folly, remarks that "Wimsey may have been the sad ghost of a wartime lover(...). Oxford, as everywhere in the country, was filled with bereaved women, but it may have been more noticeable in university towns where a whole year's intake could be wiped out in France in less than an hour." There is, however, no verifiable evidence of any such World War I lover of Sayers on whom the character of Wimsey might be based. Another theory is that Wimsey was based, at least in part, on Eric Whelpton, who was a close friend of Sayers at Oxford. Ian Carmichael, who played the part of Wimsey in the first BBC television adaptation and studied the character and the books thoroughly, said that the character was Sayers' conception of the 'ideal man', based in part on her earlier romantic misfortunes. Social satire Many episodes in the Wimsey books express a mild satire on the British class system, in particular in depicting the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter. The two of them are clearly the best and closest of friends, yet Bunter is invariably punctilious in using "my lord" even when they are alone, and "his lordship" in company. In a brief passage written from Bunter's point of view in Busman's Honeymoon Bunter is seen, even in the privacy of his own mind, to be thinking of his employer as "His Lordship". Wimsey and Bunter even mock the Jeeves and Wooster relationship. In Whose Body?, when Wimsey is caught by a severe recurrence of his First World War shell-shock and nightmares and being taken care of by Bunter, the two of them revert to being "Major Wimsey" and "Sergeant Bunter". In that role, Bunter, sitting at the bedside of the sleeping Wimsey, is seen to mutter affectionately, "Bloody little fool!" In "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran", the staunchly democratic Dr Hartman invites Bunter to sit down to eat together with himself and Wimsey, at the doctor's modest apartment. Wimsey does not object, but Bunter strongly does: "If I may state my own preference, sir, it would be to wait upon you and his lordship in the usual manner". Whereupon Wimsey remarks: "Bunter likes me to know my place". At the conclusion of Strong Poison, Inspector Parker asks "What would one naturally do if one found one's water-bottle empty?" (a point of crucial importance in solving the book's mystery). Wimsey promptly answers, "Ring the bell." Whereupon Miss Murchison, the indefatigable investigator employed by Wimsey for much of this book, comments "Or, if one wasn't accustomed to be waited on, one might use the water from the bedroom jug." George Orwell was highly critical of this aspect of the Wimsey books: "... Even she [Sayers] is not so far removed from Peg's Paper as might appear at a casual glance. It is, after all, a very ancient trick to write novels with a lord for a hero. Where Miss Sayers has shown more astuteness than most is in perceiving that you can carry that kind of thing off a great deal better if you pretend to treat it as a joke. By being, on the surface, a little ironical about Lord Peter Wimsey and his noble ancestors, she is enabled to lay on the snobbishness ('his lordship' etc.) much thicker than any overt snob would dare to do". In fact, Sayers took the trouble to make the character halfway plausible by having his manner result from the stress of fighting in the Great War (which included an episode of being buried alive). Wimsey was not like that before the War, but afterward attempted to cope with his haunting memories by adopting “a mask of impenetrable frivolity”. Thus, it is Wimsey himself who is laying it on thick, since the character requires that type of mockery, either of himself or of public perceptions of his class. Dramatic adaptations Film In 1935, the British film The Silent Passenger was released, in which Lord Peter, played by well-known comic actor Peter Haddon, solved a mystery on the boat train crossing the English Channel. Sayers disliked the film and James Brabazon describes it as an "oddity, in which Dorothy's contribution was altered out of all recognition." The novel Busman's Honeymoon was originally a stage play by Sayers and her friend Muriel St. Clare Byrne. A 1940 film of Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon), stars Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings as Lord and Lady Peter and Seymour Hicks as Bunter. Television A BBC television version of the play Busman's Honeymoon with Harold Warrender as Lord Peter, was transmitted live on the BBC Television Service on 2 October 1947. A second live BBC version was broadcast on 3 October 1957, with Peter Gray as Wimsey. Several other Lord Peter Wimsey novels were made into television productions by the BBC, in two separate series. Wimsey was played by Ian Carmichael, with Bunter being played by Glyn Houston (with Derek Newark stepping in for The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club), in a series of separate serials under the umbrella title Lord Peter Wimsey, that ran between 1972 and 1975, adapting five novels (Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise and The Nine Tailors). Edward Petherbridge played Lord Peter for BBC Television in 1987, in which three of the four major Wimsey/Vane novels (Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night) were dramatised under the umbrella title A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery. Harriet Vane was played by Harriet Walter and Bunter was played by Richard Morant. The BBC was unable to secure the rights to turn Busman's Honeymoon into a proposed fourth and last part of the planned 13-episode series, so the series was produced as ten episodes. (Edward Petherbridge later played Wimsey in the UK production of the Busman's Honeymoon play staged at the Lyric Hammersmith and on tour in 1988, with the role of Harriet being taken by his real-life spouse, Emily Richard.) Both sets of adaptations were critically successful, with both Carmichael and Petherbridge's respective performances being widely praised. However, the two portrayals are quite different from one another: Carmichael's Peter is eccentric, jolly and foppish with occasional glimpses of the inner wistful, romantic soul, whereas Petherbridge's portrayal was more calm, solemn and had a stiff upper lip, subtly downplaying many of the character's eccentricities. Both the 1970s productions and the 1987 series are now available on videotape and DVD. Radio Adaptations of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels appeared on BBC Radio from the 1930s onwards. An adaptation of the short story "The Footsteps That Ran" dramatised by John Cheatle appeared on the BBC Home Service in November 1939 with Cecil Trouncer as Wimsey. Rex Harrison took on the role in an adaptation of "Absolutely Everywhere" on the Home Service on 5 March 1940. The short story "The Man With No Face" was dramatised by Audrey Lucas for the Home Service Saturday-Night Theatre play, broadcast on 3 April 1943 with Robert Holmes in the lead role. A four-part adaptation of The Nine Tailors adapted by Giles Cooper and starring Alan Wheatley as Wimsey was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1954. Ian Carmichael reprised his television role as Lord Peter in ten radio adaptations for BBC Radio 4 of Sayers's Wimsey novels between 1973 and 1983, all of which have been available on cassette and CD from the BBC Radio Collection. These co-starred Peter Jones as Bunter. In the original series no adaptation was made of the seminal Gaudy Night, perhaps because the leading character in this novel is Harriet and not Peter; this was corrected in 2005 when a version specially recorded for the BBC Radio Collection was released starring Carmichael and Joanna David. The CD also includes a panel discussion on the novel, the major participants in which are P. D. James and Jill Paton Walsh. Gaudy Night was released as an unabridged audio book read by Ian Carmichael in 1993. Gary Bond starred as Lord Peter Wimsey and John Cater as Bunter in two single-episode BBC Radio 4 adaptations: The Nine Tailors on 25 December 1986 and Whose Body on 26 December 1987. Simon Russell Beale played Wimsey in an adaptation of Strong Poison dramatised by Michael Bakewell in 1999. Bibliography Novels With year of first publication Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) (U.S. title originally The Dawson Pedigree) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1930) The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) Murder Must Advertise (1933) The Nine Tailors (1934) Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937) Thrones, Dominations (1998) Unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsh Short story collections Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) Hangman's Holiday (1933) Also contains non-Wimsey stories In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) Also contains non-Wimsey stories Striding Folly (1972) Lord Peter (1972) Uncollected Lord Peter Wimsey stories The Locked Room. Bodies from the Library: Volume 2, Ed. Tony Medawar (HarperCollins, 2019). In addition there are The Wimsey Papers, published between Nov. 1939 and Jan. 1940 in The Spectator Magazine—a series of mock letters by members of the Wimsey family, being in effect fictionalised commentaries on life in England in the early months of the war. Books about Lord Peter by other authors Ask a Policeman (1934), a collaborative novel by members of The Detection Club, wherein several authors 'exchanged' detectives. The Lord Peter Wimsey sequence was penned by Anthony Berkeley. The Wimsey Family: A Fragmentary History compiled from correspondence with Dorothy L. Sayers (1977) by C. W. Scott-Giles, Victor Gollancz, London. Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook (1981) by Elizabeth Bond Ryan and William J. Eakins The Lord Peter Wimsey Companion (2002) by Stephan P. Clarke published by The Dorothy L. Sayers Society. Conundrums for the Long Week-End : England, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey (2000) by Robert Kuhn McGregor, Ethan Lewis A Presumption of Death (2002) by Jill Paton Walsh The Attenbury Emeralds (2010) by Jill Paton Walsh The Late Scholar (2014) by Jill Paton Walsh Lord Peter Wimsey has also been included by the science fiction writer
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today, the internet, by means of email, plays the main role in written communications, together with text messages; however, these email communications are not generally referred to as letters but rather as e-mail (or email) messages, messages or simply emails or e-mails, with the term "letter" generally being reserved for communications on paper. Letters as historical source material Due to the timelessness and universality of letter writing, extant letters from earlier eras constitute an important category of source material in historiography (the methodology of historians). Importance of letters in the 18th century During the 18th century, called the "Great Age of Letter Writing," the epistolary novel became a hugely popular genre and came from the format of letters. The novel also first debuted in the 17th century with Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. Letter writers used this to communicate and explore their identity and daily life at the time. As a medium of writing that lies ambiguously between the public and private worlds, letters provide an appealing peek into other people's thoughts, feelings, and lives. During this historical period, for the first time, publishing these "private" letters so they could build and preserve literary prominence. Just as social media streams now allow modern celebrities to present versions of their intimate lives for the public to see and read all about, so did early modern and 18th-century figures carefully build themselves in their letters for audiences to be excited to read these works of literature. In the 18th century, frequently associated personal letters with the ideals of honesty and truth. Writing in the 18th-century was a rough process that required a lot of materials, many of which were difficult or expensive to get. Researchers interested in the links and connections between migrants, settlers, and refugees have increasingly concentrated on letters and their purposes. Surprisingly, academics only began examining letters as artifacts in the late twentieth century; most studies continue to focus on the national course of epistolary novels. Letters also offer information on changing conceptions of privacy, secrecy, and trust during a period of widespread censorship, especially in war. Lastly, study on letter writing and mail services culture exposes the economic and technical roots of letter writing, as well as how links required resources ranging from writing tables and ink to postal employees and ships to carry letters over the world. A lot of letters that were written in this time also showed up in a popular magazine called The Gentleman’s Magazine. People were also charged for postage during this time. They either had to pay before or during transit. Writers took great caution in their number of pages so, they did not have to pay so much. These writers were considered very clever in their way to avoid the overcharge. Letter writing also became a really important pastime for some. Women were among these people to write letters and express themselves. A lot of female friendships were formed from women being encouraged to write letters. In fact, the most popular character who wrote in this period was named Clarissa Harlowe. This was also a chance for women to express their intelligence. They used letters also to separate themselves from their husbands and have their own voice to enter more into society. Even when the epistolary novel lost its popularity, people did not stop writing letters. It gave everyone a voice when they did not think they had one and it is incredibly important to people to have that, especially the women of this time. Alexander Pope was the first English writer to publish from his own letters during his lifetime, putting out a new example for authors and other important people's epistolary works. Pope recognized that writings may reflect both personal religious devotion and cleverness. Pope's works are lacking in formality and informality. He had written his letters all about his life and what he did. Pope also wrote about his friends and the health and work of them. "All the pleasure of using familiar letters is to give us the assurance of a friend's welfare," Pope said. He had also taken to describing himself as "a mortal enemy and despiser of what they call fine letters." There was a letter addressed to Pope’s father that ended up being used as writing paper for the Iliad. When Alexander Pope's letters were published, they were widely read by a number of people. Comparison with electronic mail Despite email's widespread use, letters are still popular, particularly in business and for official communications. At the same time, many "letters" are sent in electronic form. The following advantages of paper letters over e-mails and text messages are put forward: No special device is needed to receive a letter, just a postal address, and the letter can be read immediately on receipt. An e-mail may sit in a recipient's inbox for some time before being read, or may not be read at all; a paper letter is more likely to receive prompt attention once it arrives. An advertising mailing can reach every address in a particular area. A letter provides an immediate, and in principle permanent, physical record of communication, without the need for printing. Letters, especially those with a signature and/or on an organization's own notepaper, are more difficult to falsify than is an email, and thus provide much better evidence of the contents of the communication. A letter in the sender's own handwriting is more personal than an e-mail and shows that the sender has taken trouble to write it. If required, small physical objects can be enclosed in the envelope with the letter. Letters are unable to transmit malware or other harmful files that can be transmitted by e-mail. E-mails are insecure and may be intercepted en route. For this reason, letters are often preferred for confidential correspondence. Letter writing leads to the mastery of the technique of good writing. Letter writing can provide an extension of the face-to-face therapeutic encounter. The following advantages are put forward for e-mails and text messages over traditional letters: They can be transmitted instantly. They can be sent to a number of recipients in one operation. They do not require a postage fee. They do not require materials such as paper and ink. Often an e-mail
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Even when the epistolary novel lost its popularity, people did not stop writing letters. It gave everyone a voice when they did not think they had one and it is incredibly important to people to have that, especially the women of this time. Alexander Pope was the first English writer to publish from his own letters during his lifetime, putting out a new example for authors and other important people's epistolary works. Pope recognized that writings may reflect both personal religious devotion and cleverness. Pope's works are lacking in formality and informality. He had written his letters all about his life and what he did. Pope also wrote about his friends and the health and work of them. "All the pleasure of using familiar letters is to give us the assurance of a friend's welfare," Pope said. He had also taken to describing himself as "a mortal enemy and despiser of what they call fine letters." There was a letter addressed to Pope’s father that ended up being used as writing paper for the Iliad. When Alexander Pope's letters were published, they were widely read by a number of people. Comparison with electronic mail Despite email's widespread use, letters are still popular, particularly in business and for official communications. At the same time, many "letters" are sent in electronic form. The following advantages of paper letters over e-mails and text messages are put forward: No special device is needed to receive a letter, just a postal address, and the letter can be read immediately on receipt. An e-mail may sit in a recipient's inbox for some time before being read, or may not be read at all; a paper letter is more likely to receive prompt attention once it arrives. An advertising mailing can reach every address in a particular area. A letter provides an immediate, and in principle permanent, physical record of communication, without the need for printing. Letters, especially those with a signature and/or on an organization's own notepaper, are more difficult to falsify than is an email, and thus provide much better evidence of the contents of the communication. A letter in the sender's own handwriting is more personal than an e-mail and shows that the sender has taken trouble to write it. If required, small physical objects can be enclosed in the envelope with the letter. Letters are unable to transmit malware or other harmful files that can be transmitted by e-mail. E-mails are insecure and may be intercepted en route. For this reason, letters are often preferred for confidential correspondence. Letter writing leads to the mastery of the technique of good writing. Letter writing can provide an extension of the face-to-face therapeutic encounter. The following advantages are put forward for e-mails and text messages over traditional letters: They can be transmitted instantly. They can be sent to a number of recipients in one operation. They do not require a postage fee. They do not require materials such as paper and ink. Often an e-mail would require a less formal style than a letter to the same recipient, and thus may take less time to write. It is also easier to make amendments to a draft than it is with a handwritten letter. E-mails may be composed using spell checkers and other devices, and thus may conceal the ignorance (inability to spell or compose prose etc.) of the sender. During an epidemic, e-mails cannot transmit diseases. Emails don't take up physical space and can't be damaged in a natural disaster. Delivery process Here is how a letter gets from the sender to the recipient: Sender composes and writes letter and may fold the letter so that it fits in an envelope. For bulk mailings, a folding machine may be employed. Sender places the letter in an envelope on which the recipient's address is written on the front of the envelope, or often is visible through a transparent window of the envelope. Sender ensures that the recipient's address includes the Zip or Postal Code (if applicable) and historically often included his/her return address on the envelope. For small volume private letters, the sender buys a postage stamp and attaches it to the top right corner on the front of the envelope. (For most commercial letters, postage stamps are not used: a franking machine or other methods are used to pay for postage.) Sender puts the letter in a postbox. The national postal service of the sender's country (e.g. Royal Mail, UK; USPS, United States; Australia Post in Australia; or Canada Post in Canada) empties the postbox and transports all the contents to the local sorting office. The sorting office then sorts each letter by address and postcode and sends the letters destined for a particular area to that area's local sorting office (sometimes called a delivery office). Letters addressed to a different region may go through more than one stage of transmission and sorting. The local delivery personnel collect the letters from the delivery office and deliver them to the proper addresses. In some areas, recipients may need to collect the letters from the local office. This process, depending on how far the sender is from the recipient, can take anywhere from a day to 3–4 weeks. International mail is sent via trains and airplanes to other countries. In 2008, Janet Barrett in the UK received an RSVP to a party invitation addressed to 'Percy Bateman', from 'Buffy', allegedly originally posted on 29 November 1919. It had taken 89 years to be delivered by the Royal Mail. However, Royal Mail denied this, saying that it would be impossible for a letter to have remained in their system for so long, as checks are carried out regularly. Instead, the letter dated 1919 may have "been a collector's item which was being sent in another envelope and somehow came free of the outer packaging". Forms of letters The forms (conformations) of letters have usually followed traditional norms of the times and places where correspondence took place. Aspects such as where to place the elements (salutation, body of letter, valediction/closing, sender's address, recipient's address, date, and so on) were somewhat standardized albeit also usually flexible in practice. The form often varied by kind of letter. For any kind, though, factors of cost—such as that each sheet/leaf of paper cost money to buy and to post, and the fact of who paid for the posting (sender or recipient)—placed constraints on the forms of letters that varied from negligible in some times and places to crucial in others. These factors of cost drove norms on whether to write on both sides of the leaf, whether to cross the leaf with lines written in both directions (horizontally and vertically), whether to allow margins and how big or small to make them, how much to abbreviate to save space, and whether to have a separate envelope and thus how to fold the letter and where on the leaf to put the addresses. Business encyclopedias and textbooks of the 19th and 20th centuries show that businesspeople of those eras sometimes took the standardization of the forms of business letters to extremes. Typists were required to follow dozens or hundreds of rules about element placement and sizing, some of them with rather arbitrary and even counterproductive (wastefully expensive) strictness. However, the effort to standardize (on where to put the information and how to represent it) did have various valid motivations, as in some respects it presaged the concept of data normalization, helping with the extensive manual indexing, cataloguing, and filing that characterized the clerking duties of the era. Over the centuries, a lexicon of abbreviations, metonymic short forms, and conventional valedictions developed for frequent use in letters. For example, "yours of the 12th
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affairs with her bedchamberwomen. Marie Antoinette was also the subject of such speculation for some months between 1795 and 1796. Female husbands Hermaphroditism appeared in medical literature enough to be considered common knowledge, although cases were rare. Homoerotic elements in literature were pervasive, specifically the masquerade of one gender for another to fool an unsuspecting woman into being seduced. Such plot devices were used in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601), The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser in 1590, and James Shirley's The Bird in a Cage (1633). Cases during the Renaissance of women taking on male personae and going undetected for years or decades have been recorded, though whether these cases would be described as transvestism by homosexual women, or in contemporary sociology characterised as transgender, is debated and depends on the individual details of each case. If discovered, punishments ranged from death, to time in the pillory, to being ordered never to dress as a man again. Henry Fielding wrote a pamphlet titled The Female Husband in 1746, based on the life of Mary Hamilton, who was arrested after marrying a woman while masquerading as a man, and was sentenced to public whipping and six months in jail. Similar examples were procured of Catharine Linck in Prussia in 1717, executed in 1721; Swiss Anne Grandjean married and relocated with her wife to Lyons, but was exposed by a woman with whom she had had a previous affair and sentenced to time in the stocks and prison. Queen Christina of Sweden's tendency to dress as a man was well known during her time, and excused because of her noble birth. She was brought up as a male and there was speculation at the time that she was a hermaphrodite. Even after Christina abdicated the throne in 1654 to avoid marriage, she was known to pursue romantic relationships with women. Some historians view cases of cross-dressing women to be manifestations of women seizing power they would naturally be unable to enjoy in feminine attire, or their way of making sense out of their desire for women. Lillian Faderman argues that Western society was threatened by women who rejected their feminine roles. Catharine Linck and other women who were accused of using dildos, such as two nuns in 16th century Spain executed for using "material instruments", were punished more severely than those who did not. Two marriages between women were recorded in Cheshire, England, in 1707 (between Hannah Wright and Anne Gaskill) and 1708 (between Ane Norton and Alice Pickford) with no comment about both parties being female. Reports of clergymen with lax standards who performed weddings—and wrote their suspicions about one member of the wedding party—continued to appear for the next century. Outside Europe, women were able to dress as men and go undetected. Deborah Sampson fought in the American Revolution under the name Robert Shurtlieff, and pursued relationships with women. Edward De Lacy Evans was born female in Ireland, but took a male name during the voyage to Australia and lived as a man for 23 years in Victoria, marrying three times. Percy Redwood created a scandal in New Zealand in 1909 when she was found to be Amy Bock, who had married a woman from Port Molyneaux; newspapers argued whether it was a sign of insanity or an inherent character flaw. Re-examining romantic friendships During the 17th through 19th centuries, a woman expressing passionate love for another woman was fashionable, accepted, and encouraged. These relationships were termed romantic friendships, Boston marriages, or "sentimental friends", and were common in the U.S., Europe, and especially in England. Documentation of these relationships is possible by a large volume of letters written between women. Whether the relationship included any genital component was not a matter for public discourse, but women could form strong and exclusive bonds with each other and still be considered virtuous, innocent, and chaste; a similar relationship with a man would have destroyed a woman's reputation. In fact, these relationships were promoted as alternatives to and practice for a woman's marriage to a man. One such relationship was between Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who wrote to Anne Wortley in 1709: "Nobody was so entirely, so faithfully yours ... I put in your lovers, for I don't allow it possible for a man to be so sincere as I am." Similarly, English poet Anna Seward had a devoted friendship to Honora Sneyd, who was the subject of many of Seward's sonnets and poems. When Sneyd married despite Seward's protest, Seward's poems became angry. However, Seward continued to write about Sneyd long after her death, extolling Sneyd's beauty and their affection and friendship. As a young woman, writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft was attached to a woman named Fanny Blood. Writing to another woman by whom she had recently felt betrayed, Wollstonecraft declared, "The roses will bloom when there's peace in the breast, and the prospect of living with my Fanny gladdens my heart:—You know not how I love her." Perhaps the most famous of these romantic friendships was between Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, nicknamed the Ladies of Llangollen. Butler and Ponsonby eloped in 1778, to the relief of Ponsonby's family (concerned about their reputation had she run away with a man) to live together in Wales for 51 years and be thought of as eccentrics. Their story was considered "the epitome of virtuous romantic friendship" and inspired poetry by Anna Seward and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Diarist Anne Lister, captivated by Butler and Ponsonby, recorded her affairs with women between 1817 and 1840. Some of it was written in code, detailing her sexual relationships with Marianna Belcombe and Maria Barlow. Both Lister and Eleanor Butler were considered masculine by contemporary news reports, and though there were suspicions that these relationships were sapphist in nature, they were nonetheless praised in literature. Romantic friendships were also popular in the U.S. Enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson wrote over 300 letters and poems to Susan Gilbert, who later became her sister-in-law, and engaged in another romantic correspondence with Kate Scott Anthon. Anthon broke off their relationship the same month Dickinson entered self-imposed lifelong seclusion. Nearby in Hartford, Connecticut, African American freeborn women Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus left evidence of their passion in letters: "No kisses is like youres". In Georgia, Alice Baldy wrote to Josie Varner in 1870, "Do you know that if you touch me, or speak to me there is not a nerve of fibre in my body that does not respond with a thrill of delight?" Around the turn of the 20th century, the development of higher education provided opportunities for women. In all-female surroundings, a culture of romantic pursuit was fostered in women's colleges. Older students mentored younger ones, called on them socially, took them to all-women dances, and sent them flowers, cards, and poems that declared their undying love for each other. These were called "smashes" or "spoons", and they were written about quite frankly in stories for girls aspiring to attend college in publications such as Ladies Home Journal, a children's magazine titled St. Nicholas, and a collection called Smith College Stories, without negative views. Enduring loyalty, devotion, and love were major components to these stories, and sexual acts beyond kissing were consistently absent. Women who had the option of a career instead of marriage labeled themselves New Women, and took their new opportunities very seriously. Faderman calls this period "the last breath of innocence" before 1920 when characterizations of female affection were connected to sexuality, marking lesbians as a unique and often unflatteringly-portrayed group. Specifically, Faderman connects the growth of women's independence and their beginning to reject strictly prescribed roles in the Victorian era to the scientific designation of lesbianism as a type of aberrant sexual behavior. Lesbian identity and gender role in historical western culture Construction of lesbian identity For some women, the realization that they participated in behavior or relationships that could be categorized as lesbian caused them to deny or conceal it, such as professor Jeannette Augustus Marks at Mount Holyoke College, who lived with the college president, Mary Woolley, for 36 years. Marks discouraged young women from "abnormal" friendships and insisted happiness could only be attained with a man. Other women, however, embraced the distinction and used their uniqueness to set themselves apart from heterosexual women and gay men. From the 1890s to the 1930s, American heiress Natalie Clifford Barney held a weekly salon in Paris to which major artistic celebrities were invited and where lesbian topics were the focus. Combining Greek influences with contemporary French eroticism, she attempted to create an updated and idealized version of Lesbos in her salon. Her contemporaries included artist Romaine Brooks, who painted others in her circle; writers Colette, Djuna Barnes, social host Gertrude Stein, and novelist Radclyffe Hall. Berlin had a vibrant homosexual culture in the 1920s, and about 50 clubs existed that catered to lesbians. Die Freundin (The Girlfriend) magazine, published between 1924 and 1933, targeted lesbians. Garçonne (aka Frauenliebe (Woman Love)) was aimed at lesbians and male transvestites. These publications were controlled by men as owners, publishers, and writers. Around 1926, Selli Engler founded Die BIF – Blätter Idealer Frauenfreundschaften (The BIF – Papers on Ideal Women Friendships), the first lesbian publication owned, published and written by women. In 1928, the lesbian bar and nightclub guide Berlins lesbische Frauen (The Lesbians of Berlin) by Ruth Margarite Röllig further popularized the German capital as a center of lesbian activity. Clubs varied between large establishments that became tourist attractions, to small neighborhood cafes where local women went to meet other women. The cabaret song "Das lila Lied" ("The Lavender Song") became an anthem to the lesbians of Berlin. Although it was sometimes tolerated, homosexuality was illegal in Germany and law enforcement used permitted gatherings as an opportunity to register the names of homosexuals for future reference. Magnus Hirschfeld's Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, which promoted tolerance for homosexuals in Germany, welcomed lesbian participation, and a surge of lesbian-themed writing and political activism in the German feminist movement became evident. In 1928, Radclyffe Hall published a novel titled The Well of Loneliness. The novel's plot centers around Stephen Gordon, a woman who identifies herself as an invert after reading Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis, and lives within the homosexual subculture of Paris. The novel included a foreword by Havelock Ellis and was intended to be a call for tolerance for inverts by publicizing their disadvantages and accidents of being born inverted. Hall subscribed to Ellis and Krafft-Ebing's theories and rejected Freud's theory that same-sex attraction was caused by childhood trauma and was curable. The publicity Hall received was due to unintended consequences; the novel was tried for obscenity in London, a spectacularly scandalous event described as "the crystallizing moment in the construction of a visible modern English lesbian subculture" by professor Laura Doan. Newspaper stories frankly divulged that the book's content includes "sexual relations between Lesbian women", and photographs of Hall often accompanied details about lesbians in most major print outlets within a span of six months. Hall reflected the appearance of a "mannish" woman in the 1920s: short cropped hair, tailored suits (often with pants), and monocle that became widely recognized as a "uniform". When British women supported the war effort during the First World War, they became familiar with masculine clothing, and were considered patriotic for wearing uniforms and pants. Postwar masculinization of women's clothing became associated primarily with lesbianism. In the United States, the 1920s was a decade of social experimentation, particularly with sex. This was heavily influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, who theorized that sexual desire would be sated unconsciously, despite an individual's wish to ignore it. Freud's theories were much more pervasive in the U.S. than in Europe. With the well-publicized notion that sexual acts were a part of lesbianism and their relationships, sexual experimentation was widespread. Large cities that provided a nightlife were immensely popular, and women began to seek out sexual adventure. Bisexuality became chic, particularly in America's first gay neighborhoods. No location saw more visitors for its possibilities of homosexual nightlife than Harlem, the predominantly African American section of New York City. White "slummers" enjoyed jazz, nightclubs, and anything else they wished. Blues singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Gladys Bentley sang about affairs with women to visitors such as Tallulah Bankhead, Beatrice Lillie, and the soon-to-be-named Joan Crawford. Homosexuals began to draw comparisons between their newly recognized minority status and that of African Americans. Among African American residents of Harlem, lesbian relationships were common and tolerated, though not overtly embraced. Some women staged lavish wedding ceremonies, even filing licenses using masculine names with New York City. Most homosexual women, however, were married to men and participated in affairs with women regularly. Across town, Greenwich Village also saw a growing homosexual community; both Harlem and Greenwich Village provided furnished rooms for single men and women, which was a major factor in their development as centers for homosexual communities. The tenor was different in Greenwich Village than Harlem, however. Bohemians—intellectuals who rejected Victorian ideals—gathered in the Village. Homosexuals were predominantly male, although figures such as poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and social host Mabel Dodge were known for their affairs with women and promotion of tolerance of homosexuality. Women in the U.S. who could not visit Harlem or live in Greenwich Village for the first time were able to visit saloons in the 1920s without being considered prostitutes. The existence of a public space for women to socialize in bars that were known to cater to lesbians "became the single most important public manifestation of the subculture for many decades", according to historian Lillian Faderman. The Great Depression The primary component necessary to encourage lesbians to be public and seek other women was economic independence, which virtually disappeared in the 1930s with the Great Depression. Most women in the U.S. found it necessary to marry, to a "front" such as a gay man where both could pursue homosexual relationships with public discretion, or to a man who expected a traditional wife. Independent women in the 1930s were generally seen as holding jobs that men should have. The social attitude made very small and close-knit communities in large cities that centered around bars, while simultaneously isolating women in other locales. Speaking of homosexuality in any context was socially forbidden, and women rarely discussed lesbianism even amongst themselves; they referred to openly gay people as "in the Life". Freudian psychoanalytic theory was pervasive in influencing doctors to consider homosexuality as a neurosis afflicting immature women. Homosexual subculture disappeared in Germany with the rise of the Nazis in 1933. World War II The onset of World War II caused a massive upheaval in people's lives as military mobilization engaged millions of men. Women were also accepted into the military in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WACs) and U.S. Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Unlike processes to screen out male homosexuals, which had been in place since the creation of the American military, there were no methods to identify or screen for lesbians; they were put into place gradually during World War II. Despite common attitudes regarding women's traditional roles in the 1930s, independent and masculine women were directly recruited by the military in the 1940s, and frailty discouraged. Some women were able to arrive at the recruiting station in a man's suit, deny ever having been in love with another woman, and be easily inducted. Sexual activity, however, was forbidden, and blue discharge was almost certain if one identified oneself as a lesbian. As women found each other, they formed into tight groups on base, socialized at service clubs, and began to use code words. Historian Allan Bérubé documented that homosexuals in the armed forces either consciously or subconsciously refused to identify themselves as homosexual or lesbian, and also never spoke about others' orientation. The most masculine women were not necessarily common, though they were visible so they tended to attract women interested in finding other lesbians. Women had to broach the subject about their interest in other women carefully, sometimes taking days to develop a common understanding without asking or stating anything outright. Women who did not enter the military were aggressively called upon to take industrial jobs left by men, in order to continue national productivity. The increased mobility, sophistication, and independence of many women during and after the war made it possible for women to live without husbands, something that would not have been feasible under different economic and social circumstances, further shaping lesbian networks and environments. Lesbians were not included under Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code, which made homosexual acts between males a crime. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) stipulates that this is because women were seen as subordinate to men, and the Nazi state feared lesbians less than gay men. However, many lesbians were arrested and imprisoned for "asocial" behaviour, a label which was applied to women who did not conform to the ideal Nazi image of a woman (cooking, cleaning, kitchen work, child raising, and passivity). These women were identified with an inverted black triangle. Although lesbianism was not specifically criminalized by Paragraph 175, some lesbians reclaimed the black triangle symbol as gay men reclaimed the pink triangle, and many lesbians also reclaimed the pink triangle. Postwar years Following World War II, a nationwide movement pressed to return to pre-war society as quickly as possible in the U.S. When combined with the increasing national paranoia about communism and psychoanalytic theory that had become pervasive in medical knowledge, homosexuality became an undesired characteristic of employees working for the U.S. government in 1950. Homosexuals were thought to be vulnerable targets to blackmail, and the government purged its employment ranks of open homosexuals, beginning a widespread effort to gather intelligence about employees' private lives. State and local governments followed suit, arresting people for congregating in bars and parks, and enacting laws against cross-dressing for men and women. The U.S. military and government conducted many interrogations, asking if women had ever had sexual relations with another woman and essentially equating even a one-time experience to a criminal identity, thereby severely delineating heterosexuals from homosexuals. In 1952, homosexuality was listed as a pathological emotional disturbance in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The view that homosexuality was a curable sickness was widely believed in the medical community, general population, and among many lesbians themselves. Attitudes and practices to ferret out homosexuals in public service positions extended to Australia and Canada. A section to create an offence of "gross indecency" between females was added to a bill in the United Kingdom House of Commons and passed there in 1921, but was rejected in the House of Lords, apparently because they were concerned any attention paid to sexual misconduct would also promote it. Underground socializing Very little information was available about homosexuality beyond medical and psychiatric texts. Community meeting places consisted of bars that were commonly raided by police once a month on average, with those arrested exposed in newspapers. In response, eight women in San Francisco met in their living rooms in 1955 to socialize and have a safe place to dance. When they decided to make it a regular meeting, they became the first organization for lesbians in the U.S., titled the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). The DOB began publishing a magazine titled The Ladder in 1956. Inside the front cover of every issue was their mission statement, the first of which stated was "Education of the variant". It was intended to provide women with knowledge about homosexuality—specifically relating to women and famous lesbians in history. However, by 1956, the term "lesbian" had such a negative meaning that the DOB refused to use it as a descriptor, choosing "variant" instead. The DOB spread to Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, and The Ladder was mailed to hundreds—eventually thousands—of DOB members discussing the nature of homosexuality, sometimes challenging the idea that it was a sickness, with readers offering their own reasons why they were lesbians and suggesting ways to cope with the condition or society's response to it. British lesbians followed with the publication of Arena Three beginning in 1964, with a similar mission. Butch and femme dichotomy As a reflection of categories of sexuality so sharply defined by the government and society at large, early lesbian subculture developed rigid gender roles between women, particularly among the working class in the U.S. and Canada. For working class lesbians who wanted to live as homosexuals, "A functioning couple ... meant dichotomous individuals, if not male and female, then butch and femme", and the only models they had to go by were "those of the traditional female-male [roles]". Although many municipalities enacted laws against cross-dressing, some women would socialize in bars as butches: dressed in men's clothing and mirroring traditional masculine behavior. Others wore traditionally feminine clothing and assumed the role of femmes. Butch and femme modes of socialization were so integral within lesbian bars that women who refused to choose between the two would be ignored, or at least unable to date anyone, and butch women becoming romantically involved with other butch women or femmes with other femmes was unacceptable. Butch women were not a novelty in the 1950s; even in Harlem and Greenwich Village in the 1920s some women assumed these personae. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, the roles were pervasive and not limited to North America: from 1940 to 1970, butch/femme bar culture flourished in Britain, though there were fewer class distinctions. They further identified members of a group that had been marginalized; women who had been rejected by most of society had an inside view of an exclusive group of people that took a high amount of knowledge to function in. Butch and femme were considered coarse by American lesbians of higher social standing during this period. Many wealthier women married to satisfy their familial obligations, and others escaped to Europe to live as expatriates. Lesbian-themed fiction Regardless of the lack of information about homosexuality in scholarly texts, another forum for learning about lesbianism was growing. A paperback book titled Women's Barracks describing a woman's experiences in the Free French Forces was published in 1950. It told of a lesbian relationship the author had witnessed. After 4.5 million copies were sold, it was consequently named in the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952. Its publisher, Gold Medal Books, followed with the novel Spring Fire in 1952, which sold 1.5 million copies. Gold Medal Books was overwhelmed with mail from women writing about the subject matter, and followed with more books, creating the genre of lesbian pulp fiction. Between 1955 and 1969 over 2,000 books were published using lesbianism as a topic, and they were sold in corner drugstores, train stations, bus stops, and newsstands all over the U.S. and Canada. Most were written by, and almost all were marketed to heterosexual men. Coded words and images were used on the covers. Instead of "lesbian", terms such as "strange", "twilight", "queer", and "third sex", were used in the titles, and cover art was invariably salacious. A handful of lesbian pulp fiction authors were women writing for lesbians, including Ann Bannon, Valerie Taylor, Paula Christian, and Vin Packer/Ann Aldrich. Bannon, who also purchased lesbian pulp fiction, later stated that women identified the material iconically by the cover art. Many of the books used cultural references: naming places, terms, describing modes of dress and other codes to isolated women. As a result, pulp fiction helped to proliferate a lesbian identity simultaneously to lesbians and heterosexual readers. Second-wave feminism The social rigidity of the 1950s and early 1960s encountered a backlash as social movements to improve the standing of African Americans, the poor, women, and gays all became prominent. Of the latter two, the gay rights movement and the feminist movement connected after a violent confrontation occurred in New York City in the 1969 Stonewall riots. What followed was a movement characterized by a surge of gay activism and feminist consciousness that further transformed the definition of lesbian. The sexual revolution in the 1970s introduced the differentiation between identity and sexual behavior for women. Many women took advantage of their new social freedom to try new experiences. Women who previously identified as heterosexual tried sex with women, though many maintained their heterosexual identity. However, with the advent of second wave feminism, lesbian as a political identity grew to describe a social philosophy among women, often overshadowing sexual desire as a defining trait. A militant feminist organization named Radicalesbians published a manifesto in 1970 entitled "The Woman-Identified Woman" that declared "A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion". Militant feminists expressed their disdain with an inherently sexist and patriarchal society, and concluded the most effective way to overcome sexism and attain the equality of women would be to deny men any power or pleasure from women. For women who subscribed to this philosophy—dubbing themselves lesbian-feminists—lesbian was a term chosen by women to describe any woman who dedicated her approach to social interaction and political motivation to the welfare of women. Sexual desire was not the defining characteristic of a lesbian-feminist, but rather her focus on politics. Independence from men as oppressors was a central tenet of lesbian-feminism, and many believers strove to separate themselves physically and economically from traditional male-centered culture. In the ideal society, named Lesbian Nation, "woman" and "lesbian" were interchangeable. Although lesbian-feminism was a significant shift, not all lesbians agreed with it. Lesbian-feminism was a youth-oriented movement: its members were primarily college educated, with experience in New Left and radical causes, but they had not seen any success in persuading radical organizations to take up women's issues. Many older lesbians who had acknowledged their sexuality in more conservative times felt maintaining their ways of coping in a homophobic world was more appropriate. The Daughters of Bilitis folded in 1970 over which direction to focus on: feminism or gay rights issues. As equality was a priority for lesbian-feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian-feminists eschewed gender role play that had been pervasive in bars, as well as the perceived chauvinism of gay men; many lesbian-feminists refused to work with gay men, or take up their causes. However, lesbians who held a more essentialist view that they had been born homosexual and used the descriptor "lesbian" to define sexual attraction, often considered the separatist, angry opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights. In 1980, poet and essayist Adrienne Rich expanded upon the political meaning of lesbian by proposing a continuum of lesbian existence based on "woman-identified experience" in her essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". All relationships between women, Rich proposed, have some lesbian element, regardless if they claim a lesbian identity: mothers and daughters, women who work together, and women who nurse each other, for example. Such a perception of women relating to each other connects them through time and across cultures, and Rich considered heterosexuality a condition forced upon women by men. Several years earlier, DOB founders Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon similarly relegated sexual acts as unnecessary in determining what a lesbian is, by providing their definition: "a woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional and social interest is in a member of her own sex, even though that interest may not be overtly expressed". Outside western culture Middle East Arabic-language historical records have used various terms to describe sexual practices between women. A common one is "sahq" which refers to the act of "rubbing." Lesbian practices and identities are, however, largely absent from the historical record. The common term to describe lesbianism in Arabic today is essentially the same term used to describe men, and thus the distinction between male and female homosexuality is to a certain extent linguistically obscured in contemporary queer discourse. Overall, the study of contemporary lesbian experience in the region is complicated by power dynamics in the postcolonial context, shaped even by what some scholars refer to as "homonationalism," the use of politicized understanding of sexual categories to advance specific national interests on the domestic and international stage. Female homosexual behavior may be present in every culture, although the concept of a lesbian as a woman who pairs exclusively with other women is not. Attitudes about female homosexual behavior are dependent upon women's roles in each society and each culture's definition of sex. Women in the Middle East have been historically segregated from men. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some extraordinary women dressed in male attire when gender roles were less strict, but the sexual roles that accompanied European women were not associated with Islamic women. The Caliphal court in Baghdad featured women who dressed as men, including false facial hair, but they competed with other women for the attentions of men. According to the 12th-century writings of Sharif al-Idrisi, highly intelligent women were more likely to be lesbians; their intellectual prowess put them on a more even par with men. Relations between women who lived in harems and fears of women being sexually intimate in Turkish baths were expressed in writings by men. Women, however, were mostly silent and men likewise rarely wrote about lesbian relationships. It is unclear to historians if the rare instances of lesbianism mentioned in literature are an accurate historical record or intended to serve as fantasies for men. A 1978 treatise about repression in Iran asserted that women were completely silenced: "In the whole of Iranian history, [no woman] has been allowed to speak out for such tendencies ... To attest to lesbian desires would be an unforgivable crime." Although the authors of Islamic Homosexualities argued this did not mean women could not engage in lesbian relationships, a lesbian anthropologist in 1991 visited Yemen and reported that women in the town she visited were unable to comprehend her romantic relationship to another woman. Women in Pakistan are expected to marry men; those who do not are ostracized. Women, however, may have intimate relations with other women as long as their wifely duties are met, their private matters are kept quiet, and the woman with whom they are involved is somehow related by family or logical interest to her lover. Individuals identifying with or otherwise engaging in lesbian practices in the region can face family violence and societal persecution, including what are commonly referred to as "honor killings." The justifications provided by murderers relate to a person's perceived sexual immorality, loss of virginity (outside of acceptable frames of marriage), and target female victims primarily. The Americas Some Indigenous peoples of the Americas conceptualize a third gender for women who dress as, and fulfill the roles usually filled by, men in their cultures. In other cases they may see gender as a spectrum, and use different terms for feminine women and masculine women. However, these identities are rooted in the context of the ceremonial and cultural lives of the particular Indigenous cultures, and "simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit." These ceremonial and social roles, which are conferred and confirmed by the person's elders, "do not make sense" when defined by non-Native concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity. Rather, they must be understood in an Indigenous context, as traditional spiritual and social roles held by the person in their Indigenous community. In Latin America, lesbian consciousness and associations appeared in the 1970s, increasing while several countries transitioned to or reformed democratic governments. Harassment and intimidation have been common even in places where homosexuality is legal, and laws against child corruption, morality, or "the good ways" (faltas a la moral o las buenas costumbres), have been used to persecute homosexuals. From the Hispanic perspective, the conflict between the lesbophobia of some feminists and the misogyny from gay men has created a difficult path for lesbians and associated groups. Argentina was the first Latin American country with a gay rights group, Nuestro Mundo (NM, or Our World), created in 1969. Six mostly secret organizations concentrating on gay or lesbian issues were founded around this time, but persecution and harassment were continuous and grew worse with the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in 1976, when all groups were dissolved in the Dirty War. Lesbian rights groups have gradually formed since 1986 to build a cohesive community that works to overcome philosophical differences with heterosexual women. The Latin American lesbian movement has been the most active in Mexico, but has encountered similar problems in effectiveness and cohesion. While groups try to promote lesbian issues and concerns, they also face misogynistic attitudes from gay men and homophobic views from heterosexual women. In 1977, Lesbos, the first lesbian organization for Mexicans, was formed. Several incarnations of political groups promoting lesbian issues have evolved; 13 lesbian organizations were active in Mexico City in 1997. Ultimately, however, lesbian associations have had little influence both on the homosexual and feminist movements. In Chile, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet forbade the creation of lesbian groups until 1984, when Ayuquelén ("joy of being" in Mapuche) was first founded, prompted by the very public beating death of a woman amid shouts of "Damned lesbian!" from her attacker. The lesbian movement has been closely associated with the feminist movement in Chile, although the relationship has been sometimes strained. Ayuquelén worked with the International Lesbian Information Service, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and the Chilean gay rights group Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movement to Integrate and Liberate Homosexuals) to remove the sodomy law still in force in Chile. Lesbian consciousness became more visible in Nicaragua in 1986, when the Sandinista National Liberation Front expelled gay men and lesbians from its midst. State persecution prevented the formation of associations until AIDS became a concern, when educational efforts forced sexual minorities to band together. The first lesbian organization was Nosotras, founded in 1989. An effort to promote visibility from 1991 to 1992 provoked the government to declare homosexuality illegal in 1994, effectively ending the movement, until 2004, when Grupo Safo – Grupo de Mujeres Lesbianas de Nicaragua was created, four years before homosexuality became legal again. The meetings of feminist lesbians of Latin America and the Caribbean, sometimes shortened to "Lesbian meetings", have been an important forum for the exchange of ideas for Latin American lesbians since the late 1980s. With rotating hosts and biannual gatherings, its main aims are the creation of communication networks, to change the situation of lesbians in Latin America (both legally and socially), to increase solidarity between lesbians and to destroy the existing myths about them. Africa Cross-gender roles and marriage between women has also been recorded in over 30 African societies. Women may marry other women, raise their children, and be generally thought of as men in societies in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya. The Hausa people of Sudan have a term equivalent to lesbian, kifi, that may also be applied to males to mean "neither party insists on a particular sexual role". Near the Congo River, a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the Nkundo people is known as yaikya bonsángo (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in Ghana among the Akan people. In Lesotho, females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in cunnilingus, and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, however, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians. In South Africa, lesbians are raped by heterosexual men with a goal of punishment of "abnormal" behavior and reinforcement of societal norms. The crime was first identified in South Africa where it is sometimes supervised by members of the woman's family or local community, and is a major contributor to HIV infection in South African lesbians. "Corrective rape" is not recognized by the South African legal system as a hate crime despite the fact that the South African Constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their social status and identity, including sexual orientation. Legally, South Africa protects gay rights extensively, but the government has not taken proactive action to prevent corrective rape, and women do not have much faith in the police and their investigations. Corrective rape is reported to be on the rise in South Africa. The South African nonprofit "Luleki Sizwe" estimates that more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang-raped on a weekly basis. As made public by the Triangle Project in 2008, at least 500 lesbians become victims of corrective rape every year and 86% of black lesbians in the Western Cape live in fear of being sexually assaulted. Victims of corrective rape are less likely to report the crime because of their society's negative beliefs about homosexuality. Asia China before westernization was another society that segregated men from women. Historical Chinese culture has not recognized a concept of sexual orientation, or a framework to divide people based on their same-sex or opposite-sex attractions. Although there was a significant culture surrounding homosexual men, there was none for women. Outside their duties to bear sons to their husbands, women were perceived as having no sexuality at all. This did not mean that women could not pursue sexual relationships with other women, but that such associations could not impose upon women's relationships to men. Rare references to lesbianism were written by Ying Shao, who identified same-sex relationships between women in imperial courts who behaved as husband and wife as dui shi (paired eating). "Golden Orchid Associations" in Southern China existed into the 20th century and promoted formal marriages between women, who were then allowed to adopt children. Westernization brought new ideas that all sexual behavior not resulting in reproduction was aberrant. The liberty of being employed in silk factories starting in 1865 allowed some women to style themselves tzu-shu nii (never to marry) and live in communes with other women. Other Chinese called them sou-hei (self-combers) for adopting hairstyles of married women. These communes passed because of the Great Depression and were subsequently discouraged by the communist government for being a relic of feudal China. In contemporary Chinese society, tongzhi (same goal or spirit) is the term used to refer to homosexuals; most Chinese are reluctant to divide this classification further to identify lesbians. In Japan, the term rezubian, a Japanese pronunciation of "lesbian", was used during the 1920s. Westernization brought more independence for women and allowed some Japanese women to wear pants. The cognate tomboy is used in the Philippines, and particularly in Manila, to denote women who are more masculine. Virtuous women in Korea prioritize motherhood, chastity, and virginity; outside this scope, very few women are free to express themselves through sexuality, although there is a growing organization for lesbians named Kkirikkiri. The term pondan is used in Malaysia to refer to gay men, but since there is no historical context to reference lesbians, the term is used for female homosexuals as well. As in many Asian countries, open homosexuality is discouraged in many social levels, so many Malaysians lead double lives. In India, a 14th-century Indian text mentioning a lesbian couple who had a child as a result of their lovemaking is an exception to the general silence about female homosexuality. According to Ruth Vanita, this invisibility disappeared with the release of a film titled Fire in 1996, prompting some theaters in India to be attacked by religious extremists. Terms used to label homosexuals are often rejected by Indian activists for being the result of imperialist influence, but most discourse on homosexuality centers on men. Women's rights groups in India continue to debate the legitimacy of including lesbian issues in their platforms, as lesbians and material focusing on female homosexuality are frequently suppressed. Demographics The Kinsey Report The most extensive early study of female homosexuality was provided by the Institute for Sex Research, who published an in-depth report of the sexual experiences of American women in 1953. More than 8,000 women were interviewed by Alfred Kinsey and the staff of the Institute for Sex Research in a book titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, popularly known as part of the Kinsey Report. The Kinsey Report's dispassionate discussion of homosexuality as a form of human sexual behavior was revolutionary. Up to this study, only physicians and psychiatrists studied sexual behavior, and almost always the results were interpreted with a moral view. Kinsey and his staff reported that 28% of women had been aroused by another female, and 19% had a sexual contact with another female. Of women who had sexual contact with another female, half to two-thirds of them had orgasmed. Single women had the highest prevalence of homosexual activity, followed by women who were widowed, divorced, or separated. The lowest occurrence of sexual activity was among married women; those with previous homosexual experience reported they married to stop homosexual activity. Most of the women who reported homosexual activity had not experienced it more than ten times. Fifty-one percent of women reporting homosexual experience had only one partner. Women with post-graduate education had a higher prevalence of homosexual experience, followed by women with a college education; the smallest occurrence was among women with education no higher than eighth grade. However, Kinsey's methodology was criticized. Based on Kinsey's scale where 0 represents a person with an exclusively heterosexual response and 6 represents a person with an exclusively homosexual one, and numbers in between represent a gradient of responses with both sexes, 6% of those interviewed ranked as a 6: exclusively homosexual. Apart from those who ranked 0 (71%), the largest percentage in between 0 and 6 was 1 at approximately 15%. However, the Kinsey Report remarked that the ranking described a period in a person's life, and that a person's orientation may change. Among the criticisms the Kinsey Report received, a particular one addressed the Institute for Sex Research's tendency to use statistical sampling, which facilitated an over-representation of same-sex relationships by other researchers who did not adhere to Kinsey's qualifications of data. The Hite Report Twenty-three years later, in 1976, sexologist Shere Hite published a report on the sexual encounters of 3,019 women who had responded to questionnaires, under the title The Hite Report. Hite's questions differed from Kinsey's, focusing more on how women identified, or what they preferred rather than experience. Respondents to Hite's questions indicated that 8% preferred sex with women and 9% answered that they identified as bisexual or had sexual experiences with men and women, though they refused to indicate preference. Hite's conclusions are more based on respondents' comments than quantifiable data. She found it "striking" that many women who had no lesbian experiences indicated they were interested in sex with women, particularly because the question was not asked. Hite found the two most significant differences between respondents' experience with men and women were the focus on clitoral stimulation, and more emotional involvement and orgasmic responses. Since Hite performed her study during the popularity of feminism in the 1970s, she also acknowledged that women may have chosen the political identity of a lesbian. Population estimates Lesbians in the U.S. are estimated to be about 2.6% of the population, according to a National Opinion Research Center survey of sexually active adults who had had same-sex experiences within the past year, completed in 2000. A survey of same-sex couples in the United States showed that between 2000 and 2005, the number of people claiming to be in same-sex relationships increased by 30%—five times the rate of population growth in the U.S. The study attributed the jump to people being more comfortable self-identifying as homosexual to the federal government. The government of the United Kingdom does not ask citizens to define their sexuality. However, a survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2010 found that 1.5% of Britons identified themselves as gay or bisexual, and the ONS suggests that this is in line with other surveys showing the number between 0.3% and 3%. Estimates of lesbians are sometimes not differentiated in studies of same-sex households, such as those performed by the U.S. census, and estimates of total gay, lesbian, or bisexual population by the UK government. However, polls in Australia have recorded a range of self-identified lesbian or bisexual women from 1.3% to 2.2% of the total population. Health Physical In terms of medical issues, lesbians are referred to as women who have sex with women (WSW) because of the misconceptions and assumptions about women's sexuality and some women's hesitancy to disclose their accurate sexual histories even to a physician. Many self-identified lesbians neglect to see a physician because they do not participate in heterosexual activity and require no birth control, which is the initiating factor for most women to seek consultation with a gynecologist when they become sexually active. As a result, many lesbians are not screened regularly with Pap smears. The U.S. government reports that some lesbians neglect seeking medical screening in the U.S.; they lack health insurance because many employers do not offer health benefits to domestic partners. The result of the lack of medical information on WSW is that medical professionals and some lesbians perceive lesbians as having lower risks of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases or types of cancer. When women do seek medical attention, medical professionals often fail to take a complete medical history. In a 2006 study of 2,345 lesbian and bisexual women, only 9.3% had claimed they had ever been asked their sexual orientation by a physician. A third of the respondents believed disclosing their sexual history would result in a negative reaction, and 30% had received a negative reaction from a medical professional after identifying themselves as lesbian or bisexual. A patient's complete history helps medical professionals identify higher risk areas and corrects assumptions about the personal histories of women. In a similar survey of 6,935 lesbians, 77% had had sexual contact with one or more male partners, and 6% had that contact within the previous year. Heart disease is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the number one cause of death for all women. Factors that add to risk of heart disease include obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent in lesbians. Studies show that lesbians have a higher body mass and are generally less concerned about weight issues than heterosexual women, and lesbians consider women with higher body masses to be more attractive than heterosexual women do. Lesbians are more likely to exercise regularly than heterosexual women, and lesbians do not generally exercise for aesthetic reasons, although heterosexual women do. Research is needed to determine specific causes of obesity in lesbians. Lack of differentiation between homosexual and heterosexual women in medical studies that concentrate on health issues for women skews results for lesbians and non-lesbian women. Reports are inconclusive about occurrence of breast cancer in lesbians. It has been determined, however, that the lower rate of lesbians tested by regular Pap smears makes it more difficult to detect cervical cancer at early stages in lesbians. The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer rates are higher in lesbians than heterosexual women, perhaps because many lesbians lack protective factors of pregnancy, abortion, contraceptives, breast feeding, and miscarriages. Some sexually transmitted diseases are communicable between women, including human papillomavirus (HPV)—specifically genital warts—squamous intraepithelial lesions, trichomoniasis, syphilis, and herpes simplex virus (HSV). Transmission of specific sexually transmitted diseases among women who have sex with women depends on the sexual practices women engage in. Any object that comes in contact with cervical secretions, vaginal mucosa, or menstrual blood, including fingers or penetrative objects may transmit sexually transmitted diseases. Orogenital contact may indicate a higher risk of acquiring HSV, even among women who have had no prior sex with men. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) occurs more often in lesbians, but it is unclear if BV is transmitted by sexual contact; it occurs in celibate as well as sexually active women. BV often occurs in both partners in a lesbian relationship; a recent study of women with BV found that 81% had partners with BV. Lesbians are not included in a category of frequency of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission, although transmission is possible through vaginal and cervical secretions. The highest rate of transmission of HIV to lesbians is among women who participate in intravenous drug use or have sexual intercourse with bisexual men. Mental Since medical literature began to describe homosexuality, it has often been approached from a view
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and 1796. Female husbands Hermaphroditism appeared in medical literature enough to be considered common knowledge, although cases were rare. Homoerotic elements in literature were pervasive, specifically the masquerade of one gender for another to fool an unsuspecting woman into being seduced. Such plot devices were used in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601), The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser in 1590, and James Shirley's The Bird in a Cage (1633). Cases during the Renaissance of women taking on male personae and going undetected for years or decades have been recorded, though whether these cases would be described as transvestism by homosexual women, or in contemporary sociology characterised as transgender, is debated and depends on the individual details of each case. If discovered, punishments ranged from death, to time in the pillory, to being ordered never to dress as a man again. Henry Fielding wrote a pamphlet titled The Female Husband in 1746, based on the life of Mary Hamilton, who was arrested after marrying a woman while masquerading as a man, and was sentenced to public whipping and six months in jail. Similar examples were procured of Catharine Linck in Prussia in 1717, executed in 1721; Swiss Anne Grandjean married and relocated with her wife to Lyons, but was exposed by a woman with whom she had had a previous affair and sentenced to time in the stocks and prison. Queen Christina of Sweden's tendency to dress as a man was well known during her time, and excused because of her noble birth. She was brought up as a male and there was speculation at the time that she was a hermaphrodite. Even after Christina abdicated the throne in 1654 to avoid marriage, she was known to pursue romantic relationships with women. Some historians view cases of cross-dressing women to be manifestations of women seizing power they would naturally be unable to enjoy in feminine attire, or their way of making sense out of their desire for women. Lillian Faderman argues that Western society was threatened by women who rejected their feminine roles. Catharine Linck and other women who were accused of using dildos, such as two nuns in 16th century Spain executed for using "material instruments", were punished more severely than those who did not. Two marriages between women were recorded in Cheshire, England, in 1707 (between Hannah Wright and Anne Gaskill) and 1708 (between Ane Norton and Alice Pickford) with no comment about both parties being female. Reports of clergymen with lax standards who performed weddings—and wrote their suspicions about one member of the wedding party—continued to appear for the next century. Outside Europe, women were able to dress as men and go undetected. Deborah Sampson fought in the American Revolution under the name Robert Shurtlieff, and pursued relationships with women. Edward De Lacy Evans was born female in Ireland, but took a male name during the voyage to Australia and lived as a man for 23 years in Victoria, marrying three times. Percy Redwood created a scandal in New Zealand in 1909 when she was found to be Amy Bock, who had married a woman from Port Molyneaux; newspapers argued whether it was a sign of insanity or an inherent character flaw. Re-examining romantic friendships During the 17th through 19th centuries, a woman expressing passionate love for another woman was fashionable, accepted, and encouraged. These relationships were termed romantic friendships, Boston marriages, or "sentimental friends", and were common in the U.S., Europe, and especially in England. Documentation of these relationships is possible by a large volume of letters written between women. Whether the relationship included any genital component was not a matter for public discourse, but women could form strong and exclusive bonds with each other and still be considered virtuous, innocent, and chaste; a similar relationship with a man would have destroyed a woman's reputation. In fact, these relationships were promoted as alternatives to and practice for a woman's marriage to a man. One such relationship was between Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who wrote to Anne Wortley in 1709: "Nobody was so entirely, so faithfully yours ... I put in your lovers, for I don't allow it possible for a man to be so sincere as I am." Similarly, English poet Anna Seward had a devoted friendship to Honora Sneyd, who was the subject of many of Seward's sonnets and poems. When Sneyd married despite Seward's protest, Seward's poems became angry. However, Seward continued to write about Sneyd long after her death, extolling Sneyd's beauty and their affection and friendship. As a young woman, writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft was attached to a woman named Fanny Blood. Writing to another woman by whom she had recently felt betrayed, Wollstonecraft declared, "The roses will bloom when there's peace in the breast, and the prospect of living with my Fanny gladdens my heart:—You know not how I love her." Perhaps the most famous of these romantic friendships was between Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, nicknamed the Ladies of Llangollen. Butler and Ponsonby eloped in 1778, to the relief of Ponsonby's family (concerned about their reputation had she run away with a man) to live together in Wales for 51 years and be thought of as eccentrics. Their story was considered "the epitome of virtuous romantic friendship" and inspired poetry by Anna Seward and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Diarist Anne Lister, captivated by Butler and Ponsonby, recorded her affairs with women between 1817 and 1840. Some of it was written in code, detailing her sexual relationships with Marianna Belcombe and Maria Barlow. Both Lister and Eleanor Butler were considered masculine by contemporary news reports, and though there were suspicions that these relationships were sapphist in nature, they were nonetheless praised in literature. Romantic friendships were also popular in the U.S. Enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson wrote over 300 letters and poems to Susan Gilbert, who later became her sister-in-law, and engaged in another romantic correspondence with Kate Scott Anthon. Anthon broke off their relationship the same month Dickinson entered self-imposed lifelong seclusion. Nearby in Hartford, Connecticut, African American freeborn women Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus left evidence of their passion in letters: "No kisses is like youres". In Georgia, Alice Baldy wrote to Josie Varner in 1870, "Do you know that if you touch me, or speak to me there is not a nerve of fibre in my body that does not respond with a thrill of delight?" Around the turn of the 20th century, the development of higher education provided opportunities for women. In all-female surroundings, a culture of romantic pursuit was fostered in women's colleges. Older students mentored younger ones, called on them socially, took them to all-women dances, and sent them flowers, cards, and poems that declared their undying love for each other. These were called "smashes" or "spoons", and they were written about quite frankly in stories for girls aspiring to attend college in publications such as Ladies Home Journal, a children's magazine titled St. Nicholas, and a collection called Smith College Stories, without negative views. Enduring loyalty, devotion, and love were major components to these stories, and sexual acts beyond kissing were consistently absent. Women who had the option of a career instead of marriage labeled themselves New Women, and took their new opportunities very seriously. Faderman calls this period "the last breath of innocence" before 1920 when characterizations of female affection were connected to sexuality, marking lesbians as a unique and often unflatteringly-portrayed group. Specifically, Faderman connects the growth of women's independence and their beginning to reject strictly prescribed roles in the Victorian era to the scientific designation of lesbianism as a type of aberrant sexual behavior. Lesbian identity and gender role in historical western culture Construction of lesbian identity For some women, the realization that they participated in behavior or relationships that could be categorized as lesbian caused them to deny or conceal it, such as professor Jeannette Augustus Marks at Mount Holyoke College, who lived with the college president, Mary Woolley, for 36 years. Marks discouraged young women from "abnormal" friendships and insisted happiness could only be attained with a man. Other women, however, embraced the distinction and used their uniqueness to set themselves apart from heterosexual women and gay men. From the 1890s to the 1930s, American heiress Natalie Clifford Barney held a weekly salon in Paris to which major artistic celebrities were invited and where lesbian topics were the focus. Combining Greek influences with contemporary French eroticism, she attempted to create an updated and idealized version of Lesbos in her salon. Her contemporaries included artist Romaine Brooks, who painted others in her circle; writers Colette, Djuna Barnes, social host Gertrude Stein, and novelist Radclyffe Hall. Berlin had a vibrant homosexual culture in the 1920s, and about 50 clubs existed that catered to lesbians. Die Freundin (The Girlfriend) magazine, published between 1924 and 1933, targeted lesbians. Garçonne (aka Frauenliebe (Woman Love)) was aimed at lesbians and male transvestites. These publications were controlled by men as owners, publishers, and writers. Around 1926, Selli Engler founded Die BIF – Blätter Idealer Frauenfreundschaften (The BIF – Papers on Ideal Women Friendships), the first lesbian publication owned, published and written by women. In 1928, the lesbian bar and nightclub guide Berlins lesbische Frauen (The Lesbians of Berlin) by Ruth Margarite Röllig further popularized the German capital as a center of lesbian activity. Clubs varied between large establishments that became tourist attractions, to small neighborhood cafes where local women went to meet other women. The cabaret song "Das lila Lied" ("The Lavender Song") became an anthem to the lesbians of Berlin. Although it was sometimes tolerated, homosexuality was illegal in Germany and law enforcement used permitted gatherings as an opportunity to register the names of homosexuals for future reference. Magnus Hirschfeld's Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, which promoted tolerance for homosexuals in Germany, welcomed lesbian participation, and a surge of lesbian-themed writing and political activism in the German feminist movement became evident. In 1928, Radclyffe Hall published a novel titled The Well of Loneliness. The novel's plot centers around Stephen Gordon, a woman who identifies herself as an invert after reading Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis, and lives within the homosexual subculture of Paris. The novel included a foreword by Havelock Ellis and was intended to be a call for tolerance for inverts by publicizing their disadvantages and accidents of being born inverted. Hall subscribed to Ellis and Krafft-Ebing's theories and rejected Freud's theory that same-sex attraction was caused by childhood trauma and was curable. The publicity Hall received was due to unintended consequences; the novel was tried for obscenity in London, a spectacularly scandalous event described as "the crystallizing moment in the construction of a visible modern English lesbian subculture" by professor Laura Doan. Newspaper stories frankly divulged that the book's content includes "sexual relations between Lesbian women", and photographs of Hall often accompanied details about lesbians in most major print outlets within a span of six months. Hall reflected the appearance of a "mannish" woman in the 1920s: short cropped hair, tailored suits (often with pants), and monocle that became widely recognized as a "uniform". When British women supported the war effort during the First World War, they became familiar with masculine clothing, and were considered patriotic for wearing uniforms and pants. Postwar masculinization of women's clothing became associated primarily with lesbianism. In the United States, the 1920s was a decade of social experimentation, particularly with sex. This was heavily influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, who theorized that sexual desire would be sated unconsciously, despite an individual's wish to ignore it. Freud's theories were much more pervasive in the U.S. than in Europe. With the well-publicized notion that sexual acts were a part of lesbianism and their relationships, sexual experimentation was widespread. Large cities that provided a nightlife were immensely popular, and women began to seek out sexual adventure. Bisexuality became chic, particularly in America's first gay neighborhoods. No location saw more visitors for its possibilities of homosexual nightlife than Harlem, the predominantly African American section of New York City. White "slummers" enjoyed jazz, nightclubs, and anything else they wished. Blues singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Gladys Bentley sang about affairs with women to visitors such as Tallulah Bankhead, Beatrice Lillie, and the soon-to-be-named Joan Crawford. Homosexuals began to draw comparisons between their newly recognized minority status and that of African Americans. Among African American residents of Harlem, lesbian relationships were common and tolerated, though not overtly embraced. Some women staged lavish wedding ceremonies, even filing licenses using masculine names with New York City. Most homosexual women, however, were married to men and participated in affairs with women regularly. Across town, Greenwich Village also saw a growing homosexual community; both Harlem and Greenwich Village provided furnished rooms for single men and women, which was a major factor in their development as centers for homosexual communities. The tenor was different in Greenwich Village than Harlem, however. Bohemians—intellectuals who rejected Victorian ideals—gathered in the Village. Homosexuals were predominantly male, although figures such as poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and social host Mabel Dodge were known for their affairs with women and promotion of tolerance of homosexuality. Women in the U.S. who could not visit Harlem or live in Greenwich Village for the first time were able to visit saloons in the 1920s without being considered prostitutes. The existence of a public space for women to socialize in bars that were known to cater to lesbians "became the single most important public manifestation of the subculture for many decades", according to historian Lillian Faderman. The Great Depression The primary component necessary to encourage lesbians to be public and seek other women was economic independence, which virtually disappeared in the 1930s with the Great Depression. Most women in the U.S. found it necessary to marry, to a "front" such as a gay man where both could pursue homosexual relationships with public discretion, or to a man who expected a traditional wife. Independent women in the 1930s were generally seen as holding jobs that men should have. The social attitude made very small and close-knit communities in large cities that centered around bars, while simultaneously isolating women in other locales. Speaking of homosexuality in any context was socially forbidden, and women rarely discussed lesbianism even amongst themselves; they referred to openly gay people as "in the Life". Freudian psychoanalytic theory was pervasive in influencing doctors to consider homosexuality as a neurosis afflicting immature women. Homosexual subculture disappeared in Germany with the rise of the Nazis in 1933. World War II The onset of World War II caused a massive upheaval in people's lives as military mobilization engaged millions of men. Women were also accepted into the military in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WACs) and U.S. Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Unlike processes to screen out male homosexuals, which had been in place since the creation of the American military, there were no methods to identify or screen for lesbians; they were put into place gradually during World War II. Despite common attitudes regarding women's traditional roles in the 1930s, independent and masculine women were directly recruited by the military in the 1940s, and frailty discouraged. Some women were able to arrive at the recruiting station in a man's suit, deny ever having been in love with another woman, and be easily inducted. Sexual activity, however, was forbidden, and blue discharge was almost certain if one identified oneself as a lesbian. As women found each other, they formed into tight groups on base, socialized at service clubs, and began to use code words. Historian Allan Bérubé documented that homosexuals in the armed forces either consciously or subconsciously refused to identify themselves as homosexual or lesbian, and also never spoke about others' orientation. The most masculine women were not necessarily common, though they were visible so they tended to attract women interested in finding other lesbians. Women had to broach the subject about their interest in other women carefully, sometimes taking days to develop a common understanding without asking or stating anything outright. Women who did not enter the military were aggressively called upon to take industrial jobs left by men, in order to continue national productivity. The increased mobility, sophistication, and independence of many women during and after the war made it possible for women to live without husbands, something that would not have been feasible under different economic and social circumstances, further shaping lesbian networks and environments. Lesbians were not included under Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code, which made homosexual acts between males a crime. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) stipulates that this is because women were seen as subordinate to men, and the Nazi state feared lesbians less than gay men. However, many lesbians were arrested and imprisoned for "asocial" behaviour, a label which was applied to women who did not conform to the ideal Nazi image of a woman (cooking, cleaning, kitchen work, child raising, and passivity). These women were identified with an inverted black triangle. Although lesbianism was not specifically criminalized by Paragraph 175, some lesbians reclaimed the black triangle symbol as gay men reclaimed the pink triangle, and many lesbians also reclaimed the pink triangle. Postwar years Following World War II, a nationwide movement pressed to return to pre-war society as quickly as possible in the U.S. When combined with the increasing national paranoia about communism and psychoanalytic theory that had become pervasive in medical knowledge, homosexuality became an undesired characteristic of employees working for the U.S. government in 1950. Homosexuals were thought to be vulnerable targets to blackmail, and the government purged its employment ranks of open homosexuals, beginning a widespread effort to gather intelligence about employees' private lives. State and local governments followed suit, arresting people for congregating in bars and parks, and enacting laws against cross-dressing for men and women. The U.S. military and government conducted many interrogations, asking if women had ever had sexual relations with another woman and essentially equating even a one-time experience to a criminal identity, thereby severely delineating heterosexuals from homosexuals. In 1952, homosexuality was listed as a pathological emotional disturbance in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The view that homosexuality was a curable sickness was widely believed in the medical community, general population, and among many lesbians themselves. Attitudes and practices to ferret out homosexuals in public service positions extended to Australia and Canada. A section to create an offence of "gross indecency" between females was added to a bill in the United Kingdom House of Commons and passed there in 1921, but was rejected in the House of Lords, apparently because they were concerned any attention paid to sexual misconduct would also promote it. Underground socializing Very little information was available about homosexuality beyond medical and psychiatric texts. Community meeting places consisted of bars that were commonly raided by police once a month on average, with those arrested exposed in newspapers. In response, eight women in San Francisco met in their living rooms in 1955 to socialize and have a safe place to dance. When they decided to make it a regular meeting, they became the first organization for lesbians in the U.S., titled the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). The DOB began publishing a magazine titled The Ladder in 1956. Inside the front cover of every issue was their mission statement, the first of which stated was "Education of the variant". It was intended to provide women with knowledge about homosexuality—specifically relating to women and famous lesbians in history. However, by 1956, the term "lesbian" had such a negative meaning that the DOB refused to use it as a descriptor, choosing "variant" instead. The DOB spread to Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, and The Ladder was mailed to hundreds—eventually thousands—of DOB members discussing the nature of homosexuality, sometimes challenging the idea that it was a sickness, with readers offering their own reasons why they were lesbians and suggesting ways to cope with the condition or society's response to it. British lesbians followed with the publication of Arena Three beginning in 1964, with a similar mission. Butch and femme dichotomy As a reflection of categories of sexuality so sharply defined by the government and society at large, early lesbian subculture developed rigid gender roles between women, particularly among the working class in the U.S. and Canada. For working class lesbians who wanted to live as homosexuals, "A functioning couple ... meant dichotomous individuals, if not male and female, then butch and femme", and the only models they had to go by were "those of the traditional female-male [roles]". Although many municipalities enacted laws against cross-dressing, some women would socialize in bars as butches: dressed in men's clothing and mirroring traditional masculine behavior. Others wore traditionally feminine clothing and assumed the role of femmes. Butch and femme modes of socialization were so integral within lesbian bars that women who refused to choose between the two would be ignored, or at least unable to date anyone, and butch women becoming romantically involved with other butch women or femmes with other femmes was unacceptable. Butch women were not a novelty in the 1950s; even in Harlem and Greenwich Village in the 1920s some women assumed these personae. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, the roles were pervasive and not limited to North America: from 1940 to 1970, butch/femme bar culture flourished in Britain, though there were fewer class distinctions. They further identified members of a group that had been marginalized; women who had been rejected by most of society had an inside view of an exclusive group of people that took a high amount of knowledge to function in. Butch and femme were considered coarse by American lesbians of higher social standing during this period. Many wealthier women married to satisfy their familial obligations, and others escaped to Europe to live as expatriates. Lesbian-themed fiction Regardless of the lack of information about homosexuality in scholarly texts, another forum for learning about lesbianism was growing. A paperback book titled Women's Barracks describing a woman's experiences in the Free French Forces was published in 1950. It told of a lesbian relationship the author had witnessed. After 4.5 million copies were sold, it was consequently named in the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952. Its publisher, Gold Medal Books, followed with the novel Spring Fire in 1952, which sold 1.5 million copies. Gold Medal Books was overwhelmed with mail from women writing about the subject matter, and followed with more books, creating the genre of lesbian pulp fiction. Between 1955 and 1969 over 2,000 books were published using lesbianism as a topic, and they were sold in corner drugstores, train stations, bus stops, and newsstands all over the U.S. and Canada. Most were written by, and almost all were marketed to heterosexual men. Coded words and images were used on the covers. Instead of "lesbian", terms such as "strange", "twilight", "queer", and "third sex", were used in the titles, and cover art was invariably salacious. A handful of lesbian pulp fiction authors were women writing for lesbians, including Ann Bannon, Valerie Taylor, Paula Christian, and Vin Packer/Ann Aldrich. Bannon, who also purchased lesbian pulp fiction, later stated that women identified the material iconically by the cover art. Many of the books used cultural references: naming places, terms, describing modes of dress and other codes to isolated women. As a result, pulp fiction helped to proliferate a lesbian identity simultaneously to lesbians and heterosexual readers. Second-wave feminism The social rigidity of the 1950s and early 1960s encountered a backlash as social movements to improve the standing of African Americans, the poor, women, and gays all became prominent. Of the latter two, the gay rights movement and the feminist movement connected after a violent confrontation occurred in New York City in the 1969 Stonewall riots. What followed was a movement characterized by a surge of gay activism and feminist consciousness that further transformed the definition of lesbian. The sexual revolution in the 1970s introduced the differentiation between identity and sexual behavior for women. Many women took advantage of their new social freedom to try new experiences. Women who previously identified as heterosexual tried sex with women, though many maintained their heterosexual identity. However, with the advent of second wave feminism, lesbian as a political identity grew to describe a social philosophy among women, often overshadowing sexual desire as a defining trait. A militant feminist organization named Radicalesbians published a manifesto in 1970 entitled "The Woman-Identified Woman" that declared "A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion". Militant feminists expressed their disdain with an inherently sexist and patriarchal society, and concluded the most effective way to overcome sexism and attain the equality of women would be to deny men any power or pleasure from women. For women who subscribed to this philosophy—dubbing themselves lesbian-feminists—lesbian was a term chosen by women to describe any woman who dedicated her approach to social interaction and political motivation to the welfare of women. Sexual desire was not the defining characteristic of a lesbian-feminist, but rather her focus on politics. Independence from men as oppressors was a central tenet of lesbian-feminism, and many believers strove to separate themselves physically and economically from traditional male-centered culture. In the ideal society, named Lesbian Nation, "woman" and "lesbian" were interchangeable. Although lesbian-feminism was a significant shift, not all lesbians agreed with it. Lesbian-feminism was a youth-oriented movement: its members were primarily college educated, with experience in New Left and radical causes, but they had not seen any success in persuading radical organizations to take up women's issues. Many older lesbians who had acknowledged their sexuality in more conservative times felt maintaining their ways of coping in a homophobic world was more appropriate. The Daughters of Bilitis folded in 1970 over which direction to focus on: feminism or gay rights issues. As equality was a priority for lesbian-feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian-feminists eschewed gender role play that had been pervasive in bars, as well as the perceived chauvinism of gay men; many lesbian-feminists refused to work with gay men, or take up their causes. However, lesbians who held a more essentialist view that they had been born homosexual and used the descriptor "lesbian" to define sexual attraction, often considered the separatist, angry opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights. In 1980, poet and essayist Adrienne Rich expanded upon the political meaning of lesbian by proposing a continuum of lesbian existence based on "woman-identified experience" in her essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". All relationships between women, Rich proposed, have some lesbian element, regardless if they claim a lesbian identity: mothers and daughters, women who work together, and women who nurse each other, for example. Such a perception of women relating to each other connects them through time and across cultures, and Rich considered heterosexuality a condition forced upon women by men. Several years earlier, DOB founders Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon similarly relegated sexual acts as unnecessary in determining what a lesbian is, by providing their definition: "a woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional and social interest is in a member of her own sex, even though that interest may not be overtly expressed". Outside western culture Middle East Arabic-language historical records have used various terms to describe sexual practices between women. A common one is "sahq" which refers to the act of "rubbing." Lesbian practices and identities are, however, largely absent from the historical record. The common term to describe lesbianism in Arabic today is essentially the same term used to describe men, and thus the distinction between male and female homosexuality is to a certain extent linguistically obscured in contemporary queer discourse. Overall, the study of contemporary lesbian experience in the region is complicated by power dynamics in the postcolonial context, shaped even by what some scholars refer to as "homonationalism," the use of politicized understanding of sexual categories to advance specific national interests on the domestic and international stage. Female homosexual behavior may be present in every culture, although the concept of a lesbian as a woman who pairs exclusively with other women is not. Attitudes about female homosexual behavior are dependent upon women's roles in each society and each culture's definition of sex. Women in the Middle East have been historically segregated from men. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some extraordinary women dressed in male attire when gender roles were less strict, but the sexual roles that accompanied European women were not associated with Islamic women. The Caliphal court in Baghdad featured women who dressed as men, including false facial hair, but they competed with other women for the attentions of men. According to the 12th-century writings of Sharif al-Idrisi, highly intelligent women were more likely to be lesbians; their intellectual prowess put them on a more even par with men. Relations between women who lived in harems and fears of women being sexually intimate in Turkish baths were expressed in writings by men. Women, however, were mostly silent and men likewise rarely wrote about lesbian relationships. It is unclear to historians if the rare instances of lesbianism mentioned in literature are an accurate historical record or intended to serve as fantasies for men. A 1978 treatise about repression in Iran asserted that women were completely silenced: "In the whole of Iranian history, [no woman] has been allowed to speak out for such tendencies ... To attest to lesbian desires would be an unforgivable crime." Although the authors of Islamic Homosexualities argued this did not mean women could not engage in lesbian relationships, a lesbian anthropologist in 1991 visited Yemen and reported that women in the town she visited were unable to comprehend her romantic relationship to another woman. Women in Pakistan are expected to marry men; those who do not are ostracized. Women, however, may have intimate relations with other women as long as their wifely duties are met, their private matters are kept quiet, and the woman with whom they are involved is somehow related by family or logical interest to her lover. Individuals identifying with or otherwise engaging in lesbian practices in the region can face family violence and societal persecution, including what are commonly referred to as "honor killings." The justifications provided by murderers relate to a person's perceived sexual immorality, loss of virginity (outside of acceptable frames of marriage), and target female victims primarily. The Americas Some Indigenous peoples of the Americas conceptualize a third gender for women who dress as, and fulfill the roles usually filled by, men in their cultures. In other cases they may see gender as a spectrum, and use different terms for feminine women and masculine women. However, these identities are rooted in the context of the ceremonial and cultural lives of the particular Indigenous cultures, and "simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit." These ceremonial and social roles, which are conferred and confirmed by the person's elders, "do not make sense" when defined by non-Native concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity. Rather, they must be understood in an Indigenous context, as traditional spiritual and social roles held by the person in their Indigenous community. In Latin America, lesbian consciousness and associations appeared in the 1970s, increasing while several countries transitioned to or reformed democratic governments. Harassment and intimidation have been common even in places where homosexuality is legal, and laws against child corruption, morality, or "the good ways" (faltas a la moral o las buenas costumbres), have been used to persecute homosexuals. From the Hispanic perspective, the conflict between the lesbophobia of some feminists and the misogyny from gay men has created a difficult path for lesbians and associated groups. Argentina was the first Latin American country with a gay rights group, Nuestro Mundo (NM, or Our World), created in 1969. Six mostly secret organizations concentrating on gay or lesbian issues were founded around this time, but persecution and harassment were continuous and grew worse with the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in 1976, when all groups were dissolved in the Dirty War. Lesbian rights groups have gradually formed since 1986 to build a cohesive community that works to overcome philosophical differences with heterosexual women. The Latin American lesbian movement has been the most active in Mexico, but has encountered similar problems in effectiveness and cohesion. While groups try to promote lesbian issues and concerns, they also face misogynistic attitudes from gay men and homophobic views from heterosexual women. In 1977, Lesbos, the first lesbian organization for Mexicans, was formed. Several incarnations of political groups promoting lesbian issues have evolved; 13 lesbian organizations were active in Mexico City in 1997. Ultimately, however, lesbian associations have had little influence both on the homosexual and feminist movements. In Chile, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet forbade the creation of lesbian groups until 1984, when Ayuquelén ("joy of being" in Mapuche) was first founded, prompted by the very public beating death of a woman amid shouts of "Damned lesbian!" from her attacker. The lesbian movement has been closely associated with the feminist movement in Chile, although the relationship has been sometimes strained. Ayuquelén worked with the International Lesbian Information Service, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and the Chilean gay rights group Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Movement to Integrate and Liberate Homosexuals) to remove the sodomy law still in force in Chile. Lesbian consciousness became more visible in Nicaragua in 1986, when the Sandinista National Liberation Front expelled gay men and lesbians from its midst. State persecution prevented the formation of associations until AIDS became a concern, when educational efforts forced sexual minorities to band together. The first lesbian organization was Nosotras, founded in 1989. An effort to promote visibility from 1991 to 1992 provoked the government to declare homosexuality illegal in 1994, effectively ending the movement, until 2004, when Grupo Safo – Grupo de Mujeres Lesbianas de Nicaragua was created, four years before homosexuality became legal again. The meetings of feminist lesbians of Latin America and the Caribbean, sometimes shortened to "Lesbian meetings", have been an important forum for the exchange of ideas for Latin American lesbians since the late 1980s. With rotating hosts and biannual gatherings, its main aims are the creation of communication networks, to change the situation of lesbians in Latin America (both legally and socially), to increase solidarity between lesbians and to destroy the existing myths about them. Africa Cross-gender roles and marriage between women has also been recorded in over 30 African societies. Women may marry other women, raise their children, and be generally thought of as men in societies in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya. The Hausa people of Sudan have a term equivalent to lesbian, kifi, that may also be applied to males to mean "neither party insists on a particular sexual role". Near the Congo River, a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the Nkundo people is known as yaikya bonsángo (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in Ghana among the Akan people. In Lesotho, females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in cunnilingus, and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, however, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians. In South Africa, lesbians are raped by heterosexual men with a goal of punishment of "abnormal" behavior and reinforcement of societal norms. The crime was first identified in South Africa where it is sometimes supervised by members of the woman's family or local community, and is a major contributor to HIV infection in South African lesbians. "Corrective rape" is not recognized by the South African legal system as a hate crime despite the fact that the South African Constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their social status and identity, including sexual orientation. Legally, South Africa protects gay rights extensively, but the government has not taken proactive action to prevent corrective rape, and women do not have much faith in the police and their investigations. Corrective rape is reported to be on the rise in South Africa. The South African nonprofit "Luleki Sizwe" estimates that more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang-raped on a weekly basis. As made public by the Triangle Project in 2008, at least 500 lesbians become victims of corrective rape every year and 86% of black lesbians in the Western Cape live in fear of being sexually assaulted. Victims of corrective rape are less likely to report the crime because of their society's negative beliefs about homosexuality. Asia China before westernization was another society that segregated men from women. Historical Chinese culture has not recognized a concept of sexual orientation, or a framework to divide people based on their same-sex or opposite-sex attractions. Although there was a significant culture surrounding homosexual men, there was none for women. Outside their duties to bear sons to their husbands, women were perceived as having no sexuality at all. This did not mean that women could not pursue sexual relationships with other women, but that such associations could not impose upon women's relationships to men. Rare references to lesbianism were written by Ying Shao, who identified same-sex relationships between women in imperial courts who behaved as husband and wife as dui shi (paired eating). "Golden Orchid Associations" in Southern China existed into the 20th century and promoted formal marriages between women, who were then allowed to adopt children. Westernization brought new ideas that all sexual behavior not resulting in reproduction was aberrant. The liberty of being employed in silk factories starting in 1865 allowed some women to style themselves tzu-shu nii (never to marry) and live in communes with other women. Other Chinese called them sou-hei (self-combers) for adopting hairstyles of married women. These communes passed because of the Great Depression and were subsequently discouraged by the communist government for being a relic of feudal China. In contemporary Chinese society, tongzhi (same goal or spirit) is the term used to refer to homosexuals; most Chinese are reluctant to divide this classification further to identify lesbians. In Japan, the term rezubian, a Japanese pronunciation of "lesbian", was used during the 1920s. Westernization brought more independence for women and allowed some Japanese women to wear pants. The cognate tomboy is used in the Philippines, and particularly in Manila, to denote women who are more masculine. Virtuous women in Korea prioritize motherhood, chastity, and virginity; outside this scope, very few women are free to express themselves through sexuality, although there is a growing organization for lesbians named Kkirikkiri. The term pondan is used in Malaysia to refer to gay men, but since there is no historical context to reference lesbians, the term is used for female homosexuals as well. As in many Asian countries, open homosexuality is discouraged in many social levels, so many Malaysians lead double lives. In India, a 14th-century Indian text mentioning a lesbian couple who had a child as a result of their lovemaking is an exception to the general silence about female homosexuality. According to Ruth Vanita, this invisibility disappeared with the release of a film titled Fire in 1996, prompting some theaters in India to be attacked by religious extremists. Terms used to label homosexuals are often rejected by Indian activists for being the result of imperialist influence, but most discourse on homosexuality centers on men. Women's rights groups in India continue to debate the legitimacy of including lesbian issues in their platforms, as lesbians and material focusing on female homosexuality are frequently suppressed. Demographics The Kinsey Report The most extensive early study of female homosexuality was provided by the Institute for Sex Research, who published an in-depth report of the sexual experiences of American women in 1953. More than 8,000 women were interviewed by Alfred Kinsey and the staff of the Institute for Sex Research in a book titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, popularly known as part of the Kinsey Report. The Kinsey Report's dispassionate discussion of homosexuality as a form of human sexual behavior was revolutionary. Up to this study, only physicians and psychiatrists studied sexual behavior, and almost always the results were interpreted with a moral view. Kinsey and his staff reported that 28% of women had been aroused by another female, and 19% had a sexual contact with another female. Of women who had sexual contact with another female, half to two-thirds of them had orgasmed. Single women had the highest prevalence of homosexual activity, followed by women who were widowed, divorced, or separated. The lowest occurrence of sexual activity was among married women; those with previous homosexual experience reported they married to stop homosexual activity. Most of the women who reported homosexual activity had not experienced it more than ten times. Fifty-one percent of women reporting homosexual experience had only one partner. Women with post-graduate education had a higher prevalence of homosexual experience, followed by women with a college education; the smallest occurrence was among women with education no higher than eighth grade. However, Kinsey's methodology was criticized. Based on Kinsey's scale where 0 represents a person with an exclusively heterosexual response and 6 represents a person with an exclusively homosexual one, and numbers in between represent a gradient of responses with both sexes, 6% of those interviewed ranked as a 6: exclusively homosexual. Apart from those who ranked 0 (71%), the largest percentage in between 0 and 6 was 1 at approximately 15%. However, the Kinsey Report remarked that the ranking described a period in a person's life, and that a person's orientation may change. Among the criticisms the Kinsey Report received, a particular one addressed the Institute for Sex Research's tendency to use statistical sampling, which facilitated an over-representation of same-sex relationships by other researchers who did not adhere to Kinsey's qualifications of data. The Hite Report Twenty-three years later, in 1976, sexologist Shere Hite published a report on the sexual encounters of 3,019 women who had responded to questionnaires, under the title The Hite Report. Hite's questions differed from Kinsey's, focusing more on how women identified, or what they preferred rather than experience. Respondents to Hite's questions indicated that 8% preferred sex with women and 9% answered that they identified as bisexual or had sexual experiences with men and women, though they refused to indicate preference. Hite's conclusions are more based on respondents' comments than quantifiable data. She found it "striking" that many women who had no lesbian experiences indicated they were interested in sex with women, particularly because the question was not asked. Hite found the two most significant differences between respondents' experience with men and women were the focus on clitoral stimulation, and more emotional involvement and orgasmic responses. Since Hite performed her study during the popularity of feminism in the 1970s, she also acknowledged that women may have chosen the political identity of a lesbian. Population estimates Lesbians in the U.S. are estimated to be about 2.6% of the population, according to a National Opinion Research Center survey of sexually active adults who had had same-sex experiences within the past year, completed in 2000. A survey of same-sex couples in the United States showed that between 2000 and 2005, the number of people claiming to be in same-sex relationships increased by 30%—five times the rate of population growth in the U.S. The study attributed the jump to people being more comfortable self-identifying as homosexual to the federal government. The government of the United Kingdom does not ask citizens to define their sexuality. However, a survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2010 found that 1.5% of Britons identified themselves as gay or bisexual, and the ONS suggests that this is in line with other surveys showing the number between 0.3% and 3%. Estimates of lesbians are sometimes not differentiated in studies of same-sex households, such as those performed by the U.S. census, and estimates of total gay, lesbian, or bisexual population by the UK government. However, polls in Australia have recorded a range of self-identified lesbian or bisexual women from 1.3% to 2.2% of the total population. Health Physical In terms of medical issues, lesbians are referred to as women who have sex with women (WSW) because of the misconceptions and assumptions about women's sexuality and some women's hesitancy to disclose their accurate sexual histories even to a physician. Many self-identified lesbians neglect to see a physician because they do not participate in heterosexual activity and require no birth control, which is the initiating factor for most women to seek consultation with a gynecologist when they become sexually active. As a result, many lesbians are not screened regularly with Pap smears. The U.S. government reports that some lesbians neglect seeking medical screening in the U.S.; they lack health insurance because many employers do not offer health benefits to domestic partners. The result of the lack of medical information on WSW is that medical professionals and some lesbians perceive lesbians as having lower risks of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases or types of cancer. When women do seek medical attention, medical professionals often fail to take a complete medical history. In a 2006 study of 2,345 lesbian and bisexual women, only 9.3% had claimed they had ever been asked their sexual orientation by a physician. A third of the respondents believed disclosing their sexual history would result in a negative reaction, and 30% had received a negative reaction from a medical professional after identifying themselves as lesbian or bisexual. A patient's complete history helps medical professionals identify higher risk areas and corrects assumptions about the personal histories of women. In a similar survey of 6,935 lesbians, 77% had had sexual contact with one or more male partners, and 6% had that contact within the previous year. Heart disease is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the number one cause of death for all women. Factors that add to risk of heart disease include obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent in lesbians. Studies show that lesbians have a higher body mass and are generally less concerned about weight issues than heterosexual women, and lesbians consider women with higher body masses to be more attractive than heterosexual women do. Lesbians are more likely to exercise regularly than heterosexual women, and lesbians do not generally exercise for aesthetic reasons, although heterosexual women do. Research is needed to determine specific causes of obesity in lesbians. Lack of differentiation between homosexual and heterosexual women in medical studies that concentrate on health issues for women skews results for lesbians and non-lesbian women. Reports are inconclusive about occurrence of breast cancer in lesbians. It has been determined, however, that the lower rate of lesbians tested by regular Pap smears makes it more difficult to detect cervical cancer at early stages in lesbians. The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer rates are higher in lesbians than heterosexual women, perhaps because many lesbians lack protective factors of pregnancy, abortion, contraceptives, breast feeding, and miscarriages. Some sexually transmitted diseases are communicable between women, including human papillomavirus (HPV)—specifically genital warts—squamous intraepithelial lesions, trichomoniasis, syphilis, and herpes simplex virus (HSV). Transmission of specific sexually transmitted diseases among women who have sex with women depends on the sexual practices women engage in. Any object that comes in contact with cervical secretions, vaginal mucosa, or menstrual blood, including fingers or penetrative objects may transmit sexually transmitted diseases. Orogenital contact may indicate a higher risk of acquiring HSV, even among women who have had no prior sex with men. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) occurs more often in lesbians, but it is unclear if BV is transmitted by sexual contact; it occurs in celibate as well as sexually active women. BV often occurs in both partners in a lesbian relationship; a recent study of women with BV found that 81% had partners with BV. Lesbians are not included in a category of frequency of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission, although transmission is possible through vaginal and cervical secretions. The highest rate of transmission of HIV to lesbians is among women who participate in intravenous drug use or have sexual intercourse with bisexual men. Mental Since medical literature began to describe homosexuality, it has often been approached from a view that sought to find an inherent psychopathology as the root cause, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud. Although he considered bisexuality inherent in all people, and said that most have phases of homosexual attraction or experimentation, exclusive same-sex attraction he attributed to stunted development resulting from trauma or parental conflicts. Much literature on mental health and lesbians centered on their depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Although these issues exist among lesbians, discussion about their causes shifted after homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1973. Instead, social ostracism, legal discrimination, internalization of negative stereotypes, and limited support structures indicate factors homosexuals face in Western societies that often adversely affect their mental health. Women who identify as lesbian report feeling significantly different and isolated during adolescence. These emotions have been cited as appearing on average at 15 years old in lesbians and 18 years old in women who identify as bisexual. On the whole, women tend to work through developing a self-concept internally, or with other women with whom they are intimate. Women also limit who they divulge their sexual identities to, and more
