Fermanagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Fermanagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Northern Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament.
Boundaries.
This constituency comprised the whole of County Fermanagh, except for the Borough of Enniskillen.
Elections.
Elections in the 1830s.
Archdall resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s.
Cole succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Enniskillen and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s.

Brooke's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s.

Elections in the 1870s.


Yakov Popok

Yakov Abramovich Popok (1894–1938) served as the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR.
His term began in August 1930, replacing Grigory Aronshtam. He fell ill in early 1937, causing him to resign on 15 April. He died the following year in the Great Purge.
Deputy Secretary Anna Mukhamedov held his position for two days, until a replacement, Yakov Chubin, was selected.
References.
Rulers of Soviet Republics


Nancy Prasad

Nancy Prasad is an Australian woman of Indo-Fijian descent who as a child was the centre of a deportation drama in Australia.
On August 6, 1965, the five-year-old Prasad was scheduled for deportation to Fiji from Sydney Airport. However, Charles Perkins, an Aboriginal Australian activist, staged a fake "kidnapping" of Prasad, taking her from immigration officials at the airport. Perkins' intent was to highlight what he viewed as the injustice of the country’s "White Australia" immigration policy. Many Australian newspapers covered the event.
The next day, Prasad was deported to Fiji.
In March 1973, Prasad was allowed to immigrate into Australia. A "Daily Telegraph" article in August 2015 described her role in Australian immigration policy history.


Paul Schiff Berman

Paul Schiff Berman (born February 12, 1966) is an American lawyer and the Walter S. Cox Professor of Law at The George Washington University School of Law. He has held several other positions at the University including Vice Provost for Online Education and Academic Innovation and Dean of the School of Law.
Education.
Berman earned his A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University in 1988 and his J.D. in 1995 from New York University School of Law where he served as Managing Editor of the "NYU Law Review" and received the University Graduation Prize for the graduating law student with the highest cumulative grade point average.
Career.
From 2013 to 2016, Berman served as George Washington University's Vice Provost for Online Education and Academic Innovation. He served as dean of The George Washington University Law School and Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law from 2011 to 2013. He was rumored to be ousted by faculty for mistreatment of staff members: https://www.gwhatchet.com/2013/02/25/law-faculty-plotted-to-oust-dean/ He was honored for his work at a portrait unveiling ceremony at the University in 2016.
Prior to this, Berman served as dean of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law of Arizona State University from 2008 to 2011. He was a Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he taught from 1997 to 2008. His scholarship focuses on the multiple effects of globalization on legal systems.
He served as law clerk to then-Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards, of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and for Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of the United States Supreme Court. Prior to entering law, Berman was, from 1988 to 2005, Artistic Director of Spin Theater, a theater company based in New York City. He was also Administrative Director of The Wooster Group and was the founding Administrator for Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theatre at Saint Mark's Church in the East Village.
Personal life.
Berman is married to Laura A. Dickinson since 2000, in a ceremony performed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.


Lea Brilmayer

Roberta "Lea" Brilmayer (born 1950) is an American legal scholar. She is the Howard M. Holtzmann Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and an expert in conflict of laws, personal jurisdiction, and international law.
Biography.
Brilmayer received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from University of California, Berkeley. After beginning graduate studies in mathematics, she switched to law, graduating with a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law and an LLM from Columbia Law School.
Brilmayer was a professor at Yale until 1991 before leaving to be a professor at NYU School of Law. Prior to her first term at Yale, she was a professor at University of Chicago Law School, where she was at one time the only tenured female faculty member—a distinction she held in the 1980s at Yale as well. She returned to Yale Law School in 1998, teaching contracts and conflict of laws there. In addition to teaching at Yale, Chicago, and NYU, Brilmayer has taught at University of Texas School of Law, the University of Michigan Law School, Columbia Law School, and Harvard Law School.
In addition to her work as a law professor, Brilmayer has been involved in various international law issues. She served in a legal capacity for the nation of Eritrea in their dispute with Ethiopia over various issues, including war crimes, boundary disputes, and other issues related to the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of the late 1990s. She was the Legal Advisor to the Office of the President of Eritrea at the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, an independent commission tasked by the Permanent Court of Arbitration with arbitrating the disputes between the two nations.
Works.
In addition to her teaching, Brilmayer is the author of an amica brief to the Supreme Court, as well as an arbiter in international law issues. She has been published in numerous legal journals, including the Yale Law Journal and Harvard Law Review. Additionally, she has also testified before congressional committees, including on the issue of gay marriage.
Her books include the following works:


Sharof Rashidov

Sharaf Rashidovich Rashidov (Uzbek Cyrillic: Шароф Рашидович Рашидов; Russian: Шараф Рашидович Рашидов "Sharaf Rashidovich Rashidov"; – 31 October 1983) was a Communist Party leader in the Uzbek SSR and a CPSU Central Committee Politburo candidate member between 1961 and 1983.
Born the day before the Russian Revolution to a poor peasant family in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan, Sharaf Rashidov worked as a teacher, journalist and editor for a Samarkand newspaper. He returned home in 1942 with wounds suffered on the German front in World War 2. He became head of the Uzbekistan Writers Union in 1949, and was elected to the post of Chairman of the Praesidium of the Uzbek Supreme Soviet in 1950. In 1959, he became First Secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party, a post he held to his death in 1983.
In the Soviet Union his name became synonymous with corruption, nepotism and the Great Cotton Scandal of the late Brezhnev period. As orders from Moscow to grow increasing quantities of cotton, the Uzbek government responded by reporting miraculous growth in land irrigated and harvested, and record improvements in production and efficiency. Today it would seem that most of these records were falsified. The Uzbek leadership used these exaggerated figures to transfer substantial amounts of wealth from central Soviet funds into Uzbekistan. Rashidov died on 31 October 1983 in Jizzakh. Immediately after his death, rumors spread that he had realized he was about to be disgraced and thus committed suicide. However, this has never been confirmed.
During the decade following the death of Rashidov, Moscow attempted to regain the central control over the Uzbek SSR, which had weakened in the previous decade. In 1986, it was announced that almost the entire party and government leadership of the republic had conspired in falsifying cotton production figures. A massive purge of the Uzbek leadership was carried out, with prosecutors brought in from Moscow, leading to widespread arrests, executions, and suicides. It may never be known how high the corruption extended, as Brezhnev's own son-in-law, Yuri Churbanov was implicated in the affair. In the rest of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan became synonymous with corruption even though such corruption was widespread throughout the whole Union. After Uzbekistan's independence, Rashidov re-emerged as a national hero. He is seen in Uzbekistan as having been a strong leader who found a way to cleverly defy Moscow and "beat the system" while managing to create a situation where Uzbekistan became quite of central control.


Regiment Natalia

Natalia Regiment was a Citizen Force infantry regiment of the South African Infantry.
History.
Origin.
This unit could trace its origins back to a Natal Law for the protection of the colony, namely Law No 19 of 1862 which instructed the establishment of a rifle association. The name of this rifle association was changed during the UDF era to the Pietermaritzburg Commando. By the 1940s, the commando was headquartered at the Pietermaritzburg Drill Hall and was shared by another unit during that era, namely the Natal Carbineers.
From Commando to Regiment.
In 1981, the commando was converted to a regiment as an infantry battalion under the Citizen Force, being renamed as the Natalia Regiment.
Operations.
Its responsibility included border duties along the Mozambique border with Natal as well as operational duties in South West Africa. The regiment would deploy its tactical HQ to Jozini, for operations around the Makathini Flats.
Disbandment.
Natalia Regiment was disbanded around 1998.
Commanding officers.
Note: This list does not include Officers Commanding of the previous Pietermaritzburg Commando.
Insignia.
Dress Insignia.
The regiment did not have a distinctive beret badge and wore the Infantry Corps Springbok badge. The Shoulder flash was inherited from the Pietermaritzburg Commando with the Southern Cross star formation.