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a lattice period. In NATO military operations, a chevron (a heraldic symbol which looks like a capital letter lambda or inverted V) is painted on the vehicles of this military alliance for identification. In electrochemistry, lambda denotes the "equivalent conductance" of an electrolyte solution. In cosmology, lambda is the symbol for the cosmological constant, a term added to some dynamical equations to account for the accelerating expansion of the universe. In optics, lambda denotes the grating pitch of a Bragg reflector. Also in optics, it denotes wavelength of light. In politics, the lambda is the symbol of Identitarianism, a white nationalist movement that originated in France before spreading out to the rest of Europe and later on to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The Identitarian lambda represents the Battle of Thermopylae. Lower-case letter λ Examples of the symbolic use of lowercase lambda include: Lambda indicates the wavelength of any wave, especially in physics, electronic engineering, and mathematics. In evolutionary algorithms, λ indicates the number of offspring that would be generated from μ current population in each generation. The terms μ and λ are originated from Evolution strategy notation. Lambda indicates the radioactivity decay constant in nuclear physics and radioactivity. This constant is very simply related (by a multiplicative constant) to the half-life of any radioactive material. In probability theory, lambda represents the density of occurrences within a time interval, as modelled by the Poisson distribution. In mathematical logic and computer science, lambda is used to introduce anonymous functions expressed with the concepts of lambda calculus. Lambda indicates an eigenvalue in the mathematics of linear algebra. In the physics of electric fields, lambda sometimes indicates the linear charge density of a uniform line of electric charge (measured in coulombs per meter). Lambda denotes a Lagrange multiplier in multi-dimensional calculus. In solid-state electronics, lambda indicates the channel length modulation parameter of a MOSFET. In ecology, lambda denotes the long-term intrinsic growth rate of a population. This value is often calculated as the dominant eigenvalue of the age/size class matrix. In formal language theory and in computer science, lambda denotes the empty string. Lambda is a nonstandard symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for the voiced alveolar lateral affricate . Lambda denotes the Lebesgue measure in mathematical set theory. The Goodman and Kruskal's lambda in statistics indicates the proportional reduction in error when one variable's values are used to predict the values of another variable. Lambda denotes the oxygen sensor in a vehicle that measures the air-to-fuel ratio in the exhaust gases of an internal-combustion engine. A Lambda 4S solid-fuel rocket was used to launch Japan's first orbital satellite in 1970. Lambda denotes the failure rate of devices and systems in reliability theory, and it is measured in failure events per hour. Numerically, this lambda is also the reciprocal of the
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a white nationalist movement that originated in France before spreading out to the rest of Europe and later on to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The Identitarian lambda represents the Battle of Thermopylae. Lower-case letter λ Examples of the symbolic use of lowercase lambda include: Lambda indicates the wavelength of any wave, especially in physics, electronic engineering, and mathematics. In evolutionary algorithms, λ indicates the number of offspring that would be generated from μ current population in each generation. The terms μ and λ are originated from Evolution strategy notation. Lambda indicates the radioactivity decay constant in nuclear physics and radioactivity. This constant is very simply related (by a multiplicative constant) to the half-life of any radioactive material. In probability theory, lambda represents the density of occurrences within a time interval, as modelled by the Poisson distribution. In mathematical logic and computer science, lambda is used to introduce anonymous functions expressed with the concepts of lambda calculus. Lambda indicates an eigenvalue in the mathematics of linear algebra. In the physics of electric fields, lambda sometimes indicates the linear charge density of a uniform line of electric charge (measured in coulombs per meter). Lambda denotes a Lagrange multiplier in multi-dimensional calculus. In solid-state electronics, lambda indicates the channel length modulation parameter of a MOSFET. In ecology, lambda denotes the long-term intrinsic growth rate of a population. This value is often calculated as the dominant eigenvalue of the age/size class matrix. In formal language theory and in computer science, lambda denotes the empty string. Lambda is a nonstandard symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for the voiced alveolar lateral affricate . Lambda denotes the Lebesgue measure in mathematical set theory. The Goodman and Kruskal's lambda in statistics indicates the proportional reduction in error when one variable's values are used to predict the values of another variable. Lambda denotes the oxygen sensor in a vehicle that measures the air-to-fuel ratio in the exhaust gases of an internal-combustion engine. A Lambda 4S solid-fuel rocket was used to launch Japan's first orbital satellite in 1970. Lambda denotes the failure rate of devices and systems in reliability theory, and it is measured in failure events per hour. Numerically, this lambda is also the reciprocal of the mean time between failures. In criminology, lambda denotes an individual's frequency of offences. In cartography and navigation, lambda denotes the longitude of a location. In electrochemistry, lambda also denotes the ionic conductance of a given ion (the composition of the ion is generally shown as a subscript to the lambda character). In neurobiology, lambda denotes the length constant (or exponential rate of decay) of the electric potential across the cell membrane along a length of a nerve cell's axon. In the science and technology of heat transfer, lambda denotes the heat of vaporization per mole of material (a.k.a. its "latent heat"). In the technology and science of celestial navigation, lambda denotes the longitude as opposed to the Roman letter "L", which denotes the latitude. A block style lambda is used as a recurring symbol in the Valve computer game series Half-Life, referring to the Lambda complex of the fictional Black Mesa Research Facility, as well as making appearances in the sequel Half-Life 2, and its subsequent prequel Half-Life: Alyx. In 1970, a lowercase lambda was chosen by Tom Doerr as the symbol of the New York chapter of the Gay Activists Alliance. The lambda symbol became associated with Gay Liberation and recognized as an LGBT symbol for some time afterwards, being used as such by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, the gay rights organization Lambda Legal, and the Lambda Literary Foundation, among others. Litra symbol The Roman libra and Byzantine lítra (), which served as both the pound mass unit and liter volume unit, were abbreviated in Greek using lambda with modified forms of the
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Australian-German film Lore (podcast) Lore (TV series), based on the podcast Lore (Clannad album) Lore (Today I Caught the Plague album) Other uses Lore (name), a list of people with the given name and surname Lore (anatomy), the region between the eyes and nostrils of birds,
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series), based on the podcast Lore (Clannad album) Lore (Today I Caught the Plague album) Other uses Lore (name), a list of people with the given name and surname Lore (anatomy), the region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians See also Lores (disambiguation) Canon (fiction), the material accepted as
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Plectranthus (300), Hyptis (280), Teucrium (250), Vitex (250), Thymus (220), and Nepeta (200). Clerodendrum was once a genus of over 400 species, but by 2010, it had been narrowed to about 150. The family has traditionally been considered closely related to the Verbenaceae; in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in the Verbenaceae should be classified in the Lamiaceae or to other families in the order Lamiales. The alternative family name Labiatae refers to the flowers typically having petals fused into an upper lip and a lower lip ( in Latin). The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with five united petals and five united sepals. They are usually bisexual and verticillastrate (a flower cluster that looks like a whorl of flowers, but actually consists of two crowded clusters). Although this is still considered an acceptable alternative name, most botanists now use the name Lamiaceae in referring to this family. The leaves emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one (decussate) or whorled. The stems are frequently square in cross section, but this is not found in all members of the family, and is sometimes found in other plant families. Genera The last revision of the entire family was published in 2004. It described and provided keys to 236 genera. These are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below. A few genera have been established or resurrected since 2004. These are marked with a plus sign (+). Other genera have been synonymised. These are marked with a minus sign (-). The remaining genera in the list are mostly of historical interest only and are from a source that includes such genera without explanation. Few of
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Plectranthus edulis, Plectranthus esculentus, Plectranthus rotundifolius, and Stachys affinis (Chinese artichoke). Many are also grown ornamentally, notably coleus, Plectranthus, and many Salvia species and hybrids. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. The enlarged Lamiaceae contain about 236 genera and have been stated to contain 6,900 to 7,200 species, but the World Checklist lists 7,534. The largest genera are Salvia (900), Scutellaria (360), Stachys (300), Plectranthus (300), Hyptis (280), Teucrium (250), Vitex (250), Thymus (220), and Nepeta (200). Clerodendrum was once a genus of over 400 species, but by 2010, it had been narrowed to about 150. The family has traditionally been considered closely related to the Verbenaceae; in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in the Verbenaceae should be classified in the Lamiaceae or to other families in the order Lamiales. The alternative family name Labiatae refers to the flowers typically having petals fused into an upper lip and a lower lip ( in Latin). The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with five united petals and five united sepals. They are usually bisexual and verticillastrate (a flower cluster that looks like a whorl of flowers, but actually consists of two crowded clusters). Although this is still considered an acceptable alternative name, most botanists now use the name Lamiaceae in referring to this family. The leaves emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one (decussate) or whorled. The stems are frequently square in cross section, but this is not found in all members of the family, and is sometimes
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takes up the whole frame. In the case of a person, head to toe. This usually achieves a clear physical representation of a character and can describe the surroundings as it is usually visible within the frame. This results in the audience having a desired (by the director) view/opinion of the character or location. Very wide shot (VWS) – The subject is only just visible in the location. This can find a balance between a "wide shot" and an "extreme wide shot" by keeping an emphasis on both the characters and the environment, almost finding a harmony between the two of them. This enables the ability to use the benefits of both types, by allowing the scale of the environment but also maintaining an element of focus on the character(s) or object(s) in frame. Extreme wide shot (EWS) – The shot is so far away from the subject that they are no longer visible. This is used to create a sense of a character being lost or almost engulfed by the sheer size of their surroundings. This can result in a character being made small or insignificant due to their situation and/or surroundings. Establishing shot (ES) – A shot typically used to display a location and is usually the first shot in a new scene. These establish the setting of a film, whether that is the physical location or the time period. Mainly it gives a sense of place to the film and brings the viewer to wherever the story requires them to be. Master shot (MS) – This shot can be commonly mistaken for an establishing shot as it displays key characters and locations. However, it is actually a shot in which all relevant characters are in frame (usually for the whole duration of the scene), with inter-cut shots of other characters to shift focus. This is a very useful method for retaining audience focus as most shots in this style refrain from using cuts and therefore will keep the performances and the dialogue in the forefront of what is going on for the duration of the scene. Notable examples Many directors are known for their use of the variety of wide shots. A key example of them is the frequent use of establishing shots and very wide shots in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, showing the vast New Zealand landscape to instil awe in the audience. In the 1993 film Schindler's List, there is a running image of a small girl trapped within a concentration camp wearing a red coat (the only colour in the film). She is frequently pictured in a wide shot format as a way to display both her and the horrific surroundings to build a disturbing contrast. In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, a very wide shot is used that keeps all the protagonists on screen with the Wizard's palace in clear view. The Wizard of Oz was also one of the first mainstream motion pictures to include colour. The 1962 Lawrence of Arabia contains an enormous number of extreme wide shots which successfully induced the feeling of scale of the lead in his surrounding and aesthetically dwarfed him due to his surroundings making him seem more vulnerable and weak. The 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark contains the use of a wide shot to show the dangerous scale of a boulder that is chasing the
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a massive increase in space usable by the director, thus allowing an even wider shot for the viewer to witness more of any given shot. Modern films will now frequently use the different types of wide shots as they are a staple in filmmaking and are almost impossible to avoid unless deliberately chosen to. In the current climate of films, the technical quality of any given shot will appear with much better clarity which has given life to some incredible shots from modern cinema. Also, given the quality of modern home entertainment mediums such as Blu-ray, 3D and Ultra HD Blu Rays, this has allowed the scope and size of any given frame to encompass more of the scene and environment in greater detail. Types There are a variety of ways of framing that are considered as being wide shots; these include: Wide shot (WS) – The subject comfortably takes up the whole frame. In the case of a person, head to toe. This usually achieves a clear physical representation of a character and can describe the surroundings as it is usually visible within the frame. This results in the audience having a desired (by the director) view/opinion of the character or location. Very wide shot (VWS) – The subject is only just visible in the location. This can find a balance between a "wide shot" and an "extreme wide shot" by keeping an emphasis on both the characters and the environment, almost finding a harmony between the two of them. This enables the ability to use the benefits of both types, by allowing the scale of the environment but also maintaining an element of focus on the character(s) or object(s) in frame. Extreme wide shot (EWS) – The shot is so far away from the subject that they are no longer visible. This is used to create a sense of a character being lost or almost engulfed by the sheer size of their surroundings. This can result in a character being made small or insignificant due to their situation and/or surroundings. Establishing shot (ES) – A shot typically used to display a location and is usually the first shot in a new scene. These establish the setting of a film, whether that is the physical location or the time period. Mainly it gives a sense of place to the film and brings the viewer to wherever the story requires them to be. Master shot (MS) – This shot can be commonly mistaken for an establishing shot as it displays key characters and locations. However, it is actually a shot in which all relevant characters are in frame (usually for the whole duration of the scene), with inter-cut shots of other characters to shift focus. This is a very useful method for retaining audience focus as most shots in this style refrain from using cuts and therefore will keep the performances and the dialogue in the forefront of what is going on for the duration of the scene. Notable examples Many directors are known for their use of the variety of wide shots. A key example of them is the frequent use of establishing shots and very wide shots in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, showing the vast
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law on the distribution of leading digits can also be explained by scale invariance. Logarithms are also linked to self-similarity. For example, logarithms appear in the analysis of algorithms that solve a problem by dividing it into two similar smaller problems and patching their solutions. The dimensions of self-similar geometric shapes, that is, shapes whose parts resemble the overall picture are also based on logarithms. Logarithmic scales are useful for quantifying the relative change of a value as opposed to its absolute difference. Moreover, because the logarithmic function grows very slowly for large , logarithmic scales are used to compress large-scale scientific data. Logarithms also occur in numerous scientific formulas, such as the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, the Fenske equation, or the Nernst equation. Logarithmic scale Scientific quantities are often expressed as logarithms of other quantities, using a logarithmic scale. For example, the decibel is a unit of measurement associated with logarithmic-scale quantities. It is based on the common logarithm of ratios—10 times the common logarithm of a power ratio or 20 times the common logarithm of a voltage ratio. It is used to quantify the loss of voltage levels in transmitting electrical signals, to describe power levels of sounds in acoustics, and the absorbance of light in the fields of spectrometry and optics. The signal-to-noise ratio describing the amount of unwanted noise in relation to a (meaningful) signal is also measured in decibels. In a similar vein, the peak signal-to-noise ratio is commonly used to assess the quality of sound and image compression methods using the logarithm. The strength of an earthquake is measured by taking the common logarithm of the energy emitted at the quake. This is used in the moment magnitude scale or the Richter magnitude scale. For example, a 5.0 earthquake releases 32 times and a 6.0 releases 1000 times the energy of a 4.0. Apparent magnitude measures the brightness of stars logarithmically. In chemistry the negative of the decimal logarithm, the decimal , is indicated by the letter p. For instance, pH is the decimal cologarithm of the activity of hydronium ions (the form hydrogen ions take in water). The activity of hydronium ions in neutral water is 10−7 mol·L−1, hence a pH of 7. Vinegar typically has a pH of about 3. The difference of 4 corresponds to a ratio of 104 of the activity, that is, vinegar's hydronium ion activity is about . Semilog (log–linear) graphs use the logarithmic scale concept for visualization: one axis, typically the vertical one, is scaled logarithmically. For example, the chart at the right compresses the steep increase from 1 million to 1 trillion to the same space (on the vertical axis) as the increase from 1 to 1 million. In such graphs, exponential functions of the form appear as straight lines with slope equal to the logarithm of . Log-log graphs scale both axes logarithmically, which causes functions of the form to be depicted as straight lines with slope equal to the exponent . This is applied in visualizing and analyzing power laws. Psychology Logarithms occur in several laws describing human perception: Hick's law proposes a logarithmic relation between the time individuals take to choose an alternative and the number of choices they have. Fitts's law predicts that the time required to rapidly move to a target area is a logarithmic function of the distance to and the size of the target. In psychophysics, the Weber–Fechner law proposes a logarithmic relationship between stimulus and sensation such as the actual vs. the perceived weight of an item a person is carrying. (This "law", however, is less realistic than more recent models, such as Stevens's power law.) Psychological studies found that individuals with little mathematics education tend to estimate quantities logarithmically, that is, they position a number on an unmarked line according to its logarithm, so that 10 is positioned as close to 100 as 100 is to 1000. Increasing education shifts this to a linear estimate (positioning 1000 10 times as far away) in some circumstances, while logarithms are used when the numbers to be plotted are difficult to plot linearly. Probability theory and statistics Logarithms arise in probability theory: the law of large numbers dictates that, for a fair coin, as the number of coin-tosses increases to infinity, the observed proportion of heads approaches one-half. The fluctuations of this proportion about one-half are described by the law of the iterated logarithm. Logarithms also occur in log-normal distributions. When the logarithm of a random variable has a normal distribution, the variable is said to have a log-normal distribution. Log-normal distributions are encountered in many fields, wherever a variable is formed as the product of many independent positive random variables, for example in the study of turbulence. Logarithms are used for maximum-likelihood estimation of parametric statistical models. For such a model, the likelihood function depends on at least one parameter that must be estimated. A maximum of the likelihood function occurs at the same parameter-value as a maximum of the logarithm of the likelihood (the "log likelihood"), because the logarithm is an increasing function. The log-likelihood is easier to maximize, especially for the multiplied likelihoods for independent random variables. Benford's law describes the occurrence of digits in many data sets, such as heights of buildings. According to Benford's law, the probability that the first decimal-digit of an item in the data sample is (from 1 to 9) equals , regardless of the unit of measurement. Thus, about 30% of the data can be expected to have 1 as first digit, 18% start with 2, etc. Auditors examine deviations from Benford's law to detect fraudulent accounting. Computational complexity Analysis of algorithms is a branch of computer science that studies the performance of algorithms (computer programs solving a certain problem). Logarithms are valuable for describing algorithms that divide a problem into smaller ones, and join the solutions of the subproblems. For example, to find a number in a sorted list, the binary search algorithm checks the middle entry and proceeds with the half before or after the middle entry if the number is still not found. This algorithm requires, on average, comparisons, where is the list's length. Similarly, the merge sort algorithm sorts an unsorted list by dividing the list into halves and sorting these first before merging the results. Merge sort algorithms typically require a time approximately proportional to . The base of the logarithm is not specified here, because the result only changes by a constant factor when another base is used. A constant factor is usually disregarded in the analysis of algorithms under the standard uniform cost model. A function is said to grow logarithmically if is (exactly or approximately) proportional to the logarithm of . (Biological descriptions of organism growth, however, use this term for an exponential function.) For example, any natural number can be represented in binary form in no more than bits. In other words, the amount of memory needed to store grows logarithmically with . Entropy and chaos Entropy is broadly a measure of the disorder of some system. In statistical thermodynamics, the entropy S of some physical system is defined as The sum is over all possible states of the system in question, such as the positions of gas particles in a container. Moreover, is the probability that the state is attained and is the Boltzmann constant. Similarly, entropy in information theory measures the quantity of information. If a message recipient may expect any one of possible messages with equal likelihood, then the amount of information conveyed by any one such message is quantified as bits. Lyapunov exponents use logarithms to gauge the degree of chaoticity of a dynamical system. For example, for a particle moving on an oval billiard table, even small changes of the initial conditions result in very different paths of the particle. Such systems are chaotic in a deterministic way, because small measurement errors of the initial state predictably lead to largely different final states. At least one Lyapunov exponent of a deterministically chaotic system is positive. Fractals Logarithms occur in definitions of the dimension of fractals. Fractals are geometric objects that are self-similar in the sense that small parts reproduce, at least roughly, the entire global structure. The Sierpinski triangle (pictured) can be covered by three copies of itself, each having sides half the original length. This makes the Hausdorff dimension of this structure . Another logarithm-based notion of dimension is obtained by counting the number of boxes needed to cover the fractal in question. Music Logarithms are related to musical tones and intervals. In equal temperament, the frequency ratio depends only on the interval between two tones, not on the specific frequency, or pitch, of the individual tones. For example, the note A has a frequency of 440 Hz and B-flat has a frequency of 466 Hz. The interval between A and B-flat is a semitone, as is the one between B-flat and B (frequency 493 Hz). Accordingly, the frequency ratios agree: Therefore, logarithms can be used to describe the intervals: an interval is measured in semitones by taking the logarithm of the frequency ratio, while the logarithm of the frequency ratio expresses the interval in cents, hundredths of a semitone. The latter is used for finer encoding, as it is needed for non-equal temperaments. Number theory Natural logarithms are closely linked to counting prime numbers (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...), an important topic in number theory. For any integer , the quantity of prime numbers less than or equal to is denoted . The prime number theorem asserts that is approximately given by in the sense that the ratio of and that fraction approaches 1 when tends to infinity. As a consequence, the probability that a randomly chosen number between 1 and is prime is inversely proportional to the number of decimal digits of . A far better estimate of is given by the offset logarithmic integral function , defined by The Riemann hypothesis, one of the oldest open mathematical conjectures, can be stated in terms of comparing and . The Erdős–Kac theorem describing
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of this series. It is the Taylor series of the natural logarithm at . The Taylor series of provides a particularly useful approximation to when is small, , since then For example, with the first-order approximation gives , which is less than 5% off the correct value 0.0953. More efficient series Another series is based on the area hyperbolic tangent function: for any real number . Using sigma notation, this is also written as This series can be derived from the above Taylor series. It converges more quickly than the Taylor series, especially if is close to 1. For example, for , the first three terms of the second series approximate with an error of about . The quick convergence for close to 1 can be taken advantage of in the following way: given a low-accuracy approximation and putting the logarithm of is: The better the initial approximation is, the closer is to 1, so its logarithm can be calculated efficiently. can be calculated using the exponential series, which converges quickly provided is not too large. Calculating the logarithm of larger can be reduced to smaller values of by writing , so that . A closely related method can be used to compute the logarithm of integers. Putting in the above series, it follows that: If the logarithm of a large integer is known, then this series yields a fast converging series for , with a rate of convergence of . Arithmetic–geometric mean approximation The arithmetic–geometric mean yields high precision approximations of the natural logarithm. Sasaki and Kanada showed in 1982 that it was particularly fast for precisions between 400 and 1000 decimal places, while Taylor series methods were typically faster when less precision was needed. In their work is approximated to a precision of (or precise bits) by the following formula (due to Carl Friedrich Gauss): Here denotes the arithmetic–geometric mean of and . It is obtained by repeatedly calculating the average (arithmetic mean) and (geometric mean) of and then let those two numbers become the next and . The two numbers quickly converge to a common limit which is the value of . is chosen such that to ensure the required precision. A larger makes the calculation take more steps (the initial and are farther apart so it takes more steps to converge) but gives more precision. The constants and can be calculated with quickly converging series. Feynman's algorithm While at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on the Manhattan Project, Richard Feynman developed a bit-processing algorithm, to compute the logarithm, that is similar to long division and was later used in the Connection Machine. The algorithm uses the fact that every real number is representable as a product of distinct factors of the form . The algorithm sequentially builds that product , starting with and : if , then it changes to . It then increases by one regardless. The algorithm stops when is large enough to give the desired accuracy. Because is the sum of the terms of the form corresponding to those for which the factor was included in the product , may be computed by simple addition, using a table of for all . Any base may be used for the logarithm table. Applications Logarithms have many applications inside and outside mathematics. Some of these occurrences are related to the notion of scale invariance. For example, each chamber of the shell of a nautilus is an approximate copy of the next one, scaled by a constant factor. This gives rise to a logarithmic spiral. Benford's law on the distribution of leading digits can also be explained by scale invariance. Logarithms are also linked to self-similarity. For example, logarithms appear in the analysis of algorithms that solve a problem by dividing it into two similar smaller problems and patching their solutions. The dimensions of self-similar geometric shapes, that is, shapes whose parts resemble the overall picture are also based on logarithms. Logarithmic scales are useful for quantifying the relative change of a value as opposed to its absolute difference. Moreover, because the logarithmic function grows very slowly for large , logarithmic scales are used to compress large-scale scientific data. Logarithms also occur in numerous scientific formulas, such as the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, the Fenske equation, or the Nernst equation. Logarithmic scale Scientific quantities are often expressed as logarithms of other quantities, using a logarithmic scale. For example, the decibel is a unit of measurement associated with logarithmic-scale quantities. It is based on the common logarithm of ratios—10 times the common logarithm of a power ratio or 20 times the common logarithm of a voltage ratio. It is used to quantify the loss of voltage levels in transmitting electrical signals, to describe power levels of sounds in acoustics, and the absorbance of light in the fields of spectrometry and optics. The signal-to-noise ratio describing the amount of unwanted noise in relation to a (meaningful) signal is also measured in decibels. In a similar vein, the peak signal-to-noise ratio is commonly used to assess the quality of sound and image compression methods using the logarithm. The strength of an earthquake is measured by taking the common logarithm of the energy emitted at the quake. This is used in the moment magnitude scale or the Richter magnitude scale. For example, a 5.0 earthquake releases 32 times and a 6.0 releases 1000 times the energy of a 4.0. Apparent magnitude measures the brightness of stars logarithmically. In chemistry the negative of the decimal logarithm, the decimal , is indicated by the letter p. For instance, pH is the decimal cologarithm of the activity of hydronium ions (the form hydrogen ions take in water). The activity of hydronium ions in neutral water is 10−7 mol·L−1, hence a pH of 7. Vinegar typically has a pH of about 3. The difference of 4 corresponds to a ratio of 104 of the activity, that is, vinegar's hydronium ion activity is about . Semilog (log–linear) graphs use the logarithmic scale concept for visualization: one axis, typically the vertical one, is scaled logarithmically. For example, the chart at the right compresses the steep increase from 1 million to 1 trillion to the same space (on the vertical axis) as the increase from 1 to 1 million. In such graphs, exponential functions of the form appear as straight lines with slope equal to the logarithm of . Log-log graphs scale both axes logarithmically, which causes functions of the form to be depicted as straight lines with slope equal to the exponent . This is applied in visualizing and analyzing power laws. Psychology Logarithms occur in several laws describing human perception: Hick's law proposes a logarithmic relation between the time individuals take to choose an alternative and the number of choices they have. Fitts's law predicts that the time required to rapidly move to a target area is a logarithmic function of the distance to and the size of the target. In psychophysics, the Weber–Fechner law proposes a logarithmic relationship between stimulus and sensation such as the actual vs. the perceived weight of an item a person is carrying. (This "law", however, is less realistic than more recent models, such as Stevens's power law.) Psychological studies found that individuals with little mathematics education tend to estimate quantities logarithmically, that is, they position a number on an unmarked line according to its logarithm, so that 10 is positioned as close to 100 as 100 is to 1000. Increasing education shifts this to a linear estimate (positioning 1000 10 times as far away) in some circumstances, while logarithms are used when the numbers to be plotted are difficult to plot linearly. Probability theory and statistics Logarithms arise in probability theory: the law of large numbers dictates that, for a fair coin, as the number of coin-tosses increases to infinity, the observed proportion of heads approaches one-half. The fluctuations of this proportion about one-half are described by the law of the iterated logarithm. Logarithms also occur in log-normal distributions. When the logarithm of a random variable has a normal distribution, the variable is said to have a log-normal distribution. Log-normal distributions are encountered in many fields, wherever a variable is formed as the product of many independent positive random variables, for example in the study of turbulence. Logarithms are used for maximum-likelihood estimation of parametric statistical models. For such a model, the likelihood function depends on at least one parameter that must be estimated. A maximum of the likelihood function occurs at the same parameter-value as a maximum of the logarithm of the likelihood (the "log likelihood"), because the logarithm is an increasing function. The log-likelihood is easier to maximize, especially for the multiplied likelihoods for independent random variables. Benford's law describes the occurrence of digits in many data sets, such as heights of buildings. According to Benford's law, the probability that the first decimal-digit of an item in the data sample is (from 1 to 9) equals , regardless of the unit of measurement. Thus, about 30% of the data can be expected to have 1 as first digit, 18% start with 2, etc. Auditors examine deviations from Benford's law to detect fraudulent accounting. Computational complexity Analysis of algorithms is a branch of computer science that studies the performance of algorithms (computer programs solving a certain problem). Logarithms are valuable for describing algorithms that divide a problem into smaller ones, and join the solutions of the subproblems. For example, to find a number in a sorted list, the binary search algorithm checks the middle entry and proceeds with the half before or after the middle entry if the number is still not found. This algorithm requires, on average, comparisons, where is the list's length. Similarly, the merge sort algorithm sorts an unsorted list by dividing the list into halves and sorting these first before merging the results. Merge sort algorithms typically require a time approximately proportional to . The base of the logarithm is not specified here, because the result only changes by a constant factor when another base is used. A constant factor is usually disregarded in the analysis of algorithms under the standard uniform cost model. A function is said to grow logarithmically if is (exactly or approximately) proportional to the logarithm of . (Biological descriptions of organism growth, however, use this term for an exponential function.) For example, any natural number can be represented in binary form in no more than bits. In other words, the amount of memory needed to store grows logarithmically with . Entropy and chaos Entropy is broadly a measure of the disorder of some system. In statistical thermodynamics, the entropy S of some physical system is defined as The sum is over all possible states of the system in question, such as the positions of gas particles in a container. Moreover, is the probability that the state is attained and is the Boltzmann constant. Similarly, entropy in information theory measures the quantity of information. If a message recipient may expect any one of possible messages with equal likelihood, then the amount of information conveyed by any one such message is quantified as bits. Lyapunov exponents use logarithms to gauge the degree of chaoticity of a dynamical system. For example, for a particle moving on an oval billiard table, even small changes of the initial conditions result in very different paths of the particle. Such systems are chaotic in a deterministic way, because small measurement errors of the initial state predictably lead to largely different final states. At least one Lyapunov exponent of a deterministically chaotic system is positive. Fractals Logarithms occur in definitions of the dimension of fractals. Fractals are geometric objects that are self-similar in the sense that small parts reproduce, at least roughly, the entire global structure. The Sierpinski triangle (pictured) can be covered by three copies of itself, each having sides half the original length. This makes the Hausdorff dimension of this structure . Another logarithm-based notion of dimension is obtained by counting the number of boxes needed to cover the fractal in question. Music Logarithms are related to musical tones and intervals. In equal temperament, the frequency ratio depends only on the interval between two tones, not on the specific frequency, or pitch, of the individual tones. For example, the note A has a frequency of 440 Hz and B-flat has a frequency of 466 Hz. The interval between A and B-flat is a semitone, as is the one between B-flat and B (frequency 493 Hz). Accordingly, the frequency ratios agree: Therefore, logarithms can be used to describe the intervals: an interval is measured in semitones by taking the logarithm of the frequency ratio, while the logarithm of the frequency ratio expresses the interval in cents, hundredths of a semitone. The latter is used for finer encoding, as it is needed for non-equal temperaments. Number theory Natural logarithms are closely linked to counting prime numbers (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...), an important topic in number theory. For any integer , the quantity of prime numbers less than or equal to is denoted . The prime number theorem asserts that is approximately given by in the sense that the ratio of
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African country Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) and looked into setting up a base there at a hotel on Lake Kariba. Despite his attempts to curry favour with the local government—he personally delivered champagne to Prime Minister Ian Smith's house, but Smith refused to see him—Rhodesia promptly refused to renew Hubbard's visa, compelling him to leave the country. In July 1968, the British Minister of Health, Kenneth Robinson, announced that foreign Scientologists would no longer be permitted to enter the UK and Hubbard himself was excluded from the country as an "undesirable alien". Further inquiries were launched in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Hubbard took three major new initiatives in the face of these challenges. "Ethics Technology" was introduced to tighten internal discipline within Scientology. It required Scientologists to "disconnect" from any organization or individual—including family members—deemed to be disruptive or "suppressive". According to church-operated websites, "A person who disconnects is simply exercising his right to communicate or not to communicate with a particular person." Hubbard stated: "Communication, however, is a two-way flow. If one has the right to communicate, then one must also have the right to not receive communication from another. It is this latter corollary of the right to communicate that gives us our right to privacy." Scientologists were also required to write "Knowledge Reports" on each other, reporting transgressions or misapplications of Scientology methods. Hubbard promulgated a long list of punishable "Misdemeanors", "Crimes", and "High Crimes". The "Fair Game" policy was introduced, which was applicable to anyone deemed an "enemy" of Scientology: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." At the start of March 1966, Hubbard created the Guardian's Office (GO), a new agency within the Church of Scientology that was headed by his wife Mary Sue. It dealt with Scientology's external affairs, including public relations, legal actions and the gathering of intelligence on perceived threats. As Scientology faced increasingly negative media attention, the GO retaliated with hundreds of writs for libel and slander; it issued more than forty on a single day. Hubbard ordered his staff to find "lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence on [Scientology's] attackers". Finally, at the end of 1966, Hubbard acquired his own fleet of ships. He established the "Hubbard Explorational Company Ltd" which purchased three ships—the Enchanter, a forty-ton schooner, the Avon River, an old trawler, and the Royal Scotman , a former Irish Sea cattle ferry that he made his home and flagship. The ships were crewed by the Sea Organization or Sea Org, a group of Scientologist volunteers, with the support of a couple of professional seamen. Commodore of the Sea Org After Hubbard created the Sea Org "fleet" in early 1967 in the Canary Islands it began an eight-year voyage, sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic. The fleet traveled as far as Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean and Dakar and the Azores in the Atlantic, but rarely stayed anywhere for longer than six weeks. Ken Urquhart, Hubbard's personal assistant at the time, later recalled: When Hubbard established the Sea Org he publicly declared that he had relinquished his management responsibilities. According to Miller, this was not true. He received daily telex messages from Scientology organizations around the world reporting their statistics and income. The Church of Scientology sent him $15,000 () a week and millions of dollars were transferred to his bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Couriers arrived regularly, conveying luxury food for Hubbard and his family or cash that had been smuggled from England to avoid currency export restrictions. Along the way, Hubbard sought to establish a safe haven in "a friendly little country where Scientology would be allowed to prosper", as Miller puts it. The fleet stayed at Corfu for several months in 1968–1969. Hubbard renamed the ships after Greek gods—the Royal Scotman was rechristened Apollo—and he praised the recently established military dictatorship. The Sea Org was represented as "Professor Hubbard's Philosophy School" in a telegram to the Greek government. In March 1969, however, Hubbard and his ships were ordered to leave. In mid-1972, Hubbard tried again in Morocco, establishing contacts with the country's secret police and training senior policemen and intelligence agents in techniques for detecting subversives. The program ended in failure when it became caught up in internal Moroccan politics, and Hubbard left the country hastily in December 1972. At the same time, Hubbard was still developing Scientology's doctrines. A Scientology biography states that "free of organizational duties and aided by the first Sea Org members, L. Ron Hubbard now had the time and facilities to confirm in the physical universe some of the events and places he had encountered in his journeys down the track of time." In 1965, he designated several existing Scientology courses as confidential, repackaging them as the first of the esoteric "OT levels". Two years later he announced the release of OT3, the "Wall of Fire", revealing the secrets of an immense disaster that had occurred "on this planet, and on the other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five million years ago". Scientologists were required to undertake the first two OT levels before learning how Xenu, the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, had shipped billions of people to Earth and blown them up with hydrogen bombs, following which their traumatized spirits were stuck together at "implant stations", brainwashed with false memories and eventually became contained within human beings. The discovery of OT3 was said to have taken a major physical toll on Hubbard, who announced that he had broken a knee, an arm, and his back during the course of his research. A year later, in 1968, he unveiled OT levels 4 to 6 and began delivering OT training courses to Scientologists aboard the Royal Scotman. Scientologists around the world were presented with a glamorous picture of life in the Sea Org and many applied to join Hubbard aboard the fleet. What they found was rather different from the image. Most of those joining had no nautical experience at all. Mechanical difficulties and blunders by the crews led to a series of embarrassing incidents and near-disasters. Following one incident in which the rudder of the Royal Scotman was damaged during a storm, Hubbard ordered the ship's entire crew to be reduced to a "condition of liability" and wear gray rags tied to their arms. The ship itself was treated the same way, with dirty tarpaulins tied around its funnel to symbolize its lower status. According to those aboard, conditions were appalling; the crew was worked to the point of exhaustion, given meager rations and forbidden to wash or change their clothes for several weeks. Hubbard maintained a harsh disciplinary regime aboard the fleet, punishing mistakes by confining people in the Royal Scotman bilge tanks without toilet facilities and with food provided in buckets. At other times erring crew members were thrown overboard with Hubbard looking on and, occasionally, filming. David Mayo, a Sea Org member at the time, later recalled: From about 1970, Hubbard was attended aboard ship by the children of Sea Org members, organized as the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO). They were mainly young girls dressed in hot pants and halter tops, who were responsible for running errands for Hubbard such as lighting his cigarettes, dressing him or relaying his verbal commands to other members of the crew. In addition to his wife Mary Sue, he was accompanied by all four of his children by her, though not his first son Nibs, who had defected from Scientology in late 1959. The younger Hubbards were all members of the Sea Org and shared its rigors, though Quentin Hubbard reportedly found it difficult to adjust and attempted suicide in mid-1974. Life in hiding During the 1970s, Hubbard faced an increasing number of legal threats. French prosecutors charged him and the French Church of Scientology with fraud and customs violations in 1972. He was advised that he was at risk of being extradited to France. Hubbard left the Sea Org fleet temporarily at the end of 1972, living incognito in Queens, New York, until he returned to his flagship in September 1973 when the threat of extradition had abated. Scientology sources say that he carried out "a sociological study in and around New York City". Hubbard's health deteriorated significantly during this period. A chain-smoker, he also suffered from bursitis and excessive weight, and had a prominent growth on his forehead. He suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1973 and had a heart attack in 1975 that required him to take anticoagulant drugs for the next year. In September 1978, Hubbard had a pulmonary embolism, falling into a coma, but recovered. He remained active in managing and developing Scientology, establishing the controversial Rehabilitation Project Force in 1974 and issuing policy and doctrinal bulletins. However, the Sea Org's voyages were coming to an end. The Apollo was banned from several Spanish ports and was expelled from Curaçao in October 1975. The Sea Org came to be suspected of being a CIA operation, leading to a riot in Funchal, Madeira, when the Apollo docked there. At the time, The Apollo Stars, a musical group founded by Hubbard and made up entirely of ship-bound members of the Sea Org, was offering free on-pier concerts in an attempt to promote Scientology, and the riot occurred at one of these events. Hubbard decided to relocate back to the United States to establish a "land base" for the Sea Org in Florida. The Church of Scientology attributes this decision to the activities on the Apollo having "outgrow[n] the ship's capacity". In October 1975, Hubbard moved into a hotel suite in Daytona Beach. The Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, was secretly acquired as the location for the "land base". On December 5, 1975, Hubbard and his wife Mary Sue moved into a condominium complex in nearby Dunedin. Their presence was meant to be a closely guarded secret but was accidentally compromised the following month. Hubbard immediately left Dunedin and moved to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., accompanied by a handful of aides and messengers, but not his wife. Six months later, following another security alert in July 1976, Hubbard moved to another safe house in Culver City, California. He lived there for only about three months, relocating in October to the more private confines of the Olive Tree Ranch near La Quinta. His second son Quentin committed suicide a few weeks later in Las Vegas. Throughout this period, Hubbard was heavily involved in directing the activities of the Guardian's Office (GO), the legal bureau/intelligence agency that he had established in 1966. He believed that Scientology was being attacked by an international Nazi conspiracy, which he termed the "Tenyaka Memorial", through a network of drug companies, banks and psychiatrists in a bid to take over the world. In 1973, he instigated the "Snow White Program" and directed the GO to remove negative reports about Scientology from government files and track down their sources. The GO was ordered to "get all false and secret files on Scientology, LRH ... that cannot be obtained legally, by all possible lines of approach ... i.e., job penetration, janitor penetration, suitable guises utilizing covers." His involvement in the GO's operations was concealed through the use of codenames. The GO carried out covert campaigns on his behalf such as Operation Bulldozer Leak, intended "to effectively spread the rumor that will lead Government, media, and individual [Suppressive Persons] to conclude that LRH has no control of the C of S and no legal liability for Church activity". He was kept informed of GO operations, such as the theft of medical records from a hospital, harassment of psychiatrists and infiltrations of organizations that had been critical of Scientology at various times, such as the Better Business Bureau, the American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association. Members of the GO infiltrated and burglarized numerous government organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service. After two GO agents were caught in the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the IRS, the FBI carried out simultaneous raids on GO offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. on July 7, 1977. They retrieved wiretap equipment, burglary tools and some 90,000 pages of incriminating documents. Hubbard was not prosecuted, though he was labeled an "unindicted co-conspirator" by government prosecutors. His wife Mary Sue was indicted and subsequently convicted of conspiracy. She was sent to a federal prison along with ten other Scientologists. Hubbard's troubles increased in February 1978 when a French court convicted him in absentia for obtaining money under false pretenses. He was sentenced to four years in prison and a 35,000FF ($7,000) fine, . He went into hiding in April 1979, moving to an apartment in Hemet, California, where his only contact with the outside world was via ten trusted messengers. He cut contact with everyone else, even his wife, whom he saw for the last time in August 1979. Hubbard faced a possible indictment for his role in Operation Freakout, the GO's campaign against New York journalist Paulette Cooper, and in February 1980 he disappeared into deep cover in the company of two trusted messengers, Pat and Annie Broeker. For the first few years of the 1980s, Hubbard and the Broekers lived on the move, touring the Pacific Northwest in a recreational vehicle and living for a while in apartments in Newport Beach and Los Angeles. Hubbard used his time in hiding to write his first new works of science fiction for nearly thirty years—Battlefield Earth (1982) and Mission Earth, a ten-volume series published between 1985 and 1987. They received mixed responses; as writer Jeff Walker puts it, they were "treated derisively by most critics but greatly admired by followers". Hubbard also wrote and composed music for three of his albums, which were produced by the Church of Scientology. The book soundtrack Space Jazz was released in 1982. Mission Earth and The Road to Freedom were released posthumously in 1986. In Hubbard's absence, members of the Sea Org staged a takeover of the Church of Scientology and purged many veteran Scientologists. A young messenger, David Miscavige, became Scientology's de facto leader. Mary Sue Hubbard was forced to resign her position and her daughter Suzette became Miscavige's personal maid. Death and legacy For the last two years of his life, Hubbard lived in a luxury Blue Bird motorhome on Whispering Winds, a 160-acre ranch near Creston, California. He remained in deep hiding while controversy raged in the outside world about whether he was still alive and, if so, where. He spent his time "writing and researching", according to a spokesperson, and pursued photography and music, overseeing construction work and checking on his animals. He repeatedly redesigned the property, spending millions of dollars remodeling the ranch house—which went virtually uninhabited—and building a quarter-mile horse-racing track with an observation tower, which reportedly was never used. He was still closely involved in managing the Church of Scientology via secretly delivered orders and continued to receive large amounts of money, of which Forbes magazine estimated "at least $200 million [was] gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982." In September 1985, the IRS notified the Church that it was considering indicting Hubbard for tax fraud. Hubbard suffered further ill-health, including chronic pancreatitis, during his residence at Whispering Winds. He suffered a stroke on January 17, 1986, and died a week later. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered at sea. Scientology leaders announced that his body had become an impediment to his work and that he had decided to "drop his body" to continue his research on another planet, having "learned how to do it without a body". Hubbard was survived by his wife Mary Sue and all of his children except his second son Quentin. His will provided a trust fund to support Mary Sue; her children Arthur, Diana and Suzette; and Katherine, the daughter of his first wife Polly. He disinherited two of his other children. L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. had become estranged, changed his name to "Ronald DeWolf" and, in 1982, sued unsuccessfully for control of his father's estate. Alexis Valerie, Hubbard's daughter by his second wife Sara, had attempted to contact her father in 1971. She was rebuffed with the implied claim that her real father was Jack Parsons rather than Hubbard, and that her mother had been a Nazi spy during the war. Both later accepted settlements when litigation was threatened. In 2001, Diana and Suzette were reported to still be Church members, while Arthur had left and become an artist. Hubbard's great-grandson, Jamie DeWolf, is a noted slam poet. The copyrights of his works and much of his estate and wealth were willed to the Church of Scientology. In a bulletin dated May 5, 1980, Hubbard told his followers to preserve his teachings until an eventual reincarnation when he would return "not as a religious leader but as a political one". The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST), a sister organization of the Church of Scientology, has engraved Hubbard's entire corpus of Scientology and Dianetics texts on steel tablets stored in titanium containers. They are buried at the Trementina Base in a vault under a mountain near Trementina, New Mexico, on top of which the CST's logo has been bulldozed on such a gigantic scale that it is visible from space. Hubbard is held by Guinness World Records to be for the most published author with 1,084 works, most translated book (70 languages for The Way to Happiness) and most audiobooks (185 as of April 2009). According to Galaxy Press, Hubbard's Battlefield Earth has sold over 6 million copies and Mission Earth a further 7 million, with each of its ten volumes becoming New York Times bestsellers on their release; however, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1990 that Hubbard's followers had been buying large numbers of the books and re-issuing them to stores, so as to boost sales figures. Opinions are divided about his literary legacy. Scientologists have written of their desire to "make Ron the most acclaimed and widely known author of all time". The sociologist William Sims Bainbridge writes that even at his peak in the late 1930s Hubbard was regarded by readers of Astounding Science Fiction as merely "a passable, familiar author but not one of the best", while by the late 1970s "the [science fiction] subculture wishes it could forget him" and fans gave him a worse rating than any other of the "Golden Age" writers. Posthumously, the Los Angeles City Council named a part of the street close to the headquarters of Scientology in 1996, as recognition of Hubbard. In 2011, the West Valley City Council declared March 13 as L. Ron Hubbard Centennial Day. In April 2016, the New Jersey State Board of Education approved Hubbard's birthday as one of its religious holidays. In 2004, eighteen years after Hubbard's death, the Church claimed eight million followers worldwide. According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, this is an overestimate, counting as Scientologists people who had merely bought a book. The City University of New York's American Religious Identification Survey found that by 2009 only 25,000 Americans identified as Scientologists. Hubbard's presence still pervades Scientology. Every Church of Scientology maintains an office reserved for Hubbard, with a desk, chair and writing equipment, ready to be used. Lonnie D. Kliever notes that Hubbard was "the only source of the religion, and he has no successor". Hubbard is referred to simply as "Source" within Scientology and the theological acceptability of any Scientology-related activity is determined by how closely it adheres to Hubbard's doctrines. Hubbard's name and signature are official trademarks of the Religious Technology Center, established in 1982 to control and oversee the use of Hubbard's works and Scientology's trademarks and copyrights. The RTC is the central organization within Scientology's complex corporate hierarchy and has put much effort into re-checking the accuracy of all Scientology publications to "ensur[e] the availability of the pure unadulterated writings of Mr. Hubbard to the coming generations". The Danish historian of religions Mikael Rothstein describes Scientology as "a movement focused on the figure of Hubbard". He comments: "The fact that [Hubbard's] life is mythologized is as obvious as in the cases of Jesus, Muhammad or Siddartha Gotama. This is how religion works. Scientology, however, rejects this analysis altogether, and goes to great lengths to defend every detail of Hubbard's amazing and fantastic life as plain historical fact." Hubbard is presented as "the master of a multitude of disciplines" who performed extraordinary feats as a photographer, composer, scientist, therapist, explorer, navigator, philosopher, poet, artist, humanitarian, adventurer, soldier, scout, musician and many other fields of endeavor. The Church of Scientology portrays Hubbard's life and work as having proceeded seamlessly, "as if they were a continuous set of predetermined events and discoveries that unfolded through his lifelong research" even up to and beyond his death. According to Rothstein's assessment of Hubbard's legacy, Scientology consciously aims to transfer the charismatic authority of Hubbard to institutionalize his authority over the organization, even after his death. Hubbard is presented as a virtually superhuman religious ideal just as Scientology itself is presented as the most important development in human history. As Rothstein puts it, "reverence for Scientology's scripture is reverence for Hubbard, the man who in the Scientological perspective single-handedly brought salvation to all human beings." David G. Bromley of the University of Virginia comments that the real Hubbard has been transformed into a "prophetic persona", "LRH", which acts as the basis for his prophetic authority within Scientology and transcends his biographical history. According to Dorthe Refslund Christensen, Hubbard's hagiography directly compares him with Buddha. Hubbard is viewed as having made Eastern traditions more accessible by approaching them with a scientific attitude. "Hubbard is seen as the ultimate-cross-cultural savior; he is thought to be able to release man from his miserable condition because he had the necessary background, and especially the right attitude." Hubbard, although increasingly deified after his death, is the model Operating Thetan to Scientologists and their founder, and not God. Hubbard then is the "Source", "inviting others to follow his path in ways comparable to a Bodhisattva figure" according to religious scholar Donald A. Westbrook. Scientologists refer to L. Ron Hubbard as "Ron", referring to him as a personal friend. Biographies In the late 1970s, two men began to assemble a picture of Hubbard's life. Michael Linn Shannon, a resident of Portland, Oregon, became interested in Hubbard's life story after an encounter with a Scientology recruiter. Over the next four years he collected previously undisclosed records and documents. He intended to write an exposé of Hubbard and sent a copy of his findings and key records to a number of contacts but was unable to find a publisher. Shannon's findings were acquired by Gerry Armstrong, a Scientologist who had been appointed Hubbard's official archivist. He had been given the job of assembling documents relating to Hubbard's life for the purpose of helping Omar V. Garrison, a non-Scientologist who had written two books sympathetic to Scientology, to write an official biography. However, the documents that he uncovered convinced both Armstrong and Garrison that Hubbard had systematically misrepresented his life. Garrison refused to write a "puff piece" and declared that he would not "repeat all the falsehoods they [the Church of Scientology] had perpetuated over the years". He wrote a "warts and all" biography while Armstrong quit Scientology, taking five boxes of papers with him. The Church of Scientology and Mary Sue Hubbard sued for the return of the documents while settling out of court with Garrison, requiring him to turn over the nearly completed manuscript of the biography. In October 1984 Judge Paul G. Breckenridge ruled in Armstrong's favor, saying: In November 1987, the British journalist and writer Russell Miller published Bare-faced Messiah, the first full-length biography of L. Ron Hubbard. He drew on Armstrong's papers, official records and interviews with those who had known Hubbard including ex-Scientologists and family members. The book was well-received by reviewers but the Church of Scientology sought unsuccessfully to prohibit its publication on the grounds of copyright infringement. Other critical biographical accounts are found in Bent Corydon's L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? (1987) and Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky (1990). Scientology biographies Hagiographical accounts published by the Church of Scientology describe Hubbard as "a child prodigy of sorts" who rode a horse before he could walk and was able to read and write by the age of four. A Scientology profile says that he was brought up on his grandfather's "large cattle ranch in Montana" where he spent his days "riding, breaking broncos, hunting coyote and taking his first steps as an explorer". His grandfather is described as a "wealthy Western cattleman" from whom Hubbard "inherited his fortune and family interests in America, Southern Africa, etc." Scientology claims that Hubbard became a "blood brother" of the Native American Blackfeet tribe at the age of six through his friendship with a Blackfeet medicine man. However, contemporary records show that his grandfather, Lafayette Waterbury, was a veterinarian, not a rancher, and was not wealthy. Hubbard was actually raised in a townhouse in the center of Helena. According to his aunt, his family did not own a ranch but did own one cow and four or five horses on a few acres of land outside the city. Hubbard lived over a hundred miles from the Blackfeet reservation. While some sources support Scientology's claim of Hubbard's blood brotherhood, other sources say that the tribe did not practice blood brotherhood and no evidence has been found that he had ever been a Blackfeet blood brother. According to Scientology biographies, during a journey to Washington, D.C. in 1923 Hubbard learned of Freudian psychology from Commander Joseph "Snake" Thompson, a U.S. Navy psychoanalyst and medic. Scientology biographies describe this encounter as giving Hubbard training in a particular scientific approach to the mind, which he found unsatisfying. In his diary, Hubbard claimed he was the youngest Eagle Scout in the U.S. Scientology texts present Hubbard's travels in Asia as a time when he was intensely curious for answers to human suffering and explored ancient Eastern philosophies for answers, but found them lacking. He is described as traveling to China "at a time when few Westerners could enter" and according to Scientology, spent his time questioning Buddhist lamas and meeting old Chinese magicians. According to church materials, his travels were funded by his "wealthy grandfather". Scientology accounts say that Hubbard "made his way deep into Manchuria's Western Hills and beyond — to break bread with Mongolian bandits, share campfires with Siberian shamans and befriend the last in the line of magicians from the court of Kublai Khan". However, Hubbard did not record these events in his diary. He remained unimpressed with China and the Chinese, writing: "A Chinaman can not live up to a thing, he always drags it down." He characterized the sights of Beijing as "rubberneck stations" for tourists and described the palaces of the Forbidden City as "very trashy-looking" and "not worth mentioning". He was impressed by the Great Wall of China near Beijing, but concluded of the Chinese: "They smell of all the baths they didn't take. The trouble with China is, there are too many chinks here." Despite not graduating from George Washington, Hubbard claimed "to be not only a graduate engineer, but 'a member of the first United States course in formal education in what is called today nuclear physics.'" However, a Church of Scientology biography describes him as "never noted for being in class" and says that he "thoroughly detest[ed] his subjects". He earned poor grades, was placed on probation in September 1931 and dropped out altogether in the fall of 1932. Hubbard is noted as once being offered employment at the Soviet-American trade organization AMTORG Scientology accounts say that he "studied nuclear physics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., before he started his studies about the mind, spirit and life" and Hubbard himself stated that he "set out to find out from nuclear physics a knowledge of the physical universe, something entirely lacking in Asian philosophy". His university records indicate that his exposure to "nuclear physics" consisted of one class in "atomic and molecular phenomena" for which he earned an "F" grade. Scientologists claim he was more interested in extracurricular activities, particularly writing and flying. According to church materials, "he earned his wings as a pioneering barnstormer at the dawn of American aviation" and was "recognized as one of the country's most outstanding pilots. With virtually no training time, he takes up powered flight and barnstorms throughout the Midwest." His airman certificate, however, records that he qualified to fly only gliders rather than powered aircraft and gave up his certificate when he could not afford the renewal fee. After leaving university Hubbard traveled to Puerto Rico on what the Church of Scientology calls the "Puerto Rican Mineralogical Expedition". Scientologists claim he "made the first complete mineralogical survey of Puerto Rico" as a means of "augmenting his [father's] pay with a mining venture", during which he "sluiced inland rivers and crisscrossed the island in search of elusive gold" as well as carrying out "much ethnological work amongst the interior villages and native hillsmen". Hubbard's unofficial biographer Russell Miller writes that neither the United States Geological Survey nor the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources have any record of any such expedition. According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard was "called to Hollywood" to work on film scripts in the mid-1930s, although Scientology accounts differ as to exactly when this was (whether 1935, 1936 or 1937). The Church of Scientology claims he also worked on the Columbia serials The Mysterious Pilot (1937), The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) and The Spider Returns (1941), though his name does not appear on the credits. Hubbard also claimed to have written Dive Bomber (1941), Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) and John Ford's Stagecoach (1939). Scientology accounts of the expedition to Alaska describe "Hubbard's re-charting of an especially treacherous Inside Passage, and his ethnological study of indigenous Aleuts and Haidas" and tell of how "along the way, he not only roped a Kodiak Bear, but braved seventy-mile-an-hour winds and commensurate seas off the Aleutian Islands." They are divided about how far Hubbard's expedition actually traveled, whether or . The Church disputes the official record of Hubbard's naval career. It asserts that the records are incomplete and perhaps falsified "to conceal Hubbard's secret activities as an intelligence officer". In 1990 the Church provided the Los Angeles Times with a document that was said to be a copy of Hubbard's official record of service. The U.S. Navy told the Times that "its contents are not supported by Hubbard's personnel record." The New Yorker reported in February 2011 that the Scientology document was considered by federal archivists to be a forgery. The Church of Scientology presents him as a "much-decorated war hero who commanded a corvette and during hostilities was crippled and wounded". Scientology publications say he served as a "Commodore of Corvette squadrons" in "all five theaters of World War II" and was awarded "twenty-one medals and palms" for his service. He was "severely wounded and was taken crippled and blinded" to a military hospital, where he "worked his way back to fitness, strength and full perception in less than two years, using only what he knew and could determine about Man and his relationship to the universe". He said that he had seen combat repeatedly, telling A. E. van Vogt that he had once sailed his ship "right into the harbor of a Japanese occupied island in the Dutch East Indies. His attitude was that if you took your flag down the Japanese would not know one boat from another, so he tied up at the dock, went ashore and wandered around by himself for three days." Hubbard's war service has great significance in the history and mythology of the Church of Scientology, as he is said to have cured himself through techniques that would later underpin Scientology and Dianetics. According to Moulton, Hubbard told him that he had been machine-gunned in the back near the Dutch East Indies. Hubbard asserted that his eyes had been damaged as well, either "by the flash of a large-caliber gun" or when he had "a bomb go off in my face". Scientology texts say that he returned from the war "[b]linded with injured optic nerves, and lame with physical injuries to hip and back" and was twice pronounced dead. Hubbard's official Navy service records indicate that "his military performance was, at times, substandard" and he received only four campaign medals rather than the claimed twenty-one. He was never recorded as being injured or wounded in combat and never received a Purple Heart. The Church of Scientology says that Hubbard's key breakthrough in the development of Dianetics was made at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. According to the Church, Scientology accounts do not mention Hubbard's involvement in occultism. He is instead described as "continu[ing] to write to help support his research" during this period into "the development of a means to better the condition of man". The Church of Scientology has nonetheless acknowledged Hubbard's involvement with the OTO; a 1969 statement, written by Hubbard himself, said: The Church of Scientology says Hubbard was "sent in" by his fellow science fiction author Robert Heinlein, "who was running off-book intelligence operations for naval intelligence at the time". However, Heinlein's authorized biographer has said that he looked into the matter at the suggestion of Scientologists but found nothing to corroborate claims that Heinlein had been involved, and his biography of Heinlein makes no mention of the matter. The Church of Scientology says Hubbard quit the Navy because it "attempted to monopolize all his researches and force him to work on a project 'to make man more suggestible' and when he was unwilling, tried to blackmail him by ordering him back to active duty to perform this function. Having many friends he was able to instantly resign from the Navy and escape this trap." The Navy said in a statement in 1980: "There is no evidence on record of an attempt to recall him to active duty." Following Hubbard's death, Bridge Publications published several stand-alone biographical accounts of his life. Marco Frenschkowski notes that "non-Scientologist readers immediately recognize some parts of Hubbard's life are here systematically left out: no information whatsoever is given about his private life (his marriages, divorces, children), his legal affairs and so on." The Church maintains an extensive website presenting the official version of Hubbard's life. It also owns a number of properties dedicated to Hubbard including the Los Angeles-based L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition (a presentation of Hubbard's life), the Author Services Center (a presentation of Hubbard's writings), and the L. Ron Hubbard House in Washington, D.C. In late 2012, Bridge published a comprehensive official biography of Hubbard, titled The L. Ron Hubbard Series: A Biographical Encyclopedia, written primarily by Dan Sherman, the official Hubbard biographer at the time. This most recent official Church of Scientology biography of Hubbard is a 17 volume series, with each volume focusing on a different aspect of Hubbard's life, including his music, photography, geographic exploration, humanitarian work, and nautical career. It is advertised as a "Biographic Encyclopedia" and is primarily authored by the official biographer, Dan Sherman. During his lifetime, a number of brief biographical sketches were also published in his Scientology books. The Church of Scientology issued "the only authorized LRH Biography" in October 1977 (it has since been followed by the Sherman "Biographic Encyclopedia"). His life was illustrated in print in What Is Scientology?, a glossy publication published in 1978 with paintings of Hubbard's life contributed by his son Arthur. Bibliography According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard produced some 65 million words on Dianetics and Scientology, contained in about 500,000 pages of written material, 3,000 recorded lectures and 100 films. His works of fiction included some 500 novels and short stories. See also Aleister Crowley Norton S. Karno, an attorney for the Church of Scientology and for L. Ron Hubbard Timeline of L. Ron Hubbard References Further reading Atack, Jon. A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard exposed. Carol Publishing Group, 1990. , Behar, Richard Pushing Beyond the U.S.: Scientology makes its presence felt in Europe and Canada Bromley, David G. "Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual Religion", in Lewis, James R. (ed.), Scientology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Christensen, Dorthe Refslund. "Inventing L. Ron Hubbard: On the Construction and Maintenance of the Hagiographic Mythology of Scientology's Founder," pp. 227–258 in Lewis, James R.; Petersen, Jesper Aagaard: Controversial new religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. , , available through Oxford Scholarship Online, Evans, Christopher. Cults of Unreason. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. , Gardner, Martin. Fads and fallacies in the name of science. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 1957. , Jacobsen, Jeff Day, Robert RJ. What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You To Know Lamont, Stewart. Religion Inc.: The Church of Scientology. London: Harrap, 1986. , Malko, George. Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press, 1970. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic handbook of cults in America. Taylor & Francis; 1992. Miller, Russell. Bare-faced Messiah: the true story of L. Ron Hubbard. London: Joseph, 1987. , O'Brien, Helen. Dianetics in Limbo: A Documentary About Immortality. Philadelphia: Whitmore Publishing, 1966. Pendle, George. Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. , Reitman, Janet. "Inside Scientology," pp. 305–348 of American Society of Magazine Editors (Ed.) The Best American Magazine Writing 2007. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. , Reitman, Janet. Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. , Rolph, Cecil Hewitt Believe What You Like: what happened between the Scientologists and the National Association for Mental Health. London: Deutsch, 1973. , Rothstein, Mikael. "Scientology, scripture and sacred traditions," in Lewis, James R.; Hammer, Olav (eds.):
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Metzger describes it, The "elemental" arrived a few days later in the form of Marjorie Cameron, who agreed to participate in Parsons's rites. Soon afterwards, Parsons, Hubbard and Sara agreed to set up a business partnership, "Allied Enterprises", in which they invested nearly their entire savings—the vast majority contributed by Parsons. The plan was for Hubbard and Sara to buy yachts in Miami and sail them to the West Coast to sell for a profit. Hubbard had a different idea; he wrote to the U.S. Navy requesting permission to leave the country "to visit Central & South America & China" for the purposes of "collecting writing material"—in other words, undertaking a world cruise. Aleister Crowley strongly criticized Parsons's actions, writing: "Suspect Ron playing confidence trick—Jack Parsons weak fool—obvious victim prowling swindlers." Parsons attempted to recover his money by obtaining an injunction to prevent Hubbard and Sara leaving the country or disposing of the remnants of his assets. They attempted to sail anyway but were forced back to port by a storm. A week later, Allied Enterprises was dissolved. Parsons received only a $2,900 promissory note from Hubbard and returned home "shattered". He had to sell his mansion to developers soon afterwards to recoup his losses. Hubbard's fellow writers were well aware of what had happened between him and Parsons. L. Sprague de Camp wrote to Isaac Asimov on August 27, 1946, to tell him: On August 10, 1946, Hubbard bigamously married Sara, while still married to Polly. It was not until 1947 that his first wife learned that he had remarried. Hubbard agreed to divorce Polly in June that year and the marriage was dissolved shortly afterwards, with Polly given custody of the children. During this period, Hubbard authored a document which has been called the "Affirmations" (also referred to as the "Admissions"). They consist of a series of statements by and addressed to Hubbard, relating to various physical, sexual, psychological and social issues that he was encountering in his life. The Affirmations appear to have been intended to be used as a form of self-hypnosis with the intention of resolving the author's psychological problems and instilling a positive mental attitude. In her book, Reitman called the Affirmations "the most revealing psychological self-assessment, complete with exhortations to himself, that [Hubbard] had ever made." Among the Affirmations: "Your eyes are getting progressively better. They became bad when you used them as an excuse to escape the naval academy. You have no reason to keep them bad." "Your stomach trouble you used as an excuse to keep the Navy from punishing you. You are free of the Navy." "Your hip is a pose. You have a sound hip. It never hurts. Your shoulder never hurts." "Your foot was an alibi. The injury is no longer needed." "You can tell all the romantic tales you wish. ... But you know which ones were lies ... You have enough real experience to make anecdotes forever. Stick to your true adventures." "Masturbation does not injure or make insane. Your parents were in error. Everyone masturbates." Request for psychiatric treatment After Hubbard's wedding to Sara, the couple settled at Laguna Beach, California, where Hubbard took a short-term job looking after a friend's yacht before resuming his fiction writing to supplement the small disability allowance that he was receiving as a war veteran. Working from a trailer in a run-down area of North Hollywood, Hubbard sold a number of science fiction stories that included his Ole Doc Methuselah series and the serialized novels The End Is Not Yet and To the Stars. However, he remained short of money and his son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr, testified later that Hubbard was dependent on his own father and Margaret's parents for money and his writings, which he was paid at a penny per word, never garnered him any more than $10,000 prior to the founding of Scientology. He repeatedly wrote to the Veterans Administration (VA) asking for an increase in his war pension. In October 1947 he wrote to request psychiatric treatment: The VA eventually did increase his pension, but his money problems continued. On August 31, 1948, he was arrested in San Luis Obispo, California, and subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of petty theft, for which he was ordered to pay a $25 fine (). Dianetics Origin In 1948, Hubbard and his second wife Sara moved from California to Savannah, Georgia, where he would later claim to have worked as a volunteer lay practitioner in a local psychiatric clinic. In letters to friends, he began to make the first public mentions of what was to become Dianetics. He wrote in January 1949 that he was working on a "book of psychology" about "the cause and cure of nervous tension", which he was going to call The Dark Sword, Excalibur or Science of the Mind. On March 8, 1949, Hubbard wrote to friend and fellow science-fiction author Robert Heinlein from Savannah, Georgia. Hubbard referenced Heinlein's earlier work Coventry, in which a utopian government has the ability to psychologically "cure" criminals of violent personality traits. He told Heinlein: His first published articles in Dianetics were "Terra Incognita: The Mind" in The Explorers Journal and another one that impacted people more heavily in Astounding Science Fiction. In April 1949, Hubbard wrote to several professional organizations to offer his research. None were interested, so he turned to his editor John W. Campbell, who was more receptive due to a long-standing fascination with fringe psychologies and psychic powers ("psionics") that "permeated both his fiction and non-fiction". Campbell invited Hubbard and Sara to move into a cottage at Bay Head, New Jersey, not far from his own home at Plainfield. In July 1949, Campbell recruited an acquaintance, Dr. Joseph Winter, to help develop Hubbard's new therapy of "Dianetics". Campbell told Winter: Hubbard collaborated with Campbell and Winter to refine his techniques, testing them on science fiction fans recruited by Campbell. The basic principle of Dianetics was that the brain recorded every experience and event in a person's life, even when unconscious. Bad or painful experiences were stored as what he called "engrams" in a "reactive mind". These could be triggered later in life, causing emotional and physical problems. By carrying out a process he called "auditing", a person could be regressed through his engrams to re-experiencing past experiences. This enabled engrams to be "cleared". The subject, who would now be in a state of "Clear", would have a perfectly functioning mind with an improved IQ and photographic memory. The "Clear" would be cured of physical ailments ranging from poor eyesight to the common cold, which Hubbard asserted were purely psychosomatic. Winter submitted a paper on Dianetics to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry but both journals rejected it. Hubbard and his collaborators decided to announce Dianetics in Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction instead. In an editorial, Campbell said: "Its power is almost unbelievable; it proves the mind not only can but does rule the body completely; following the sharply defined basic laws set forth, physical ills such as ulcers, asthma and arthritis can be cured, as can all other psychosomatic ills." The birth of Hubbard's second daughter Alexis Valerie, delivered by Winter on March 8, 1950, came in the middle of the preparations to launch Dianetics. Shortly afterwards in April 1950, a "Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation" was established in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with Hubbard, Sara, Winter and Campbell on the board of directors. Hubbard described Dianetics as "the hidden source of all psychosomatic ills and human aberration" when he introduced Dianetics to the world in the 1950s. He further claimed that "skills have been developed for their invariable cure." Dianetics was duly launched in Astounding's May 1950 issue and on May 9, Hubbard's companion book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was published by Hermitage House. Hubbard abandoned freelance writing in order to promote Dianetics, writing several books about it in the next decade and delivering an estimated 4,000 lectures while founding Dianetics research organizations. Initial success Dianetics was an immediate commercial success and sparked what Martin Gardner calls "a nationwide cult of incredible proportions". By August 1950, Hubbard's book had sold 55,000 copies, was selling at the rate of 4,000 a week and was being translated into French, German and Japanese. Five hundred Dianetic auditing groups had been set up across the United States. Dianetics was poorly received by the press and the scientific and medical professions. The American Psychological Association criticized Hubbard's claims as "not supported by empirical evidence". Scientific American said that Hubbard's book contained "more promises and less evidence per page than any publication since the invention of printing", while The New Republic called it a "bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology". Some of Hubbard's fellow science fiction writers also criticized it; Isaac Asimov considered it "gibberish" while Jack Williamson called it "a lunatic revision of Freudian psychology". Several famous individuals became involved with Dianetics. Aldous Huxley received auditing from Hubbard; the poet Jean Toomer and the science fiction writers Theodore Sturgeon and A. E. van Vogt became trained Dianetics auditors. Vogt temporarily abandoned writing and became the head of the newly established Los Angeles branch of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Other branches were established in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Honolulu. Psychologist and systems theorist William T. Powers, also prolific as a science fiction writer, was another early advocate and researcher connected with the Chicago branch. Although Dianetics was not cheap, a great many people were nonetheless willing to pay; van Vogt later recalled "doing little but tear open envelopes and pull out $500 checks from people who wanted to take an auditor's course". Financial controls were lax. Hubbard himself took large sums with no explanation of what he was doing with it. On one occasion, van Vogt saw Hubbard taking a lump sum of $56,000 () out of the Los Angeles Foundation's proceeds. One of Hubbard's employees, Helen O'Brien, commented that at the Elizabeth, N.J. branch of the Foundation, the books showed that "a month's income of $90,000 is listed, with only $20,000 accounted for". Hubbard played a very active role in the Dianetics boom, writing, lecturing and training auditors. Many of those who knew him spoke of being impressed by his personal charisma. Jack Horner, who became a Dianetics auditor in 1950, later said, "He was very impressive, dedicated and amusing. The man had tremendous charisma; you just wanted to hear every word he had to say and listen for any pearl of wisdom." Isaac Asimov recalled in his autobiography how, at a dinner party, he, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and their wives "all sat as quietly as pussycats and listened to Hubbard. He told tales with perfect aplomb and in complete paragraphs." As Atack comments, he was "a charismatic figure who compelled the devotion of those around him". Christopher Evans described the personal qualities that Hubbard brought to Dianetics and Scientology: Collapse of Dianetics Foundation and subsequent kidnappings Dianetics lost public credibility in August 1950 when a presentation by Hubbard before an audience of 6,000 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles failed disastrously. He introduced a Clear named Sonya Bianca and told the audience that as a result of undergoing Dianetic therapy she now possessed perfect recall. However, Gardner writes, "in the demonstration that followed, she failed to remember a single formula in physics (the subject in which she was majoring) or the color of Hubbard's tie when his back was turned. At this point, a large part of the audience got up and left." Hubbard's supporters soon began to have doubts about Dianetics. Winter became disillusioned, and in 1951, he wrote that he had never seen a single convincing Clear: "I have seen some individuals who are supposed to have been 'clear,' but their behavior does not conform to the definition of the state. Moreover, an individual supposed to have been 'clear' has undergone a relapse into conduct which suggests an incipient psychosis." He also deplored the Foundation's omission of any serious scientific research. Hubbard also faced other practitioners moving into leadership positions within the Dianetics community. It was structured as an open, public practice in which others were free to pursue their own lines of research and claim that their approaches to auditing produced better results than Hubbard's. The community rapidly splintered and its members mingled Hubbard's ideas with a wide variety of esoteric and occult practices. By late 1950, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation was in financial crisis and the Los Angeles Foundation was more than $200,000 in debt (). Winter and Art Ceppos, the publisher of Hubbard's book, resigned under acrimonious circumstances. Campbell also resigned, criticizing Hubbard for being impossible to work with, and blamed him for the disorganization and financial ruin of the Foundations. By the summer of 1951, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation and all of its branches had closed. The collapse of Hubbard's marriage to Sara created yet more problems. He had begun an affair with his 20-year-old public relations assistant in late 1950, while Sara started a relationship with Dianetics auditor Miles Hollister. Hubbard secretly denounced the couple to the FBI in March 1951, portraying them in a letter as communist infiltrators. According to Hubbard, Sara was "currently intimate with [communists] but evidently under coercion. Drug addiction set in fall 1950. Nothing of this known to me until a few weeks ago." Hollister was described as having a "sharp chin, broad forehead, rather Slavic". He was said to be the "center of most turbulence in our organization" and "active and dangerous". The FBI did not take Hubbard seriously: an agent annotated his correspondence with the comment, "Appears mental." Three weeks later, Hubbard and two Foundation staff seized Sara and his year-old daughter Alexis and forcibly took them to San Bernardino, California, where he attempted unsuccessfully to find a doctor to examine Sara and declare her insane. He let Sara go but took Alexis to Havana, Cuba. Sara filed a divorce suit on April 23, 1951, that accused him of marrying her bigamously and subjecting her to sleep deprivation, beatings, strangulation, kidnapping and exhortations to commit suicide. The case led to newspaper headlines such as "Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife." Sara finally secured the return of her daughter in June 1951 by agreeing to a settlement with her husband in which she signed a statement, written by him, declaring: Dianetics appeared to be on the edge of total collapse. However, it was saved by Don Purcell, a millionaire businessman and Dianeticist who agreed to support a new Foundation in Wichita, Kansas. Their collaboration ended after less than a year when they fell out over the future direction of Dianetics. The Wichita Foundation became financially nonviable after a court ruled that it was liable for the unpaid debts of its defunct predecessor in Elizabeth, N.J. The ruling prompted Purcell and the other directors of the Wichita Foundation to file for voluntary bankruptcy in February 1952. Hubbard resigned immediately and accused Purcell of having been bribed by the American Medical Association to destroy Dianetics. Hubbard established a "Hubbard College" on the other side of town where he continued to promote Dianetics while fighting Purcell in the courts over the Foundation's intellectual property. Only six weeks after setting up the Hubbard College and marrying a staff member, 18-year-old Mary Sue Whipp, Hubbard closed it down and moved with his new bride to Phoenix, Arizona. He established a Hubbard Association of Scientologists International to promote his new "Science of Certainty"—Scientology. Scientology and Dianetics have been differentiated as follows: Dianetics is all about releasing the mind from the "distorting influence of engrams", and Scientology "is the study and handling of the spirit in relation to itself, universes and other life". Rise of Scientology The Church of Scientology attributes its genesis to Hubbard's discovery of "a new line of research"—"that man is most fundamentally a spiritual being (a thetan)". Non-Scientologist writers have suggested alternative motives: that he aimed "to reassert control over his creation", that he believed "he was about to lose control of Dianetics", or that he wanted to ensure "he would be able to stay in business even if the courts eventually awarded control of Dianetics and its valuable copyrights to ... the hated Don Purcell." Harlan Ellison has told a story of seeing Hubbard at a gathering of the Hydra Club in 1953 or 1954. Hubbard was complaining of not being able to make a living on what he was being paid as a science fiction writer. Ellison says that Lester del Rey told Hubbard that what he needed to do to get rich was start a religion. Hubbard expanded upon the basics of Dianetics to construct a spiritually oriented (though at this stage not religious) doctrine based on the concept that the true self of a person was a thetan—an immortal, omniscient and potentially omnipotent entity. Hubbard taught that thetans, having created the material universe, had forgotten their god-like powers and become trapped in physical bodies. Scientology aimed to "rehabilitate" each person's self (the thetan) to restore its original capacities and become once again an "Operating Thetan". Hubbard insisted humanity was imperiled by the forces of "aberration", which were the result of engrams carried by immortal thetans for billions of years. In 2012, Ohio State University professor Hugh Urban asserted that Hubbard had adopted many of his theories from the early to mid 20th century astral projection pioneer Sylvan Muldoon stating that Hubbard's description of exteriorizing the thetan is extremely similar if not identical to the descriptions of astral projection in occult literature popularized by Muldoon's widely read Phenomena of Astral Projection (1951) (co-written with Hereward Carrington) and that Muldoon's description of the astral body as being connected to the physical body by a long thin, elastic cord is virtually identical to the one described in Hubbard's "Excalibur" vision. Hubbard introduced a device called an E-meter that he presented as having, as Miller puts it, "an almost mystical power to reveal an individual's innermost thoughts". He promulgated Scientology through a series of lectures, bulletins and books such as A History of Man ("a cold-blooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years") and Scientology: 8-8008 ("With this book, the ability to make one's body old or young at will, the ability to heal the ill without physical contact, the ability to cure the insane and the incapacitated, is set forth for the physician, the layman, the mathematician and the physicist.") Scientology was organized in a very different way from the decentralized Dianetics movement. The Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS) was the only official Scientology organization. Training procedures and doctrines were standardized and promoted through HAS publications, and administrators and auditors were not permitted to deviate from Hubbard's approach. Branches or "orgs" were organized as franchises, rather like a fast food restaurant chain. Each franchise holder was required to pay ten percent of income to Hubbard's central organization. They were expected to find new recruits, known as "raw meat", but were restricted to providing only basic services. Costlier higher-level auditing was only provided by Hubbard's central organization. Although this model would eventually be extremely successful, Scientology was a very small-scale movement at first. Hubbard started off with only a few dozen followers, generally dedicated Dianeticists; a seventy-hour series of lectures in Philadelphia in December 1952 was attended by just 38 people. Hubbard was joined in Phoenix by his 18-year-old son Nibs, who had been unable to settle down in high school. Nibs had decided to become a Scientologist, moved into his father's home and went on to become a Scientology staff member and "professor". Hubbard also traveled to the United Kingdom to establish his control over a Dianetics group in London. It was very much a shoestring operation; as Helen O'Brien later recalled, "there was an atmosphere of extreme poverty and undertones of a grim conspiracy over all. At 163 Holland Park Avenue was an ill-lit lecture room and a bare-boarded and poky office some eight by ten feet—mainly infested by long haired men and short haired and tatty women." On September 24, 1952, only a few weeks after arriving in London, Hubbard's wife Mary Sue gave birth to her first child, a daughter whom they named Diana Meredith de Wolfe Hubbard. In February 1953, Hubbard acquired a doctorate from the unaccredited degree mill called Sequoia University. As membership declined and finances grew tighter, Hubbard had reversed the hostility to religion he voiced in Dianetics. A few weeks after becoming "Dr." Hubbard, he authored a letter outlining plans for transforming Scientology into a religion. In that letter, Hubbard proposed setting up a chain of "Spiritual Guidance Centers" charging customers $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing proposing that Scientology should be transformed into a religion: The letter's recipient, Helen O'Brien, resigned the following September. She criticized Hubbard for creating "a temperate zone voodoo, in its inelasticity, unexplainable procedures, and mindless group euphoria". The idea may not have been new; Hubbard has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." J. Gordon Melton notes, "There is no record of Hubbard having ever made this statement, though several of his science fiction colleagues have noted the broaching of the subject on one of their informal conversations." Despite objections, on December 18, 1953, Hubbard incorporated the Church of Scientology, Church of American Science and Church of Spiritual Engineering in Camden, New Jersey. Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue and his secretary John Galusha became the trustees of all three corporations. The reason for Scientology's religious transformation was explained by officials of the HAS: Scientology franchises became Churches of Scientology and some auditors began dressing as clergymen, complete with clerical collars. If they were arrested in the course of their activities, Hubbard advised, they should sue for massive damages for molesting "a Man of God going about his business". A few years later he told Scientologists: "If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace ... Don't ever defend, always attack." Any individual breaking away from Scientology and setting up his own group was to be shut down: The 1950s saw Scientology growing steadily. Hubbard finally achieved victory over Don Purcell in 1954 when the latter, worn out by constant litigation, handed the copyrights of Dianetics back to Hubbard. Most of the formerly independent Scientology and Dianetics groups were either driven out of business or were absorbed into Hubbard's organizations. Hubbard marketed Scientology through medical claims, such as attracting polio sufferers by presenting the Church of Scientology as a scientific research foundation investigating polio cases. One advertisement during this period stated: Scientology became a highly profitable enterprise for Hubbard. He implemented a scheme under which he was paid a percentage of the Church of Scientology's gross income and by 1957 he was being paid about $250,000 (). His family grew, too, with Mary Sue giving birth to three more children—Geoffrey Quentin McCaully on January 6, 1954; Mary Suzette Rochelle on February 13, 1955; and Arthur Ronald Conway on June 6, 1958. In the spring of 1959, he used his new-found wealth to purchase Saint Hill Manor, an 18th-century country house in Sussex, formerly owned by Sawai Man Singh II, the Maharaja of Jaipur. The house became Hubbard's permanent residence and an international training center for Scientologists. Controversies and crises By the start of the 1960s, Hubbard was the leader of a worldwide movement with thousands of followers. A decade later, however, he had left Saint Hill Manor and moved aboard his own private fleet of ships as the Church of Scientology faced worldwide controversy. The Church of Scientology says that the problems of this period were due to "vicious, covert international attacks" by the United States government, "all of which were proven false and baseless, which were to last 27 years and finally culminated in the Government being sued for 750 million dollars for conspiracy." Behind the attacks, stated Hubbard, lay a vast conspiracy of "psychiatric front groups" secretly controlling governments: "Every single lie, false charge and attack on Scientology has been traced directly to this group's members. They have sought at great expense for nineteen years to crush and eradicate any new development in the field of the mind. They are actively preventing any effectiveness in this field." Hubbard believed that Scientology was being infiltrated by saboteurs and spies and introduced "security checking" to identify those he termed "potential trouble sources" and "suppressive persons". Members of the Church of Scientology were interrogated with the aid of E-meters and were asked questions such as "Have you ever practiced homosexuality?" and "Have you ever had unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?" For a time, Scientologists were even interrogated about crimes committed in past lives: "Have you ever destroyed a culture?" "Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?" "Have you ever zapped anyone?" He also sought to exert political influence, advising Scientologists to vote against Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election and establishing a Department of Government Affairs "to bring government and hostile philosophies or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals of Scientology". This, he said, "is done by high-level ability to control and in its absence by a low-level ability to overwhelm. Introvert such agencies. Control such agencies." The U.S. Government was already well aware of Hubbard's activities. The FBI had a lengthy file on him, including a 1951 interview with an agent who considered him a "mental case". Police forces in a number of jurisdictions began exchanging information about Scientology through the auspices of Interpol, which eventually led to prosecutions. In 1958, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service withdrew the Washington, D.C. Church of Scientology's tax exemption after it found that Hubbard and his family were profiting unreasonably from Scientology's ostensibly non-profit income. The Food and Drug Administration took action against Scientology's medical claims, seizing thousands of pills being marketed as "radiation cures" as well as publications and E-meters. The Church of Scientology was required to label them as being "ineffective in the diagnosis or treatment of disease". Following the FDA's actions, Scientology attracted increasingly unfavorable publicity across the English-speaking world. It faced particularly hostile scrutiny in Victoria, Australia, where it was accused of brainwashing, blackmail, extortion and damaging the mental health of its members. The Victorian state government established a Board of Inquiry into Scientology in November 1963. Its report, published in October 1965, condemned every aspect of Scientology and Hubbard himself. He was described as being of doubtful sanity, having a persecution complex and displaying strong indications of paranoid schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur. His writings were characterized as nonsensical, abounding in "self-glorification and grandiosity, replete with histrionics and hysterical, incontinent outbursts". Sociologist Roy Wallis comments that the report drastically changed public perceptions of Scientology: The report led to Scientology being banned in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, and led to more negative publicity around the world. Newspapers and politicians in the UK pressed the British government for action against Scientology. In April 1966, hoping to form a remote "safe haven" for Scientology, Hubbard traveled to the southern African country Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) and looked into setting up a base there at a hotel on Lake Kariba. Despite his attempts to curry favour with the local government—he personally delivered champagne to Prime Minister Ian Smith's house, but Smith refused to see him—Rhodesia promptly refused to renew Hubbard's visa, compelling him to leave the country. In July 1968, the British Minister of Health, Kenneth Robinson, announced that foreign Scientologists would no longer be permitted to enter the UK and Hubbard himself was excluded from the country as an "undesirable alien". Further inquiries were launched in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Hubbard took three major new initiatives in the face of these challenges. "Ethics Technology" was introduced to tighten internal discipline within Scientology. It required Scientologists to "disconnect" from any organization or individual—including family members—deemed to be disruptive or "suppressive". According to church-operated websites, "A person who disconnects is simply exercising his right to communicate or not to communicate with a particular person." Hubbard stated: "Communication, however, is a two-way flow. If one has the right to communicate, then one must also have the right to not receive communication from another. It is this latter corollary of the right to communicate that gives us our right to privacy." Scientologists were also required to write "Knowledge Reports" on each other, reporting transgressions or misapplications of Scientology methods. Hubbard promulgated a long list of punishable "Misdemeanors", "Crimes", and "High Crimes". The "Fair Game" policy was introduced, which was applicable to anyone deemed an "enemy" of Scientology: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." At the start of March 1966, Hubbard created the Guardian's Office (GO), a new agency within the Church of Scientology that was headed by his wife Mary Sue. It dealt with Scientology's external affairs, including public relations, legal actions and the gathering of intelligence on perceived threats. As Scientology faced increasingly negative media attention, the GO retaliated with hundreds of writs for libel and slander; it issued more than forty on a single day. Hubbard ordered his staff to find "lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence on [Scientology's] attackers". Finally, at the end of 1966, Hubbard acquired his own fleet of ships. He established the "Hubbard Explorational Company Ltd" which purchased three ships—the Enchanter, a forty-ton schooner, the Avon River, an old trawler, and the Royal Scotman , a former Irish Sea cattle ferry that he made his home and flagship. The ships were crewed by the Sea Organization or Sea Org, a group of Scientologist volunteers, with the support of a couple of professional seamen. Commodore of the Sea Org After Hubbard created the Sea Org "fleet" in early 1967 in the Canary Islands it began an eight-year voyage, sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic. The fleet traveled as far as Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean and Dakar and the Azores in the Atlantic, but rarely stayed anywhere for longer than six weeks. Ken Urquhart, Hubbard's personal assistant at the time, later recalled: When Hubbard established the Sea Org he publicly declared that he had relinquished his management responsibilities. According to Miller, this was not true. He received daily telex messages from Scientology organizations around the world reporting their statistics and income. The Church of Scientology sent him $15,000 () a week and millions of dollars were transferred to his bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Couriers arrived regularly, conveying luxury food for Hubbard and his family or cash that had been smuggled from England to avoid currency export restrictions. Along the way, Hubbard sought to establish a safe haven in "a friendly little country where Scientology would be allowed to prosper", as Miller puts it. The fleet stayed at Corfu for several months in 1968–1969. Hubbard renamed the ships after Greek gods—the Royal Scotman was rechristened Apollo—and he praised the recently established military dictatorship. The Sea Org was represented as "Professor Hubbard's Philosophy School" in a telegram to the Greek government. In March 1969, however, Hubbard and his ships were ordered to leave. In mid-1972, Hubbard tried again in Morocco, establishing contacts with the country's secret police and training senior policemen and intelligence agents in techniques for detecting subversives. The program ended in failure when it became caught up in internal Moroccan politics, and Hubbard left the country hastily in December 1972. At the same time, Hubbard was still developing Scientology's doctrines. A Scientology biography states that "free of organizational duties and aided by the first Sea Org members, L. Ron Hubbard now had the time and facilities to confirm in the physical universe some of the events and places he had encountered in his journeys down the track of time." In 1965, he designated several existing Scientology courses as confidential, repackaging them as the first of the esoteric "OT levels". Two years later he announced the release of OT3, the "Wall of Fire", revealing the secrets of an immense disaster that had occurred "on this planet, and on the other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five million years ago". Scientologists were required to undertake the first two OT levels before learning how Xenu, the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, had shipped billions of people to Earth and blown them up with hydrogen bombs, following which their traumatized spirits were stuck together at "implant stations", brainwashed with false memories and eventually became contained within human beings. The discovery of OT3 was said to have taken a major physical toll on Hubbard, who announced that he had broken a knee, an arm, and his back during the course of his research. A year later, in 1968, he unveiled OT levels 4 to 6 and began delivering OT training courses to Scientologists aboard the Royal Scotman. Scientologists around the world were presented with a glamorous picture of life in the Sea Org and many applied to join Hubbard aboard the fleet. What they found was rather different from the image. Most of those joining had no nautical experience at all. Mechanical difficulties and blunders by the crews led to a series of embarrassing incidents and near-disasters. Following one incident in which the rudder of the Royal Scotman was damaged during a storm, Hubbard ordered the ship's entire crew to be reduced to a "condition of liability" and wear gray rags tied to their arms. The ship itself was treated the same way, with dirty tarpaulins tied around its funnel to symbolize its lower status. According to those aboard, conditions were appalling; the crew was worked to the point of exhaustion, given meager rations and forbidden to wash or change their clothes for several weeks. Hubbard maintained a harsh disciplinary regime aboard the fleet, punishing mistakes by confining people in the Royal Scotman bilge tanks without toilet facilities and with food provided in buckets. At other times erring crew members were thrown overboard with Hubbard looking on and, occasionally, filming. David Mayo, a Sea Org member at the time, later recalled: From about 1970, Hubbard was attended aboard ship by the children of Sea Org members, organized as the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO). They were mainly young girls dressed in hot pants and halter tops, who were responsible for running errands for Hubbard such as lighting his cigarettes, dressing him or relaying his verbal commands to other members of the crew. In addition to his wife Mary Sue, he was accompanied by all four of his children by her, though not his first son Nibs, who had defected from Scientology in late 1959. The younger Hubbards were all members of the Sea Org and shared its rigors, though Quentin Hubbard reportedly found it difficult to adjust and attempted suicide in mid-1974. Life in hiding During the 1970s, Hubbard faced an increasing number of legal threats. French prosecutors charged him and the French Church of Scientology with fraud and customs violations in 1972. He was advised that he was at risk of being