National Coalition Party

The National Coalition Party (NCP; ; '; ; ') is a centre-right political party in Finland considered liberal, conservative and liberal-conservative. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the "big three" parties that have dominated Finnish national politics for several decades, along with the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. The current party chair is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring" and supports multiculturalism and LGBT rights. It is pro-NATO and pro-European as well as a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
The party's vote share was approximately 20% in parliamentary elections in the 1990s and 2000s. It won 44 out of 200 seats in the parliamentary elections of 2011, becoming the largest party in the Finnish Parliament (; ) for the first time in its history. On the municipal level, it became the most popular party in 2008. In the 2015 election, the NCP lost its status as the country's largest party finishing second in votes and third in seats, but again joining the governing coalition. After the 2019 election, it is now the third largest party in the Finnish Parliament, behind the Social Democrats and the Finns Party, and became the second-largest opposition party after being excluded from the Rinne Cabinet.
History.
1918–1939.
The National Coalition Party was founded on 9 December 1918 after the Finnish Civil War by the majority of the Finnish Party and the minority of the Young Finnish Party, both supporting Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse as the King of Finland in the new monarchy. The previous day, the republicans of both parties had founded the National Progressive Party. With over 600 representatives, the foundational meeting of NCP declared the following:A national coalition is needed over old party lines that have lost meaning and have too long separated similarly thinking citizens. This coalition's grand task must be to work to strengthen in our nation the forces that maintain society. Lawful societal order must be strictly upheld and there must be no compromise with revolutionary aspirations. But simultaneously, determined constructive reform work must be pursued."The party sought to accomplish their task by advocating for constitutional monarchy and, failing that, strong governmental powers within a republican framework. On the other hand, their goal was to implement a number of social and economic reforms, such as compulsory education, universal health care, and progressive income and property taxation. The monarchist aims failed and Finland became a parliamentary republic—in which NCP advocated for strong presidential powers. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the threat posed by Joseph Stalin's communist Soviet Union influenced Finnish politics. Communists, backed by Soviet leaders, accelerated their activities while the ideological position of the National Coalition Party shifted to strongly conservative. The new ideology was poorly received, particularly by the youth, attracted instead more to irredentist and fascist movements, such as the Academic Karelia Society or Patriotic People's Movement.
In the 1933 parliamentary election, the party formed an electoral coalition with the Patriotic People's Movement, founded by former supporters of the radical nationalist Lapua Movement—even though P.E. Svinhufvud, the party's first President of Finland, played a key role in halting the Lapua Movement and vanquishing their Mäntsälä rebellion. The result was a major defeat as the NCP lost 24 of its 42 seats in Parliament. The NCP broke ties with the Patriotic People's Movement in 1934 under the newly elected party chair J.K. Paasikivi, but was nevertheless shut out from the Finnish Government until the outbreak of the Winter War in 1939 and only slowly regained support.
1939–2000.
During the Winter War and the Continuation War in 1939–1944, the party took part in the war-time national unity governments and generally had strong support for its government policies. After the wars, the National Coalition Party sought to portray itself as a defender of democracy against the resurgent Finnish communists. Chair Paasikivi, who had advocated making more concessions to Soviet Union before the Winter War and taken a cautious line regarding cooperation with Germany before the Continuation War, acted first as Prime Minister of Finland (1944–1946) and then as President (1946–1956) of Finland. Paasikivi is remembered as the formulator of Finnish foreign policy after World War II. The conflict between the NCP and the communist Finnish People's Democratic League culminated when President Paasikivi fired the communist Minister of the Interior Yrjö Leino, who had used the State Police to spy on the party's youth wing among other abuses.
In 1951, the party changed its official name from the original ' to the current '. The 1950s were also a time of ideological shifts, as the emphasis on individual liberty and free market reforms increased at the expense of social conservatism and maintenance of a strong government. A minor division in 1958 led to the formation of the Christian Democrats party. From 1966 to 1987, the party was in the opposition. By criticizing Finnish communists and President Urho Kekkonen of the Centre Party, the party had lost the President's trust—and thus governments formed by the Centre Party and left-wing parties followed one another. A new guard emerged within the NCP in the 1970s that sought to improve relations with long-serving President Kekkonen. Their work was partially successful in the late 1970s. However, even though the NCP supported Kekkonen for president in 1978 and became the second largest party in the country in the 1979 parliamentary election, a spot in the government continued to elude the NCP until the end of Kekkonen's time in office.
During the long years in opposition, the party's support grew steadily and in 1987 it attained the best parliamentary election result in its history so far. Harri Holkeri became the party's first prime minister since Paasikivi. During Holkeri's time in office, the Finnish economy suffered a downturn, precipitated by a multitude of factors, and the 1991 parliamentary election resulted in a loss. The party continued in government as a minor partner until 2003.
2000–present.
After losing six seats in the 2003 parliamentary election, the National Coalition Party spent the next electoral period in opposition. Jyrki Katainen was elected party chair in 2004 and in March 2006, vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP). Under the leadership of Katainen, chair until 2014, liberalism became the main attribute of the party. In the 2007 parliamentary election, the party increased its share to 50 seats in the largest gain of the election. The party held a close second place in Parliament, shy of the Centre Party and its 51 seats. After the election, the party entered into a coalition government together with the Centre Party, the Green League, and the Swedish People's Party. The NCP secured important ministerial portfolios, including finance and foreign affairs. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party finished first place for the first time in its history with 44 seats, despite losing 6 seats, and party chair Jyrki Katainen formed his cabinet as a six-party coalition government from parties on the left and on the right after lengthy negotiations.
The National Coalition Party's candidate in the 2006 Finnish presidential election was former minister of finance and former party chair Sauli Niinistö. He qualified for the second round runoff as one of the top two candidates in the first round but was defeated by the incumbent Tarja Halonen with 51.8% of the vote against his 48.2%. The party nominated Sauli Niinistö again for the presidential election of 2012. Niinistö won the election, beating his Green League opponent Pekka Haavisto decisively on the second round with a 62.6% portion of the votes, and thus becoming the third president elected from the party and the first one since 1956. Niinistö's margin of victory was larger than that of any previous directly elected president in Finland. He won a majority in 14 of the country's 15 constituencies. Niinistö is described as a pragmatical fiscal conservative and a pro-European and supporting restraint of bailouts to partner countries. Upon taking office, Niinistö intended to strengthen interaction with the United States and China and maintain good relations with Russia as well as address the European debt crisis. Niinistö was re-elected in 2018 for a second six-year term. He ran as an independent but had the support of the National Coalition Party.
In 2014, Katainen stepped down as party chair and Prime Minister of Finland for a vice-president position in the European Commission. Katainen was replaced by Alexander Stubb as chair of the National Coalition Party in the June 2014 leadership election and thus became the prime minister. Katainen's cabinet was likewise succeeded by the cabinet of Alexander Stubb on 23 June 2014. Stubb went on to lead the party into the 2015 parliamentary election, in which the National Coalition Party placed second in votes and third in parliamentary seats. After the election, National Coalition joined a right-leaning majority coalition consisting of the three largest parties – the Centre Party, the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party. During his term, Stubb faced growing criticism for the NCP's poor poll results, the declining economy as well as compromises in the three-party government. After two years as party chair, Stubb was voted by 441 to 361 to be replaced by Petteri Orpo at the leadership election of June 2016.
Ideology and political position.
According to its 2006-adopted party platform, the National Coalition Party's policy is based on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equality of opportunity, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring". The party is described by literature as a liberal and conservative as well as a liberal-conservative party in the centre-right with catch-all party characteristics. The non-profit Democratic Society described it as "the heir to both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought" that is becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism.
Specifically, it contains elements of cultural and economic liberalism and social reformism. For example, it supports multiculturalism, work-based immigration, gay rights and same-sex marriage. Although it used considered to have been critical of the Nordic welfare model and campaigned for strict doctrines of economic liberalism, the party in the 1970s shifted to supporting more social liberalism, such as increased social security and a welfare state, which was justified by increased individual liberty. In international relations, the party advocates for multilateralism. Also, it is pro-European and supports continued European integration within the European Union (EU). Likewise, the party publicly advocates Finnish membership in NATO.
Voter base.
The magazine "Suomen Kuvalehti" created a profile of a typical National Coalition Party voter from over 18,000 interviews in 2011: a 36-year-old lawyer or management consultant living with a family in the Capital region who supports economic liberalism and conservative values and enjoys alpine skiing and golf. Unlike other conservative parties in Europe, the party's voters are predominantly urban while rural regions favor the Centre Party. In 2005, the NCP had the highest proportion of women members out of the major parties. Membership in the party was momentarily on the rise in 2008, but had declined from 41,000 to 34,000 by 2016. In contrast, the party had 81,000 members in 1970. According to 2008 polling data, the National Coalition Party was the most positively viewed party by Finns and was the most favored party among young generations in 2008 and 2014 polls.
Organisation.
The main structure of the National Coalition Party comprises municipal and local chapters organized into districts and as well as the women's, student and youth wings. The party conference (), the main decision-making body convening every two years with representatives from the suborganisations as its members, elects the party chair and three deputy chairs as well as the 61-member party council ().
The party chair and the deputy chairs lead the party board (), which is in charge of the daily management and is composed of a representative from each district and from each of the three wings. The party council also elects the party secretary to head the main office, located in Helsinki, and to coordinate the National Coalition Party's activities according to the board's decisions. Additionally, the NCP has separate groups for coordinating ministers, members of Parliament, and members of the European Parliament.
Two foundations, ' and ', assist the party with a source of funding and as an archive, respectively. Reportedly, donations to ' are kept secret, but according to the treasurer, donations are a limited asset compared to the foundation's 5 million euro investment capital. In 2008, the foundation supported NCP with €400,000. The NCP owns two companies, ' and ', to publish the party newspapers ' and ' as well as to handle media communications. Additionally, some thematic organizations report themselves as close to the party, such as the Swedish-language group ' and the LGBT network "".
Prominent party leaders.
The following NCP members have held high offices:


2005 Abkhazian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Abkhazia on 12 January 2005. The result was a victory for Sergei Bagapsh of United Abkhazia, who received over 90% of the vote.
Background.
A Presidential election had been held in Abkhazia on 3 October, but had resulted in a prolonged conflict over the results between the two main contenders, Raul Khadjimba, who had been Prime Minister and who was backed by the seriously ailing outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba and by Russia, and Sergei Bagapsh, the main opposition candidate who had received a narrow majority of the votes.
On 5 December 2004 Bagapsh and Khadjimba agreed to hold new elections. In these elections they would run on a joint ticket, with Khadjimba as vice presidential candidate.
Campaign.
On 17 December, Sergei Bagapsh was officially nominated by an initiative group. On 21 December, Bagapsh and Khajimba created a joint coordinating council to run their election campaign, consisting of five representatives each: Nugzar Agrba, Valeri Kvarchia, Vakhtang Pipia, Daur Tarba, Alik Logua, Roman Gvinjia, Raul Khonelia, Beslan Kobakhia, Vasili Avidzba and Timur Nadaria, cochaired by Agrba for Bagapsh and Kvarchia for Khajimba.
In the early morning of 23 December an explosion occurred in the centre of Sukhumi, causing no casualties. Later that day, Iakub Lakoba, who had come fifth and last in the first election, was nominated by an initiative group.
Bagapsh and Lakoba were officially registered as candidates by the Central Election Commission on 28 December.
Aftermath.
On 2 June 2005, United Abkhazia suspended the membership of Sergei Bagapsh, as required by the Abkhazian constitution since he had become President.


Robert Sympson Jameson

Robert Sympson Jameson (1796 – August 1, 1854) was a lawyer and politician in Upper Canada, and later in the Province of Canada. He served as the first Speaker of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1843.
Early years.
He was born at Harbridge in the English county of Hampshire in 1796 and educated in Ambleside. He studied law at the Middle Temple and was called to the English bar in 1823. He practiced in London. He married Anna Murphy, a British author, in 1825. In 1829, he was appointed Puisne judge and Chief Justice of Dominica; his wife remained in England. In 1833, he returned to London after refusing the same post in Tobago.
Upper Canada.
He was named Attorney General of Upper Canada in the same year and arrived in York (Toronto) in June. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Leeds in 1834, but his election was later invalidated after an appeal; it was found that Ogle Robert Gowan's Orange supporters had intimidated voters. His wife finally joined him in 1836 but left him after less than a year. In 1837, he was named vice-chancellor of the Court of Chancery. He was appointed to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada in 1841 and became its first speaker. He served on the councils for King's College and Trinity College. In 1842, he was named chief superintendent of education. He also was a member of literary clubs in Toronto and helped found the Toronto Society of Arts in 1847. In 1850, he retired from the Court and, in 1853, from the Legislative Council.
He died in Toronto in 1854 of tuberculosis and left his possessions to Reverend George Maynard who cared for him at the end of his life.