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a factory, it was very hard to find one because producing things in factories required fewer workers than producing those same things in a workshop. This left many people unemployed and angry. Over time, the term has come to mean one opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation, or new technologies in general. The Luddite movement began in Nottingham in England and culminated in a region-wide rebellion that lasted from 1811 to 1816. Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed with legal and military force. Etymology The name Luddite () is of uncertain origin. The movement was said to be named after Ned Ludd, an apprentice who allegedly smashed two stocking frames in 1779 and whose name had become emblematic of machine destroyers. Ned Ludd, however, was completely fictional and used as a way to shock and provoke the government. The name developed into the imaginary General Ludd or King Ludd, who was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest like Robin Hood. 'Lud' or 'Ludd' (), according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's legendary History of the Kings of Britain and other medieval Welsh texts, was a Celtic King of 'The Islands of Britain' in pre-Roman times, who founded London and was buried at Ludgate. In the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia, usually called Brut y Brenhinedd, he is called Lludd fab Beli, establishing the connection to the early mythological Lludd Llaw Eraint. Historical precedents In 1779, Ned Ludd, a weaver from Anstey, near Leicester, England, is supposed to have broken two stocking frames in a fit of rage. When the "Luddites" emerged in the 1810s, his identity was appropriated to become the folkloric character of Captain Ludd, also known as King Ludd or General Ludd, the Luddites' alleged leader and founder. The lower classes of the 18th century were not openly disloyal to the king or government, generally speaking, and violent action was rare because punishments were harsh. The majority of individuals were primarily concerned with meeting their own daily needs. Working conditions were harsh in the English textile mills at the time but efficient enough to threaten the livelihoods of skilled artisans. The new inventions produced textiles faster and cheaper because they were operated by less-skilled, low-wage labourers, and the Luddite goal was to gain a better bargaining position with their employers. Kevin Binfield asserts that organized action by stockingers had occurred at various times since 1675, and he suggests that the movements of the early 19th century should be viewed in the context of the hardships suffered by the working class during the Napoleonic Wars, rather than as an absolute aversion to machinery. Irregular rises in food prices provoked the Keelmen to riot in the port of Tyne in 1710 and tin miners to steal from granaries at Falmouth in 1727. There was a rebellion in Northumberland and Durham in 1740, and an assault on Quaker corn dealers in 1756. Skilled artisans in the cloth, building, shipbuilding, printing, and cutlery trades organized friendly societies to peacefully insure themselves against unemployment, sickness, and intrusion of foreign labour into their trades, as was common among guilds. Malcolm L. Thomis argued in his 1970 history The Luddites that machine-breaking was one of a very few tactics that workers could use to increase pressure on employers, to undermine lower-paid competing workers, and to create solidarity among workers. "These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made." An agricultural variant of Luddism occurred during the widespread Swing Riots of 1830 in southern and eastern England, centering on breaking threshing machines. Birth of the movement See also Barthélemy Thimonnier, whose sewing machines were destroyed by tailors who believed that their jobs were threatened Handloom weavers burned mills and pieces of factory machinery. Textile workers destroyed industrial equipment during the late 18th century, prompting acts such as the Protection of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1788. The Luddite movement emerged during the harsh economic climate of the Napoleonic Wars, which saw a rise of difficult working conditions in the new textile factories. Luddites objected primarily to the rising popularity of automated textile equipment, threatening the jobs and livelihoods of skilled workers as this technology allowed them to be replaced by cheaper and less skilled workers. The movement began in Arnold, Nottingham, on 11 March 1811 and spread rapidly throughout England over the following two years. The British economy suffered greatly in 1810 to 1812, especially in terms of high unemployment and inflation. The causes included the high cost of the wars with Napoleon, Napoleon's Continental System of economic warfare, and escalating conflict with the United States. The crisis led to widespread protest and violence, but the middle classes and upper classes strongly supported the government, which used the army to suppress all working class unrest, especially the Luddite movement. The Luddites met at night on the moors surrounding industrial towns to practice military-like drills and manoeuvres. Their main areas of operation began in Nottinghamshire in November 1811, followed by the West Riding of Yorkshire in early 1812, and then Lancashire by March 1813. They smashed stocking frames and cropping frames among other things. There does not seem to have been any political motivation behind the Luddite riots and there was no national organization; the men were merely attacking what they saw as the reason for the decline in their livelihoods. Luddites battled the British Army at Burton's Mill in Middleton and at Westhoughton Mill, both in Lancashire. The Luddites and their supporters anonymously sent death threats to, and possibly attacked, magistrates and food merchants. Activists smashed Heathcote's lacemaking machine in Loughborough in
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the most despotic of infidel governments, did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return, in the very heart of a Christian country". The British government sought to suppress the Luddite movement with a mass trial at York in January 1813, following the attack on Cartwrights Mill at Rawfolds near Cleckheaton. The government charged over 60 men, including Mellor and his companions, with various crimes in connection with Luddite activities. While some of those charged were actual Luddites, many had no connection to the movement. Although the proceedings were legitimate jury trials, many were abandoned due to lack of evidence and 30 men were acquitted. These trials were certainly intended to act as show trials to deter other Luddites from continuing their activities. The harsh sentences of those found guilty, which included execution and penal transportation, quickly ended the movement. Parliament made "machine breaking" (i.e. industrial sabotage) a capital crime with the Frame Breaking Act of 1812. Lord Byron opposed this legislation, becoming one of the few prominent defenders of the Luddites after the treatment of the defendants at the York trials. Legacy In the 19th century, occupations that arose from the growth of trade and shipping in ports, also in "domestic" manufacturers, were notorious for precarious employment prospects. Underemployment was chronic during this period, and it was common practice to retain a larger workforce than was typically necessary for insurance against labour shortages in boom times. Moreover, the organization of manufacture by merchant-capitalists in the textile industry was inherently unstable. While the financiers' capital was still largely invested in raw material, it was easy to increase commitment where trade was good and almost as easy to cut back when times were bad. Merchant-capitalists lacked the incentive of later factory owners, whose capital was invested in building and plants, to maintain a steady rate of production and return on fixed capital. The combination of seasonal variations in wage rates and violent short-term fluctuations springing from harvests and war produced periodic outbreaks of violence. Modern usage Nowadays, the term "luddite" often is used to describe someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies. In 1956, during a British Parliamentary debate, a Labour spokesman said that "organised workers were by no means wedded to a 'Luddite Philosophy'." By 2006, the term neo-Luddism had emerged to describe opposition to many forms of technology. According to a manifesto drawn up by the Second Luddite Congress (April 1996; Barnesville, Ohio), neo-Luddism is "a leaderless movement of passive resistance to consumerism and the increasingly bizarre and frightening technologies of the Computer Age". The term "Luddite fallacy" is used by economists in reference to the fear that technological unemployment inevitably generates structural unemployment and is consequently macroeconomically injurious. If a technological innovation results in a reduction of necessary labour inputs in a given sector, then the industry-wide cost of production falls, which lowers the competitive price and increases the equilibrium supply point that, theoretically, will require an increase in aggregate labour inputs. But there is no assurance that the new jobs people might be able to find will have wages and working conditions that are as good as the jobs they lost. See also Development criticism Simple living Technophobia Turner Controversy – return to pre-industrial methods of production Ruddington Framework Knitters' Museum – features a Luddite gallery Philistinism Notes References Further reading External
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means of propaganda". As anarcho-communism emerged in the mid-19th century, it had an intense debate with Bakuninist collectivism and, as such, within the anarchist movement itself, over participation in syndicalism and the workers movement as well as on other issues. So in "the theory of the revolution" of anarcho-communism as elaborated by Peter Kropotkin and others, "it is the risen people who are the real agent and not the working class organised in the enterprise (the cells of the capitalist mode of production) and seeking to assert itself as labour power, as a more 'rational' industrial body or social brain (manager) than the employers". Between 1880 and 1890, with the "perspective of an immanent revolution", who was "opposed to the official workers' movement, which was then in the process of formation (general Social Democratisation). They were opposed not only to political (statist) struggles but also to strikes which put forward wage or other claims, or which were organised by trade unions." However, "[w]hile they were not opposed to strikes as such, they were opposed to trade unions and the struggle for the eight-hour day. This anti-reformist tendency was accompanied by an anti-organisational tendency, and its partisans declared themselves in favor of agitation amongst the unemployed for the expropriation of foodstuffs and other articles, for the expropriatory strike and, in some cases, for 'individual recuperation' or acts of terrorism." Even after Peter Kropotkin and others overcame their initial reservations and decided to enter labor unions, there remained "the anti-syndicalist anarchist-communists, who in France were grouped around Sébastien Faure's Le Libertaire. From 1905 onwards, the Russian counterparts of these anti-syndicalist anarchist-communists become partisans of economic terrorism and illegal 'expropriations'." Illegalism as a practice emerged and within it "[t]he acts of the anarchist bombers and assassins ("propaganda by the deed") and the anarchist burglars ("individual reappropriation") expressed their desperation and their personal, violent rejection of an intolerable society. Moreover, they were clearly meant to be exemplary, invitations to revolt." Proponents and activists of these tactics among others included Johann Most, Luigi Galleani, Victor Serge, Giuseppe Ciancabilla, and Severino Di Giovanni. The Italian Giuseppe Ciancabilla (1872–1904) wrote in "Against organization" that "we don't want tactical programs, and consequently we don't want organization. Having established the aim, the goal to which we hold, we leave every anarchist free to choose from the means that his sense, his education, his temperament, his fighting spirit suggest to him as best. We don't form fixed programs and we don't form small or great parties. But we come together spontaneously, and not with permanent criteria, according to momentary affinities for a specific purpose, and we constantly change these groups as soon as the purpose for which we had associated ceases to be, and other aims and needs arise and develop in us and push us to seek new collaborators, people who think as we do in the specific circumstance." By the 1880s, anarcho-communism was already present in the United States as can be seen in the publication of the journal Freedom: A Revolutionary Anarchist-Communist Monthly by Lucy Parsons and Lizzy Holmes. Lucy Parsons debated in her time in the United States with fellow anarcho-communist Emma Goldman over issues of free love and feminism. Another anarcho-communist journal later appeared in the United States called The Firebrand. Most anarchist publications in the United States were in Yiddish, German, or Russian, but Free Society was published in English, permitting the dissemination of anarchist communist thought to English-speaking populations in the United States. Around that time these American anarcho-communist sectors entered in debate with the individualist anarchist group around Benjamin Tucker. In February 1888, Berkman left for the United States from his native Russia. Soon after his arrival in New York City, Berkman became an anarchist through his involvement with groups that had formed to campaign to free the men convicted of the 1886 Haymarket bombing. He as well as Emma Goldman soon came under the influence of Johann Most, the best-known anarchist in the United States; and an advocate of propaganda of the deed—attentat, or violence carried out to encourage the masses to revolt. Berkman became a typesetter for Most's newspaper . According to anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the first use of the term libertarian communism was in November 1880, when a French anarchist congress employed it to more clearly identify its doctrines. The French anarchist journalist Sébastien Faure started the weekly paper (The Libertarian) in 1895. Methods of organising: platformism vs. synthesism In Ukraine the anarcho-communist guerrilla leader Nestor Makhno led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War. A commander of the peasant Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, also known as the Anarchist Black Army, Makhno led a guerrilla campaign opposing both the Bolshevik "Reds" and monarchist "Whites". The revolutionary autonomous movement of which he was a part made various tactical military pacts while fighting various forces of reaction and organizing the Free Territory of Ukraine, an anarchist society, committed to resisting state authority, whether capitalist or Bolshevik. After successfully repelling Austro-Hungarian, White, and Ukrainian Nationalist forces, the Makhnovists militia forces and anarchist communist territories in the Ukraine were eventually crushed by Bolshevik military forces. In the Mexican Revolution the Mexican Liberal Party was established and during the early 1910s it led a series of military offensives leading to the conquest and occupation of certain towns and districts in Baja California with the leadership of anarcho-communist Ricardo Flores Magón. Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread, which Flores Magón considered a kind of anarchist bible, served as basis for the short-lived revolutionary communes in Baja California during the Magónista Revolt of 1911. During the Mexican Revolution Emiliano Zapata and his army and allies, including Pancho Villa, fought for agrarian reform in Mexico. Specifically, they wanted to establish communal land rights for Mexico's indigenous population, which had mostly lost its land to the wealthy elite of European descent. Zapata was partly influenced by Ricardo Flores Magón. The influence of Flores Magón on Zapata can be seen in the Zapatistas' Plan de Ayala, but even more noticeably in their slogan (this slogan was never used by Zapata) Tierra y libertad or "land and liberty", the title and maxim of Flores Magón's most famous work. Zapata's introduction to anarchism came via a local schoolteacher, Otilio Montaño Sánchez, later a general in Zapata's army, executed on May 17, 1917, who exposed Zapata to the works of Peter Kropotkin and Flores Magón at the same time as Zapata was observing and beginning to participate in the struggles of the peasants for the land. A group of exiled Russian anarchists attempted to address and explain the anarchist movement's failures during the Russian Revolution. They wrote the Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists which was written in 1926 by Dielo Truda ("Workers' Cause"). The pamphlet is an analysis of the basic anarchist beliefs, a vision of an anarchist society, and recommendations as to how an anarchist organization should be structured. The four main principles by which an anarchist organization should operate, according to the Platform, are ideological unity, tactical unity, collective action, and federalism. The platform argues that "We have vital need of an organization which, having attracted most of the participants in the anarchist movement, would establish a common tactical and political line for anarchism and thereby serve as a guide for the whole movement". The Platform attracted strong criticism from many sectors on the anarchist movement of the time including some of the most influential anarchists such as Voline, Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Camillo Berneri, Max Nettlau, Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman and Gregori Maximoff. Malatesta, after initially opposing the Platform, later came to agreement with the Platform confirming that the original difference of opinion was due to linguistic confusion: "I find myself more or less in agreement with their way of conceiving the anarchist organisation (being very far from the authoritarian spirit which the "Platform" seemed to reveal) and I confirm my belief that behind the linguistic differences really lie identical positions." Two texts were made by the anarchist communists Sébastien Faure and Volin as responses to the Platform, each proposing different models, are the basis for what became known as the organisation of synthesis, or simply synthesism. Voline published in 1924 a paper calling for "the anarchist synthesis" and was also the author of the article in Sébastien Faure's Encyclopedie Anarchiste on the same topic. The main purpose behind the synthesis was that the anarchist movement in most countries was divided into three main tendencies: communist anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism, and individualist anarchism and so such an organization could contain anarchists of this three tendencies very well. Faure in his text "Anarchist synthesis" has the view that "these currents were not contradictory but complementary, each having a role within anarchism: anarcho-syndicalism as the strength of the mass organisations and the best way for the practice of anarchism; libertarian communism as a proposed future society based on the distribution of the fruits of labour according to the needs of each one; anarcho-individualism as a negation of oppression and affirming the individual right to development of the individual, seeking to please them in every way. The Dielo Truda platform in Spain also met with strong criticism. Miguel Jimenez, a founding member of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), summarized this as follows: too much influence in it of marxism, it erroneously divided and reduced anarchists between individualist anarchists and anarcho-communist sections, and it wanted to unify the anarchist movement along the lines of the anarcho-communists. He saw anarchism as more complex than that, that anarchist tendencies are not mutually exclusive as the platformists saw it and that both individualist and communist views could accommodate anarchosyndicalism. Sébastian Faure had strong contacts in Spain and so his proposal had more impact in Spanish anarchists than the Dielo Truda platform even though individualist anarchist influence in Spain was less strong than it was in France. The main goal there was conciling anarcho-communism with anarcho-syndicalism. Gruppo Comunista Anarchico di Firenze pointed out that during early twentieth century, the terms libertarian communism and anarchist communism became synonymous within the international anarchist movement as a result of the close connection they had in Spain (see Anarchism in Spain) (with libertarian communism becoming the prevalent term). Korean Anarchist Movement The Korean Anarchist Movement in Korea led by Kim Chwa-chin briefly brought anarcho-communism to Korea. The success was short-lived and much less widespread than the anarchism in Spain. The Korean People's Association in Manchuria had established a stateless, classless society where all means of production were run and operated by the workers, and where all possessions were held in common by the community. Spanish Revolution of 1936 The most extensive application of anarcho-communist ideas (i.e. established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon) happened in the anarchist territories during the Spanish Revolution. In Spain, the national anarcho-syndicalist trade union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance, and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right-wing election victory. In 1936, the CNT changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the former ruling class responded with an attempted coup causing the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). In response to the army rebellion, an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain where they collectivised the land, but even before the fascist victory in 1939 the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the Stalinists, who controlled the distribution of military aid to the Republican cause from the Soviet Union. The events known as the Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to three years, primarily Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of the Levante. Much of Spain's economy was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%, but lower in areas with heavy Communist Party of Spain influence, as the Soviet-allied party actively resisted attempts at collectivization enactment. Factories were run through worker committees, agrarian areas became collectivised and run as libertarian communes. Anarchist historian Sam Dolgoff estimated that about eight million people participated directly or at least indirectly in the Spanish Revolution, which he claimed "came closer to realizing the ideal of the free stateless society on a vast scale than any other revolution in history". Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both dissident Marxists and anarchists. Although every sector of the stateless parts of Spain had undergone workers' self-management, collectivisation of agricultural and industrial production, and in parts using money or some degree of private property, a heavy regulation of markets by democratic communities, there were other areas throughout Spain that used no money at all, and followed principles in accordance with "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". One such example was the libertarian communist village of Alcora in the Valencian Community, where money was entirely absent, and distribution of properties and services was done based upon needs, not who could afford them. There was no distinction between rich and poor, and everyone held everything in common. Buildings that used to function as shops were made storehouses, where instead of buying and selling, which didn't exist in Alcora during the war, they were centers for distribution, where everyone took freely without paying. Labour was only conducted for enjoyment, with levels of productivity, quality of life, and general prosperity having dramatically risen after the fall of markets. Common ownership of property allowed for each inhabitant of the village to fulfil their needs without lowering themselves for the sake of profit, and each individual living in Alcora found themselves as ungoverned, anarchists free of rulers and private property. Post-war years Anarcho-communism entered into internal debates once again over the issue of organization in the post-World War II era. Founded in October 1935 the Anarcho-Communist Federation of Argentina (FACA, Federación Anarco-Comunista Argentina) in 1955 renamed itself as the Argentine Libertarian Federation. The Fédération Anarchiste (FA) was founded in Paris on December 2, 1945, and elected the platformist anarcho-communist George Fontenis as its first secretary the next year. It was composed of a majority of activists from the former FA (which supported Voline's Synthesis) and some members of the former Union Anarchiste, which supported the CNT-FAI support to the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, as well as some young Resistants. In 1950 a clandestine group formed within the FA called Organisation Pensée Bataille (OPB) led by George Fontenis. The Manifesto of Libertarian Communism was written in 1953 by Georges Fontenis for the Federation Communiste Libertaire of France. It is one of the key texts of the anarchist-communist current known as platformism. The OPB pushed for a move which saw the FA change its name into the Fédération Communiste Libertaire (FCL) after the 1953 Congress in Paris, while an article in Le Libertaire indicated the end of the cooperation with the French Surrealist Group led by André Breton. The new decision making process was founded on unanimity: each person has a right of veto on the orientations of the federation. The FCL published the same year the Manifeste du communisme libertaire. Several groups quit the FCL in December 1955, disagreeing with the decision to present "revolutionary candidates" to the legislative elections. On August 15–20, 1954, the Ve intercontinental plenum of the CNT took place. A group called Entente anarchiste appeared which was formed of militants who didn't like the new ideological orientation that the OPB was giving the FCL seeing it was authoritarian and almost marxist. The FCL lasted until 1956 just after it participated in state legislative elections with 10 candidates. This move alienated some members of the FCL and thus produced the end of the organization. A group of militants who didn't agree with the FA turning into FCL reorganized a new Federation Anarchiste which was established in December 1953. This included those who formed L'Entente anarchiste who joined the new FA and then dissolved L'Entente. The new base principles of the FA were written by the individualist anarchist Charles-Auguste Bontemps and the non-platformist anarcho-communist Maurice Joyeux which established an organization with a plurality of tendencies and autonomy of groups organized around synthesist principles. According to historian Cédric Guérin, "the unconditional rejection of Marxism became from that moment onwards an identity element of the new Federation Anarchiste" and this was motivated in a big part after the previous conflict with George Fontenis and his OPB. In Italy, the Italian Anarchist Federation was founded in 1945 in Carrara. It adopted an "Associative Pact" and the "Anarchist Program" of Errico Malatesta. It decided to publish the weekly Umanità Nova retaking the name of the journal published by Errico Malatesta. Inside the FAI, the Anarchist Groups of Proletarian Action (GAAP) was founded, led by Pier Carlo Masini, which "proposed a Libertarian Party with an anarchist theory and practice adapted to the new economic, political and social reality of post-war Italy, with an internationalist outlook and effective presence in the workplaces [...] The GAAP allied themselves with the similar development within the French Anarchist movement" as led by George Fontenis. Another tendency which didn't identify either with the more classical FAI or with the GAAP started to emerge as local groups. These groups emphasized direct action, informal affinity groups and expropriation for financing anarchist activity. From within these groups the influential insurrectionary anarchist Alfredo Maria Bonanno will emerge influenced by the practice of the Spanish exiled anarchist José Lluis Facerías. In the early seventies a platformist tendency emerged within the Italian Anarchist Federation which argued for more strategic coherence and social insertion in the workers movement while rejecting the synthesist "Associative Pact" of Malatesta which the FAI adhered to. These groups started organizing themselves outside the FAI in organizations such as O.R.A. from Liguria which organized a Congress attended by 250 delegates of groups from 60 locations. This movement was influential in the movements of the seventies. They published in Bologna and from Modena. The Federation of Anarchist Communists (Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici), or FdCA, was established in 1985 in Italy from the fusion of the Organizzazione Rivoluzionaria Anarchica (Revolutionary Anarchist Organisation) and the Unione dei Comunisti Anarchici della Toscana (Tuscan Union of Anarchist Communists). The International of Anarchist Federations (IAF/IFA) was founded during an international anarchist conference in Carrara in 1968 by the three existing European anarchist federations of France (Fédération Anarchiste), Italy (Federazione Anarchica Italiana) and Spain (Federación Anarquista Ibérica) as well as the Bulgarian federation in French exile. These organizations were also inspired on synthesist principles. Contemporary times Libertarian Communism was a socialist journal founded in 1974 and produced in part by members of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. The synthesist Italian Anarchist Federation and the platformist Federation of Anarchist Communists continue existing today in Italy but insurrectionary anarchism continues to be relevant as the recent establishment of the Informal Anarchist Federation shows. In
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first of all recognize the right to live, and later on, to the comforts of life, for all those who take their share in production.." Communist anarchism shares many traits with collectivist anarchism, but the two are distinct. Collectivist anarchism believes in collective ownership while communist anarchism negates the entire concept of ownership in favor of the concept of usage. Crucially, the abstract relationship of "landlord" and "tenant" would no longer exist, as such titles are held to occur under conditional legal coercion and are not absolutely necessary to occupy buildings or spaces (intellectual property rights would also cease, since they are a form of private property). In addition to believing rent and other fees are exploitative, anarcho-communists feel these are arbitrary pressures inducing people to carry out unrelated functions. For example, they question why one should have to work for 'X hours' a day to merely live somewhere. So instead of working conditionally for the sake of the wage earned, they believe in working directly for the objective at hand. Gift economies and commons-based organising In anthropology and the social sciences, a gift economy (or gift culture) is a mode of exchange where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards (i.e. no formal quid pro quo exists). Ideally, voluntary and recurring gift exchange circulates and redistributes wealth throughout a community, and serves to build societal ties and obligations. In contrast to a barter economy or a market economy, social norms and custom governs gift exchange, rather than an explicit exchange of goods or services for money or some other commodity. Traditional societies dominated by gift exchange were small in scale and geographically remote from each other. As states formed to regulate trade and commerce within their boundaries, market exchange came to dominate. Nonetheless, the practice of gift exchange continues to play an important role in modern society. One prominent example is scientific research, which can be described as a gift economy. Contrary to popular conception, there is no evidence that societies relied primarily on barter before using money for trade. Instead, non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economics, and in more complex economies, on debt. When barter did in fact occur, it was usually between either complete strangers or would-be enemies. The expansion of the Internet has witnessed a resurgence of the gift economy, especially in the technology sector. Engineers, scientists and software developers create open-source software projects. The Linux kernel and the GNU operating system are prototypical examples for the gift economy's prominence in the technology sector and its active role in instating the use of permissive free software and copyleft licenses, which allow free reuse of software and knowledge. Other examples include file-sharing, the commons and open access. Anarchist scholar Uri Gordon has argued: The interest in such economic forms goes back to Peter Kropotkin, who saw in the hunter-gatherer tribes he had visited the paradigm of "mutual aid". Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber in his 2011 book Debt: The First 5000 Years argues that with the advent of the great Axial Age civilizations, the nexus between coinage and the calculability of economic values was concomitant with the disrupt of what Graeber calls "human economies," as found among the Iroquois, Celts, Inuit, Tiv, Nuer, and the Malagasy people of Madagascar among other groups which, according to Graeber, held a radically different conception of debt and social relations, based on the radical incalculability of human life and the constant creation and recreation of social bonds through gifts, marriages and general sociability. The author postulates the growth of a "military-coinage-slave complex" around this time, through which mercenary armies looted cities and human beings were cut from their social context to work as slaves in Greece, Rome and elsewhere in the Eurasian continent. The extreme violence of the period marked by the rise of great empires in China, India and the Mediterranean was, in this way, connected with the advent of large-scale slavery and the use of coins to pay soldiers, together with the obligation enforced by the State for its subjects to pay its taxes in currency. This was also the same time that the great religions spread out and the general questions of philosophical enquiry emerged on world history—many of those directly related, as in Plato's Republic, with the nature of debt and its relation to ethics. Give-away shops Give-away shops, free shops, or free stores, are stores where all goods are free. They are similar to charity shops, with mostly second-hand items—only everything is available at no cost. Whether it is a book, a piece of furniture, a garment or a household item, it is all freely given away, although some operate a one-in, one-out–type policy (swap shops). The free store is a form of constructive direct action that provides a shopping alternative to a monetary framework, allowing people to exchange goods and services outside of a money-based economy. The anarchist 1960s countercultural group The Diggers opened free stores which simply gave away their stock, provided free food, distributed free drugs, gave away money, organized free music concerts, and performed works of political art. The Diggers took their name from the original English Diggers led by Gerrard Winstanley and sought to create a mini-society free of money and capitalism. Although free stores have not been uncommon in the United States since the 1960s, the freegan movement has inspired the establishment of more free stores. Philosophical debates Motivation Anarchist communists reject the belief that wage labor is necessary because people are selfish by human nature. Most would point to examples of humans being willing to sacrifice time or resources for others, and believe that systems of wage labor and state taxation serve more to restrict that instinct to help others, rather than ensuring a society continues to function. Anarcho-communists generally do not agree with the belief in a pre-set "human nature", arguing that human culture and behavior is very largely determined by socialization and the mode of production. Many anarchist communists, like Peter Kropotkin, also believe that the human evolutionary tendency is for humans to cooperate with each other for mutual benefit and survival instead of existing as lone competitors, a position that Kropotkin argued for at length. While anarchist communists such as Peter Kropotkin and Murray Bookchin believed that the members of such a society would voluntarily perform all necessary labour because they would recognize the benefits of communal enterprise and mutual aid, other anarchist communists such as Nestor Makhno and Ricardo Flores Magón argue that all those able to work in an anarchist communist society should be obligated to do so, excepting groups like children, the elderly, the sick, or the infirm. Kropotkin did not think laziness or sabotage would be a major problem in an authentically anarchist-communist society, but he did agree that a freely associated anarchist commune could, and probably should, deliberately disassociate from those not fulfilling their communal agreement to do their share of work. Peter Gelderloos, based on the Kibbutz, argues that motivation in a moneyless society would be found in the satisfaction of work, concern for community, competition for prestige and praise from other community members. Freedom, work and leisure Anarchist communists support communism as a means for ensuring the greatest freedom and well-being for everyone, rather than only the wealthy and powerful. In this sense, anarchist communism is a profoundly egalitarian philosophy. Anarchist communism as an anarchist philosophy is against hierarchy in all its forms. Anarchist communists do not think that anyone has the right to be anyone else's master, or 'boss' as this is a concept of capitalism and the state and implies authority over the individual. Some contemporary anarchist communists and advocates of post-left anarchy, such as Bob Black, reject the concept of work altogether in favor of turning necessary subsistence tasks into voluntary free play. Kropotkin said that the main authoritarian mistakes in communist experiments of the past were their being based on "religious enthusiasm" and the desire to live "as a family" where the individual had to "submit to the dictates of a punctilious morality". For him anarcho-communism should be based on the right of free association and disassociation for individuals and groups and on significantly lowering the number of hours each individual dedicates to necessary labor. He says that "to recognise a variety of occupations as the basis of all progress and to organise in such a way that man may be absolutely free during his leisure time, whilst he may also vary his work, a change for which his early education and instruction will have prepared him—this can easily be put in practice in a Communist society—this, again, means the emancipation of the individual, who will find doors open in every direction for his complete development". Individualism and collectivism Some anarcho-communists and collectivist anarchists as well reject individualism and collectivism as illusory concepts. They argue that individuals sacrificing themselves for the "greater", or being ruled by the "community" or "society", is not possible because society is composed of individuals rather than being a cohesive unit separate from the individual and argue that collective control over the individual is tyrannical and antithetical to anarchism. Others such as Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt argue that "[t]he anarchists did not [...] identify freedom with the right of everybody to do exactly what one pleased but with a social order in which collective effort and responsibilities—that is to say, obligations—would provide the material basis and social nexus in which individual freedom could exist." They argued that "genuine freedom and individuality could only exist in a free society" and that in contrast to "misanthropic bourgeois individualism" anarchism was based in "a deep love of freedom, understood as a social product, a deep respect for human rights, a profound celebration of humankind and its potential and a commitment to a form of society where a 'true individuality' was irrevocably linked to 'the highest communist socieability'". Egoist anarchist philosophical positions are important in anarcho-communist insurrectionary anarchism. In the early 20th century, the Italian individualist anarchist Renzo Novatore advocated both revolution and anarcho-communism when he said "revolution is the fire of our will and a need of our solitary minds; it is an obligation of the libertarian aristocracy. To create new ethical values. To create new aesthetic values. To communalize material wealth. To individualize spiritual wealth." From Stirnerist positions, he also disrespected private property when he said that "[o]nly ethical and spiritual wealth" was "invulnerable. This is the true property of individuals. The rest no! The rest is vulnerable! And all that is vulnerable will be violated!" This can also be seen in the contemporary writings of insurrectionary anarchism as can be seen in the work of Wolfi Landstreicher, Alfredo Bonanno, and others. After analysing insurrectionary anarcho-communist Luigi Galleani's view on anarcho-communism, post-left anarcho-communist Bob Black, went as far as saying that "communism is the final fulfillment of individualism [...] The apparent contradiction between individualism and communism rests on a misunderstanding of both [...] Subjectivity is also objective: the individual really is subjective. It is nonsense to speak of 'emphatically prioritizing the social over the individual,' [...] You may as well speak of prioritizing the chicken over the egg. Anarchy is a 'method of individualization.' It aims to combine the greatest individual development with the greatest communal unity." On the article by Max Baginski called "Stirner: The Ego and His Own", published in the American anarchist magazine Mother Earth, there is the following affirmation: "Modern Communists are more individualistic than Stirner. To them, not merely religion, morality, family and State are spooks, but property also is no more than a spook, in whose name the individual is enslaved—and how enslaved! The individuality is nowadays held in far stronger bondage by property, than by the combined power of State, religion and morality [...] The prime condition is that the individual should not be forced to humiliate and lower himself for the sake of property and subsistence. Communism thus creates a basis for the liberty and Eigenheit of the individual. I am a Communist because I am an Individualist. Fully as heartily the Communists concur with Stirner when he puts the word take in place of demand—that leads to the dissolution of private property, to expropriation. Individualism and Communism go hand in hand." Property Anarchist communists counter the capitalist conception that communal property can only be maintained by force and that such a position is neither fixed in nature nor unchangeable in practice, citing numerous examples of communal behavior occurring naturally even within capitalist systems. Anarchist communists call for the abolition of private property while maintaining respect for personal property. As such the prominent anarcho-communist Alexander Berkman maintained that "The revolution abolishes private ownership of the means of production and distribution, and with it goes capitalistic business. Personal possession remains only in the things you use. Thus, your watch is your own, but the watch factory belongs to the people. Land, machinery, and all other public utilities will be collective property, neither to be bought nor sold. Actual use will be considered the only title-not to ownership but to possession. The organization of the coal miners, for example, will be in charge of the coal mines, not as owners but as the operating agency. Similarly will the railroad brotherhoods run the railroads, and so on. Collective possession, cooperatively managed in the interests of the community, will take the place of personal ownership privately conducted for profit." An important difference between anarchist communism and Marxist communism is to whom the product of the worker's labor belongs. Both ideologies believe that the product of labor does not belong to the capitalist due to it being produced
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continuous urban area extends beyond Greater London and numbered 9,787,426 people in 2011, while its wider metropolitan area had a population of 12–14 million, depending on the definition used. According to Eurostat, London is the second most populous metropolitan area in Europe. A net 726,000 immigrants arrived there in the period 1991–2001. The region covers , giving a population density of , more than ten times that of any other British region. In population terms, London is the 19th largest city and the 18th largest metropolitan region. Age structure and median age Children younger than 14 constituted 20.6% of the population in Outer London in 2018, and 18% in Inner London. The 15–24 age group was 11.1% in Outer and 10.2% in Inner London, those aged 25–44 years 30.6% in Outer London and 39.7% in Inner London, those aged 45–64 years 24% and 20.7% in Outer and Inner London respectively. Those aged 65 and over are 13.6% in Outer London, but only 9.3% in Inner London. The median age of London in 2018 was 36.5, which was younger than the UK median of 40.3. Ethnic groups According to the Office for National Statistics, based on 2011 Census estimates, 59.8 per cent of the 8,173,941 inhabitants of London were White, with 44.9% White British, 2.2% White Irish, 0.1% gypsy/Irish traveller and 12.1% classified as Other White. Meanwhile 20.9% of Londoners were of Asian and mixed-Asian descent, 19.7% being of full Asian descents and those of mixed-Asian heritage 1.2% of the population. Indians accounted for 6.6%, followed by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at 2.7% each. Chinese peoples accounted for 1.5% and Arabs for 1.3%. A further 4.9% were classified as "Other Asian". 15.6% of London's population were of Black and mixed-Black descent. 13.3% of full Black descent, with mixed-Black heritage comprising 2.3%. Black Africans accounted for 7.0% of London's population, with 4.2% as Black Caribbean and 2.1% as "Other Black". 5.0% were of mixed race. The history of African presence in London extends back to the Roman period. As of 2007, Black and Asian children outnumbered White British children by about three to two in state schools across London. Altogether at the 2011 census, of London's 1,624,768 population aged 0 to 15, 46.4% were White, 19.8% Asian, 19% Black, 10.8% Mixed and 4% another ethnic group. In January 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious diversity claimed that more than 300 languages were spoken in London and more than 50 non-indigenous communities had populations of more than 10,000. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that , London's foreign-born population was 2,650,000 (33%), up from 1,630,000 in 1997. The 2011 census showed that 36.7% of Greater London's population were born outside the UK. Some of the German-born population were likely to be British nationals born to parents serving in the British Armed Forces in Germany. Estimates by the Office for National Statistics indicate that the five largest foreign-born groups living in London in the period July 2009 to June 2010 were born in India, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Bangladesh and Nigeria. Religion According to the 2011 Census, the largest religious groupings were Christians (48.4%), followed by those of no religion (20.7%), Muslims (12.4%), no response (8.5%), Hindus (5.0%), Jews (1.8%), Sikhs (1.5%), Buddhists (1.0%) and other (0.6%). London has traditionally been Christian, and has a large number of churches, particularly in the City of London. The well-known St Paul's Cathedral in the City and Southwark Cathedral south of the river are Anglican administrative centres, while the Archbishop of Canterbury, principal bishop of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion, has his main residence at Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. Important national and royal ceremonies are shared between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is not to be confused with nearby Westminster Cathedral, which is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in England and Wales. Despite the prevalence of Anglican churches, observance is low within the denomination. Church attendance continues a long, steady decline, according to Church of England statistics. London also has sizeable Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities. Notable mosques include the East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets, which is allowed to give the Islamic call to prayer through loudspeakers, the London Central Mosque on the edge of Regent's Park and the Baitul Futuh of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. After the oil boom, increasing numbers of wealthy Middle-Eastern Arab Muslims based themselves around Mayfair, Kensington and Knightsbridge in West London. There are large Bengali Muslim communities in the eastern boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. Large Hindu communities are found in the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter hosting what was until 2006, Europe's largest Hindu temple, Neasden Temple. London is also home to 44 Hindu temples, including the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London. There are Sikh communities in East and West London, particularly in Southall, home to one of the largest Sikh populations and the largest Sikh temple outside India. The majority of British Jews live in London, with notable Jewish communities in Stamford Hill, Stanmore, Golders Green, Finchley, Hampstead, Hendon and Edgware in North London. Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London is affiliated to London's historic Sephardic Jewish community. It is the only synagogue in Europe to have held regular services continually for over 300 years. Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has the largest membership of any Orthodox synagogue in Europe, overtaking Ilford synagogue (also in London) in 1998. The London Jewish Forum was set up in 2006 in response to the growing significance of devolved London Government. Accents Cockney is an accent heard across London, mainly spoken by working-class and lower-middle class Londoners. It is mainly attributed to the East End and wider East London, having originated there in the 18th century, although it has been suggested that the Cockney style of speech is much older. John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary of 1859, makes reference to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing the costermongers of the East End. Since the turn of the century Cockney dialect is less common in parts of the East End itself, with modern strongholds including other parts of London and suburbs in the home counties. Estuary English is an intermediate accent between Cockney and Received Pronunciation. It is widely spoken by people of all classes in London and south-eastern England, associated with the River Thames and its estuary. Multicultural London English (MLE) is a multiethnolect becoming increasingly common in multicultural areas amongst young, working-class people from diverse backgrounds. It is a fusion of an array of ethnic accents, in particular Afro-Caribbean and South Asian, with a significant Cockney influence. Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard for British English. It has no specific geographical correlate, although it is also traditionally defined as the standard speech used in London and south-eastern England. It is mainly spoken by upper-class and upper-middle class Londoners. Economy London's gross regional product in 2019 was £503 billion, around a quarter of UK GDP. London has five major business districts: the city, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark. One way to get an idea of their relative importance is to look at relative amounts of office space: Greater London had 27 million m2 of office space in 2001, and the City contains the most space, with 8 million m2 of office space. London has some of the highest real estate prices in the world. London is the world's most expensive office market according to world property journal (2015) report. the residential property in London is worth $2.2 trillion – the same value as that of Brazil's annual GDP. The city has the highest property prices of any European city according to the Office for National Statistics and the European Office of Statistics. On average the price per square metre in central London is €24,252 (April 2014). This is higher than the property prices in other G8 European capital cities; Berlin €3,306, Rome €6,188 and Paris €11,229. The City of London London's finance industry is based in the City of London and Canary Wharf, the two major business districts in London. London is one of the pre-eminent financial centres of the world as the most important location for international finance. London took over as a major financial centre shortly after 1795 when the Dutch Republic collapsed before the Napoleonic armies. For many bankers established in Amsterdam (e.g. Hope, Baring), this was only time to move to London. The London financial elite was strengthened by a strong Jewish community from all over Europe capable of mastering the most sophisticated financial tools of the time. This unique concentration of talents accelerated the transition from the Commercial Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. By the end of the 19th century, Britain was the wealthiest of all nations, and London a leading financial centre. Still, London tops the world rankings on the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), and it ranked second in A.T. Kearney's 2018 Global Cities Index. London's largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. Around 325,000 people were employed in financial services in London until mid-2007. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. It is also the world's biggest currency trading centre, accounting for some 37 per cent of the $5.1 trillion average daily volume, according to the BIS. Over 85 per cent (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. Because of its prominent global role, London's economy had been affected by the financial crisis of 2007–2008. However, by 2010 the city had recovered, put in place new regulatory powers, proceeded to regain lost ground and re-established London's economic dominance. Along with professional services headquarters, the City of London is home to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, and Lloyd's of London insurance market. Over half the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are within London's metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London. Media and technology Media companies are concentrated in London, and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sector. The BBC is a significant employer, while other broadcasters also have headquarters around the city. Many national newspapers are edited in London. London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. The Port of London is the second largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year. A growing number of technology companies are based in London, notably in East London Tech City, also known as Silicon Roundabout. In April 2014 the city was among the first to receive a geoTLD. In February 2014 London was ranked as the European City of the Future in the 2014/15 list by FDi Magazine. The gas and electricity distribution networks that manage and operate the towers, cables and pressure systems that deliver energy to consumers across the city are managed by National Grid plc, SGN and UK Power Networks. Tourism London is one of the leading tourist destinations in the world and in 2015 was ranked as the most visited city in the world with over 65 million visits. It is also the top city in the world by visitor cross-border spending, estimated at US$20.23 billion in 2015. Tourism is one of London's prime industries, employing 700,000 full-time workers in 2016, and contributes £36 billion a year to the economy. The city accounts for 54% of all inbound visitor spending in the UK. London was the world top city destination as ranked by TripAdvisor users. In 2015 the top most-visited attractions in the UK were all in London. The top 10 most visited attractions were: (with visits per venue) British Museum: 6,820,686 National Gallery: 5,908,254 Natural History Museum (South Kensington): 5,284,023 Southbank Centre: 5,102,883 Tate Modern: 4,712,581 Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington): 3,432,325 Science Museum: 3,356,212 Somerset House: 3,235,104 Tower of London: 2,785,249 National Portrait Gallery: 2,145,486 The number of hotel rooms in London in 2015 stood at 138,769, and is expected to grow over the years. Transport Transport is one of the four main areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control does not extend to the longer-distance rail network that enters London. In 2007 the Mayor of London assumed responsibility for some local lines, which now form the London Overground network, adding to the existing responsibility for the London Underground, trams and buses. The public transport network is administered by Transport for London (TfL). The lines that formed the London Underground, as well as trams and buses, became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board or London Transport was created. Transport for London is now the statutory corporation responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London, and is run by a board and a commissioner appointed by the Mayor of London. Aviation London is a major international air transport hub with the busiest city airspace in the world. Eight airports use the word London in their name, but most traffic passes through six of these. Additionally, various other airports also serve London, catering primarily to general aviation flights. London Heathrow Airport, in Hillingdon, West London, was for many years the busiest airport in the world for international traffic, and is the major hub of the nation's flag carrier, British Airways. In March 2008 its fifth terminal was opened. In 2014, Dubai gained from Heathrow the leading position in terms of international passenger traffic. London Gatwick Airport, south of London in West Sussex, handles flights to more destinations than any other UK airport and is the main base of easyJet, the UK's largest airline by number of passengers. London Stansted Airport, north-east of London in Essex, has flights that serve the greatest number of European destinations of any UK airport and is the main base of Ryanair, the world's largest international airline by number of international passengers. London Luton Airport, to the north of London in Bedfordshire, is used by several budget airlines for short-haul flights. London City Airport, the most central airport and the one with the shortest runway, in Newham, East London, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full-service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic. London Southend Airport, east of London in Essex, is a smaller, regional airport that caters for short-haul flights on a limited, though growing, number of airlines. In 2017, international passengers made up over 95% of the total at Southend, the highest proportion of any London airport. Rail Underground and DLR The London Underground, commonly referred to as the Tube, is the oldest and third longest metro system in the world. The system serves 270 stations and was formed from several private companies, including the world's first underground electric line, the City and South London Railway. It dates from 1863. Over four million journeys are made every day on the Underground network, over 1 billion each year. An investment programme is attempting to reduce congestion and improve reliability, including £6.5 billion (€7.7 billion) spent before the 2012 Summer Olympics. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which opened in 1987, is a second, more local metro system using smaller and lighter tram-type vehicles that serve the Docklands, Greenwich and Lewisham. Suburban There are 368 railway stations in the London Travelcard Zones on an extensive above-ground suburban railway network. South London, particularly, has a high concentration of railways as it has fewer Underground lines. Most rail lines terminate around the centre of London, running into eighteen terminal stations, with the exception of the Thameslink trains connecting Bedford in the north and Brighton in the south via Luton and Gatwick airports. London has Britain's busiest station by number of passengers—Waterloo, with over 184 million people using the interchange station complex (which includes Waterloo East station) each year. is the busiest station in Europe by the number of trains passing. With the need for more rail capacity in London, Crossrail is expected to open in 2021. It will be a new railway line running east to west through London and into the Home Counties with a branch to Heathrow Airport. It is Europe's biggest construction project, with a £15 billion projected cost. Inter-city and international London is the centre of the National Rail network, with 70 per cent of rail journeys starting or ending in London. King's Cross station and Euston station, which are both in London, are the starting points of the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line – the two main railway lines in Britain. Like suburban rail services, regional and inter-city trains depart from several termini around the city centre, linking London with the rest of Britain including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Dover, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Holyhead (for Dublin), Hull, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Stevenage, Swansea, Weymouth, Wolverhampton and York. London also has convenient rail connections with airports out of Greater London. These airports include Birmingham Airport (via Birmingham International railway station), East Midlands Airport (via East Midlands Parkway railway station), Inverness Airport (via Inverness railway station), Leeds Bradford Airport (via Bradford Interchange or Leeds railway station) and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (via Liverpool South Parkway railway station). Some international railway services to Continental Europe were operated during the 20th century as boat trains, such as the Admiraal de Ruijter to Amsterdam and the Night Ferry to Paris and Brussels. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 connected London directly to the continental rail network, allowing Eurostar services to begin. Since 2007, high-speed trains link St. Pancras International with Lille, Calais, Paris, Disneyland Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and other European tourist destinations via the High Speed 1 rail link and the Channel Tunnel. The first high-speed domestic trains started in June 2009 linking Kent to London. There are plans for a second high speed line linking London to the Midlands, North West England, and Yorkshire. Freight Although rail freight levels are far down compared to their height, significant quantities of cargo are also carried into and out of London by rail; chiefly building materials and landfill waste. As a major hub of the British railway network, London's tracks also carry large amounts of freight for the other regions, such as container freight from the Channel Tunnel and English Channel ports, and nuclear waste for reprocessing at Sellafield. Buses, coaches and trams London's bus network runs 24 hours a day with about 9,300 vehicles, over 675 bus routes and about 19,000 bus stops. In 2019/1920 the network had over 2 billion commuter trips per year. Since 2010 and average of £1.2 billion is taken in revenue each year. London has one of the largest wheelchair-accessible networks in the world and from the third quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced. London's coach hub is Victoria Coach Station, an Art Deco building opened in 1932. The coach station was initially run by a group of coach companies under the name of London Coastal Coaches; however, in 1970 the service and station were included in the nationalisation of the country's coach services, becoming part of the National Bus Company. In 1988, the coach station was purchased by London Transport which then became Transport for London. Victoria Coach Station has weekly passenger numbers of over 200,000 and provides services across the UK and Europe. London has a modern tram network, known as Tramlink, centred on Croydon in South London. The network has 39 stops and four routes, and carried 28 million people in 2013. Since June 2008, Transport for London has completely owned and operated Tramlink. Cable car London's first and to date only cable car is the Emirates Air Line, which opened in June 2012. The cable car crosses the River Thames, and links Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks in the east of the city. It is integrated with London's Oyster Card ticketing system, although the Emirates Air Line fares are not included in the Oyster daily capping. It cost £60 million to build and can carry up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction at peak times. Similar to the Santander Cycles bike hire scheme, the cable car is sponsored in a 10-year deal by the airline Emirates. Cycling In the Greater London Area, around 670,000 people use a bike every day, meaning around 7% of the total population of around 8.8 million use a bike on an average day. This relatively low percentage of bicycle users may be due to the poor investments for cycling in London of about £110 million per year, equating to around £12 per person, which can be compared to £22 in the Netherlands. Cycling has become an increasingly popular way to get around London. The launch of a bicycle hire scheme in July 2010 was successful and generally well received. Port and river boats The Port of London, once the largest in the world, is now only the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year as of 2009. Most of this cargo passes through the Port of Tilbury, outside the boundary of Greater London. London has river boat services on the Thames known as Thames Clippers, which offer both commuter and tourist boat services. At major piers including Canary Wharf, London Bridge City, Battersea Power Station and London Eye (Waterloo), services depart at least every 20 minutes during commuter times. The Woolwich Ferry, with 2.5 million passengers every year, is a frequent service linking the North and South Circular Roads. Roads Although the majority of journeys in central London are made by public transport, car travel is common in the suburbs. The inner ring road (around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (just within the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the M25, just outside the built-up area in most places) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into inner London. A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s. The M25 is the second-longest ring-road motorway in Europe at long. The A1 and M1 connect London to Leeds, and Newcastle and Edinburgh. London is notorious for its traffic congestion; in 2009, the average speed of a car in the rush hour was recorded at . In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre. With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of central London. Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a greatly reduced season pass. The London government initially expected the Congestion Charge Zone to increase daily peak period Underground and bus users, reduce road traffic, increase traffic speeds, and reduce queues; however, the increase in private for hire vehicles has affected these expectations. Over the course of several years, the average number of cars entering the centre of London on a weekday was reduced from 195,000 to 125,000 cars – a 35-per-cent reduction of vehicles driven per day. Education Tertiary education London is a major global centre of higher education teaching and research and has the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe. According to the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, London has the greatest concentration of top class universities in the world and its international student population of around 110,000 is larger than any other city in the world. A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers report termed London the global capital of higher education. A number of world-leading education institutions are based in London. In the 2021 QS World University Rankings, Imperial College London is ranked #8 in the world, University College London (UCL) is ranked 10th, and King's College London (KCL) is ranked 31st. The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2015 its MBA programme was ranked second-best in the world by the Financial Times. The city is also home to three of the world's top ten performing arts schools (as ranked by the 2020 QS World University Rankings): the Royal College of Music (ranking 2nd in the world), the Royal Academy of Music (ranking 4th) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (ranking 6th). With students in London and around 48,000 in University of London Worldwide, the federal University of London is the largest contact teaching university in the UK. It includes five multi-faculty universities – City, King's College London, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway and UCL – and a number of smaller and more specialised institutions including Birkbeck, the Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, the London Business School, the London School of Economics, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal Academy of Music, the Central School of Speech and Drama, the Royal Veterinary College and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Members of the University of London have their own admissions procedures, and most award their own degrees. A number of universities in London are outside the University of London system, including Brunel University, Imperial College London, Kingston University, London Metropolitan University, University of East London, University of West London, University of Westminster, London South Bank University, Middlesex University, and University of the Arts London (the largest university of art, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts in Europe). In addition there are three international universities in London – Regent's University London, Richmond, The American International University in London and Schiller International University. London is home to five major medical schools – Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (part of Queen Mary), King's College London School of Medicine (the largest medical school in Europe), Imperial College School of Medicine, UCL Medical School and St George's, University of London – and has many affiliated teaching hospitals. It is also a major centre for biomedical research, and three of the UK's eight academic health science centres are based in the city – Imperial College Healthcare, King's Health Partners and UCL Partners (the largest such centre in Europe). Additionally, many biomedical and biotechnology spin out companies from these research institutions are based around the city, most prominently in White City.There are a number of business schools in London, including the London School of Business and Finance, Cass Business School (part of City University London), Hult International Business School, ESCP Europe, European Business School London, Imperial College Business School, the London Business School and the UCL School of Management. London is also home to many specialist arts education institutions, including the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Central School of Ballet, LAMDA, London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA), London Contemporary Dance School, National Centre for Circus Arts, RADA, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, the Royal College of Art and Trinity Laban. Primary and secondary education The majority of primary and secondary schools and further-education colleges in London are controlled by the London boroughs or otherwise state-funded; leading examples include Ashbourne College, Bethnal Green Academy, Brampton Manor Academy, City and Islington College, City of Westminster College, David Game College, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, Leyton Sixth Form College, London Academy of Excellence, Tower Hamlets College, and Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre. There are also a number of private schools and colleges in London, some old and famous, such as City of London School, Harrow, St Paul's School, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, University College School, The John Lyon School, Highgate School and Westminster School. Culture Leisure and entertainment Leisure is a major part of the London economy. A 2003 report attributed a quarter of the entire UK leisure economy to London at 25.6 events per 1000 people. Globally the city is one of the big four fashion capitals of the world, and according to official statistics, it is the world's third-busiest film production centre, presents more live comedy than any other city, and has the biggest theatre audience of any city in the world. Within the City of Westminster in London, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs, and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district (in Soho), and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. The city is the home of Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musicals have dominated the West End theatre since the late 20th century. The United Kingdom's Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Royal Opera, and English National Opera are based in London and perform at the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, Sadler's Wells Theatre, and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as touring the country. Islington's long Upper Street, extending northwards from Angel, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the United Kingdom. Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly long, making it the longest shopping street in the UK. Oxford Street is home to vast numbers of retailers and department stores, including the world-famous Selfridges flagship store. Knightsbridge, home to the equally renowned Harrods department store, lies to the south-west. London is home to designers Vivienne Westwood, Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo, among others; its renowned art and fashion schools make it an international centre of fashion alongside Paris, Milan, and New York City. London offers a great variety of cuisine as a result of its ethnically diverse population. Gastronomic centres include the Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese restaurants of Chinatown. There is a variety of annual events, beginning with the relatively new New Year's Day Parade, a fireworks display at the London Eye; the world's second largest street party, the Notting Hill Carnival, is held on the late August Bank Holiday each year. Traditional parades include November's Lord Mayor's Show, a centuries-old event celebrating the annual appointment of a new Lord Mayor of the City of London with a procession along the streets of the city, and June's Trooping the Colour, a formal military pageant performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and British armies to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. The Boishakhi Mela is a Bengali New Year festival celebrated by the British Bangladeshi community. It is the largest open-air Asian festival in Europe. After the Notting Hill Carnival, it is the second-largest street festival in the United Kingdom attracting over 80,000 visitors from across the country. Literature, film and television London has been the setting for many works of literature. The pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's late 14th-century Canterbury Tales set out for Canterbury from London—specifically, from the Tabard inn, Southwark. William Shakespeare spent a large part of his life living and working in London; his contemporary Ben Jonson was also based there, and some of his work, most notably his play The Alchemist, was set in the city. A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) by Daniel Defoe is a fictionalisation of the events of the 1665 Great Plague. The literary centres of London have traditionally been hilly Hampstead and (since the early 20th century) Bloomsbury. Writers closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, noted for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire; Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets has been a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London; and Virginia Woolf, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century. Later important depictions of London from the 19th and early 20th centuries are Dickens' novels, and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Also of significance is Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Calendar of the London Seasons (1834). Modern writers pervasively influenced by the city include Peter Ackroyd, author of a "biography" of London, and Iain Sinclair, who writes in the genre of psychogeography. London has played a significant role in the film industry. Major studios within or bordering London include Twickenham, Ealing, Shepperton, Pinewood, Elstree and Borehamwood, and a special effects and post-production community centred in Soho. Working Title Films has its headquarters in London. London has been the setting for films including Oliver Twist (1948), Scrooge (1951), Peter Pan (1953), The 101 Dalmatians (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), Mary Poppins (1964), Blowup (1966), The Long Good Friday (1980), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Notting Hill (1999), Love Actually (2003), V For Vendetta (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008) and The King's Speech (2010). Notable actors and filmmakers from London include; Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Gary Oldman, Christopher Nolan, Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Keira Knightley and Daniel Day-Lewis. Since 2008, the British Academy Film Awards have taken place at the Royal Opera House. London is a major centre for television production, with studios including BBC Television Centre, The Fountain Studios and The London Studios. Many television programmes have been set in London, including the popular television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast by the BBC since 1985. Museums, art galleries and libraries London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The first of these to be established was the British Museum in Bloomsbury, in 1753. Originally containing antiquities, natural history specimens, and the national library, the museum now has 7 million artefacts from around the globe. In 1824, the National Gallery was founded to house the British national collection of Western paintings; this now occupies a prominent position in Trafalgar Square. The British Library is the second largest library in the world, and the national library of the United Kingdom. There are many other research libraries, including the Wellcome Library and Dana Centre, as well as university libraries, including the British Library of Political and Economic Science at LSE, the Central Library at Imperial, the Maughan Library at King's, and the Senate House Libraries at the University of London. In the latter half of the 19th century the locale of South Kensington was developed as "Albertopolis", a cultural and scientific quarter. Three major national museums are there: the Victoria and Albert Museum (for the applied arts), the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 to house depictions of figures from British history; its holdings now comprise the world's most extensive collection of portraits. The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897. The Tate Gallery, as it was formerly known, also became a major centre for modern art. In 2000, this collection moved to Tate Modern, a new gallery housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was built by the Basel-based architecture firm of Herzog & de Meuron. Music London is one of the major classical and popular music capitals of the world and hosts major music corporations, such as Universal Music Group International and Warner Music Group, as well as countless bands, musicians and industry professionals. The city is also home to many orchestras and concert halls, such as the Barbican Arts Centre (principal base of the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus), the Southbank Centre (London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra), Cadogan Hall (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) and the Royal Albert Hall (The Proms). London's two main opera houses are the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum (home to the English National Opera). The UK's largest pipe organ is at the Royal Albert Hall. Other significant instruments are at the cathedrals and major churches. Several conservatoires are within the city: Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban. London has numerous venues for rock and pop concerts, including the world's busiest indoor venue, The O2 Arena and Wembley Arena, as well
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London. There are Sikh communities in East and West London, particularly in Southall, home to one of the largest Sikh populations and the largest Sikh temple outside India. The majority of British Jews live in London, with notable Jewish communities in Stamford Hill, Stanmore, Golders Green, Finchley, Hampstead, Hendon and Edgware in North London. Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London is affiliated to London's historic Sephardic Jewish community. It is the only synagogue in Europe to have held regular services continually for over 300 years. Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has the largest membership of any Orthodox synagogue in Europe, overtaking Ilford synagogue (also in London) in 1998. The London Jewish Forum was set up in 2006 in response to the growing significance of devolved London Government. Accents Cockney is an accent heard across London, mainly spoken by working-class and lower-middle class Londoners. It is mainly attributed to the East End and wider East London, having originated there in the 18th century, although it has been suggested that the Cockney style of speech is much older. John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary of 1859, makes reference to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing the costermongers of the East End. Since the turn of the century Cockney dialect is less common in parts of the East End itself, with modern strongholds including other parts of London and suburbs in the home counties. Estuary English is an intermediate accent between Cockney and Received Pronunciation. It is widely spoken by people of all classes in London and south-eastern England, associated with the River Thames and its estuary. Multicultural London English (MLE) is a multiethnolect becoming increasingly common in multicultural areas amongst young, working-class people from diverse backgrounds. It is a fusion of an array of ethnic accents, in particular Afro-Caribbean and South Asian, with a significant Cockney influence. Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard for British English. It has no specific geographical correlate, although it is also traditionally defined as the standard speech used in London and south-eastern England. It is mainly spoken by upper-class and upper-middle class Londoners. Economy London's gross regional product in 2019 was £503 billion, around a quarter of UK GDP. London has five major business districts: the city, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark. One way to get an idea of their relative importance is to look at relative amounts of office space: Greater London had 27 million m2 of office space in 2001, and the City contains the most space, with 8 million m2 of office space. London has some of the highest real estate prices in the world. London is the world's most expensive office market according to world property journal (2015) report. the residential property in London is worth $2.2 trillion – the same value as that of Brazil's annual GDP. The city has the highest property prices of any European city according to the Office for National Statistics and the European Office of Statistics. On average the price per square metre in central London is €24,252 (April 2014). This is higher than the property prices in other G8 European capital cities; Berlin €3,306, Rome €6,188 and Paris €11,229. The City of London London's finance industry is based in the City of London and Canary Wharf, the two major business districts in London. London is one of the pre-eminent financial centres of the world as the most important location for international finance. London took over as a major financial centre shortly after 1795 when the Dutch Republic collapsed before the Napoleonic armies. For many bankers established in Amsterdam (e.g. Hope, Baring), this was only time to move to London. The London financial elite was strengthened by a strong Jewish community from all over Europe capable of mastering the most sophisticated financial tools of the time. This unique concentration of talents accelerated the transition from the Commercial Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. By the end of the 19th century, Britain was the wealthiest of all nations, and London a leading financial centre. Still, London tops the world rankings on the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), and it ranked second in A.T. Kearney's 2018 Global Cities Index. London's largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. Around 325,000 people were employed in financial services in London until mid-2007. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. It is also the world's biggest currency trading centre, accounting for some 37 per cent of the $5.1 trillion average daily volume, according to the BIS. Over 85 per cent (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. Because of its prominent global role, London's economy had been affected by the financial crisis of 2007–2008. However, by 2010 the city had recovered, put in place new regulatory powers, proceeded to regain lost ground and re-established London's economic dominance. Along with professional services headquarters, the City of London is home to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, and Lloyd's of London insurance market. Over half the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are within London's metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London. Media and technology Media companies are concentrated in London, and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sector. The BBC is a significant employer, while other broadcasters also have headquarters around the city. Many national newspapers are edited in London. London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. The Port of London is the second largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year. A growing number of technology companies are based in London, notably in East London Tech City, also known as Silicon Roundabout. In April 2014 the city was among the first to receive a geoTLD. In February 2014 London was ranked as the European City of the Future in the 2014/15 list by FDi Magazine. The gas and electricity distribution networks that manage and operate the towers, cables and pressure systems that deliver energy to consumers across the city are managed by National Grid plc, SGN and UK Power Networks. Tourism London is one of the leading tourist destinations in the world and in 2015 was ranked as the most visited city in the world with over 65 million visits. It is also the top city in the world by visitor cross-border spending, estimated at US$20.23 billion in 2015. Tourism is one of London's prime industries, employing 700,000 full-time workers in 2016, and contributes £36 billion a year to the economy. The city accounts for 54% of all inbound visitor spending in the UK. London was the world top city destination as ranked by TripAdvisor users. In 2015 the top most-visited attractions in the UK were all in London. The top 10 most visited attractions were: (with visits per venue) British Museum: 6,820,686 National Gallery: 5,908,254 Natural History Museum (South Kensington): 5,284,023 Southbank Centre: 5,102,883 Tate Modern: 4,712,581 Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington): 3,432,325 Science Museum: 3,356,212 Somerset House: 3,235,104 Tower of London: 2,785,249 National Portrait Gallery: 2,145,486 The number of hotel rooms in London in 2015 stood at 138,769, and is expected to grow over the years. Transport Transport is one of the four main areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control does not extend to the longer-distance rail network that enters London. In 2007 the Mayor of London assumed responsibility for some local lines, which now form the London Overground network, adding to the existing responsibility for the London Underground, trams and buses. The public transport network is administered by Transport for London (TfL). The lines that formed the London Underground, as well as trams and buses, became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board or London Transport was created. Transport for London is now the statutory corporation responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London, and is run by a board and a commissioner appointed by the Mayor of London. Aviation London is a major international air transport hub with the busiest city airspace in the world. Eight airports use the word London in their name, but most traffic passes through six of these. Additionally, various other airports also serve London, catering primarily to general aviation flights. London Heathrow Airport, in Hillingdon, West London, was for many years the busiest airport in the world for international traffic, and is the major hub of the nation's flag carrier, British Airways. In March 2008 its fifth terminal was opened. In 2014, Dubai gained from Heathrow the leading position in terms of international passenger traffic. London Gatwick Airport, south of London in West Sussex, handles flights to more destinations than any other UK airport and is the main base of easyJet, the UK's largest airline by number of passengers. London Stansted Airport, north-east of London in Essex, has flights that serve the greatest number of European destinations of any UK airport and is the main base of Ryanair, the world's largest international airline by number of international passengers. London Luton Airport, to the north of London in Bedfordshire, is used by several budget airlines for short-haul flights. London City Airport, the most central airport and the one with the shortest runway, in Newham, East London, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full-service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic. London Southend Airport, east of London in Essex, is a smaller, regional airport that caters for short-haul flights on a limited, though growing, number of airlines. In 2017, international passengers made up over 95% of the total at Southend, the highest proportion of any London airport. Rail Underground and DLR The London Underground, commonly referred to as the Tube, is the oldest and third longest metro system in the world. The system serves 270 stations and was formed from several private companies, including the world's first underground electric line, the City and South London Railway. It dates from 1863. Over four million journeys are made every day on the Underground network, over 1 billion each year. An investment programme is attempting to reduce congestion and improve reliability, including £6.5 billion (€7.7 billion) spent before the 2012 Summer Olympics. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which opened in 1987, is a second, more local metro system using smaller and lighter tram-type vehicles that serve the Docklands, Greenwich and Lewisham. Suburban There are 368 railway stations in the London Travelcard Zones on an extensive above-ground suburban railway network. South London, particularly, has a high concentration of railways as it has fewer Underground lines. Most rail lines terminate around the centre of London, running into eighteen terminal stations, with the exception of the Thameslink trains connecting Bedford in the north and Brighton in the south via Luton and Gatwick airports. London has Britain's busiest station by number of passengers—Waterloo, with over 184 million people using the interchange station complex (which includes Waterloo East station) each year. is the busiest station in Europe by the number of trains passing. With the need for more rail capacity in London, Crossrail is expected to open in 2021. It will be a new railway line running east to west through London and into the Home Counties with a branch to Heathrow Airport. It is Europe's biggest construction project, with a £15 billion projected cost. Inter-city and international London is the centre of the National Rail network, with 70 per cent of rail journeys starting or ending in London. King's Cross station and Euston station, which are both in London, are the starting points of the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line – the two main railway lines in Britain. Like suburban rail services, regional and inter-city trains depart from several termini around the city centre, linking London with the rest of Britain including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Dover, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Holyhead (for Dublin), Hull, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Stevenage, Swansea, Weymouth, Wolverhampton and York. London also has convenient rail connections with airports out of Greater London. These airports include Birmingham Airport (via Birmingham International railway station), East Midlands Airport (via East Midlands Parkway railway station), Inverness Airport (via Inverness railway station), Leeds Bradford Airport (via Bradford Interchange or Leeds railway station) and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (via Liverpool South Parkway railway station). Some international railway services to Continental Europe were operated during the 20th century as boat trains, such as the Admiraal de Ruijter to Amsterdam and the Night Ferry to Paris and Brussels. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 connected London directly to the continental rail network, allowing Eurostar services to begin. Since 2007, high-speed trains link St. Pancras International with Lille, Calais, Paris, Disneyland Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and other European tourist destinations via the High Speed 1 rail link and the Channel Tunnel. The first high-speed domestic trains started in June 2009 linking Kent to London. There are plans for a second high speed line linking London to the Midlands, North West England, and Yorkshire. Freight Although rail freight levels are far down compared to their height, significant quantities of cargo are also carried into and out of London by rail; chiefly building materials and landfill waste. As a major hub of the British railway network, London's tracks also carry large amounts of freight for the other regions, such as container freight from the Channel Tunnel and English Channel ports, and nuclear waste for reprocessing at Sellafield. Buses, coaches and trams London's bus network runs 24 hours a day with about 9,300 vehicles, over 675 bus routes and about 19,000 bus stops. In 2019/1920 the network had over 2 billion commuter trips per year. Since 2010 and average of £1.2 billion is taken in revenue each year. London has one of the largest wheelchair-accessible networks in the world and from the third quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced. London's coach hub is Victoria Coach Station, an Art Deco building opened in 1932. The coach station was initially run by a group of coach companies under the name of London Coastal Coaches; however, in 1970 the service and station were included in the nationalisation of the country's coach services, becoming part of the National Bus Company. In 1988, the coach station was purchased by London Transport which then became Transport for London. Victoria Coach Station has weekly passenger numbers of over 200,000 and provides services across the UK and Europe. London has a modern tram network, known as Tramlink, centred on Croydon in South London. The network has 39 stops and four routes, and carried 28 million people in 2013. Since June 2008, Transport for London has completely owned and operated Tramlink. Cable car London's first and to date only cable car is the Emirates Air Line, which opened in June 2012. The cable car crosses the River Thames, and links Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks in the east of the city. It is integrated with London's Oyster Card ticketing system, although the Emirates Air Line fares are not included in the Oyster daily capping. It cost £60 million to build and can carry up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction at peak times. Similar to the Santander Cycles bike hire scheme, the cable car is sponsored in a 10-year deal by the airline Emirates. Cycling In the Greater London Area, around 670,000 people use a bike every day, meaning around 7% of the total population of around 8.8 million use a bike on an average day. This relatively low percentage of bicycle users may be due to the poor investments for cycling in London of about £110 million per year, equating to around £12 per person, which can be compared to £22 in the Netherlands. Cycling has become an increasingly popular way to get around London. The launch of a bicycle hire scheme in July 2010 was successful and generally well received. Port and river boats The Port of London, once the largest in the world, is now only the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year as of 2009. Most of this cargo passes through the Port of Tilbury, outside the boundary of Greater London. London has river boat services on the Thames known as Thames Clippers, which offer both commuter and tourist boat services. At major piers including Canary Wharf, London Bridge City, Battersea Power Station and London Eye (Waterloo), services depart at least every 20 minutes during commuter times. The Woolwich Ferry, with 2.5 million passengers every year, is a frequent service linking the North and South Circular Roads. Roads Although the majority of journeys in central London are made by public transport, car travel is common in the suburbs. The inner ring road (around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (just within the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the M25, just outside the built-up area in most places) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into inner London. A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s. The M25 is the second-longest ring-road motorway in Europe at long. The A1 and M1 connect London to Leeds, and Newcastle and Edinburgh. London is notorious for its traffic congestion; in 2009, the average speed of a car in the rush hour was recorded at . In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre. With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of central London. Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a greatly reduced season pass. The London government initially expected the Congestion Charge Zone to increase daily peak period Underground and bus users, reduce road traffic, increase traffic speeds, and reduce queues; however, the increase in private for hire vehicles has affected these expectations. Over the course of several years, the average number of cars entering the centre of London on a weekday was reduced from 195,000 to 125,000 cars – a 35-per-cent reduction of vehicles driven per day. Education Tertiary education London is a major global centre of higher education teaching and research and has the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe. According to the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, London has the greatest concentration of top class universities in the world and its international student population of around 110,000 is larger than any other city in the world. A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers report termed London the global capital of higher education. A number of world-leading education institutions are based in London. In the 2021 QS World University Rankings, Imperial College London is ranked #8 in the world, University College London (UCL) is ranked 10th, and King's College London (KCL) is ranked 31st. The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2015 its MBA programme was ranked second-best in the world by the Financial Times. The city is also home to three of the world's top ten performing arts schools (as ranked by the 2020 QS World University Rankings): the Royal College of Music (ranking 2nd in the world), the Royal Academy of Music (ranking 4th) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (ranking 6th). With students in London and around 48,000 in University of London Worldwide, the federal University of London is the largest contact teaching university in the UK. It includes five multi-faculty universities – City, King's College London, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway and UCL – and a number of smaller and more specialised institutions including Birkbeck, the Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, the London Business School, the London School of Economics, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal Academy of Music, the Central School of Speech and Drama, the Royal Veterinary College and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Members of the University of London have their own admissions procedures, and most award their own degrees. A number of universities in London are outside the University of London system, including Brunel University, Imperial College London, Kingston University, London Metropolitan University, University of East London, University of West London, University of Westminster, London South Bank University, Middlesex University, and University of the Arts London (the largest university of art, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts in Europe). In addition there are three international universities in London – Regent's University London, Richmond, The American International University in London and Schiller International University. London is home to five major medical schools – Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (part of Queen Mary), King's College London School of Medicine (the largest medical school in Europe), Imperial College School of Medicine, UCL Medical School and St George's, University of London – and has many affiliated teaching hospitals. It is also a major centre for biomedical research, and three of the UK's eight academic health science centres are based in the city – Imperial College Healthcare, King's Health Partners and UCL Partners (the largest such centre in Europe). Additionally, many biomedical and biotechnology spin out companies from these research institutions are based around the city, most prominently in White City.There are a number of business schools in London, including the London School of Business and Finance, Cass Business School (part of City University London), Hult International Business School, ESCP Europe, European Business School London, Imperial College Business School, the London Business School and the UCL School of Management. London is also home to many specialist arts education institutions, including the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Central School of Ballet, LAMDA, London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA), London Contemporary Dance School, National Centre for Circus Arts, RADA, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, the Royal College of Art and Trinity Laban. Primary and secondary education The majority of primary and secondary schools and further-education colleges in London are controlled by the London boroughs or otherwise state-funded; leading examples include Ashbourne College, Bethnal Green Academy, Brampton Manor Academy, City and Islington College, City of Westminster College, David Game College, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, Leyton Sixth Form College, London Academy of Excellence, Tower Hamlets College, and Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre. There are also a number of private schools and colleges in London, some old and famous, such as City of London School, Harrow, St Paul's School, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, University College School, The John Lyon School, Highgate School and Westminster School. Culture Leisure and entertainment Leisure is a major part of the London economy. A 2003 report attributed a quarter of the entire UK leisure economy to London at 25.6 events per 1000 people. Globally the city is one of the big four fashion capitals of the world, and according to official statistics, it is the world's third-busiest film production centre, presents more live comedy than any other city, and has the biggest theatre audience of any city in the world. Within the City of Westminster in London, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs, and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district (in Soho), and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. The city is the home of Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musicals have dominated the West End theatre since the late 20th century. The United Kingdom's Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Royal Opera, and English National Opera are based in London and perform at the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, Sadler's Wells Theatre, and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as touring the country. Islington's long Upper Street, extending northwards from Angel, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the United Kingdom. Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly long, making it the longest shopping street in the UK. Oxford Street is home to vast numbers of retailers and department stores, including the world-famous Selfridges flagship store. Knightsbridge, home to the equally renowned Harrods department store, lies to the south-west. London is home to designers Vivienne Westwood, Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo, among others; its renowned art and fashion schools make it an international centre of fashion alongside Paris, Milan, and New York City. London offers a great variety of cuisine as a result of its ethnically diverse population. Gastronomic centres include the Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese restaurants of Chinatown. There is a variety of annual events, beginning with the relatively new New Year's Day Parade, a fireworks display at the London Eye; the world's second largest street party, the Notting Hill Carnival, is held on the late August Bank Holiday each year. Traditional parades include November's Lord Mayor's Show, a centuries-old event celebrating the annual appointment of a new Lord Mayor of the City of London with a procession along the streets of the city, and June's Trooping the Colour, a formal military pageant performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and British armies to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. The Boishakhi Mela is a Bengali New Year festival celebrated by the British Bangladeshi community. It is the largest open-air Asian festival in Europe. After the Notting Hill Carnival, it is the second-largest street festival in the United Kingdom attracting over 80,000 visitors from across the country. Literature, film and television London has been the setting for many works of literature. The pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's late 14th-century Canterbury Tales set out for Canterbury from London—specifically, from the Tabard inn, Southwark. William Shakespeare spent a large part of his life living and working in London; his contemporary Ben Jonson was also based there, and some of his work, most notably his play The Alchemist, was set in the city. A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) by Daniel Defoe is a fictionalisation of the events of the 1665 Great Plague. The literary centres of London have traditionally been hilly Hampstead and (since the early 20th century) Bloomsbury. Writers closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, noted for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire; Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets has been a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London; and Virginia Woolf, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century. Later important depictions of London from the 19th and early 20th centuries are Dickens' novels, and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Also of significance is Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Calendar of the London Seasons (1834). Modern writers pervasively influenced by the city include Peter Ackroyd, author of a "biography" of London, and Iain Sinclair, who writes in the genre of psychogeography. London has played a significant role in the film industry. Major studios within or bordering London include Twickenham, Ealing, Shepperton, Pinewood, Elstree and Borehamwood, and a special effects and post-production community centred in Soho. Working Title Films has its headquarters in London. London has been the setting for films including Oliver Twist (1948), Scrooge (1951), Peter Pan (1953), The 101 Dalmatians (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), Mary Poppins (1964), Blowup (1966), The Long Good Friday (1980), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Notting Hill (1999), Love Actually (2003), V For Vendetta (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008) and The King's Speech (2010). Notable actors and filmmakers from London include; Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Gary Oldman, Christopher Nolan, Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Keira Knightley and Daniel Day-Lewis. Since 2008, the British Academy Film Awards have taken place at the Royal Opera House. London is a major centre for television production, with studios including BBC Television Centre, The Fountain Studios and The London Studios. Many television programmes have been set in London, including the popular television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast by the BBC since 1985. Museums, art galleries and libraries London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The first of these to be established was the British Museum in Bloomsbury, in 1753. Originally containing antiquities, natural history specimens, and the national library, the museum now has 7 million artefacts from around the globe. In 1824, the National Gallery was founded to house the British national collection of Western paintings; this now occupies a prominent position in Trafalgar Square. The British Library is the second largest library in the world, and the national library of the United Kingdom. There are many other research libraries, including the Wellcome Library and Dana Centre, as well as university libraries, including the British Library of Political and Economic Science at LSE, the Central Library at Imperial, the Maughan Library at King's, and the Senate House Libraries at the University of London. In the latter half of the 19th century the locale of South Kensington was developed as "Albertopolis", a cultural and scientific quarter. Three major national museums are there: the Victoria and Albert Museum (for the applied arts), the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 to house depictions of figures from British history; its holdings now comprise the world's most extensive collection of portraits. The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897. The Tate Gallery, as it was formerly known, also became a major centre for modern art. In 2000, this collection moved to Tate Modern, a new gallery housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was built by the Basel-based architecture firm of Herzog & de Meuron. Music London is one of the major classical and popular music capitals of the world and hosts major music corporations, such as Universal Music Group International and Warner Music Group, as well as countless bands, musicians and industry professionals. The city is also home to many orchestras and concert halls, such as the Barbican Arts Centre (principal base of the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus), the Southbank Centre (London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra), Cadogan Hall (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) and the Royal Albert Hall (The Proms). London's two main opera houses are the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum (home to the English National Opera). The UK's largest pipe organ is at the Royal Albert Hall. Other significant instruments are at the cathedrals and major churches. Several conservatoires are within the city: Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban. London has numerous venues for rock and pop concerts, including the world's busiest indoor venue, The O2 Arena and Wembley Arena, as well as many mid-sized venues, such as Brixton Academy, the Hammersmith Apollo and the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Several music festivals, including the Wireless Festival, South West Four, Lovebox, and Hyde Park's British Summer Time are all held in London. The city is home to the original Hard Rock Cafe and the Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles recorded many of their hits. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, musicians and groups like Elton John, Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, David Bowie, Queen, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Small Faces, Iron Maiden, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Cat Stevens, The Police, The Cure, Madness, The Jam, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Dusty Springfield, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Adam Ant, Status Quo and Sade, derived their sound from the streets and rhythms of London. London was instrumental in the development of punk music, with figures such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Vivienne Westwood all based in the city. More recent artists to emerge from the London music scene include George Michael's Wham!, Kate Bush, Seal, the Pet Shop Boys, Bananarama, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bush, the Spice Girls, Jamiroquai, Blur, McFly, The Prodigy, Gorillaz, Bloc Party, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, One Direction and Florence and the Machine. London is also a centre for urban music. In particular the genres UK garage, drum and bass, dubstep and grime evolved in the city from the foreign genres of house, hip hop, and reggae, alongside local drum and bass. Music station BBC Radio 1Xtra was set up to support the rise of local urban contemporary music both in London and in the rest of the United Kingdom. Recreation Parks and open spaces A 2013 report by the City of London Corporation said that London is the "greenest city" in Europe with 35,000 acres of public parks, woodlands and gardens. The largest parks in the central area of London are three of the eight Royal Parks, namely Hyde Park and its neighbour Kensington Gardens in the west, and Regent's Park to the north. Hyde Park in particular is popular for sports and sometimes hosts open-air concerts. Regent's Park contains London Zoo, the world's oldest scientific zoo, and is near Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Primrose Hill, immediately to the north of Regent's Park, at is a popular spot