Operation Alpha Centauri

Operation Alpha Centauri (1986) was a military operation organised under the auspices of UNITA by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.
Background.
This aim of this operation was to stop a People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) advance on the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) "capital" of Jamba. Operation Alpha Centauri was developed out of a cancelled plan that had been modified to become Operation Southern Cross that occurred during July 1986. Operation Southern Cross was not successful and therefore Operation Alpha Centauri called for a ground assault during August 1986 on the FAPLA town and airbase at Cuito Cuanavale. Originally the plan called for a night attack by 32 Battalion and UNITA troops supported by artillery but the South African government decided that the attack would be carried out by UNITA and 32 Battalion would protect the SADF support troops and artillery.
Order of battle.
South African forces.
32 Battalion
120mm mortar platoon (61 Mechanised Battalion)
Valkiri MRL troop
G5 155mm artillery (Quebec Battery from 4 South African Infantry Battalion)
Ratel 90 anti-tank squadron
Ystervark anti-aircraft platoon + one BRDM SA-9 system
UNITA forces.
Two battalions (1500 men)
Angolan forces.
The SADF troops assigned to the operation began their training for the assault on Cuito Cuanavale. Meanwhile supplies were being moved up to Mavinga, establishing on 15 July a logistics base for the operation. G5 artillery was then attached to the 32 Battalion and by the end of July the SAAF begun flying in the anti-aircraft systems directly into Mavinga.
On the 29 July, the South African government made the decision that UNITA would carry out the assault on Cuito and not 32 Battalion who would again be relegated to escort and protection duties of the SADF support troops and artillery. The plan now called for UNITA to first attack the 25th Brigade east of the town and river, drawing the tanks out of the town, then capturing the bridge over the river to the town.  A day later, another UNITA brigade would attack the 13th Brigade in and around the town from the south.
By the 4 August the SADF units begun position themselves around Cuito Cuanavale. SADF operation headquarters was moved to 28 km east of Cuito, the artillery and two 32 Battalion companies 60 km east and further units in between the two. 32 Battalion reconnaissance units were based even closer, 4 km from the town and an engineer team was building a bridge just 7 km south of the town's easterly bridge.
The G5 and MRL assault began at last light on 9 August 1986, about 17h10 with the 2 artillery batteries in close proximity of each other.
It was time for dinner, and the first shots were fired after most of the Brigade at Cuito Cuanavale went into the mess for supper.
The first counter fire took out 2 of the G5 battery vehicles, including their Fire Control Post vehicle, damaging so that it couldn't be used.
They were forced to use one Fire Control Post for both Charlie and Delta Troops.
By 23h00 the back of the opposition was broken.
Heavy fire was brought down upon the enemy in the first five hours resulting in large scale destruction.
The G5s fired little during daytime, only when observation posts gave the OK.
The G5 battery, aka Quebec Battery, didn't move for the first three days.
It took the battery of G5s three days to break the offensive.
Unita troops were left at Cuito Cuanavale, to keep control, and the battery of G5s and MRLs were already retreating, when they had to turn around and go back and await further orders, as Unita were chased out of Cuito Cuanavale by re-enforcements of Cuban and FAPLA forces.
The operation now included bombarding an ammo depot and a closeby airstrip so that the artillery batteries had a better chance to get out of Angola.
By the 13 August, UNITA was still not ready but the SADF begun to move its troops closer to the town. The SADF HQ was now 4 km from the town, the G5 artillery moved in 30 km south east and the MRLs even closer at 14 km. The artillery bombardment would begin the operation on the early evening of the 14 August, but it did not.
Now the SADF commanders were becoming nervous and threatened to withdraw their troops as the Angolan air-force increased its day flights trying to establish the whereabouts of the South African troops.
The bombardment finally began in the early evening of 15 August.
The UNITA brigade succeeded in briefly capturing the town of Cuito Cuanavale but during a counter-attack by FAPLA, and the failure of the second UNITA brigade to attack from the south, the UNITA forces were driven from the town. The bridge to the east of the town was then blown up.
It was later established that UNITA had not succeeded in entering the airbase and the destruction of the airbase infrastructure was due to the SADF artillery and MRLs. By the 17 August, 32 Battalion began to withdraw back to Mavinga.
Vital artillery support.
The G5 howitzer was used operationally for the first time by the SADF on 9 August 1986 during Operation Alpha Centauri by Quebec battery (a battery consists of eight guns) of Middelburg. At that time Quebec battery were stationed in South West Africa with 32 Battalion's Buffalo base. They were called up and dealt into 32 Battalion especially for operation Alpha Centauri.The G5 battery was employed in conjunction with one battery of multiple rocket launchers (MRL). The operation was an artillery attack against Cuban and FAPLA formations concentrating in Cuito Cuanavale for their 1986 offensive against UNITA. The 25th Cuban-FAPLA Brigade was situated east of Cuito Cuanavale near Tumpo. The 13th Brigade was situated in Cuito Cuanavale and the 8th Brigade operated between Menongue and Cuito Cuanavale, the former being a large logistics depot. Convoys regularly traveled from Menongue to supply Cuito Cuanavale.
In the weeks before the first assault, the 8 G5s were flown in darkness from Rundu to Mavinga (15°47'36 S 20°21'49 E) over 2 nights by South African Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, whilst the remainder of the battery including the gun-tractors drove the distance. The heavy guns were difficult to drag through the sandy terrain and this avoided a significant part of the journey from the border to the target area.
The G5 assault began at last light, about 17h10. It was time for dinner, and the first shots were fired after most of the Brigade at Cuito Cuanavale went into the mess for supper. By 23h00 the back of the opposition was broken. Heavy fire was brought down upon the enemy in the first five hours resulting in large scale destruction. The G5s fired little during daytime, only when observation posts gave the OK.
The G5 battery, aka Quebec Battery, didn't move for the first three days, while they were shooting. This was a first for any artillery movement. Normally, after the guns fired, they would pack up and move, to avoid being fired upon.
It took the battery of G5s three days to break the offensive. Unita was left at Cuito Cuanavale, to keep control, and the battery of G5s were already retreating, when they had to turn around and go back, as Unita were chased out of Cuito Cuanavale by re-enforcements of Cuban and FAPLA forces. The battery of G5s then started another full-scale attack, taking out the re-enforcements as well. The battery of G5s then blew up a landing strip the Angolans used as an attack platform for their Migs, and an ammo-base, which exploded for hours, and burned for two-to-three days.
This destroyed the 1986 Cuban and FAPLA offensive against UNITA and showed the tremendous destructive force that lay within one battery of G5s. Owing to the long range and the accuracy with which the G5 could fire and the effect of the ammunition, authority was forced upon the enemy.
The battery of G-5s became known as the Ghost-Battery, because they couldn't be found by the opposition. As a result of the daylight activities of the MiG-23 jet fighters employed by the Cubans, artillery fire missions could only be executed at night. As it was the first time that the G5 was used operationally there was great cause for concern that the MiGs would spot the G5s. The spotter planes flew over the G5 battery every day, but it must have looked like a dummy shelter. The MiGs were continuously in the air trying to locate the G5s and bombed the surrounding area at random in the hope of hitting the artillery.
The closest the bombs ever got to the battery of G5s, was to hit the shelter the G5s stayed at for three days, only two hours after the G5s were moved to a new shelter. The battery of G5s struggled for weeks to retreat out of Angola, because of Migs and enemy spotter planes being in the air all the time.
This operation proved to the SADF that survival was possible despite an unfavorable air situation. As a result of the enemy's air superiority, great attention was given to passive defensive measures such as camouflage, track discipline and the concealment of movement.
Special techniques of concealment were practiced beforehand which prevented the enemy from observing the artillery. Before the operation was undertaken these techniques of concealment were also tested under conditions similar to those that the artillery would experience during the operation. Another factor in favor of the artillery was the unprofessional manner in which the enemy employed its air force. The MiG fighters mostly flew at very high altitudes, making observation very difficult for the pilots. The apparent reason for this was to avoid being shot down by UNITA's Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. In addition, owing to the dryness of the season, the many bush fires in the area created a lot of dust and smoke in the air. During this operation approximately 2 500 multiple rocket launcher projectiles and approximately 4 500 G5 projectiles were used.
Aftermath.
The SADF artillery and MRLs had succeeded in destroying most of the airbase's radar installations, its anti-aircraft installations and most of the fuel and ammunition depots. UNITA succeeded in destroying Angolan aircraft and tanks. As would be seen in later battles, the SADF realised that UNITA was not capable of launching conventional attacks against FAPLA and the Cuban forces and would not be able to stop a combined offensive. This SADF operation had slowed down the Angolan, Cuban and Soviet troops planned offensive against UNITA but they would again regroup around the major towns close to Cuito and rearm for the future operations.