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rank of sipahi in the Ottoman army. Evliya Çelebi also wrote of Lagari's brother, Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, making a flight by glider a year earlier. Popular culture Istanbul Beneath My Wings is a 1996 film about the lives of Lagari Hasan Çelebi, his brother and fellow aviator Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, and Ottoman society in the early 17th century as witnessed and narrated by Evliya Çelebi. The legend was addressed in an experiment by the television show MythBusters, on November 11, 2009, in the episode "Crash and Burn"; however, the team noted that Evliya Çelebi had not sufficiently specified the alleged design used by Lagâri Hasan and said that
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"O my sultan! Be blessed, I am going to talk to Jesus!"; after ascending in the rocket, he landed in the sea, swimming ashore and joking "O my sultan! Jesus sends his regards to you!"; he was rewarded by the Sultan with silver and the rank of sipahi in the Ottoman army. Evliya Çelebi also wrote of Lagari's brother, Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, making a flight by glider a year earlier. Popular culture Istanbul Beneath My Wings is a 1996 film about the lives of Lagari Hasan Çelebi, his brother and fellow aviator Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, and Ottoman society in the early 17th century as witnessed and narrated by Evliya Çelebi. The legend was addressed in an experiment by the television show
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aspect ratio television screen. An alternative to pillarboxing is "tilt-and-scan" (reversed pan and scan), horizontally matting the original 1.33:1 television images to the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, which at any given moment crops part of the top and/or bottom of the frame, hence the need for the "tilt" component. A tilt is a camera move in which the camera tilts up or down. Windowboxing occurs when an image appears centered in a television screen, with blank space on all four sides of the image, such as when a widescreen image that has been previously letterboxed to fit 1.33:1 is then pillarboxed to fit 16:9. It is also called "matchbox", "gutterbox", and "postage stamp" display. This occurs on the DVD editions of the Star Trek films on a 4:3 television when the included widescreen documentaries show footage from the original television series. It is also seen in The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, which displays widescreen pillarboxing with 1.85:1 scenes in a 2.40:1 frame that is subsequently letterboxed. It is common to see windowboxed commercials on HD television networks, because many commercials are shot in 16:9 but distributed to networks in SD, letterboxed to fit 1.33:1. Many 1980s 8-bit home computers feature gutterboxing display mode, because the TV screens normally used as monitors at that time tended to distort the image near the border of the screen to such an extent that text displayed in that area became illegible. Moreover, due to the overscanned nature of television video, the precise edges of the visible area of the screen varied from television set to television set, so characters near the expected border of the active screen area might be behind the bezel or off the edge of the screen. The Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Commodore 128 (in 40-column mode) featured coloured gutterboxing of the main text window, while the Atari 8-bit family featured a blue text window with a black border. The original IBM PC CGA display
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mattes when displayed on a 16:9 aspect ratio television screen. An alternative to pillarboxing is "tilt-and-scan" (reversed pan and scan), horizontally matting the original 1.33:1 television images to the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, which at any given moment crops part of the top and/or bottom of the frame, hence the need for the "tilt" component. A tilt is a camera move in which the camera tilts up or down. Windowboxing occurs when an image appears centered in a television screen, with blank space on all four sides of the image, such as when a widescreen image that has been previously letterboxed to fit 1.33:1 is then pillarboxed to fit 16:9. It is also called "matchbox", "gutterbox", and "postage stamp" display. This occurs on the DVD editions of the Star Trek films on a 4:3 television when the included widescreen documentaries show footage from the original television series. It is also seen in The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, which displays widescreen pillarboxing with 1.85:1 scenes in a 2.40:1 frame that is subsequently letterboxed. It is common to see windowboxed commercials on HD television networks, because many commercials are shot in 16:9 but distributed to networks in SD, letterboxed to fit 1.33:1. Many 1980s 8-bit home computers feature gutterboxing display mode, because the TV screens normally used as monitors at that time tended to distort the image near the border of the screen to such an extent that text displayed in that area became illegible. Moreover, due to the overscanned nature of television video, the precise edges of the visible area of the screen varied from television set to television set, so characters near the expected border of the active screen area might be behind the bezel or off the edge of the screen. The Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Commodore 128 (in 40-column mode) featured coloured gutterboxing of the main text window, while the Atari 8-bit family featured a blue text window with a black border. The original IBM PC CGA display adapter was the same, and the monochrome MDA, the predecessor of the CGA, as well as the later EGA and VGA, also featured gutterboxing; this is also called underscanned video. The Fisher-Price PXL-2000 camcorder of the late 1980s recorded a windowboxed image to compensate partially for low resolution. Occasionally, an image is deliberately windowboxed for stylistic effect; for example, the documentary-style sequence of the film Rent suggest an older-format camera representing the 4:3 aspect ratio, and the opening sequence of the Oliver Stone film JFK features pillar boxing to represent the 1960s era 4:3 television footage. The film Sneakers uses a windowboxing effect in a scene for dramatic effect. See also Active Format Description Fullscreen (aspect ratio) List of film formats Motion
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Benjamin Chapin Lincoln (novel), a 1984 novel by Gore Vidal Lincoln, one of the Grounders in The 100 TV series Lincoln (film), a 2012 film by Steven Spielberg Brands, enterprises, and organizations Businesses and brands Lincoln Electric, a US company Lincoln International, an investment banking firm Lincoln Logs, a children's toy Lincoln Motor Car Works, making cars sold exclusively by Sears Roebuck 1908–1912 Lincoln Motor Company, a Ford brand Lincoln National Corporation, an insurance company Lincoln Snacks Company Lincoln (surveillance), a brand of electronic data interception products Educational institutions Lincoln Academy (disambiguation) Lincoln Christ's Hospital School, Lincolnshire Lincoln College (disambiguation) Lincoln Elementary School (disambiguation) Lincoln Group of Schools, U.S Lincoln High School (disambiguation) Lincoln School (disambiguation) Lincoln Tech, a group of schools in New Jersey, US Lincoln University (disambiguation) Old Lincoln High School, Tallahassee, Florida, US University of Lincoln, UK Other organizations Lincoln City F.C., an English football club Lincoln Red Imps F.C., a semi-professional football club of Gibraltar Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ, a church in Washington, D.C., US Lincoln–Lee Legion, a temperance organization Flora and fauna Lincoln sheep Lincoln (grape) or Catawba grape Memorials and monuments Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Monument (Dixon, Illinois) Lincoln Monument of Wabash, Indiana Transport Military craft Avro Lincoln, WWII RAF bomber HMS Lincoln, several Royal Navy warships USS Abraham Lincoln, two US Navy vessels and several fictitious vessels Rail stations Lincoln station (Illinois), an Amtrak station in Lincoln, Illinois, United States Lincoln station (MBTA), Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States Lincoln station (Nebraska), an Amtrak station in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Lincoln station (Nebraska, 1926–2012), Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Lincoln station (RTD), a transit station in Lone Tree, Colorado, United States Lincoln station (SkyTrain), Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada Lincoln railway station, Lincoln, England Lincoln St Marks railway station, Lincoln, England Roadways Lincoln Highway, South Australia Lincoln Highway, US Route of the Lincoln Highway Lincoln Highway (Delaware) Lincoln Highway (Omaha) Lincoln Highway in Greene County, Iowa Lincoln Tunnel, between New Jersey and New York Lincoln Drive in Philadelphia Lincoln Drive Bridge also in Philadelphia Other uses Lincoln (1914 automobile), a light two-seater built by the Lincoln Motor Car Company in Detroit Lincoln (footballer, born 1979) (Lincoln Cássio de Souza Soares, Brazilian midfielder Lincoln (footballer, born 1996) (Lincoln Fernando Rocha da Silva), Brazilian defender Lincoln (footballer, born 1998) (Lincoln Henrique Oliveira dos Santos), Brazilian midfielder Lincoln (footballer, born 2000) (Lincoln Corrêa dos Santos), Brazilian forward Lincoln (tree), a sequoia in Giant Forest, California Lincoln biscuit Lincoln cent, U.S. coinage Lincoln green, a dyed woollen cloth Lincoln Way (San Francisco)
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Lincoln (album), a 1988 album by They Might Be Giants Lincoln (band), an American alternative rock band of the late 1990s Television Lincoln or Carl Sandburg's Lincoln, a 1974 miniseries with Hal Holbrook Lincoln (miniseries), a 1988 American TV miniseries starring Sam Waterston Lincoln (TV series), a 2005–2013 Japanese variety television show Other uses in art, entertainment, and media Lincoln Island, a fictional island in Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island Lincoln (play), a 1906 Broadway play by Benjamin Chapin Lincoln (novel), a 1984 novel by Gore Vidal Lincoln, one of the Grounders in The 100 TV series Lincoln (film), a 2012 film by Steven Spielberg Brands, enterprises, and organizations Businesses and brands Lincoln Electric, a US company Lincoln International, an investment banking firm Lincoln Logs, a children's toy Lincoln Motor Car Works, making cars sold exclusively by Sears Roebuck 1908–1912 Lincoln Motor Company, a Ford brand Lincoln National Corporation, an insurance company Lincoln Snacks Company Lincoln (surveillance), a brand of electronic data interception products Educational institutions Lincoln Academy (disambiguation) Lincoln Christ's Hospital School, Lincolnshire Lincoln College (disambiguation) Lincoln Elementary School (disambiguation) Lincoln Group of Schools, U.S Lincoln High School (disambiguation) Lincoln School (disambiguation) Lincoln Tech, a group of schools in New Jersey, US Lincoln University (disambiguation) Old Lincoln High School, Tallahassee, Florida, US University of Lincoln, UK Other organizations Lincoln City F.C., an English football club Lincoln Red Imps F.C., a semi-professional football club of Gibraltar Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ, a church in Washington, D.C., US Lincoln–Lee Legion, a temperance organization Flora and fauna Lincoln sheep Lincoln (grape) or Catawba grape Memorials and monuments Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Monument (Dixon, Illinois) Lincoln Monument of Wabash, Indiana Transport Military craft Avro Lincoln, WWII RAF bomber HMS Lincoln, several Royal Navy warships USS Abraham Lincoln, two US Navy vessels and several fictitious vessels Rail stations Lincoln station (Illinois), an Amtrak station in Lincoln, Illinois, United States Lincoln station (MBTA), Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States Lincoln station (Nebraska), an Amtrak station in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Lincoln station (Nebraska, 1926–2012), Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Lincoln station (RTD), a transit station in Lone Tree, Colorado, United States Lincoln station (SkyTrain), Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada Lincoln railway station, Lincoln, England Lincoln St Marks railway station, Lincoln, England Roadways Lincoln Highway, South Australia Lincoln Highway, US Route of the Lincoln Highway Lincoln Highway (Delaware) Lincoln Highway (Omaha) Lincoln Highway in Greene County, Iowa Lincoln Tunnel, between New Jersey and New
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term hypermobility refers to the characteristic of people with more-elastic ligaments, allowing their joints to stretch and contort further; this is sometimes still called double-jointedness. The consequence of a broken ligament can be instability of the joint. Not all broken ligaments need surgery, but, if surgery is needed to stabilise the joint, the broken ligament can be repaired. Scar tissue may prevent this. If it is not possible to fix the broken ligament, other procedures such as the Brunelli procedure can correct the instability. Instability of a joint can over time lead to wear of the cartilage and eventually to osteoarthritis. Artificial ligaments One of the most often torn ligaments in the body is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The ACL is one of the ligaments crucial to knee stability and persons who tear their ACL often undergo reconstructive surgery, which can be done through a variety of techniques and materials. One of these techniques is the replacement of the ligament with an artificial material. Artificial ligaments are a synthetic material composed of a polymer, such as polyacrylonitrile fiber, polypropylene, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or polyNaSS poly(sodium styrene sulfonate). Examples Head and neck Cricothyroid ligament Periodontal ligament Suspensory ligament of the lens Thorax Phrenoesophageal ligament Suspensory ligament of the breast Pelvis Anterior sacroiliac ligament Posterior sacroiliac ligament Sacrotuberous ligament Sacrospinous ligament Inferior pubic ligament Superior pubic ligament Suspensory ligament of the penis Wrist Palmar radiocarpal ligament Dorsal radiocarpal ligament Ulnar collateral ligament Radial collateral ligament Scapholunate Ligament Knee Anterior cruciate ligament Lateral collateral ligament Posterior cruciate ligament Medial collateral ligament Cranial cruciate ligament — quadruped equivalent of anterior cruciate ligament Caudal cruciate ligament — quadruped equivalent of posterior cruciate ligament Patellar ligament Peritoneal ligaments Certain folds of peritoneum are referred to as ligaments. Examples include: The hepatoduodenal ligament, that surrounds the hepatic portal vein and other vessels as they travel from the duodenum to the liver. The broad ligament of the uterus, also a fold of peritoneum. Fetal remnant ligaments Certain tubular structures from the fetal period are referred to as ligaments after they close up and turn into cord-like
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irregular connective tissue sheaths. Ligaments connect bones to other bones to form joints, while tendons connect bone to muscle. Some ligaments limit the mobility of articulations or prevent certain movements altogether. Capsular ligaments are part of the articular capsule that surrounds synovial joints. They act as mechanical reinforcements. Extra-capsular ligaments join together in harmony with the other ligaments and provide joint stability. Intra-capsular ligaments, which are much less common, also provide stability but permit a far larger range of motion. Cruciate ligaments are paired ligaments in the form of a cross. Ligaments are viscoelastic. They gradually strain when under tension and return to their original shape when the tension is removed. However, they cannot retain their original shape when extended past a certain point or for a prolonged period of time. This is one reason why dislocated joints must be set as quickly as possible: if the ligaments lengthen too much, then the joint will be weakened, becoming prone to future dislocations. Athletes, gymnasts, dancers, and martial artists perform stretching exercises to lengthen their ligaments, making their joints more supple. The term hypermobility refers to the characteristic of people with more-elastic ligaments, allowing their joints to stretch and contort further; this is sometimes still called double-jointedness. The consequence of a broken ligament can be instability of the joint. Not all broken ligaments need surgery, but, if surgery is needed to stabilise the joint, the broken ligament can be repaired. Scar tissue may prevent this. If it is not possible to fix the broken ligament, other procedures such as the Brunelli procedure can correct the instability. Instability of a joint can over time lead to wear of the cartilage and eventually to osteoarthritis. Artificial ligaments One of the most often torn ligaments in the body is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The ACL is one of the ligaments crucial to knee stability and persons who tear their ACL often undergo reconstructive surgery, which can be done through a variety of techniques and materials. One of these techniques is the replacement of the ligament with an artificial material. Artificial ligaments are a synthetic material composed of a polymer, such
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Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed at the opposite shore, drawing an acoustic "net" across the loch through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple targets were identified. One was probably a shoal of fish, but others moved in a way not typical of shoals at speeds up to 10 knots. Robert Rines studies (1972, 1975, 2001, 2008) In 1972, a group of researchers from the Academy of Applied Science led by Robert H. Rines conducted a search for the monster involving sonar examination of the loch depths for unusual activity. Rines took precautions to avoid murky water with floating wood and peat. A submersible camera with a floodlight was deployed to record images below the surface. If Rines detected anything on the sonar, he turned the light on and took pictures. On 8 August, Rines' Raytheon DE-725C sonar unit, operating at a frequency of 200 kHz and anchored at a depth of , identified a moving target (or targets) estimated by echo strength at in length. Specialists from Raytheon, Simrad (now Kongsberg Maritime), Hydroacoustics, Marty Klein of MIT and Klein Associates (a side-scan sonar producer) and Ira Dyer of MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering were on hand to examine the data. P. Skitzki of Raytheon suggested that the data indicated a protuberance projecting from one of the echoes. According to author Roy Mackal, the shape was a "highly flexible laterally flattened tail" or the misinterpreted return from two animals swimming together. Concurrent with the sonar readings, the floodlit camera obtained a pair of underwater photographs. Both depicted what appeared to be a rhomboid flipper, although sceptics have dismissed the images as depicting the bottom of the loch, air bubbles, a rock, or a fish fin. The apparent flipper was photographed in different positions, indicating movement. The first flipper photo is better-known than the second, and both were enhanced and retouched from the original negatives. According to team member Charles Wyckoff, the photos were retouched to superimpose the flipper; the original enhancement showed a considerably less-distinct object. No one is sure how the originals were altered. During a meeting with Tony Harmsworth and Adrian Shine at the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, Rines admitted that the flipper photo may have been retouched by a magazine editor. British naturalist Peter Scott announced in 1975, on the basis of the photographs, that the creature's scientific name would be Nessiteras rhombopteryx (Greek for "Ness inhabitant with diamond-shaped fin"). Scott intended that the name would enable the creature to be added to the British register of protected wildlife. Scottish politician Nicholas Fairbairn called the name an anagram for "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S". However, Rines countered that when rearranged, the letters could also spell "Yes, both pix are monsters – R." Another sonar contact was made, this time with two objects estimated to be about . The strobe camera photographed two large objects surrounded by a flurry of bubbles. Some interpreted the objects as two plesiosaur-like animals, suggesting several large animals living in Loch Ness. This photograph has rarely been published. A second search was conducted by Rines in 1975. Some of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality and lack of concurrent sonar readings, did indeed seem to show unknown animals in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck, and upper torso of a plesiosaur-like animal, but sceptics argue the object is a log due to the lump on its "chest" area, the mass of sediment in the full photo, and the object's log-like "skin" texture. Another photograph seemed to depict a horned "gargoyle head", consistent with that of some sightings of the monster; however, sceptics point out that a tree stump was later filmed during Operation Deepscan in 1987, which bore a striking resemblance to the gargoyle head. In 2001, Rines' Academy of Applied Science videotaped a V-shaped wake traversing still water on a calm day. The academy also videotaped an object on the floor of the loch resembling a carcass and found marine clamshells and a fungus-like organism not normally found in freshwater lochs, a suggested connection to the sea and a possible entry for the creature. In 2008, Rines theorised that the creature may have become extinct, citing the lack of significant sonar readings and a decline in eyewitness accounts. He undertook a final expedition, using sonar and an underwater camera in an attempt to find a carcass. Rines believed that the animals may have failed to adapt to temperature changes resulting from global warming. Operation Deepscan (1987) Operation Deepscan was conducted in 1987. Twenty-four boats equipped with echo sounding equipment were deployed across the width of the loch, and simultaneously sent acoustic waves. According to BBC News the scientists had made sonar contact with an unidentified object of unusual size and strength. The researchers returned, re-scanning the area. Analysis of the echosounder images seemed to indicate debris at the bottom of the loch, although there was motion in three of the pictures. Adrian Shine speculated, based on size, that they might be seals that had entered the loch. Sonar expert Darrell Lowrance, founder of Lowrance Electronics, donated a number of echosounder units used in the operation. After examining a sonar return indicating a large, moving object at a depth of near Urquhart Bay, Lowrance said: "There's something here that we don't understand, and there's something here that's larger than a fish, maybe some species that hasn't been detected before. I don't know." Searching for the Loch Ness Monster (2003) In 2003, the BBC sponsored a search of the loch using 600 sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had sufficient resolution to identify a small buoy. No animal of substantial size was found and, despite their reported hopes, the scientists involved admitted that this "proved" the Loch Ness Monster was a myth. Searching for the Loch Ness Monster aired on BBC One. DNA survey (2018) An international team consisting of researchers from the universities of Otago, Copenhagen, Hull and the Highlands and Islands, did a DNA survey of the lake in June 2018, looking for unusual species. The results were published in 2019; no DNA of large fish such as sharks, sturgeons and catfish could be found. No otter or seal DNA were obtained either, though there was a lot of eel DNA. The leader of the study, Prof Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago, said he could not rule out the possibility of eels of extreme size, though none were found, nor were any ever caught. The other possibility is that the large amount of eel DNA simply comes from many small eels. No evidence of any reptilian sequences were found, he added, "so I think we can be fairly sure that there is probably not a giant scaly reptile swimming around in Loch Ness", he said. Explanations A number of explanations have been suggested to account for sightings of the creature. According to Ronald Binns, a former member of the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau, there is probably no single explanation of the monster. Binns wrote two sceptical books, the 1983 The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, and his 2017 The Loch Ness Mystery Reloaded. In these he contends that an aspect of human psychology is the ability of the eye to see what it wants, and expects, to see. They may be categorised as misidentifications of known animals, misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects, reinterpretations of Scottish folklore, hoaxes, and exotic species of large animals. A reviewer wrote that Binns had "evolved into the author of ... the definitive, skeptical book on the subject". Binns does not call the sightings a hoax, but "a myth in the true sense of the term" and states that the "'monster is a sociological ... phenomenon. ...After 1983 the search ... (for the) possibility that there just might be continues to enthrall a small number for whom eye-witness evidence outweighs all other considerations". Misidentification of known animals Bird wakes Wakes have been reported when the loch is calm, with no boats nearby. Bartender David Munro reported a wake he believed was a creature zigzagging, diving, and reappearing; there were reportedly 26 other witnesses from a nearby car park. Although some sightings describe a V-shaped wake similar to a boat's, others report something not conforming to the shape of a boat. Eels A large eel was an early suggestion for what the "monster" was. Eels are found in Loch Ness, and an unusually large one would explain many sightings. Dinsdale dismissed the hypothesis because eels undulate side to side like snakes. Sightings in 1856 of a "sea-serpent" (or kelpie) in a freshwater lake near Leurbost in the Outer Hebrides were explained as those of an oversized eel, also believed common in "Highland lakes". From 2018 to 2019, scientists from New Zealand undertook a massive project to document every organism in Loch Ness based on DNA samples. Their reports confirmed that European eels are still found in the Loch. No DNA samples were found for large animals such as catfish, Greenland sharks, or plesiosaurs. Many scientists now believe that giant eels account for many, if not most of the sightings. Elephant In a 1979 article, California biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson claimed that the "surgeon's photograph" was the top of the head, extended trunk and flared nostrils of a swimming elephant photographed elsewhere and claimed to be from Loch Ness. In 2006, palaeontologist and artist Neil Clark suggested that travelling circuses might have allowed elephants to bathe in the loch; the trunk could be the perceived head and neck, with the head and back the perceived humps. In support of this, Clark provided an example painting. Greenland shark Zoologist, angler and television presenter Jeremy Wade investigated the creature in 2013 as part of the series River Monsters, and concluded that it is a Greenland shark. The Greenland shark, which can reach up to 20 feet in length, inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean around Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and possibly Scotland. It is dark in colour, with a small dorsal fin. According to biologist Bruce Wright, the Greenland shark could survive in fresh water (possibly using rivers and lakes to find food) and Loch Ness has an abundance of salmon and other fish. Wels catfish In July 2015 three news outlets reported that Steve Feltham, after a vigil at the loch that was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, theorised that the monster is an unusually large specimen of Wels catfish (Silurus glanis), which may have been released during the late 19th century. Other resident animals It is difficult to judge the size of an object in water through a telescope or binoculars with no external reference. Loch Ness has resident otters, and photos of them and deer swimming in the loch, which were cited by author Ronald Binns may have been misinterpreted. According to Binns, birds may be mistaken for a "head and neck" sighting. Misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects Trees In 1933, the Daily Mirror published a picture with the caption: "This queerly-shaped tree-trunk, washed ashore at Foyers [on Loch Ness] may, it is thought, be responsible for the reported appearance of a 'Monster. In a 1982 series of articles for New Scientist, Maurice Burton proposed that sightings of Nessie and similar creatures may be fermenting Scots pine logs rising to the surface of the loch. A decomposing log could not initially release gases caused by decay because of its high resin level. Gas pressure would eventually rupture a resin seal at one end of the log, propelling it through the water (sometimes to the surface). According to Burton, the shape of tree logs (with their branch stumps) closely resembles descriptions of the monster. Seiches and wakes Loch Ness, because of its long, straight shape, is subject to unusual ripples affecting its surface. A seiche is a large oscillation of a lake, caused by water reverting to its natural level after being blown to one end of the lake (resulting in a standing wave); the Loch Ness oscillation period is 31.5 minutes. Optical effects Wind conditions can give a choppy, matte appearance to the water with calm patches appearing dark from the shore (reflecting the mountains). In 1979 W. H. Lehn showed that atmospheric refraction could distort the shape and size of objects and animals, and later published a photograph of a mirage of a rock on Lake Winnipeg that resembled a head and neck. Seismic gas Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi has proposed geological explanations for ancient legends and myths. Piccardi noted that in the earliest recorded sighting of a creature (the Life of Saint Columba), the creature's emergence was accompanied "cum ingenti fremitu" ("with loud roaring"). The Loch Ness is along the Great Glen Fault, and this could be a description of an earthquake. Many reports consist only of a large disturbance on the surface of the water; this could be a release of gas through the fault, although it may be mistaken for something swimming below the surface. Folklore In 1980 Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren wrote that present beliefs in lake monsters such as the Loch Ness Monster are associated with kelpie legends. According to Sjögren, accounts of loch monsters have changed over time; originally describing horse-like creatures, they were intended to keep children away from the loch. Sjögren wrote that the kelpie legends have developed into descriptions reflecting a modern awareness of plesiosaurs. The kelpie as a water horse in Loch Ness was mentioned in an 1879 Scottish newspaper, and inspired Tim Dinsdale's Project Water Horse. A study of pre-1933 Highland folklore references to kelpies, water horses and water bulls indicated that Ness was the loch most frequently cited. Hoaxes A number of hoax attempts have been made, some of which were successful. Other hoaxes were revealed rather quickly by the perpetrators or exposed after diligent research. A few examples follow. In August 1933, Italian journalist Francesco Gasparini submitted what he said was the first news article on the Loch Ness Monster. In 1959, he reported sighting a "strange fish" and fabricated eyewitness accounts: "I had the inspiration to get hold of the item about the strange fish. The idea of the monster had never dawned on me, but then I noted that the strange fish would not yield a long article, and I decided to promote the imaginary being to the rank of monster without further ado." In the 1930s, big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell went to Loch Ness to look for the monster. Wetherell claimed to have found footprints, but when casts of the footprints were sent to scientists for analysis they turned out to be from a hippopotamus; a prankster had used a hippopotamus-foot umbrella stand. In 1972 a team of zoologists from Yorkshire's Flamingo Park Zoo, searching for the monster, discovered a large body floating in the water. The corpse, long and weighing as much as 1.5 tonnes, was described by the Press Association as having "a bear's head and a brown scaly body with clawlike fins." The creature was placed in a van to be carried away for testing, but police seized the cadaver under an act of parliament prohibiting the removal of "unidentified creatures" from Loch Ness. It was later revealed that Flamingo Park education officer John Shields shaved the whiskers and otherwise disfigured a bull elephant seal that had died the week before and dumped it in Loch Ness to dupe his colleagues. On 2 July 2003, Gerald McSorely discovered a fossil, supposedly from the creature, when he tripped and fell into the loch. After examination, it was clear that the fossil had been planted. In 2004 a Five TV documentary team, using cinematic special-effects experts, tried to convince people that there was something in the loch. They constructed an animatronic model of a plesiosaur, calling it "Lucy". Despite setbacks (including Lucy falling to the bottom of the loch), about 600 sightings were reported where she was placed. In 2005, two students claimed to have found a large tooth embedded in the body of a deer on the loch shore. They publicised the find, setting up a website, but expert analysis soon revealed that the "tooth" was the antler of a muntjac. The tooth was a publicity stunt to promote a horror novel by Steve Alten, The Loch. Exotic large-animal species Plesiosaur In 1933 it was suggested that the creature "bears a striking resemblance to the supposedly extinct plesiosaur", a long-necked aquatic reptile that became extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. A popular explanation at the time, the following arguments have been made against it: In an October 2006 New Scientist article, "Why the Loch Ness Monster is no plesiosaur", Leslie Noè of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge said: "The osteology of the neck makes it absolutely certain that the plesiosaur could not lift its head up swan-like out of the water". The loch is only about 10,000
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swimming in the river when he was attacked by a "water beast" that mauled him and dragged him underwater despite their attempts to rescue him by boat. Columba sent a follower, Luigne moccu Min, to swim across the river. The beast approached him, but Columba made the sign of the cross and said: "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once." The creature stopped as if it had been "pulled back with ropes" and fled, and Columba's men and the Picts gave thanks for what they perceived as a miracle. Believers in the monster point to this story, set in the River Ness rather than the loch itself, as evidence for the creature's existence as early as the sixth century. Skeptics question the narrative's reliability, noting that water-beast stories were extremely common in medieval hagiographies, and Adomnán's tale probably recycles a common motif attached to a local landmark. According to skeptics, Adomnán's story may be independent of the modern Loch Ness Monster legend and became attached to it by believers seeking to bolster their claims. Ronald Binns considers that this is the most serious of various alleged early sightings of the monster, but all other claimed sightings before 1933 are dubious and do not prove a monster tradition before that date. Christopher Cairney uses a specific historical and cultural analysis of Adomnán to separate Adomnán's story about St. Columba from the modern myth of the Loch Ness Monster, but finds an earlier and culturally significant use of Celtic "water beast" folklore along the way. In doing so he also discredits any strong connection between kelpies or water-horses and the modern "media-augmented" creation of the Loch Ness Monster. He also concludes that the story of Saint Columba may have been impacted by earlier Irish myths about the Caoránach and an Oilliphéist. D. Mackenzie (1871 or 1872) In October 1871 (or 1872), D. Mackenzie of Balnain reportedly saw an object resembling a log or an upturned boat "wriggling and churning up the water," moving slowly at first before disappearing at a faster speed. The account was not published until 1934, when Mackenzie sent his story in a letter to Rupert Gould shortly after popular interest in the monster increased. Alexander Macdonald (1888) In 1888, mason Alexander Macdonald of Abriachan sighted "a large stubby-legged animal" surfacing from the loch and propelling itself within fifty yards of the shore where Macdonald stood. Macdonald reported his sighting to Loch Ness water bailiff Alex Campbell, and described the creature as looking like a salamander. Aldie Mackay (1933) The best-known article that first attracted a great deal of attention about a creature was published on 2 May 1933 in Inverness Courier, about a large "beast" or "whale-like fish". The article by Alex Campbell, water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist, discussed a sighting by Aldie Mackay of an enormous creature with the body of a whale rolling in the water in the loch while she and her husband John were driving on the A82 on 15 April 1933. The word "monster" was reportedly applied for the first time in Campbell's article, although some reports claim that it was coined by editor Evan Barron. The Courier in 2017 published excerpts from the Campbell article, which had been titled "Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness". "The creature disported itself, rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling that of a whale, and the water cascading and churning like a simmering cauldron. Soon, however, it disappeared in a boiling mass of foam. Both onlookers confessed that there was something uncanny about the whole thing, for they realised that here was no ordinary denizen of the depths, because, apart from its enormous size, the beast, in taking the final plunge, sent out waves that were big enough to have been caused by a passing steamer." According to a 2013 article, Mackay said that she had yelled, "Stop! The Beast!" when viewing the spectacle. In the late 1980s, a naturalist interviewed Aldie Mackay and she admitted to knowing that there had been an oral tradition of a "beast" in the loch well before her claimed sighting. Alex Campbell's 1933 article also stated that "Loch Ness has for generations been credited with being the home of a fearsome-looking monster". George Spicer (1933) Modern interest in the monster was sparked by a sighting on 22 July 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw "a most extraordinary form of animal" cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about high and long) and a long, wavy, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the width of the road. They saw no limbs. It lurched across the road toward the loch away, leaving a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake. Spicer described it as "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life," and as having "a long neck, which moved up and down in the manner of a scenic railway." It had "an animal" in its mouth and had a body that "was fairly big, with a high back, but if there were any feet they must have been of the web kind, and as for a tail I cannot say, as it moved so rapidly, and when we got to the spot it had probably disappeared into the loch." On 4 August 1933 the Courier published a report of Spicer's sighting. This sighting triggered a massive amount of public interest and an uptick in alleged sightings, leading to the solidification of the actual name "Loch Ness Monster." It has been claimed that sightings of the monster increased after a road was built along the loch in early 1933, bringing workers and tourists to the formerly isolated area. However, Binns has described this as "the myth of the lonely loch", as it was far from isolated before then, due to the construction of the Caledonian Canal. In the 1930s, the existing road by the side of the loch was given a serious upgrade. Hugh Gray (1933) Hugh Gray's photograph taken near Foyers on 12 November 1933 was the first photograph alleged to depict the monster. It was slightly blurred, and it has been noted that if one looks closely the head of a dog can be seen. Gray had taken his Labrador for a walk that day and it is suspected that the photograph depicts his dog fetching a stick from the loch. Others have suggested that the photograph depicts an otter or a swan. The original negative was lost. However, in 1963, Maurice Burton came into "possession of two lantern slides, contact positives from th[e] original negative" and when projected onto a screen they revealed an "otter rolling at the surface in characteristic fashion." Arthur Grant (1934) On 5 January 1934 a motorcyclist, Arthur Grant, claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan (near the north-eastern end of the loch) at about 1 a.m. on a moonlit night. According to Grant, it had a small head attached to a long neck; the creature saw him, and crossed the road back to the loch. Grant, a veterinary student, described it as a cross between a seal and a plesiosaur. He said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but saw only ripples. Grant produced a sketch of the creature that was examined by zoologist Maurice Burton, who stated it was consistent with the appearance and behavior of an otter. Regarding the long size of the creature reported by Grant; it has been suggested that this was a faulty observation due to the poor light conditions. Paleontologist Darren Naish has suggested that Grant may have seen either an otter or a seal and exaggerated his sighting over time. "Surgeon's photograph" (1934) The "surgeon's photograph" is reportedly the first photo of the creature's head and neck. Supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934. Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with it led to it being known as the "surgeon's photograph". According to Wilson, he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, grabbed his camera and snapped four photos. Only two exposures came out clearly; the first reportedly shows a small head and back, and the second shows a similar head in a diving position. The first photo became well known, and the second attracted little publicity because of its blurriness. For 60 years the photo was considered evidence of the monster's existence, although skeptics dismissed it as driftwood, an elephant, an otter or a bird. The photo's scale was controversial; it is often shown cropped (making the creature seem large and the ripples like waves), while the uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre. The ripples in the photo were found to fit the size and pattern of small ripples, rather than large waves photographed up close. Analysis of the original image fostered further doubt. In 1993, the makers of the Discovery Communications documentary Loch Ness Discovered analyzed the uncropped image and found a white object visible in every version of the photo (implying that it was on the negative). It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, although the possibility of a blemish on the negative could not be ruled out. An analysis of the full photograph indicated that the object was small, about long. Since 1994, most agree that the photo was an elaborate hoax. It had been described as fake in a 7 December 1975 Sunday Telegraph article that fell into obscurity. Details of how the photo was taken were published in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed, which contains a facsimile of the 1975 Sunday Telegraph article. The creature was reportedly a toy submarine built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Wetherell had been publicly ridiculed by his employer, the Daily Mail, after he found "Nessie footprints" that turned out to be a hoax. To get revenge on the Mail, Wetherell perpetrated his hoax with co-conspirators Spurling (sculpture specialist), Ian Wetherell (his son, who bought the material for the fake), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent). The toy submarine was bought from F. W. Woolworths, and its head and neck were made from wood putty. After testing it in a local pond the group went to Loch Ness, where Ian Wetherell took the photos near the Altsaigh Tea House. When they heard a water bailiff approaching, Duke Wetherell sank the model with his foot and it is "presumably still somewhere in Loch Ness". Chambers gave the photographic plates to Wilson, a friend of his who enjoyed "a good practical joke". Wilson brought the plates to Ogston's, an Inverness chemist, and gave them to George Morrison for development. He sold the first photo to the Daily Mail, who then announced that the monster had been photographed. Little is known of the second photo; it is often ignored by researchers, who believe its quality too poor and its differences from the first photo too great to warrant analysis. It shows a head similar to the first photo, with a more turbulent wave pattern and possibly taken at a different time and location in the loch. Some believe it to be an earlier, cruder attempt at a hoax, and others (including Roy Mackal and Maurice Burton) consider it a picture of a diving bird or otter that Wilson mistook for the monster. According to Morrison, when the plates were developed Wilson was uninterested in the second photo; he allowed Morrison to keep the negative, and the photo was rediscovered years later. When asked about the second photo by the Ness Information Service Newsletter, Spurling " ... was vague, thought it might have been a piece of wood they were trying out as a monster, but [was] not sure." Taylor film (1938) On 29 May 1938, South African tourist G. E. Taylor filmed something in the loch for three minutes on 16 mm
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the physics of laser beam propagation, particularly the physics of Gaussian beams, with laser applications, and with associated fields such as nonlinear optics and quantum optics. History Laser science predates the invention of the laser itself. Albert Einstein created the foundations for the laser and maser in 1917, via a paper in which he re-derived Max Planck’s law of radiation using a formalism based on probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The existence of stimulated emission was confirmed in 1928 by Rudolf W. Ladenburg. In 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant made the earliest laser proposal. He specified the conditions required for light amplification using stimulated emission. In 1947, Willis E. Lamb and
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laser itself. Albert Einstein created the foundations for the laser and maser in 1917, via a paper in which he re-derived Max Planck’s law of radiation using a formalism based on probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The existence of stimulated emission was confirmed in 1928 by Rudolf W. Ladenburg. In 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant made the earliest laser proposal. He specified the conditions required for light amplification using stimulated emission. In 1947, Willis E. Lamb and R. C. Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effected the first demonstration of stimulated emission; in 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobel Prize for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping, experimentally confirmed, two years later, by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter. The theoretical principles describing the operation of a microwave
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Cathedral of St Mary. Also prominent is the Catholic Church of St Hugh's. Among many others are two Baptist churches. There are currently two Jewish communities. A purpose-built mosque and cultural centre opened in Lincoln in 2015, becoming the first Islamic centre in the city. Geography and environment Lincoln lies north of London, at an altitude of by the River Witham up to on Castle Hill. It fills a gap in the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, which runs north and south through central Lincolnshire, with altitudes up to . The city is 76 miles (123 km) north-east of Birmingham, 32 miles (51 km) north-east of Nottingham, 47 miles (76 km) north of Peterborough and 40 miles (64 km) east south-east of Sheffield. Uphill and downhill The city lies on the River Witham, which flows through this gap. Lincoln is thus divided informally into two zones, known unofficially as uphill and downhill. The uphill area comprises the northern part of the city, on top of the Lincoln Cliff (to the north of the gap). This includes the historical quarter, including Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace, known locally as The Bail (though described in tourist literature as the Cathedral Quarter). It also has residential suburbs to the north and north-east. The downhill area comprises the city centre and suburbs to the south and south-west. Steep Hill is a narrow, pedestrian street directly connecting the two. It passes through an archway known as the Stonebow. This divide, peculiar to Lincoln, was once an important class distinction, with uphill more affluent and downhill less so. The distinction dates from the time of the Norman conquest, when the religious and military elite occupied the hilltop. The expansion of suburbs in both parts of the city since the mid-19th century has diluted the distinction. Ecology The mute swan is an iconic species for Lincoln. Many pairs nest each year beside the Brayford, and they feature on the university's heraldic emblem. Other bird life within the city includes peregrine falcon, tawny owl and common kingfisher. Mammals on the city edges include red fox, roe deer and least weasel. European perch, northern pike and bream are among fishes seen in the Witham and Brayford. Nature reserves around the city include Greetwell Hollow SSSI, Swanholme SSSI, Whisby Nature Park, Boultham Mere and Hartsholme Country Park. Since 2016, little egrets have nested in the Birchwood area and otters appeared in the River Witham. Both are native to Britain and repopulating the area after near extermination. Several invasive species of plants and animals have reached Lincoln. Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam are Asian plant species around the River Witham. Galinsoga and Amsinckia are American species found among city weeds, also American mink which are occasionally seen on the Witham. Built-up area The Lincoln built-up area extends outside of the city boundaries and includes the town of North Hykeham and the village of Waddington. It had a population of 115,000 according to the 2011 census. Climate Lincoln has a typical East Midland maritime climate of cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is at RAF Waddington, to the south. Temperature extremes since 1948 have ranged between on 25 July 2019, and in February 1956. A former weather station holds the record for the lowest daytime maximum temperature recorded in England in the month of December: on 17 December 1981. The coldest recent temperature was in December 2010, although another weather station at Scampton, a similar distance north of the city centre, fell to , so equalling Waddington's record low set in 1956. Transport Rail Closure of Lincoln St Marks in 1985 left the city with Lincoln Central, soon renamed plain Lincoln, as its one station. Destinations for East Midlands Railway and Northern Trains services from its five platforms include Newark, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Grimsby and Peterborough. London North Eastern Railway runs services to London King's Cross, calling at Newark, Peterborough and Stevenage. Road The city lies on the A57, A46, A15 and A158 roads. These bring high levels of through traffic and as a result the city has had many bypasses built. In the North West is the £19-million A46 bypass opened in December 1985. On 19 December 2020 the £122-million A15 Eastern bypass was completed. A southern bypass formally known as North Hykeham relief road is due to start construction in 2025 and will be the final section of a complete ring road around the city. Until the 1980s, the only two trunk roads through Lincoln were the A46 and A15, both feeding traffic along the High Street. At the intersection of Guildhall Street and the High Street, these met at the termination of the A57. North of the city centre, the former A15, Riseholme Road, is the B1226, and the old A46, Nettleham Road, the B1182. The early northern inner ring-road, formed of Yarborough Road and Yarborough Crescent, is numbered B1273. Air East Midlands Airport, 43 miles from Lincoln, is the main international airport serving the county. It mainly handles European flights with low-cost airlines. Humberside Airport, 29 miles north of Lincoln, is the only airport located in the county. It has a small number of flights mainly to hub airports such as Amsterdam. Doncaster Sheffield Airport also serves Lincoln. It mainly caters to low-cost airlines and lies just outside the East Midlands Region in South Yorkshire. Education Higher education The older of Lincoln's two higher education institutions, Bishop Grosseteste University, was started as a teacher training college linked to the Anglican Church in 1862. During the 1990s it branched out into other subject areas with a focus on the arts and drama. It became a university college in 2006 with degree powers taken over from the University of Leicester. It gained university status in 2012. An annual graduation celebration takes place in Lincoln Cathedral.} The larger University of Lincoln started as the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in 1996, when the University of Humberside opened a Lincoln campus next to Brayford Pool. Lincoln School of Art and Design (which was Lincolnshire's main outlet for higher education) and Riseholme Agricultural College, previously been part of De Montfort University in Leicester, were absorbed into the University of Lincoln in 2001, and subsequently the Lincoln campus took priority over the Hull campus. The name changed to the University of Lincoln in September 2002. In the 2005–2006 academic year, 8,292 full-time undergraduates were studying there. This rose to 11,900. Further education Further education in Lincoln is provided by Lincoln College, Lincolnshire's largest education institution with 18,500 students, 2,300 of them full-time. There is a specialist creative college, Access Creative, offering courses in music, media and games design to some 180 students, all full-time. Schools The school system in Lincoln is anomalous within Lincolnshire despite being part of the same local education authority (LEA), as most of the county retained the grammar-school system. In 1952, William Farr School was founded in Welton, a nearby village. Lincoln itself had four single-sex grammar schools until September 1974. The Priory Academy LSST converted to academy status in 2008, in turn establishing The Priory Federation of Academies. The Priory Witham Academy was formed when the federation absorbed Moorlands Infant School, Usher Junior School and Ancaster High School. The Priory City of Lincoln Academy was formed when the City of Lincoln Community College merged into the federation. Both schools were rebuilt after substantial investment by the federation. Cherry Willingham School joined the federation in 2017, becoming The Priory Pembroke Academy. The Lincolnshire LEA was ranked 32nd in the country based on its proportion of pupils attaining at least 5 A–C grades at GCSE including maths and English (62.2% compared with a national average of 58.2%). There are four special-needs schools in Lincoln: Fortuna Primary School (5–11 year olds), Sincil Sports College (11–16), St Christopher's School (3–16) and St Francis Community Special School (2–18). Media The local newspaper, the Lincolnshire Echo, was founded in 1894. Local radio stations are BBC Lincolnshire on 94.9 FM, its commercial rival Lincs FM on 102.2FM and Lincoln City Radio on 103.6 FM a community radio station catering mainly for listeners over 50 . The Lincolnite is an online mobile publication covering the greater-Lincoln area. Local listeners can also receive Siren FM, on 107.3 FM from the University of Lincoln. The student publication The Linc is available online and in print and targets the University of Lincoln's student population. BBC Look North has a bureau in Lincoln as part of its coverage of Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. The three TV reporters based in Lincoln serve both BBC Look North
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frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby Jew's House likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called "The Libel of Lincoln" in which prominent Lincoln Jews, accused of ritual murder of a Christian boy (Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London and 18 executed. The Jews were all expelled in 1290. Thirteenth-century Lincoln was England's third largest city and a favourite of more than one king. In the First Barons' War it was caught in the strife between the king and rebel barons allied with the French. Here and at Dover the French and Rebel army was defeated. Thereafter the town was pillaged for having sided with Prince Louis. In the Second Barons' War, of 1266, the disinherited rebels attacked the Jews of Lincoln, ransacked the synagogue and burned the records that registered debts. Some historians have the city's fortunes declining from the 14th century, but others argue that it remained buoyant in trade and communications well into the 15th. In 1409, the city became a county in its own right: the County of the City of Lincoln. Additional rights were then conferred by successive monarchs, including those of an assay town (controlling metal manufacturing, for example). The oldest surviving secular drama in English, The Interlude of the Student and the Girl (c. 1300), may have originated from Lincoln. Lincoln's coat of arms, not officially endorsed by the College of Arms, is believed to date from the 14th century. It is Argent on a cross gules a fleur-de-lis or. The cross is believed to derive from the Diocese. The fleur-de-lis symbolises the cathedral dedication to the Virgin Mary. The motto is CIVITAS LINCOLNIA ("City of Lincoln"). 16th century The Dissolution of the Monasteries cut Lincoln's main source of diocesan income and dried up the network of patronage controlled by the bishop. Seven monasteries closed in the city alone, as did several nearby abbeys, which further diminished the region's political power. A symbol of Lincoln's economic and political decline came in 1549, when the cathedral's great spire rotted and collapsed and was not replaced. However, the comparative poverty of post-medieval Lincoln preserved pre-medieval structures that would probably have been lost under more prosperous conditions. Civil War Between 1642 and 1651 in the English Civil War, Lincoln was on a frontier between the Royalist and Parliamentary forces and changed hands several times. Many buildings were badly damaged. Lincoln now had no major industry and no easy access to the sea. It suffered as the rest of the country was beginning to prosper in the early 18th century, travellers often commenting on what had essentially become a one-street town. Georgian age By the Georgian era, Lincoln's fortunes began to pick up, thanks in part to the Agricultural Revolution. Reopening of the Foss Dyke canal eased imports of coal and other raw materials vital to industry. Along with the economic growth of Lincoln in this period, the city boundaries were spread to include the West Common. To this day, an annual Beat the Boundaries walk takes place along its perimeter. Industrial Revolution Coupled with the arrival of railway links, Lincoln boomed again during the Industrial Revolution, and several famous companies arose, such as Ruston's, Clayton's, Proctor's and William Foster's. Lincoln began to excel in heavy engineering, by building locomotives, steam shovels and all manner of heavy machinery. A permanent military presence came with 1857 completion of the "Old Barracks" (now held by the Museum of Lincolnshire Life). They were replaced by the "New Barracks" (now Sobraon Barracks) in 1890, when Lincoln Drill Hall in Broadgate also opened. 20th century Lincoln was hit by typhoid in November 1904 – August 1905 caused by polluted drinking water from Hartsholme Lake and the River Witham. Over 1,000 people contracted the disease and fatalities totalled 113, including the man responsible for the city's water supply, Liam Kirk of Baker Crescent. Near the beginning of the epidemic, Dr Alexander Cruickshank Houston installed a chlorine disinfection system just ahead of the poorly operating, slow sand filter, to kill the fatal bacteria. Chlorination of the water continued until 1911, when a new supply was implemented. Lincoln's chlorination episode was an early use of chlorine to disinfect a water supply. Westgate Water Tower was built to provide new supplies. In the two world wars, Lincoln switched to war production. The first ever tanks were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co. in the First World War and population growth provided more workers for greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land now covered by Tritton Road in the south-west suburbs. In the Second World War, Lincoln produced an array of war goods: tanks, aircraft, munitions and military vehicles. Ruston & Hornsby produced diesel engines for ships and locomotives, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle and Power Jets Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first production line for gas turbine engines for land-based and sea-based energy production. Its success made it the city's largest single employer, providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities, making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. It was subsumed by English Electric in November 1966, which was then bought by GEC in 1968, with diesel engine production being transferred to the Ruston Diesels Division in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, at the former Vulcan Foundry. Pelham Works merged with Alstom of France in the late 1980s and was then bought in 2003 by Siemens of Germany as Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery. This includes what is left of Napier Turbochargers. Plans came early in 2008 for a new plant outside the city at Teal Park, North Hykeham. Still, Siemens made large redundancies and moved jobs to Sweden and the Netherlands. The factory now employs 1300. R & H's former Beevor Foundry is now owned by Hoval Group, making industrial boilers (wood chip). The Aerospace Manufacturing Facility (AMF) in Firth Road passed from Alstom Aerospace Ltd to ITP Engines UK in January 2009. Lincoln's second largest private employer is James Dawson and Son, a belting and hose maker founded in the late 19th century. Its two sites are in Tritton Road. The main one, next to the University of Lincoln, used Lincoln's last coal-fired boiler until it was replaced by gas in July 2018. New suburbs appeared after 1945, but heavy industry declined towards the end of the 20th century. Much development, notably around the Brayford area, has followed the construction of the University of Lincoln's Brayford Campus, which opened in 1996. In 2012, Bishop Grosseteste teaching college was also awarded university status. Economy Lincoln's economy is based mainly on public administration, commerce, arable farming and tourism, with industrial relics like Ruston (now Siemens) remaining, although many of Lincoln's industrial giants have ceased production, leaving empty industrial warehouse-like buildings. More recently these have become multi-occupied units, with the likes of Lincs FM radio station (in the Titanic Works) and LA Fitness gym taking space. The main employment sectors are public administration, education and health, with 34 per cent of the workforce. Distribution, restaurants and hotels account for 25 per cent. Like many other cities, Lincoln has a growing IT economy, with many e-commerce mail order companies, along with a plethora of other, more conventional small industrial businesses. One reason behind the University of Lincoln was to increase inward investment and act as a springboard for small firms. Its presence has also drawn more licensed premises to the town centre around the Brayford Pool. A small business unit next door to a university accommodation building, the Think Tank, opened in June 2009. Extra motorway services are based on Castle Hill; most new UK service areas are built by Swayfields, its parent company. Of the two main electronics firms, Chelmsford-based e2V (Associated Electrical Industries before 1961) is situated between Carholme Road (A57) and the Foss Dyke, next-door to Carholme Golf Club; and Dynex Semiconductor (formerly Marconi Electronic Devices) in Doddington Road (B1190) near the A46 bypass and North Hykeham. Bifrangi, an Italian maker of crankshafts for off-road vehicles using a screw press, is based at the former Tower Works owned by Smith-Clayton Forge Ltd. Lincoln is the hub for settlements such as Welton, Saxilby, Skellingthorpe and Washingborough, which look to it for most services and employment needs. Added they raise the population to 165,000. Lincoln is the main centre for jobs and facilities in Central Lincolnshire and performs a regional role over much of Lincolnshire and parts of Nottinghamshire. According to a document entitled "Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Core Strategy", Lincoln has a "travel-to-work" area with a population of about 300,000. Its two universities, gained since 1994, contribute to its growth in the services sector. Blocks of flats, restaurants and entertainment venues have appeared. Entertainment venues linked to the universities include The Engine Shed and The Venue Cinema. In 2021, Lincoln joined the UK's Key Cities network. Retail parks Around the Tritton Road (B1003) trading estate, new businesses have begun trading from large units with car parking. Lincoln has a choice of seven large national supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl). St Mark's Square complex had a Debenhams as its flagship store until 2021. The accompanying trading estate still has well-known chain stores. Tourism The city is a tourist centre for visitors to historic buildings that include the cathedral, the castle and the medieval Bishop's Palace. The Collection, of which the Usher Gallery is now part, is an important attraction, partly in a purpose-built venue. It currently contains over 2,000,000 objects, and was one of the four finalists for the 2006 Gulbenkian Prize. Any material from official archaeological excavations in Lincolnshire is eventually deposited there. Other attractions include the Museum of Lincolnshire Life and the International Bomber Command Centre. Tranquil destinations close by are Whisby Nature Reserve and Hartsholme Country Park (including the Swanholme Lakes SSSI), while noisier entertainment can be found at Waddington airfield, Scampton airfield (base of the RAF's Red Arrows jet aerobatic team), the County Showground or the Cadwell Park motor racing circuit near Louth. Early each December the Bailgate area holds a Christmas Market in and around the Castle grounds, shaped by the traditional German-style Christmas markets, including that of Lincoln's twin town Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. In 2010, for the first time, the event was cancelled due to "atrocious" snowfalls across most of the United Kingdom. It succumbed again in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Places of worship The most notable of the many churches and chapels in the city region is the Anglican Cathedral of St Mary. Also prominent is the Catholic Church of St Hugh's. Among many others are two Baptist churches. There are currently two Jewish communities. A purpose-built mosque and cultural centre opened in Lincoln in 2015, becoming the first Islamic centre in the city. Geography and environment Lincoln lies north of London, at an altitude of by the River Witham
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same idea, initiated specifically by OKL for the Heinkel He 177, approved in early November 1937. In the case of the Ju 88, 50,000 modifications had to be made. The weight was increased from seven to twelve tons. This resulted in a speed loss of 200 km/h. Udet merely conveyed OKL's own dive-bombing capability request to Ernst Heinkel concerning the He 177, who vehemently opposed such an idea, which ruined its development as a heavy bomber. Göring was not able to rescind the dive-bombing requirement for the He 177A until September 1942. Mobilization, 1938–1941 By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had ready for combat nine Jagdgeschwader (fighter wings) mostly equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E, four '''Zerstörergeschwader (destroyer wings) equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, 11 Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) equipped mainly with the Heinkel He 111 and the Dornier Do 17Z, and four Sturzkampfgeschwader (dive bomber wing") primarily armed with the iconic Junkers Ju 87B Stuka. The Luftwaffe was just starting to accept the Junkers Ju 88A for service, as it had encountered design difficulties, with only a dozen aircraft of the type considered combat-ready. The Luftwaffes strength at this time stood at 373,000 personnel (208,000 flying troops, 107,000 in the Flak Corps and 58,000 in the Signals Corps). Aircraft strength was 4,201 operational aircraft: 1,191 bombers, 361 dive bombers, 788 fighters, 431 heavy fighters, and 488 transports. Despite deficiencies, it was an impressive force. However, even by the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe still had not mobilized fully. Despite the shortage of raw materials, Generalluftzeugmeister Ernst Udet had increased production through introducing a 10-hour working day for aviation industries and rationalizing production. During this period 30 Kampfstaffeln and 16 Jagdstaffeln were raised and equipped. A further five Zerstörergruppen ("Destroyer groups") were created (JGr 101, 102,126,152 and 176), all equipped with the Bf 110. The Luftwaffe also greatly expanded its aircrew training programs by 42%, to 63 flying schools. These facilities were moved to eastern Germany, away from possible Allied threats. The number of aircrew reached 4,727, an increase of 31%. However, the rush to complete this rapid expansion scheme resulted in the deaths of 997 personnel and another 700 wounded. 946 aircraft were also destroyed in these accidents. The number of aircrew completing their training was up to 3,941, The Luftwaffes entire strength was now 2.2 million personnel. In April and May 1941, Udet headed the Luftwaffe delegation inspecting the Soviet aviation industry in compliance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Udet informed Göring "that Soviet air forces are very strong and technically advanced." Göring decided not to report the facts to Hitler, hoping that a surprise attack would quickly destroy the USSR. Udet realized that the upcoming war on Russia might cripple Germany. Udet, torn between truth and loyalty, suffered a psychological breakdown and even tried to tell Hitler the truth, but Göring told Hitler that Udet was lying, then took Udet under control by giving him drugs at drinking parties and hunting trips. Udet's drinking and psychological condition became a problem, but Göring used Udet's dependency to manipulate him. Luftwaffe organization Luftwaffe commanders Throughout the history of Nazi Germany, the Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief. The first was Hermann Göring, with the second and last being Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim. His appointment as commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe was concomitant with his promotion to Generalfeldmarschall, the last German officer in World War II to be promoted to the highest rank. Other officers promoted to the second highest military rank in Germany were Albert Kesselring, Hugo Sperrle, Erhard Milch, and Wolfram von Richthofen. At the end of the war, with Berlin surrounded by the Red Army, Göring suggested to Hitler that he take over leadership of the Reich. Hitler ordered his arrest and execution, but Göring's SS guards did not carry out the order, and Göring survived to be tried at Nuremberg. Sperrle was prosecuted at the OKW Trial, one of the last twelve of the Nuremberg Trials after the war. He was acquitted on all four counts. He died in Munich in 1953. Organization and chain of command At the start of the war the Luftwaffe had four Luftflotten (air fleets), each responsible for roughly a quarter of Germany. As the war progressed more air fleets were created as the areas under German rule expanded. As one example, Luftflotte 5 was created in 1940 to direct operations in Norway and Denmark, and other Luftflotten were created as necessary. Each Luftflotte would contain several Fliegerkorps (Air Corps), Fliegerdivision (Air Division), Jagdkorps (Fighter Corps),Jagddivision (Air Division) or Jagdfliegerführer (Fighter Air Command). Each formations would have attached to it a number of units, usually several Geschwader, but also independent Staffeln and Kampfgruppen. Luftflotten were also responsible for the training aircraft and schools in their operational areas. A Geschwader was commanded by a Geschwaderkommodore, with the rank of either major, Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) or Oberst (colonel). Other "staff" officers within the unit with administrative duties included the adjutant, technical officer, and operations officer, who were usually (though not always) experienced aircrew or pilots still flying on operations. Other specialist staff were navigation, signals, and intelligence personnel. A Stabschwarm (headquarters flight) was attached to each Geschwader. A Jagdgeschwader (hunting wing) (JG) was a single-seat day fighter Geschwader, typically equipped with Bf 109 or Fw 190 aircraft flying in the fighter or fighter-bomber roles. Late in the war, by 1944–45, JG 7 and JG 400 (and the jet specialist JV 44) flew much more advanced aircraft, with JG 1 working up with jets at war's end. A Geschwader consisted of groups (Gruppen), which in turn consisted of Jagdstaffel (fighter squadrons). Hence, Fighter Wing 1 was JG 1, its first Gruppe (group) was I./JG 1, using a Roman numeral for the Gruppe number only, and its first Staffel (squadron) was 1./JG 1. Geschwader strength was usually 120 – 125 aircraft. Each Gruppe was commanded by a Kommandeur, and a Staffel by a Staffelkapitän. However, these were "appointments", not ranks, within the Luftwaffe. Usually, the Kommodore would hold the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) or, exceptionally, an Oberst (colonel). Even a Leutnant (second lieutenant) could find himself commanding a Staffel. Similarly, a bomber wing was a Kampfgeschwader (KG), a night fighter wing was a Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG), a dive bomber wing was a Stukageschwader (StG), and units equivalent to those in RAF Coastal Command, with specific responsibilities for coastal patrols and search and rescue duties, were Küstenfliegergruppen (Kü.Fl. Gr.). Specialist bomber groups were known as Kampfgruppen (KGr). The strength of a bomber Geschwader was about 80–90 aircraft. Personnel The peacetime strength of the Luftwaffe in the spring of 1939 was 370,000 men. After the mobilization in 1939 almost 900,000 men served, and just before Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the personnel strength had reached 1.5 million men. The Luftwaffe reached its largest personnel strength during the period November 1943 to June 1944, with almost three million men and women in uniform; 1.7 million of these were male soldiers, 1 million male Wehrmachtsbeamte and civilian employees, and almost 300,000 female and male auxiliaries (Luftwaffenhelfer). In October 1944, the anti-aircraft units had 600,000 soldiers and 530,000 auxiliaries, including 60,000 male members of the Reichsarbeitsdienst, 50,000 Luftwaffenhelfer (males age 15–17), 80,000 Flakwehrmänner (males above military age) and Flak-V-soldaten (males unfit for military service), and 160,000 female Flakwaffenhelferinnen and RAD-Maiden, as well as 160,000 foreign personnel (Hiwis). Spanish Civil War The Luftwaffes Condor Legion experimented with new doctrine and aircraft during the Spanish Civil War. It helped the Falange under Francisco Franco to defeat the Republican forces. Over 20,000 German airmen gained combat experience that would give the Luftwaffe an important advantage going into the Second World War. One infamous operation was the bombing of Guernica in the Basque country. It is commonly assumed this attack was the result of a "terror doctrine" in Luftwaffe doctrine. The raids on Guernica and Madrid caused many civilian casualties and a wave of protests in the democracies. It has been suggested that the bombing of Guernica was carried out for military tactical reasons, in support of ground operations, but the town was not directly involved in any fighting at that point in time. It was not until 1942 that the Germans started to develop a bombing policy in which civilians were the primary targets, although The Blitz on London and many other British cities involved indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, 'nuisance raids' which could even involve the machine-gunning of civilians and livestock. World War II When World War II began in 1939, the Luftwaffe was one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world. During the Polish Campaign that triggered the war, it quickly established air superiority, and then air supremacy. It supported the German Army operations which ended the campaign in five weeks. The Luftwaffes performance was as OKL had hoped. The Luftwaffe rendered invaluable support to the army, mopping up pockets of resistance. Göring was delighted with the performance. Command and control problems occurred, but flexibility and improvization in both the army and the Luftwaffe solved these problems. The Luftwaffe was to have in place a ground-to-air communication system, which played a vital role in the success of 1940's Fall Gelb. In the spring of 1940 the Luftwaffe assisted the Kriegsmarine and Heer in the invasion of Norway. Flying in reinforcements and winning air superiority, the Luftwaffe contributed decisively to the German conquest. In May and June 1940, the Luftwaffe contributed to the unexpected German success in the Battle of France. It destroyed three Allied Air Forces and helped secure the defeat of France in just over six weeks. However, it could not destroy the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk despite intense bombing. The BEF escaped to continue the war. During the Battle of Britain in summer 1940, the Luftwaffe inflicted severe damage on Britain's Royal Air Force, but did not achieve the air superiority that Hitler demanded for the proposed invasion of Britain, which was postponed and then canceled in December 1940. The Luftwaffe ravaged British cities during the Blitz of 1940–1941, but failed to break British morale. Hitler had already ordered preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In spring 1941 the Luftwaffe helped its Axis partner, Italy, secure victory in the Balkans Campaign and continued to support Italy or the Italian Social Republic in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theaters until May 1945. In June 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe destroyed thousands of Soviet aircraft, yet it failed to destroy the Red Air Force altogether. Lacking strategic bombers (the very "Ural bombers" that General Wever had asked for six years before) the Luftwaffe could not strike at Soviet production-centers regularly or with the needed force. The Axis and Soviet air operations during Operation Barbarossa consumed vast numbers of men and planes. As the war dragged on, the Luftwaffe was eroded in strength. German defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 and in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 ensured the gradual decline of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. British historian Frederick Taylor asserts that "all sides bombed each other's cities during the war. Half a million Soviet citizens, for example, died from German bombing during the invasion and occupation of Russia. That's roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids." The Luftwaffe defended German-occupied Europe against the growing offensive power of RAF Bomber Command and, starting in the summer of 1942, the steadily building strength of the United States Army Air Forces. The mounting demands of the Defence of the Reich campaign gradually destroyed the Luftwaffes fighter arm. Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket-propelled aircraft for bomber-destroyer duties, it was overwhelmed by Allied numbers and a lack of trained pilots and fuel. A last-ditch attempt, known as Operation Bodenplatte, to win air superiority on 1 January 1945 failed. After the Bodenplatte effort, the Luftwaffe ceased to be an effective fighting force. German day- and night-fighter pilots claimed more than 70,000 aerial victories during World War II. Of these, an estimated 745 victories were attributed to jet fighters. Flak shot down 25,000–30,000 Allied planes. Broken down according to the different Allied forces, about 25,000 were American planes, about 20,000 British, 46,100 Soviet, 1,274 French, 375 Polish, and 81 Dutch as well as aircraft from other Allied nationalities. The highest-scoring day-fighter pilot was Erich Hartmann with 352 confirmed kills, all of them on the Eastern front against the Soviets. The leading aces in the west were Hans-Joachim Marseille with 158 kills against planes from the British Empire (RAF, RAAF, and SAAF), and Georg-Peter Eder with 56 kills of aircraft from the USAAF (of a total of 78). The most successful night-fighter pilot, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, is credited with 121 kills. 103 German fighter pilots shot down more than 100 enemy aircraft for a total of roughly 15,400 aerial victories. Roughly a further 360 pilots claimed between 40 and 100 aerial victories for round about 21,000 victories. Another 500 fighter pilots claimed between 20 and 40 victories for a total of 15,000 victories. Part of the reason German pilots scored such high victory totals was that they were in combat for the duration of the war-unlike the Allies, who rotated their flyers out of combat after a certain amount of time, German pilots flew until they were killed, captured or too badly wounded to keep flying. It is relatively certain that 2,500 German fighter pilots attained ace status, having achieved at least five aerial victories. These achievements were honored with 453 German single and twin-engine (Messerschmitt Bf 110) day-fighter pilots receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. 85 night-fighter pilots, including 14 crew members, were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Some bomber pilots were also highly successful. The Stuka and Schlachtflieger pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel flew 2,530 ground-attack missions and claimed the destruction of more than 519 tanks and a battleship, among others. He became the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. The bomber pilot Hansgeorg Bätcher flew more than 658 combat missions, destroying numerous ships and other targets. Luftwaffe losses, on the other hand, were high as well. The estimated total number of destroyed and damaged for the war totaled 76,875 aircraft. Of these, about 43,000 were lost in combat, the rest in operational accidents and during training. By type, losses totaled 21,452 fighters, 12,037 bombers, 15,428 trainers, 10,221 twin-engine fighters, 5,548 ground attack craft, 6,733 reconnaissance planes, and 6,141 transports. According to the General Staff of the Wehrmacht the losses of the flight personnel until February 1945 amounted to: KIA: 6,527 officers and 43,517 enlisted men WIA: 4,194 officers and 27,811 enlisted men MIA: 4,361 officers and 27,240 enlisted men total: 15,082 officers and 98,568 enlisted men According to official statistics, total Luftwaffe casualties, including ground personnel, amounted to 138,596 killed and 156,132 missing through 31 January 1945. Omissions and failures Lack of aerial defense The failure of the Luftwaffe in the Defence of the Reich campaign was a result of a number of factors. The Luftwaffe lacked an effective air defense system early in the war. Adolf Hitler's foreign policy had pushed Germany into war before these defenses could be fully developed. The Luftwaffe was forced to improvize and construct its defenses during the war. The daylight actions over German-controlled territory were sparse in 1939–1940. The responsibility of the defense of German air space fell to the Luftgaukommandos (air district commands). The defense systems relied mostly on the "flak" arm. The defenses were not coordinated and communication was poor. This lack of understanding between the flak and flying branches of the defense would plague the Luftwaffe throughout the war. Hitler, in particular, wanted the defense to rest on anti-aircraft artillery as it gave the civilian population a "psychological crutch" no matter how ineffective the weapons. Most of the battles fought by the Luftwaffe on the Western Front were against the RAF's "Circus" raids and the occasional daylight raid into German air space. This was a fortunate position since the Luftwaffes strategy of focusing its striking power on one front started to unravel with the failure of the invasion of the Soviet Union. The "peripheral" strategy of the Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1940 had been to deploy its fighter defenses at the edges of Axis occupied territory, with little protecting the inner depths. Moreover, the front line units in the West were complaining about the poor numbers and performance of aircraft. Units complained of lack of Zerstörer aircraft with all-weather capabilities and the "lack of climbing power of the Bf 109". The Luftwaffes technical edge was slipping as the only formidable new aircraft in the German arsenal was the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch was to assist Ernst Udet with aircraft production increases and the introduction of more modern types of fighter aircraft. However, they explained at a meeting of the Reich Industrial Council on 18 September 1941 that the new next-generation aircraft had failed to materialize, and production of obsolete types had to continue to meet the growing need for replacements. The buildup of the Jagdwaffe ("Fighter Force") was too rapid and its quality suffered. It was not put under a unified command until 1943, which also affected the performance of the nine Jagdgeschwader fighter wings in existence in 1939. No further units were formed until 1942, and the years of 1940–1941 were wasted. OKL failed to construct a strategy; instead, its command style was reactionary, and its measures not as effective without thorough planning. This was particularly apparent with the Sturmböck squadrons, formed to replace the increasingly ineffective twin-engined Zerstörer heavy fighter wings as the primary defense against USAAF daylight raids. The Sturmböcke flew Fw 190A fighters armed with heavy 20 mm and 30 mm cannon to destroy heavy bombers, but this increased the weight and affected the performance of the Fw 190 at a time when the aircraft were meeting large numbers of equal if not superior Allied types. Daytime aerial defense against the USAAF's strongly defended heavy bomber forces, particularly the Eighth Air Force and the Fifteenth Air Force, had its successes through the calendar year of 1943. But at the start of 1944, Eighth AF commander Jimmy Doolittle made a major change in offensive fighter tactics, which defeated the Luftwaffes day fighter force from that time onwards. Steadily increasing numbers of the superlative North American P-51 Mustang single-engine fighter, leading the USAAF's bombers into German airspace defeated first the Bf 110 Zerstörer wings, then the Fw 190A Sturmböcke. Development and equipment In terms of technological development, the failure to develop a long-range bomber and capable long-range fighters during this period left the Luftwaffe unable to conduct a meaningful strategic bombing campaign throughout the war. However, Germany at that time suffered from limitations in raw materials such as oil and aluminum, which meant that there were insufficient resources for much beyond a tactical air force: given these circumstances, the Luftwaffes reliance on tactical mid-range, twin-engined medium bombers and short-range dive-bombers was a pragmatic choice of strategy. It might also be argued that the Luftwaffes Kampfgeschwader medium and heavy bomber wings were perfectly capable of attacking strategic targets, but the lack of capable long-range escort fighters left the bombers unable to carry out their missions effectively against determined and well-organised fighter opposition. The greatest failure for the Kampfgeschwader, however, was being saddled with an aircraft intended as a capable four-engined heavy bomber: the perpetually troubled Heinkel He 177, whose engines were prone to catch fire in flight. Of the three parallel proposals from the Heinkel engineering departments for a four-engined version of the A-series He 177 by February 1943, one of these being the Heinkel firm's Amerikabomber candidate, only one, the He 177B, emerged in the concluding months of 1943. Only three airworthy prototypes of the B-series He 177 design were produced by early 1944, some three years after the first prototype flights of the Avro Lancaster, the most successful RAF heavy bomber. Another failure of procurement and equipment was the lack of a dedicated naval air arm. General Felmy had already expressed a desire to build a naval air arm to support Kriegsmarine operations in the Atlantic and British waters. Britain was dependent on food and raw materials from its Empire and North America. Felmy pressed this case firmly throughout 1938 and 1939, and, on 31 October 1939, Großadmiral Erich Raeder sent a strongly worded letter to Göring in support of such proposals. The early-war twin-engined Heinkel He 115 floatplane and Dornier Do 18 flying boat were too slow and short-ranged. The then-contemporary Blohm & Voss BV 138 Seedrache (seadragon) trimotor flying boat became the Luftwaffes primary seaborne maritime patrol platform, with nearly 300 examples built; its trio of Junkers Jumo 205 diesel engines gave it a 4,300 km (2,670 mi) maximum range. Another Blohm und Voss design of 1940, the enormous, 46-meter wingspan six-engined Blohm und Voss BV 222 Wiking maritime patrol flying boat, would see it capable of a 6,800 km (4,200-mile) range at maximum endurance when using higher-output versions of the same Jumo 205 powerplants as used by the BV 138, in later years. The Dornier Do 217 would have been ideal as a land-based choice but suffered production problems. Raeder also complained about the poor standard of aerial torpedoes, although their design was the responsibility of the Wehrmacht combined military's naval arm (the Kriegsmarine), even considering production of the Japanese Type 91 torpedo used at Pearl Harbor as the Lufttorpedo LT 850 by August 1942. (See both:Yanagi missions and Heinkel He 111 torpedo bomber operations) Without specialized naval or land-based, purpose-designed maritime patrol aircraft, the Luftwaffe was forced to improvize. The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor airliner's airframe – engineered for civilian airliner use – lacked the structural strength for combat maneuvering at lower altitudes, making it unsuitable for use as a bomber in maritime patrol duties. The Condor lacked speed, armor and bomb load capacity. Sometimes the fuselage literally "broke its back" or a wing panel dropped loose from the wing root after a hard landing. Nevertheless, this civilian transport was adapted for the long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping roles and, between August 1940 and February 1941, Fw 200s sank 85 vessels for a claimed total of 363,000 Grt. Had the Luftwaffe focused on naval aviation – particularly maritime patrol aircraft with long range, like the aforementioned diesel-powered multi-engine Blohm & Voss flying boats – Germany might well have been in a position to win the Battle of the Atlantic. However, Raeder and the Kriegsmarine failed to press for naval air power until the war began, mitigating the Luftwaffes responsibility. In addition, Göring regarded any other branch of the German military developing its own aviation as an encroachment on his authority and continually frustrated the Navy's attempts to build its own airpower. The absence of a strategic bomber force for the Luftwaffe, following General Wever's accidental death in the early summer of 1936 and the end of the Ural bomber program he fostered before the invasion of Poland, would not be addressed again until the authorization of the "Bomber B" design competition in July 1939, which sought to replace the medium bomber force with which the Luftwaffe was to begin the war, and the partly achieved Schnellbomber high-speed medium bomber concept with more advanced, twin-engined high-speed bomber aircraft fitted with pairs of relatively "high-power" engines of 1,500 kW (2,000 hp) output levels and upwards each as a follow-on to the earlier Schnellbomber project, that would also be able to function as shorter-range heavy bombers. The spring 1942 Amerikabomber program also sought to produce useful strategic bomber designs for the Luftwaffe, with their prime design priority being an advanced trans-oceanic range capability as the main aim of the project to directly attack the United States from Europe or the Azores. Inevitably, both the Bomber B and Amerikabomber programs were victims of the continued emphasis of the Wehrmacht combined military's insistence for its Luftwaffe air arm to support the Heer as its primary mission, and the damage to the German aviation industry from Allied bomber attacks. Challenges in directly addressing combat pilots' issues The RLM's apparent lack of a dedicated "technical-tactical" department, that would have directly been in contact with combat pilots to assess their needs for weaponry upgrades and tactical advice, had never been seriously envisioned as a critically ongoing necessity in the planning of the original German air arm. The RLM did have its own Technisches Amt (T-Amt) department to handle aviation technology issues, but this was tasked with handling all aviation technology issues in Nazi Germany, both military and civilian in nature, and also not known to have ever had any clear and actively administrative and consultative links with the front-line forces established for such purposes. On the front-line combat side of the issue, and for direct contact with the German aviation firms making the Luftwaffes warplanes, the Luftwaffe did have its own reasonably effective system of four military aviation test facilities, or Erprobungstellen located at three coastal sites – Peenemünde-West (also incorporating a separate facility in nearby Karlshagen), Tarnewitz and Travemünde – and the central inland site of Rechlin, itself first established as a military airfield in late August 1918 by the German Empire, with the four-facility system commanded later in World War II by Oberst (Colonel) Edgar Petersen. However, due to lack of co-ordination between the RLM and OKL, all fighter and bomber development was oriented toward short-range aircraft, as they could be produced in greater numbers, rather than quality long-range aircraft, something that put the Luftwaffe at a disadvantage as early as the Battle of Britain. The "ramp-up" to production levels required to fulfill the Luftwaffes front-line needs was also slow, not reaching maximum output until 1944. Production of fighters was not given priority until 1944; Adolf Galland commented that this should have occurred at least a year earlier. Galland also pointed to the mistakes and challenges made in the development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet – which included the protracted development time required for its Junkers Jumo 004 jet engines to achieve reliability. German combat aircraft types that were first designed and flown in the mid-1930s had become obsolete, yet were kept in production, in particular the Ju 87 Stuka, and the Bf 109, because there were no well-developed replacement designs. Production failures The failure of German production was evident from the start of the Battle of Britain. By the end of 1940, the Luftwaffe had suffered heavy losses and needed to regroup. Deliveries of new aircraft were insufficient to meet the drain on resources; the Luftwaffe, unlike the RAF, was failing to expand its pilot and aircraft numbers. This was partly owing to production planning failures before the war and the demands of the army. Nevertheless, the German aircraft industry was being outproduced in 1940. In terms of fighter aircraft production, the British exceeded their production plans by 43%, while the Germans remained 40% "behind" target by summer 1940. In fact, German production in fighters fell from 227 to 177 per month between July and September 1940. One of the many reasons for the failure of the Luftwaffe in 1940 was that it did not have the operational and material means to destroy the British aircraft industry, something that the much-anticipated Bomber B design competition was intended to address. The so-called "Göring program", had largely been predicated on the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1941. After the Wehrmacht's failure in front of Moscow, industrial priorities for a possibility in increasing aircraft production were largely abandoned in favor to support the army's increased attrition rates and heavy equipment losses. Erhard Milch's reforms expanded production rates. In 1941 an average of 981 aircraft (including 311 fighters) were produced each month. In 1942 this rose to 1,296 aircraft of which 434 were fighters. Milch's planned production increases were initially opposed. But in June, he was granted materials for 900 fighters per month as the average output. By the Summer of 1942, Luftwaffe's operational fighter force had recovered from a low of 39% (44% for fighters and 31% for bombers) in Winter of 1941–1942, to 69% by late June (75% for fighters and 66% for bombers) in 1942. However, after increased commitments in the east, overall operational ready rates fluctuated between 59% and 65% for the remaining year. Throughout 1942 the Luftwaffe was out produced in fighter aircraft by 250% and in twin-engine aircraft by 196%. The appointment of Albert Speer as Minister of Armaments increased production of existing designs and the few new designs that had originated from earlier in the war. However, the intensification of Allied bombing caused the dispersion of production and prevented an efficient acceleration of expansion. German aviation production reached about 36,000 combat aircraft for 1944. However, by the time this was achieved the Luftwaffe lacked the fuel and trained pilots to make this achievement worthwhile. The failure to maximize production immediately after the failures in the Soviet Union and North Africa ensured the Luftwaffes effective defeat in the period of September 1943 – February 1944. Despite the tactical victories won, they failed to achieve a decisive victory. By the time production reached acceptable levels, as so many other factors had for the Luftwaffe – and for the entire Wehrmacht's weapons and ordnance technology as a whole – late in the war, it was "too little, too late". Engine development By the late 1930s, airframe construction methods had progressed to the point where airframes could be built to any required size, founded on the all-metal airframe design technologies pioneered by Hugo Junkers in 1915 and constantly improved upon for over two decades to followespecially in Germany with aircraft like the Dornier Do X flying boat and the Junkers G 38 airliner. However, powering such designs was a major challenge. Mid-1930s aero engines were limited to about 600 hp and the first 1000 hp engines were just entering the prototype stagefor Nazi Germany's then-new Luftwaffe air arm, this meant liquid-cooled inverted V12 designs like the Daimler-Benz DB 601. The United States had already gotten its start towards this goal by 1937 with two large displacement, twin-row 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine designs of at least displacement each: the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp and the Wright Duplex-Cyclone. Nazi Germany's initial need for substantially more powerful aviation engines originated with the private venture Heinkel He 119 high-speed reconnaissance design, and the ostensibly twin-"engined" Messerschmitt Me 261 for maritime reconnaissance duties – to power each of these designs, Daimler-Benz literally "doubled-up" their new, fuel-injected DB 601 engines. This "doubling-up" involved placing two DB 601s side by side on either side of a common vertical-plane space frame with their crankcases' outer sides each having a mount similar to what would be used in a single-engine installation, creating a "mirror-image" centrifugal supercharger for the starboard-side component DB 601, inclining the top ends of their crankcases inwards by roughly 30º to mate with the space-frame central mount, and placing a common propeller gear reduction housing across the front ends of the two engines. Such a twin-crankcase "power system" aviation engine crafted from a pair of DB 601s resulted in the maximum output DB 606 "coupled" engine design for these two aircraft in February 1937, but with each of the DB 606 "coupled" engines weighing in at around 1.5 tonnes apiece. The early development of the DB 606 "coupled" engines, was paralleled during the late 1930s with Daimler-Benz's simultaneous development of a 1,500 kW class engine design using a single crankcase. The result was the twenty-four cylinder Daimler-Benz DB 604 X-configuration engine, with four banks of six cylinders each. Possessing essentially the same displacement of as the initial version of the liquid-cooled Junkers Jumo 222 multibank engine, itself a "converse" choice in configuration to the DB 604 in possessing six banks of four inline cylinders apiece instead; coincidentally, both the original Jumo 222 design and the DB 604 each weighed about a third less (at some of dry weight) than the DB 606, but the DB 604's protracted development was diverting valuable German aviation powerplant research resources, and with more development of the "twinned-DB 605" based DB 610 coupled engine (itself initiated in June 1940 with a top output level of , and brought together in the same way – with the same all-up weight of 1.5 tonnes – as the DB 606 had been) giving improved results at the time, the Reich Air Ministry stopped all work on the DB 604 in September 1942. Such "coupled powerplants" were the exclusive choice of power for the Heinkel He 177A Greif heavy bomber, mistasked from its beginnings in being intended to do moderate-angle "dive bombing" for a 30-meter wingspan class, heavy bomber design – the twin nacelles for a pair of DB 606s or 610s did reduce drag for such a combat "requirement", but the poor design of the He 177A's engine accommodations for these twin-crankcase "power systems" caused repeated outbreaks of engine fires, causing the "dive bombing" requirement for the He 177A to be canceled by mid-September 1942. BMW worked on what was essentially an enlarged version of its highly successful BMW 801 design from the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. This led to the 53.7-litre displacement BMW 802 in 1943, an eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial, which nearly matched the American Duplex-Cyclone's 54.9-litre figure, but with a weight of some matching that of the 24-cylinder liquid-cooled inline DB 606; and the even larger, 83.5-litre displacement BMW 803 28-cylinder liquid-cooled radial, which from post-war statements from BMW development personnel were each considered to be "secondary priority" development programs at best. This situation with the 802 and 803 designs led to the company's engineering personnel being redirected to place all efforts on improving the 801 to develop it to its full potential. The BMW 801F radial development, through its use of features coming from the 801E subtype, was able to substantially exceed the over-1,500 kW output level. The two closest Allied equivalents to the 801 in configuration and displacement – the American Wright Twin Cyclone, and the Soviet Shvetsov ASh-82 radials – never had any need to be developed beyond a 1,500 kW output level, as larger-displacement, 18-cylinder radial aviation engines in both nations (the aforementioned American Double Wasp and Duplex-Cyclone) and the eventual 1945 premiere of the Soviet Shvetsov ASh-73 design, all three of which started their development before 1940, handled needs for even greater power from large radial aviation engines. The twinned-up Daimler-Benz DB 601-based, 1,750 kW output DB 606, and its more powerful descendant, the 2,130 kW output DB 605-based DB 610, weighing some 1.5 tonnes apiece, were the only 1,500 kW-plus output level aircraft powerplants to ever be produced by Germany for Luftwaffe combat aircraft, mostly for the aforementioned Heinkel He 177A heavy bomber. Even the largest-displacement inverted V12 aircraft powerplant built in Germany, the 44.52-litre (2,717 cu. in.) Daimler-Benz DB 603, which saw widespread use in twin-engined designs, could not exceed the 1,500 kW output level without more development. By March 1940, even the DB 603 was being "twinned-up" as the 601/606 and 605/610 had been, to become their replacement "power system": this was the strictly experimental, approximately 1.8-tonne weight apiece, twin-crankcase DB 613; capable of over 2,570 kW (3,495 PS) output, but which never left its test phase. The proposed over-1,500 kW output subtypes of German aviation industry's existing piston aviation engine designs—which adhered to using just a single crankcase that were able to substantially exceed the aforementioned over-1,500 kW output level—were the DB 603 LM (1,800 kW at take-off, in production), the DB 603 N (2,205 kW at take-off, planned for 1946) and the BMW 801F (1,765 kW (2,400 PS) engines. The pioneering nature of jet engine technology in the 1940s resulted in numerous development problems for both of Germany's major jet engine designs to see mass production, the Jumo 004 and BMW 003 (both of pioneering axial flow design), with the more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 never leaving the test phase, as only 19 examples of the HeS 011 would ever be built for development. Even with such dismal degrees of success for such advanced aviation powerplant designs, more and more design proposals for new German combat aircraft in the 1943–45 period centered either around the failed Jumo 222 or HeS 011 aviation powerplants for their propulsion. Personnel and leadership The bomber arm was given preference and received the "better" pilots. Later, fighter pilot leaders were few in numbers as a result of this. As with the late shift to fighter production, the Luftwaffe pilot schools did not give the fighter pilot schools preference soon enough. The Luftwaffe, OKW argued, was still an offensive weapon, and its primary focus was on producing bomber pilots. This attitude prevailed until the second half of 1943. During the Defence of the Reich campaign in 1943 and 1944, there were not enough commissioned fighter pilots and leaders to meet attrition rates; as the need arose to replace aircrew (as attrition rates increased), the quality of pilot training deteriorated rapidly. Later this was made worse by fuel shortages for pilot training. Overall this