Kenneth D. Taylor

Kenneth Douglas Taylor, (October 5, 1934 – October 15, 2015) was a Canadian diplomat, educator and businessman, best known for his role in the 1979 covert operation called the "Canadian Caper" when he was the Canadian ambassador to Iran. With the cooperation of the American Central Intelligence Agency, Taylor helped six Americans escape from Iran during the Iran hostage crisis by procuring Canadian passports for the Americans to deceive the Iranian Revolutionary guard by posing as a Canadian film crew scouting locations. Before the escape, the six Americans spent several weeks hiding in the homes of Taylor and another Canadian diplomat, John Sheardown.
Taylor is portrayed by Gordon Pinsent in the Canadian 1981 television film, "" which dramatizes the cover story for the operation. The later 2012 American film, "Argo", focuses more on the CIA and Hollywood's role, with Taylor played by Canadian actor Victor Garber.
After his death, the Washington Post described Taylor as the "main hero" of the Iran hostage escape, quoting former president Jimmy Carter in doing so. In 1981, Taylor was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Ronald Reagan. Nonetheless, the significance of his role was downplayed in the film "Argo".
Early life and education.
Taylor was born in Calgary, Alberta. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria College of the University of Toronto and his Master of Business Administration degree at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity and was later honoured with its highest award, Significant Sigma Chi.
Iran hostage crisis.
Iranian students invaded the United States embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, one year before the next US presidential election. During the riot, six Americans managed to escape. They hid for four days before reaching the Canadian embassy, where they met Taylor, who devised the plan to get them out of Iran safely. On January 20, 1981, as Ronald Reagan was being sworn in as president, the 52 American hostages were released by Iran into US custody, having spent 444 days in captivity.
Taylor played a crucial role in providing intelligence on the hostage crisis to Canadian and American intelligence agencies. Reportedly, he helped scout out landing sites for the abortive Delta Force rescue attempt, Operation Eagle Claw.
A made-for-TV movie of the events, "", was produced in 1981. In 2012, Ben Affleck produced and starred in a movie titled "Argo", which is based on the book "The Master of Disguise" by Tony Mendez, a CIA agent involved in the incident. After the film was previewed at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, criticism arose that the film unfairly minimized the participation of the Canadian government, and Taylor in particular, in the extraction operation. This included the addition to the film of several fictional events for dramatic reasons, as well as a postscript text indicating that the CIA let Taylor take the credit for political purposes, implying that he did not deserve the accolades he received. Affleck noted, "Because we say it's based on a true story, rather than this is a true story, we're allowed to take some dramatic license. There's a spirit of truth." However, Affleck did respond by changing the postscript text to read, "The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian embassy to free the six held in Tehran. To this day the story stands as an enduring model of international co-operation between governments." Historical news footage discussing Canada's role in the rescue was also added near the end of the film. Taylor himself said that the film was "fun, it's thrilling, it's pertinent, it's timely," but noted that "Canada was not merely standing around watching events take place. The CIA was a junior partner."
Later life and death.
After returning from Iran, Taylor was appointed Canadian Consul-General to New York City. In 1980, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada along with his wife Pat and other Canadian personnel involved in the escape, and was also awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal that same year. He also received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1980.
He returned to the University of Toronto for several years as the Chancellor of Victoria College.
Taylor left the foreign service in 1984 and served as Senior Vice-President of Nabisco (RJR Nabisco after 1986) from 1984 to 1989.
Taylor moved to the United States and resided in New York City until his death at the age of 81 on October 15, 2015. Taylor died at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, where he had been treated for Stage 4 colon cancer. Taylor's funeral service was held at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto on October 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, his son, Douglas, and two grandchildren, Tristan and Kassia.
Notes and references.
a. Taylor did not present credentials because of the Canadian government's decision to change residency and accreditation from Iran to Kuwait, with the opening of a Canadian Embassy in Kuwait.