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the period of September 1943 – February 1944. Despite the tactical victories won, they failed to achieve a decisive victory. By the time production reached acceptable levels, as so many other factors had for the Luftwaffe – and for the entire Wehrmacht's weapons and ordnance technology as a whole – late in the war, it was "too little, too late". Engine development By the late 1930s, airframe construction methods had progressed to the point where airframes could be built to any required size, founded on the all-metal airframe design technologies pioneered by Hugo Junkers in 1915 and constantly improved upon for over two decades to followespecially in Germany with aircraft like the Dornier Do X flying boat and the Junkers G 38 airliner. However, powering such designs was a major challenge. Mid-1930s aero engines were limited to about 600 hp and the first 1000 hp engines were just entering the prototype stagefor Nazi Germany's then-new Luftwaffe air arm, this meant liquid-cooled inverted V12 designs like the Daimler-Benz DB 601. The United States had already gotten its start towards this goal by 1937 with two large displacement, twin-row 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine designs of at least displacement each: the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp and the Wright Duplex-Cyclone. Nazi Germany's initial need for substantially more powerful aviation engines originated with the private venture Heinkel He 119 high-speed reconnaissance design, and the ostensibly twin-"engined" Messerschmitt Me 261 for maritime reconnaissance duties – to power each of these designs, Daimler-Benz literally "doubled-up" their new, fuel-injected DB 601 engines. This "doubling-up" involved placing two DB 601s side by side on either side of a common vertical-plane space frame with their crankcases' outer sides each having a mount similar to what would be used in a single-engine installation, creating a "mirror-image" centrifugal supercharger for the starboard-side component DB 601, inclining the top ends of their crankcases inwards by roughly 30º to mate with the space-frame central mount, and placing a common propeller gear reduction housing across the front ends of the two engines. Such a twin-crankcase "power system" aviation engine crafted from a pair of DB 601s resulted in the maximum output DB 606 "coupled" engine design for these two aircraft in February 1937, but with each of the DB 606 "coupled" engines weighing in at around 1.5 tonnes apiece. The early development of the DB 606 "coupled" engines, was paralleled during the late 1930s with Daimler-Benz's simultaneous development of a 1,500 kW class engine design using a single crankcase. The result was the twenty-four cylinder Daimler-Benz DB 604 X-configuration engine, with four banks of six cylinders each. Possessing essentially the same displacement of as the initial version of the liquid-cooled Junkers Jumo 222 multibank engine, itself a "converse" choice in configuration to the DB 604 in possessing six banks of four inline cylinders apiece instead; coincidentally, both the original Jumo 222 design and the DB 604 each weighed about a third less (at some of dry weight) than the DB 606, but the DB 604's protracted development was diverting valuable German aviation powerplant research resources, and with more development of the "twinned-DB 605" based DB 610 coupled engine (itself initiated in June 1940 with a top output level of , and brought together in the same way – with the same all-up weight of 1.5 tonnes – as the DB 606 had been) giving improved results at the time, the Reich Air Ministry stopped all work on the DB 604 in September 1942. Such "coupled powerplants" were the exclusive choice of power for the Heinkel He 177A Greif heavy bomber, mistasked from its beginnings in being intended to do moderate-angle "dive bombing" for a 30-meter wingspan class, heavy bomber design – the twin nacelles for a pair of DB 606s or 610s did reduce drag for such a combat "requirement", but the poor design of the He 177A's engine accommodations for these twin-crankcase "power systems" caused repeated outbreaks of engine fires, causing the "dive bombing" requirement for the He 177A to be canceled by mid-September 1942. BMW worked on what was essentially an enlarged version of its highly successful BMW 801 design from the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. This led to the 53.7-litre displacement BMW 802 in 1943, an eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial, which nearly matched the American Duplex-Cyclone's 54.9-litre figure, but with a weight of some matching that of the 24-cylinder liquid-cooled inline DB 606; and the even larger, 83.5-litre displacement BMW 803 28-cylinder liquid-cooled radial, which from post-war statements from BMW development personnel were each considered to be "secondary priority" development programs at best. This situation with the 802 and 803 designs led to the company's engineering personnel being redirected to place all efforts on improving the 801 to develop it to its full potential. The BMW 801F radial development, through its use of features coming from the 801E subtype, was able to substantially exceed the over-1,500 kW output level. The two closest Allied equivalents to the 801 in configuration and displacement – the American Wright Twin Cyclone, and the Soviet Shvetsov ASh-82 radials – never had any need to be developed beyond a 1,500 kW output level, as larger-displacement, 18-cylinder radial aviation engines in both nations (the aforementioned American Double Wasp and Duplex-Cyclone) and the eventual 1945 premiere of the Soviet Shvetsov ASh-73 design, all three of which started their development before 1940, handled needs for even greater power from large radial aviation engines. The twinned-up Daimler-Benz DB 601-based, 1,750 kW output DB 606, and its more powerful descendant, the 2,130 kW output DB 605-based DB 610, weighing some 1.5 tonnes apiece, were the only 1,500 kW-plus output level aircraft powerplants to ever be produced by Germany for Luftwaffe combat aircraft, mostly for the aforementioned Heinkel He 177A heavy bomber. Even the largest-displacement inverted V12 aircraft powerplant built in Germany, the 44.52-litre (2,717 cu. in.) Daimler-Benz DB 603, which saw widespread use in twin-engined designs, could not exceed the 1,500 kW output level without more development. By March 1940, even the DB 603 was being "twinned-up" as the 601/606 and 605/610 had been, to become their replacement "power system": this was the strictly experimental, approximately 1.8-tonne weight apiece, twin-crankcase DB 613; capable of over 2,570 kW (3,495 PS) output, but which never left its test phase. The proposed over-1,500 kW output subtypes of German aviation industry's existing piston aviation engine designs—which adhered to using just a single crankcase that were able to substantially exceed the aforementioned over-1,500 kW output level—were the DB 603 LM (1,800 kW at take-off, in production), the DB 603 N (2,205 kW at take-off, planned for 1946) and the BMW 801F (1,765 kW (2,400 PS) engines. The pioneering nature of jet engine technology in the 1940s resulted in numerous development problems for both of Germany's major jet engine designs to see mass production, the Jumo 004 and BMW 003 (both of pioneering axial flow design), with the more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 never leaving the test phase, as only 19 examples of the HeS 011 would ever be built for development. Even with such dismal degrees of success for such advanced aviation powerplant designs, more and more design proposals for new German combat aircraft in the 1943–45 period centered either around the failed Jumo 222 or HeS 011 aviation powerplants for their propulsion. Personnel and leadership The bomber arm was given preference and received the "better" pilots. Later, fighter pilot leaders were few in numbers as a result of this. As with the late shift to fighter production, the Luftwaffe pilot schools did not give the fighter pilot schools preference soon enough. The Luftwaffe, OKW argued, was still an offensive weapon, and its primary focus was on producing bomber pilots. This attitude prevailed until the second half of 1943. During the Defence of the Reich campaign in 1943 and 1944, there were not enough commissioned fighter pilots and leaders to meet attrition rates; as the need arose to replace aircrew (as attrition rates increased), the quality of pilot training deteriorated rapidly. Later this was made worse by fuel shortages for pilot training. Overall this meant reduced training on operational types, formation flying, gunnery training, and combat training, and a total lack of instrument training. At the beginning of the war, commanders were replaced with younger commanders too quickly. These younger commanders had to learn "in the field" rather than entering a front-line post fully qualified. Training of formation leaders was not systematic until 1943, which was far too late, with the Luftwaffe already stretched. The Luftwaffe thus lacked a cadre of staff officers to set up new combat units with carefully selected and skilled combat personnel, and pass on experience. Moreover, Luftwaffe leadership from the start poached the training command, which undermined its ability to replace losses, while also planning for "short sharp campaigns", which did not pertain. Moreover, no plans were laid for night fighters. In fact, when protests were raised, Hans Jeschonnek, Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe, said, "First we've got to beat Russia, then we can start training!" Luftwaffe ground forces The Luftwaffe was unusual among contemporary independent air forces in possessing an organic paratrooper force called Fallschirmjäger. Established in 1938, they were deployed in parachute operations in 1940 and 1941 and participated in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael and the Battle for The Hague in May 1940, and during the Battle of Crete in May 1941. However, more than 4,000 Fallschirmjäger were killed during the Crete operation. Afterwards, although continuing to be trained in parachute delivery, paratroopers were only used in a parachute role for smaller-scale operations, such as the rescue of Benito Mussolini in 1943. Fallschirmjäger formations were mainly used as light infantry in all theaters of the war. Their losses were 22,041 KIA, 57,594 WIA and 44,785 MIA (until February 1945). During 1942 surplus Luftwaffe personnel was used to form the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, standard infantry divisions that were used chiefly as rear echelon units to free up front line troops. From 1943, the Luftwaffe also had an armored division called Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, which was expanded to a Panzerkorps in 1944. Ground support and combat units from the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) and the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) were also put at the Luftwaffes disposal during the war. In 1942 56 RAD companies served with the Luftwaffe in the West as airfield construction troops. In 1943 420 RAD companies were trained as anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and posted to existing Luftwaffe AAA battalions in the homeland. At the end of the war, these units were also fighting allied tanks. Beginning in 1939 with a transport regiment, the NSKK had in 1942 a complete division-sized transportation unit serving the Luftwaffe, the NSKK Transportgruppe Luftwaffe serving in France and at the Eastern front. The overwhelming number of its 12,000 members were Belgian, Dutch and French collaborators. War crimes and bombing of non-military targets Forced labor In 1943 and 1944, aircraft production was moved to concentration camps in order to alleviate labor shortages and to protect production from Allied air raids. The two largest aircraft factories in Germany were located at Mauthausen-Gusen and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps. Aircraft parts were also manufactured at Flossenbürg, Buchenwald, Dachau, Ravensbrück, Gross-Rosen, Natzweiler, Herzogenbusch, and Neuengamme. In 1944 and 1945, as many as 90,000 concentration prisoners worked in the aviation industry, and were about one tenth of the concentration camp population over the winter of 1944–45. Partly in response to the Luftwaffes demand for more forced laborers to increase fighter production, the concentration camp more than doubled between mid-1943 (224,000) and mid-1944 (524,000). Part of this increase was due to the deportation of the Hungarian Jews; the Jägerstab program was used to justify the deportations to the Hungarian government. Of the 437,000 Hungarian Jews deported between May and July 1944, about 320,000 were gassed on arrival at Auschwitz and the remainder forced to work. Only 50,000 survived. Almost 1,000 fuselages of the jet fighter Messerschmitt Me 262 were produced at Gusen, a subcamp of Mauthausen and brutal Nazi labor camp, where the average life expectancy was six months. By 1944, one-third of production at the crucial Regensburg plant that produced the Bf 109, the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter arm, originated in Gusen and Flossenbürg alone. Synthetic oil was produced from shale oil deposits by prisoners of Mittlebau-Dora as part of Operation Desert directed by Edmund Geilenberg in order to make up for the decrease in oil production due to Allied bombing. For oil production, three subcamps were constructed and 15,000 prisoners forced to work in the plant. More than 3,500 people died. Vaivara concentration camp in Estonia was also established for shale oil extraction; about 20,000 prisoners worked there and more than 1,500 died at Vaivara. Luftwaffe airfields were frequently maintained using forced labor. Thousands of inmates from five subcamps of Stutthof worked on the airfields. Airfields and bases near several other concentration camps and ghettos were constructed or maintained by prisoners. On the orders of the Luftwaffe, prisoners from Buchenwald and Herzogenbusch were forced to defuse bombs that had fallen around Düsseldorf and Leeuwarden respectively. Thousands of Luftwaffe personnel worked as concentration camp guards. Auschwitz included a munitions factory guarded by Luftwaffe soldiers; 2,700 Luftwaffe personnel worked as guards at Buchenwald. Dozens of camps and subcamps were staffed primarily by Luftwaffe soldiers. According to the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, it was typical for camps devoted to armaments production to be run by the branch of the Wehrmacht that used the products. In 1944, many Luftwaffe soldiers were transferred to concentration camps to alleviate personnel shortages. Massacres Luftwaffe paratroopers committed many war crimes in Crete following the Battle of Crete, including the Alikianos executions, Massacre of Kondomari, and the Razing of Kandanos. Several Luftwaffe divisions, including the 1st Parachute Division, 2nd Parachute Division, 4th Parachute Division, 19th Luftwaffe Field Division, 20th Luftwaffe Field Division and the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division, committed war crimes in Italy, murdering hundreds of civilians. Luftwaffe troops participated in the murder of Jews imprisoned in ghettos in Eastern Europe. For example, they assisted in the murder of 2,680 Jews at the Nemirov ghetto, participated in a series of massacres at the Opoczno ghetto, and helped to liquidate the Dęblin–Irena Ghetto by deporting thousands of Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp. Between 1942 and 1944, two Luftwaffe security battalions were stationed in the Białowieża Forest for Bandenbekämpfung operations. Encouraged by Göring, they murdered thousands of Jews and other civilians. Luftwaffe soldiers frequently executed Polish civilians at random with baseless accuastions of being "Bolshevik agents", in order to keep the population in line, or as reprisal for partisan activities. The performance of the troops was measured by the body count of people murdered. Ten thousand Luftwaffe troops were stationed on the Eastern Front for such "anti-partisan" operations. Human experimentation Throughout the war, concentration camp prisoners were forced to serve as human subjects in testing Luftwaffe equipment. Some of these experiments were carried out by Luftwaffe personnel and others were performed by the SS on the orders of the OKL. In 1941, experiments with the intent of discovering how to prevent and treat hypothermia were carried out for the Luftwaffe, which had lost aircrew to immersion hypothermia after ditchings. The experiments were conducted at Dachau and Auschwitz. Sigmund Rascher, a Luftwaffe doctor based at Dachau, published the results at the 1942 medical conference entitled "Medical Problems Arising from Sea and Winter". Of about 400 prisoners forced to participate in cold-water experiments, 80 to 90 were killed. In early 1942, prisoners at Dachau were used by Rascher in experiments to perfect ejection seats at high altitudes. A low-pressure chamber containing these prisoners was used to simulate conditions at altitudes of up to . It was rumored that Rascher performed vivisections on the brains of victims who survived the initial experiment. Of the 200 subjects, 80 died from the experimentation, and the others were executed. Eugen Hagen, head doctor of the Luftwaffe, infected inmates of Natzweiler concentration camp with typhus in order to test the efficacy of proposed vaccines. Aerial bombing of non-military targets No positive or specific customary international humanitarian law with respect to aerial warfare existed prior to or during World War II. This is also why no Luftwaffe officers were prosecuted at the post-World War II Allied war crime trials for the aerial raids. The bombing of Wieluń was an air raid on the Polish town of Wieluń by the Luftwaffe on 1 September 1939. The Luftwaffe started bombing Wieluń at 04:40, five minutes before the shelling of Westerplatte, which has traditionally been considered the beginning of World War II in Europe. The air raid on the town was one of the first aerial bombings of the war. About 1,300 civilians were killed, hundreds were injured, and 90 percent of the town center was destroyed. The casualty rate was more than twice as high as Guernica. A 1989 Sender Freies Berlin documentary stated that there were no military or industrial targets in the area, except for a small sugar factory in the outskirts of the town. Furthermore, Trenkner stated that German bombers first destroyed the town's hospital. Two attempts, in 1978 and 1983, to prosecute individuals for the bombing of the Wieluń hospital were dismissed by West German judges when prosecutors stated that the pilots had been unable to make out the nature of the structure due to fog. Operation Retribution was the April 1941 German bombing of Belgrade, the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The bombing deliberately targeted the killing of civilians as punishment and resulted in 17,000 civilian deaths. It occurred in the first days of the World War II German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. The operation commenced on 6 April and concluded on 7 or 8 April, resulting in the paralysis of Yugoslav civilian and military command and control, widespread destruction in the center of the city and many civilian casualties. Following the Yugoslav capitulation, Luftwaffe engineers conducted a bomb damage assessment in Belgrade. The report stated that of bombs were dropped, with 10 to 14 percent being incendiaries. It listed all the targets of the bombing, which included: the royal palace, the war ministry, military headquarters, the central post office, the telegraph office, passenger and goods railway stations, power stations and barracks. It also mentioned that seven aerial mines were dropped and that areas in the center and northwest of the city had been destroyed, comprising 20 to 25 percent of its total area. Some aspects of the bombing remain unexplained, particularly the use of the aerial mines. In contrast, Pavlowitch states that almost 50 percent of housing in Belgrade was destroyed. After the invasion, the Germans forced between 3,500 and 4,000 Jews to collect rubble that was caused by the bombing. Trials Several prominent Luftwaffe commanders were convicted of war crimes, including General Alexander Löhr and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. See also Der Adler, Luftwaffe's propaganda magazine Emergency Fighter Program German Air Fleets in World War II List of flags of Luftwaffe (1933–45) List of German aircraft projects, 1939-45 List of German World War II jet aces List of German World War II night fighter aces List of Luftwaffe personnel convicted of war crimes List of weapons of military aircraft of Germany during World War II List of World War II aces from Germany List of World War II military aircraft of Germany Luftwaffe serviceable aircraft strengths (1940–45) Luftwaffe Signal Intelligence Organization Military Ranks of the Luftwaffe (1935–45) Trial of Erhardt Milch Uniforms of the Luftwaffe (1935–45) References Notes Citations Bibliography Bekkerm Cajus. Angriffshohe 4000 (in German). Munich, Germany: Heyne, 1964. Bergstrom, Christer. Stalingrad: The Air Battle: November 1942 – February 1943. London: Chevron/Ian Allan, 2008. . Bergström, Christer, Kursk: The Air Battle: July 1943. London: Chevron/Ian Allan, 2008. . Bergström, Christer and Andrey Mikhailov. Black Cross/Red Star-Vol. 1, Operation Barbarossa 1941. London: Classic Colours, 2003. . Bergström, Christer and Martin Pegg. Jagdwaffe: The War in Russia: January–October 1942. London: Classic Colours, 2003. . Bowmen, Martin and Theo Boiten. Battles with the Luftwaffe: The Air War Over Germany 1942–1945. London: Collins, 2001. . Bungay, Stephen. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. London: Aurum Press, 2000.. . Cooper, Matthew. The German Air Force 1933–1945: An Anatomy of Failure. New York: Jane's Publishing Incorporated, 1981. . Corum, James. "The Luftwaffe's Army Support Doctrine, 1918–1941". The Journal of Military History, Vol. 59, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 53–76. Corum, James. The Roots of Blitzkrieg: Hans
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progress as time passes. In the years before then, there is generally no indication of the presence of the disease, though in a few cases, the disease presents as a learning disorder around 5 years of age. In extremely rare cases, symptoms may not show at all until as late as the 3rd decade of life, though these cases have slower progression than typical LD. The most common feature of Lafora disease is seizures that have been reported mainly as occipital seizures and myoclonic seizures with some cases of generalized tonic-clonic seizures, atypical absence seizures, and atonic and complex partial seizures. Other symptoms common with the seizures are drop attacks, ataxia, temporary blindness, visual hallucinations, and a quickly-developing and dramatic dementia. Other common signs and symptoms associated with Lafora disease are behavioral changes due to the frequency of seizures. Over time those affected with Lafora disease have brain changes that cause confusion, speech difficulties, depression, decline in intellectual function, impaired judgement and impaired memory. If areas of the cerebellum are affected by seizures, it is common to see problems with speech, coordination, and balance in Lafora patients. For dogs that are affected with Lafora disease, common symptoms are rapid shuddering, shaking, or jerking of the canine's head backwards, high pitched vocalizations that could indicate the dog is panicking, seizures, and as the disease progresses dementia, blindness, and loss of balance. Within ten years of developing symptoms, life expectancy has known to go down. People who advance to adulthood tend to lose their ability to do daily tasks by themselves, which can lead them to having to have comprehensive care. If their symptoms have become onset extremely fast or at an early age, comprehensive care allows one to get treatment in ways that are not only regarding receiving their medication, but it also includes both physical and mental health towards the daily activities that one would normally perform by themselves. Genetics Lafora disease is an autosomal recessive disorder, caused by loss of function mutations in either laforin glycogen phosphatase gene (EPM2A) or malin E3 ubiquitin ligase gene (NHLRC1). These mutations in either of these two genes lead to polyglucosan formation or lafora body formation in the cytoplasm of heart, liver, muscle, and skin. 'Graph 1' shows the data for 250 families that have been affected by Lafora Disease and the distribution of cases around the world. The graph shows that there is a very large number of cases in Italy because of the EPM2A gene mutation compared to any other country in the world. 'Graph 2' shows the percentage distribution of the cases from either an EPM2A gene mutation or an EPM2B (NHLRC1) gene mutation. 42% of the cases are caused by EPM2A and 58% are caused by EPM2B (NHLRC1). The most common mutation on the EPM2A gene is the R241X mutation. This genetic mutation is the cause for 17% of the EPM2A caused Lafora Disease cases. EPM2A codes for the protein laforin, a dual-specificity phosphatase that acts on carbohydrates by taking phosphates off. NHLRC1 encodes the protein malin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, that regulates the amount of laforin. Laforin is essential for making the normal structure of a glycogen molecule. When the mutation occurs on the EPM2A gene, laforin protein is down-regulated and less amount of this protein is present or none is made at all. If there is also a mutation in the NHLRC1 gene that makes the protein malin, then laforin cannot be regulated and thus less of it is made. Less
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disease have brain changes that cause confusion, speech difficulties, depression, decline in intellectual function, impaired judgement and impaired memory. If areas of the cerebellum are affected by seizures, it is common to see problems with speech, coordination, and balance in Lafora patients. For dogs that are affected with Lafora disease, common symptoms are rapid shuddering, shaking, or jerking of the canine's head backwards, high pitched vocalizations that could indicate the dog is panicking, seizures, and as the disease progresses dementia, blindness, and loss of balance. Within ten years of developing symptoms, life expectancy has known to go down. People who advance to adulthood tend to lose their ability to do daily tasks by themselves, which can lead them to having to have comprehensive care. If their symptoms have become onset extremely fast or at an early age, comprehensive care allows one to get treatment in ways that are not only regarding receiving their medication, but it also includes both physical and mental health towards the daily activities that one would normally perform by themselves. Genetics Lafora disease is an autosomal recessive disorder, caused by loss of function mutations in either laforin glycogen phosphatase gene (EPM2A) or malin E3 ubiquitin ligase gene (NHLRC1). These mutations in either of these two genes lead to polyglucosan formation or lafora body formation in the cytoplasm of heart, liver, muscle, and skin. 'Graph 1' shows the data for 250 families that have been affected by Lafora Disease and the distribution of cases around the world. The graph shows that there is a very large number of cases in Italy because of the EPM2A gene mutation compared to any other country in the world. 'Graph 2' shows the percentage distribution of the cases from either an EPM2A gene mutation or an EPM2B (NHLRC1) gene mutation. 42% of the cases are caused by EPM2A and 58% are caused by EPM2B (NHLRC1). The most common mutation on the EPM2A gene is the R241X mutation. This genetic mutation is the cause for 17% of the EPM2A caused Lafora Disease cases. EPM2A codes for the protein laforin, a dual-specificity phosphatase that acts on carbohydrates by taking phosphates off. NHLRC1 encodes the protein malin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, that regulates the amount of laforin. Laforin is essential for making the normal structure of a glycogen molecule. When the mutation occurs on the EPM2A gene, laforin protein is down-regulated and less amount of this protein is present or none is made at all. If there is also a mutation in the NHLRC1 gene that makes the protein malin, then laforin cannot be regulated and thus less of it is made. Less Laforin means more phosphorylation of glycogen, causing conformational changes, rendering it insoluble, leading to an accumulation of misformed glycogen, which has neurotoxic effects. In a laforin mutation, glycogen would be hyperphosphorylated; this has been confirmed in laforin knock-out mice. Research literature also suggests that over-activity of glycogen synthase, the key enzyme in synthesizing glycogen, can lead to the formation of polyglucosans and it can be inactivated by phosphorylation at various amino acid residues by many molecules, including GSK-3beta, Protein phosphatase 1, and malin. As defective enzyme molecules participate in the production of these molecules (GSK-3beta, PP1, and malin), excessive glycogen synthase activity occurs in combination with mutations in laforin that phosphorylates the excess glycogen being made, rendering it insoluble. The key player missing is ubiquitin. It is not able to degrade the excess amount of the insoluble lafora bodies. Since mutations arise in malin, an e3 ubiquitin ligase, this directly interferes with the degradation of laforin, causing the laforin not to be degraded; it can then hyperphosphorylate. Lafora bodies Lafora disease is distinguished by the presence of inclusions called "Lafora bodies" within the cytoplasm of cells. Lafora bodies are aggregates of polyglucosans or abnormally shaped glycogen molecules. Glycogen in Lafora disease patients has abnormal
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feces or urine of animals accessing grain stores in residences. No study has proven presence in breast milk, but the high level of viremia suggests it may be possible. Individuals who are at a higher risk of contracting the infection are those who live in rural areas where Mastomys are discovered, and where sanitation is not prevalent. Infection typically occurs by direct or indirect exposure to animal excrement through the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts. Inhalation of tiny particles of infectious material (aerosol) is believed to be the most significant means of exposure. It is possible to acquire the infection through broken skin or mucous membranes that are directly exposed to infectious material. Transmission from person to person has been established, presenting a disease risk for healthcare workers. The virus is present in urine for between three and nine weeks after infection, and it can be transmitted in semen for up to three months after becoming infected. Diagnosis A range of laboratory investigations are performed, where possible, to diagnose the disease and assess its course and complications. The confidence of a diagnosis can be compromised if laboratory tests are not available. One comprising factor is the number of febrile illnesses present in Africa, such as malaria or typhoid fever that could potentially exhibit similar symptoms, particularly for non-specific manifestations of Lassa fever. In cases with abdominal pain, in countries where Lassa is common, Lassa fever is often misdiagnosed as appendicitis and intussusception which delays treatment with the antiviral ribavirin. In West Africa, where Lassa is most common, it is difficult to diagnose due to the absence of proper equipment to perform testing. The FDA has yet to approve a widely validated laboratory test for Lassa, but there are tests that have been able to provide definitive proof of the presence of the LASV virus. These tests include cell cultures, PCR, ELISA antigen assays, plaque neutralization assays, and immunofluorescence essays. However, immunofluorescence essays provide less definitive proof of Lassa infection. An ELISA test for antigen and Immunoglobulin M antibodies give 88% sensitivity and 90% specificity for the presence of the infection. Other laboratory findings in Lassa fever include lymphocytopenia (low white blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (low platelets), and elevated aspartate transaminase levels in the blood. Lassa fever virus can also be found in cerebrospinal fluid. Prevention Control of the Mastomys rodent population is impractical, so measures focus on keeping rodents out of homes and food supplies, encouraging effective personal hygiene, storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, and disposing of garbage far from the home to help sustain clean households. Gloves, masks, laboratory coats, and goggles are advised while in contact with an infected person, to avoid contact with blood and body fluids. These issues in many countries are monitored by a department of public health. In less developed countries, these types of organizations may not have the necessary means to effectively control outbreaks. Vaccine There is no vaccine for humans as of 2019. Researchers at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases facility had a promising vaccine candidate in 2002. They have developed a replication-competent vaccine against Lassa virus based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vectors expressing the Lassa virus glycoprotein. After a single intramuscular injection, test primates have survived lethal challenge, while showing no clinical symptoms. Treatment Treatment is directed at addressing dehydration and improving symptoms. All persons suspected of Lassa fever infection should be admitted to isolation facilities and their body fluids and excreta properly disposed of. Medications The antiviral medication ribavirin has been recommended, but evidence to support its use is weak. Some evidence has found that it may worsen outcomes in certain cases. Fluid replacement, blood transfusions, and medication for low blood pressure may be required. Intravenous interferon therapy has also been used. Pregnancy When Lassa fever infects pregnant women late in their third trimester, inducing delivery is necessary for the mother to have a good chance of survival. This is because the virus has an affinity for the placenta and other highly vascular tissues. The fetus has only a one in ten chance of survival no matter what course of action is taken; hence, the focus is always on saving the life of the mother. Following delivery, women should receive the same treatment as other people with Lassa fever. Prognosis About 15–20% of hospitalized people with Lassa fever will die from the illness. The overall case fatality rate is estimated to be 1%, but during epidemics, mortality can climb as high as 50%. The mortality rate is greater than 80% when it occurs in pregnant women during their third trimester; fetal death also occurs in nearly all those cases. Abortion decreases the risk of death to the mother. Some survivors experience lasting effects of the disease, and can include partial or complete deafness. Because of treatment with ribavirin, fatality rates have declined. Epidemiology There are about 300,000 to 500,000 cases which result in 5,000 deaths a year. One estimate places the number as high as 3 million cases per year. Estimates of Lassa fever are complicated by the lack
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infection, and it can be transmitted in semen for up to three months after becoming infected. Diagnosis A range of laboratory investigations are performed, where possible, to diagnose the disease and assess its course and complications. The confidence of a diagnosis can be compromised if laboratory tests are not available. One comprising factor is the number of febrile illnesses present in Africa, such as malaria or typhoid fever that could potentially exhibit similar symptoms, particularly for non-specific manifestations of Lassa fever. In cases with abdominal pain, in countries where Lassa is common, Lassa fever is often misdiagnosed as appendicitis and intussusception which delays treatment with the antiviral ribavirin. In West Africa, where Lassa is most common, it is difficult to diagnose due to the absence of proper equipment to perform testing. The FDA has yet to approve a widely validated laboratory test for Lassa, but there are tests that have been able to provide definitive proof of the presence of the LASV virus. These tests include cell cultures, PCR, ELISA antigen assays, plaque neutralization assays, and immunofluorescence essays. However, immunofluorescence essays provide less definitive proof of Lassa infection. An ELISA test for antigen and Immunoglobulin M antibodies give 88% sensitivity and 90% specificity for the presence of the infection. Other laboratory findings in Lassa fever include lymphocytopenia (low white blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (low platelets), and elevated aspartate transaminase levels in the blood. Lassa fever virus can also be found in cerebrospinal fluid. Prevention Control of the Mastomys rodent population is impractical, so measures focus on keeping rodents out of homes and food supplies, encouraging effective personal hygiene, storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, and disposing of garbage far from the home to help sustain clean households. Gloves, masks, laboratory coats, and goggles are advised while in contact with an infected person, to avoid contact with blood and body fluids. These issues in many countries are monitored by a department of public health. In less developed countries, these types of organizations may not have the necessary means to effectively control outbreaks. Vaccine There is no vaccine for humans as of 2019. Researchers at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases facility had a promising vaccine candidate in 2002. They have developed a replication-competent vaccine against Lassa virus based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vectors expressing the Lassa virus glycoprotein. After a single intramuscular injection, test primates have survived lethal challenge, while showing no clinical symptoms. Treatment Treatment is directed at addressing dehydration and improving symptoms. All persons suspected of Lassa fever infection should be admitted to isolation facilities and their body fluids and excreta properly disposed of. Medications The antiviral medication ribavirin has been recommended, but evidence to support its use is weak. Some evidence has found that it may worsen outcomes in certain cases. Fluid replacement, blood transfusions, and medication for low blood pressure may be required. Intravenous interferon therapy has also been used. Pregnancy When Lassa fever infects pregnant women late in their third trimester, inducing delivery is necessary for the mother to have a good chance of survival. This is because the virus has an affinity for the placenta and other highly vascular tissues. The fetus has only a one in ten chance of survival no matter what course of action is taken; hence, the focus is always on saving the life of the mother. Following delivery, women should receive the same treatment as other people with Lassa fever. Prognosis About 15–20% of hospitalized people with Lassa fever will die from the illness. The overall case fatality rate is estimated to be 1%, but during epidemics, mortality can climb as high as 50%. The mortality rate is greater than 80% when it occurs in pregnant women during their third trimester; fetal death also occurs in nearly all those cases. Abortion decreases the risk of death to the mother. Some survivors experience lasting effects of the disease, and can include partial or complete deafness. Because of treatment with ribavirin, fatality rates have declined. Epidemiology There are about 300,000 to 500,000 cases which result in 5,000 deaths a year. One estimate places the number as high as 3 million cases per year. Estimates of Lassa fever are complicated by the lack of easy-available diagnosis, limited public health surveillance infrastructure, and high clustering of incidence near high intensity sampling. The infection affects females 1.2 times more than males. The age group predominantly infected is 21–30 years. Geography Lassa high risk areas are near the western and eastern extremes of West Africa. As of 2018, the Lassa belt includes Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia. As of 2003, 10-16% of people in Sierra Leone and Liberia admitted to hospital had the virus. The case fatality rate for those who are hospitalized for the disease is about 15-20%. Research showed a twofold increase risk of infection for those living in close proximity to someone with infection symptoms within the last year. The high risk areas cannot be well defined by any known biogeographical or environmental breaks except for the multimammate rat, particularly Guinea (Kindia, Faranah and Nzérékoré regions), Liberia (mostly in Lofa, Bong, and Nimba counties), Nigeria (in about 10 of 36 states) and Sierra Leone (typically from Kenema and Kailahun districts). It is less common in the Central African Republic, Mali, Senegal and other nearby countries, and less common yet in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Benin had its first confirmed cases in 2014, and
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March 1921, Lenin's faction won a decisive victory, and a number of Trotsky's supporters (including all three secretaries of the Central Committee) lost their leadership positions. Krestinsky was replaced as a member of the Politburo by Zinoviev, who had supported Lenin. Krestinsky's place in the secretariat was taken by Vyacheslav Molotov. The congress also adopted a secret resolution on "Party unity", which banned factions within the Party except during pre-Congress discussions. The resolution was later published and used by Stalin against Trotsky and other opponents. At the end of the Tenth Congress, after peace negotiations had failed, Trotsky gave the order for the suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion, the last major revolt against Bolshevik rule. Trotsky's role was questioned by other socialists, including ex-Trotskyists. In the United States, Dwight Macdonald broke with Trotsky and left the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party by noting the Kronstadt rebellion. A similar critique of Trotsky's role in the Kronstadt rebellion was raised by American anarchist Emma Goldman. In her essay "Trotsky Protests Too Much", she states, "I admit, the dictatorship under Stalin's rule has become monstrous. That does not, however, lessen the guilt of Leon Trotsky as one of the actors in the revolutionary drama of which Kronstadt was one of the bloodiest scenes". Some Trotskyists, most notably Abbie Bakan, have argued that the claim that the Kronstadt rebels were "counterrevolutionary" has been supported by evidence of White Army and French government support for the Kronstadt sailors' March rebellion. Other historians, most notably Paul Avrich, claimed the evidence did not point towards this conclusion, and saw the Kronstadt Rebellion as spontaneous. Trotsky's contribution to the Russian Revolution Vladimir Cherniaev, a leading Russian historian, sums up Trotsky's main contributions to the Russian Revolution: Historian Geoffrey Swain argues that: Lenin said in 1921 that Trotsky was "in love with organisation," but in working politics, "he has not got a clue." Swain explains the paradox by arguing that Trotsky was not good at teamwork; he was a loner who had mostly worked as a journalist, not as a professional revolutionary like the others. Lenin's illness (1922–1923) In late 1921, Lenin's health deteriorated and he was absent from Moscow for longer periods of time. He had three strokes between 25 May 1922 and 9 March 1923, which caused paralysis, loss of speech and finally death on 21 January 1924. With Lenin increasingly sidelined throughout 1922, Stalin was elevated to the newly created position of the Central Committee general secretary. Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev became part of the troika (triumvirate) formed by Stalin to ensure that Trotsky, publicly the number-two man in the country and Lenin's heir presumptive, would not succeed Lenin. The rest of the recently expanded Politburo (Rykov, Mikhail Tomsky, Bukharin) was at first uncommitted, but eventually joined the troika. Stalin's power of patronage in his capacity as general secretary clearly played a role, but Trotsky and his supporters later concluded that a more fundamental reason was the process of slow bureaucratisation of the Soviet regime once the extreme conditions of the Civil War were over. Much of the Bolshevik elite wanted 'normality,' while Trotsky was personally and politically personified as representing a turbulent revolutionary period that they would much rather leave behind. Although the exact sequence of events is unclear, evidence suggests that at first the troika nominated Trotsky to head second-rate government departments (e.g., Gokhran, the State Depository for Valuables). In mid-July 1922, Kamenev wrote a letter to the recovering Lenin to the effect that "(the Central Committee) is throwing or is ready to throw a good cannon overboard". Lenin was shocked and responded: From then until his final stroke, Lenin spent much of his time trying to devise a way to prevent a split within the Communist Party leadership, which was reflected in Lenin's Testament. As part of this effort, on 11 September 1922 Lenin proposed that Trotsky become his deputy at the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom). The Politburo approved the proposal, but Trotsky "categorically refused". In late 1922, Trotsky secured an alliance with Lenin against Stalin and the emerging Soviet bureaucracy. Stalin had recently engineered the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), further centralising state control. The alliance proved effective on the issue of foreign trade but was hindered by Lenin's progressing illness. In January 1923, Lenin amended his Testament to suggest that Stalin should be removed as the party's general secretary, while also mildly criticising Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders. The relationship between Stalin and Lenin had broken down completely by this time, as was demonstrated during an event where Stalin crudely insulted Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya. In March 1923, days before his third stroke, Lenin asked Trotsky to denounce Stalin and his so-called "Great-Russian nationalistic campaign" at the XIIth Party Congress. At the XIIth Party Congress in April 1923, however, just after Lenin's final stroke, Trotsky did not raise the issue. Instead, he made a speech about intra-party democracy while avoiding any direct confrontation of the troika. Stalin had prepared for the congress by replacing many local party delegates with those loyal to him, mostly at the expense of Zinoviev and Kamenev's backers. The delegates, most of whom were unaware of the divisions within the Politburo, gave Trotsky a standing ovation. This upset the troika, already infuriated by Karl Radek's article, "Leon Trotsky – Organiser of Victory" published in Pravda on 14 March 1923. Stalin delivered the key reports on organisational structure and questions of nationality; while Zinoviev delivered the Central Committee political report, traditionally Lenin's prerogative. Among the resolutions adopted by the XIIth Congress were those calling for greater democracy within the Party, but these were vague and remained unimplemented. Left opposition (1923–1924) Starting in mid-1923, the Soviet economy ran into significant difficulties, which led to numerous strikes countrywide. Two secret groups within the Communist Party, "Workers' Truth" and "Workers' Group", were uncovered and suppressed by the Soviet secret police. On 8 October 1923 Trotsky sent a letter to the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission, attributing these difficulties to lack of intra-Party democracy. Trotsky wrote: Other senior communists who had similar concerns sent The Declaration of 46 to the Central Committee on 15 October in which they wrote: Although the text of these letters remained secret at the time, they had a significant effect on the Party leadership and prompted a partial retreat by the troika and its supporters on the issue of intra-Party democracy, notably in Zinoviev's Pravda article published on 7 November. Throughout November, the troika tried to come up with a compromise to placate, or at least temporarily neutralise, Trotsky and his supporters. (Their task was made easier by the fact that Trotsky was sick in November and December.) The first draft of the resolution was rejected by Trotsky, which led to the formation of a special group consisting of Stalin, Trotsky and Kamenev, which was charged with drafting a mutually acceptable compromise. On 5 December, the Politburo and the Central Control Commission unanimously adopted the group's final draft as its resolution. On 8 December, Trotsky published an open letter, in which he expounded on the recently adopted resolution's ideas. The troika used his letter as an excuse to launch a campaign against Trotsky, accusing him of factionalism, setting "the youth against the fundamental generation of old revolutionary Bolsheviks" and other sins. Trotsky defended his position in a series of seven letters which were collected as The New Course in January 1924. The illusion of a "monolithic Bolshevik leadership" was thus shattered and a lively intra-Party discussion ensued, both in local Party organizations and in the pages of Pravda. The discussion lasted most of December and January until the XIIIth Party Conference of 16–18 January 1924. Those who opposed the Central Committee's position in the debate were thereafter referred to as members of the Left Opposition. In 1924, in a series of conferences at Sverdlov University; Stalin cited several times, in a critic way:'the Permanentists', as the followers of Trotsky 'Permanent revolution'. Since the troika controlled the Party apparatus through Stalin's Secretariat and Pravda through its editor Bukharin, it was able to direct the discussion and the process of delegate selection. Although Trotsky's position prevailed within the Red Army and Moscow universities and received about half the votes in the Moscow Party organisation, it was defeated elsewhere, and the Conference was packed with pro-troika delegates. In the end, only three delegates voted for Trotsky's position, and the Conference denounced "Trotskyism" as a "petty bourgeois deviation". After Lenin's death (1924) There was little overt political disagreement within the Soviet leadership throughout most of 1924. On the surface, Trotsky remained the most prominent and popular Bolshevik leader, although his "mistakes" were often alluded to by troika partisans. Behind the scenes, he was completely cut off from the decision-making process. Politburo meetings were pure formalities since all key decisions were made ahead of time by the troika and its supporters. Trotsky's control over the military was undermined by reassigning his deputy, Ephraim Sklyansky, and appointing Mikhail Frunze, who was being groomed to take Trotsky's place. At the thirteenth Party Congress in May, Trotsky delivered a conciliatory speech: In the meantime, the Left Opposition, which had coagulated somewhat unexpectedly in late 1923 and lacked a definite platform aside from general dissatisfaction with the intra-Party "regime", began to crystallise. It lost some less dedicated members to the harassment by the troika, but it also began formulating a program. conomically, the Left Opposition and its theoretician Yevgeni Preobrazhensky came out against further development of capitalist elements in the Soviet economy and in favour of faster industrialisation. That put them at odds with Bukharin and Rykov, the "Right" group within the Party, who supported the troika at the time. On the question of world revolution, Trotsky and Karl Radek saw a period of stability in Europe while Stalin and Zinoviev confidently predicted an "acceleration" of revolution in Western Europe in 1924. On the theoretical plane, Trotsky remained committed to the Bolshevik idea that the Soviet Union could not create a true socialist society in the absence of the world revolution, while Stalin gradually came up with a policy of building 'Socialism in One Country'. These ideological divisions provided much of the intellectual basis for the political divide between Trotsky and the Left Opposition on the one hand and Stalin and his allies on the other. At the thirteenth Congress Kamenev and Zinoviev helped Stalin defuse Lenin's Testament, which belatedly came to the surface. But just after the congress, the troika, always an alliance of convenience, showed signs of weakness. Stalin began making poorly veiled accusations about Zinoviev and Kamenev. Yet in October 1924, Trotsky published Lessons of October, an extensive summary of the events of the 1917 revolution. In it, he described Zinoviev's and Kamenev's opposition to the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, something that the two would have preferred be left unmentioned. This started a new round of intra-party struggle, which became known as the Literary Discussion, with Zinoviev and Kamenev again allied with Stalin against Trotsky. Their criticism of Trotsky was concentrated in three areas: Trotsky's disagreements and conflicts with Lenin and the Bolsheviks prior to 1917. Trotsky's alleged distortion of the events of 1917 in order to emphasise his role and diminish the roles played by other Bolsheviks. Trotsky's harsh treatment of his subordinates and other alleged mistakes during the Russian Civil War. Trotsky was again sick and unable to respond while his opponents mobilised all of their resources to denounce him. They succeeded in damaging his military reputation so much that he was forced to resign as People's Commissar of Army and Fleet Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council on 6 January 1925. Zinoviev demanded Trotsky's expulsion from the Communist Party, but Stalin refused to go along and played the role of a moderate. Trotsky kept his Politburo seat, but was effectively put on probation. A year in the wilderness (1925) For Trotsky, 1925 was a difficult year. After the bruising Literary Discussion and losing his Red Army posts, he was effectively unemployed throughout the winter and spring. In May 1925, he was given three posts: chairman of the Concessions Committee, head of the electro-technical board, and chairman of the scientific-technical board of industry. Trotsky wrote in My Life that he "was taking a rest from politics" and "naturally plunged into the new line of work up to my ears". Some contemporary accounts paint a picture of a remote and distracted man. Later in the year, Trotsky resigned his two technical positions (maintaining Stalin-instigated interference and sabotage) and concentrated on his work in the Concessions Committee. In one of the few political developments that affected Trotsky in 1925, the circumstances of the controversy over Lenin's Testament were described by American Marxist Max Eastman in his book Since Lenin Died (1925). Trotsky denied these statements made by Eastman in an article he wrote. In the meantime, the troika finally broke up. Bukharin and Rykov sided with Stalin while Krupskaya and Soviet Commissar of Finance Grigory Sokolnikov aligned with Zinoviev and Kamenev. The struggle became open at the September 1925 meeting of the Central Committee and came to a head at the XIV Party Congress in December 1925. With only the Leningrad Party organization behind them, Zinoviev and Kamenev, dubbed The New Opposition, were thoroughly defeated while Trotsky refused to get involved in the fight and did not speak at the Congress. United Opposition (1926–1927) In early 1926, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters in the "New Opposition" gravitated closer to Trotsky's supporters, and the two groups soon formed an alliance, which also incorporated some smaller opposition groups within the Communist Party. The alliance became known as the United Opposition. The United Opposition was repeatedly threatened with sanctions by the Stalinist leadership of the Communist Party, and Trotsky had to agree to tactical retreats, mostly to preserve his alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev. The opposition remained united against Stalin throughout 1926 and 1927, especially on the issue of the Chinese Revolution. The methods used by the Stalinists against the Opposition became more and more extreme. At the XV Party Conference in October 1926, Trotsky could barely speak because of interruptions and catcalls, and at the end of the Conference he lost his Politburo seat. In 1927, Stalin started using the GPU (Soviet secret police) to infiltrate and discredit the opposition. Rank-and-file oppositionists were increasingly harassed, sometimes expelled from the Party and even arrested. Soviet policy toward the Chinese Revolution became the ideological line of demarcation between Stalin and the United Opposition. The Chinese Revolution began on 10 October 1911, resulting in the abdication of the Chinese Emperor, Puyi, on 12 February 1912. Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China. In reality, however, the Republic controlled very little of the country. Much of China was divided between various regional warlords. The Republican government established a new "nationalist people's army and a national people's party"—the Kuomintang. In 1920, the Kuomintang opened relations with Soviet Russia. With Soviet help, the Republic of China built up the nationalist people's army. With the development of the nationalist army, a Northern Expedition was planned to smash the power of the warlords of the northern part of the country. This Northern Expedition became a point of contention over foreign policy by Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin tried to persuade the small Chinese Communist Party to merge with the Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalists to bring about a bourgeois revolution before attempting to bring about a Soviet-style working class revolution. Trotsky wanted the Communist Party to complete an orthodox proletarian revolution and have clear class independence from the KMT. Stalin funded the KMT during the expedition. Stalin countered Trotskyist criticism by making a secret speech in which he said that Chiang's right-wing Kuomintang were the only ones capable of defeating the imperialists, that Chiang Kai-shek had funding from the rich merchants, and that his forces were to be utilized until squeezed for all usefulness like a lemon before being discarded. However, Chiang quickly reversed the tables in the Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927 by massacring the Communist Party in Shanghai midway through the Northern Expedition. Defeat and exile (1927–1928) During this time Trotsky gave the eulogy at the funeral of his friend, the Soviet diplomat Adolph Joffe, in November 1927. It would be the last speech that Trotsky would give in the Soviet Union. When the XV Party Congress made United Opposition views incompatible with membership in the Communist Party, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters capitulated and renounced their alliance with the Left Opposition. Trotsky and most of his followers, on the other hand, refused to surrender and stayed the course. Trotsky was exiled to Alma Ata, Kazakhstan on 31 January 1928. He was expelled from the Soviet Union to Turkey in February 1929, accompanied by his wife Natalia Sedova and their eldest son, Lev. Fate of Left Oppositionists after Trotsky's exile (1929–1941) After Trotsky's expulsion from the Soviet Union, Trotskyists within the Soviet Union began to waver. Between 1929 and 1932, most leading members of the Left Opposition surrendered to Stalin, "admitted their mistakes" and were reinstated in the Communist Party. One initial exception to this was Christian Rakovsky, who inspired Trotsky between 1929 and 1934 with his refusal to capitulate as state suppression of any remaining opposition to Stalin increased by the year. In late 1932, Rakovsky had failed with an attempt to flee the Soviet Union and was exiled to Yakutia in March 1933. Answering Trotsky's request, the French mathematician and Trotskyist Jean Van Heijenoort, together with his fellow activist Pierre Frank, unsuccessfully called on the influential Soviet author Maxim Gorky to intervene in favor of Christian Rakovsky, and boarded the ship he was traveling on near Constantinople. According to Heijenoort, they only managed to meet Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, who reportedly told them that his father was indisposed, but promised to pass on their request. Rakovsky was the last prominent Trotskyist to capitulate to Stalin in April 1934, when Rakovsky formally "admitted his mistakes" (his letter to Pravda, titled There Should Be No Mercy, depicted Trotsky and his supporters as "agents of the German Gestapo"). Rakovsky was appointed to high office in the Commissariat for Health and allowed to return to Moscow, also serving as Soviet ambassador to Japan in 1935. However, Rakovsky was cited in allegations involving the killing of Sergey Kirov, and was arrested and imprisoned in late 1937, during the Great Purge. Almost all Trotskyists who were still within the Soviet Union's borders were executed in the Great Purges of 1936–1938, although Rakovsky survived until the Medvedev Forest massacre of September 1941, where he was shot dead along with 156 other prisoners on Stalin's orders, less than three months into the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. Also among the Medvedev Forest victims was Trotsky's sister/Kamenev's first wife, Olga Kameneva. Exile (1929–1940) In February 1929, Trotsky was deported from the Soviet Union to his new exile in Turkey. During his first two months in Turkey, Trotsky lived with his wife and eldest son at the Soviet Union Consulate in Istanbul and then at a nearby hotel in the city. In April 1929, Trotsky, his wife and son were moved to the island of Büyükada by the Turkish authorities. On Büyükada, they were moved into a house called the Yanaros mansion. During his exile in Turkey, Trotsky was under the surveillance of the Turkish police forces of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Trotsky was also at risk from the many former White Army officers who lived on Prinkipo, officers who had opposed the October Revolution and who had been defeated by Trotsky and the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. However, Trotsky's European supporters volunteered to serve as bodyguards and assured his safety. At this time, he made requests to enter Belgium, France, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom, but all refused access. In 1931, Trotsky wrote a letter to a friend entitled "What is Fascism" in which he attempted to define fascism and asserted that the Comintern was wrong to describe the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera as "fascist" because it wasn't a mass movement arising from a base in the lower classes. On 20 February 1932, Trotsky and all of his family lost their Soviet citizenship and were forbidden to enter the Soviet Union. In 1932, Trotsky entered via a port into the fascist Kingdom of Italy on his way to a socialist conference in Denmark. By the end of 1932, Trotsky had joined a conspiratorial political bloc with the anti-Stalin opposition inside the USSR. There was no evidence of any alliance with Nazi Germany or Japan, as the Soviet Union government claimed. The alleged members of the anti-Stalin bloc were Zinovievites, rightists and Trotskyists who "capitulated" to Stalin. Kamenev and Zinoviev were also alleged members of the bloc. Trotsky wanted by no means that the alliance became a fusion, and he was afraid of the right gaining much power inside the bloc. Historian Pierre Broué concluded that the bloc dissolved in early 1933, since some of its members like Zinoviev and Kamenev joined Stalin again, and because there were no letters in the Trotsky Harvard archive mentioning the bloc after 1932. In July 1933, Trotsky was offered asylum in France by Prime Minister Édouard Daladier. Trotsky accepted the offer, but he was forbidden to live in Paris and soon found himself under the surveillance of the French police. From July 1933 to February 1934, Trotsky and his wife lived in Royan. The philosopher and activist Simone Weil also arranged for Trotsky and his bodyguards to stay for a few days at her parents' house. Following the 6 February 1934 crisis in France, the French minister of internal affairs, Albert Sarraut, signed a decree to deport Trotsky from France. However, no foreign government was found willing to accept Trotsky within its borders. Accordingly, the French authorities instructed Trotsky to move to a residence in the tiny village of Barbizon under the strict surveillance of the French police, where Trotsky found his contact with the outside world to be even worse than during his exile in Turkey. In May 1935, soon after the French government had agreed to the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union government, Trotsky was officially told that he was no longer welcome in France. After weighing his options, Trotsky applied to move to Norway. After obtaining permission from Justice Minister Trygve Lie to enter the country, Trotsky and his wife became a guest of Konrad Knudsen at Norderhov, near Hønefoss, and spent over a year living at Knudsen's house, from 18 June 1935 to 2 September 1936, although Trotsky was hospitalized for a few weeks at the nearby Oslo Community Hospital from 19 September 1935. Following French media complaints about Trotsky's role in encouraging the mass strikes in France in May and June 1936 with his articles, the Johan Nygaardsvold-led Norwegian government began to exhibit disquiet about Trotsky's actions. In the summer of 1936, Trotsky's asylum was increasingly made a political issue by the fascist Nasjonal Samling, led by Vidkun Quisling, along with an increase in pressure from the Soviet government on the Norwegian authorities. On 5 August 1936, Knudsen's house was burgled by fascists from the Nasjonal Samling while Trotsky and his wife were out on a seashore trip with Knudsen and his wife. The burglars targeted Trotsky's works and archives for vandalism. The raid was largely thwarted by Knudsen's daughter, Hjørdis, although the burglars did take a few papers from the nearest table as they left. Although the perpetrators were caught and put on trial, the "evidence" obtained in the burglary was used by the government to make claims against Trotsky. On 14 August 1936, the Soviet Press Agency TASS announced the discovery of a "Trotskyist–Zinovievist" plot and the imminent start of the Trial of the Sixteen accused. Trotsky demanded a complete and open enquiry into Moscow's accusations. The accused were sentenced to death, including Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, and executed on 25 August 1936. On 26 August 1936, eight policemen arrived at Knudsen's house demanding that Trotsky sign new conditions for residing in Norway. These conditions included agreeing to write no more about current political matters, to give no interviews, and to have all his correspondence (incoming and outgoing) inspected by the police. Trotsky categorically refused the conditions, and Trotsky was then told that he and his wife would soon be moved to another residence. The following day Trotsky was interrogated by the police about his political activities, with the police officially citing Trotsky as a "witness" to the fascist raid of 5 August 1936. On 2 September 1936, four weeks after the break-in at Knudsen's house, Trygve Lie ordered that Trotsky and his wife be transferred to a farm in Hurum, where they were under house arrest. The treatment of Trotsky and his wife at Hurum was harsh, as they were forced to stay indoors for 22 hours per day under the constant guard of thirteen policemen, with only one hour permitted twice a day for a walk on the farm. Trotsky was prevented from posting any letters and prevented from arguing back against his critics in Norway and beyond. Only Trotsky's lawyers and the Norwegian Labour Party Parliamentary leader, Olav Scheflo, were permitted to visit. From October 1936, even the outdoor walks were prohibited for Trotsky and his wife. Trotsky did eventually manage to smuggle out one letter on 18 December 1936, titled The Moscow "Confessions". On 19 December 1936, Trotsky and his wife were deported from Norway after being put on the Norwegian oil tanker Ruth, under guard by Jonas Lie. When later living in Mexico, Trotsky was utterly scathing about the treatment he received during his 108 days at Hurum, and accused the Norwegian government of trying to prevent him from publicly voicing his strong opposition to the Trial of the Sixteen and other show trials, saying: The Ruth arrived in Mexico on 9 January 1937. On Trotsky's arrival, the Mexican president, Lázaro Cárdenas, welcomed Trotsky to Mexico and arranged for his special train The Hidalgo to bring Trotsky to Mexico City from the port of Tampico. From January 1937 to April 1939, Trotsky and his wife lived in the Coyoacán area of Mexico City at La Casa Azul (The Blue House), the home of the painter Diego Rivera and Rivera's wife and fellow painter, Frida Kahlo, with whom Trotsky had an affair. His final move was a few blocks away to a residence on Avenida Viena in April 1939, following a break with Rivera. Trotsky wrote prolifically while in exile, penning several key works, including his History of the Russian Revolution (1930) and The Revolution Betrayed (1936), a critique of the Soviet Union under Stalinism. He argued that the Soviet state had become a "degenerated workers' state" controlled by an undemocratic bureaucracy, which would eventually either be overthrown via a political revolution establishing a workers' democracy, or degenerate into a capitalist class. While in Mexico, Trotsky also worked closely with James P. Cannon, Joseph Hansen, and Farrell Dobbs of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States, and other supporters. Cannon, a long-time leading member of the American communist movement, had supported Trotsky in the struggle against Stalinism since he had first read Trotsky's criticisms of the Soviet Union in 1928. Trotsky's critique of the Stalinist regime, though banned, was distributed to leaders of the Comintern. Among his other supporters was Chen Duxiu, founder of the Chinese Communist Party. While in Mexico, Trotsky worked with André Breton and Diego Rivera to write the Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art, which inspired the creation of the organization, the International Federation of Independent Revolutionary Art (FIARI) in 1938. This organization was short-lived and ended before 1940. Moscow show trials In August 1936, the first Moscow show trial of the so-called "Trotskyite–Zinovievite Terrorist Center" was staged in front of an international audience. During the trial, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other accused, most of them prominent Old Bolsheviks, confessed to having plotted with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership. The court found everybody guilty and sentenced the defendants to death, Trotsky, in absentia. The second show trial of Karl Radek, Grigori Sokolnikov, Yuri Pyatakov and 14 others, took place in January 1937, during which more alleged conspiracies and crimes were linked to Trotsky. The findings were published in the book "Not Guilty". Fourth International For fear of splitting the Communist movement, Trotsky initially opposed the idea of establishing parallel Communist parties or a parallel international Communist organization that would compete with the Third International. In mid-1933, after the Nazi takeover in Germany and the Comintern's response to it, he changed his mind. He said: In 1938, Trotsky and his supporters founded the Fourth International, which was intended to be a revolutionary and internationalist alternative to the Stalinist Comintern. Dies Committee Towards the end of 1939, Trotsky agreed to go to the United States to appear as a witness before the Dies Committee of the House of Representatives, a forerunner of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Representative Martin Dies Jr., chairman of the committee, demanded the suppression of the American Communist Party. Trotsky intended to use the forum
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Commission unanimously adopted the group's final draft as its resolution. On 8 December, Trotsky published an open letter, in which he expounded on the recently adopted resolution's ideas. The troika used his letter as an excuse to launch a campaign against Trotsky, accusing him of factionalism, setting "the youth against the fundamental generation of old revolutionary Bolsheviks" and other sins. Trotsky defended his position in a series of seven letters which were collected as The New Course in January 1924. The illusion of a "monolithic Bolshevik leadership" was thus shattered and a lively intra-Party discussion ensued, both in local Party organizations and in the pages of Pravda. The discussion lasted most of December and January until the XIIIth Party Conference of 16–18 January 1924. Those who opposed the Central Committee's position in the debate were thereafter referred to as members of the Left Opposition. In 1924, in a series of conferences at Sverdlov University; Stalin cited several times, in a critic way:'the Permanentists', as the followers of Trotsky 'Permanent revolution'. Since the troika controlled the Party apparatus through Stalin's Secretariat and Pravda through its editor Bukharin, it was able to direct the discussion and the process of delegate selection. Although Trotsky's position prevailed within the Red Army and Moscow universities and received about half the votes in the Moscow Party organisation, it was defeated elsewhere, and the Conference was packed with pro-troika delegates. In the end, only three delegates voted for Trotsky's position, and the Conference denounced "Trotskyism" as a "petty bourgeois deviation". After Lenin's death (1924) There was little overt political disagreement within the Soviet leadership throughout most of 1924. On the surface, Trotsky remained the most prominent and popular Bolshevik leader, although his "mistakes" were often alluded to by troika partisans. Behind the scenes, he was completely cut off from the decision-making process. Politburo meetings were pure formalities since all key decisions were made ahead of time by the troika and its supporters. Trotsky's control over the military was undermined by reassigning his deputy, Ephraim Sklyansky, and appointing Mikhail Frunze, who was being groomed to take Trotsky's place. At the thirteenth Party Congress in May, Trotsky delivered a conciliatory speech: In the meantime, the Left Opposition, which had coagulated somewhat unexpectedly in late 1923 and lacked a definite platform aside from general dissatisfaction with the intra-Party "regime", began to crystallise. It lost some less dedicated members to the harassment by the troika, but it also began formulating a program. conomically, the Left Opposition and its theoretician Yevgeni Preobrazhensky came out against further development of capitalist elements in the Soviet economy and in favour of faster industrialisation. That put them at odds with Bukharin and Rykov, the "Right" group within the Party, who supported the troika at the time. On the question of world revolution, Trotsky and Karl Radek saw a period of stability in Europe while Stalin and Zinoviev confidently predicted an "acceleration" of revolution in Western Europe in 1924. On the theoretical plane, Trotsky remained committed to the Bolshevik idea that the Soviet Union could not create a true socialist society in the absence of the world revolution, while Stalin gradually came up with a policy of building 'Socialism in One Country'. These ideological divisions provided much of the intellectual basis for the political divide between Trotsky and the Left Opposition on the one hand and Stalin and his allies on the other. At the thirteenth Congress Kamenev and Zinoviev helped Stalin defuse Lenin's Testament, which belatedly came to the surface. But just after the congress, the troika, always an alliance of convenience, showed signs of weakness. Stalin began making poorly veiled accusations about Zinoviev and Kamenev. Yet in October 1924, Trotsky published Lessons of October, an extensive summary of the events of the 1917 revolution. In it, he described Zinoviev's and Kamenev's opposition to the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, something that the two would have preferred be left unmentioned. This started a new round of intra-party struggle, which became known as the Literary Discussion, with Zinoviev and Kamenev again allied with Stalin against Trotsky. Their criticism of Trotsky was concentrated in three areas: Trotsky's disagreements and conflicts with Lenin and the Bolsheviks prior to 1917. Trotsky's alleged distortion of the events of 1917 in order to emphasise his role and diminish the roles played by other Bolsheviks. Trotsky's harsh treatment of his subordinates and other alleged mistakes during the Russian Civil War. Trotsky was again sick and unable to respond while his opponents mobilised all of their resources to denounce him. They succeeded in damaging his military reputation so much that he was forced to resign as People's Commissar of Army and Fleet Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council on 6 January 1925. Zinoviev demanded Trotsky's expulsion from the Communist Party, but Stalin refused to go along and played the role of a moderate. Trotsky kept his Politburo seat, but was effectively put on probation. A year in the wilderness (1925) For Trotsky, 1925 was a difficult year. After the bruising Literary Discussion and losing his Red Army posts, he was effectively unemployed throughout the winter and spring. In May 1925, he was given three posts: chairman of the Concessions Committee, head of the electro-technical board, and chairman of the scientific-technical board of industry. Trotsky wrote in My Life that he "was taking a rest from politics" and "naturally plunged into the new line of work up to my ears". Some contemporary accounts paint a picture of a remote and distracted man. Later in the year, Trotsky resigned his two technical positions (maintaining Stalin-instigated interference and sabotage) and concentrated on his work in the Concessions Committee. In one of the few political developments that affected Trotsky in 1925, the circumstances of the controversy over Lenin's Testament were described by American Marxist Max Eastman in his book Since Lenin Died (1925). Trotsky denied these statements made by Eastman in an article he wrote. In the meantime, the troika finally broke up. Bukharin and Rykov sided with Stalin while Krupskaya and Soviet Commissar of Finance Grigory Sokolnikov aligned with Zinoviev and Kamenev. The struggle became open at the September 1925 meeting of the Central Committee and came to a head at the XIV Party Congress in December 1925. With only the Leningrad Party organization behind them, Zinoviev and Kamenev, dubbed The New Opposition, were thoroughly defeated while Trotsky refused to get involved in the fight and did not speak at the Congress. United Opposition (1926–1927) In early 1926, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters in the "New Opposition" gravitated closer to Trotsky's supporters, and the two groups soon formed an alliance, which also incorporated some smaller opposition groups within the Communist Party. The alliance became known as the United Opposition. The United Opposition was repeatedly threatened with sanctions by the Stalinist leadership of the Communist Party, and Trotsky had to agree to tactical retreats, mostly to preserve his alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev. The opposition remained united against Stalin throughout 1926 and 1927, especially on the issue of the Chinese Revolution. The methods used by the Stalinists against the Opposition became more and more extreme. At the XV Party Conference in October 1926, Trotsky could barely speak because of interruptions and catcalls, and at the end of the Conference he lost his Politburo seat. In 1927, Stalin started using the GPU (Soviet secret police) to infiltrate and discredit the opposition. Rank-and-file oppositionists were increasingly harassed, sometimes expelled from the Party and even arrested. Soviet policy toward the Chinese Revolution became the ideological line of demarcation between Stalin and the United Opposition. The Chinese Revolution began on 10 October 1911, resulting in the abdication of the Chinese Emperor, Puyi, on 12 February 1912. Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China. In reality, however, the Republic controlled very little of the country. Much of China was divided between various regional warlords. The Republican government established a new "nationalist people's army and a national people's party"—the Kuomintang. In 1920, the Kuomintang opened relations with Soviet Russia. With Soviet help, the Republic of China built up the nationalist people's army. With the development of the nationalist army, a Northern Expedition was planned to smash the power of the warlords of the northern part of the country. This Northern Expedition became a point of contention over foreign policy by Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin tried to persuade the small Chinese Communist Party to merge with the Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalists to bring about a bourgeois revolution before attempting to bring about a Soviet-style working class revolution. Trotsky wanted the Communist Party to complete an orthodox proletarian revolution and have clear class independence from the KMT. Stalin funded the KMT during the expedition. Stalin countered Trotskyist criticism by making a secret speech in which he said that Chiang's right-wing Kuomintang were the only ones capable of defeating the imperialists, that Chiang Kai-shek had funding from the rich merchants, and that his forces were to be utilized until squeezed for all usefulness like a lemon before being discarded. However, Chiang quickly reversed the tables in the Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927 by massacring the Communist Party in Shanghai midway through the Northern Expedition. Defeat and exile (1927–1928) During this time Trotsky gave the eulogy at the funeral of his friend, the Soviet diplomat Adolph Joffe, in November 1927. It would be the last speech that Trotsky would give in the Soviet Union. When the XV Party Congress made United Opposition views incompatible with membership in the Communist Party, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters capitulated and renounced their alliance with the Left Opposition. Trotsky and most of his followers, on the other hand, refused to surrender and stayed the course. Trotsky was exiled to Alma Ata, Kazakhstan on 31 January 1928. He was expelled from the Soviet Union to Turkey in February 1929, accompanied by his wife Natalia Sedova and their eldest son, Lev. Fate of Left Oppositionists after Trotsky's exile (1929–1941) After Trotsky's expulsion from the Soviet Union, Trotskyists within the Soviet Union began to waver. Between 1929 and 1932, most leading members of the Left Opposition surrendered to Stalin, "admitted their mistakes" and were reinstated in the Communist Party. One initial exception to this was Christian Rakovsky, who inspired Trotsky between 1929 and 1934 with his refusal to capitulate as state suppression of any remaining opposition to Stalin increased by the year. In late 1932, Rakovsky had failed with an attempt to flee the Soviet Union and was exiled to Yakutia in March 1933. Answering Trotsky's request, the French mathematician and Trotskyist Jean Van Heijenoort, together with his fellow activist Pierre Frank, unsuccessfully called on the influential Soviet author Maxim Gorky to intervene in favor of Christian Rakovsky, and boarded the ship he was traveling on near Constantinople. According to Heijenoort, they only managed to meet Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, who reportedly told them that his father was indisposed, but promised to pass on their request. Rakovsky was the last prominent Trotskyist to capitulate to Stalin in April 1934, when Rakovsky formally "admitted his mistakes" (his letter to Pravda, titled There Should Be No Mercy, depicted Trotsky and his supporters as "agents of the German Gestapo"). Rakovsky was appointed to high office in the Commissariat for Health and allowed to return to Moscow, also serving as Soviet ambassador to Japan in 1935. However, Rakovsky was cited in allegations involving the killing of Sergey Kirov, and was arrested and imprisoned in late 1937, during the Great Purge. Almost all Trotskyists who were still within the Soviet Union's borders were executed in the Great Purges of 1936–1938, although Rakovsky survived until the Medvedev Forest massacre of September 1941, where he was shot dead along with 156 other prisoners on Stalin's orders, less than three months into the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. Also among the Medvedev Forest victims was Trotsky's sister/Kamenev's first wife, Olga Kameneva. Exile (1929–1940) In February 1929, Trotsky was deported from the Soviet Union to his new exile in Turkey. During his first two months in Turkey, Trotsky lived with his wife and eldest son at the Soviet Union Consulate in Istanbul and then at a nearby hotel in the city. In April 1929, Trotsky, his wife and son were moved to the island of Büyükada by the Turkish authorities. On Büyükada, they were moved into a house called the Yanaros mansion. During his exile in Turkey, Trotsky was under the surveillance of the Turkish police forces of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Trotsky was also at risk from the many former White Army officers who lived on Prinkipo, officers who had opposed the October Revolution and who had been defeated by Trotsky and the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. However, Trotsky's European supporters volunteered to serve as bodyguards and assured his safety. At this time, he made requests to enter Belgium, France, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom, but all refused access. In 1931, Trotsky wrote a letter to a friend entitled "What is Fascism" in which he attempted to define fascism and asserted that the Comintern was wrong to describe the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera as "fascist" because it wasn't a mass movement arising from a base in the lower classes. On 20 February 1932, Trotsky and all of his family lost their Soviet citizenship and were forbidden to enter the Soviet Union. In 1932, Trotsky entered via a port into the fascist Kingdom of Italy on his way to a socialist conference in Denmark. By the end of 1932, Trotsky had joined a conspiratorial political bloc with the anti-Stalin opposition inside the USSR. There was no evidence of any alliance with Nazi Germany or Japan, as the Soviet Union government claimed. The alleged members of the anti-Stalin bloc were Zinovievites, rightists and Trotskyists who "capitulated" to Stalin. Kamenev and Zinoviev were also alleged members of the bloc. Trotsky wanted by no means that the alliance became a fusion, and he was afraid of the right gaining much power inside the bloc. Historian Pierre Broué concluded that the bloc dissolved in early 1933, since some of its members like Zinoviev and Kamenev joined Stalin again, and because there were no letters in the Trotsky Harvard archive mentioning the bloc after 1932. In July 1933, Trotsky was offered asylum in France by Prime Minister Édouard Daladier. Trotsky accepted the offer, but he was forbidden to live in Paris and soon found himself under the surveillance of the French police. From July 1933 to February 1934, Trotsky and his wife lived in Royan. The philosopher and activist Simone Weil also arranged for Trotsky and his bodyguards to stay for a few days at her parents' house. Following the 6 February 1934 crisis in France, the French minister of internal affairs, Albert Sarraut, signed a decree to deport Trotsky from France. However, no foreign government was found willing to accept Trotsky within its borders. Accordingly, the French authorities instructed Trotsky to move to a residence in the tiny village of Barbizon under the strict surveillance of the French police, where Trotsky found his contact with the outside world to be even worse than during his exile in Turkey. In May 1935, soon after the French government had agreed to the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union government, Trotsky was officially told that he was no longer welcome in France. After weighing his options, Trotsky applied to move to Norway. After obtaining permission from Justice Minister Trygve Lie to enter the country, Trotsky and his wife became a guest of Konrad Knudsen at Norderhov, near Hønefoss, and spent over a year living at Knudsen's house, from 18 June 1935 to 2 September 1936, although Trotsky was hospitalized for a few weeks at the nearby Oslo Community Hospital from 19 September 1935. Following French media complaints about Trotsky's role in encouraging the mass strikes in France in May and June 1936 with his articles, the Johan Nygaardsvold-led Norwegian government began to exhibit disquiet about Trotsky's actions. In the summer of 1936, Trotsky's asylum was increasingly made a political issue by the fascist Nasjonal Samling, led by Vidkun Quisling, along with an increase in pressure from the Soviet government on the Norwegian authorities. On 5 August 1936, Knudsen's house was burgled by fascists from the Nasjonal Samling while Trotsky and his wife were out on a seashore trip with Knudsen and his wife. The burglars targeted Trotsky's works and archives for vandalism. The raid was largely thwarted by Knudsen's daughter, Hjørdis, although the burglars did take a few papers from the nearest table as they left. Although the perpetrators were caught and put on trial, the "evidence" obtained in the burglary was used by the government to make claims against Trotsky. On 14 August 1936, the Soviet Press Agency TASS announced the discovery of a "Trotskyist–Zinovievist" plot and the imminent start of the Trial of the Sixteen accused. Trotsky demanded a complete and open enquiry into Moscow's accusations. The accused were sentenced to death, including Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, and executed on 25 August 1936. On 26 August 1936, eight policemen arrived at Knudsen's house demanding that Trotsky sign new conditions for residing in Norway. These conditions included agreeing to write no more about current political matters, to give no interviews, and to have all his correspondence (incoming and outgoing) inspected by the police. Trotsky categorically refused the conditions, and Trotsky was then told that he and his wife would soon be moved to another residence. The following day Trotsky was interrogated by the police about his political activities, with the police officially citing Trotsky as a "witness" to the fascist raid of 5 August 1936. On 2 September 1936, four weeks after the break-in at Knudsen's house, Trygve Lie ordered that Trotsky and his wife be transferred to a farm in Hurum, where they were under house arrest. The treatment of Trotsky and his wife at Hurum was harsh, as they were forced to stay indoors for 22 hours per day under the constant guard of thirteen policemen, with only one hour permitted twice a day for a walk on the farm. Trotsky was prevented from posting any letters and prevented from arguing back against his critics in Norway and beyond. Only Trotsky's lawyers and the Norwegian Labour Party Parliamentary leader, Olav Scheflo, were permitted to visit. From October 1936, even the outdoor walks were prohibited for Trotsky and his wife. Trotsky did eventually manage to smuggle out one letter on 18 December 1936, titled The Moscow "Confessions". On 19 December 1936, Trotsky and his wife were deported from Norway after being put on the Norwegian oil tanker Ruth, under guard by Jonas Lie. When later living in Mexico, Trotsky was utterly scathing about the treatment he received during his 108 days at Hurum, and accused the Norwegian government of trying to prevent him from publicly voicing his strong opposition to the Trial of the Sixteen and other show trials, saying: The Ruth arrived in Mexico on 9 January 1937. On Trotsky's arrival, the Mexican president, Lázaro Cárdenas, welcomed Trotsky to Mexico and arranged for his special train The Hidalgo to bring Trotsky to Mexico City from the port of Tampico. From January 1937 to April 1939, Trotsky and his wife lived in the Coyoacán area of Mexico City at La Casa Azul (The Blue House), the home of the painter Diego Rivera and Rivera's wife and fellow painter, Frida Kahlo, with whom Trotsky had an affair. His final move was a few blocks away to a residence on Avenida Viena in April 1939, following a break with Rivera. Trotsky wrote prolifically while in exile, penning several key works, including his History of the Russian Revolution (1930) and The Revolution Betrayed (1936), a critique of the Soviet Union under Stalinism. He argued that the Soviet state had become a "degenerated workers' state" controlled by an undemocratic bureaucracy, which would eventually either be overthrown via a political revolution establishing a workers' democracy, or degenerate into a capitalist class. While in Mexico, Trotsky also worked closely with James P. Cannon, Joseph Hansen, and Farrell Dobbs of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States, and other supporters. Cannon, a long-time leading member of the American communist movement, had supported Trotsky in the struggle against Stalinism since he had first read Trotsky's criticisms of the Soviet Union in 1928. Trotsky's critique of the Stalinist regime, though banned, was distributed to leaders of the Comintern. Among his other supporters was Chen Duxiu, founder of the Chinese Communist Party. While in Mexico, Trotsky worked with André Breton and Diego Rivera to write the Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art, which inspired the creation of the organization, the International Federation of Independent Revolutionary Art (FIARI) in 1938. This organization was short-lived and ended before 1940. Moscow show trials In August 1936, the first Moscow show trial of the so-called "Trotskyite–Zinovievite Terrorist Center" was staged in front of an international audience. During the trial, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other accused, most of them prominent Old Bolsheviks, confessed to having plotted with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership. The court found everybody guilty and sentenced the defendants to death, Trotsky, in absentia. The second show trial of Karl Radek, Grigori Sokolnikov, Yuri Pyatakov and 14 others, took place in January 1937, during which more alleged conspiracies and crimes were linked to Trotsky. The findings were published in the book "Not Guilty". Fourth International For fear of splitting the Communist movement, Trotsky initially opposed the idea of establishing parallel Communist parties or a parallel international Communist organization that would compete with the Third International. In mid-1933, after the Nazi takeover in Germany and the Comintern's response to it, he changed his mind. He said: In 1938, Trotsky and his supporters founded the Fourth International, which was intended to be a revolutionary and internationalist alternative to the Stalinist Comintern. Dies Committee Towards the end of 1939, Trotsky agreed to go to the United States to appear as a witness before the Dies Committee of the House of Representatives, a forerunner of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Representative Martin Dies Jr., chairman of the committee, demanded the suppression of the American Communist Party. Trotsky intended to use the forum to expose the NKVD's activities against him and his followers. He made it clear that he also intended to argue against the suppression of the American Communist Party and to use the committee as a platform for a call to transform World War II into a world revolution. Many of his supporters argued against his appearance. When the committee learned the nature of the testimony Trotsky intended to present, it refused to hear him, and he was denied a visa to enter the United States. On hearing about it, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union immediately accused Trotsky of being in the pay of the oil magnates and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Final months After quarreling with Diego Rivera, Trotsky moved to his final residence on Avenida Viena in April 1939. On 27 February 1940, Trotsky wrote a document known as "Trotsky's Testament", in which he expressed his final thoughts and feelings for posterity. He was suffering from high blood pressure, and feared that he would suffer a cerebral haemorrhage. After forcefully denying Stalin's accusations that he had betrayed the working class, he thanked his friends and above all his wife, Natalia Sedova, for their loyal support: Assassination After a failed attempt to have Trotsky murdered in March 1939, Stalin assigned the overall organization of implementing the task to the NKVD officer Pavel Sudoplatov, who, in turn, co-opted Nahum Eitingon. According to Sudoplatov's Special Tasks, the NKVD proceeded to set up three NKVD agent networks to carry out the murder; these three networks were designed to operate entirely autonomously from the NKVD's hitherto-established spy networks in the U.S. and Mexico. On 24 May 1940, Trotsky survived a raid on his villa by armed assassins led by the NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich and Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. Trotsky's 14-year-old grandson, Vsevolod Platonovich "Esteban" Volkov (born 7 March 1926), was shot in the foot. A young assistant and bodyguard of Trotsky, Robert Sheldon Harte, disappeared with the attackers and was later found murdered; it is probable that he was an accomplice who granted them access to the villa. Trotsky's other guards fended off the attackers. Following the failed assassination attempt, Trotsky wrote an article titled "Stalin Seeks My Death" on 8 June 1940, in which he stated that another assassination attempt was certain. On 20 August 1940, Trotsky was attacked in his study by Spanish-born NKVD agent Ramón Mercader, who used an ice axe as a weapon. A mountaineering ice axe has a narrow end, called the pick, and a flat wide end called the adze. The adze of the axe wounded Trotsky, fracturing his parietal bone and penetrating into his brain. The blow to his head was bungled and failed to kill Trotsky instantly. Witnesses stated that Trotsky spat on Mercader and began struggling fiercely with him, which resulted in Mercader's hand being broken. Hearing the commotion, Trotsky's bodyguards burst into the room and nearly beat Mercader to death, but Trotsky stopped them, laboriously stating that the assassin should be made to answer questions. Trotsky was then taken to a hospital and operated on, surviving for more than a day, but dying, at the age of 60, on 21 August 1940 from exsanguination and shock. Mercader later testified at his trial: According to James P. Cannon, the Trotskyist secretary of the American Socialist Workers Party, Trotsky's last words were "I will not survive this attack. Stalin has finally accomplished the task he attempted unsuccessfully before." Mercader was tried and convicted of the murder and spent the next 20 years in a Mexican prison. Stalin wrote that the assassin of Trotsky was a dangerous Trotskyist. This is why Mercader had no awards initially, though his mother was presented with the Order of Lenin for her own part of the operation. Ramón Mercader could not be either assassinated or freed from prison by the Soviets. But when he had been released from jail in 1960 and arrived to the USSR in 1961 Leonid Brezhnev signed a sentence to award Ramon Ivanovich Lopez with the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star of the Hero, and the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union "for the special deed". The KGB boss Alexander Shelepin presented all these awards to Ramón Mercader in person. Legacy Trotsky's house in Coyoacán has been preserved in much the same condition as it was on the day he was assassinated there, and is now the Leon Trotsky Museum in Mexico City, run by a board which includes his grandson Esteban Volkov. Trotsky's grave is located on its grounds. The foundation "International Friends of the Leon Trotsky Museum" has been organized to raise funds to improve the museum further. Trotsky was never formally rehabilitated during the rule of the Soviet government, despite the de-Stalinization-era rehabilitation of most other Old Bolsheviks killed during the Great Purges. His son, Sergei Sedov, who died in 1937, was rehabilitated in 1988, as was Nikolai Bukharin. Beginning in 1989, Trotsky's books, forbidden until 1987, were published in the Soviet Union. Trotsky was rehabilitated on 16 June 2001 by the General Prosecutor's Office (Certificates of Rehabilitation No. 13/2182-90, No. 13-2200-99 in Archives Research Center "Memorial"). Contributions to Marxist theory Trotsky considered himself to be a "Bolshevik-Leninist," arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party. He viewed himself as an advocate of orthodox Marxism. His politics differed in some aspects from those of Stalin or Mao Zedong, most importantly in his rejection of the theory of Socialism in one country and his declaring of the need for an international "permanent revolution." Numerous Fourth Internationalist groups around the world continue to describe themselves as Trotskyists and see themselves as standing in this tradition. However, they have different interpretations of the conclusions to be drawn from this. Supporters of the Fourth International echo Trotsky's opposition to Stalinist totalitarianism, advocating political revolution and arguing that socialism cannot sustain itself without democracy. Permanent Revolution The Permanent Revolution concept is the theory that the bourgeois democratic tasks in countries with delayed bourgeois democratic development can only be accomplished through the establishment of a workers' state, and that the creation of a workers' state would inevitably involve inroads against capitalist property. Thus, the accomplishment of bourgeois democratic tasks passes over into proletarian tasks. Although most closely associated with Leon Trotsky, the call for a "Permanent Revolution" is first found in the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in March 1850, in the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution, in their Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League: Trotsky's conception of the Permanent Revolution is based on his understanding, drawing on the work of the founder of Russian Marxism Georgy Plekhanov, that in 'backward' countries the tasks of the Bourgeois Democratic Revolution could not be achieved by the bourgeoisie itself. Trotsky first developed this conception in collaboration with Alexander Parvus in late 1904–1905. The relevant articles were later collected in Trotsky's books 1905 and in "Permanent Revolution", which also contains his essay "Results and Prospects." Some Trotskyists have argued that the state of the Third World shows that capitalism offers no way forward for underdeveloped countries, thus again proving the central tenet of the theory. United front Trotsky was a central figure in the Comintern during its first four congresses. During this time, he helped to generalize the strategy and tactics of the Bolsheviks to newly formed Communist parties across Europe and further afield. From 1921 onwards, the united front, a method of uniting revolutionaries and reformists in the common struggle while winning some of the workers to revolution, was the central tactic put forward by the Comintern after the defeat of the German revolution. After he was exiled and politically marginalized by Stalinism, Trotsky continued to argue for a united front against fascism in Germany and Spain. According to Joseph Choonara of the British Socialist Workers Party in International Socialism, his articles on the united front represent an essential part of his political legacy. See also Fourth International Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Group of Democratic Centralism Labor army Leon Trotsky bibliography List of Trotskyist internationals List of Trotskyist organizations by country Frida, 2002 film Variations on the Death of Trotsky, 1991 play Notes References Bibliography External links Trotsky in Havana by Dimitri Prieto from Havana Times FBI records relating to Trotsky's murder The Contradiction of Trotsky by Claude Lefort Uncommon Knowledge. Interview with Christopher Hitchens and Robert Service about Leon Trotsky "How We Made the October Revolution" by Leon Trotsky. The New York Times, 1919. Works 1879 births 1940 deaths
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citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies Latin Europeans, citizens of Latin Europe countries and dependencies People with the surname Denis Latin (born 1966), a Croatian television host Ivo Latin (1929–2002), former speaker of the Parliament of Croatia and Mayor of Zagreb Language Latin languages or Romance languages, modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin Latin alphabet, writing system used by the ancient Romans Latin script, writing system used for most contemporary European languages Archaic Latin, Latin language before 75 BC Classical Latin, literary Latin language of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire Late Latin, written Latin of late antiquity Vulgar Latin, non-standard Latin language variety spoken by the people of Ancient Rome Medieval Latin, Latin language of the Medieval era Renaissance Latin, Latin language of the Renaissance era New Latin, revival of the Latin language between c. 1375 and c. 1900 Contemporary Latin, the form of the Latin language used since the
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for followers of Western Christianity during the Middle Ages Latin Americans, the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies Latin Europeans, citizens of Latin Europe countries and dependencies People with the surname Denis Latin (born 1966), a Croatian television host Ivo Latin (1929–2002), former speaker of the Parliament of Croatia and Mayor of Zagreb Language Latin languages or Romance languages, modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin Latin alphabet, writing system used by the ancient Romans Latin script, writing system used for most contemporary European languages Archaic Latin, Latin language before 75 BC Classical Latin, literary Latin language of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire Late Latin, written Latin of late antiquity Vulgar Latin, non-standard Latin language variety spoken by the people of Ancient Rome Medieval Latin, Latin language of the Medieval era Renaissance Latin, Latin language of the Renaissance era New Latin, revival of the Latin language between c. 1375 and c.
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provided to patrons through electronic resources. Typically, a reference desk can be consulted either in person, by telephone, through email or online chat, although a library user may be asked to come to the library in person for help with more involved research questions. A staffed and knowledgeable reference desk is an essential part of a library. The services that are provided at a reference desk may vary depending on the type of library, its purpose, its resources, and its staff. History Reference services did not become commonplace in libraries until the late 1800s. These services initially began in public libraries. At first librarians were hesitant to offer reference services because many libraries did not have a large enough staff to provide the services without other duties being neglected. Beginning in 1883 with the Boston Public Library, libraries began to hire librarians whose primary duty was to provide reference services. One of the earliest proponents of references services was Samuel Swett Green. He wrote an article titled "Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers" which had a large impact on the future of reference services. Utor (2008) defined reference services as a direct personal assistance to readers seeking information through direct contact between the reference librarian and the user. Reference desks changed dramatically with the emergence of information technology. Resources Resources that are often kept at a library reference desk may include: A computer with internet access. Librarians use both the public web and subscription databases to find and evaluate information and research sources. A small collection of reference books (called ready reference) that are most often used, so that the librarians can reach them quickly, especially when they are on the phone, and so that the books will be returned in time for someone else to use later the same day. The library's full reference collection is usually nearby as well. Newspaper clipping files and other rare or restricted items that must be returned to the reference desk. Index cards with the answers to frequently asked questions, and/or drawers with folders of pamphlets and photocopies of pages that, from previous experience, were difficult to find. These enable librarians to find such information quickly without leaving the desk—even faster than they could look it up in a reference book or using the Internet. Books and other items that are being held for library users who asked the librarian by phone to set them aside for them to pick up later the same day, or within the next few days. Books from the circulating collection that have been set aside for students working on a special assignment, and are temporarily designated to be used only within the library until the project is due. Printed lists of items in the library that are not in the catalogue, such as newspapers, school yearbooks, old telephone directories, college course catalogues, and local history sources. Services Services that are often available at a library reference desk include: A sign-up sheet for reserving computers with Internet access, or word processing software. The ability to place the book 'on hold', which prevents the person who has borrowed it from renewing it. The person who placed the 'hold' is notified when the book has been returned. (Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.) The ability to request interlibrary loan of books and other material from other branch libraries in the same library system, or from a cooperating library anywhere in the world. (Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.) The opportunity to recommend that the library purchase something for its collection that it doesn't have, which may be needed or of interest to other library users. The librarian who
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the phone, and so that the books will be returned in time for someone else to use later the same day. The library's full reference collection is usually nearby as well. Newspaper clipping files and other rare or restricted items that must be returned to the reference desk. Index cards with the answers to frequently asked questions, and/or drawers with folders of pamphlets and photocopies of pages that, from previous experience, were difficult to find. These enable librarians to find such information quickly without leaving the desk—even faster than they could look it up in a reference book or using the Internet. Books and other items that are being held for library users who asked the librarian by phone to set them aside for them to pick up later the same day, or within the next few days. Books from the circulating collection that have been set aside for students working on a special assignment, and are temporarily designated to be used only within the library until the project is due. Printed lists of items in the library that are not in the catalogue, such as newspapers, school yearbooks, old telephone directories, college course catalogues, and local history sources. Services Services that are often available at a library reference desk include: A sign-up sheet for reserving computers with Internet access, or word processing software. The ability to place the book 'on hold', which prevents the person who has borrowed it from renewing it. The person who placed the 'hold' is notified when the book has been returned. (Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.) The ability to request interlibrary loan of books and other material from other branch libraries in the same library system, or from a cooperating library anywhere in the world. (Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.) The opportunity to recommend that the library purchase something for its collection that it doesn't have, which may be needed or of interest to other library users. The librarian who staffs the reference desk can usually do the following by virtue of their professional training and experience: The librarian can look up a brief, factual answer to a specific question. The librarian can use the catalogue to find out whether the library owns an item with a particular title or author, or that contains a short story, chapter, song, or poem with a particular title, or to compile a list of books by a particular author or on a particular subject. The librarian can briefly teach the user how to use the catalogue and how to use its advanced features, or recommend the proper subject words or terms that are used in the catalogue for the topic the user has in mind. The librarian can often take the library user directly to the shelves with books on a certain topic without using the catalogue. The librarian is familiar with the contents of hundreds of reference books, and can recommend books that might contain the answer to a particular question. The librarian can teach the library user to use online databases such as for magazine and newspaper articles, and recommend
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and civil society also continued the Roman practice whereby the leap day was simply not counted so that a leap year was only reckoned as 365 days. Henry III of England's instructed magistrates to ignore the leap day when persons were being ordered to appear before the court within a year. The practical application of the rule is obscure. It was regarded as in force in the time of the famous lawyer Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634) because he cites it in his Institutes of the Lawes of England. However, Coke merely quotes the act with a short translation and does not give practical examples. Gregorian calendar In the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar in most of the world, most years that are multiples of 4 are leap years. In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding one extra day in the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a tropical year by almost 6 hours. Some exceptions to this basic rule are required since the duration of a tropical year is slightly less than 365.25 days. The Gregorian reform modified the Julian calendar's scheme of leap years as follows: Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. Over a period of four centuries, the accumulated error of adding a leap day every four years amounts to about three extra days. The Gregorian calendar therefore omits three leap days every 400 years, which is the length of its leap cycle. This is done by omitting February 29 in the three century years (multiples of 100) that are not multiples of 400. The years 2000 and 2400 are leap years, but not 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200 and 2300. By this rule, an entire leap cycle is 400 years which total 146,097 days, and the average number of days per year is 365 + − + = = 365.2425. The rule can be applied to years before the Gregorian reform (the proleptic Gregorian calendar), and before the year 1 if astronomical year numbering is used. The Gregorian calendar was designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after March 21) remains close to the vernal equinox. The "Accuracy" section of the "Gregorian calendar" article discusses how well the Gregorian calendar achieves this design goal, and how well it approximates the tropical year. Algorithm The following pseudocode determines whether a year is a leap year or a common year in the Gregorian calendar (and in the proleptic Gregorian calendar before 1582). The year variable being tested is the integer representing the number of the year in the Gregorian calendar. if (year is not divisible by 4) then (it is a common year) else if (year is not divisible by 100) then (it is a leap year) else if (year is not divisible by 400) then (it is a common year) else (it is a leap year) The algorithm may be used with proleptic Gregorian calendar years before 1, but only if the year is expressed with astronomical year numbering instead of the BC or BCE notation. The algorithm is not used with the Julian calendar, since the Julian calendar holds that all years divisible by 4 are leap years without exception. Leap day February 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years, and is called the leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure because the Earth does not orbit the Sun in precisely 365 days. The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunisolar calendar and named many of its days after the syzygies of the moon: the new moon (Kalendae or calends, hence "calendar") and the full moon (Idus or ides). The Nonae or nones was not the first quarter moon but was exactly one nundina or Roman market week of nine days before the ides, inclusively counting the ides as the first of those nine days. This is what we would call a period of eight days. In 1825, Ideler believed that the lunisolar calendar was abandoned about 450 BC by the decemvirs, who implemented the Roman Republican calendar, used until 46 BC. The days of these calendars were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so February 24 was ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias ("the sixth day before the calends of March") often abbreviated a. d. VI Kal. Mart. The Romans counted days inclusively in their calendars, so this was actually the fifth day before March 1 when counted in the modern exclusive manner (not including the starting day). The Republican calendar's intercalary month was inserted on the first or second day after the Terminalia (a. d. VII Kal. Mar., February 23). The remaining days of Februarius were dropped. This intercalary month, named Intercalaris or Mercedonius, contained 27 days. The religious festivals that were normally celebrated in the last five days of February were moved to the last five days of Intercalaris. Because only 22 or 23 days were effectively added, not a full lunation, the calends and ides of the Roman Republican calendar were no longer associated with the new moon and full moon. The Julian calendar, which was developed in 46 BC by Julius Caesar, and became effective in 45 BC, distributed an extra ten days among the months of the Roman Republican calendar. Caesar also replaced the intercalary month by a single intercalary day, located where the intercalary month used to be. To create the intercalary day, the existing ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias (February 24) was doubled, producing ante diem bis sextum Kalendas Martias. Hence, the year containing the doubled day was a bissextile (bis sextum, "twice sixth") year. For legal purposes, the two days of the bis sextum were considered to be a single day, with the second half being intercalated; but in common practice by 238, when Censorinus wrote, the intercalary day was followed by the last five days of February, a. d. VI, V, IV, III and pridie Kal. Mart. (the days numbered 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 from the beginning of February in a common year), so that the intercalated day was the first half of the doubled day. Thus the intercalated day was effectively inserted between the 23rd and 24th days of February. All later writers, including Macrobius about 430, Bede in 725, and other medieval computists (calculators of Easter), continued to state that the bissextum (bissextile day) occurred before the last five days of February. Until 1970, the Roman Catholic Church always celebrated the feast of Saint Matthias on a. d. VI Kal. Mart., so if the days were numbered from the beginning of the month, it was named February 24 in common years, but the presence of the bissextum in a bissextile year immediately before a. d. VI Kal. Mart. shifted the latter day to February 25 in leap years, with the Vigil of St. Matthias shifting from February 23 to the leap day of February 24. This shift did not take place in pre-Reformation Norway and Iceland; Pope Alexander III ruled that either practice was lawful (Liber Extra, 5. 40. 14. 1). Other feasts normally falling on February 25–28 in common years are also shifted to the following day in a leap year (although they would be on the same day according to the Roman notation). The practice is still observed by those who use the older
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a leap year (although they would be on the same day according to the Roman notation). The practice is still observed by those who use the older calendars. Synchronized calendars (Bengali, Indian and Thai) The Revised Bengali Calendar of Bangladesh and the Indian National Calendar organise their leap years so that every leap day is close to February 29 in the Gregorian calendar and vice versa. This makes it easy to convert dates to or from Gregorian. The Thai solar calendar uses the Buddhist Era (BE) but has been synchronized with the Gregorian since AD 1941. Julian, Coptic and Ethiopian calendars The Julian calendar was instituted in 45 BC at the order of Julius Caesar, and the original intent was to make every fourth year a leap year, but this was not carried out correctly. Augustus ordered some leap years to be omitted to correct the problem, and by AD 8 the leap years were being observed every fourth year, and the observances were consistent up to and including modern times. From AD 8 the Julian calendar received an extra day added to February in years that are multiples of 4 (although the AD year numbering system was not introduced until AD 525). The Coptic calendar and Ethiopian calendar also add an extra day to the end of the year once every four years before a Julian 29-day February. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. However, it is 11 minutes longer than a tropical year. This means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar about every 131 years. Revised Julian calendar The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years that are multiples of four, except for years that are multiples of 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222 days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar, for the time being, does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar at keeping the vernal equinox on or close to March 21. Chinese calendar The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar, the leap month is added according to a rule which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month (二月) then it is simply called "leap second month" i.e. . Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar with an embolismic month. This extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Bet (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years (specifically, in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19). This is to ensure that Passover () is always in the spring as required by the Torah (Pentateuch) in many verses relating to Passover. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting days of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath. In particular, the first day of the Hebrew year can never be Sunday, Wednesday or Friday. This rule is known in Hebrew as "" (), i.e., "Rosh [ha-Shanah, first day of the year] is not Sunday, Wednesday or Friday" (as the Hebrew word is written by three Hebrew letters signifying Sunday, Wednesday and Friday). Accordingly, the first day of Passover is never Monday, Wednesday or Friday. This rule is known in Hebrew as "" (), which has a double meaning — "Passover is not a legend", but also "Passover is not Monday, Wednesday or Friday" (as the Hebrew word is written by three Hebrew letters signifying Monday, Wednesday and Friday). One reason for this rule is that Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar and the tenth day of the Hebrew year, now must never be adjacent to the weekly Sabbath (which is Saturday), i.e., it must never fall on Friday or Sunday, in order not to have two adjacent Sabbath days. However, Yom Kippur can still be on Saturday. A second reason is that Hoshana Rabbah, the 21st day of the Hebrew year, will never be on Saturday. These rules for the Feasts do not apply to the years from the Creation to the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt under Moses. It was at that time (cf. Exodus 13) that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave the Hebrews their "Law" including the days to be kept holy and the feast days and Sabbaths. Years consisting of 12 months have between 353 and 355 days. In a ("in order") 354-day year, months have alternating 30 and 29 day lengths. In a ("lacking") year, the month of Kislev is reduced to 29 days. In a ("filled") year, the month of Marcheshvan is increased to 30 days. 13-month years follow the same pattern, with the addition of the 30-day Adar Alef, giving them between 383 and 385 days. Islamic calendar The observed and calculated versions of the Islamic calendar do not have regular leap days, even though both have lunar months containing 29 or 30 days, generally in alternating order. However, the tabular Islamic calendar used by Islamic astronomers during the Middle Ages and still used by some Muslims does have a regular leap day added to the last month of the lunar year in 11 years of a 30-year cycle. This additional day is found at the end of the last month, Dhu al-Hijjah, which is also the month of the Hajj. Baháʼí calendar The Baháʼí calendar is a solar calendar composed of 19 months of 19 days each (361 days). Years begin at Naw-Rúz, on the vernal equinox, on or about March 21. A period of "Intercalary Days", called Ayyam-i-Ha, is inserted before the 19th month. This period normally has 4 days, but an extra day is added when needed to ensure that the following year starts on the vernal equinox. This is calculated and known years in advance. Solar Hijri calendar The Solar Hijri calendar is the modern Iranian calendar that is also used in Afghanistan. It is an observational calendar that starts on the spring equinox and adds a single intercalated day to the last month (Esfand) once every four or five years; the first leap year occurs as the fifth year of the typical 33-year cycle and the remaining leap years occur every four years through the remainder of the 33-year cycle. This system has less periodic deviation or jitter from its mean year than the Gregorian calendar and operates on the simple rule that the vernal equinox always falls in the 24-hour period ending at noon on New Year's Day. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 years. The Hijri-Shamsi calendar, also adopted by the Ahmadiyya Community, is based on solar calculations and is similar to the Gregorian calendar in its structure with the exception that its epoch is the Hijra. Folk traditions In Ireland and Britain, it is a tradition that women may propose marriage only in leap years. While it has been claimed that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, this is dubious, as the tradition has not been attested before the 19th century. Supposedly, a 1288 law by
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provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art. The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust. The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character. The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west. 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby. The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired. Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other. Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment. Seagram Building Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently. During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world. Two buildings in Baltimore, MD The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places. National Gallery, Berlin Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space. The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building. Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021. Furniture Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames. Educator Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance. Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today. Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision. In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning. Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death. Later years and death Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree. Archives The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals. Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects. Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence). Gallery List of works Early career in Europe (1907–1938) 1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany 1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf 1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf 1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam 1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg 1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee 1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf 1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden 1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben 1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg 1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin 1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany 1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart 1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld 1929 Barcelona Pavilion
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Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies. The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art. The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust. The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character. The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west. 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby. The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired. Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other. Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment. Seagram Building Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently. During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world. Two buildings in Baltimore, MD The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places. National Gallery, Berlin Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space. The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building. Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021. Furniture Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames. Educator Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance. Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today. Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision. In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning. Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and
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Child laundering, the illegal acquisition of children through monetary transactions, etc. Policy
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the illegal acquisition of children through monetary transactions, etc. Policy
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of the crypt on the level below. These were whimsically termed the ""machine guns" of the sacristy and the "light cannons" of the crypt. In 1960, Le Corbusier began a third religious building, the Church of Saint Pierre in the new town of Firminy-Vert, where he had built a Unité d'Habitation and a cultural and sports centre. While he made the original design, construction did not begin until five years after his death, and work continued under different architects until it was completed in 2006. The most spectacular feature of the church is the sloping concrete tower that covers the entire interior, similar to that in the Assembly Building in his complex at Chandigarh. Windows high in the tower illuminate the interior. Le Corbusier originally proposed that tiny windows also project the form of a constellation on the walls. Later architects designed the church to project the constellation Orion. Chandigarh (1951–1956) Le Corbusier's largest and most ambitious project was the design of Chandigarh, the capital city of the Punjab and Haryana States of India, created after India received independence in 1947. Le Corbusier was contacted in 1950 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and invited to propose a project. An American architect, Albert Mayer, had made a plan in 1947 for a city of 150,000 inhabitants, but the Indian government wanted a grander and more monumental city. Corbusier worked on the plan with two British specialists in urban design and tropical climate architecture, Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, and with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, who moved to India and supervised the construction until his death. Le Corbusier, as always, was rhapsodic about his project; "It will be a city of trees," he wrote, "of flowers and water, of houses as simple as those at the time of Homer, and of a few splendid edifices of the highest level of modernism, where the rules of mathematics will reign.". His plan called for residential, commercial and industrial areas, along with parks and a transportation infrastructure. In the middle was the capitol, a complex of four major government buildings; the Palace of the National Assembly, the High Court of Justice; the Palace of Secretariat of Ministers, and the Palace of the Governor. For financial and political reasons, the Palace of the Governor was dropped well into the construction of the city, throwing the final project somewhat off-balance. From the beginning, Le Corbusier worked, as he reported, "Like a forced laborer." He dismissed the earlier American plan as "Faux-Moderne" and overly filled with parking spaces roads. His intent was to present what he had learned in forty years of urban study, and also to show the French government the opportunities they had missed in not choosing him to rebuild French cities after the War. His design made use of many of his favorite ideas: an architectural promenade, incorporating the local landscape and the sunlight and shadows into the design; the use of the Modulor to give a correct human scale to each element; and his favourite symbol, the open hand ("The hand is open to give and to receive"). He placed a monumental open hand statue in a prominent place in the design. Le Corbusier's design called for the use of raw concrete, whose surface not smoothed or polished and which showed the marks of the forms in which it dried. Pierre Jeanneret wrote to his cousin that he was in a continual battle with the construction workers, who could not resist the urge to smooth and finish the raw concrete, particularly when important visitors were coming to the site. At one point one thousand workers were employed on the site of the High Court of Justice. Le Corbusier wrote to his mother, "It is an architectural symphony which surpasses all my hopes, which flashes and develops under the light in a way which is unimaginable and unforgettable. From far, from up close, it provokes astonishment; all made with raw concrete and a cement cannon. Adorable, and grandiose. In all the centuries no one has seen that." The High Court of Justice, begun in 1951, was finished in 1956. The building was radical in its design; a parallelogram topped with an inverted parasol. Along the walls were high concrete grills thick which served as sunshades. The entry featured a monumental ramp and columns that allowed the air to circulate. The pillars were originally white limestone, but in the 1960s they were repainted in bright colors, which better resisted the weather. The Secretariat, the largest building that housed the government offices, was constructed between 1952 and 1958. It is an enormous block long and eight levels high, served by a ramp which extends from the ground to the top level. The ramp was designed to be partly sculptural and partly practical. Since there were no modern building cranes at the time of construction, the ramp was the only way to get materials to the top of the construction site. The Secretariat had two features which were borrowed from his design for the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille: concrete grill sunscreens over the windows and a roof terrace. The most important building of the capitol complex was the Palace of Assembly (1952–61), which faced the High Court at the other end of a five hundred meter esplanade with a large reflecting pool in the front. This building features a central courtyard, over which is the main meeting hall for the Assembly. On the roof on the rear of the building is a signature feature of Le Corbusier, a large tower, similar in form to the smokestack of a ship or the ventilation tower of a heating plant. Le Corbusier added touches of color and texture with an immense tapestry in the meeting hall and large gateway decorated with enamel. He wrote of this building, "A Palace magnificent in its effect, from the new art of raw concrete. It is magnificent and terrible; terrible meaning that there is nothing cold about it to the eyes." Later life and work (1955–1965) The 1950s and 1960s were a difficult period for Le Corbusier's personal life; his wife Yvonne died in 1957, and his mother, to whom he was closely attached, died in 1960. He remained active in a wide variety of fields; in 1955 he published Poéme de l'angle droit, a portfolio of lithographs, published in the same collection as the book Jazz by Henri Matisse. In 1958 he collaborated with the composer Edgar Varèse on a work called Le Poème électronique, a show of sound and light, for the Philips Pavilion at the International Exposition in Brussels. In 1960 he published a new book, L'Atelier de la recherché patiente The workshop of patient research), simultaneously published in four languages. He received growing recognition for his pioneering work in modernist architecture; in 1959, a successful international campaign was launched to have his Villa Savoye, threatened with demolition, declared an historic monument; it was the first time that a work by a living architect received this distinction. In 1962, in the same year as the dedication of the Palace of the Assembly in Chandigarh, the first retrospective exhibit on his work was held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1964, in a ceremony held in his atelier on rue de Sèvres, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur by Culture Minister André Malraux. His later architectural work was extremely varied, and often based on designs of earlier projects. In 1952–1958, he designed a series of tiny vacation cabins, in size, for a site next to the Mediterranean at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. He built a similar cabin for himself, but the rest of the project was not realized until after his death. In 1953–1957, he designed a residential building for Brazilian students for the Cité de la Université in Paris. Between 1954 and 1959, he built the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo. His other projects included a cultural centre and stadium for the town of Firminy, where he had built his first housing project (1955–1958); and a stadium in Baghdad, Iraq (much altered since its construction). He also constructed three new Unités d'Habitation, apartment blocks on the model of the original in Marseille, the first in Berlin (1956–1958), the second in Briey-en-Forêt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Department; and the third (1959–1967) in Firminy. In 1960–1963, he built his only building in the United States; the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jørn Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, commissioned Le Corbusier to create furnishings for the nascent opera house. Le Corbusier designed a tapestry, Les Dés Sont Jetés, which was completed in 1960. Le Corbusier died of a heart attack at age 77 in 1965 after swimming at the French Riviera. At the time of his death, several projects were on the drawing boards: the church of Saint-Pierre in Firminy, finally completed in modified form in 2006; a Palace of Congresses for Strasbourg (1962–65), and a hospital in Venice (1961–1965), which were never built. Le Corbusier designed an art gallery beside the lake in Zürich for gallery owner Heidi Weber in 1962–1967. Now called the Centre Le Corbusier, it is one of his last finished works. Estate The Fondation Le Corbusier (FLC) functions as his official estate. The US copyright representative for the Fondation Le Corbusier is the Artists Rights Society. Ideas The Five Points of a Modern Architecture Le Corbusier defined the principles of his new architecture in Les cinq points de l'architecture moderne, published in 1927, and co-authored by his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret. They summarized the lessons he had learned in the previous years, which he put literally into concrete form in his villas constructed of the late 1920s, most dramatically in the Villa Savoye (1928–1931) The five points are: The Pilotis, or pylon. The building is raised up on reinforced concrete pylons, which allows for free circulation on the ground level, and eliminates dark and damp parts of the house. The Roof Terrace. The sloping roof is replaced by a flat roof; the roof can be used as a garden, for promenades, sports or a swimming pool. The Free Plan. Load-bearing walls are replaced by steel or reinforced concrete columns, so the interior can be freely designed, and interior walls can be put anywhere, or left out entirely. The structure of the building is not visible from the outside. The Ribbon Window. Since the walls do not support the house, the windows can run the entire length of the house, so all rooms can get equal light. The Free Façade. Since the building is supported by columns in the interior, the façade can be much lighter and more open, or made entirely of glass. There is no need for lintels or other structure around the windows. "Architectural Promenade" The "Architectural Promenade" was another idea dear to Le Corbusier, which he particularly put into play in his design of the Villa Savoye. In 1928, in Une Maison, un Palais, he described it: "Arab architecture gives us a precious lesson: it is best appreciated in walking, on foot. It is in walking, in going from one place to another, that you see develop the features of the architecture. In this house (Villa Savoye) you find a veritable architectural promenade, offering constantly varying aspects, unexpected, sometimes astonishing." The promenade at Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier wrote, both in the interior of the house and on the roof terrace, often erased the traditional difference between the inside and outside. Ville Radieuse and Urbanism In the 1930s, Le Corbusier expanded and reformulated his ideas on urbanism, eventually publishing them in La Ville radieuse (The Radiant City) in 1935. Perhaps the most significant difference between the Contemporary City and the Radiant City is that the latter abandoned the class-based stratification of the former; housing was now assigned according to family size, not economic position. Some have read dark overtones into The Radiant City: from the "astonishingly beautiful assemblage of buildings" that was Stockholm, for example, Le Corbusier saw only "frightening chaos and saddening monotony." He dreamed of "cleaning and purging" the city, bringing "a calm and powerful architecture"—referring to steel, plate glass, and reinforced concrete. Although Le Corbusier's designs for Stockholm did not succeed, later architects took his ideas and partly "destroyed" the city with them. Le Corbusier hoped that politically minded industrialists in France would lead the way with their efficient Taylorist and Fordist strategies adopted from American industrial models to reorganize society. As Norma Evenson has put it, "the proposed city appeared to some an audacious and compelling vision of a brave new world, and to others a frigid megalomaniacally scaled negation of the familiar urban ambient." Le Corbusier "His ideas—his urban planning and his architecture—are viewed separately," Perelman noted, "whereas they are one and the same thing." In La Ville radieuse, he conceived an essentially apolitical society, in which the bureaucracy of economic administration effectively replaces the state. Le Corbusier was heavily indebted to the thought of the 19th-century French utopians Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier. There is a noteworthy resemblance between the concept of the unité and Fourier's phalanstery. From Fourier, Le Corbusier adopted at least in part his notion of administrative, rather than political, government. Modulor The Modulor was a standard model of the human form which Le Corbusier devised to determine the correct amount of living space needed for residents in his buildings. It was also his rather original way of dealing with differences between the metric system and British or American system, since the Modulor was not attached to either one. Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system for the scale of architectural proportion. He saw this system as a continuation of the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man", the work of Leon Battista Alberti, and others who used the proportions of the human body to improve the appearance and function of architecture. In addition to the golden ratio, Le Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci numbers, and the double unit. Many scholars see the Modulor as a humanistic expression but it is also argued that: "It's exactly the opposite (...) It's the mathematicization of the body, the standardization of the body, the rationalization of the body." He took Leonardo's suggestion of the golden ratio in human proportions to an extreme: he sectioned his model human body's height at the navel with the two sections in golden ratio, then subdivided those sections in golden ratio at the knees and throat; he used these golden ratio proportions in the Modulor system. Le Corbusier's 1927 Villa Stein in Garches exemplified the Modulor system's application. The villa's rectangular ground plan, elevation, and inner structure closely approximate golden rectangles. Le Corbusier placed systems of harmony and proportion at the centre of his design philosophy, and his faith in the mathematical order of the universe was closely bound to the golden section and the Fibonacci series, which he described as "rhythms apparent to the eye and clear in their relations with one another. And these rhythms are at the very root of human activities. They resound in Man by an organic inevitability, the same fine inevitability which causes the tracing out of the Golden Section by children, old men, savages, and the learned." Open Hand The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is a recurring motif in Le Corbusier's architecture, a sign for him of "peace and reconciliation. It is open to give and open to receive." The largest of the many Open Hand sculptures that Le Corbusier created is a version in Chandigarh, India, known as Open Hand Monument. Furniture Le Corbusier was an eloquent critic of the finely crafted, hand-made furniture, made with rare and exotic woods, inlays and coverings, presented at the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts. Following his usual method, Le Corbusier first wrote a book with his theories of furniture, complete with memorable slogans. In his 1925 book L'Art Décoratif d'aujourd'hui, he called for furniture that used inexpensive materials and could be mass-produced. Le Corbusier described three different furniture types: type-needs, type-furniture, and human-limb objects. He defined human-limb objects as: "Extensions of our limbs and adapted to human functions that are type-needs and type-functions, therefore type-objects and type-furniture. The human-limb object is a docile servant. A good servant is discreet and self-effacing in order to leave his master free. Certainly, works of art are tools, beautiful tools. And long live the good taste manifested by choice, subtlety, proportion, and harmony". He further declared: "Chairs are architecture, sofas are bourgeois". Le Corbusier first relied on ready-made furniture from Thonet to furnish his projects, such as his pavilion at the 1925 Exposition. In 1928, following the publication of his theories, he began experimenting with furniture design. In 1928, he invited the architect Charlotte Perriand to join his studio as a furniture designer. His cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, also collaborated on many of the designs. For the manufacture of his furniture, he turned to the German firm Gebrüder Thonet, which had begun making chairs with tubular steel, a material originally used for bicycles, in the early 1920s. Le Corbusier admired the design of Marcel Breuer and the Bauhaus, who in 1925 had begun making sleek modern tubular club chairs. Mies van der Rohe had begun making his own version in a sculptural curved form with a cane seat in 1927. The first results of the collaboration between Le Corbusier and Perriand were three types of chairs made with chrome-plated tubular steel frames: The LC4, Chaise Longue, (1927–28), with a covering of cowhide, which gave it a touch of exoticism; the Fauteuil Grand Confort (LC3) (1928–29), a club chair with a tubular frame which resembled the comfortable Art Deco club chairs that became popular in the 1920s; and the Fauteuil à dossier basculant (LC4) (1928–29), a low seat suspended in a tubular steel frame, also with a cowhide upholstery. These chairs were designed specifically for two of his projects, the Maison la Roche in Paris and a pavilion for Barbara and Henry Church. All three clearly showed the influence of Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. The line of furniture was expanded with additional designs for Le Corbusier's 1929 Salon d'Automne installation, 'Equipment for the Home'. Despite the intention of Le Corbusier that his furniture should be inexpensive and mass-produced, his pieces were originally costly to make and were not mass-produced until many years later, when he was famous. Controversies There is debate over the apparently variable or contradictory nature of Le Corbusier's political views. In the 1920s, he co-founded and contributed articles about urbanism to the fascist journals Plans, Prélude and L'Homme Réel. He also penned pieces in favour of Nazi anti-semitism for those journals, as well as "hateful editorials". Between 1925 and 1928, Le Corbusier had connections to Le Faisceau, a short-lived French fascist party led by Georges Valois. Valois later became an anti-fascist. Le Corbusier knew another former member of Faisceau, Hubert Lagardelle, a former labor leader and syndicalist who had become disaffected with the political left. In 1934, after Lagardelle had obtained a position at the French embassy in Rome, he arranged for Le Corbusier to lecture on architecture in Italy. Lagardelle later served as minister of labor in the pro-Axis Vichy regime. While Le Corbusier sought commissions from the Vichy regime, particularly the redesign of Marseille after its Jewish population had been forcefully removed, he was unsuccessful, and the only appointment he received from it was membership of a committee studying urbanism. Alexis Carrel, a eugenicist surgeon, appointed Le Corbusier to the Department of Bio-Sociology of the Foundation for the Study of Human Problems, an institute promoting eugenics policies under the Vichy regime. Le Corbusier has been accused of anti-semitism. He wrote to his mother in October 1940, prior to a referendum held by the Vichy government: "The Jews are having a bad time. I occasionally feel sorry. But it appears their blind lust for money has rotted the country". He was also accused of belittling the Muslim population of Algeria, then part of France. When Le Corbusier proposed a plan for the rebuilding of Algiers, he condemned the existing housing for European Algerians, complaining that it was inferior to that inhabited by indigenous Algerians: "the civilized live like rats in holes", while "the barbarians live in solitude, in well-being." His plan for rebuilding Algiers was rejected, and thereafter Le Corbusier mostly avoided politics. Criticism Few other 20th-century architects were criticized, or praised, as much as Le Corbusier. In his eulogy to Le Corbusier at the memorial ceremony for the architect in the courtyard of the Louvre on 1 September 1965, French Culture Minister André Malraux declared, "Le Corbusier had some great rivals, but none of them had the same significance in the revolution of architecture, because none bore insults so patiently and for so long." Later criticism of Le Corbusier was directed at his ideas of urban planning. In 1998 the architectural historian Witold Rybczynski wrote in Time magazine: "He called it the Ville Radieuse, the Radiant City. Despite the poetic title, his urban vision was authoritarian, inflexible and simplistic. Wherever it was tried—in Chandigarh by Le Corbusier himself or in Brasilia by his followers—it failed. Standardization proved inhuman and disorienting. The open spaces were inhospitable; the bureaucratically imposed plan, socially destructive. In the US, the Radiant City took the form of vast urban-renewal schemes and regimented public housing projects that damaged the urban fabric beyond repair. Today, these megaprojects are being dismantled, as superblocks give way to rows of houses fronting streets and sidewalks. Downtowns have discovered that combining, not separating, different activities is the key to success. So is the presence of lively residential neighborhoods, old as well as new. Cities have learned that preserving history makes more sense than starting from zero. It has been an expensive lesson, and not one that Le Corbusier intended, but it too is part of his legacy." Technological historian and architecture critic Lewis Mumford wrote in Yesterday's City of Tomorrow that the extravagant heights of Le Corbusier's skyscrapers had no reason for existence apart from the fact that they had become technological possibilities. The open spaces in his central areas had no reason for existence either, Mumford wrote, since on the scale he imagined there was no motive during the business day for pedestrian circulation in the office quarter. By "mating utilitarian and financial image of the skyscraper city to the romantic image of the organic environment, Le Corbusier had, in fact, produced a sterile hybrid." The public housing projects influenced by his ideas have been criticized for isolating poor communities in monolithic high-rises and breaking the social ties integral to a community's development. One of his most influential detractors has been Jane Jacobs, who delivered a scathing critique of Le Corbusier's urban design theories in her seminal work The Death and Life of Great American Cities. For some critics, the urbanism of Le Corbusier's was the model for a fascist state. These critics cited Le Corbusier himself when he wrote that "not all citizens could become leaders. The technocratic elite, the industrialists, financiers, engineers, and artists would be located in the city centre, while the workers would be removed to the fringes of the city". Alessandro Hseuh-Bruni wrote in "Le Corbusier’s "Fatal Flaws – A Critique of Modernism" that "In addition to setting the stage for infrastructural developments to come, Le Corbusier’s blueprints and models, while not so well-regarded by urban planners and street dwellers alike, also examined the sociological side of cities in great detail. World War II left millions dead and transformed the urban landscape throughout much of Europe, from England to the Soviet Union, and housing on a mass scale was necessary. Le Corbusier personally took this as a challenge to accommodate the masses on an unprecedented scale. This mission statement manifested itself in the form of “Cité Radieuse” (The Radiant City), located in Marseille, France. The construction of this utopian sanctuary was dependent on the destruction of traditional neighborhoods – he showed no regard for French cultural heritage and tradition. Entire neighborhoods were ravaged to make way for these dense, uniform concrete blocks. If he had his way, Paris’ elite Marais community would have been completely destroyed. In addition, the theme of segregation that plagued earlier models of Le Corbusier’s continued in this supposed utopian vision, with the 5 wealthy elite being the only ones to access the luxuries of modernism." Influence Le Corbusier was concerned by problems he saw in industrial cities at the turn of the 20th century. He thought that industrial housing techniques led to crowding, dirtiness, and a lack of a moral landscape. He was a leader of the modernist movement to create better living conditions and a better society through housing. Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities of Tomorrow heavily influenced Le Corbusier and his contemporaries. Le Corbusier revolutionized urban planning, and was a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM). One of the first to realize how the automobile would change human society, Le Corbusier conceived the city of the future with large apartment buildings isolated in a park-like setting on pilotis. Le Corbusier's plans were adopted by builders of public housing in Europe and the United States. In Great Britain urban planners turned to Le Corbusier's "Cities in the Sky" as a cheaper method of building public housing from the late 1950s. Le Corbusier criticized any effort at ornamentation of the buildings. The large spartan structures in cities, but not part of it, have been criticized for being boring and unfriendly to pedestrians. Several of the many architects who worked for Le Corbusier in his studio became prominent, including painter-architect Nadir Afonso, who absorbed Le Corbusier's ideas into his own aesthetics theory. Lúcio Costa's city plan of Brasília and the industrial city of Zlín planned by František Lydie Gahura in the Czech Republic are based on his ideas. Le Corbusier's thinking had profound effects on city planning and architecture in the Soviet Union during the Constructivist era. Le Corbusier harmonized and lent credence to the idea of space as a set of destinations between which mankind moved continuously. He gave credibility to the automobile as transporter, and to freeways in urban spaces. His philosophies were useful to urban real estate developers in the American post-World War II period because they justified and lent intellectual support to the desire to raze traditional urban space for high density, high profit urban concentration. The freeways connected this new urbanism to low density, low cost, highly profitable suburban locales available to be developed for middle class single-family housing. Missing from this scheme of movement was connectivity between isolated urban villages created for lower-middle and working classes, and the destination points in Le Corbusier's plan: suburban and rural areas, and urban commercial centers. As designed, the freeways traveled over, at, or beneath grade levels of the living spaces of the urban poor, for example the Cabrini–Green housing project in Chicago. Because such projects were devoid of freeway-exit ramps and were cut off by freeway rights-of-way, they became isolated from the jobs and services that had been concentrated at Le Corbusier's nodal transportation end points. As jobs migrated to the suburbs, these urban-village dwellers effectively found themselves stranded without freeway-access points in their communities or public mass transit that could economically reach suburban job centers. Late in the post-War period, suburban job centers found labor shortages to be such a critical problem that they sponsored urban-to-suburban shuttle-bus services in order to fill vacant working class and lower-middle class jobs, which did not typically pay enough to afford car ownership. Le Corbusier influenced architects and urbanists worldwide. In the United States, Shadrach Woods; in Spain, Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza; in Brazil, Oscar Niemeyer; In Mexico, Mario Pani Darqui; in Chile, Roberto Matta; in Argentina, Antoni Bonet i Castellana (a Catalan exile), Juan Kurchan, Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, Amancio Williams, and Clorindo Testa in his first era; in Uruguay, the professors Justino Serralta and Carlos Gómez Gavazzo; in Colombia, Germán Samper Gnecco, Rogelio Salmona, and Dicken Castro; in Peru, Abel Hurtado and José Carlos Ortecho; in Lebanon, Joseph Philippe Karam. Fondation Le Corbusier The Fondation Le Corbusier is a private foundation and archive honoring the work of Le Corbusier. It operates Maison La Roche, a museum located in the 16th arrondissement at 8–10, square du Dr Blanche, Paris, France, which is open daily except Sunday. The foundation was established in 1968. It now owns Maison La Roche and Maison Jeanneret (which form the foundation's headquarters), as well as the apartment occupied by Le Corbusier from 1933 to 1965 at rue Nungesser et Coli in Paris 16e, and the "Small House" he built for his parents in Corseaux on the shores of Lac Leman (1924). Maison La Roche and Maison Jeanneret (1923–24), also known as the La Roche-Jeanneret house, is a pair of semi-detached houses that was Le Corbusier's third commission in Paris. They are laid out at right angles to each other, with iron, concrete, and blank, white façades setting off a curved two-story gallery space. Maison La Roche is now a museum containing about 8,000 original drawings, studies and plans by Le Corbusier (in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret from 1922 to 1940), as well as about 450 of his paintings, about 30 enamels, about 200 other works on paper, and a sizable collection of written and photographic archives. It describes itself as the world's largest collection of Le Corbusier drawings, studies, and plans. Awards In 1937, Le Corbusier was named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. In 1945, he was promoted to Officier of the Légion d'honneur. In 1952, he was promoted to Commandeur of the Légion d'honneur. Finally, on 2 July 1964, Le Corbusier was named Grand Officier of the Légion d'honneur. He received the Frank P. Brown Medal and AIA Gold Medal in 1961. The University of Cambridge awarded Le Corbusier an honorary degree in June 1959. World Heritage Site In 2016, seventeen of Le Corbusier's buildings spanning seven countries were identified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, reflecting "outstanding contribution to the Modern Movement". Memorials Le Corbusier's portrait was featured on the 10 Swiss francs banknote, pictured with his distinctive eyeglasses. The following place-names carry his name: Place Le Corbusier, Paris, near the site of his atelier on the Rue de Sèvres Le Corbusier Boulevard, Laval, Quebec, Canada Place Le Corbusier in his hometown of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland Le Corbusier Street in the partido of Malvinas Argentinas, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Le Corbusier Street in Le Village Parisien of Brossard, Quebec, Canada Le Corbusier Promenade, a promenade along the water at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Le Corbusier Museum, Sector – 19 Chandigarh, India Le Corbusier Museum in Stuttgart am Weissenhof Works 1923: Villa La Roche, Paris, France 1925: Villa Jeanneret, Paris, France 1926: Cité Frugès, Pessac, France 1928: Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine, France 1929: Cité du Refuge, Armée du Salut, Paris, France 1931: Palace of the Soviets, Moscow, USSR (project) 1931: Immeuble Clarté, Geneva, Switzerland 1933: Tsentrosoyuz, Moscow, USSR 1947–1952: Unité d'Habitation, Marseille, France 1949–1952: United Nations headquarters, New York City, U.S. (Consultant) 1949–1953: Curutchet House, La Plata, Argentina (project manager: Amancio Williams) 1950–1954: Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France 1951: Maisons Jaoul, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France 1951: Buildings in Ahmedabad, India 1951: Sanskar Kendra Museum, Ahmedabad 1951: ATMA House 1951: Villa Sarabhai, Ahmedabad 1951: Villa Shodhan, Ahmedabad 1951: Villa of Chinubhai Chimanlal, Ahmedabad 1952: Unité d'Habitation of Nantes-Rezé, Nantes, France 1952–1959: Buildings in Chandigarh, India 1952: Palace of Justice 1952: Museum and Gallery of Art 1953: Secretariat Building 1953: Governor's Palace 1955: Palace of Assembly 1959: Government College of Art (GCA) and the Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA) 1957: Maison du Brésil, Cité Universitaire, Paris, France 1957–1960: Sainte Marie de La Tourette, near Lyon, France (with Iannis Xenakis) 1957: Unité d'Habitation of Berlin-Charlottenburg, Flatowallee 16, Berlin, Germany 1962: Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. 1964–1969: Firminy-Vert, France 1964: Unité d'Habitation of Firminy-Vert 1965: Maison de la Culture de Firminy 1967: Heidi Weber Museum (Centre Le Corbusier), Zürich, Switzerland Books by Le Corbusier 1918: Après le cubisme (After Cubism), with Amédée Ozenfant 1923: Vers une architecture (Towards an Architecture) (frequently mistranslated as "Towards a New Architecture") 1925: Urbanisme (Urbanism) 1925: La Peinture moderne (Modern Painting), with Amédée Ozenfant 1925: L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui (The Decorative Arts of Today) 1930: Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme (Precisions on the present state of architecture and urbanism) 1931: Premier clavier de couleurs (First Color Keyboard) 1935: Aircraft 1935: La Ville radieuse (The Radiant City) 1942: Charte d'Athènes (Athens Charter) 1943: Entretien avec les étudiants des écoles d'architecture (A Conversation with Architecture Students) 1945: Les Trois établissements Humains (The Three Human Establishments) 1948: Le Modulor (The Modulor) 1953: Le Poeme de l'Angle Droit (The Poem of the Right Angle) 1955: Le Modulor 2 (The Modulor 2) 1959: Deuxième clavier de couleurs (Second Colour Keyboard) 1964: Quand les Cathédrales Etáient Blanches (When the Cathedrals were White) 1966: Le Voyage d'Orient (The Voyage to the East) See also Butterfly roof
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They were making stews out of fine cuisine." He condemned the exotic styles presented at the Exposition based on the art of China, Japan, India and Persia. "It takes energy today to affirm our western styles." He criticized the "precious and useless objects that accumulated on the shelves" in the new style. He attacked the "rustling silks, the marbles which twist and turn, the vermilion whiplashes, the silver blades of Byzantium and the Orient…Let's be done with it!" "Why call bottles, chairs, baskets and objects decorative?" Le Corbusier asked. "They are useful tools….Decor is not necessary. Art is necessary." He declared that in the future the decorative arts industry would produce only "objects which are perfectly useful, convenient, and have a true luxury which pleases our spirit by their elegance and the purity of their execution, and the efficiency of their services. This rational perfection and precise determinate creates the link sufficient to recognize a style." He described the future of decoration in these terms: "The ideal is to go work in the superb office of a modern factory, rectangular and well-lit, painted in white Ripolin (a major French paint manufacturer); where healthy activity and laborious optimism reign." He concluded by repeating "Modern decoration has no decoration". The book became a manifesto for those who opposed the more traditional styles of the decorative arts; In the 1930s, as Le Corbusier predicted, the modernized versions of Louis Philippe and Louis XVI furniture and the brightly colored wallpapers of stylized roses were replaced by a more sober, more streamlined style. Gradually the modernism and functionality proposed by Le Corbusier overtook the more ornamental style. The shorthand titles that Le Corbusier used in the book, 1925 Expo: Arts Deco was adapted in 1966 by the art historian Bevis Hillier for a catalog of an exhibition on the style, and in 1968 in the title of a book, Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. And thereafter the term "Art Deco" was commonly used as the name of the style. Five Points of Architecture to Villa Savoye (1923–1931) The notoriety that Le Corbusier achieved from his writings and the Pavilion at the 1925 Exposition led to commissions to build a dozen residences in Paris and in the Paris region in his "purist style." These included the Maison La Roche/Albert Jeanneret (1923–1925), which now houses the Fondation Le Corbusier; the Maison Guiette in Antwerp, Belgium (1926); a residence for Jacques Lipchitz; the Maison Cook, and the Maison Planeix. In 1927, he was invited by the German Werkbund to build three houses in the model city of Weissenhof near Stuttgart, based on the Citrohan House and other theoretical models he had published. He described this project in detail one of his best-known essays, the Five Points of Architecture. The following year he began the Villa Savoye (1928–1931), which became one of the most famous of Le Corbusier's works, and an icon of modernist architecture. Located in Poissy, in a landscape surrounded by trees and large lawn, the house is an elegant white box poised on rows of slender pylons, surrounded by a horizontal band of windows which fill the structure with light. The service areas (parking, rooms for servants and laundry room) are located under the house. Visitors enter a vestibule from which a gentle ramp leads to the house itself. The bedrooms and salons of the house are distributed around a suspended garden; the rooms look both out at the landscape and into the garden, which provides additional light and air. Another ramp leads up to the roof, and a stairway leads down to the cellar under the pillars. Villa Savoye succinctly summed up the five points of architecture that he had elucidated in L'Esprit Nouveau and the book Vers une architecture, which he had been developing throughout the 1920s. First, Le Corbusier lifted the bulk of the structure off the ground, supporting it by pilotis, reinforced concrete stilts. These pilotis, in providing the structural support for the house, allowed him to elucidate his next two points: a free façade, meaning non-supporting walls that could be designed as the architect wished, and an open floor plan, meaning that the floor space was free to be configured into rooms without concern for supporting walls. The second floor of the Villa Savoye includes long strips of ribbon windows that allow unencumbered views of the large surrounding garden, and which constitute the fourth point of his system. The fifth point was the roof garden to compensate for the green area consumed by the building and replacing it on the roof. A ramp rising from ground level to the third-floor roof terrace allows for a promenade architecturale through the structure. The white tubular railing recalls the industrial "ocean-liner" aesthetic that Le Corbusier much admired. Le Corbusier was quite rhapsodic when describing the house in Précisions in 1930: "the plan is pure, exactly made for the needs of the house. It has its correct place in the rustic landscape of Poissy. It is Poetry and lyricism, supported by technique." The house had its problems; the roof persistently leaked, due to construction faults; but it became a landmark of modern architecture and one of the best-known works of Le Corbusier. League of Nations Competition and Pessac Housing Project (1926–1930) Thanks to his passionate articles in L'Esprit Nouveau, his participation in the 1925 Decorative Arts Exposition and the conferences he gave on the new spirit of architecture, Le Corbusier had become well known in the architectural world, though he had only built residences for wealthy clients. In 1926, he entered the competition for the construction of a headquarters for the League of Nations in Geneva with a plan for an innovative lakeside complex of modernist white concrete office buildings and meeting halls. There were 337 projects in competition. It appeared that the Corbusier's project was the first choice of the architectural jury, but after much behind-the scenes maneuvering the jury declared it was unable to pick a single winner, and the project was given instead to the top five architects, who were all neoclassicists. Le Corbusier was not discouraged; he presented his own plans to the public in articles and lectures to show the opportunity that the League of Nations had missed. The Cité Frugès In 1926, Le Corbusier received the opportunity he had been looking for; he was commissioned by a Bordeaux industrialist, Henry Frugès, a fervent admirer of his ideas on urban planning, to build a complex of worker housing, the Cité Frugès, at Pessac, a suburb of Bordeaux. Le Corbusier described Pessac as "A little like a Balzac novel", a chance to create a whole community for living and working. The Fruges quarter became his first laboratory for a residential housing ; a series of rectangular blocks composed of modular housing units located in a garden setting. Like the unit displayed at the 1925 Exposition, each housing unit had its own small terrace. The earlier villas he constructed all had white exterior walls, but for Pessac, at the request of his clients, he added color; panels of brown, yellow and jade green, coordinated by Le Corbusier. Originally planned to have some two hundred units, it finally contained about fifty to seventy housing units, in eight buildings. Pessac became the model on a small scale for his later and much larger Cité Radieuse projects. Founding of CIAM (1928) and Athens Charter In 1928, Le Corbusier took a major step toward establishing modernist architecture as the dominant European style. Le Corbusier had met with many of the leading German and Austrian modernists during the competition for the League of Nations in 1927. In the same year, the German Werkbund organized an architectural exposition at the Weissenhof Estate Stuttgart. Seventeen leading modernist architects in Europe were invited to design twenty-one houses; Le Corbusier and Mies Van der Rohe played a major part. In 1927 Le Corbusier, Pierre Chareau and others proposed the foundation of an international conference to establish the basis for a common style. The first meeting of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne or International Congresses of Modern Architects (CIAM), was held in a château on Lake Leman in Switzerland 26–28 June 1928. Those attending included Le Corbusier, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Auguste Perret, Pierre Chareau and Tony Garnier from France; Victor Bourgeois from Belgium; Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Ernst May and Mies Van der Rohe from Germany; Josef Frank from Austria; Mart Stam and Gerrit Rietveld from the Netherlands, and Adolf Loos from Czechoslovakia. A delegation of Soviet architects was invited to attend, but they were unable to obtain visas. Later members included Josep Lluís Sert of Spain and Alvar Aalto of Finland. No one attended from the United States. A second meeting was organized in 1930 in Brussels by Victor Bourgeois on the topic "Rational methods for groups of habitations". A third meeting, on "The functional city", was scheduled for Moscow in 1932, but was cancelled at the last minute. Instead the delegates held their meeting on a cruise ship traveling between Marseille and Athens. On board, they together drafted a text on how modern cities should be organized. The text, called The Athens Charter, after considerable editing by Le Corbusier and others, was finally published in 1943 and became an influential text for city planners in the 1950s and 1960s. The group met once more in Paris in 1937 to discuss public housing and was scheduled to meet in the United States in 1939, but the meeting was cancelled because of the war. The legacy of the CIAM was a roughly common style and doctrine which helped define modern architecture in Europe and the United States after World War II. Projects (1928–1963) Moscow projects (1928–1934) Le Corbusier saw the new society founded in the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution as a promising laboratory for his architectural ideas. He met the Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov during the 1925 Decorative Arts Exposition in Paris, and admired the construction of Melnikov's constructivist USSR pavilion, the only truly modernist building in the Exposition other than his own Esprit Nouveau pavilion. At Melnikov's invitation he traveled to Moscow, where he found that his writings had been published in Russian; he gave lectures and interviews, and between 1928 and 1932 he constructed an office building for the Tsentrosoyuz, the headquarters of Soviet trade unions. In 1932, he was invited to take part in an international competition for the new Palace of the Soviets in Moscow, which was to be built on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, demolished on Stalin's orders. Le Corbusier contributed a highly original plan, a low-level complex of circular and rectangular buildings and a rainbow-like arch from which the roof of the main meeting hall was suspended. To Le Corbusier's distress, his plan was rejected by Stalin in favor of a plan for a massive neoclassical tower, the highest in Europe, crowned with a statue of Vladimir Lenin. The Palace was never built; construction was stopped by World War II, a swimming pool took its place; and after the collapse of the USSR the cathedral was rebuilt on its original site. Cité Universitaire, Immeuble Clarté and Cité de Refuge (1928–1933) Between 1928 and 1934, as Le Corbusier's reputation grew, he received commissions to construct a wide variety of buildings. In 1928 he received a commission from the Soviet government to construct the headquarters of the Tsentrosoyuz, or central office of trade unions, a large office building whose glass walls alternated with plaques of stone. He built the Villa de Madrot in Le Pradet (1929–1931); and an apartment in Paris for Charles de Bestigui at the top of an existing building on the Champs-Élysées 1929–1932, (later demolished). In 1929–1930 he constructed a floating homeless shelter for the Salvation Army on the left bank of the Seine at the Pont d'Austerlitz. Between 1929 and 1933, he built a larger and more ambitious project for the Salvation Army, the Cité de Refuge, on rue Cantagrel in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. He also constructed the Swiss Pavilion in the Cité Universitaire in Paris with 46 units of student housing, (1929–33). He designed furniture to go with the building; the main salon was decorated with a montage of black-and-white photographs of nature. In 1948, he replaced this with a colorful mural he painted himself. In Geneva he built a glass-walled apartment building with 45 units, the Immeuble Clarté. Between 1931 and 1945 he built an apartment building with fifteen units, including an apartment and studio for himself on the 6th and 7th floors, at 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli in the 16th arrondissement in Paris. overlooking the Bois de Boulogne. His apartment and studio are owned today by the Fondation Le Corbusier, and can be visited. Ville Contemporaine, Plan Voisin and Cité Radieuse (1922–1939) As the global Great Depression enveloped Europe, Le Corbusier devoted more and more time to his ideas for urban design and planned cities. He believed that his new, modern architectural forms would provide an organizational solution that would raise the quality of life for the working classes. In 1922 he had presented his model of the Ville Contemporaine, a city of three million inhabitants, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. His plan featured tall office towers with surrounded by lower residential blocks in a park setting. He reported that "analysis leads to such dimensions, to such a new scale, and to such the creation of an urban organism so different from those that exist, that it that the mind can hardly imagine it." The Ville Contemporaine, presenting an imaginary city in an imaginary location, did not attract the attention that Le Corbusier wanted. For his next proposal, the Plan Voisin (1925), he took a much more provocative approach; he proposed to demolish a large part of central Paris and to replace it with a group of sixty-story cruciform office towers surrounded by parkland. This idea shocked most viewers, as it was certainly intended to do. The plan included a multi-level transportation hub that included depots for buses and trains, as well as highway intersections, and an airport. Le Corbusier had the fanciful notion that commercial airliners would land between the huge skyscrapers. He segregated pedestrian circulation paths from the roadways and created an elaborate road network. Groups of lower-rise zigzag apartment blocks, set back from the street, were interspersed among the office towers. Le Corbusier wrote: "The center of Paris, currently threatened with death, threatened by exodus, is in reality a diamond mine...To abandon the center of Paris to its fate is to desert in face of the enemy." As no doubt Le Corbusier expected, no one hurried to implement the Plan Voisin, but he continued working on variations of the idea and recruiting followers. In 1929, he traveled to Brazil where he gave conferences on his architectural ideas. He returned with drawings of his own vision for Rio de Janeiro; he sketched serpentine multi-story apartment buildings on pylons, like inhabited highways, winding through Rio de Janeiro. In 1931, he developed a visionary plan for another city Algiers, then part of France. This plan, like his Rio Janeiro plan, called for the construction of an elevated viaduct of concrete, carrying residential units, which would run from one end of the city to the other. This plan, unlike his early Plan Voisin, was more conservative, because it did not call for the destruction of the old city of Algiers; the residential housing would be over the top of the old city. This plan, like his Paris plans, provoked discussion, but never came close to realization. In 1935, Le Corbusier made his first visit to the United States. He was asked by American journalists what he thought about New York City skyscrapers; he responded, characteristically, that he found them "much too small". He wrote a book describing his experiences in the States, Quand les cathédrales étaient blanches, Voyage au pays des timides (When Cathedrals were White; voyage to the land of the timid) whose title expressed his view of the lack of boldness in American architecture. He wrote a great deal but built very little in the late 1930s. The titles of his books expressed the combined urgency and optimism of his messages: Cannons? Munitions? No thank you, Lodging please! (1938) and The lyricism of modern times and urbanism (1939). In 1928, the French Minister of Labour, Louis Loucheur, won the passage of a French law on public housing, calling for the construction of 260,000 new housing units within five years. Le Corbusier immediately began to design a new type of modular housing unit, which he called the Maison Loucheur, which would be suitable for the project. These units were in size, made with metal frames, and were designed to be mass-produced and then transported to the site, where they would be inserted into frameworks of steel and stone; The government insisted on stone walls to win the support of local building contractors. The standardisation of apartment buildings was the essence of what Le Corbusier termed the Ville Radieuse or "radiant city", in a new book which published in 1935. The Radiant City was similar to his earlier Contemporary City and Plan Voisin, with the difference that residences would be assigned by family size, rather than by income and social position. In his 1935 book, he developed his ideas for a new kind of city, where the principle functions; heavy industry, manufacturing, habitation and commerce, would be clearly separated into their own neighbourhoods, carefully planned and designed. However, before any units could be built, World War II intervened. World War II and Reconstruction; Unité d'Habitation in Marseille (1939–1952) During the War and the German occupation of France, Le Corbusier did his best to promote his architectural projects. He moved to Vichy for a time, where the collaborationist government of Marshal Philippe Petain was located, offering his services for architectural projects, including his plan for the reconstruction of Algiers, but they were rejected. He continued writing, completing Sur les Quatres routes (On the Four Routes) in 1941. After 1942, Le Corbusier left Vichy for Paris. He became for a time a technical adviser at Alexis Carrel's eugenic foundation, he resigned from this position on 20 April 1944. In 1943, he founded a new association of modern architects and builders, the Ascoral, the Assembly of Constructors for a renewal of architecture, but there were no projects to build. When the war ended, Le Corbusier was nearly sixty years old, and he had not had a single project realized in ten years. He tried, without success, to obtain commissions for several of the first large reconstruction projects, but his proposals for the reconstruction of the town of Saint-Dié and for La Rochelle were rejected. Still, he persisted; Le Corbusier finally found a willing partner in Raoul Dautry, the new Minister of Reconstruction and Urbanism. Dautry agreed to fund one of his projects, a "Unité d'habitation de grandeur conforme", or housing units of standard size, with the first one to be built in Marseille, which had been heavily damaged during the war. This was his first public commission, and was a major breakthrough for Le Corbusier. He gave the building the name of his pre-war theoretical project, the Cité Radieuse, and followed the principles that he had studied before the war, he proposed a giant reinforced concrete framework, into which modular apartments would be fit like bottles into a bottle rack. Like the Villa Savoye, the structure was poised on concrete pylons though, because of the shortage of steel to reinforce the concrete, the pylons were more massive than usual. The building contained 337 duplex apartment modules to house a total of 1,600 people. Each module was three stories high, and contained two apartments, combined so each had two levels (see diagram above). The modules ran from one side of the building to the other, and each apartment had a small terrace at each end. They were ingeniously fitted together like pieces of a Chinese puzzle, with a corridor slotted through the space between the two apartments in each module. Residents had a choice of twenty-three different configurations for the units. Le Corbusier designed furniture, carpets and lamps to go with the building, all purely functional; the only decoration was a choice of interior colors that Le Corbusier gave to residents. The only mildly decorative features of the building were the ventilator shafts on the roof, which Le Corbusier made to look like the smokestacks of an ocean liner, a functional form that he admired. The building was designed not just to be a residence, but to offer all the services needed for living. Every third floor, between the modules, there was a wide corridor, like an interior street, which ran the length of the building from one end of the building to the other. This served as a sort of commercial street, with shops, eating places, a nursery school and recreational facilities. A running track and small stage for theater performances was located in the roof. The building itself was surrounded by trees and a small park. Le Corbusier wrote later that the Unité d'Habitation concept was inspired by the visit he had made to the Florence Charterhouse at Galluzzo in Italy, in 1907 and 1910 during his early travels. He wanted to recreate, he wrote, an ideal place "for meditation and contemplation." He also learned from the monastery, he wrote, that "standardization led to perfection," and that "all of his life a man labours under this impulse: to make the home the temple of the family." The Unité d'Habitation marked a turning point in the career of Le Corbusier; in 1952, he was made a Commander of the Légion d'Honneur in a ceremony held on the roof of his new building. He had progressed from being an outsider and critic of the architectural establishment to its centre, as the most prominent French architect. Postwar projects, United Nations headquarters (1947–1952) Le Corbusier made another almost identical Unité d'Habitation in Rezé-les-Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique Department between 1948 and 1952, and three more over the following years, in Berlin, Briey-en-Forêt and Firminy; and he designed a factory for the company of Claude and Duval, in Saint-Dié in the Vosges. In the post-Second World War decades Le Corbusier's fame moved beyond architectural and planning circles as he became one of the leading intellectual figures of the time. In early 1947 Le Corbusier submitted a design for the headquarters of the United Nations, which was to be built beside the East River in New York. Instead of competition, the design was to be selected by a Board of Design Consultants composed of leading international architects nominated by member governments, including Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil, Howard Robertson from Britain, Nikolai Bassov of the Soviet Union, and five others from around the world. The committee was under the direction of the American architect Wallace K. Harrison, who was also architect for the Rockefeller family, which had donated the site for the building. Le Corbusier had submitted his plan for the Secretariat, called Plan 23 of the 58 submitted. In Le Corbusier's plan offices, council chambers and General Assembly hall were in a single block in the center of the site. He lobbied hard for his project, and asked the younger Brazilian architect, Niemeyer, to support and assist him on his plan. Niemeyer, to help Le Corbusier, refused to submit his own design and did not attend the meetings until the Director, Harrison, insisted. Niemeyer then submitted his plan, Plan 32, with the office building and councils and General Assembly in separate buildings. After much discussion, the Committee chose Niemeyer's plan, but suggested that he collaborate with Le Corbusier on the final project. Le Corbusier urged Niemeyer to put the General Assembly Hall in the center of the site, though this would eliminate Niemeyer's plan to have a large plaza in the center. Niemeyer agreed with Le Corbusier's suggestion, and the headquarters was built, with minor modifications, according to their joint plan. Religious architecture (1950–1963) Le Corbusier was an avowed atheist, but he also had a strong belief in the ability of architecture to create a sacred and spiritual environment. In the postwar years, he designed two important religious buildings; the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp (1950–1955); and the Convent of Sainte Marie de La Tourette (1953–1960). Le Corbusier wrote later that he was greatly aided in his religious architecture by a Dominican father, Père Couturier, who had founded a movement and review of modern religious art. Le Corbusier first visited the remote mountain site of Ronchamp in May 1950, saw the ruins of the old chapel, and drew sketches of possible forms. He wrote afterwards: "In building this chapel, I wanted to create a place of silence, of peace, of prayer, of interior joy. The feeling of the sacred animated our effort. Some things are sacred, others aren't, whether they're religious or not." The second major religious project undertaken by Le Corbusier was the Convent of Sainte Marie de La Tourette in L'Arbresle in the Rhone Department (1953–1960). Once again it was Father Couturier who engaged Le Corbusier in the project. He invited Le Corbusier to visit the starkly simple and imposing 12th–13th century Le Thoronet Abbey in Provence, and also used his memories of his youthful visit to the Erna Charterhouse in Florence. This project involved not only a chapel, but a library, refectory, rooms for meetings and reflection, and dormitories for the nuns. For the living space he used the same Modulor concept for measuring the ideal living space that he had used in the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille; height under the ceiling of ; and width . Le Corbusier used raw concrete to construct the convent, which is placed on the side of a hill. The three blocks of dormitories U, closed by the chapel, with a courtyard in the center. The Convent has a flat roof, and is placed on sculpted concrete pillars. Each of the residential cells has small loggia with a concrete sunscreen looking out at the countryside. The centerpiece of the convent is the chapel, a plain box of concrete, which he called his "Box of miracles." Unlike the highly finished façade of the Unité d'Habitation, the façade of the chapel is raw, unfinished concrete. He described the building in a letter to Albert Camus in 1957: "I'm taken with the idea of a "box of miracles"....as the name indicates, it is a rectangual box made of concrete. It doesn't have any of the traditional theatrical tricks, but the possibility, as its name suggests, to make miracles." The interior of the chapel is extremely simple, only benches in a plain, unfinished concrete box, with light coming through a single square in the roof and six small band on the sides. The Crypt beneath has intense blue, red and yellow walls, and illumination by sunlight channeled from above. The monastery has other unusual features, including floor to ceiling panels of glass in the meeting rooms, window panels that fragmented the view into pieces, and a system of concrete and metal tubes like gun barrels which aimed sunlight through colored prisms and projected it onto the walls of sacristy and to the secondary altars of the crypt on the level below. These were whimsically termed the ""machine guns" of the sacristy and the "light cannons" of the crypt. In 1960, Le Corbusier began a third religious building, the Church of Saint Pierre in the new town of Firminy-Vert, where he had built a Unité d'Habitation and a cultural and sports centre. While he made the original design, construction did not begin until five years after his death, and work continued under different architects until it was completed in 2006. The most spectacular feature of the church is the sloping concrete tower that covers the entire interior, similar to that in the Assembly Building in his complex at Chandigarh. Windows high in the tower illuminate the interior. Le Corbusier originally proposed that tiny windows also project the form of a constellation on the walls. Later architects designed the church to project the constellation Orion. Chandigarh (1951–1956) Le Corbusier's largest and most ambitious project was the design of Chandigarh, the capital city of the Punjab and Haryana States of India, created after India received independence in 1947. Le Corbusier was contacted in 1950 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and invited to propose a project. An American architect, Albert Mayer, had made a plan in 1947 for a city of 150,000 inhabitants, but the Indian government wanted a grander and more monumental city. Corbusier worked on the plan with two British specialists in urban design and tropical climate architecture, Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, and with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, who moved to India and supervised the construction until his death. Le Corbusier, as always, was rhapsodic about his project; "It will be a city of trees," he wrote, "of flowers and water, of houses as simple as those at the time of Homer, and of a few splendid edifices of the highest level of modernism, where the rules of mathematics will reign.". His plan called for residential, commercial and industrial areas, along with parks and a transportation infrastructure. In the middle was the capitol, a complex of four major government buildings; the Palace of the National Assembly, the High Court of Justice; the Palace of Secretariat of Ministers, and the Palace of the Governor. For financial and political reasons, the Palace of the Governor was dropped well into the construction of the city, throwing the final project somewhat off-balance. From the beginning, Le Corbusier worked, as he reported, "Like a forced laborer." He dismissed the earlier American plan as "Faux-Moderne" and overly filled with parking spaces roads. His intent was to present what he had learned in forty years of urban study, and also to show the French government the opportunities they had missed in not choosing him to rebuild French cities after the War. His design made use of many of his favorite ideas: an architectural promenade, incorporating the local landscape and the sunlight and shadows into the design; the use of the Modulor to give a correct human scale to each element; and his favourite symbol, the open hand ("The hand is open to give and to receive"). He placed a monumental open hand statue in a prominent place in the design. Le Corbusier's design called for the use of raw concrete, whose surface not smoothed or polished and which showed the marks of the forms in which it dried. Pierre Jeanneret wrote to his cousin that he was in a continual battle with the construction workers, who could not resist the urge to smooth and finish the raw concrete, particularly when important visitors were coming to the site. At one point one thousand workers were employed on the site of the High Court of Justice. Le Corbusier wrote to his mother, "It is an architectural symphony which surpasses all my hopes, which flashes and develops under the light in a way which is unimaginable and unforgettable. From far, from up close, it provokes astonishment; all made with raw concrete and a cement cannon. Adorable, and grandiose. In all the centuries no one has seen that." The High Court of Justice, begun in 1951, was finished in 1956. The building was radical in its design; a parallelogram topped with an inverted parasol. Along the walls were high concrete grills thick which served as sunshades. The entry featured a monumental ramp and columns that allowed the air to circulate. The pillars were originally white limestone, but in the 1960s they were repainted in bright colors, which better resisted the weather. The Secretariat, the largest building that housed the government offices, was constructed between 1952 and 1958. It is an enormous block long and eight levels high, served by a ramp which extends from the ground to the top level. The ramp was designed to be partly sculptural and partly practical. Since there were no modern building cranes at the time of construction, the ramp was the only way to get materials to the top of the construction site. The Secretariat had two features which were borrowed from his design for the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille: concrete grill sunscreens over the windows and a roof terrace. The most important building of the capitol complex was the Palace of Assembly (1952–61), which faced the High Court at the other end of a five hundred meter esplanade with a large reflecting pool in the front. This building features a central courtyard, over which is the main meeting hall for the Assembly. On the roof on the rear of the building is a signature feature of Le Corbusier, a large tower, similar in form to the smokestack of a ship or the ventilation tower of a heating plant. Le Corbusier added touches of color and texture with an immense tapestry in the meeting hall and large gateway decorated with enamel. He wrote of this building, "A Palace magnificent in its effect, from the new art of raw concrete. It is magnificent and terrible; terrible meaning that there is nothing cold about it to the eyes." Later life and work (1955–1965) The 1950s and 1960s were a difficult period for Le Corbusier's personal life; his wife Yvonne died in 1957, and his mother, to whom he was closely attached, died in 1960. He remained active in a wide variety of fields; in 1955 he published Poéme de l'angle droit, a portfolio of lithographs, published in the same collection as the book Jazz by Henri Matisse. In 1958 he collaborated with the composer Edgar Varèse on a work called Le Poème électronique, a show of sound and light, for the Philips Pavilion at the International Exposition in Brussels. In 1960 he published a new book, L'Atelier de la recherché patiente The workshop of patient research), simultaneously published in four languages. He received growing recognition for his pioneering work in modernist architecture; in 1959, a successful international campaign was launched to have his Villa Savoye, threatened with demolition, declared an historic monument; it was the first time that a work by a living architect received this distinction. In 1962, in the same year as the dedication of the Palace of the Assembly in Chandigarh, the first retrospective exhibit on his work was held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1964, in a ceremony held in his atelier on rue de Sèvres, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur by Culture Minister André Malraux. His later architectural work was extremely varied, and often based on designs of earlier projects. In 1952–1958, he designed a series of tiny vacation cabins, in size, for a site next to the Mediterranean at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. He built a similar cabin for himself, but the rest of the project was not realized until after his death. In 1953–1957, he designed a residential building for Brazilian students for the Cité de la Université in Paris. Between 1954 and 1959, he built the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo. His other projects included a cultural centre and stadium for the town of Firminy, where he had built his first housing project (1955–1958); and a stadium in Baghdad, Iraq (much altered since its construction). He also constructed three new Unités d'Habitation, apartment blocks on the model of the original in Marseille, the first in Berlin (1956–1958), the second in Briey-en-Forêt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Department; and the third (1959–1967) in Firminy. In 1960–1963, he built his only building in the United States; the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jørn Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, commissioned Le Corbusier to create furnishings for the nascent opera house. Le Corbusier designed a tapestry, Les Dés Sont Jetés, which was completed in 1960. Le Corbusier died of a heart attack at age 77 in 1965 after swimming at the French Riviera. At the time of his death, several projects were on the drawing boards: the church of Saint-Pierre in Firminy, finally completed in modified form in 2006; a Palace of Congresses for Strasbourg (1962–65), and a hospital in Venice (1961–1965), which were never built. Le Corbusier designed an art gallery beside the lake in Zürich for gallery owner Heidi Weber in 1962–1967. Now called the Centre Le Corbusier, it is one of his last finished works. Estate The Fondation Le Corbusier (FLC) functions as his official estate. The US copyright representative for the Fondation Le Corbusier is the Artists Rights Society. Ideas The Five Points of a Modern Architecture Le Corbusier defined the principles of his new architecture in Les cinq points de l'architecture moderne, published in 1927, and co-authored by his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret. They summarized the lessons he had learned in the previous years, which he put literally into concrete form in his villas constructed of the late 1920s, most dramatically in the Villa Savoye (1928–1931) The five points are: The Pilotis, or pylon. The building is raised up on reinforced concrete pylons, which allows for
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and Leonardo da Vinci shared a patron in Cardinal Ippolito d'Este's older sister the Marchioness Isabella d'Este, the "First Lady of the Renaissance." Isabella d'Este appears in Ludovico's masterpiece, Orlando Furioso. She also appears in Leonardo's Sketch for a Portrait of Isabella d'Este at the Louvre. The cardinal went to Hungary in 1518, and wished Ariosto to accompany him. The poet excused himself, pleading ill health, his love of study, and the need to care for his elderly mother. His excuses were not well-received, and he was denied even an interview. Ariosto and d'Este got into a heated argument, and Ariosto was promptly dismissed from service. New patronage and diplomatic career The cardinal's brother, Alfonso, duke of Ferrara, now took Ariosto under his patronage. By then, Ariosto had already distinguished himself as a diplomat, chiefly on the occasion of two visits to Rome as ambassador to Pope Julius II. The fatigue of one of these journeys brought on an illness from which he never recovered, and on his second mission he was nearly killed by order of the Pope, who happened at the time to be in conflict with Alfonso. On account of the war, his salary of 84 crowns a year was suspended, and it was withdrawn altogether after the peace. Because of this, Ariosto asked the duke either to provide for him, or to allow him to seek employment elsewhere. He was appointed to the province of Garfagnana, then without a governor, situated on the Apennines, an appointment he held for three years. The province was distracted by factions and bandits, the governor lacked the requisite means to enforce his authority and the duke did little to support his minister. Ariosto's government satisfied both the sovereign and the people given over to his care, however; indeed, there is a story about a time when he was walking alone and fell into the company of a group of bandits, the chief of which, on discovering that his captive was the author of Orlando Furioso, apologized for not having immediately shown him the respect due his rank. In 1508 Ariosto's play Cassaria appeared, and the next year was first acted in Ferrara and ten years later in the Vatican. A prose edition was published in Rome in 1524, and the first verse edition was published at Venice in 1551. The play, which was translated by George Gascoigne and
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a year was suspended, and it was withdrawn altogether after the peace. Because of this, Ariosto asked the duke either to provide for him, or to allow him to seek employment elsewhere. He was appointed to the province of Garfagnana, then without a governor, situated on the Apennines, an appointment he held for three years. The province was distracted by factions and bandits, the governor lacked the requisite means to enforce his authority and the duke did little to support his minister. Ariosto's government satisfied both the sovereign and the people given over to his care, however; indeed, there is a story about a time when he was walking alone and fell into the company of a group of bandits, the chief of which, on discovering that his captive was the author of Orlando Furioso, apologized for not having immediately shown him the respect due his rank. In 1508 Ariosto's play Cassaria appeared, and the next year was first acted in Ferrara and ten years later in the Vatican. A prose edition was published in Rome in 1524, and the first verse edition was published at Venice in 1551. The play, which was translated by George Gascoigne and acted at Gray's Inn in London in 1566 and published in 1573, was later used by Shakespeare as a source for The Taming of the Shrew. In 1516 the first version of the Orlando Furioso in 40 cantos, was published at Ferrara. The third and final version of the Orlando Furioso, in 46 cantos, appeared on 8 September 1532. Poetic style Throughout Ariosto's writing are narratorial comments dubbed by Daniel Javitch as "Cantus Interruptus". Javitch's term refers to Ariosto's narrative technique to break off one plot line in the middle of a canto, only to pick it up again in another, often much later, canto. Javitch argues that while many critics have assumed Ariosto does this so as to build narrative tension and keep the reader turning pages, the poet in reality defuses narrative tension because so much time separates the interruption and the resumption. By the time the reader gets to the continuation of the story, he or she has often forgotten or ceased to care about the plot and is usually wrapped up in another plot. Ariosto does this, Javitch argues, to undermine "man's foolish but persistent desire for continuity and completion". Ariosto uses it throughout his works. For example, in Canto II, stanza 30, of Orlando Furioso, the narrator says: Some have attributed this piece of metafiction as one component of the "Sorriso ariostesco" or Ariosto's smile, the wry sense of humor that Ariosto adds to the text. In explaining this humor, Thomas Greene, in Descent from Heaven, says: In literature and popular culture Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem (1836) is supposed to be his address to some unknown beauty on presenting her with his completed Orlando Furioso. Lodovico Ariosto is featured in the novelization of Assassin's Creed: Revelations (the novel describes Ezio's journey to Masyaf, his marriage to Sofia Sartor, the birth of his children and his retirement in more detail) as an Assassin. When Ezio retires after the events of the game, in 1513, he gives his position of Mentor to Lodovico. Paperback edition of Orlando Furioso briefly glimpsed on table of booth in diner scene (A Ghost) in Jim Jarmusch's film Mystery Train. References Further reading Albert R. Ascoli, Ariosto's bitter harmony : crisis and evasion in the
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Lazarevskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Contributions to mathematics and physics Euler worked in almost all areas of mathematics, such as geometry, infinitesimal calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and number theory, as well as continuum physics, lunar theory and other areas of physics. He is a seminal figure in the history of mathematics; if printed, his works, many of which are of fundamental interest, would occupy between 60 and 80 quarto volumes. Euler's name is associated with a large number of topics. Mathematical notation Euler introduced and popularized several notational conventions through his numerous and widely circulated textbooks. Most notably, he introduced the concept of a function and was the first to write f(x) to denote the function f applied to the argument x. He also introduced the modern notation for the trigonometric functions, the letter for the base of the natural logarithm (now also known as Euler's number), the Greek letter Σ for summations and the letter to denote the imaginary unit. The use of the Greek letter π to denote the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter was also popularized by Euler, although it originated with Welsh mathematician William Jones. Analysis The development of infinitesimal calculus was at the forefront of 18th-century mathematical research, and the Bernoullis—family friends of Euler—were responsible for much of the early progress in the field. Thanks to their influence, studying calculus became the major focus of Euler's work. While some of Euler's proofs are not acceptable by modern standards of mathematical rigour (in particular his reliance on the principle of the generality of algebra), his ideas led to many great advances. Euler is well known in analysis for his frequent use and development of power series, the expression of functions as sums of infinitely many terms, such as Euler's use of power series enabled him to solve the famous Basel problem in 1735 (he provided a more elaborate argument in 1741): He introduced the constant now known as Euler's constant or the Euler–Mascheroni constant, and studied its relationship with the harmonic series, the gamma function, and values of the Riemann zeta function. Euler introduced the use of the exponential function and logarithms in analytic proofs. He discovered ways to express various logarithmic functions using power series, and he successfully defined logarithms for negative and complex numbers, thus greatly expanding the scope of mathematical applications of logarithms. He also defined the exponential function for complex numbers and discovered its relation to the trigonometric functions. For any real number (taken to be radians), Euler's formula states that the complex exponential function satisfies A special case of the above formula is known as Euler's identity, called "the most remarkable formula in mathematics" by Richard P. Feynman, for its single uses of the notions of addition, multiplication, exponentiation, and equality, and the single uses of the important constants 0, 1, , and . Euler elaborated the theory of higher transcendental functions by introducing the gamma function and introduced a new method for solving quartic equations. He found a way to calculate integrals with complex limits, foreshadowing the development of modern complex analysis. He invented the calculus of variations and formulated the Euler–Lagrange equation for reducing optimization problems in this area to the solution of differential equations. Euler pioneered the use of analytic methods to solve number theory problems. In doing so, he united two disparate branches of mathematics and introduced a new field of study, analytic number theory. In breaking ground for this new field, Euler created the theory of hypergeometric series, q-series, hyperbolic trigonometric functions and the analytic theory of continued fractions. For example, he proved the infinitude of primes using the divergence of the harmonic series, and he used analytic methods to gain some understanding of the way prime numbers are distributed. Euler's work in this area led to the development of the prime number theorem. Number theory Euler's interest in number theory can be traced to the influence of Christian Goldbach, his friend in the St. Petersburg Academy. Much of Euler's early work on number theory was based on the work of Pierre de Fermat. Euler developed some of Fermat's ideas and disproved some of his conjectures, such as his conjecture that all numbers of the form (Fermat numbers) are prime. Euler linked the nature of prime distribution with ideas in analysis. He proved that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes diverges. In doing so, he discovered the connection between the Riemann zeta function and the prime numbers; this is known as the Euler product formula for the Riemann zeta function. Euler invented the totient function φ(n), the number of positive integers less than or equal to the integer n that are coprime to n. Using properties of this function, he generalized Fermat's little theorem to what is now known as Euler's theorem. He contributed significantly to the theory of perfect numbers, which had fascinated mathematicians since Euclid. He proved that the relationship shown between even perfect numbers and Mersenne primes earlier proved by Euclid was one-to-one, a result otherwise known as the Euclid–Euler theorem. Euler also conjectured the law of quadratic reciprocity. The concept is regarded as a fundamental theorem of number theory, and his ideas paved the way for the work of Carl Friedrich Gauss, particularly Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. By 1772 Euler had proved that 231 − 1 = 2,147,483,647 is a Mersenne prime. It may have remained the largest known prime until 1867. Euler contributed major developments to the theory of partitions of an integer. Graph theory In 1735, Euler presented a solution to the problem known as the Seven Bridges of Königsberg. The city of Königsberg, Prussia was set on the Pregel River, and included two large islands that were connected to each other and the mainland by seven bridges. The problem is to decide whether it is possible to follow a path that crosses each bridge exactly once and returns to the starting point. It is not possible: there is no Eulerian circuit. This solution is considered to be the first theorem of graph theory. Euler also discovered the formula relating the number of vertices, edges and faces of a convex polyhedron, and hence of a planar graph. The constant in this formula is now known as the Euler characteristic for the graph (or other mathematical object), and is related to the genus of the object. The study and generalization of this formula, specifically by Cauchy and L'Huilier, is at the origin of topology. Physics, astronomy, and engineering Some of Euler's greatest successes were in solving real-world problems analytically, and in describing numerous applications of the Bernoulli numbers, Fourier series, Euler numbers, the constants and , continued fractions and integrals. He integrated Leibniz's differential calculus with Newton's Method of Fluxions, and developed tools that made it easier to apply calculus to physical problems. He made great strides in improving the numerical approximation of integrals, inventing what are now known as the Euler approximations. The most notable of these approximations are Euler's method and the Euler–Maclaurin formula. Euler helped develop the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation, which became a cornerstone of engineering. Besides successfully applying his analytic tools to problems in classical mechanics, Euler applied these techniques to celestial problems. His work in astronomy was recognized by multiple Paris Academy Prizes over the course of his career. His accomplishments include determining with great accuracy the orbits of comets and other celestial bodies, understanding the nature of comets, and calculating the parallax of the Sun. His calculations contributed to the development of accurate longitude tables. Euler made important contributions in optics. He disagreed with Newton's corpuscular theory of light, which was then the prevailing theory. His 1740s papers on optics helped ensure that the wave theory of light proposed by Christiaan Huygens would become the dominant mode of thought, at least until the development of the quantum theory of light. In fluid dynamics, Euler was the first to predict the phenomenon of cavitation, in 1754, long before its first observation in the late 19th century, and the Euler number used in fluid flow calculations comes from his related work on the efficiency of turbines. In 1757 he published an important set of equations for inviscid flow in fluid dynamics, that are now known as the Euler equations. Euler is well known in structural engineering for his formula giving Euler's critical load, the critical buckling load of an ideal strut, which depends only on its length and flexural stiffness. Logic Euler is credited with using closed curves to illustrate syllogistic reasoning (1768). These diagrams have become known as Euler diagrams. An Euler diagram is a diagrammatic means of representing sets and their relationships. Euler diagrams consist of simple closed curves (usually circles) in the plane that depict sets. Each Euler curve divides the plane into two regions or "zones": the interior, which symbolically represents the elements of the set, and the exterior, which represents all elements that are not members of the set. The sizes or shapes of the curves are not important; the significance of the diagram is in how they overlap. The spatial relationships between the regions bounded by each curve (overlap, containment or neither) corresponds to set-theoretic relationships (intersection, subset and disjointness). Curves whose interior zones do not intersect represent disjoint sets. Two curves whose interior zones intersect represent sets that have common elements; the zone inside both curves represents the set of elements common to both sets (the intersection of the sets). A curve that is contained completely within the interior zone of another represents a subset of it. Euler diagrams (and their refinement to Venn diagrams) were incorporated as part of instruction in set theory as part of the new math movement in the 1960s. Since then, they have come into wide use as a way of visualizing combinations of characteristics. Music One of Euler's more unusual interests was the application of mathematical ideas in music. In 1739 he wrote the Tentamen novae theoriae musicae (Attempt at a New Theory of Music), hoping to eventually incorporate musical theory as part of mathematics. This part of his work, however, did not receive wide attention and was once described as too mathematical for musicians and too musical for mathematicians. Even when dealing with music, Euler's approach is mainly mathematical, including for instance the introduction of binary logarithms as a way of describing numerically the subdivision of octaves into fractional parts. His writings on music are not particularly numerous (a few hundred pages, in his total production of about thirty thousand pages), but they reflect an early preoccupation and one