Rafael Maroto

Rafael Maroto Yserns (October 15, 1783 – August 25, 1853) was a Spanish general, known both for his involvement on the Spanish side in the wars of independence in South America and on the Carlist side in the First Carlist War.
Childhood and early life.
Maroto was born in the town of Lorca in the Region of Murcia, Spain, to Margarita Isern, a native of Barcelona, and Rafael Maroto, a native of Zamora. His father was a military captain who held several important positions in civilian life, such as acting as an administrator for the "Visitador de Rentas" in Lorca.
Maroto was baptized in the San Cristóbal parish church, where his baptismal certificate was preserved and later helped biographers clarify details of his family. During his childhood, he lived on the "Calle Mayor" (Main street) of the "Barrio de San Cristóbal", across from "Plaza de la Estrella". He married Antonia Cortés García, a Chilean, in 1816, and had seven children with her. Antonia and two of his daughters died in a shipwreck in 1830 "en route" to Chile.
At the age of 18, Maroto took part in the conflicts and campaigns of Manuel de Godoy, which were collectively known as the War of the Oranges. He also fought in the Spanish War of Independence, in which he was wounded and made a prisoner in Zaragoza. He then received a position in Peru and later fought in the war against the pro-independence Chileans. However, he was defeated by General José de San Martín in the Battle of Chacabuco (1817). In Spain, he also participated in the First Carlist War and was one of the signers, along with liberal general Espartero, of the Convention of Vergara ("Convenio de Vergara", also called the "Abrazo de Vergara": "embrace of Vergara"), which ended the civil war between Carlists and the Isabelinos with the victory of the latter.
Military career.
At the age of 11, Maroto left for Cartagena in the province of Murcia where he joined as a minor subordinate cadet in the Asturias Infantry Regiment in 1794. He was promoted to second lieutenant on June 15, 1798.
The Portuguese Campaign.
At age 18, he was sent to the defense of the Department of Ferrol in the province of Coruña, where he took part in Godoy's campaigns against the Portuguese as the latter maintained their support for the English against Napoleon. The English had disembarked to the Heights of Grana and the campaigns ran from August 25 to August 26, 1800. For the merit he demonstrated in these operations, Maroto was awarded a Shield of Honor. He continued on, adding two years in the Navy of the Department of Ferrol, and later he returned to the Asturias Regiment. On October 15, 1806 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Spanish War of Independence.
Maroto also fought as a soldier in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon's army. The French attacked the plaza of Valencia on June 28, 1808. Maroto defended the city with the batteries that he had at his position, in Santa Catalina and Torres de Cuarte (this was the name that was given to it at the time). Forced to surrender to the enemy after a heroic defense, he was recognized with distinction to the mother country and was awarded a Shield of Honor.
On November 23 he took part in the Battle of Tudela in Navarre. On December 24, Monte Torrero and Casa Blanca—suburbs of Zaragoza—were attacked, and shortly after Maroto used bayonets in order to dislodge the enemy that had taken them.
With the grade of captain (promoted September 8), Maroto participated also in the Siege of Zaragoza in 1809. He gained control of Pilar, the batteries of San José, Puerta Quemada and Tenerías. He made forays from these batteries, often receiving gunfire. When the city of Zaragoza was captured, Maroto was made a prisoner of war by the French, but managed to escape. For his heroic acts in Zaragoza he received a Shield of Distinction that held the motto "Recompensa del valor y patriotismo" ("Reward for Valor and Patriotism"). He was declared a "benemérito de la patria en grado heroico y eminente", roughly "Distinction of the Fatherland, in Heroic and Distinguished Degree". On March 9 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In 1811 he was assigned to the Infantry Regiment of the line in Valencia. On October 24 and 25, he occupied the defense of the attacks against Puzol, Heights of Sagunto Castle, and Murviedro. On October 25, 1812, he defended the lines of Grao, Monte Olivet, Cuarte, the line of Valencia, and the square of the city. When this plaza was captured, he was made a prisoner, along with his regiment, and once again, he seized the opportunity to escape. After these events, he was assigned control of the General Depot of troops destined overseas.
In the Americas.
On November 16, 1813, he was named colonel in charge of the Queen's Talavera Regiment. At the head of this unit, he set sail for Peru on December 25, 1813. On April 24, 1814 they disembarked at Callao to aid the Viceroy José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, who had been working arduously to maintain his viceroyalty and the bordering territories under Spanish control. Maroto and his troops, placed under the orders of Brigadier Mariano Osorio, were sent to Chile, which, during the Napoleonic Wars, had risen in rebellion. They embarked July 19, 1814, arriving at the naval base of Talcahuano, the nucleus of royalist activity, August 13. Osorio succeeded in organizing, along with local elements, a mobile army of some five thousand men, of whom Maroto's troops were practically the only Spaniards.
On October 1, the insurgents started to battle in Rancagua in an attempt to prevent the expeditionaries from taking Santiago, Chile. Maroto, manifesting a disdain for his opponents typical of officials recently arrived in the Americas, ordered his troops to attack the enemy fortifications without bothering to send in either scouts or guerrillas. The result was that Maroto's Talaveras, bombarded by the volley of shots, were forced to retreat with heavy losses. On the next day, Bernardo O'Higgins managed to make his way past the royal troops and retreat to the capital, where his opponents entered without resistance a few days later. Whether due to a belief that Maroto had conducted himself clumsily in battle or due to other, unknown reasons, although the list of officials who ought to be promoted after the latest victories sent by Osorio to viceroy Abascal included Maroto's name, the messenger who delivered the list nonetheless had confidential instructions to let Abascal know that Osorio believed that Maroto should not be promoted. When Maroto received word several months later that the list that had been sent to Madrid did not include his name, he lodged the appropriate complaint with Abascal, who had not liked the confusing way of proceeding and ended up finding in Maroto's favor on May 10, 1815, granting him the grade of brigadier, backdated to 8 November 1814.
During his stay in Santiago, Maroto entered into a relationship with Antonia Cortés, who belonged to a noble and wealthy family of the local oligarchy; they married at the end of March 1815, just before he left Santiago, a place which he apparently did not find particularly to his taste. Immediately after, leading two companies, Maroto headed to Arica to aid in the campaign of Joaquín de la Pezuela in Alto Perú, now Bolivia. On July 15 he joined his troops, but he did not remain with them long because, for unknown reasons, Pezuela sued him and sent him to Lima. The trial was interrupted through the mediation of Abascal, who convinced Pezuela that it wasn't worth the trouble to continue. After spending some time in Lima, Maroto returned to Chile, whose command had fallen back into the hands of Field Marshal Casimiro Marcó del Pont, with whom he soon fell in disfavor.
At the beginning of February 1817 the troops of José de San Martín crossed the Andes to put an end to Spanish dominion in Chile. In the face of the disintegration of the royalist forces, Maroto proposed abandoning the capital and retreating southward, where they could hold out and obtain resources for a new campaign. The military conference called by Marcó on February 8 adopted Maroto's strategy, but the following morning the captain changed his mind and ordered Maroto to prepare for battle in Chacabuco. The night before the combat, Antonio Quintanilla, who would later distinguish himself extraordinarily in the defense of Chiloé, confided with another official regarding the ill-chosen strategy and that, given the position of the insurgents, the royalist forces ought to retreat a few leagues towards the hills of Colina: "Maroto overheard this conversation from a nearby chamber and either couldn't or refused to hear me because of his pride and self-importance, called on an attendant with his notorious hoarse voice and proclaimed a general decree on pain of death, to whomever suggested a retreat." Although Maroto and his troops fought with valor, the battle turned into a complete defeat. Maroto, who succeeded in escaping thanks to the speed of his horse, was slightly injured during the retreat.
After another military conference in Santiago, Maroto, his wife, and most of the troops left for Valparaíso, from where they sailed to Peru. Pezuela, now the new viceroy, who still didn't much care for Maroto, considered nonetheless that "if perhaps he was not so skillful a commander in the unfortunate battle of Chacabuco, at the very least he performed with the valour and serenity expected of a Spaniard and an honourable officer," for which he received due consideration. Maroto was then sent to Cuzco at the head of two companies from Talavera which had remained in Peru, with instructions to organize a new battalion. Unhappy with everything and everybody, on February 22, 1818 he was appointed President and Head of Government of the City and Province of Charcas, in Alto Perú, a village far removed from war, where he performed a notable administrative labor. After the 1820 Revolution in Spain, and once having received appropriate stipulation, Maroto proclaimed the Constitution in Charcas October 23, 1820. Four of his children were born and baptized in Charcas: Manuel María Rafael, María del Carmen Agustina, Margarita Antonia, and Justa María Mercedes Rufina. Rafael Abdón Ignacio, Víctor, Cándida, and Faustino were born later, the last the child of a maidservant with whom he had a relationship during his stay in Asturias, and whom he did not initially acknowledge, but to whom he had to grant a pension following the accusation formulated by his mother.
The garrison of Potosí rebelled January 1, 1821 and Maroto marched against them, defeating the insurgents and taking the city. Nonetheless, on the arrival of General Pedro Antonio Olañeta, who as deputy of the viceroy exercised his authority throughout Alto Perú, he was ordered to return to Charcas. After a heated argument, Maroto complied with the orders he'd received. The disagreements between the two were further amplified when, during the brief invasion of Alto Perú by Andrés de Santa Cruz, Maroto refused to comply with the orders of Olañeta, who protested hotly against him to viceroy José de la Serna, stating, among other things, that "ever since this man set foot in America, he has done nothing but foment insubordination and express ill against the authorities." The viceroy, who did not have excessive confidence in Olañeta, opted to promote both to the rank of field marshal, despite the fact that Olañeta had played only a limited role in the campaign, and Maroto none at all.