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the function f applied to the argument x. He also introduced the modern notation for the trigonometric functions, the letter for the base of the natural logarithm (now also known as Euler's number), the Greek letter Σ for summations and the letter to denote the imaginary unit. The use of the Greek letter π to denote the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter was also popularized by Euler, although it originated with Welsh mathematician William Jones. Analysis The development of infinitesimal calculus was at the forefront of 18th-century mathematical research, and the Bernoullis—family friends of Euler—were responsible for much of the early progress in the field. Thanks to their influence, studying calculus became the major focus of Euler's work. While some of Euler's proofs are not acceptable by modern standards of mathematical rigour (in particular his reliance on the principle of the generality of algebra), his ideas led to many great advances. Euler is well known in analysis for his frequent use and development of power series, the expression of functions as sums of infinitely many terms, such as Euler's use of power series enabled him to solve the famous Basel problem in 1735 (he provided a more elaborate argument in 1741): He introduced the constant now known as Euler's constant or the Euler–Mascheroni constant, and studied its relationship with the harmonic series, the gamma function, and values of the Riemann zeta function. Euler introduced the use of the exponential function and logarithms in analytic proofs. He discovered ways to express various logarithmic functions using power series, and he successfully defined logarithms for negative and complex numbers, thus greatly expanding the scope of mathematical applications of logarithms. He also defined the exponential function for complex numbers and discovered its relation to the trigonometric functions. For any real number (taken to be radians), Euler's formula states that the complex exponential function satisfies A special case of the above formula is known as Euler's identity, called "the most remarkable formula in mathematics" by Richard P. Feynman, for its single uses of the notions of addition, multiplication, exponentiation, and equality, and the single uses of the important constants 0, 1, , and . Euler elaborated the theory of higher transcendental functions by introducing the gamma function and introduced a new method for solving quartic equations. He found a way to calculate integrals with complex limits, foreshadowing the development of modern complex analysis. He invented the calculus of variations and formulated the Euler–Lagrange equation for reducing optimization problems in this area to the solution of differential equations. Euler pioneered the use of analytic methods to solve number theory problems. In doing so, he united two disparate branches of mathematics and introduced a new field of study, analytic number theory. In breaking ground for this new field, Euler created the theory of hypergeometric series, q-series, hyperbolic trigonometric functions and the analytic theory of continued fractions. For example, he proved the infinitude of primes using the divergence of the harmonic series, and he used analytic methods to gain some understanding of the way prime numbers are distributed. Euler's work in this area led to the development of the prime number theorem. Number theory Euler's interest in number theory can be traced to the influence of Christian Goldbach, his friend in the St. Petersburg Academy. Much of Euler's early work on number theory was based on the work of Pierre de Fermat. Euler developed some of Fermat's ideas and disproved some of his conjectures, such as his conjecture that all numbers of the form (Fermat numbers) are prime. Euler linked the nature of prime distribution with ideas in analysis. He proved that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes diverges. In doing so, he discovered the connection between the Riemann zeta function and the prime numbers; this is known as the Euler product formula for the Riemann zeta function. Euler invented the totient function φ(n), the number of positive integers less than or equal to the integer n that are coprime to n. Using properties of this function, he generalized Fermat's little theorem to what is now known as Euler's theorem. He contributed significantly to the theory of perfect numbers, which had fascinated mathematicians since Euclid. He proved that the relationship shown between even perfect numbers and Mersenne primes earlier proved by Euclid was one-to-one, a result otherwise known as the Euclid–Euler theorem. Euler also conjectured the law of quadratic reciprocity. The concept is regarded as a fundamental theorem of number theory, and his ideas paved the way for the work of Carl Friedrich Gauss, particularly Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. By 1772 Euler had proved that 231 − 1 = 2,147,483,647 is a Mersenne prime. It may have remained the largest known prime until 1867. Euler contributed major developments to the theory of partitions of an integer. Graph theory In 1735, Euler presented a solution to the problem known as the Seven Bridges of Königsberg. The city of Königsberg, Prussia was set on the Pregel River, and included two large islands that were connected to each other and the mainland by seven bridges. The problem is to decide whether it is possible to follow a path that crosses each bridge exactly once and returns to the starting point. It is not possible: there is no Eulerian circuit. This solution is considered to be the first theorem of graph theory. Euler also discovered the formula relating the number of vertices, edges and faces of a convex polyhedron, and hence of a planar graph. The constant in this formula is now known as the Euler characteristic for the graph (or other mathematical object), and is related to the genus of the object. The study and generalization of this formula, specifically by Cauchy and L'Huilier, is at the origin of topology. Physics, astronomy, and engineering Some of Euler's greatest successes were in solving real-world problems analytically, and in describing numerous applications of the Bernoulli numbers, Fourier series, Euler numbers, the constants and , continued fractions and integrals. He integrated Leibniz's differential calculus with Newton's Method of Fluxions, and developed tools that made it easier to apply calculus to physical problems. He made great strides in improving the numerical approximation of integrals, inventing what are now known as the Euler approximations. The most notable of these approximations are Euler's method and the Euler–Maclaurin formula. Euler helped develop the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation, which became a cornerstone of engineering. Besides successfully applying his analytic tools to problems in classical mechanics, Euler applied these techniques to celestial problems. His work in astronomy was recognized by multiple Paris Academy Prizes over the course of his career. His accomplishments include determining with great accuracy the orbits of comets and other celestial bodies, understanding the nature of comets, and calculating the parallax of the Sun. His calculations contributed to the development of accurate longitude tables. Euler made important contributions in optics. He disagreed with Newton's corpuscular theory of light, which was then the prevailing theory. His 1740s papers on optics helped ensure that the wave theory of light proposed by Christiaan Huygens would become the dominant mode of thought, at least until the development of the quantum theory of light. In fluid dynamics, Euler was the first to predict the phenomenon of cavitation, in 1754, long before its first observation in the late 19th century, and the Euler number used in fluid flow calculations comes from his related work on the efficiency of turbines. In 1757 he published an important set of equations for inviscid flow in fluid dynamics, that are now known as the Euler equations. Euler is well known in structural engineering for his formula giving Euler's critical load, the critical buckling load of an ideal strut, which depends only on its length and flexural stiffness. Logic Euler is credited with using closed curves to illustrate syllogistic reasoning (1768). These diagrams
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the function are linear functions of the making it easy to find the minimising values; the minimising values are linear functions of the observations ; the minimising values are linear functions of the random errors which makes it relatively easy to determine the statistical properties of the estimated values of . Time series models An example of a linear time series model is an autoregressive moving average model. Here the model for values {} in a time series can be written in the form where again the quantities are random variables representing innovations which are new random effects that appear at a certain time but also affect values of at later times. In this instance the use of the term "linear model" refers to the structure of the above relationship in representing as a linear function of past values of the same time series and of current and past values of the innovations. This particular aspect of the structure means that it is relatively simple to derive relations for the mean and covariance properties of the time series. Note that here the "linear" part of the term "linear model" is not referring to the coefficients and , as it would be in the case of a regression model, which looks structurally similar. Other uses in statistics There are some other instances where "nonlinear
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of the estimated values of . Time series models An example of a linear time series model is an autoregressive moving average model. Here the model for values {} in a time series can be written in the form where again the quantities are random variables representing innovations which are new random effects that appear at a certain time but also affect values of at later times. In this instance the use of the term "linear model" refers to the structure of the above relationship in representing as a linear function of past values of the same time series and of current and past values of the innovations. This particular aspect of the structure means that it is relatively simple to derive relations for the mean and covariance properties of the time series. Note that here the "linear" part of the term "linear model" is not referring to the coefficients and , as it would be in the case of a regression model, which looks structurally similar. Other uses in statistics There are some other instances where "nonlinear model" is used to contrast with a linearly structured model,
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relevant to inferences about the value of the model parameters is in the equivalence class to which the likelihood function belongs. The strong likelihood principle applies this same criterion to cases such as sequential experiments where the sample of data that is available results from applying a stopping rule to the observations earlier in the experiment. Example Suppose is the number of successes in twelve independent Bernoulli trials with probability of success on each trial, and is the number of independent Bernoulli trials needed to get three successes, again with probability of success on each trial ( for the toss of a fair coin). Then the observation that induces the likelihood function while the observation that induces the likelihood function The likelihood principle says that, as the data are the same in both cases, the inferences drawn about the value of should also be the same. In addition, all the inferential content in the data about the value of is contained in the two likelihoods, and is the same if they are proportional to one another. This is the case in the above example, reflecting the fact that the difference between observing and observing lies not in the actual data collected, nor in the conduct of the experimenter, but merely in the intentions described in the two different designs of the experiment. Specifically, in one case, the decision in advance was to try twelve times, regardless of the outcome; in the other case, the advance decision was to keep trying until three successes were observed. The inference about should be the same, and this is reflected in the fact that the two likelihoods are proportional to each other: Except for a constant leading factor of 220 vs. 55, the two likelihood functions are the same. This equivalence is not always the case, however. The use of frequentist methods involving p-values leads to different inferences for the two cases above, showing that the outcome of frequentist methods depends on the experimental procedure, and thus violates the likelihood principle. The law of likelihood A related concept is the law of likelihood, the notion that the extent to which the evidence supports one parameter value or hypothesis against another is indicated by the ratio of their likelihoods, their likelihood ratio. That is, is the degree to which the observation x supports parameter value or hypothesis a against b. If this ratio is 1, the evidence is indifferent; if greater than 1, the evidence supports the value a against b; or if less, then vice versa. In Bayesian statistics, this ratio is known as the Bayes factor, and Bayes' rule can be seen as the application of the law of likelihood to inference. In frequentist inference, the likelihood ratio is used in the likelihood-ratio test, but other non-likelihood tests are used as well. The Neyman–Pearson lemma states the likelihood-ratio test is the most powerful test for comparing two simple hypotheses at a given significance level, which gives a frequentist justification for the law of likelihood. Combining the likelihood principle with the law of likelihood yields the consequence that the parameter value which maximizes the likelihood function is the value which is most strongly supported by the evidence. This is the basis for the widely used method of maximum likelihood. History The likelihood principle was first identified by that name in print in 1962 (Barnard et al., Birnbaum, and Savage et al.), but arguments for the same principle, unnamed, and the use of the principle in applications goes back to the works of R.A. Fisher in the 1920s. The law of likelihood was identified by that name by I. Hacking (1965). More recently the likelihood principle as a general principle of inference has been championed by A. W. F. Edwards. The likelihood principle has been applied to the philosophy of science by R. Royall. Birnbaum proved that the likelihood principle follows from two more primitive and seemingly reasonable principles, the conditionality principle and the sufficiency principle: The conditionality principle says that if an experiment is chosen by a random process independent of the states of nature then only the experiment actually performed is relevant to inferences about The sufficiency principle says that if is a sufficient statistic for and if in two experiments with data and we
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example called the optional stopping problem. Example 1 – simple version Suppose I tell you that I tossed a coin 12 times and in the process observed 3 heads. You might make some inference about the probability of heads and whether the coin was fair. Suppose now I tell that I tossed the coin until I observed 3 heads, and I tossed it 12 times. Will you now make some different inference? The likelihood function is the same in both cases: It is proportional to So according to the likelihood principle, in either case the inference should be the same. Example 2 – a more elaborated version of the same statistics Suppose a number of scientists are assessing the probability of a certain outcome (which we shall call 'success') in experimental trials. Conventional wisdom suggests that if there is no bias towards success or failure then the success probability would be one half. Adam, a scientist, conducted 12 trials and obtains 3 successes and 9 failures. One of those successes was the 12th and last observation. Then Adam left the lab. Bill, a colleague in the same lab, continued Adam's work and published Adam's results, along with a significance test. He tested the null hypothesis that , the success probability, is equal to a half, versus . If we ignore the information that the third success was the 12th and last observation the probability of the observed result that out of 12 trials 3 or something fewer (i.e. more extreme) were successes, if is true, is which is . Thus the null hypothesis is not rejected at the 5% significance level if we ignore the knowledge that the third success was the 12th result. However observe that this first calculation also includes 12 token long sequences that end in tails contrary to the problem statement! If we redo this calculation we realize the likelihood according to the null hypothesis must be the probability of a fair coin landing 2 or fewer heads on 11 trials multiplied with the probability of the fair coin landing a head for the 12th trial: which is . Now the result is statistically significant at the level. Charlotte, another scientist, reads Bill's paper and writes a letter, saying that it is possible that Adam kept trying until he obtained 3 successes, in which case the probability of needing to conduct 12 or more experiments is given by which is . Now the result is statistically significant at the level. Note that there is no contradiction between the latter two correct analyses; both computations are correct, and result in the same p-value. To these scientists, whether a result is significant or not does not depend on the design of the experiment, but does on the likelihood (in the sense of the likelihood function) of the parameter value being . Summary of the illustrated issues Results of this kind are considered by some as arguments against the likelihood principle. For others it exemplifies the value of the likelihood principle and is an argument against significance tests. Similar themes appear when comparing Fisher's exact test with Pearson's chi-squared test. The voltmeter story An argument in favor of the likelihood principle is given by Edwards in his book Likelihood. He cites the following story from J.W. Pratt, slightly condensed here. Note that the likelihood function depends only on what actually happened, and not on what could have happened. An engineer draws a random sample of electron tubes and measures their voltages. The measurements range from 75 to 99 Volts. A statistician computes the sample mean and a confidence interval for the true mean. Later the statistician discovers that the voltmeter reads only as far as 100 Volts, so technically, the population appears to be “censored”. If the statistician is orthodox this necessitates a new analysis. However, the engineer says he has another meter reading to 1000 Volts, which he would have used if any voltage had been over 100. This is a relief to the statistician, because it means the population was effectively uncensored after all. But later, the statistician infers that the second meter had not been working when the measurements were taken. The engineer informs the statistician that he would not have held up the original measurements until the second meter was fixed, and the statistician informs him that new measurements are required. The engineer is astounded. “Next you'll be asking about my oscilloscope!” Throwback to Example 2 in the prior section This story can be translated to Adam's stopping rule above, as follows: Adam stopped immediately after 3 successes, because his boss Bill had instructed him to do so. After the publication of the statistical analysis by Bill, Adam realizes that he has missed a later instruction
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made them one of the most influential groups of the era, eclipsing their earlier achievements. The band's image also changed as the members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing, with Page taking the lead on the flamboyant appearance by wearing a glittering moon-and-stars outfit. Led Zeppelin changed their show by using things such as lasers, professional light shows and mirror balls. They began travelling in a private jet airliner, a Boeing 720 (nicknamed the Starship), rented out entire sections of hotels (including the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, known colloquially as the "Riot House"), and became the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery. One involved John Bonham riding a motorcycle through a rented floor of the Riot House, while another involved the destruction of a room in the Tokyo Hilton, leading to the group being banned from that establishment for life. Although Led Zeppelin developed a reputation for trashing their hotel suites and throwing television sets out of the windows, some suggest that these tales have been exaggerated. According to music journalist Chris Welch, "[Led Zeppelin's] travels spawned many stories, but it was a myth that [they] were constantly engaged in acts of wanton destruction and lewd behaviour". Led Zeppelin released their fourth album on 8 November 1971. It is variously referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, Untitled, IV, or, due to the four symbols appearing on the record label, as Four Symbols, Zoso or Runes. The band had wanted to release the fourth album with no title or information, in response to the music press "going on about Zeppelin being a hype", but the record company wanted something on the cover, so in discussions, it was agreed to have four symbols to represent both the four members of the band and that it was the fourth album. With 37 million copies sold, Led Zeppelin IV is one of the best-selling albums in history, and its massive popularity cemented Led Zeppelin's status as superstars in the 1970s. By 2021, it had sold 24 million copies in the United States alone. The track "Stairway to Heaven", never released as a single, was the most requested and most played song on American rock radio in the 1970s. The group followed up the album's release with tours of the UK, Australasia, North America, Japan, and the UK again from late 1971 through early 1973. Led Zeppelin's next album, Houses of the Holy, was released in March 1973. It featured further experimentation by the band, who expanded their use of synthesisers and mellotron orchestration. The predominantly orange album cover, designed by the London-based design group Hipgnosis, depicts images of nude children climbing the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Although the children are not shown from the front, the cover was controversial at the time of the album's release. As with the band's fourth album, neither their name nor the album title was printed on the sleeve. Houses of the Holy topped charts worldwide, and the band's subsequent concert tour of North America in 1973 broke records for attendance, as they consistently filled large auditoriums and stadiums. At Tampa Stadium in Florida, they played to 56,800 fans, breaking the record set by the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert and grossing $309,000. Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a motion picture, but the theatrical release of this project (The Song Remains the Same) was delayed until 1976. Before the final night's performance, $180,000 ($ today) of the band's money from gate receipts was stolen from a safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel. Also in 1973, the band purchased Hammerwood Park, a Georgian mansion in East Sussex, at auction, which they planned to turn into a recording studio and accommodation. However, the house was in an increasing state of dereliction and the plans were eventually shelved. Although it would be used in the filming of the music video for The Song Remains the Same, the house was subsequently boarded up and put up for sale in 1976. In 1974, Led Zeppelin took a break from touring and launched their own record label, Swan Song, named after an unreleased song. The record label's logo is based on a drawing called Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by William Rimmer. The drawing features a figure of a winged human-like being interpreted as either Apollo or Icarus. The logo can be found on Led Zeppelin memorabilia, especially T-shirts. In addition to using Swan Song as a vehicle to promote their own albums, the band expanded the label's roster, signing artists such as Bad Company, the Pretty Things and Maggie Bell. The label was successful while Led Zeppelin existed, but folded less than three years after they disbanded. In 1975, Led Zeppelin's double album Physical Graffiti was their first release on the Swan Song label. It consisted of fifteen songs, of which eight had been recorded at Headley Grange in 1974 and seven had been recorded earlier. A review in Rolling Stone magazine referred to Physical Graffiti as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic respectability", adding that the only bands Led Zeppelin had to compete with for the title "The World's Best Rock Band" were the Rolling Stones and the Who. The album was a massive commercial and critical success. Shortly after the release of Physical Graffiti, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart, and the band embarked on another North American tour, now employing sophisticated sound and lighting systems. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin played five sold-out nights at the Earls Court Arena in London, at the time the largest arena in Britain. Hiatus from touring and return: 1975–1977 Following their triumphant Earls Court appearances, Led Zeppelin took a holiday and planned an autumn tour in America, scheduled to open with two outdoor dates in San Francisco. In August 1975, however, Plant and his wife Maureen were involved in a serious car crash while on holiday in Rhodes, Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle and Maureen was badly injured; a blood transfusion saved her life. Unable to tour, he headed to the Channel Island of Jersey to spend August and September recuperating, with Bonham and Page in tow. The band then reconvened in Malibu, California. During this forced hiatus, much of the material for their next album, Presence, was written. By this time, Led Zeppelin were the world's number one rock attraction, having outsold most bands of the time, including the Rolling Stones. Presence, released in March 1976, marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams, departing from the acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements featured on their previous albums. Though it was a platinum seller, Presence received a mixed reaction among fans and the music press, with some critics suggesting that the band's excesses may have caught up with them. Page had begun using heroin during recording sessions for the album, a habit which may have affected the band's later live shows and studio recordings, although he has since denied this. Because of Plant's injuries, Led Zeppelin did not tour in 1976. Instead, the band completed the concert film The Song Remains the Same and the accompanying soundtrack album. The film premiered in New York City on 20 October 1976, but was given a lukewarm reception by critics and fans. The film was particularly unsuccessful in the UK, where, unwilling to tour since 1975 because of their tax exile status, Led Zeppelin faced an uphill battle to recapture the public's affection. In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another major concert tour of North America. The band set another attendance record, with an audience of 76,229 at their Silverdome concert on 30 April. It was, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest attendance to that date for a single act show. Although the tour was financially profitable, it was beset by off-stage problems. On 19 April, over 70 people were arrested as about 1,000 fans tried to gatecrash Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum for two sold-out concerts, while others tried to gain entry by throwing rocks and bottles through glass doors. On 3 June, a concert at Tampa Stadium was cut short because of a severe thunderstorm, despite tickets indicating "Rain or Shine". A riot broke out, resulting in arrests and injuries. After 23 July show at the Day on the Green festival at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, Bonham and members of Led Zeppelin's support staff were arrested after a member of promoter Bill Graham's staff was badly beaten during the band's performance. The following day's second Oakland concert was the group's final live appearance in the United States. Two days later, as they checked in at a French Quarter hotel for their 30 July performance at the Louisiana Superdome, Plant received news that his five-year-old son, Karac, had died from a stomach virus. The rest of the tour was immediately cancelled, prompting widespread speculation about Led Zeppelin's future. Bonham's death and break-up: 1978–1980 In November 1978, the group recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The resulting album, In Through the Out Door, featured sonic experimentation that again drew mixed reactions from critics. Nevertheless, the album reached number one in the UK and the US in just its second week of release. With this album's release, Led Zeppelin's entire catalogue returned to the Billboard Top 200 in the weeks of 27 October and 3 November 1979. In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined two concerts at the Knebworth Music Festival, playing to a crowd of approximately 104,000 on the first night. A brief, low-key European tour was undertaken in June and July 1980, featuring a stripped-down set without the usual lengthy jams and solos. On 27 June, at a show in Nuremberg, Germany, the concert came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the third song, when Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital. Speculation in the press suggested that his collapse had been the result of excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten. A North American tour, the band's first since 1977, was scheduled to commence on 17 October 1980. On 24 September, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (from ), with a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant, "breakfast". He continued to drink heavily after arriving at the studio. The rehearsals were halted late that evening and the band retired to Page's house—the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight, Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side. At 1:45 pm the next day, Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones found Bonham dead. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit; the finding was accidental death. An autopsy found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's body. Although he had recently begun to take Motival (a cocktail of the antipsychotic fluphenazine and the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline) to combat his anxiety, it is unclear if these substances interacted with the alcohol in his system. Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980, at Rushock parish church, Worcestershire. The planned North American tour was cancelled, and despite rumours that Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, Barriemore Barlow, Simon Kirke, Ric Lee or Bev Bevan would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members decided to disband. A 4 December 1980 press statement stated that, "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were." The statement was signed simply "Led Zeppelin". Post-breakup 1980s Following Led Zeppelin's dissolution, the first significant musical project by one of its members was the Honeydrippers, which Plant initially formed in 1981. The group, featuring Page on lead guitar, along with studio musicians and friends of the pair, including Jeff Beck, Paul Shaffer, and Nile Rodgers, released its only album in 1984. Plant focused on a different direction from Zeppelin, playing standards and in a more R&B style, highlighted by a cover of "Sea of Love" that peaked at number three on the Billboard chart in early 1985. Coda – a collection of Zeppelin outtakes and unused tracks – was issued in November 1982. It included two tracks from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, one each from the Led Zeppelin III and Houses of the Holy sessions, and three from the In Through the Out Door sessions. It also featured a 1976 Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Page, called "Bonzo's Montreux". On 13 July 1985, Page, Plant, and Jones reunited for the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, playing a short set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins, and bassist Paul Martinez. Collins had contributed to Plant's first two solo albums while Martinez was a member of Plant's solo band. The performance was marred by a lack of rehearsal with the two drummers, Page's struggles with an out-of-tune guitar, poorly functioning monitors, and Plant's hoarse voice. Page described the performance as "pretty shambolic", while Plant characterised it as an "atrocity". The three members reunited again on 14 May 1988, for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son Jason on drums. The result was again disjointed: Plant and Page had argued immediately prior to taking the stage about whether to play "Stairway to Heaven", and Jones' keyboards were absent from the live television feed. Page described the performance as "one big disappointment" and Plant said "the gig was foul". 1990s The first Led Zeppelin box set, featuring tracks remastered under Page's supervision, was released in 1990 and bolstered the band's reputation, leading to abortive discussions among members about a reunion. This set included four previously unreleased tracks, including a version of Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues". The song peaked at number seven on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2 was released in 1993; the two box sets together contained all known studio recordings, as well as some rare live tracks. In 1994, Page and Plant reunited for a 90-minute "UnLedded" MTV project. They later released an album called No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, which featured some reworked Led Zeppelin songs, and embarked on a world tour the following year. This is said to be the beginning of a rift between the band members, as Jones was not even told of the reunion. In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. Jason and Zoë Bonham also attended, representing their late father. At the induction ceremony, the band's inner rift became apparent when Jones joked upon accepting his award, "Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number", causing consternation and awkward looks from Page and Plant. Afterwards, they played one brief set with Tyler and Perry, with Jason Bonham on drums, and then a second with Neil Young, this time with Michael Lee playing the drums. In 1997, Atlantic released a single edit of "Whole Lotta Love" in the US and the UK, the only single the band released in their homeland, where it peaked at number 21. November 1997 saw the release of Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions, a two-disc set largely recorded in 1969 and 1971. Page and Plant released another album called Walking into Clarksdale in 1998, featuring all new material, but after disappointing sales, the partnership dissolved before a planned Australian tour. 2000s 2003 saw the release of the triple live album How the West Was Won, and Led Zeppelin DVD, a six-hour chronological set of live footage that became the best-selling music DVD in history. In July 2007, Atlantic/Rhino and Warner Home Video announced three Zeppelin titles to be released that November: Mothership, a 24-track best-of spanning the band's career; a reissue of the soundtrack The Song Remains the Same, including previously unreleased material; and a new DVD. Zeppelin also made their catalogue legally available for download, becoming one of the last major rock bands to do so. On 10 December 2007, Zeppelin reunited for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 Arena in London, with Jason Bonham again taking his father's place on drums. According to Guinness World Records 2009, the show set a record for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" as 20 million requests were submitted online. Critics praised the performance and there was widespread speculation about a full reunion. Page, Jones and Jason Bonham were reported to be willing to tour and to be working on material for a new Zeppelin project. Plant continued his touring commitments with Alison Krauss, stating in September 2008 that he would not record or tour with the band. "I told them I was busy and they'd simply have to wait," he recalled in 2014. "I would come around eventually, which they were fine with – at least to my knowledge. But it turns out they weren't. And what's even more disheartening, Jimmy used it against me." Jones and Page reportedly looked for a replacement for Plant; candidates including Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge. However, in January 2009, it was confirmed that the project had been abandoned. "Getting the opportunity to play with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham was pretty special," Kennedy recalled. "That is pretty much the zenith right there. That was a crazy, good experience. It's something I still think of often ... It's so precious to me." 2010s A film of the O2 performance, Celebration Day, premiered on 17 October 2012 and was released on DVD on 19 November. The film grossed $2 million in one night, and the live album peaked at number 4 and 9 in the UK and US, respectively. Following the film's premiere, Page revealed that he had been remastering the band's discography. The first wave of albums, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, and Led Zeppelin III, were released on 2 June 2014. The second wave of albums, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy, were released on 27 October 2014. Physical Graffiti was released on 23 February 2015, almost exactly forty years to the day after the original release. The fourth and final wave of studio album reissues, Presence, In Through the Out Door, and Coda, were released on 31 July 2015. Through this remastering project, each studio album was reissued on CD and vinyl and was also available in a Deluxe Edition, which contained a bonus disc of previously unheard material (Coda's Deluxe Edition would include two bonus discs). Each album was also available in a Super Deluxe Edition Box Set, which included the remastered album and bonus disc on both CD and 180-gram vinyl, a high-definition audio download card of all content at 96 kHz/24 bit, a hardbound book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia, and a high-quality print of the original album cover. On 6 November 2015, the Mothership compilation was reissued using the band's newly remastered audio tracks. The reissuing campaign continued the next year with the re-release of BBC Sessions on 16 September 2016. The reissue contained a bonus disc with nine unreleased BBC recordings, including the heavily bootlegged but never officially released "Sunshine Woman". To commemorate the band's 50th anniversary, Page, Plant and Jones announced an official illustrated book celebrating 50 years since the formation of the band. Also released for the celebration was a reissue of How the West Was Won on 23 March 2018, which includes the album's first pressing on vinyl. For Record Store Day on 21 April 2018, Led Zeppelin released a 7" single "Rock and Roll" (Sunset Sound Mix)/"Friends" (Olympic Studio Mix), their first single in 21 years. 2020s In October 2020, Page released a photo collection called Jimmy Page: The Anthology, confirming a band documentary for the band's 50th anniversary, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic its progress has slowed down. Musical style Led Zeppelin's music was rooted in the blues. The influence of American blues artists such as Muddy Waters and Skip James was particularly apparent on their first two albums, as was the distinct country blues style of Howlin' Wolf. Tracks were structured around the twelve-bar blues on every studio album except for one, and the blues directly and indirectly influenced other songs both musically and lyrically. The band were also strongly influenced by the music of the British, Celtic, and American folk revivals. Scottish folk guitarist Bert Jansch helped inspire Page, and from him he adapted open tunings and aggressive strokes into his playing. The band also drew on a wide variety of genres, including world music, and elements of early rock and roll, jazz, country, funk, soul, and reggae, particularly on Houses of the Holy and the albums that followed. The material on the first two albums was largely constructed out of extended jams of blues standards and folk songs. This method led to the mixing of musical and lyrical elements of
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"Train Kept A-Rollin'", originally a jump blues song popularised in a rockabilly version by Johnny Burnette, which had been covered by the Yardbirds. "As soon as I heard John Bonham play", Jones recalled, "I knew this was going to be great ... We locked together as a team immediately". Before leaving for Scandinavia, the group took part in a recording session for the P. J. Proby album Three Week Hero. The album's track "Jim's Blues", with Plant on harmonica, was the first studio track to feature all four future members of Led Zeppelin. The band completed the Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds, playing together for the first time in front of a live audience at Gladsaxe Teen Clubs in Gladsaxe, Denmark, on 7 September 1968. Later that month, they began recording their first album, which was based on their live set. The album was recorded and mixed in nine days, and Page covered the costs. After the album's completion, the band were forced to change their name after Dreja issued a cease and desist letter, stating that Page was allowed to use the New Yardbirds moniker for the Scandinavian dates only. One account of how the new band's name was chosen held that Moon and Entwistle had suggested that a supergroup with Page and Beck would go down like a "lead balloon", an idiom for disastrous results. The group dropped the 'a' in lead at the suggestion of their manager, Peter Grant, so that those unfamiliar with the term would not pronounce it "leed". The word "balloon" was replaced by "zeppelin", a word which, according to music journalist Keith Shadwick, brought "the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace" to Page's mind. Grant secured a $143,000 advance contract ($ today) from Atlantic Records in November 1968—at the time, the biggest deal of its kind for a new band. Atlantic was a label with a catalogue of mainly blues, soul, and jazz artists, but in the late 1960s, it began to take an interest in British progressive rock acts. At the recommendation of British singer Dusty Springfield, a friend of Jones who at the time was completing her first Atlantic album, Dusty in Memphis, record executives signed Led Zeppelin without having ever seen them. Under the terms of their contract, the band had autonomy in deciding when they would release albums and tour and had the final say over the contents and design of each album. They would also decide how to promote each release and which tracks to release as singles. They formed their own company, Superhype, to handle all publishing rights. Early years: 1968–1970 The band began their first tour of the UK on 4 October 1968, still billed as the New Yardbirds; they played their first show as Led Zeppelin at the University of Surrey in Battersea on 25 October. Tour manager Richard Cole, who would become a major figure in the touring life of the group, organised their first North American tour at the end of the year. Their debut album, Led Zeppelin, was released in the US during the tour on 12 January 1969, and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard chart; it was released in the UK, where it peaked at number 6, on 31 March. According to Steve Erlewine, the album's memorable guitar riffs, lumbering rhythms, psychedelic blues, groovy, bluesy shuffles and hints of English folk music made it "a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal". In their first year, Led Zeppelin completed four US and four UK concert tours, and also released their second album, Led Zeppelin II. Recorded mostly on the road at various North American studios, it was an even greater commercial success than their first album and reached the number one chart position in the US and the UK. The album further developed the mostly blues-rock musical style established on their debut release, creating a sound that was "heavy and hard, brutal and direct", and which would be highly influential and frequently imitated. Steve Waksman has suggested that Led Zeppelin II was "the musical starting point for heavy metal". The band saw their albums as indivisible, complete listening experiences, disliking the re-editing of existing tracks for release as singles. Grant maintained an aggressive pro-album stance, particularly in the UK, where there were few radio and TV outlets for rock music. Without the band's consent, however, some songs were released as singles, particularly in the US. In 1969, an edited version of "Whole Lotta Love", a track from their second album, was released as a single in the US. It reached number four in the Billboard chart in January 1970, selling over one million copies and helping to cement the band's popularity. The group also increasingly shunned television appearances, citing their preference that their fans hear and see them in live concerts. Following the release of their second album, Led Zeppelin completed several more US tours. They played initially in clubs and ballrooms, and then in larger auditoriums as their popularity grew. Some early Led Zeppelin concerts lasted more than four hours, with expanded and improvised live versions of their repertoire. Many of these shows have been preserved as bootleg recordings. It was during this period of intensive concert touring that the band developed a reputation for off-stage excess. In 1970, Page and Plant retired to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, to commence work on their third album, Led Zeppelin III. The result was a more acoustic style that was strongly influenced by folk and Celtic music, and showcased the band's versatility. The album's rich acoustic sound initially received mixed reactions, with critics and fans surprised at the turn from the primarily electric arrangements of the first two albums, further fuelling the band's hostility to the musical press. It reached number one in the UK and US charts, but its stay would be the shortest of their first five albums. The album's opening track, "Immigrant Song", was released as a US single in November 1970 against the band's wishes, reaching the top twenty on the Billboard chart. "The Biggest Band in the World": 1970–1975 During the 1970s, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success that made them one of the most influential groups of the era, eclipsing their earlier achievements. The band's image also changed as the members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing, with Page taking the lead on the flamboyant appearance by wearing a glittering moon-and-stars outfit. Led Zeppelin changed their show by using things such as lasers, professional light shows and mirror balls. They began travelling in a private jet airliner, a Boeing 720 (nicknamed the Starship), rented out entire sections of hotels (including the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, known colloquially as the "Riot House"), and became the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery. One involved John Bonham riding a motorcycle through a rented floor of the Riot House, while another involved the destruction of a room in the Tokyo Hilton, leading to the group being banned from that establishment for life. Although Led Zeppelin developed a reputation for trashing their hotel suites and throwing television sets out of the windows, some suggest that these tales have been exaggerated. According to music journalist Chris Welch, "[Led Zeppelin's] travels spawned many stories, but it was a myth that [they] were constantly engaged in acts of wanton destruction and lewd behaviour". Led Zeppelin released their fourth album on 8 November 1971. It is variously referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, Untitled, IV, or, due to the four symbols appearing on the record label, as Four Symbols, Zoso or Runes. The band had wanted to release the fourth album with no title or information, in response to the music press "going on about Zeppelin being a hype", but the record company wanted something on the cover, so in discussions, it was agreed to have four symbols to represent both the four members of the band and that it was the fourth album. With 37 million copies sold, Led Zeppelin IV is one of the best-selling albums in history, and its massive popularity cemented Led Zeppelin's status as superstars in the 1970s. By 2021, it had sold 24 million copies in the United States alone. The track "Stairway to Heaven", never released as a single, was the most requested and most played song on American rock radio in the 1970s. The group followed up the album's release with tours of the UK, Australasia, North America, Japan, and the UK again from late 1971 through early 1973. Led Zeppelin's next album, Houses of the Holy, was released in March 1973. It featured further experimentation by the band, who expanded their use of synthesisers and mellotron orchestration. The predominantly orange album cover, designed by the London-based design group Hipgnosis, depicts images of nude children climbing the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Although the children are not shown from the front, the cover was controversial at the time of the album's release. As with the band's fourth album, neither their name nor the album title was printed on the sleeve. Houses of the Holy topped charts worldwide, and the band's subsequent concert tour of North America in 1973 broke records for attendance, as they consistently filled large auditoriums and stadiums. At Tampa Stadium in Florida, they played to 56,800 fans, breaking the record set by the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert and grossing $309,000. Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a motion picture, but the theatrical release of this project (The Song Remains the Same) was delayed until 1976. Before the final night's performance, $180,000 ($ today) of the band's money from gate receipts was stolen from a safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel. Also in 1973, the band purchased Hammerwood Park, a Georgian mansion in East Sussex, at auction, which they planned to turn into a recording studio and accommodation. However, the house was in an increasing state of dereliction and the plans were eventually shelved. Although it would be used in the filming of the music video for The Song Remains the Same, the house was subsequently boarded up and put up for sale in 1976. In 1974, Led Zeppelin took a break from touring and launched their own record label, Swan Song, named after an unreleased song. The record label's logo is based on a drawing called Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by William Rimmer. The drawing features a figure of a winged human-like being interpreted as either Apollo or Icarus. The logo can be found on Led Zeppelin memorabilia, especially T-shirts. In addition to using Swan Song as a vehicle to promote their own albums, the band expanded the label's roster, signing artists such as Bad Company, the Pretty Things and Maggie Bell. The label was successful while Led Zeppelin existed, but folded less than three years after they disbanded. In 1975, Led Zeppelin's double album Physical Graffiti was their first release on the Swan Song label. It consisted of fifteen songs, of which eight had been recorded at Headley Grange in 1974 and seven had been recorded earlier. A review in Rolling Stone magazine referred to Physical Graffiti as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic respectability", adding that the only bands Led Zeppelin had to compete with for the title "The World's Best Rock Band" were the Rolling Stones and the Who. The album was a massive commercial and critical success. Shortly after the release of Physical Graffiti, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart, and the band embarked on another North American tour, now employing sophisticated sound and lighting systems. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin played five sold-out nights at the Earls Court Arena in London, at the time the largest arena in Britain. Hiatus from touring and return: 1975–1977 Following their triumphant Earls Court appearances, Led Zeppelin took a holiday and planned an autumn tour in America, scheduled to open with two outdoor dates in San Francisco. In August 1975, however, Plant and his wife Maureen were involved in a serious car crash while on holiday in Rhodes, Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle and Maureen was badly injured; a blood transfusion saved her life. Unable to tour, he headed to the Channel Island of Jersey to spend August and September recuperating, with Bonham and Page in tow. The band then reconvened in Malibu, California. During this forced hiatus, much of the material for their next album, Presence, was written. By this time, Led Zeppelin were the world's number one rock attraction, having outsold most bands of the time, including the Rolling Stones. Presence, released in March 1976, marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams, departing from the acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements featured on their previous albums. Though it was a platinum seller, Presence received a mixed reaction among fans and the music press, with some critics suggesting that the band's excesses may have caught up with them. Page had begun using heroin during recording sessions for the album, a habit which may have affected the band's later live shows and studio recordings, although he has since denied this. Because of Plant's injuries, Led Zeppelin did not tour in 1976. Instead, the band completed the concert film The Song Remains the Same and the accompanying soundtrack album. The film premiered in New York City on 20 October 1976, but was given a lukewarm reception by critics and fans. The film was particularly unsuccessful in the UK, where, unwilling to tour since 1975 because of their tax exile status, Led Zeppelin faced an uphill battle to recapture the public's affection. In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another major concert tour of North America. The band set another attendance record, with an audience of 76,229 at their Silverdome concert on 30 April. It was, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest attendance to that date for a single act show. Although the tour was financially profitable, it was beset by off-stage problems. On 19 April, over 70 people were arrested as about 1,000 fans tried to gatecrash Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum for two sold-out concerts, while others tried to gain entry by throwing rocks and bottles through glass doors. On 3 June, a concert at Tampa Stadium was cut short because of a severe thunderstorm, despite tickets indicating "Rain or Shine". A riot broke out, resulting in arrests and injuries. After 23 July show at the Day on the Green festival at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, Bonham and members of Led Zeppelin's support staff were arrested after a member of promoter Bill Graham's staff was badly beaten during the band's performance. The following day's second Oakland concert was the group's final live appearance in the United States. Two days later, as they checked in at a French Quarter hotel for their 30 July performance at the Louisiana Superdome, Plant received news that his five-year-old son, Karac, had died from a stomach virus. The rest of the tour was immediately cancelled, prompting widespread speculation about Led Zeppelin's future. Bonham's death and break-up: 1978–1980 In November 1978, the group recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The resulting album, In Through the Out Door, featured sonic experimentation that again drew mixed reactions from critics. Nevertheless, the album reached number one in the UK and the US in just its second week of release. With this album's release, Led Zeppelin's entire catalogue returned to the Billboard Top 200 in the weeks of 27 October and 3 November 1979. In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined two concerts at the Knebworth Music Festival, playing to a crowd of approximately 104,000 on the first night. A brief, low-key European tour was undertaken in June and July 1980, featuring a stripped-down set without the usual lengthy jams and solos. On 27 June, at a show in Nuremberg, Germany, the concert came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the third song, when Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital. Speculation in the press suggested that his collapse had been the result of excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten. A North American tour, the band's first since 1977, was scheduled to commence on 17 October 1980. On 24 September, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (from ), with a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant, "breakfast". He continued to drink heavily after arriving at the studio. The rehearsals were halted late that evening and the band retired to Page's house—the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight, Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side. At 1:45 pm the next day, Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones found Bonham dead. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit; the finding was accidental death. An autopsy found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's body. Although he had recently begun to take Motival (a cocktail of the antipsychotic fluphenazine and the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline) to combat his anxiety, it is unclear if these substances interacted with the alcohol in his system. Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980, at Rushock parish church, Worcestershire. The planned North American tour was cancelled, and despite rumours that Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, Barriemore Barlow, Simon Kirke, Ric Lee or Bev Bevan would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members decided to disband. A 4 December 1980 press statement stated that, "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were." The statement was signed simply "Led Zeppelin". Post-breakup 1980s Following Led Zeppelin's dissolution, the first significant musical project by one of its members was the Honeydrippers, which Plant initially formed in 1981. The group, featuring Page on lead guitar, along with studio musicians and friends of the pair, including Jeff Beck, Paul Shaffer, and Nile Rodgers, released its only album in 1984. Plant focused on a different direction from Zeppelin, playing standards and in a more R&B style, highlighted by a cover of "Sea of Love" that peaked at number three on the Billboard chart in early 1985. Coda – a collection of Zeppelin outtakes and unused tracks – was issued in November 1982. It included two tracks from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, one each from the Led Zeppelin III and Houses of the Holy sessions, and three from the In Through the Out Door sessions. It also featured a 1976 Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Page, called "Bonzo's Montreux". On 13 July 1985, Page, Plant, and Jones reunited for the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, playing a short set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins, and bassist Paul Martinez. Collins had contributed to Plant's first two solo albums while Martinez was a member of Plant's solo band. The performance was marred by a lack of rehearsal with the two drummers, Page's struggles with an out-of-tune guitar, poorly
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the eastern seaboard and later, notably, to California. Dunsany's own work and contribution to the Irish literary heritage were recognised with an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin. Early 1940s In 1940, Dunsany was appointed Byron Professor of English in Athens University, Greece. Having reached Athens by a circuitous route, he was so successful that he was offered a post as Professor of English in Istanbul. However, he had to be evacuated due to the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, returning home by an even more complex route, his travels forming a basis for a long poem published in book form (A Journey, in 5 cantos: The Battle of Britain, The Battle of Greece, The Battle of the Mediterranean, Battles Long Ago, The Battle of the Atlantic, special edition January 1944). Olivia Manning's character Lord Pinkrose in her novel sequence the Fortunes of War was a mocking portrait of Dunsany in that period. Later life In 1947, Dunsany transferred his Meath estate in trust to his son and heir and settled in Kent at his Shoreham house, Dunstall Priory, not far from the home of Rudyard Kipling. He visited Ireland only occasionally thereafter, and engaged actively in life in Shoreham and London. He also began a new series of visits to the United States, notably California, as recounted in Hazel Littlefield-Smith's biographical Dunsany, King of Dreams. Death In 1957, Lord Dunsany became ill while eating with the Earl and Countess of Fingall at Dunsany, in what proved to be an attack of appendicitis, and died in hospital in Dublin at the age of 79. He had directed to be buried in the churchyard of the ancient church of St Peter and St Paul, Shoreham, Kent, in memory of shared wartimes. His funeral was attended by a wide range of family (including the Pakenhams, Jerseys and Fingals) and Shoreham figures, and representatives of his old regiment and various bodies in which he had taken an interest. A memorial service was held at Kilmessan in Meath with a reading of "Crossing the Bar", which was noted as coinciding with a passing flock of geese. Lady Beatrice survived Lord Dunsany, living on mainly at Shoreham, overseeing his literary legacy until her death in 1970, while their son Randal succeeded him in the barony and was in turn succeeded by his grandson, the artist Edward Plunkett, to whom literary rights passed directly. Interests Aside from his literary work, Dunsany was a keen chess player, setting chess puzzles for journals such as The Times of London, playing José Raúl Capablanca to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition, and inventing Dunsany's Chess, an asymmetrical chess variant notable for not involving any fairy pieces, unlike the many variants that require the player to learn unconventional piece movements. He was president of both the Irish Chess Union and the Kent County Chess Association for some years and of Sevenoaks Chess Club for 54 years. Dunsany was a keen horseman and hunter, for many years hosting the hounds of a local hunt and hunting in parts of Africa. He was at one time the pistol-shooting champion of Ireland. Dunsany also campaigned for animal rights, being known especially for his opposition to the "docking" of dogs' tails, and presided over the West Kent branch of the RSPCA in his later years. He enjoyed cricket, provided the local cricket ground situated near Dunsany Crossroads, and later played for and presided at Shoreham Cricket Club in Kent. He was a supporter of Scouting for many years, serving as President of the Sevenoaks district Boy Scouts Association. He also supported an amateur drama group, the Shoreham Players. Dunsany provided support for the British Legion in both Ireland and Kent, including grounds in Trim and poetry for the Irish branch's annual memorial service on a number of occasions. Writings Dunsany was a prolific writer of short stories, novels, plays, poetry, essays and autobiography. He published over 90 books in his lifetime, not including individual plays. Books have continued to appear, with more than 120 having issued by 2017. Dunsany's works have been published in many languages. Early career The then Edward Plunkett began his literary career in the late 1890s with published verses such as "Rhymes from a Suburb" and "The Spirit of the Bog", but he made a lasting impression in 1905. Writing as Lord Dunsany he produced the well-received collection The Gods of Pegāna. Early fantasy Dunsany's most notable fantasy short stories appeared in collections from 1905 to 1919, before fantasy had been recognised as a distinct genre. He paid for the publication of the first collection, The Gods of Pegāna, earning a commission on sales. This he never again had to do. The stories in his first two books, and perhaps the beginning of his third, were set in an invented world, Pegāna, with its own gods, history and geography. Starting with this, Dunsany's name is linked to that of Sidney Sime, his chosen artist, who illustrated much of his work, notably up to 1922. Style Dunsany's style varied significantly throughout his writing career. Prominent Dunsany scholar S. T. Joshi has described these shifts as Dunsany moving on after he felt he had exhausted the potential of a style or medium. From the naïve fantasy of his earliest writings, through his early short-story work in 1904–1908, he turned to the self-conscious fantasy of The Book of Wonder in 1912, in which he almost seems to be parodying his lofty early style. Each of his collections varies in mood; A Dreamer's Tales varies from the wistfulness of "Blagdaross" to the horrors of "Poor Old Bill" and "Where the Tides Ebb and Flow" to the social satire of "The Day of the Poll." The opening paragraph of "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" from The Book of Wonder, (1912) gives a good indication of both the tone and tenor of Dunsany's style at the time: The Gibbelins eat, as is well known, nothing less good than man. Their evil tower is joined to Terra Cognita, to the lands we know, by a bridge. Their hoard is beyond reason; avarice has no use for it; they have a separate cellar for emeralds and a separate cellar for sapphires; they have filled a hole with gold and dig it up when they need it. And the only use that is known for their ridiculous wealth is to attract to their larder a continual supply of food. In times of famine, they have even been known to scatter rubies abroad, a little trail of them to some city of Man, and sure enough, their larders would soon be full again. Drama After The Book of Wonder, Dunsany began to write plays – many of which were even more successful at the time than his early story collections – while continuing to write short stories. He carried on writing plays for the theatre into the 1930s, including the famous If, and also some radio productions. Although many of Dunsany's plays were successfully staged in his lifetime, he also wrote "chamber plays" or closet dramas, intended only to be read privately (as if they were stories) or performed on the radio. Some of these chamber or radio plays involve supernatural events – a character appearing out of thin air or vanishing in full view of the audience, without an explanation of how the effect is to be staged, a matter of no importance, as Dunsany did not intend them to be performed live and visibly. Middle period After a successful US lecture tour in 1919–1920, his reputation now related principally to his plays. He temporarily reduced his output of short stories, concentrating on plays, novels and poetry for a time. His poetry, now little seen, was for a time so popular that it is recited by the lead character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise. His sonnet A Dirge of Victory was the only poem included in the Armistice Day edition of the Times of London. Launching another phase of his work, Dunsany's first novel, Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley appeared in 1922. It is set in "a Romantic Spain that never was" and follows the adventures of a young nobleman, Don Rodriguez, and his servant in their search for a castle for Rodriguez. It has been argued that Dunsany's inexperience with the novel form shows in the episodic nature of Don Rodriguez. In 1924, Dunsany published his second novel, The King of Elfland's Daughter, a return to his early style of writing. This is seen by many to be Dunsany's finest novel and a classic of fantasy writing. In his next novel, The Charwoman's Shadow, Dunsany returned to the Spanish milieu and the light style of Don Rodriguez, to which it is related. Despite his frequent shifts of style and medium, Dunsany's thematic concerns remained essentially the same. Many of his later novels had an explicitly Irish theme, from the semi-autobiographical The Curse of the Wise Woman to His Fellow Men. Among his best-known characters was Joseph Jorkens, an obese middle-aged raconteur who
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appendicitis. Biography Early life Edward Plunkett (Dunsany), known to his family as "Eddie," was the first son of John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853–1899), and his wife, Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Ernle-Erle-Drax, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton (1855–1916). From a historically wealthy and famous family, Lord Dunsany was related to many well-known Irish figures. He was a kinsman of the Catholic Saint Oliver Plunkett, the martyred Archbishop of Armagh whose ring and crozier head are still held by the Dunsany family. He was also related to the prominent Anglo-Irish unionist and later nationalist / Home Rule politician Sir Horace Plunkett and George Count Plunkett, Papal Count and Republican politician, father of Joseph Plunkett, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising. His mother was a cousin of Sir Richard Burton, and he inherited from her considerable height, being 6'4". The Countess of Fingall, wife of Dunsany's cousin, the Earl of Fingall, wrote a best-selling account of the life of the aristocracy in Ireland in the late 19th century and early 20th century called Seventy Years Young. Plunkett's only grown sibling, a younger brother, from whom he was estranged from about 1916, for reasons not fully clear but connected to his mother's will, was the noted British naval officer Sir Reginald Drax. Another younger brother died in infancy. Edward Plunkett grew up at the family properties, notably Dunstall Priory in Shoreham, Kent, and Dunsany Castle in County Meath, but also family homes such as in London. His schooling was at Cheam, Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, which he entered in 1896. Title and marriage The title passed to him at his father's death in 1899 at a fairly young age. The young Lord Dunsany returned to Dunsany Castle after war duty, in 1901. In that year he was also confirmed as an elector for the Representative Peers for Ireland in the House of Lords. In 1903, he met Lady Beatrice Child Villiers (1880–1970), youngest daughter of The 7th Earl of Jersey (head of the Jersey banking family), who was then living at Osterley Park. They married in 1904. Their one child, Randal, was born in 1906. Beatrice was supportive of Dunsany's interests and helped him by typing his manuscripts, with selecting work for his collections, including the 1954 retrospective short story collection, and overseeing his literary heritage after his death. The Dunsanys were socially active in Dublin and London and travelled between homes in Meath, London and Kent, other than during the First and Second world wars and the Irish War of Independence. Dunsany circulated with many literary figures of the time. To many of these in Ireland he was first introduced by his uncle, the co-operative pioneer Sir Horace Plunkett, who also helped to manage his estate and investments for a time. He was friendly, for example, with George William Russell, Oliver St. John Gogarty, and for a time, W. B. Yeats. He also socialised at times with George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, and was a friend of Rudyard Kipling. In 1910 Dunsany commissioned a two-storey extension to Dunsany Castle, with a billiard room, bedrooms and other facilities. The billiard room includes the crests of all the Lords Dunsany up to the 18th. Military experience Dunsany served as a second lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards in the Second Boer War. Volunteering in the First World War and appointed Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, he was stationed for a time at Ebrington Barracks in Derry. Hearing while on leave of disturbances in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916, he drove in to offer help and was wounded by a bullet lodged in his skull. After recovery at Jervis Street Hospital and what was then the King George V Hospital (now St. Bricin's Military Hospital), he returned to duty. His military belt was lost in the episode and later used at the burial of Michael Collins. Having been refused forward positioning in 1916 and listed as valuable as a trainer, he served in the later war stages in the trenches and in the final period writing propaganda material for the War Office with MI7b(1). There is a book at Dunsany Castle with wartime photographs, on which lost members of his command are marked. During the Irish War of Independence, Dunsany was charged with violating the Restoration of Order in Ireland Regulations, tried by court-martial on 4 February 1921, convicted, and sentenced to pay a fine of 25 pounds or serve three months in prison without labour. The Crown Forces had searched Dunsany Castle and had found two double-barrelled shotguns, two rook rifles, four Very pistols, an automatic pistol and a large quantity of pistol ammunition, along with shotgun and rifle ammunition. During the Second World War, Dunsany signed up for the Irish Army Reserve and the British Home Guard, the two countries' local defence forces, and was especially active in Shoreham, Kent, the English village bombed most during the Battle of Britain. Literary life Dunsany's fame arose chiefly from his prolific writings. He was involved in the Irish Literary Revival. Supporting the Revival, Dunsany was a major donor to the Abbey Theatre and he moved in Irish literary circles. He was well acquainted with W. B. Yeats (who rarely acted as editor but gathered and published a Dunsany selection), Lady Gregory, Percy French, "AE" Russell, Oliver St John Gogarty, Padraic Colum (with whom he jointly wrote a play) and others. He befriended and supported Francis Ledwidge, to whom he gave the use of his library, and Mary Lavin. Dunsany made his first literary tour to the United States in 1919 and further such visits up to the 1950s, in the early years mostly to the eastern seaboard and later, notably, to California. Dunsany's own work and contribution to the Irish literary heritage were recognised with an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin. Early 1940s In 1940, Dunsany was appointed Byron Professor of English in Athens University, Greece. Having reached Athens by a circuitous route, he was so successful that he was offered a post as Professor of English in Istanbul. However, he had to be evacuated due to the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, returning home by an even more complex route, his travels forming a basis for a long poem published in book form (A Journey, in 5 cantos: The Battle of Britain, The Battle of Greece, The Battle of the Mediterranean, Battles Long Ago, The Battle of the Atlantic, special edition January 1944). Olivia Manning's character Lord Pinkrose in her novel sequence the Fortunes of War was a mocking portrait of Dunsany in that period. Later life In 1947, Dunsany transferred his Meath estate in trust to his son and heir and settled in Kent at his Shoreham house, Dunstall Priory, not far from the home of Rudyard Kipling. He visited Ireland only occasionally thereafter, and engaged actively in life in Shoreham and London. He also began a new series of visits to the United States, notably California, as recounted in Hazel Littlefield-Smith's biographical Dunsany, King of Dreams. Death In 1957, Lord Dunsany became ill while eating with the Earl and Countess of Fingall at Dunsany, in what proved to be an attack of appendicitis, and died in hospital in Dublin at the age of 79. He had directed to be buried in the churchyard of the ancient church of St Peter and St Paul, Shoreham, Kent, in memory of shared wartimes. His funeral was attended by a wide range of family (including the Pakenhams, Jerseys and Fingals) and Shoreham figures, and representatives of his old regiment and various bodies in which he had taken an interest. A memorial service was held at Kilmessan in Meath with a reading of "Crossing the Bar", which was noted as coinciding with a passing flock of geese. Lady Beatrice survived Lord Dunsany, living on mainly at Shoreham, overseeing his literary legacy until her death in 1970, while their son Randal succeeded him in the barony and was in turn succeeded by his grandson, the artist Edward Plunkett, to whom literary rights passed directly. Interests Aside from his literary work, Dunsany was a keen chess player, setting chess puzzles for journals such as The Times of London, playing José Raúl Capablanca to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition, and inventing Dunsany's Chess, an asymmetrical chess variant notable for not involving any fairy pieces, unlike the many variants that require the player to learn unconventional piece movements. He was president of both the Irish Chess Union and the Kent County Chess Association for some years and of Sevenoaks Chess Club for 54 years. Dunsany was a keen horseman and hunter, for many years hosting the hounds of a local hunt and hunting in parts of Africa. He was at one time the pistol-shooting champion of Ireland. Dunsany also campaigned for animal rights, being known especially for his opposition to the "docking" of dogs' tails, and presided over the West Kent branch of the RSPCA in his later years. He enjoyed cricket, provided the local cricket ground situated near Dunsany Crossroads, and later played for and presided at Shoreham Cricket Club in Kent. He was a supporter of Scouting for many years, serving as President of the Sevenoaks district Boy Scouts Association. He also supported an amateur drama group, the Shoreham Players. Dunsany provided support for the British Legion in both Ireland and Kent, including grounds in Trim and poetry for the Irish branch's annual memorial service on a number of occasions. Writings Dunsany was a prolific writer of short stories, novels, plays, poetry, essays and autobiography. He published over 90 books in his lifetime, not including individual plays. Books have continued to appear, with more than 120 having issued by 2017. Dunsany's works have been published in many languages. Early career The then Edward Plunkett began his literary career in the late 1890s with published verses such as "Rhymes from a Suburb" and "The Spirit of the Bog", but he made a lasting impression in 1905. Writing as Lord Dunsany he produced the well-received collection The Gods of Pegāna. Early fantasy Dunsany's most notable fantasy short stories appeared in collections from 1905 to 1919, before fantasy had been recognised as a distinct genre. He paid for the publication of the first collection, The Gods of Pegāna, earning a commission on sales. This he never again had to do. The stories in his first two books, and perhaps the beginning of his third, were set in an invented world, Pegāna, with its own gods, history and geography. Starting with this, Dunsany's name is linked to that of Sidney Sime, his chosen artist, who illustrated much of his work, notably up to 1922. Style Dunsany's style varied significantly throughout his writing career. Prominent Dunsany scholar S. T. Joshi has described these shifts as Dunsany moving
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Musicologists have identified a theme similar to those of his Third Symphony in a set of variations written in 1791. It was perhaps on Neefe's recommendation that Beethoven received his first commissions; the Literary Society in Bonn commissioned a cantata to mark the occasion of the death in 1790 of Joseph II (WoO 87), and a further cantata, to celebrate the subsequent accession of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor (WoO 88), may have been commissioned by the Elector. These two Emperor Cantatas were never performed at the time and they remained lost until the 1880s when they were described by Johannes Brahms as "Beethoven through and through" and as such prophetic of the style which would mark his music as distinct from the classical tradition. Beethoven was probably first introduced to Joseph Haydn in late 1790 when the latter was travelling to London and stopped in Bonn around Christmas time. A year and a half later, they met in Bonn on Haydn's return trip from London to Vienna in July 1792, when Beethoven played in the orchestra at the Redoute in Godesberg. Arrangements were likely made at that time for Beethoven to study with the older master. Waldstein wrote to him before his departure: "You are going to Vienna in fulfilment of your long-frustrated wishes ... With the help of assiduous labour you shall receive Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands." 1792–1802: Vienna – the early years Beethoven left Bonn for Vienna in November 1792, amid rumours of war spilling out of France; he learned shortly after his arrival that his father had died. Over the next few years, Beethoven responded to the widespread feeling that he was a successor to the recently deceased Mozart by studying that master's work and writing works with a distinctly Mozartian flavour. He did not immediately set out to establish himself as a composer, but rather devoted himself to study and performance. Working under Haydn's direction, he sought to master counterpoint. He also studied violin under Ignaz Schuppanzigh. Early in this period, he also began receiving occasional instruction from Antonio Salieri, primarily in Italian vocal composition style; this relationship persisted until at least 1802, and possibly as late as 1809. With Haydn's departure for England in 1794, Beethoven was expected by the Elector to return home to Bonn. He chose instead to remain in Vienna, continuing his instruction in counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger and other teachers. In any case, by this time it must have seemed clear to his employer that Bonn would fall to the French, as it did in October 1794, effectively leaving Beethoven without a stipend or the necessity to return. However, several Viennese noblemen had already recognised his ability and offered him financial support, among them Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, and Baron Gottfried van Swieten. Assisted by his connections with Haydn and Waldstein, Beethoven began to develop a reputation as a performer and improviser in the salons of the Viennese nobility. His friend Nikolaus Simrock began publishing his compositions, starting with a set of keyboard variations on a theme of Dittersdorf (WoO 66). By 1793, he had established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso, but he apparently withheld works from publication so that their eventual appearance would have greater impact. In 1795 Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna over three days, beginning with a performance of one of his own piano concertos on 29 March at the Burgtheater and ending with a Mozart concerto on 31 March, probably the D minor concerto for which he had written a cadenza soon after his arrival in Vienna. By this year he had two piano concertos available for performance, one in B-flat major he had begun composing before moving to Vienna and had worked on for over a decade, and one in C major composed for the most part during 1795. Viewing the latter as the more substantive work, he chose to designate it as his first piano concerto, publishing it in March 1801 as Opus 15, before publishing the former as Opus 19 the following December. He wrote new cadenzas for both works in 1809. Shortly after his public debut he arranged for the publication of the first of his compositions to which he assigned an opus number, the three piano trios, Opus 1. These works were dedicated to his patron Prince Lichnowsky, and were a financial success; Beethoven's profits were nearly sufficient to cover his living expenses for a year. In 1799 Beethoven participated in (and won) a notorious piano 'duel' at the home of Baron Raimund Wetzlar (a former patron of Mozart) against the virtuoso Joseph Wölfl; and in the following year he similarly triumphed against Daniel Steibelt at the salon of Count Moritz von Fries. Beethoven's eighth piano sonata the Pathétique (Op. 13), published in 1799 is described by the musicologist Barry Cooper as "surpass[ing] any of his previous compositions, in strength of character, depth of emotion, level of originality, and ingenuity of motivic and tonal manipulation". Beethoven composed his first six string quartets (Op. 18) between 1798 and 1800 (commissioned by, and dedicated to, Prince Lobkowitz). They were published in 1801. He also completed his Septet (Op. 20) in 1799, which was one of his most popular works during his lifetime. With premieres of his First and Second Symphonies in 1800 and 1803, he became regarded as one of the most important of a generation of young composers following Haydn and Mozart. But his melodies, musical development, use of modulation and texture, and characterisation of emotion all set him apart from his influences, and heightened the impact some of his early works made when they were first published. For the premiere of his First Symphony, he hired the Burgtheater on 2 April 1800, and staged an extensive programme, including works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as his Septet, the Symphony, and one of his piano concertos (the latter three works all then unpublished). The concert, which the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung described as "the most interesting concert in a long time", was not without difficulties; among the criticisms was that "the players did not bother to pay any attention to the soloist". By the end of 1800, Beethoven and his music were already much in demand from patrons and publishers. In May 1799, he taught piano to the daughters of Hungarian Countess Anna Brunsvik. During this time, he fell in love with the younger daughter Josephine. Amongst his other students, from 1801 to 1805, he tutored Ferdinand Ries, who went on to become a composer and later wrote about their encounters. The young Carl Czerny, who later became a renowned music teacher himself, studied with Beethoven from 1801 to 1803. In late 1801, he met a young countess, Julie Guicciardi, through the Brunsvik family; he mentions his love for Julie in a November 1801 letter to a friend, but class difference prevented any consideration of pursuing this. He dedicated his 1802 Sonata Op. 27 No. 2, now commonly known as the Moonlight Sonata, to her. In the spring of 1801 he completed The Creatures of Prometheus, a ballet. The work received numerous performances in 1801 and 1802, and he rushed to publish a piano arrangement to capitalise on its early popularity. In the spring of 1802 he completed the Second Symphony, intended for performance at a concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere instead at a subscription concert in April 1803 at the Theater an der Wien, where he had been appointed composer in residence. In addition to the Second Symphony, the concert also featured the First Symphony, the Third Piano Concerto, and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives. Reviews were mixed, but the concert was a financial success; he was able to charge three times the cost of a typical concert ticket. His business dealings with publishers also began to improve in 1802 when his brother Kaspar, who had previously assisted him casually, began to assume a larger role in the management of his affairs. In addition to negotiating higher prices for recently composed works, Kaspar also began selling some of his earlier unpublished compositions and encouraged him (against Beethoven's preference) to also make arrangements and transcriptions of his more popular works for other instrument combinations. Beethoven acceded to these requests, as he could not prevent publishers from hiring others to do similar arrangements of his works. 1802–1812: The 'heroic' period Deafness Beethoven told the English pianist Charles Neate (in 1815) that he dated his hearing loss from a fit he suffered in 1798 induced by a quarrel with a singer. During its gradual decline, his hearing was further impeded by a severe form of tinnitus. As early as 1801, he wrote to Wegeler and another friend Karl Amenda, describing his symptoms and the difficulties they caused in both professional and social settings (although it is likely some of his close friends were already aware of the problems). The cause was probably otosclerosis, perhaps accompanied by degeneration of the auditory nerve. On the advice of his doctor, Beethoven moved to the small Austrian town of Heiligenstadt, just outside Vienna, from April to October 1802 in an attempt to come to terms with his condition. There he wrote the document now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter to his brothers which records his thoughts of suicide due to his growing deafness and records his resolution to continue living for and through his art. The letter was never sent and was discovered in his papers after his death. The letters to Wegeler and Amenda were not so despairing; in them Beethoven commented also on his ongoing professional and financial success at this period, and his determination, as he expressed it to Wegeler, to "seize Fate by the throat; it shall certainly not crush me completely". In 1806, Beethoven noted on one of his musical sketches: "Let your deafness no longer be a secret – even in art." Beethoven's hearing loss did not prevent him from composing music, but it made playing at concerts—an important source of income at this phase of his life—increasingly difficult. (It also contributed substantially to his social withdrawal.) Czerny remarked however that Beethoven could still hear speech and music normally until 1812. Beethoven never became totally deaf; in his final years he was still able to distinguish low tones and sudden loud sounds. The heroic style Beethoven's return to Vienna from Heiligenstadt was marked by a change in musical style, and is now often designated as the start of his middle or "heroic" period, characterised by many original works composed on a grand scale. According to Carl Czerny, Beethoven said: "I am not satisfied with the work I have done so far. From now on I intend to take a new way." An early major work employing this new style was the Third Symphony in E-flat, Op. 55, known as the Eroica, written in 1803–04. The idea of creating a symphony based on the career of Napoleon may have been suggested to Beethoven by General Bernadotte in 1798. Beethoven, sympathetic to the ideal of the heroic revolutionary leader, originally gave the symphony the title "Bonaparte", but disillusioned by Napoleon declaring himself Emperor in 1804, he scratched Napoleon's name from the manuscript's title page, and the symphony was published in 1806 with its present title and the subtitle "to celebrate the memory of a great man". The Eroica was longer and larger in scope than any previous symphony. When it premiered in early 1805 it received a mixed reception. Some listeners objected to its length or misunderstood its structure, while others viewed it as a masterpiece. Other middle period works extend in the same dramatic manner the musical language Beethoven had inherited. The Rasumovsky string quartets, and the Waldstein and Appassionata piano sonatas share the heroic spirit of the Third Symphony. Other works of this period include the Fourth through Eighth Symphonies, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, the opera Fidelio, and the Violin Concerto. Beethoven was hailed in 1810 by the writer and composer E. T. A. Hoffmann, in an influential review in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, as the greatest of (what he considered) the three Romantic composers (that is, ahead of Haydn and Mozart); in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony his music, wrote Hoffmann, "sets in motion terror, fear, horror, pain, and awakens the infinite yearning that is the essence of romanticism". During this time Beethoven's income came from publishing his works, from performances of them, and from his patrons, for whom he gave private performances and copies of works they commissioned for an exclusive period before their publication. Some of his early patrons, including Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Lichnowsky, gave him annual stipends in addition to commissioning works and purchasing published works. Perhaps his most important aristocratic patron was Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II, who in 1803 or 1804 began to study piano and composition with him. They became friends, and their meetings continued until 1824. Beethoven dedicated 14 compositions to Rudolf, including some of his major works such as the Archduke Trio Op. 97 (1811) and Missa solemnis Op. 123 (1823). His position at the Theater an der Wien was terminated when the theatre changed management in early 1804, and he was forced to move temporarily to the suburbs of Vienna with his friend Stephan von Breuning. This slowed work on Leonore (his original title for his opera), his largest work to date, for a time. It was delayed again by the Austrian censor and finally premiered, under its present title of Fidelio, in November 1805 to houses that were nearly empty because of the French occupation of the city. In addition to being a financial failure, this version of Fidelio was also a critical failure, and Beethoven began revising it. Despite this failure, Beethoven continued to attract recognition. In 1807 the musician and publisher Muzio Clementi secured the rights for publishing his works in England, and Haydn's former patron Prince Esterházy commissioned a mass (the Mass in C, Op. 86) for his wife's name-day. But he could not count on such recognition alone. A colossal benefit concert which he organized in December 1808, and was widely advertised, included the premieres of the Fifth and Sixth (Pastoral) symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, extracts from the Mass in C, the scena and aria Ah! perfido Op. 65 and the Choral Fantasy op. 80. There was a large audience (including Czerny and the young Ignaz Moscheles), but it was under-rehearsed, involved many stops and starts, and during the Fantasia Beethoven was noted shouting at the musicians "badly played, wrong, again!" The financial outcome is unknown. In the autumn of 1808, after having been rejected for a position at the Royal Theatre, Beethoven had received an offer from Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte, then king of Westphalia, for a well-paid position as Kapellmeister at the court in Cassel. To persuade him to stay in Vienna, Archduke Rudolf, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz, after receiving representations from Beethoven's friends, pledged to pay him a pension of 4000 florins a year. In the event, Archduke Rudolf paid his share of the pension on the agreed date. Kinsky, immediately called to military duty, did not contribute and died in November 1812 after falling from his horse. The Austrian currency destabilized and Lobkowitz went bankrupt in 1811 so that to benefit from the agreement Beethoven eventually had recourse to the law, which in 1815 brought him some recompense. The imminence of war reaching Vienna itself was felt in early 1809. In April, Beethoven completed writing his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, which the musicologist Alfred Einstein has described as "the apotheosis of the military concept" in Beethoven's music. Archduke Rudolf left the capital with the Imperial family in early May, prompting Beethoven's piano sonata Les Adieux (Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a), actually entitled by Beethoven in German Das Lebewohl (The Farewell), of which the final movement, Das Wiedersehen (The Return), is dated in the manuscript with the date of Rudolf's homecoming of 30 January 1810. During the French bombardment of Vienna in May, Beethoven took refuge in the cellar of the house of his brother Kaspar. The subsequent occupation of Vienna and the disruptions to cultural life and to Beethoven's publishers, together with Beethoven's poor health at the end of 1809, explain his significantly reduced output during this period, although other notable works of the year include his String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 74 (known as The Harp) and the Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major op. 78, dedicated to Josephine's sister Therese Brunsvik. Goethe At the end of 1809 Beethoven was commissioned to write incidental music for Goethe's play Egmont. The result (an overture, and nine additional entractes and vocal pieces, Op. 84), which appeared in 1810, fitted well with Beethoven's heroic style and he became interested in Goethe, setting three of his poems as songs (Op. 83) and learning about the poet from a mutual acquaintance, Bettina Brentano (who also wrote to Goethe at this time about Beethoven). Other works of this period in a similar vein were the F minor String Quartet Op. 95, to which Beethoven gave the subtitle Quartetto serioso, and the Op. 97 Piano Trio in B flat major known, from its dedication to his patron Rudolph as the Archduke Trio. In the spring of 1811, Beethoven became seriously ill, suffering headaches and high fever. His doctor Johann Malfatti recommended him to take a cure at the spa of Teplitz (now Teplice in the Czech Republic), where he wrote two more overtures and sets of incidental music for dramas, this time by August von Kotzebue – King Stephen Op. 117 and The Ruins of Athens Op. 113. Advised again to visit Teplitz in 1812 he met there with Goethe, who wrote: "His talent amazed me; unfortunately he is an utterly untamed personality, who is not altogether wrong in holding the world to be detestable, but surely does not make it any more enjoyable ... by his attitude." Beethoven wrote to his publishers Breitkopf and Härtel that "Goethe delights far too much in the court atmosphere, far more than is becoming in a poet." But following their meeting he began a setting for choir and orchestra of Goethe's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) (Op. 112), completed in 1815. After this was published in 1822 with a dedication to the poet, Beethoven wrote to him: "The admiration, the love and esteem which already in my youth I cherished for the one and only immortal Goethe have persisted." The Immortal Beloved While he was at Teplitz in 1812 he wrote a ten-page love letter to his "Immortal Beloved", which he never sent to its addressee. The identity of the intended recipient was long a subject of debate, although the musicologist Maynard Solomon has convincingly demonstrated that the intended recipient must have been Antonie Brentano; other candidates have included Julie Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti and Josephine Brunsvik. All of these had been regarded by Beethoven as possible soulmates during his first decade in Vienna. Guicciardi, although she flirted with Beethoven, never had any serious interest in him and married Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg in November 1803. (Beethoven insisted to his later secretary and biographer, Anton Schindler, that Gucciardi had "sought me out, crying, but I scorned her".) Josephine had, since Beethoven's initial infatuation with her, married the elderly Count Joseph Deym, who died in 1804. Beethoven began to visit her and commenced a passionate correspondence. Initially, he accepted that Josephine could not love him, but he continued to address himself to her even after she had moved to Budapest, finally demonstrating that he had got the message in his last letter to her of 1807: "I thank you for wishing still to appear as if I were not altogether banished from your memory". Malfatti was the niece of Beethoven's doctor, and he had proposed to her in 1810. He was 40, she was 19 – the proposal was rejected. She is now remembered as the recipient of the piano bagatelle Für Elise. Antonie (Toni) Brentano (née von Birkenstock), ten years younger than Beethoven, was the wife of Franz Brentano, the half-brother of Bettina Brentano, who provided Beethoven's introduction to the family. It would seem that Antonie and Beethoven had an affair during 1811–1812. Antonie left Vienna with her husband in late 1812 and never met with (or apparently corresponded with) Beethoven again, although in her later years she wrote and spoke fondly of him. Some speculate that Beethoven was the father of Antonie's son Karl Josef, though the two never met. After 1812 there are no reports of any romantic liaisons of Beethoven; it is, however, clear from his correspondence of the period and, later, from the conversation books, that he would occasionally meet with prostitutes. 1813–1822: Acclaim Family problems In early 1813 Beethoven apparently went through a difficult emotional period, and his compositional output dropped. His personal appearance degraded—it had generally been neat—as did his manners in public, notably when dining. Family issues may have played a part in this. Beethoven had visited his brother Johann at the end of October 1812. He wished to end Johann's cohabitation with Therese Obermayer, a woman who already had an illegitimate child. He was unable to convince Johann to end the relationship and appealed to the local civic and religious authorities, but Johann and Therese married on 8 November. The illness and eventual death of his brother Kaspar from tuberculosis became an increasing concern. Kaspar had been ill for some time; in 1813 Beethoven lent him 1500 florins, to procure the repayment of which he was ultimately led to complex legal measures. After Kaspar died on 15 November 1815, Beethoven immediately became embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with Kaspar's wife Johanna over custody of their son Karl, then nine years old. Beethoven had successfully applied to Kaspar to have himself named the sole guardian of the boy. A late codicil to Kaspar's will gave him and Johanna joint guardianship. While Beethoven was successful at having his nephew removed from her custody in January 1816, and had him removed to a private school in 1818 he was again preoccupied with the legal processes around Karl. While giving evidence to the court for the nobility, the Landrechte, Beethoven was unable to prove that he was of noble birth and as a consequence, on 18 December 1818 the case was transferred to the civil magistrate of Vienna, where he lost sole guardianship. He only regained custody after intensive legal struggles in 1820. During the years that followed, Beethoven frequently interfered in his nephew's life in what Karl perceived as an overbearing manner. Post-war Vienna Beethoven was finally motivated to begin significant composition again in June 1813, when news arrived of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Vitoria by a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington. The inventor Mälzel persuaded him to write a work commemorating the event for his mechanical instrument the Panharmonicon. This Beethoven also transcribed for orchestra as Wellington's Victory (Op. 91, also known as the Battle Symphony). It was first performed on 8 December, along with his Seventh Symphony, Op. 92, at a charity concert
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Two commissions at the end of 1822 improved Beethoven's financial prospects. In November the Philharmonic Society of London offered a commission for a symphony, which he accepted with delight, as an appropriate home for the Ninth Symphony on which he was working. Also in November Prince Nikolai Galitzin of Saint Petersburg offered to pay Beethoven's asking price for three string quartets. Beethoven set the price at the high level of 50 ducats per quartet in a letter dictated to his nephew Karl, who was then living with him. During 1822, Anton Schindler, who in 1840 became one of Beethoven's earliest and most influential (but not always reliable) biographers, began to work as the composer's unpaid secretary. He was later to claim that he had been a member of Beethoven's circle since 1814, but there is no evidence for this. Cooper suggests that "Beethoven greatly appreciated his assistance, but did not think much of him as a man". 1823–1827: The final years The year 1823 saw the completion of three notable works, all of which had occupied Beethoven for some years, namely the Missa solemnis, the Ninth Symphony and the Diabelli Variations. Beethoven at last presented the manuscript of the completed Missa to Rudolph on 19 March (more than a year after the archduke's enthronement as archbishop). He was not however in a hurry to get it published or performed as he had formed a notion that he could profitably sell manuscripts of the work to various courts in Germany and Europe at 50 ducats each. One of the few who took up this offer was Louis XVIII of France, who also sent Beethoven a heavy gold medallion. The Symphony and the variations took up most of the rest of Beethoven's working year. Diabelli hoped to publish both works, but the potential prize of the Mass excited many other publishers to lobby Beethoven for it, including Schlesinger and Carl Friedrich Peters. (In the end, it was obtained by Schotts). Beethoven had become critical of the Viennese reception of his works. He told the visiting Johann Friedrich Rochlitz in 1822:You will hear nothing of me here ... Fidelio? They cannot give it, nor do they want to listen to it. The symphonies? They have no time for them. My concertos? Everyone grinds out only the stuff he himself has made. The solo pieces? They went out of fashion long ago, and here fashion is everything. At the most, Schuppanzigh occasionally digs up a quartet. He, therefore, enquired about premiering the Missa and the Ninth Symphony in Berlin. When his Viennese admirers learnt of this, they pleaded with him to arrange local performances. Beethoven was won over, and the symphony was first performed, along with sections of the Missa solemnis, on 7 May 1824, to great acclaim at the Kärntnertortheater. Beethoven stood by the conductor Michael Umlauf during the concert beating time (although Umlauf had warned the singers and orchestra to ignore him), and because of his deafness was not even aware of the applause which followed until he was turned to witness it. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung gushed, "inexhaustible genius had shown us a new world", and Carl Czerny wrote that the Symphony "breathes such a fresh, lively, indeed youthful spirit ... so much power, innovation, and beauty as ever [came] from the head of this original man, although he certainly sometimes led the old wigs to shake their heads". The concert did not net Beethoven much money, as the expenses of mounting it were very high. A second concert on 24 May, in which the producer guaranteed him a minimum fee, was poorly attended; nephew Karl noted that "many people [had] already gone into the country". It was Beethoven's last public concert. Beethoven accused Schindler of either cheating him or mismanaging the ticket receipts; this led to the replacement of Schindler as Beethoven's secretary by Karl Holz, the second violinist in the Schuppanzigh Quartet, although by 1826 Beethoven and Schindler were reconciled. Beethoven then turned to writing the string quartets for Galitzin, despite failing health. The first of these, the quartet in E♭ major, Op. 127 was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1825. While writing the next, the quartet in A minor, Op. 132, in April 1825, he was struck by a sudden illness. Recuperating in Baden, he included in the quartet its slow movement to which he gave the title "Holy song of thanks (Heiliger Dankgesang) to the Divinity, from a convalescent, in the Lydian mode". The next quartet to be completed was the Thirteenth, op. 130, in B♭ major. In six movements, the last, contrapuntal movement proved to be very difficult for both the performers and the audience at its premiere in March 1826 (again by the Schuppanzigh Quartet). Beethoven was persuaded by the publisher Artaria, for an additional fee, to write a new finale, and to issue the last movement as a separate work (the Grosse Fugue, Op. 133). Beethoven's favourite was the last of this series, the quartet in C minor Op. 131, which he rated as his most perfect single work. Beethoven's relations with his nephew Karl had continued to be stormy; Beethoven's letters to him were demanding and reproachful. In August, Karl, who had been seeing his mother again against Beethoven's wishes, attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. He survived and after discharge from hospital went to recuperate in the village of Gneixendorf with Beethoven and his uncle Johann. Whilst in Gneixendorf, Beethoven completed a further quartet (Op. 135 in F major) which he sent to Schlesinger. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, Beethoven wrote in the manuscript "Muss es sein?" (Must it be?); the response, over the faster main theme of the movement, is "Es muss sein!" (It must be!). The whole movement is headed Der schwer gefasste Entschluss (The difficult decision). Following this in November Beethoven completed his final composition, the replacement finale for the op. 130 quartet. Beethoven at this time was already ill and depressed; he began to quarrel with Johann, insisting that Johann made Karl his heir, in preference to Johann's wife. Death On his return journey to Vienna from Gneixendorf in December 1826, illness struck Beethoven again. He was attended until his death by Dr. Andreas Wawruch, who throughout December noticed symptoms including fever, jaundice and dropsy, with swollen limbs, coughing and breathing difficulties. Several operations were carried out to tap off the excess fluid from Beethoven's abdomen. Karl stayed by Beethoven's bedside during December, but left after the beginning of January to join the army at Iglau and did not see his uncle again, although he wrote to him shortly afterwards "My dear father ... I am living in contentment and regret only that I am separated from you." Immediately following Karl's departure, Beethoven wrote a will making his nephew his sole heir. Later in January, Beethoven was attended by Dr. Malfatti, whose treatment (recognizing the seriousness of his patient's condition) was largely centred on alcohol. As the news spread of the severity of Beethoven's condition, many old friends came to visit, including Diabelli, Schuppanzigh, Lichnowsky, Schindler, the composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel and his pupil Ferdinand Hiller. Many tributes and gifts were also sent, including £100 from the Philharmonic Society in London and a case of expensive wine from Schotts. During this period, Beethoven was almost completely bedridden despite occasional brave efforts to rouse himself. On 24 March, he said to Schindler and the others present "Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est" ("Applaud, friends, the comedy is over"). Later that day, when the wine from Schott arrived, he whispered, "Pity – too late." Beethoven died on 26 March 1827 at the age of 56; only his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner and a "Frau van Beethoven" (possibly his old enemy Johanna van Beethoven) were present. According to Hüttenbrenner, at about 5 pm there was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder: "Beethoven opened his eyes, lifted his right hand and looked up for several seconds with his fist clenched ... not another breath, not a heartbeat more." Many visitors came to the death-bed; some locks of the dead man's hair were retained by Hüttenbrenner and Hiller, amongst others. An autopsy revealed Beethoven suffered from significant liver damage, which may have been due to his heavy alcohol consumption, and also considerable dilation of the auditory and other related nerves. Beethoven's funeral procession in Vienna on 29 March 1827 was attended by an estimated 10,000 people. Franz Schubert and the violinist Joseph Mayseder were among the torchbearers. A funeral oration by the poet Franz Grillparzer was read by the actor Heinrich Anschütz. Beethoven was buried in the Währing cemetery, north-west of Vienna, after a requiem mass at the church of the Holy Trinity (Dreifaltigkeitskirche) in Alserstrasse. Beethoven's remains were exhumed for study in 1863, and moved in 1888 to Vienna's Zentralfriedhof where they were reinterred in a grave adjacent to that of Schubert. Music The three periods The historian William Drabkin notes that as early as 1818 a writer had proposed a three-period division of Beethoven's works and that such a division (albeit often adopting different dates or works to denote changes in period) eventually became a convention adopted by all of Beethoven's biographers, starting with Schindler, F.-J. Fétis and Wilhelm von Lenz. Later writers sought to identify sub-periods within this generally accepted structure. Its drawbacks include that it generally omits a fourth period, that is, the early years in Bonn, whose works are less often considered; and that it ignores the differential development of Beethoven's composing styles over the years for different categories of work. The piano sonatas, for example, were written throughout Beethoven's life in a progression that can be interpreted as continuous development; the symphonies do not all demonstrate linear progress; of all of the types of composition, perhaps the quartets, which seem to group themselves in three periods (Op. 18 in 1801–1802, Opp. 59, 74 and 95 in 1806–1814, and the quartets, today known as 'late', from 1824 onwards) fit this categorization most neatly. Drabkin concludes that "now that we have lived with them so long ... as long as there are programme notes, essays written to accompany recordings, and all-Beethoven recitals, it is hard to imagine us ever giving up the notion of discrete stylistic periods." Bonn 1782–1792 Some forty compositions, including ten very early works written by Beethoven up to 1785, survive from the years that Beethoven lived in Bonn. It has been suggested that Beethoven largely abandoned composition between 1785 and 1790, possibly as a result of negative critical reaction to his first published works. A 1784 review in Johann Nikolaus Forkel's influential Musikalischer Almanack compared Beethoven's efforts to those of rank beginners. The three early piano quartets of 1785 (WoO 36), closely modelled on violin sonatas of Mozart, show his dependency on the music of the period. Beethoven himself was not to give any of the Bonn works an opus number, save for those which he reworked for use later in his career, for example, some of the songs in his Op. 52 collection (1805) and the Wind Octet reworked in Vienna in 1793 to become his String Quintet, Op. 4. Charles Rosen points out that Bonn was something of a backwater compared to Vienna; Beethoven was unlikely to be acquainted with the mature works of Haydn or Mozart, and Rosen opines that his early style was closer to that of Hummel or Muzio Clementi. Kernan suggests that at this stage Beethoven was not especially notable for his works in sonata style, but more for his vocal music; his move to Vienna in 1792 set him on the path to develop the music in the genres he became known for. The first period The conventional first period begins after Beethoven's arrival in Vienna in 1792. In the first few years he seems to have composed less than he did at Bonn, and his Piano Trios, op.1 were not published until 1795. From this point onward, he had mastered the 'Viennese style' (best known today from Haydn and Mozart) and was making the style his own. His works from 1795 to 1800 are larger in scale than was the norm (writing sonatas in four movements, not three, for instance); typically he uses a scherzo rather than a minuet and trio; and his music often includes dramatic, even sometimes over-the-top, uses of extreme dynamics and tempi and chromatic harmony. It was this that led Haydn to believe the third trio of Op.1 was too difficult for an audience to appreciate. He also explored new directions and gradually expanded the scope and ambition of his work. Some important pieces from the early period are the first and second symphonies, the set of six string quartets Opus 18, the first two piano concertos, and the first dozen or so piano sonatas, including the famous Pathétique sonata, Op. 13. The middle period His middle period began shortly after the personal crisis brought on by his recognition of encroaching deafness. It includes large-scale works that express heroism and struggle. Middle-period works include six symphonies (Nos. 3–8), the last two piano concertos, the Triple Concerto and violin concerto, five string quartets (Nos. 7–11), several piano sonatas (including the Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas), the Kreutzer violin sonata and his only opera, Fidelio. This period is sometimes associated with a heroic manner of composing, but the use of the term "heroic" has become increasingly controversial in Beethoven scholarship. The term is more frequently used as an alternative name for the middle period. The appropriateness of the term heroic to describe the whole middle period has been questioned as well: while some works, like the Third and Fifth Symphonies, are easy to describe as heroic, many others, like his Symphony No. 6, Pastoral or his Piano Sonata No. 24, are not. The late period Beethoven's late period began in the decade 1810-1819. He began a renewed study of older music, including works by Palestrina, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frideric Handel, whom Beethoven considered "the greatest composer who ever lived". Beethoven's late works incorporated polyphony and Baroque-era devices. For example, the overture The Consecration of the House (1822) included a fugue influenced by Handel's music. A new style emerged, as he returned to the keyboard to compose his first piano sonatas in almost a decade; the works of the late period include the last five piano sonatas and the Diabelli Variations, the last two sonatas for cello and piano, the late string quartets (including the massive Große Fuge), and two works for very large forces: the Missa solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Works from this period are characterised by their intellectual depth, their formal innovations, and their intense, highly personal expression. The String Quartet, Op. 131 has seven linked movements, and the Ninth Symphony adds choral forces to the orchestra in the last movement. Beethoven's pianos Beethoven's earlier preferred pianos included those of Johann Andreas Stein; he may have been given a Stein piano by Count Waldstein. From 1786 onwards there is evidence of Beethoven's cooperation with Johann Andreas Streicher, who had married Stein's daughter Nannette. Streicher left Stein's business to set up his own firm in 1803, and Beethoven continued to admire his products, writing to him in 1817 of his "special preference" for his pianos. Amongst the other pianos Beethoven possessed was an Érard piano given to him by the manufacturer in 1803. The Érard piano, with its exceptional resonance, may have influenced Beethoven's piano style – shortly after receiving it he began writing his Waldstein Sonata – but despite initial enthusiasm he seems to have abandoned it before 1810, when he wrote that it was "simply not of any use any more"; in 1824 he gave it to his brother Johann. In 1818 Beethoven received, also as gift, a grand piano by John Broadwood & Sons. Although Beethoven was proud to receive it, he seems to have been dissatisfied by its tone (a dissatisfaction which was perhaps also a consequence of his increasing deafness), and sought to get it remodelled to make it louder. In 1825 Beethoven commissioned a piano from Conrad Graf, which was equipped with quadruple strings and a special resonator to make it audible to him, but which failed in this task. Legacy Museums There is a museum, the Beethoven House, the place of his birth, in central Bonn. The same city has hosted a musical festival, the Beethovenfest, since 1845. The festival was initially irregular but has been organised annually since 2007. The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, in the campus of San Jose State University, California serves as a museum, research center, and host of lectures and performances devoted solely to Beethoven's life and works. Monuments The Beethoven Monument in Bonn was unveiled in August 1845, in honour of the 75th anniversary of his birth. It was the first statue of a composer created in Germany, and the music festival that accompanied the unveiling was the impetus for the very hasty construction of the original Beethovenhalle in Bonn (it was designed and built within less than a month, on the urging of Franz Liszt). Vienna honoured Beethoven with a statue in 1880. Space The third largest crater on Mercury is named in his honour, as is the main-belt asteroid 1815 Beethoven. Beethoven's music features twice on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record containing a broad sample of the images, common sounds, languages, and music of Earth, sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes. References Notes Citations Sources Further reading External links Beethoven-Haus Bonn The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San José State University 1770 births 1827 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century classical pianists 18th-century German composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century German male musicians 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century German composers 19th-century keyboardists 19th-century German male musicians Age of Enlightenment Ballet composers Beethoven family