The disagreements between Maroto and Olañeta culminated in 1824, when Olañeta, who had proposed to reestablish the absolutist regime in Peru, as it had now been established in Spain, marched with his troops against him, obligating them to abandon their positions. Despite the viceroy's intentions in favor of dialogue, the matter degenerated into a civil war that weakened the royalist troops and permitted the loss of Peru. Maroto was next named by La Serna as chief of one of the three divisions that, under the orders of General José de Canterac had to face the invasion by Antonio José de Sucre. After the Battle of Junín, Maroto maintained strong disagreements with Canterac and ended up resigning, since he considered that the withdrawal of the Royalist forces was being carried out in an inadequate way. Named governor of Puno, he was there taken by surprise by the capitulation of Ayacucho, in which Puno was included. Accompanied by La Serna and others officials, Maroto and his family embarked on the French frigate "Hernestine", which arrived in Burdeos in the middle of 1825.
Again in Spain.
After his return from America on 1 July 1825, Maroto was entrusted with the command of the army of Castilla la Vieja, stationed in Valladolid, site of the general headquarters. On 1 September of that year, the field marshal placed him in command of reestablishing order with force of arms, and among the royal volunteers of the Principality of Asturias. Later, on 11 July 1828, he was employed by royal order in the barracks at Pamplona. On 21 June 1829, the king granted him quarters in the Army of New Castile stationed in Madrid. On 15 March 1832 he was named commanding general of the province of Toledo. He renounced that post on 31 October, as the story goes, because he was forced by Count Ignacio de Negri to support an insurrection by his troops, and he felt that before acting against the government he ought to break all ties with it. For this same reason he refused the charge, conferred upon him on 5 January 1833, of second-in-command and general commander of the Basque Provinces.
The Carlist cause.
Maroto himself relates in the "Manifiesto razonado de las causas del convenio de Vergara" ("Reasoned manifesto of the causes of the Convention of Vergara") how and why he joined the Carlist cause. Since his social and professional position—as well as his future prospects—were of great fortune, he insists that he did not join to get rich or to prosper. He asserts that he decided to follow the pretender to the crown, the Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, brother of king Ferdinand VII's and uncle to the future queen Isabella II because he thought it was the best for Spain, thinking that the possible rule of Don Carlos was better than that of a 3-year-old girl, whose minority would bring forward an unclear regency. Maroto at the time had more faith in Don Carlos, in whom he saw qualities of religious principles, an orderly and economic system at his own home, and an observance of the law. He also confesses that by following an exiled prince, he was almost certain of failure and that the few victories they might achieve would be bleak, inch by inch, without large, spectacular advances, and that in addition they would not be treated as authentic soldiers but as bandits and traitors.
Initial stages.
Maroto was in Toledo as commanding general of that province when he was visited by Ignacio de Negri y Mendizábal, Count of Negri, one of the principal Carlist conspirators of 1833. After their conversation, Maroto spent some time considering the revolutionary cause and finally decided, with great calm and certainty, to join it. He was asked if, given his position and standing at the head of a garrison, he could carry out a military coup, which would have given great support to the cause. Rafael Maroto was a proper and loyal man, and this proposal did not seem ethical to him. He did not want his enlistment in the Carlist ranks to start with a betrayal of the flag to which he had sworn allegiance, or with a flight. He decided to follow a legal path, and started by resigning his command and position within the "comandancia general". Once he had broken this link, nothing was in the way of his going over to the other side.
He went to Madrid, where Negri gave him instructions, and where the Carlist party was formally organizing. The first meetings of the revolutionary committees took place there. King Ferdinand VII was already gravely ill and near death. Maroto then proposed to Don Carlos that they proclaim him regent during his brother's illness, but the Infante opposed the idea, "and those who suggested it were not considered loyal servants, because they did not wear habits or cassocks, because they claimed that in earthly matters it was necessary to do something in order that heaven would give help". The government found out about the conspiracy and many of those involved were jailed. Maroto not only survived these first persecutions, but also was named second in command of the Basque Provinces, a command that he resigned immediately. This action was not well received by the government, which found out about the general's new ideas thanks to the investigations carried out after the rebellion of Colonel Campos y España, and brought about his arrest on that very spot, in the ministry where he had just presented his resignation, in person and with great formality.
Imprisonments and escapes.
He was taken to prison, where he remained for eight months, throughout which he was gravely ill; he lost nearly all of his eyesight and his hair fell out. After this first imprisonment, Maroto was exiled to Seville and from there was able to obtain a transfer to Granada, where he reunited with his family and decided to rededicate his life to their care. After a time, he was secretly informed that he would be newly imprisoned and moved to a cell in Ceuta. Maroto rapidly prepared his escape, disguised, helped physically and economically by friends and accompanied and guided on the voyage by some smugglers.
From Granada he headed for Madrid, then to Extremadura, then headed to Valencia, where he chartered a boat that was to bring him to Gibraltar but ended up in Algeciras. Finally, he arrived in Gibraltar, and from there managed in a few days to head for Portugal where he met Don Carlos, who was accompanied by a small and varied entourage. With the Infante were other generals, soldiers of other ranks, clergy and various other people. One of the individuals that had the most influence in Don Carlos's decisions was the bishop of León Joaquín Abarca, named Minister of War, advisor, and court favorite. Historians affirm that the bishop had neither military knowledge nor ability and that he was nothing more than a capable courtier with the talent of pleasing a prince.
In Portugal, Maroto demonstrated to Don Carlos his skills as an expert soldier and as a loyal man without courtly ambitions. There, Maroto was involved in the first military encounters with the royal troops devoted to the Isabeline cause, saving Don Carlos and his followers from ambushes and useless battles (where, aimless and doubtful, they wasted crucial moments) and organizing the constant escapes necessitated by how badly they were carrying out his military plans. After the Carlist military failures in Portugal, and helped by the British commissioner Colonel Wylde, who had been sent by the English Crown as an observer and witness, the Pretender, his retinue and some soldiers—among them Maroto—embarked from the port of Lisbon on board the vessel "Donegal", which brought them to England.
Arrival in the Carlist ranks.
Maroto left England a few days after Don Carlos's retinue had done the same, but to his surprise he was detained and arrested in Calais and from there was brought to Paris, where he was imprisoned in contradiction of all human rights; the arrest was not justified by any crime or lack of documentation. When he was freed a short time later he asked for a passport so he could leave for Italy, although he stopped for some time in Nice to regain his health and to plan a way to enter Spain instead of going to Italy. He was able effortlessly to go through southern France and arrive at Bordeaux. From there he went to Navarre, aided and protected by French Carlists.
Upon arriving in Carlist-controlled territory, Maroto was well received by the Pretender, who seated him on numerous occasions at his table and tried to give him a responsible command, which he was unable to accomplish because of the opposition of General Tomás de Zumalacárregui, who always had a negative view of Maroto. When Zumalacárregui was injured in Bilbao, Maroto received a direct order from Don Carlos to replace him and took command of his army. However, the written order, manipulated, was confusing and almost contradictory: Don Carlos ordered that Maroto remain in the army, but under the orders of field marshal Francisco Benito Eraso, until, for reasons of health, the latter retired from the Army of the North. He was told to remain patient and in the meantime to obverse the actions of said general, which could be suspicious. Maroto's serious, authentically soldierly character won him at this time the friendship and confidence of the members of the forces, especially the common soldiers.
He confronted the Isabeline general Baldomero Espartero for the first time in the Siege of Bilbao; the citizens of Bilbao had decided to surrender to the Carlists if Espartero's troops weren't able to offer aid. Both armies besieged the city for several days. It was then that Carlist general Vicente González Moreno arrived, who had been named upon the death of Zumalacárregui (25 June 1835) to the command of the Army of the North, a command that had been promised to Maroto (who before the start of the war was the only field marshal, and Moreno a lieutenant general). General Moreno was not a good strategist and soon showed his antagonism against Maroto, which led to a series of actions that were quite unfortunate from a military point of view. This general's orders in the confrontation with Espartero resulted in the supremacy of the Isabeline forces who entered the plaza of Bilbao with only token opposition.
General of the Army of Biscay.
After some months of military inaction, in which it was necessary to follow the entourage of Don Carlos in the manner of a courtier, Maroto was named commanding general of the forces of the Lordship of Biscay; the position had been vacated because of the imprisonment of José María de Orbe y Elío, marquis of Valdespina and Zabala. Once at the head of his army, he considered the best way to effect good military organization and discipline. He obtained great help from the delegation of the Lordship and from the men of the battalions. With the army on point, he marched over the plaza of Bilbao, took the Estuary of Bilbao, cut communications and obstructed all the exits, all without using artillery, which he lacked completely. He gained considerable advantage in skirmishes against the British forces who had disembarked to support the cause of Queen Isabella. General Maroto continued defending his encampment around Bilbao as well as he could while pleading for artillery and reinforcements that never arrived. In the event, his forces were diminished rather than reinforced: two battalions were separated from his command and sent to the lines at San Sebastián.
At this point, Espartero arrived with a large army. The confrontation was on the heights of Arrigorriaga, which the Carlist army domininated, forcing Espartero's forces to retreat to Bilbao in a precipitous and disorderly fashion.