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cards for the 2012 Olympics, and Hewitt's name was in the singles list, marking his third appearance at the Olympic Games (2000, 2008 and now). After his loss against Tsonga, Hewitt played doubles at Wimbledon partnering countryman Chris Guccione, where they made the 3rd round before losing in 4 sets. After Wimbledon, viewing to prepare for the Olympics, Hewitt was granted a wild card at Newport. In the opening round, he defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil. In the 2nd round, he won in three sets, ousting American Tim Smyczek. In his next match, the Aussie won against Israeli Dudi Sela. With this win, Hewitt went on to the semi-final (his first since Halle 2010), where he was victorious over American Rajeev Ram. He lost to top seeded John Isner in the final. Playing in the Olympics, Hewitt was drawn against Sergiy Stakhovsky and won. Marin Čilić, seeded 13th, awaited in the second round and Hewitt dispatched the Croat in two sets to advance to the third round. There, he met 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. After losing the first set, Djokovic overpowered Hewitt to take the final two sets and eliminate Hewitt from the tournament. In the mixed doubles, he and Sam Stosur reached the quarterfinals, where they lost two sets to one to Britain's Andy Murray and Laura Robson. Beginning the American hard court season, Hewitt received a WC to the Cincinnati Masters, where he won against Mikhail Youzhny in the 1st round before losing to Viktor Troicki in the 2nd round. The Aussie's next tournament was the US Open, where he received a WC, completing the "Wild Card Slam" (received wild cards in all of the four Grand Slams in 2012). In the 1st round, Hewitt met Tobias Kamke, winning his first match at Flushing Meadows since 2009. In the 2nd round, Hewitt won a marathon five sets match against Gilles Müller. In the 3rd round, Hewitt lost to 4th seed and No. 5-ranked David Ferrer, despite having set points in the 1st set. 2013: Five top ten wins and hope for resurgence Hewitt started off 2013 in Brisbane, where he lost in second round against Denis Istomin in straight sets. Prior to the Australian Open, Hewitt took part in the exhibition tournament AAMI Kooyong Classic, in which he defeated Milos Raonic, Tomáš Berdych, and Juan Martín del Potro en route to claim his second title. Due to his excellent result in the preparation event before the 2013 Australian Open, people had high expectations of Hewitt. However, he suffered his sixth first-round exit in his home slam to No. 9 Janko Tipsarević in straight sets. Hewitt then played in the Davis Cup against Taiwan and won in both singles and doubles. He played the SAP Open next in San Jose, losing his second-round match to third-seeded American Sam Querrey in a three-set thriller. He also claimed a wild card to play in doubles with fellow Aussie Marinko Matosevic, beating the No. 1 American duo Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan in the quarterfinals, before losing to Xavier Malisse and Frank Moser in the final. With Hewitt's doubles run in the tournament, he surpassed the 100-wins mark in doubles. He next participated in the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis. He faced Yen-Hsun Lu in the opening round, saving two match points to edge Lu in three sets. He lost to Denis Istomin, again in the second round. Hewitt moved on to play the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, ousting Lukáš Rosol and 15th seed John Isner, before losing to No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka. Hewitt lost to Gilles Simon in the opening round at Roland Garros. After winning the first two sets, he succumbed in five. In his first match at the Aegon Championships Queen's Club, he beat Mike Russell in three sets. He followed this with victory over Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. He then defeated Sam Querrey to book a place in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he defeated No. 8 Juan Martín del Potro in three sets, to progress to the semi-finals. Hewitt played Marin Čilić in the semi-finals, but was beaten in three sets. At Wimbledon, Hewitt beat top ten player Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round in straight sets. He was then defeated by German qualifier Dustin Brown in the second round in four sets. In July 2013, he made it to his first final of the year at the Hall-of-Fame Championships, defeating Matthew Ebden, Prakash Amritraj, Jan Hernych, and John Isner on the way. He was beaten by Nicolas Mahut having served for the championship at 5–4 in the second set. His form continued at the Atlanta Open, defeating Édouard Roger-Vasselin 6–4, 6–4, Rhyne Williams 7–6, 6–4 and Ivan Dodig 1–6, 6–3, 6–0 in the quarterfinals. Hewitt played John Isner in the semi-finals, but lost in three tough sets. His US Open run started well, beating Brian Baker in four sets and following up with a five-set epic upset against fellow former US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro, where Hewitt came back from two sets to one down against the No. 6, winning a fourth set tiebreak and sealing the match 6–1 in the fifth. He beat Evgeny Donskoy in the third round to set up a fourth round match with Mikhail Youzhny. Hewitt then lost to Youzhny 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–5, despite leading 4–1 in the fourth set and serving for the match at 5–3 in the fifth set. A measure of the success of Hewitt's 2013 season is the fact that he won the Newcombe medal as the most outstanding Australian tennis player in 2013, a year in which he returned to the world's top 100. 2014: 30th career title, 600 wins and return to top 40 Hewitt kicked off the 2014 season as an unseeded entrant into the 2014 Brisbane International. He won his first round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets. His second round match was against sixth seed Feliciano López, whom he defeated. His quarterfinal encounter against qualifier Marius Copil resulted in a straight-set victory. In the semi-finals Hewitt faced second seed Kei Nishikori. Hewitt prevailed, thus setting the final match against seventeen–time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer. Federer held an 18–8 record head–to–head against Hewitt. Hewitt managed to turn the tide on Federer, winning 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 and capturing the title, which was his 29th and first since 2010. As a result, his rank increased from 60th to 43rd, becoming Australian number one again. At AAMI Classic, he defeated Andy Murray in two tiebreaks. In the 2014 Australian Open, Hewitt played both singles and doubles as an unseeded player. In his first round singles match, he lost in five sets to No. 24 seed Andreas Seppi. In doubles action, Hewitt partnered with retired and former Australian number one Patrick Rafter. However, the duo did not manage to win their first round match against Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen, losing 4–6, 5–7. After the tournament, Hewitt's singles rank rose to No. 38, his highest position since late 2010. Hewitt battled for his 600th ATP win, becoming only the third active player to reach that milestone by beating Robin Haase in the 1st Round of the 2014 Sony Open Tennis. After the Australian Open, Hewitt played as part of the Australian representative team for the Davis Cup. He lost his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 2–6, 6–7 (2–7). He then competed in the 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis in the United States of America. With a bye in the Round of 32, he went on to defeat Marcos Baghdatis in three sets 1–6, 6–2, 6–0 before losing to Michael Russell 3–6, 6–7 (6–8). His next tournament was the Delray Beach Tournament where he beat Bradley Klahn in straight sets 6–3, 6–1. He then versed his compatriot Marinko Matosevic but was forced to retire after injuring his shoulder. The score was 6–7 (2–7). Hewitt played at the BNP Paribas Open where he defeated Matthew Ebden 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–3. He then lost to Kevin Anderson 6–7(5–7), 4–6. Hewitt then played at the Sony Open Tennis where he defeated Robin Haase in the Round of 128, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. He then subsequently lost to No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Hewitt then played at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he lost in Round of 16 to Sam Querrey. Hewitt suffered three consecutive first round losses at the BMW Open by FWU AG to Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7–6(6), 1–6, 0–6, Mutua Madrid Open to Santiago Giraldo 5–7, 6–4, 2–6 and at the French Open Roland Garros to Carlos Berlocq 6–3, 2–6, 1–6, 4–6. This ended Hewitt's clay court season. At the Aegon Championships, Hewitt won in the first round against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets before losing to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets 3–6, 4–6. Following this tournament, Hewitt played at Wimbledon where he won in the first round against Michal Przysiezny, 6–2, 6–7 (14–16), 6–1, 6–4 before losing in the second round in five sets to Jerzy Janowicz, 5–7, 4–6, 7–6(7), 6–4, 3–6. He next competed at the Newport Hall of Fame Tennis Championships where he was seeded third. Hewitt advanced to the final for the third consecutive year where he would face Ivo Karlovic. Hewitt slayed his Newport demons and defeated the big serving Croat in three sets: 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(3). It was his 30th career singles title. Hewitt went on to win the doubles title with countryman Chris Guccione later that same day. On 10 August 2014, Hewitt defeated Austria's Jürgen Melzer in three sets (3–6, 6–4, 6–4) at the Cincinnati Masters to reach 610 wins on the ATP Tour. That enabled him to rise to number 19 on the all-time wins list, topping Björn Borg and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the process. 2015: Farewell year Hewitt began his 2015 season as the defending champion of the Brisbane International. In the first round he was defeated in straight sets (3–6, 2–6) by fellow Australian Sam Groth in 58 minutes. As a result, he dropped from rank No. 50 to No. 84 and lost his position of No. 1 Australian which he had held for many consecutive months. Hewitt played the first Fast4 short-form tennis exhibition match against Roger Federer but lost in five sets. Hewitt then played his 19th consecutive Australian Open appearance which is the fourth longest streak at any Grand Slam. In the first round he beat wild card Zhang Ze in 4 sets. He then lost in five sets to his second round opponent Benjamin Becker despite winning the first two sets. At a media conference, Hewitt mentioned plans to retire after the 2016 Australian Open to become the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team after Pat Rafter moved on from the position, becoming the seventh man to captain the team. "I had thought long and hard and I plan to play the Australian Open next year and then finish," he said. "At the moment, [the Davis Cup] is the main focus for us and then I will be looking towards the grass court season and finishing here in Melbourne, which would be special to play 20 Australian Opens". It will be Australia's first time in the world group of the Davis Cup in six years. Rafter and John Newcombe are the only other two Australian men to have been ranked No. 1 since ranks were established in 1973. Hewitt then played the Miami Open and lost in the first round to Thomaz Bellucci in three sets. He was then awarded a wildcard to the 2015 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he also lost in the first round to Go Soeda. Hewitt skipped the remainder of the clay court season including the 2015 French Open, instead opting to focus on the grass season and Wimbledon. He began his grass court season at the 2015 Topshelf Open where he lost to Nicolas Mahut in the first round. He also was awarded a wildcard into the Men's Doubles where he partnered compatriot Matt Reid. They upset the fourth seeds Draganja/Kontinen in the first round. At Wimbledon, Hewitt was awarded a wildcard and was defeated by Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 0–6, 9–11 in the first round of his eighteenth and final appearance at the tournament. It became his 44th five-set match of his grand slam career. Despite three straight breaks in the fifth set, Hewitt on serve faced and saved three match points at 4–5, and held serve each time until the 20th game of the fifth set. Afterwards both the crowd and Nieminen himself gave Hewitt a standing ovation. Partnering compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, the wild card duo reached the third round of the Wimbledon men's doubles with two five-set matches, including defeating the 15th seed, but they lost to the 4th seed. Hewitt played in the mixed doubles with compatriot Casey Dellacqua on a wild card and lost in the second round, seemingly ending his Wimbledon career. Hewitt partnered Sam Groth to win Australia's Davis Cup quarterfinals doubles rubber against Kazakhstan in Darwin on 18 July. With their spectacular performance, Groth and Hewitt were selected to play the last two reverse-singles rubbers, replacing Kyrgios and Kokkinakis respectively. After Groth's win, Hewitt won the deciding fifth rubber against Nedovyesov to put Australia at 3–2 to reach the semi-finals. It was Australia's first win from 0–2 down since 1939. Hewitt, on a wild card, defeated compatriot John-Patrick Smith 6–3 6–4 at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. in August. He lost in the second round of the US Open to Tomic in five sets despite having two match points. Hewitt partnered with Sam Groth lost a tough Davis Cup semi-finals doubles tie against the British Murray brothers in 5 sets. Todd Woodbridge hailed it as the "Best [doubles] I've watched for years." 2016: Retirement Having previously announced his intentions to retire after the 2016 Australian Open, Hewitt confirmed that his final season would consist of that, the Hopman Cup and the exhibition World Tennis Challenge. In his 20th appearance at the Australian Open, he won his first round match against fellow Australian James Duckworth in straight sets. He then lost in the second round in 3 straight competitive sets to 8th seed David Ferrer, 2–6, 4–6, 4–6. Post-match he was remembered by players including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios as a man who was at the top of the game for years, and continually displayed the fighting spirit that he became synonymous with. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the awards announced on Australia Day. In March Hewitt came out of retirement to replace the injured Nick Kyrgios in the first round Davis Cup against the US at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. He played doubles with John Peers against the Bryan brothers. The Australian duo came back from two sets to love but lost the fifth set. Hewitt was the subject of a book titled "Facing Hewitt" which features fifty interviews with professional tennis players who competed against him. In June it was announced that Hewitt would be taking a wildcard into the Wimbledon doubles competition, playing alongside young compatriot Jordan Thompson. In the first round, the pair saved eight match points to defeat Nicolás Almagro and David Marrero 19–17 in the deciding set. However, they lost to the eighth seeds in the second round. 2018: Comeback in doubles In December 2017, it was announced that Hewitt would come out of retirement and accept a doubles wildcard with compatriot Sam Groth at the 2018 Australian Open. Hewitt and Jordan Thompson accepted a wildcard to play Doubles at the 2018 Brisbane International. They lost in the first round to Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison 3–6, 6–1, [5–10]. Hewitt then played in the fast4 exhibition in Sydney where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. Hewitt and Kyrgios then went on to win the doubles beating Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov. After that, he played the Tie Break Tens in Melbourne where he won his opening match against Novak Djokovic, before losing to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. In the Australian Open doubles, Hewitt and Groth made a run to the quarterfinals, including a win over third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău. This was his best doubles result at the Australian Open in his career. Hewitt's doubles comeback continued with Lleyton playing doubles at the 2018 Estoril Open with Alex de Minaur where they defeated second seeds Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen before losing in the quarterfinals. He then reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy – Men's Doubles with Alex Bolt before Venus and Klaasen gained revenge on Hewitt (this time with Alex Bolt) at the 2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Doubles. Hewitt then teamed up with another Aussie, Nick Kyrgios at the 2018 Queen's Club Championships – Doubles tournament where they defeated number 3 seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing in the quarterfinals. At the 2018 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles, Hewitt was again wildcard with Alex Bolt however the pair again lost in the first round to Venus and Klaasen. After this loss, Hewitt teamed up with Jordan Thompson and lost in the first round of the 2018 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Hewitt's last professional match of 2018 was in the 2018 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs against Austria where Hewitt paired up with experienced doubles specialist John Peers to defeat the Austrian team of doubles specialist Oliver Marach and experienced clay-courier Juergen Melzer. 2019: Continuing to play doubles In 2019, Hewitt played doubles at a number of tournaments. In a pairing with Jordan Thompson, they lost in the first round of the Sydney International. A week later he teamed up with John-Patrick Smith at the Australian Open, yet again losing in the first round. Hewitt and countryman Jordan Thompson received a wildcard to play at the Wimbledon Championships. They reached the second round before losing to R. Klaasen and M. Venus in straight sets. Also that year, he played doubles in New York, Houston, Surbiton, and 's-Hertogenbosch, playing with the likes of Alexi Popyrin and Thompson yet again. 2020: Back in hometown of Adelaide Hewitt once again featured in the Australian summer of tennis, this time choosing to participate in the new Adelaide International, the first time he had played tour-tennis in his home town for over a decade. He partnered Jordan Thompson but lost in the first round to Cristian Garin and Juan Ignacio Londero. The two chose to compete at the Australian Open a week later, but lost in the first
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Jarmila Gajdošová. They lost the match in three sets 6–3, 3–6, 9–11, despite being 5–1 up in the final set tie-breaker. In the second tie against France, Hewitt lost to Richard Gasquet in singles and in straight sets in mixed doubles. In the final tie against China, Hewitt defeated Wu Di in straight sets and won the mixed doubles match. His next tournament was the Apia International, where he lost in the first round against Serbian fifth seed Viktor Troicki. His next tournament was the 2012 Australian Open. In doubles, partnering countryman Peter Luczak, the Aussies went until the 2nd round where they lost in straight sets to the Bryan Twins. In singles, where he was awarded a wildcard, Hewitt won his first round match defeating unseeded Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in almost four hours. Long-time rival Andy Roddick, who was seeded 15th, awaited Hewitt in the second round. After dropping the first set, Hewitt won the next two. Roddick then retired due to a groin injury and Hewitt advanced. In the third round, he faced the 23rd seed Milos Raonic of Canada. Playing at night in front of a boisterous Aussie crowd, Hewitt dispatched Raonic in 3 hours 6 minutes. In the 4th round, Hewitt faced returning champ and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic. Djokovic won the 1st two sets fairly easily, and was leading 3–0 in the 3rd set when Hewitt launched a spirited comeback, taking the set 6–4. Djokovic eventually prevailed however, winning the match in four sets, ending Hewitt's run. Hewitt's two next matches were in February at the Davis Cup, where he won one singles and one doubles match partnering Chris Guccione, what awarded Australia to go to the playoffs once more. After this Hewitt needed an operation to have a plate inserted in his toe. Hewitt returned with a wildcard at the French Open where he lost in the first round to Blaž Kavčič. After this, Hewitt began his grass season at Queen's Club Championships. He lost in the 1st round to Croatian Ivo Karlović. Hewitt's next tournament was Wimbledon, where he was defeated in the first round by 5th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. During this match, ITF released wild cards for the 2012 Olympics, and Hewitt's name was in the singles list, marking his third appearance at the Olympic Games (2000, 2008 and now). After his loss against Tsonga, Hewitt played doubles at Wimbledon partnering countryman Chris Guccione, where they made the 3rd round before losing in 4 sets. After Wimbledon, viewing to prepare for the Olympics, Hewitt was granted a wild card at Newport. In the opening round, he defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil. In the 2nd round, he won in three sets, ousting American Tim Smyczek. In his next match, the Aussie won against Israeli Dudi Sela. With this win, Hewitt went on to the semi-final (his first since Halle 2010), where he was victorious over American Rajeev Ram. He lost to top seeded John Isner in the final. Playing in the Olympics, Hewitt was drawn against Sergiy Stakhovsky and won. Marin Čilić, seeded 13th, awaited in the second round and Hewitt dispatched the Croat in two sets to advance to the third round. There, he met 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. After losing the first set, Djokovic overpowered Hewitt to take the final two sets and eliminate Hewitt from the tournament. In the mixed doubles, he and Sam Stosur reached the quarterfinals, where they lost two sets to one to Britain's Andy Murray and Laura Robson. Beginning the American hard court season, Hewitt received a WC to the Cincinnati Masters, where he won against Mikhail Youzhny in the 1st round before losing to Viktor Troicki in the 2nd round. The Aussie's next tournament was the US Open, where he received a WC, completing the "Wild Card Slam" (received wild cards in all of the four Grand Slams in 2012). In the 1st round, Hewitt met Tobias Kamke, winning his first match at Flushing Meadows since 2009. In the 2nd round, Hewitt won a marathon five sets match against Gilles Müller. In the 3rd round, Hewitt lost to 4th seed and No. 5-ranked David Ferrer, despite having set points in the 1st set. 2013: Five top ten wins and hope for resurgence Hewitt started off 2013 in Brisbane, where he lost in second round against Denis Istomin in straight sets. Prior to the Australian Open, Hewitt took part in the exhibition tournament AAMI Kooyong Classic, in which he defeated Milos Raonic, Tomáš Berdych, and Juan Martín del Potro en route to claim his second title. Due to his excellent result in the preparation event before the 2013 Australian Open, people had high expectations of Hewitt. However, he suffered his sixth first-round exit in his home slam to No. 9 Janko Tipsarević in straight sets. Hewitt then played in the Davis Cup against Taiwan and won in both singles and doubles. He played the SAP Open next in San Jose, losing his second-round match to third-seeded American Sam Querrey in a three-set thriller. He also claimed a wild card to play in doubles with fellow Aussie Marinko Matosevic, beating the No. 1 American duo Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan in the quarterfinals, before losing to Xavier Malisse and Frank Moser in the final. With Hewitt's doubles run in the tournament, he surpassed the 100-wins mark in doubles. He next participated in the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis. He faced Yen-Hsun Lu in the opening round, saving two match points to edge Lu in three sets. He lost to Denis Istomin, again in the second round. Hewitt moved on to play the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, ousting Lukáš Rosol and 15th seed John Isner, before losing to No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka. Hewitt lost to Gilles Simon in the opening round at Roland Garros. After winning the first two sets, he succumbed in five. In his first match at the Aegon Championships Queen's Club, he beat Mike Russell in three sets. He followed this with victory over Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. He then defeated Sam Querrey to book a place in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he defeated No. 8 Juan Martín del Potro in three sets, to progress to the semi-finals. Hewitt played Marin Čilić in the semi-finals, but was beaten in three sets. At Wimbledon, Hewitt beat top ten player Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round in straight sets. He was then defeated by German qualifier Dustin Brown in the second round in four sets. In July 2013, he made it to his first final of the year at the Hall-of-Fame Championships, defeating Matthew Ebden, Prakash Amritraj, Jan Hernych, and John Isner on the way. He was beaten by Nicolas Mahut having served for the championship at 5–4 in the second set. His form continued at the Atlanta Open, defeating Édouard Roger-Vasselin 6–4, 6–4, Rhyne Williams 7–6, 6–4 and Ivan Dodig 1–6, 6–3, 6–0 in the quarterfinals. Hewitt played John Isner in the semi-finals, but lost in three tough sets. His US Open run started well, beating Brian Baker in four sets and following up with a five-set epic upset against fellow former US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro, where Hewitt came back from two sets to one down against the No. 6, winning a fourth set tiebreak and sealing the match 6–1 in the fifth. He beat Evgeny Donskoy in the third round to set up a fourth round match with Mikhail Youzhny. Hewitt then lost to Youzhny 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–5, despite leading 4–1 in the fourth set and serving for the match at 5–3 in the fifth set. A measure of the success of Hewitt's 2013 season is the fact that he won the Newcombe medal as the most outstanding Australian tennis player in 2013, a year in which he returned to the world's top 100. 2014: 30th career title, 600 wins and return to top 40 Hewitt kicked off the 2014 season as an unseeded entrant into the 2014 Brisbane International. He won his first round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets. His second round match was against sixth seed Feliciano López, whom he defeated. His quarterfinal encounter against qualifier Marius Copil resulted in a straight-set victory. In the semi-finals Hewitt faced second seed Kei Nishikori. Hewitt prevailed, thus setting the final match against seventeen–time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer. Federer held an 18–8 record head–to–head against Hewitt. Hewitt managed to turn the tide on Federer, winning 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 and capturing the title, which was his 29th and first since 2010. As a result, his rank increased from 60th to 43rd, becoming Australian number one again. At AAMI Classic, he defeated Andy Murray in two tiebreaks. In the 2014 Australian Open, Hewitt played both singles and doubles as an unseeded player. In his first round singles match, he lost in five sets to No. 24 seed Andreas Seppi. In doubles action, Hewitt partnered with retired and former Australian number one Patrick Rafter. However, the duo did not manage to win their first round match against Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen, losing 4–6, 5–7. After the tournament, Hewitt's singles rank rose to No. 38, his highest position since late 2010. Hewitt battled for his 600th ATP win, becoming only the third active player to reach that milestone by beating Robin Haase in the 1st Round of the 2014 Sony Open Tennis. After the Australian Open, Hewitt played as part of the Australian representative team for the Davis Cup. He lost his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 2–6, 6–7 (2–7). He then competed in the 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis in the United States of America. With a bye in the Round of 32, he went on to defeat Marcos Baghdatis in three sets 1–6, 6–2, 6–0 before losing to Michael Russell 3–6, 6–7 (6–8). His next tournament was the Delray Beach Tournament where he beat Bradley Klahn in straight sets 6–3, 6–1. He then versed his compatriot Marinko Matosevic but was forced to retire after injuring his shoulder. The score was 6–7 (2–7). Hewitt played at the BNP Paribas Open where he defeated Matthew Ebden 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–3. He then lost to Kevin Anderson 6–7(5–7), 4–6. Hewitt then played at the Sony Open Tennis where he defeated Robin Haase in the Round of 128, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. He then subsequently lost to No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Hewitt then played at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he lost in Round of 16 to Sam Querrey. Hewitt suffered three consecutive first round losses at the BMW Open by FWU AG to Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7–6(6), 1–6, 0–6, Mutua Madrid Open to Santiago Giraldo 5–7, 6–4, 2–6 and at the French Open Roland Garros to Carlos Berlocq 6–3, 2–6, 1–6, 4–6. This ended Hewitt's clay court season. At the Aegon Championships, Hewitt won in the first round against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets before losing to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets 3–6, 4–6. Following this tournament, Hewitt played at Wimbledon where he won in the first round against Michal Przysiezny, 6–2, 6–7 (14–16), 6–1, 6–4 before losing in the second round in five sets to Jerzy Janowicz, 5–7, 4–6, 7–6(7), 6–4, 3–6. He next competed at the Newport Hall of Fame Tennis Championships where he was seeded third. Hewitt advanced to the final for the third consecutive year where he would face Ivo Karlovic. Hewitt slayed his Newport demons and defeated the big serving Croat in three sets: 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(3). It was his 30th career singles title. Hewitt went on to win the doubles title with countryman Chris Guccione later that same day. On 10 August 2014, Hewitt defeated Austria's Jürgen Melzer in three sets (3–6, 6–4, 6–4) at the Cincinnati Masters to reach 610 wins on the ATP Tour. That enabled him to rise to number 19 on the all-time wins list, topping Björn Borg and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the process. 2015: Farewell year Hewitt began his 2015 season as the defending champion of the Brisbane International. In the first round he was defeated in straight sets (3–6, 2–6) by fellow Australian Sam Groth in 58 minutes. As a result, he dropped from rank No. 50 to No. 84 and lost his position of No. 1 Australian which he had held for many consecutive months. Hewitt played the first Fast4 short-form tennis exhibition match against Roger Federer but lost in five sets. Hewitt then played his 19th consecutive Australian Open appearance which is the fourth longest streak at any Grand Slam. In the first round he beat wild card Zhang Ze in 4 sets. He then lost in five sets to his second round opponent Benjamin Becker despite winning the first two sets. At a media conference, Hewitt mentioned plans to retire after the 2016 Australian Open to become the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team after Pat Rafter moved on from the position, becoming the seventh man to captain the team. "I had thought long and hard and I plan to play the Australian Open next year and then finish," he said. "At the moment, [the Davis Cup] is the main focus for us and then I will be looking towards the grass court season and finishing here in Melbourne, which would be special to play 20 Australian Opens". It will be Australia's first time in the world group of the Davis Cup in six years. Rafter and John Newcombe are the only other two Australian men to have been ranked No. 1 since ranks were established in 1973. Hewitt then played the Miami Open and lost in the first round to Thomaz Bellucci in three sets. He was then awarded a wildcard to the 2015 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he also lost in the first round to Go Soeda. Hewitt skipped the remainder of the clay court season including the 2015 French Open, instead opting to focus on the grass season and Wimbledon. He began his grass court season at the 2015 Topshelf Open where he lost to Nicolas Mahut in the first round. He also was awarded a wildcard into the Men's Doubles where he partnered compatriot Matt Reid. They upset the fourth seeds Draganja/Kontinen in the first round. At Wimbledon, Hewitt was awarded a wildcard and was defeated by Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 0–6, 9–11 in the first round of his eighteenth and final appearance at the tournament. It became his 44th five-set match of his grand slam career. Despite three straight breaks in the fifth set, Hewitt on serve faced and saved three match points at 4–5, and held serve each time until the 20th game of the fifth set. Afterwards both the crowd and Nieminen himself gave Hewitt a standing ovation. Partnering compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, the wild card duo reached the third round of the Wimbledon men's doubles with two five-set matches, including defeating the 15th seed, but they lost to the 4th seed. Hewitt played in the mixed doubles with compatriot Casey Dellacqua on a wild card and lost in the second round, seemingly ending his Wimbledon career. Hewitt partnered Sam Groth to win Australia's Davis Cup quarterfinals doubles rubber against Kazakhstan in Darwin on 18 July. With their spectacular performance, Groth and Hewitt were selected to play the last two reverse-singles rubbers, replacing Kyrgios and Kokkinakis respectively. After Groth's win, Hewitt won the deciding fifth rubber against Nedovyesov to put Australia at 3–2 to reach the semi-finals. It was Australia's first win from 0–2 down since 1939. Hewitt, on a wild card, defeated compatriot John-Patrick Smith 6–3 6–4 at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. in August. He lost in the second round of the US Open to Tomic in five sets despite having two match points. Hewitt partnered with Sam Groth lost a tough Davis Cup semi-finals doubles tie against the British Murray brothers in 5 sets. Todd Woodbridge hailed it as the "Best [doubles] I've watched for years." 2016: Retirement Having previously announced his intentions to retire after the 2016 Australian Open, Hewitt confirmed that his final season would consist of that, the Hopman Cup and the exhibition World Tennis Challenge. In his 20th appearance at the Australian Open, he won his first round match against fellow Australian James Duckworth in straight sets. He then lost in the second round in 3 straight competitive sets to 8th seed David Ferrer, 2–6, 4–6, 4–6. Post-match he was remembered by players including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios as a man who was at the top of the game for years, and continually displayed the fighting spirit that he became synonymous with. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the awards announced on Australia Day. In March Hewitt came out of retirement to replace the injured Nick Kyrgios in the first round Davis Cup against the US at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. He played doubles with John Peers against the Bryan brothers. The Australian duo came back from two sets to love but lost the fifth set. Hewitt was the subject of a book titled "Facing Hewitt" which features fifty interviews with professional tennis players who competed against him. In June it was announced that Hewitt would be taking a wildcard into the Wimbledon doubles competition, playing alongside young compatriot Jordan Thompson. In the first round, the pair saved eight match points to defeat Nicolás Almagro and David Marrero 19–17 in the deciding set. However, they lost to the eighth seeds in the second round. 2018: Comeback in doubles In December 2017, it was announced that Hewitt would come out of retirement and accept a doubles wildcard with compatriot Sam Groth at the 2018 Australian Open. Hewitt and Jordan Thompson accepted a wildcard to play Doubles at the 2018 Brisbane International. They lost in the first round to Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison 3–6, 6–1, [5–10]. Hewitt then played in the fast4 exhibition in Sydney where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. Hewitt and Kyrgios then went on to win the doubles beating Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov. After that, he played the Tie Break Tens in Melbourne where he won his opening match against Novak Djokovic, before losing to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. In the Australian Open doubles, Hewitt and Groth made a run to the quarterfinals, including a win over third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău. This was his best doubles result at the Australian Open in his career. Hewitt's doubles comeback continued with Lleyton playing doubles at the 2018 Estoril Open with Alex de Minaur where they defeated second seeds Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen before losing in the quarterfinals. He then reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy – Men's Doubles with Alex Bolt before Venus and Klaasen gained revenge on Hewitt (this time with Alex Bolt) at the 2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Doubles. Hewitt then teamed up with another Aussie, Nick Kyrgios at the 2018 Queen's Club Championships – Doubles tournament where they defeated number 3 seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing in the quarterfinals. At the 2018 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles, Hewitt was again wildcard with Alex Bolt however the pair again lost in the first round to Venus and Klaasen. After this loss, Hewitt teamed up with Jordan Thompson and lost in the first round of the 2018 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Hewitt's last professional match of 2018 was in the 2018 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs against Austria where Hewitt paired up with experienced doubles specialist John Peers to defeat the Austrian team of doubles specialist Oliver Marach and experienced clay-courier Juergen Melzer. 2019: Continuing to play doubles In 2019, Hewitt played doubles at a number of tournaments. In a pairing with Jordan Thompson, they lost in the first round of the Sydney International. A week later he teamed up with John-Patrick Smith at the Australian Open, yet again losing in the first round. Hewitt and countryman Jordan Thompson received a wildcard to play at the Wimbledon Championships. They reached the second round before losing to R. Klaasen and M. Venus in straight sets. Also that year, he played doubles in New York, Houston, Surbiton, and 's-Hertogenbosch, playing with the likes of Alexi Popyrin and Thompson yet again. 2020: Back in hometown of Adelaide Hewitt once again featured in the Australian summer of tennis, this time choosing to participate in the new Adelaide International, the first time he had played tour-tennis in his home town for over a decade. He partnered Jordan Thompson but lost in the first round to Cristian Garin and Juan Ignacio Londero. The two chose to compete at the Australian Open a week later, but lost in the first round in straight sets, to Korean duo Min-Kyu Song and Nam Ji-Sung. Hewitt continues to commentate matches at the Australian Open. National representation Davis Cup Hewitt made his Davis Cup debut for Australia in the 1999 Davis Cup quarterfinals at age 18 against the United States in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In the first rubber of the tie Hewitt faced No. 8 and Wimbledon quarter finalist Todd Martin. Hewitt caused a major upset over Martin and would go on to win his second singles rubber against Alex O'Brien as well. The great start to his Davis Cup career would continue in the 1999 semi-finals against Russia where he would record another two wins against Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He would taste his first defeat in Davis Cup in the 1999 final against France but would become a Davis Cup champion anyway. In 2000 Hewitt and Australia would again make the Davis Cup final but fell to Spain in Barcelona. In 2001 Hewitt would again be a part of the Australian team that would make the Davis Cup final but the Australians would lose the fifth rubber and hand France a 3–2 win. Determined to make amends for his last few finals, Hewitt led the Australian team to the 2003 Davis Cup final against Spain where he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in five sets. The team came away victorious 3–1 overall and Hewitt claimed his second Davis Cup title. By the age of 22, he had recorded more wins in Davis Cup singles than any other Australian player. Following the retirement of Pat Rafter and the semi-retirement of Mark Philippoussis, Hewitt would be forced to lead the Australian Davis Cup team with little success from his peers. In the 2006 quarterfinals in Melbourne, Hewitt defeated Belarusian Vladimir Voltchkov in just 91 minutes. Voltchkov said before the match that "Hewitt has no weapons to hurt me." Hewitt responded, "Voltchkov doesn't have a ranking [of 457] to hurt me." In the semi-finals in Buenos Aires on clay, Hewitt lost to Argentine José Acasuso in five sets. Despite a world group semi-final appearance in 2006, Hewitt and Australia would be relegated to the Asia/Oceania region in 2008. Hewitt continued showed his commitment to the team by competing in the regional ties but the team fell in the playoff stages every year between 2008 and 2011. In the 2011 playoffs, he played against Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka on a grass court in Sydney, losing both matches. In doubles, together with Chris Guccione, he was able to defeat Federer and Wawrinka, but this was not enough to take Australia to the World Group. In 2012, Hewitt won his single and doubles match against China in February, which allowed Australia to return to the playoffs where they lost to Germany. After defeating Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan, Australia earned the right to get to the playoffs again in 2013. They ended up routing Poland 4–1 on their soil including a convincing 6–1 6–3 6–2 win for Hewitt over recent Wimbledon quarterfinalist Łukasz Kubot. In 2014, Australia crashed out 5–0 in the World Group first round on the French clay of
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you don't even react to the explicit scenes. They become as natural as seeing someone eating a bowl of cereal." VonTrier refused to attend the private screening due to the negative response to Nazi-related remarks he had made at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which had led to his expulsion from it. In the director's defense, Skarsgård stated at the screening, "Everyone knows he's not a Nazi, and it was disgraceful the way the press had these headlines saying he was." For its public release in the United Kingdom, the four-hour version of Nymphomaniac was divided into two "volumes"VolumeI and VolumeIIand the film's British premiere was on 22February 2014. In interviews prior to the release date, Gainsbourg and co-star Stacy Martin revealed that prosthetic vaginas, body doubles, and special effects were used for the production of the film. Martin also stated that the film's characters were a reflection of the director himself and referred to the experience as an "honour" that she enjoyed. The film was also released in two "volumes" for the Australian release on 20 March 2014, with an interval separating the back-to-back sections. In his review of the film for 3RRR's film criticism program, Plato's Cave, presenter Josh Nelson stated that, since the production of Breaking the Waves, the filmmaker von Trier is most akin to is Alfred Hitchcock, due to his portrayal of feminine issues. Nelson also mentioned filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky as another influence whom Trier himself has also cited. In February 2014, an uncensored version of Volume I was shown at the Berlin Film Festival, with no announcement of when or if the complete five-and-a-half-hour Nymphomaniac would be made available to the public. The complete version premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and was shortly afterward released in a limited theatrical run worldwide that fall. 2015–present: The House That Jack Built and the return to Cannes In 2015, von Trier started to work on a new feature film, The House That Jack Built (2018), which was originally planned as an eight-part television series. The story is about a serial killer, seen from the murderer's point of view. Shooting started in March 2017 in Sweden, with shooting moving to Copenhagen in May. In February 2017, von Trier explained in his own words that The House That Jack Built "celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo trumpus – the rat king". The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018. Despite more than 100 walkouts by audience members when initially screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the film still received a 10-minute standing ovation. In December 2020, it was announced that von Trier would produce a final season for his acclaimed series The Kingdom, titled The Kingdom Exodus. It is expected to be shot in 2021 and will consist of five episodes that will be released in 2022. Aesthetics, themes, and style of working Influences Von Trier is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film The Night Porter. He was so inspired by the short film The Perfect Human, directed by Jørgen Leth, that he challenged Leth to redo the short five times in the feature film The Five Obstructions. Writing Von Trier's writing style has been heavily influenced by his work with actors on set, as well as the Dogme 95 manifesto that he co-authored. In an interview with Creative Screenwriting, von Trier described his process as "writing a sketch and keep[ing] the story simple...then part of the script work is with the actors." While reflecting on the storytelling across his body of work, von Trier said, "All the stories are about a realist who comes into conflict with life. I'm not crazy about real life, and real life is not crazy about me." He further described his process as dividing different parts of his personality into different characters. Von Trier has cited Danish filmmaker Carl Dreyer as a writing influence, pointing to Dreyer's method of overwriting his scripts then significantly cutting the length down. Filming techniques Von Trier has said that "a film should be like a stone in your shoe". To create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the film making process. The most famous such restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme 95 movement with which he is associated. In Dancer in the Dark, he used jump shots and dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in Dogville everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set, where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as lines on the floor. Von Trier often shoots digitally and operates the camera himself, preferring to continuously shoot the actors in-character without stopping between takes. In Dogville he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. These techniques often put great strain on the actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of Dancer in the Dark. Von Trier would later return to explicit images in Antichrist (2009), exploring darker themes, but he ran into problems when he tried once more with Nymphomaniac, which had 90 minutes cut out (reducing it from five-and-one-half to four hours) for its international release in 2013 in order to be commercially viable, taking nearly a year to be shown complete anywhere in an uncensored director's cut. Trier also attributes most of his profound ideas to that of his previous mentor, Thomas Boguszewski. "Thomas' genius is one I could never match," says von Trier, "but it would be a shame not to try." Approach to actors In a Skype interview for IndieWire, von Trier compared his approach to actors with "how a chef would work with a potato or a piece of meat", clarifying that working with actors has differed on each film based on the production conditions. Von Trier has occasionally courted controversy by his treatment of his leading ladies. He and Björk famously fell out during the shooting of Dancer in the Dark, to the point where Björk would abscond from filming for days at a time. She stated about Trier, who among other things shattered a monitor while it was next to her, "...you can take quite sexist film directors like Woody Allen or Stanley Kubrick and still they are the one that provide the soul to their movies. In Lars von Trier's case it is not so and he knows it. He needs a female to provide his work soul. And he envies them and hates them for it. So he has to destroy them during the filming. And hide the evidence." Despite this, other actresses such as Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg have spoken out in defence of von Trier's approach. Nymphomaniac star Stacy Martin has stated that he never forced her to do anything that was outside her comfort zone. She said "I don't think he's a misogynist. The fact that he sometimes depicts women as troubled or dangerous or dark or even evil; that doesn't automatically make him anti-feminist. It's a very dated argument. I think that Lars loves women." Nicole Kidman, who starred in von Trier's Dogville, said in an interview with ABC Radio National: "I think I tried to quit the film three times because he said, 'I want to tie you up and whip you, and that's not to be kind.' I was, like, what do you mean? I've come all this way to rehearse with you, to work with you, and now you're telling me you want to tie me up and whip me? But that's Lars, and Lars takes his clothes off and stands there naked and you're like, 'Oh, put your clothes back on, Lars, please, let's just shoot the film.' But he's very, very raw and he's almost like a
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for the song "Bakerman" by Laid Back. This video was re-used in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker in his remake of the song. Seeking financial independence and creative control over their projects, in 1992 vonTrier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the film production company Zentropa Entertainment. Named after a fictional railway company in Europa, their most recent film at the time, Zentropa has produced many movies other than Trier's own, as well as several television series. It has also produced hardcore sex films: Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999), HotMen CoolBoyz (2000), and All About Anna (2005). To make money for his newly founded company, vonTrier made The Kingdom (Danish title Riget, 1994) and The KingdomII (RigetII, 1997), a pair of miniseries recorded in the Danish national hospital, the name "Riget" being a colloquial name for the hospital known as Rigshospitalet (lit. The Kingdom's Hospital) in Danish. A projected third season of the series was derailed by the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Dr. Helmer, and that of Kirsten Rolffes, who played Mrs. Drusse, in 2000, two of the major characters. 1995–2000: the Dogme 95 manifesto, and the Golden Heart trilogy In 1995, von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg presented their manifesto for a new cinematic movement, which they called Dogme 95. The Dogme95 concept, which led to international interest in Danish film, inspired filmmakers all over the world. In 2008, together with their fellow Dogme directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, vonTrier and Thomas Vinterberg received the European film award for European Achievement in World Cinema. In 1996 von Trier conducted an unusual theatrical experiment in Copenhagen involving 53 actors, which he titled Psychomobile1: The World Clock. A documentary chronicling the project was directed by Jesper Jargil, and was released in 2000 with the title De Udstillede (The Exhibited). Von Trier achieved his greatest international success with his Golden Heart trilogy. Each film in the trilogy is about naive heroines who maintain their "golden hearts" despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy consists of: Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998), and Dancer in the Dark (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only The Idiots is a certified Dogme95 film. Breaking the Waves (1996), the first film in his Golden Heart trilogy, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and featured Emily Watson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Its grainy images, and hand-held photography, pointed towards Dogme95 but violated several of the manifesto's rules, and therefore does not qualify as a Dogme95 film. The second film in the trilogy, The Idiots (1998), was nominated for a Palme d'Or, with which he was presented in person at the Cannes Film Festival despite his dislike of traveling. In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring Icelandic musician Björk, Dancer in the Dark. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The song "I've Seen It All" (co-written by vonTrier) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. 2003–2008: The Land of Opportunities and other works The Five Obstructions (2003), made by vonTrier and Jørgen Leth, is a documentary that incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films. The premise is that vonTrier challenges director Jørgen Leth, his friend and mentor, to remake his old experimental film The Perfect Human (1967) five times, each time with a different "obstruction" (or obstacle) specified by vonTrier. A proposed trilogy, von Trier's Land of Opportunities consists of Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005), and , which is yet to be made. Dogville and Manderlay were both shot with the same distinctive, extremely stylized approach, placing the actors on a bare sound stage with no set decoration and the buildings' walls marked by chalk lines on the floor, a style inspired by 1970s televised theatre. Dogville (2003) starred Nicole Kidman and Manderlay (2005) starred Bryce Dallas Howard in the same main role as Grace Margaret Mulligan. Both films have casts of major international actors, including Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Danny Glover, and Willem Dafoe, and question various issues relating to American society, such as intolerance (in Dogville) and slavery (in Manderlay). In 2006, von Trier released a Danish-language comedy film, The Boss of It All. It was shot using an experimental process that he has called Automavision, which involves the director choosing the best possible fixed camera position and then allowing a computer to randomly choose when to tilt, pan, or zoom. Following The Boss of It All, von Trier scripted an autobiographical film, in 2007, which went on to be directed by Jacob Thuesen. The film tells the story of vonTrier's years as a student at the National Film School of Denmark. It stars Jonatan Spang as vonTrier's alter ego, called "Erik Nietzsche", and is narrated by vonTrier himself. All the main characters in the film are based on real people from the Danish film industry, with thinly veiled portrayals including Jens Albinus as director Nils Malmros, Dejan Čukić as screenwriter Mogens Rukov, and Søren Pilmark. 2009–2014: The Depression trilogy The Depression trilogy consists of Antichrist, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac. The three films star Charlotte Gainsbourg, and deal with characters who suffer depression or grief in different ways. This trilogy is said to represent the depression that Trier himself experiences. Von Trier's next feature film was Antichrist, a film about "a grieving couple who retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping a return to Eden will repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage; but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse". The film stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where the festival's jury honoured the movie by giving the Best Actress award to Gainsbourg. In 2011, vonTrier released Melancholia, a psychological drama. The film was in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Known to be provocative in interviews, vonTrier's remarks during the press conference before the premiere of Melancholia in Cannes caused significant controversy in the media, leading the festival to declare him persona non grata and to ban him from the festival for one year (without, however, excluding Melancholia from that year's competition). Minutes before the end of the interview, Trier was asked by a journalist about his German roots and the Nazi aesthetic in response to the director's description of the film's genre as "German romance". The director, who was brought up with his Jewish father and only found out later in life that his biological father was a non-Jewish German, appeared offended by the connotation and responded by discussing his German identity. He joked that since he was no longer Jewish he now "understands" and "sympathizes" with Hitler, that he is not against the Jews except for Israel which is "a pain in the ass" and that he is a Nazi. These remarks caused a stir in the media which, for the most part, presented the incident as an antisemitic scandal. The director released a formal apology immediately after the controversial press conference and kept apologizing for his joke during all of the interviews he gave in the weeks following the incident, admitting that he was not sober, and saying that he did not need to explain that he is not a Nazi. The actors of Melancholia who were present during the incident – Dunst, Gainsbourg, Skarsgård – defended the director, pointing to his provocative sense of humor and his depression. The director of the Cannes festival later called the controversy "unfair" and as "stupid" as vonTrier's bad joke, concluding that his films are welcome at the festival and that vonTrier is considered a "friend". In 2019, von Trier stated that he made this remark at the "only press conference I ever had when I was sober." Following Melancholia, von Trier began the production of Nymphomaniac, a film about the sexual awakening of a woman played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. In early December 2013, a four-hour version of the five-and-a-half-hour film was shown to the press in a private preview session. The cast also included Stellan Skarsgård (in his sixth film for von Trier), Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater, and Uma Thurman. In response to claims that he had merely created a "porn film", Skarsgård stated "... if you look at this film, it's actually a really bad porn movie, even if you fast forward. And after a while you find you don't even react to the explicit scenes. They become as natural as seeing someone eating a bowl of cereal." VonTrier refused to attend the private screening due to the negative response to Nazi-related remarks he had made at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which had led to his expulsion from it. In the director's defense, Skarsgård stated at the screening, "Everyone knows he's not a Nazi, and it was disgraceful the way the press had these headlines saying he was." For its public release in the United Kingdom, the four-hour version of Nymphomaniac was divided into two "volumes"VolumeI and VolumeIIand the film's British premiere was on 22February 2014. In interviews prior to the release date, Gainsbourg and co-star Stacy Martin revealed that prosthetic vaginas, body doubles, and special effects were used for the production of the film. Martin also stated that the film's characters were a reflection of the director himself and referred to the experience as an "honour" that she enjoyed. The film was also released in two "volumes" for the Australian release on 20 March 2014, with an interval separating the back-to-back sections. In his review of the film for 3RRR's film criticism program, Plato's Cave, presenter Josh Nelson stated that, since the production of Breaking the Waves, the filmmaker von Trier is most akin to is Alfred Hitchcock, due to his portrayal of feminine issues. Nelson also mentioned filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky as another influence whom Trier himself has also cited. In February 2014, an uncensored version of Volume I was shown at the Berlin Film Festival, with no announcement of when or if the complete five-and-a-half-hour Nymphomaniac would be made available to the public. The complete version premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and was shortly afterward released in a limited theatrical run worldwide that fall. 2015–present: The House That Jack Built and the return to Cannes In 2015, von Trier started to work on a new feature film, The House That Jack Built (2018), which was originally planned as an eight-part television series. The story is about a serial killer, seen from the murderer's point of view. Shooting started in March 2017 in Sweden, with shooting moving to Copenhagen in May. In February 2017, von Trier explained in his own words that The House That Jack Built "celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo trumpus – the rat king". The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018. Despite more than 100 walkouts by audience members when initially screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the film
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Contractual Obligation Album (1980). The idea of a violent rugby match between school masters and small boys was filmed in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). A sketch about a boy who dies at school appeared on the unreleased The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (1981). Soundtrack An album was also released by Monty Python in 1979 in conjunction with the film. In addition to the "Brian Song" and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", it contains scenes from the film with brief linking sections performed by Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. The album opens with a brief rendition of "Hava Nagila" on Scottish bagpipes. A CD version was released in 1997. An album of the songs sung in Monty Python's Life of Brian was released on the Disky label. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. Its popularity became truly evident in 1982 during the Falklands War when sailors aboard the destroyer HMS Sheffield, severely damaged in an Argentinean Exocet missile attack on 4 May, started singing it while awaiting rescue. Many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism. One of its more famous renditions was by the dignitaries of Manchester's bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, just after they were awarded to Sydney. Idle later performed the song as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's Spamalot, a Broadway musical based upon Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and was sung by the rest of the Monty Python group at Graham Chapman's memorial service and at the Monty Python Live At Aspen special. The song is a staple at Iron Maiden concerts, where the recording is played after the final encore. Release For the original British and Australian releases, a spoof travelogue narrated by John Cleese, Away From It All, was shown before the film itself. It consisted mostly of stock travelogue footage and featured arch comments from Cleese. For instance, a shot of Bulgarian girls in ceremonial dresses was accompanied by the comment "Hard to believe, isn't it, that these simple happy folk are dedicated to the destruction of Western Civilisation as we know it!", Communist Bulgaria being a member of the Warsaw Pact at the time. Not only was this a spoof of travelogues per se, it was a protest against the then common practice in Britain of showing cheaply made banal short features before a main feature. Life of Brian opened on 17 August 1979 in five North American theatres and grossed US$140,034 ($28,007 per screen) in its opening weekend. Its total gross was $19,398,164. It was the highest grossing British film in North America that year. Released on 8 November 1979 in the UK, the film was the fourth highest-grossing film in Britain in 1979. In London, it opened at the Plaza cinema and grossed £40,470 in its opening week. On 30 April 2004, Life of Brian was re-released on five North American screens to "cash in" (as Terry Jones put it) on the box office success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It grossed $26,376 ($5,275 per screen) in its opening weekend. It ran until October 2004, playing at 28 screens at its widest point, eventually grossing $646,124 during its re-release. By comparison, a re-release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail had earned $1.8 million three years earlier. A DVD of the film was also released that year. Reception Reviews from critics were mostly positive on the film's release. Movie historian Leonard Maltin reported that "This will probably offend every creed and denomination equally, but it shouldn't. The funniest and most sustained feature from Britain's bad boys." Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "the foulest-spoken biblical epic ever made, as well as the best-humored—a nonstop orgy of assaults, not on anyone's virtue, but on the funny bone. It makes no difference that some of the routines fall flat because there are always others coming along immediately after that succeed." Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, writing, "What's endearing about the Pythons is their good cheer, their irreverence, their willingness to allow comic situations to develop through a gradual accumulation of small insanities." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three and a half stars, calling it "a gentle but very funny parody of the life of Jesus, as well as of biblical movies." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times declared, "Even those of us who find Monty Python too hit-and-miss and gory must admit that its latest effort has numerous moments of hilarity." Clyde Jeavons of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the script was "occasionally over-raucous and crude," but found the second half of the film "cumulatively hilarious," with "a splendidly tasteless finale, which even Mel Brooks might envy." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post had a negative opinion of the film, writing that it was "a cruel fiction to foster the delusion that 'Brian' is bristling with blasphemous nifties and throbbing with impious wit. If only it were! One might find it easier to keep from nodding off." Over time, Life of Brian has regularly been cited as a significant contender for the title "greatest comedy film of all time", and has been named as such in polls conducted by Total Film magazine in 2000, the British TV network Channel 4 where it topped the poll in the 50 Greatest Comedy Films, and The Guardian in 2007. Rotten Tomatoes lists it as one of the best reviewed comedies, with a 95% approval rating from 61 published reviews. A 2011 poll by Time Out magazine ranked it as the third greatest comedy film ever made, behind Airplane! and This is Spinal Tap. The BFI declared Life of Brian to be the 28th best British film of all time, in their equivalent of the original AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list. It was the seventh highest ranking comedy on this list (four of the better placed efforts were classic Ealing Films). Another Channel 4 poll in 2001 named it the 23rd greatest film of all time (the only comedy that came higher was Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, which was ranked 5th). In 2016, Empire magazine ranked Life of Brian 2nd in their list of the 100 best British films, with only David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia ranking higher. Various polls have voted the line, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" (spoken by Brian's mother Mandy to the crowd assembled outside her house), to be the funniest in film history. Other famous lines from the film have featured in polls, such as, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife". Blasphemy accusations Initial criticism Richard Webster comments in A Brief History of Blasphemy (1990) that "internalised censorship played a significant role in the handling" of Monty Python's Life of Brian. In his view, "As a satire on religion, this film might well be considered a rather slight production. As blasphemy it was, even in its original version, extremely mild. Yet the film was surrounded from its inception by intense anxiety, in some quarters of the Establishment, about the offence it might cause. As a result it gained a certificate for general release only after some cuts had been made. Perhaps more importantly still, the film was shunned by the BBC and ITV, who declined to show it for fear of offending Christians in the UK. Once again a blasphemy was restrained – or its circulation effectively curtailed – not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law." On its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town councils – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film. A member of Harrogate council, one of those that banned the film, revealed during a television interview that the council had not seen the film, and had based their opinion on what they had been told by the Nationwide Festival of Light, a grouping with an evangelical Christian base, of which they knew nothing. In New York (the film's release in the US preceded British distribution), screenings were picketed by both rabbis and nuns ("Nuns with banners!" observed Michael Palin). It was also banned for eight years in Ireland and for a year in Norway (it was marketed in Sweden as "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway"). During the film's theatrical run in Finland, a text explaining that the film was a parody of Hollywood historical epics was added to the opening credits. In the UK, Mary Whitehouse, and other traditionalist Christians, pamphleteered and picketed locations where the local cinema was screening the film, a campaign that was felt to have boosted publicity. Leaflets arguing against the film's representation of the New Testament (for example, suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable as they do in the opening of the film) were documented in Robert Hewison's book Monty Python: The Case Against. Crucifixion issue One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's crucifixion. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus' suffering by turning it into a "Jolly Boys Outing" (such as when Mr Cheeky turns to Brian and says: "See, not so bad once you're up!"), capped by Brian's fellow sufferers suddenly bursting into song. This is reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems. For example, when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, he replies: "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion". In another example, Matthias, an old man who works with the People's Front of Judea, dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse. The director, Terry Jones, issued the following riposte to this criticism: "Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly." The Pythons also pointed out that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus. Responses from the cast Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a debate on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning with Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, who put forward arguments against the film. Muggeridge and Stockwood, it was later claimed, had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes demonstrating that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself. Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the Establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring. They also expressed disappointment in Muggeridge, whom all in Python had previously respected as a satirist (he had recently converted to Christianity after meeting Mother Teresa and experiencing what he described as a miracle). Cleese stated that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented, "He was just being Muggeridge, preferring to have a very strong contrary opinion as opposed to none at all." Muggeridge's verdict on the film was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith." In a 2013 interview on BBC Radio 4, Cleese stated that having recently watched the discussion again he "was astonished, first of all, at how stupid [the two members of the Church] were, and how boring the debate became". He added: "I think the sad thing was that there was absolutely no attempt at a proper discussion – no attempt to find any common ground." The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is heretical because it lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but that it does not blasphemously lampoon the God that Christians and Jews worship. When Jesus does appear in the film (on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine aura around him. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love and tolerance ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheese makers'"). Importantly, he is distinct from the character of Brian, which is also evident in the scene where an annoying and ungrateful ex-leper pesters Brian for money, while moaning that since Jesus cured him, he has lost his source of income in the begging trade (referring to Jesus as a "bloody do-gooder"). James Crossley, however, has argued that the film makes the distinction between Jesus and the character of Brian to make a contrast between the traditional Christ of both faith and cinema and the historical figure of Jesus in critical scholarship and how critical scholars have argued that ideas later got attributed to Jesus by his followers. Crossley points out that the film uses the character of Brian to address a number of potentially controversial scholarly theories about Jesus, such as the Messianic Secret, the Jewishness of Jesus, Jesus the revolutionary, and having a single mother. Not all the Pythons agree on the definition of the movie's tone. There was a brief exchange that occurred when the surviving members reunited in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998. In the section where Life of Brian is discussed, Terry Jones says, "I think the film is heretical, but it's not blasphemous." Eric Idle can be heard to concur, adding, "It's a heresy." However, John Cleese, disagreeing, counters, "I don’t think it's a heresy. It's making fun of the way that people misunderstand the teaching." Jones responds, "Of course it's a heresy, John! It's attacking the Church! And that has to be heretical." Cleese replies, "No, it's not attacking the Church, necessarily. It's about people who cannot agree with each other." In a later interview, Jones said the film "isn't blasphemous because it doesn’t touch on belief at all. It is heretical, because it touches on dogma and the interpretation of belief, rather than belief itself." 21st century The film continues to cause controversy; in February 2007, the Church of St Thomas the Martyr in Newcastle upon Tyne held a public screening in the church itself, with song-sheets, organ accompaniment, stewards in costume and false beards for female members of the audience (alluding to an early scene where a group of women disguise themselves as men so that they are able to take part in a stoning). Although the screening was a sell-out, some Christian groups, notably the conservative Christian Voice, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him." The Reverend Jonathan Adams, one of the church's clergy, defended his taste in comedy, saying that it did not mock Jesus, and that it raised important issues about the hypocrisy and stupidity that can affect religion. Again on the film's DVD commentary, Cleese also spoke up for religious people who have come forward and congratulated him and his colleagues on the film's highlighting of double standards among purported followers of their own faith. Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, Torbay Council finally permitted the film to be shown after it won an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival. In 2009, it was announced that a thirty-year-old ban of the film in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth had finally been lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by Terry Jones and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981. In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists. Political satire The film pokes fun at revolutionary groups and 1970s British left-wing politics. According to Roger Wilmut, "What the film does do is place modern stereotypes in a historical setting, which enables it to indulge in a number of sharp digs, particularly at trade unionists and guerilla organisations". The groups in the film all oppose the Roman occupation of Judea, but fall into the familiar pattern of intense competition among factions that appears, to an outsider, to be over ideological distinctions so small as to be invisible, thus portraying the phenomenon of the narcissism of small differences. Such disunity indeed fatally beleaguered real-life Judean resistance against Roman rule. Michael Palin says that the various separatist movements were modelled on "modern resistance groups, all with obscure acronyms which they can never remember and their conflicting agendas". The People's Front of Judea, composed of the Pythons' characters, harangue their "rivals" with cries of "splitters" and stand vehemently opposed to the Judean People's Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the Judean Popular Front (the last composed of a single old man, mocking the size of real revolutionary Trotskyist factions). The infighting among revolutionary organisations is demonstrated most dramatically when the PFJ attempts to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife, but encounters agents of the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the two factions begin a violent brawl over which of them conceived of the plan first. When Brian exhorts them to cease their fighting to struggle "against the common enemy," the revolutionaries stop and cry in unison, "the Judean People's Front!" However, they soon resume their fighting and, with two Roman legionaries watching bemusedly, continue until Brian is left the only survivor, at which point he is captured. Other scenes have the freedom fighters wasting time in debate, with one of the debated items being that they should not waste their time debating so much. There is also a famous scene in which Reg gives a revolutionary speech asking, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" at which point the listeners outline all forms of positive aspects of the Roman occupation such as sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health and peace, followed by "what have the Romans ever done for us except sanitation, medicine, education...". Python biographer George Perry notes, "The People's Liberation Front of Judea conducts its meetings as though they have been convened by a group of shop stewards". This joke is the reverse of a similar conversation recorded in the Babylonian Talmud; some authors have even suggested the joke is based on the Talmudic text. Film analysis Themes and motifs Bible The depictions of Jesus in two short scenes at
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to have boosted publicity. Leaflets arguing against the film's representation of the New Testament (for example, suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable as they do in the opening of the film) were documented in Robert Hewison's book Monty Python: The Case Against. Crucifixion issue One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's crucifixion. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus' suffering by turning it into a "Jolly Boys Outing" (such as when Mr Cheeky turns to Brian and says: "See, not so bad once you're up!"), capped by Brian's fellow sufferers suddenly bursting into song. This is reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems. For example, when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, he replies: "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion". In another example, Matthias, an old man who works with the People's Front of Judea, dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse. The director, Terry Jones, issued the following riposte to this criticism: "Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly." The Pythons also pointed out that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus. Responses from the cast Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a debate on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning with Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, who put forward arguments against the film. Muggeridge and Stockwood, it was later claimed, had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes demonstrating that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself. Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the Establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring. They also expressed disappointment in Muggeridge, whom all in Python had previously respected as a satirist (he had recently converted to Christianity after meeting Mother Teresa and experiencing what he described as a miracle). Cleese stated that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented, "He was just being Muggeridge, preferring to have a very strong contrary opinion as opposed to none at all." Muggeridge's verdict on the film was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith." In a 2013 interview on BBC Radio 4, Cleese stated that having recently watched the discussion again he "was astonished, first of all, at how stupid [the two members of the Church] were, and how boring the debate became". He added: "I think the sad thing was that there was absolutely no attempt at a proper discussion – no attempt to find any common ground." The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is heretical because it lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but that it does not blasphemously lampoon the God that Christians and Jews worship. When Jesus does appear in the film (on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine aura around him. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love and tolerance ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheese makers'"). Importantly, he is distinct from the character of Brian, which is also evident in the scene where an annoying and ungrateful ex-leper pesters Brian for money, while moaning that since Jesus cured him, he has lost his source of income in the begging trade (referring to Jesus as a "bloody do-gooder"). James Crossley, however, has argued that the film makes the distinction between Jesus and the character of Brian to make a contrast between the traditional Christ of both faith and cinema and the historical figure of Jesus in critical scholarship and how critical scholars have argued that ideas later got attributed to Jesus by his followers. Crossley points out that the film uses the character of Brian to address a number of potentially controversial scholarly theories about Jesus, such as the Messianic Secret, the Jewishness of Jesus, Jesus the revolutionary, and having a single mother. Not all the Pythons agree on the definition of the movie's tone. There was a brief exchange that occurred when the surviving members reunited in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998. In the section where Life of Brian is discussed, Terry Jones says, "I think the film is heretical, but it's not blasphemous." Eric Idle can be heard to concur, adding, "It's a heresy." However, John Cleese, disagreeing, counters, "I don’t think it's a heresy. It's making fun of the way that people misunderstand the teaching." Jones responds, "Of course it's a heresy, John! It's attacking the Church! And that has to be heretical." Cleese replies, "No, it's not attacking the Church, necessarily. It's about people who cannot agree with each other." In a later interview, Jones said the film "isn't blasphemous because it doesn’t touch on belief at all. It is heretical, because it touches on dogma and the interpretation of belief, rather than belief itself." 21st century The film continues to cause controversy; in February 2007, the Church of St Thomas the Martyr in Newcastle upon Tyne held a public screening in the church itself, with song-sheets, organ accompaniment, stewards in costume and false beards for female members of the audience (alluding to an early scene where a group of women disguise themselves as men so that they are able to take part in a stoning). Although the screening was a sell-out, some Christian groups, notably the conservative Christian Voice, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him." The Reverend Jonathan Adams, one of the church's clergy, defended his taste in comedy, saying that it did not mock Jesus, and that it raised important issues about the hypocrisy and stupidity that can affect religion. Again on the film's DVD commentary, Cleese also spoke up for religious people who have come forward and congratulated him and his colleagues on the film's highlighting of double standards among purported followers of their own faith. Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, Torbay Council finally permitted the film to be shown after it won an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival. In 2009, it was announced that a thirty-year-old ban of the film in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth had finally been lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by Terry Jones and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981. In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists. Political satire The film pokes fun at revolutionary groups and 1970s British left-wing politics. According to Roger Wilmut, "What the film does do is place modern stereotypes in a historical setting, which enables it to indulge in a number of sharp digs, particularly at trade unionists and guerilla organisations". The groups in the film all oppose the Roman occupation of Judea, but fall into the familiar pattern of intense competition among factions that appears, to an outsider, to be over ideological distinctions so small as to be invisible, thus portraying the phenomenon of the narcissism of small differences. Such disunity indeed fatally beleaguered real-life Judean resistance against Roman rule. Michael Palin says that the various separatist movements were modelled on "modern resistance groups, all with obscure acronyms which they can never remember and their conflicting agendas". The People's Front of Judea, composed of the Pythons' characters, harangue their "rivals" with cries of "splitters" and stand vehemently opposed to the Judean People's Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the Judean Popular Front (the last composed of a single old man, mocking the size of real revolutionary Trotskyist factions). The infighting among revolutionary organisations is demonstrated most dramatically when the PFJ attempts to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife, but encounters agents of the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the two factions begin a violent brawl over which of them conceived of the plan first. When Brian exhorts them to cease their fighting to struggle "against the common enemy," the revolutionaries stop and cry in unison, "the Judean People's Front!" However, they soon resume their fighting and, with two Roman legionaries watching bemusedly, continue until Brian is left the only survivor, at which point he is captured. Other scenes have the freedom fighters wasting time in debate, with one of the debated items being that they should not waste their time debating so much. There is also a famous scene in which Reg gives a revolutionary speech asking, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" at which point the listeners outline all forms of positive aspects of the Roman occupation such as sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health and peace, followed by "what have the Romans ever done for us except sanitation, medicine, education...". Python biographer George Perry notes, "The People's Liberation Front of Judea conducts its meetings as though they have been convened by a group of shop stewards". This joke is the reverse of a similar conversation recorded in the Babylonian Talmud; some authors have even suggested the joke is based on the Talmudic text. Film analysis Themes and motifs Bible The depictions of Jesus in two short scenes at the start of the film are strongly based on Christian iconography. The resistance fighters leave the Sermon on the Mount, which was a literal recital, angry because Jesus was too pacifistic for them. ("Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo…") In addition to the respectful depiction of Jesus, the film does not state that there is no God or that Jesus is not the son of God. The appearance of a leper, who says he was healed by Jesus, is in line with the Gospels and their reports about Jesus performing miracles. Any direct reference to Jesus disappears after the introductory scenes, yet his life story partially acts as a framework and subtext for the story of Brian. Brian being a bastard of a Roman centurion could refer to the polemic legend that Jesus was the son of the Roman soldier Panthera. Disguised as a prophet, Brian talks about "the lilies on the field" and states more clearly, "Don't pass judgment on other people or else you might get judged yourself": Brian incoherently repeats statements he heard from Jesus. Another significant figure in the film who is named in the Gospels is Pontius Pilate, who is humorously given rhotacism. Although there is a hint to Barabbas prior to the crucifixion, no character in Life of Brian bears any resemblances to Judas or Caiaphas. An anti-Semitic interpretation of the story is therefore excluded, according to scholars. The crucifixion scene, a central part of Christian iconography, is viewed from a historical context within the narrative style of the film. It depicts historically accurate enactment of a routinely done mass crucifixion. Belief and dogmatism The intended subject of the satire was not Jesus and his teachings but religious dogmatism, according to film theorists and statements from Monty Python. This is made clear in the beginning of the film during the Sermon on the Mount. Not only do the poor acoustics make it more difficult to hear what Jesus says, but the audience fails to interpret what was said correctly and sensibly. When Jesus said, "blessed are the peacemakers", the audience understands the phonetically similar word "Cheesemakers" and in turn interpret it as a metaphor and beatification of those who produce dairy products. Life of Brian satirises, in the words of David Hume, the "strong propensity of mankind to [believe in] the extraordinary and the marvellous". When Brian cuts his sermon short and turns away from the crowd, they mistake his behaviour as not wanting to share the secret to eternal life and follow him everywhere. In their need to submit to an authority, the crowd declares him first a prophet and eventually a messiah. The faithful gather beneath Brian's window en masse to receive God's blessing. This is when Brian utters the main message of the film "you don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves!" Monty Python saw this central message of the satire confirmed with the protests of practising Christians after the film was released. According to Terry Jones, Life of Brian "is not blasphemy but heresy", because Brian contested the authority of the Church whereas the belief in God remained untouched. He goes on to mention that "Christ [is] saying all of these wonderful things about people living together in peace and love, and then for the next two thousand years people are putting each other to death in His name because they can't agree on how He said it, or in what order He said it." The dispute among the followers about the correct interpretation of a sandal, which Brian lost, is in the words of Terry Jones the "history of the Church in three minutes." Kevin Shilbrack shares the view that you can enjoy the movie and still be religious. For the most part, lost in the religious controversy was the film's mockery of factional dogmatism among left-wing parties. According to John Cleese, an almost unmanageable number of left-wing organisations and parties was formed back then in the United Kingdom. He said that it had been so important to each of them to have one pure doctrine that they would rather fight each other than their political opponent. In the film, rather than presenting a common front as their organisational names should imply, the leader of the People's Front of Judea makes it clear that their hate for the Judean Peoples's Front is greater than their hate for the Romans. They are so caught up in constant debates that the "rather looney bunch of revolutionaries" indirectly accept the occupying forces as well as their execution methods as a fate they all have to endure. So, in the end, even though they have ample opportunity to rescue Brian, they instead leave Brian on the cross, thanking him for his sacrifice. Hardly mentioned in the discussion was the sideswipe at the women's movement, which started to draw a lot of attention in the 1970s. In accordance with the language of political activists, resistance fighter Stan wants to exercise "his right as a man" to be a woman. The group accepts him from that moment on as Loretta, because the right to give birth was not theirs to take. Also as a result from that, the term sibling replaces the terms brother or sister. Individuality and meaninglessness One of the most commented-upon scenes in the film is when Brian tells his followers that they are all individuals and don’t need to follow anybody. According to Edward Slowik, this is a rare moment in which Monty Python puts a philosophical concept into words so openly and directly. Life of Brian accurately depicts the existentialist view that everybody needs to give meaning to their own life. Brian can thus be called an existentialist following the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. He is honest to himself and others and lives an authentic life as best as he can. However, Brian is too naïve to be called a hero based on the ideas of Albert Camus. For Camus, the search for the meaning of one's own life takes place in a deeply meaningless and abstruse world. The "absurd hero" rebels against this meaninglessness and at the same time holds on to their goals, although they know their fight leaves no impact in the long run. Contrary to that, Brian isn’t able to recognize the meaninglessness of his own situation and therefore can’t triumph over it. In Monty Python and Philosophy, Kevin Shilbrack states that the fundamental view of the film is that the world is absurd, and every life needs to be lived without a greater meaning. He points out that the second-last verse of the song the film finishes on, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", expresses this message clearly: Shilbrack concludes that the finale shows that the executions had no purpose since the deaths were meaningless and no better world was waiting for them. On this note, some people would claim that the film presents a nihilistic world view which contradicts any basis of religion. However, Life of Brian offers humour to counterbalance the nihilism, Shilbrack states in his text. He comments that "religion and humour are compatible with each other and you should laugh about the absurdity since you can't fight it." Legacy Literature Spin-offs include a script-book The Life of Brian of Nazareth, which was printed back-to-back with MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK as a single book. The printing of this book also caused problems, due to rarely used laws in the United Kingdom against blasphemy, dictating what can and cannot be written about religion. The publisher refused to print both halves of the book, and original prints were by two companies. Julian Doyle, the film's editor, wrote The Life of Brian/Jesus, a book which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that it is the most accurate Biblical film ever made. In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson titled Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian was released. Johnson became friendly with the Pythons during the filming of Life of Brian and his notes and memories of the behind-the-scenes filming and make-up. Music With the success of Eric Idle's musical retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, called Spamalot, Idle announced that he would be giving Life of Brian a similar treatment. The oratorio, called Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), was commissioned to be part of the festival called Luminato in Toronto in June 2007, and was written/scored by Idle and John Du Prez, who also worked with Idle on Spamalot. Not the Messiah is a spoof of Handel's Messiah. It runs approximately 50 minutes, and was conducted at its world premiere by Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian, who is Idle's cousin. Not the Messiah received its US premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York. Oundjian and Idle joined forces once again for a double performance of the oratorio in July 2007. Other media In October 2011, BBC Four premiered the made-for-television comedy film Holy Flying Circus, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris. The "Pythonesque" film explores the events surrounding the 1979 television debate on talk show Friday Night, Saturday Morning between John Cleese and Michael Palin and Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, then Bishop of Southwark. In a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch, a bishop who has directed a scandalous film called The Life of Christ is hauled over the coals by a representative of the
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refers to the most recently mentioned noun, "de" refers to the one mentioned prior to that, "di" to the one prior to that, and so on. Compare the sentences "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i da gacpi" = Adam sold the egg to Greg; he (Greg) was happy. "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i di gacpi" = Adam sold the egg to Greg; he (Adam) was happy. Free variables apply equally to people of any gender and inanimate objects; there is no distinction similar to that between English "he", "she" and "it". This explains why "di" rather than "de" was used in the second example. "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i de gacpi" would mean "Adam sold the egg to Greg; it (the egg) was happy." Conjunctions Loglan has several sets of conjunctions to express the fourteen possible logical connectives. One set is used to combine predicate expressions ("e" = and, "a" = inclusive or, "o" = if and only if), and another set is used to combine predicates to make more complex predicates ("ce", "ca", "co"). The sentence "La Kim matma e sadji" means "Kim is a mother and is wise", while "La Kim matma ce sadji vedma" means "Kim is a motherly and wise seller", or "Kim sells in a motherly and wise manner". In the latter sentence, "ce" is used to combine matma and sadji into one predicate which modifies vedma. The sentence "La Kim matma e sadji vedma", using "e" rather than "ce", would mean "Kim is a mother and wisely sells." Other logical connectives are based on the elementary connectives "e", "a" and "o", along with the negation word "no". For example, logical implication is indicated by the word "noa". The word is chosen to make it easy for a Loglan speaker to see that "A noa B" is logically equivalent to "no A a B". Brown argues that it is thus easier in Loglan than in English to see that two sentences like these are different ways of saying the same thing: "La Kim ga sadji noa fa vedma da." = If Kim is wise, she will sell it. "La Kim ga no sadji a fa vedma da." = Kim is not wise, and/or she will sell it. The conjunction "a" expresses the inclusive-or relation; that is, one of the two alternatives is true, or possibly both. The exclusive-or relation, in which only one of the alternatives is true, but not both, is expressed by a different word, "onoi". Again, the word is chosen to make clear the logical equivalence of "A o no B" and "A onoi B": "Tu fa titci o no tu fa morce." = You will eat if and only if you do not die. "Tu fa titci onoi tu fa morce." = You will eat, or you will die. A special conjunction "ze" is used to create a "mixed" predicate which may be true even if it is not necessarily true for either of the component predicates. For example, "Le negda ga nigro ze blabi" means "The egg is black-and-white". This would be true if the egg were striped or speckled; in that case it would not be true that the egg is black nor that it is white. On the other hand, "Le negda ga nigro e blabi" would make the claim that "The egg is black and (it is also) white". Attitude indicators There is a set of words used for expressing attitudes about what one is saying, which convey conviction, intention, obligation and emotion. These words follow what they modify, but when used at the start of a sentence, they modify the entire sentence. For example: "Ae le matma pa sadji" = Hopefully, the mother was wise. "Ui le matma pa sadji" = Happily, the mother was wise. "Ou le matma pa sadji" = It doesn't matter whether the mother was wise. In popular culture Loglan was mentioned in a couple of science fiction works: Robert A. Heinlein's well-known books, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and The Number of the Beast, Robert Rimmer's utopian book Love Me Tomorrow (1978) and Stanisław Lem novel His Master's Voice. Loglan's inventor, James Cooke Brown, also wrote a utopian science fiction novel called The Troika Incident (1970) that uses Loglan phrases but calls the language a different name, "Panlan". Loglan is used as the official interspecies language in the roleplaying game FTL:2448. Archival collection Archival material related to the creation and teaching of Loglan, including flashcards and grammar explanations, can be found in the Faith Rich Papers, located at Chicago Public Library Special Collections, Chicago, Illinois. See
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to the one mentioned prior to that, "di" to the one prior to that, and so on. Compare the sentences "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i da gacpi" = Adam sold the egg to Greg; he (Greg) was happy. "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i di gacpi" = Adam sold the egg to Greg; he (Adam) was happy. Free variables apply equally to people of any gender and inanimate objects; there is no distinction similar to that between English "he", "she" and "it". This explains why "di" rather than "de" was used in the second example. "La Adam pa vedma le negda la Greg i de gacpi" would mean "Adam sold the egg to Greg; it (the egg) was happy." Conjunctions Loglan has several sets of conjunctions to express the fourteen possible logical connectives. One set is used to combine predicate expressions ("e" = and, "a" = inclusive or, "o" = if and only if), and another set is used to combine predicates to make more complex predicates ("ce", "ca", "co"). The sentence "La Kim matma e sadji" means "Kim is a mother and is wise", while "La Kim matma ce sadji vedma" means "Kim is a motherly and wise seller", or "Kim sells in a motherly and wise manner". In the latter sentence, "ce" is used to combine matma and sadji into one predicate which modifies vedma. The sentence "La Kim matma e sadji vedma", using "e" rather than "ce", would mean "Kim is a mother and wisely sells." Other logical connectives are based on the elementary connectives "e", "a" and "o", along with the negation word "no". For example, logical implication is indicated by the word "noa". The word is chosen to make it easy for a Loglan speaker to see that "A noa B" is logically equivalent to "no A a B". Brown argues that it is thus easier in Loglan than in English to see that two sentences like these are different ways of saying the same thing: "La Kim ga sadji noa fa vedma da." = If Kim is wise, she will sell it. "La Kim ga no sadji a fa vedma da." = Kim is not wise, and/or she will sell it. The conjunction "a" expresses the inclusive-or relation; that is, one of the two alternatives is true, or possibly both. The exclusive-or relation, in which only one of the alternatives is true, but not both, is expressed by a different word, "onoi". Again, the word is chosen to make clear the logical equivalence of "A o no B" and "A onoi B": "Tu fa titci o no tu fa morce." = You will eat if and only if you do not die. "Tu fa titci onoi tu fa morce." = You will eat, or you will die. A special conjunction "ze" is used to create a "mixed" predicate which may be true even if it is not necessarily true for either of the component predicates. For example, "Le negda ga nigro ze blabi" means "The egg is black-and-white". This would be true if the egg were striped or speckled; in that case it would not be true that the egg is black nor that it is white. On the other hand, "Le negda ga nigro e blabi" would make the claim that "The egg is black and (it is also) white". Attitude indicators There is a set of words used for expressing attitudes about what one is saying, which convey conviction, intention, obligation and emotion. These words follow what they modify, but when used at the start of a sentence, they modify the entire sentence. For example: "Ae le matma pa sadji" = Hopefully, the mother was wise. "Ui le matma pa sadji" = Happily, the mother was wise. "Ou le matma pa sadji" = It doesn't matter whether the mother was wise. In popular culture Loglan was mentioned in a couple of science fiction works: Robert A. Heinlein's well-known books, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and The Number of the Beast, Robert Rimmer's utopian book Love Me Tomorrow (1978) and Stanisław Lem novel His Master's Voice. Loglan's inventor, James Cooke Brown, also wrote a utopian science fiction novel called The Troika Incident (1970) that uses Loglan phrases but calls the language a different name, "Panlan". Loglan is used as the official interspecies language in the roleplaying game FTL:2448. Archival collection Archival material related to the creation and teaching of Loglan, including flashcards and grammar explanations, can be found in the Faith Rich Papers, located at Chicago Public Library Special Collections, Chicago, Illinois. See also Artificial language Linguistics Lojban Comparison between Lojban and Loglan Philosophy of language Sapir–Whorf hypothesis Faith Rich References External links The Loglan Institute homepage Randall Holmes's Loglan page: this contains current resources and projects.
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