Control of Bilbao was very important, but the lack of united action by the Carlist forces made it impossible to take the town by conventional military means. The internecine rivalries and the lack of military sense among most of the commanding officers made it infeasible to carry out Maroto's proposed strategy. A few days later, he was ordered to transfer control to Brigadier Sarasa and to await orders for a new destination. The war continued, and the Carlists could not carry out a successful campaign due to the schemes and disagreements of their own leaders and generals.
Maroto heads the forces of Catalonia.
Maroto's new destiny was in the forces of Catalonia, which was probably a consequence of his maneuvers against Lieutenant General Nazario Eguía, who had replaced González Moreno at the head of the Army of the North. The voyage to Catalonia was arduous. From Bayonne he arrived in Marseille; from there he crossed the Pyrenees on foot, surviving wind, rain, and "vendavales" (strong storms from the southeast), accompanied by two men who served him as guides.
Upon arriving in the principality, Maroto took charge of an army of less than 11,000 men, whose instruction, if one may call it that, left much to be desired. On September 7, Maroto began the siege of Prats de Lluçanès, which he was forced to abandon owing to the defeat of the forces that tried to prevent the arrival of a column of assistance. He did not allow himself to be discouraged by this and dedicated the following days to instructing the battalions under his orders, "and established in them such rigorous discipline in eight days… that one would not have seen better in the vanguard division formed later by the Count of Spain'". However, on October 4 his second in command, the Baron of Ortafá was defeated and he died in San Quirico in an action whose result was attributed by the Catalans to his not having been assisted in a timely manner by Maroto.
But the reason for Maroto's leaving Catalonia was not the opposition of the leading Catalans, but his belief that he had been betrayed in not having received the resources he had counted on when he left Navarre. So, after submitting to the Intendant Díaz de Labandero a series of petitions for armaments and uniforms that were totally impossible to fulfill, Maroto abandoned Catalonia 5 October on the pretext of going to see Don Carlos to notify him of the true situation of the war in that territory, thereby fulfilling "my intent of resigning the command of the Catalan forces… it not being my character to carry on a disastrous life with no higher dignity than that of a captain of brigands". It should come as no surprise that the Catalans despised the man who had abandoned them, and that the court of Don Carlos did not look favorably on a man who appeared not to have exerted all possible force to achieve his assigned task.
In his return trip he found himself entangled in new adventures in France where he was incarcerated in Perpignan and Tours, until he could escape with the help of his field assistant José Burdeos and some legitimists.
The defense of Estella.
Don Carlos called him again to organize the troops of the army and Maroto consented. He put the battalions in order, expanding their ranks with dispersed soldiers. He reestablished discipline and ordered them to construct trenches and works of fortification that covered the city of Estella, giving strict orders to collect all types of foodstuffs. Thus began a campaign to boost public morale.
He planned the defence of Estella and its surrounding area, ordering the evacuation of villages on the path which Maroto believed Espartero's army would follow, as it was public knowledge that the latter had decided to besiege the town. Maroto managed to achieve the general's retreat, subsequently improving the mood and hopes of his people as a result.
Maroto's idea was to maintain the entire Basque Provinces ("Provincias Vascongadas", as they were known in that era) as a base of support and the residence of the future court of Don Carlos until the gates of Madrid were opened. In order to do this, he tried to put himself in contact with General Ramón Cabrera to establish a line of operations through Alto Aragón. Maroto formed five battalions, increased the cavalry by contracting with foreign horsemen and for some time led skirmishes, defenses and attacks against the royalist troops for the Navarrese lands.
New conspiracies, denunciations and disagreements accumulated into a conspiracy to assassinate Maroto, but without success. His greatest enemy in this period was the Carlist José Arias Teijeiro, named by the Pretender as undersecretary of justice. He signed many death sentences against the principal generals, accusing them of sedition. It was said pejoratively of these generals that they were "de carta y compás" ("of the square and compass"), that is, Freemasons.
Executions of Estella.
Maroto sent Carmona (who had also conspired against him) to Estella as an emissary to communicate his orders to the soldier Francisco García, ringleader of the conspiracy against Maroto in that city. This soldier had been "Comisario de Guerra" during the reign of Ferdinand VII and now belonged to Teijeiro's group, enemies of general Maroto, ready to inspire the troops in Estella to insubordination and to disobey their general's orders. He accused them of sedition. Maroto's orders were that they wait in a determined place, with the entire regiment, in order that he might harangue them. The chronicles that recount these events record that Maroto entered Estella in the company only of his escort, but with other forces following him at a distance. The streets were empty and Francisco García waited in his home, devising extralegal contingencies from the orders he previously received. At 8 o'clock in the evening Maroto received the news that García had been preparing to flee disguised as a priest when he was arrested by Maroto's men. The Estella army supported its general, and did not accept orders other than his, which gave Maroto great comfort. After the arrest Carmona and the followers of Francisco García were imprisoned. Their military sedition was publicly proven.
The generals Juan Antonio Guergué, Francisco García and Pablo Sanz Baeza had been arrested by this time, along with the quartermaster general Úriz. They were imprisoned in the castle of Puig together with other rebels, and on February 18, 1839, all four were executed, as were the officials Sanz e Ibáñez and the brigadier Carmona.
Following these events, Maroto wrote Don Carlos a detailed letter with information about the conspiracies and disagreements in the very heart of the northern Carlists, as well as a report of the current condition of the imprisoned military leaders. At the same time this letter reached its addressee, it was published and released to the public.
All of these events were compiled and recorded by a soldier of the time, Manuel Lassala y Soleras, in a book which carried the lengthy title of: "History of the Carlist party, of its divisions, of its government, of its ideas, and of the Convention of Vergara: with biographical notes that explain who were Don Carlos, his generals, his favorites and principal ministers."
Pío Baroja, in his work "Aviraneta, or the life of a conspirator", gave the following narration of what happened in Estella:
Reactions.
As a result of these events, Teixeiro drew up a decree, which Don Carlos signed. In the document, Don Carlos declined all responsibility for what had occurred, accused Maroto of crimes and arbitrary acts, and menaced all who would support him: "…Separated now from the command of the army, I declare him a traitor, likewise anyone who after this declaration, which I wist to be given the greatest publicity, assists or obeys him." Nonetheless, the commanders of Estella's battalions presented their respect and loyalty to Maroto, and disobeyed the decree.
Maroto commanded the battalions to assemble on the Camino Real from Vitoria to Pamplona (in total, more than 7,000 men). Surrounded by a respectful silence he ordered that the accusatory decree be read in a loud voice. At its conclusion, he asked those whose consciences so dictated to comply. But he was acclaimed and cheered with a great cry by the soldiers and officers alike. Maroto closed his address by saying "I have triumphed over the arbitrariness, injustice and blindness of a prince, and history will judge me in due course."
The Carlists Urbiztondo, Silvestre, Izarbe and Count Negri met with Don Carlos, making him see that Maroto's conduct as a soldier had been correct, after which the prince signed a new decree in which he retracted the earlier decree, ordering the gathering and burning of the pages of the published manifesto, and returned military honors to Maroto. Twenty-five individuals implicated in the attacks on Maroto were exiled: soldiers, clergy and civilians. They were taken to France by General Urbiztondo, Colonel Leandro Eguía, and Lieutenant-Colonel Rafael Erausquin, guarded by a company of Alavesan soldiers.
The "Marotist" party.
In spite of the foregoing, intrigues and hostilities continued between the enemies and the followers of Maroto. A "marotista" ("Marotist") party grew, entirely loyal to the Carlist cause but opposed to how the war was being conducted.
Preliminaries to the Convention of Vergara.
After the failure of the Royal Expedition, General Espartero received an official letter signed by Queen Isabella II's Secretary of War, in which he was given responsibility for the termination of the war along with 25 million reales for the proceedings. General Isidro de Alaix Fábregas, in the name of Espartero, communicated this letter to Maroto. Maroto insisted that he would do what was best for the good of Spain. The result was a meeting between the two opposing generals that took place in the hermitage of San Antolín de Abadiano near Durango. The English colonel Wylde attended the Abadiano conference as an observer, because of Britain's recent role as mediator; also present was brigadier Francisco Linage, secretary to Espartero. But the negotiations were stymied by the matter of "fueros": Maroto had promised to defend the "fueros" and Espartero held that they were unconstitutional.
As negotiations took place, both armies were positioned and prepared, although they did not battle. Espartero soon insisted on the negotiations proceeding. The leaders present at the reading of the manifesto decided to name a commission in order to negotiate with him. La Torre and Urbiztondo went before the commission without Maroto and formalized with Espartero the Convention of Vergara, whose first written version still lacked Maroto's signature, although everything that it expounded was in his name. Later, Espartero sent a copy to Maroto with a request to sign it formally.
The first article of the accord was related to "fueros", and declared that "Captain General Don Baldomero Espartero will press the government to fulfil its offer to undertake formally to propose to the "Cortes" the concession or modification of the "fueros"."
Despite the treaty having been signed by these high-ranking officers, the Navarrese battalions, above all, felt a certain repugnance, distrust and discontent, to the point that some officials still intended military revolt.
August 31, 1839.
In Vergara, General Espartero and his constitutional troops were waiting. When the Castilian battalions and squadrons arrived, as well as the Biscayans and Guipuzcoans, Espartero gave a speech in which he gave them the option of continuing in the Queen's service or returning to their homes. History recounts that all of them decided to adhere to the treaty.
Alterwards, Rafael Maroto gave a stirring speech:
The words of Maroto and Espartero are preserved in the minutes of the meeting, and have been duly preserved.
In the "Cuartel General" of Vergara, on 1 September 1839, Espartero addressed the Basque and Navarrese people for the last time, notifying them of the peace that had been reached in Vergara and of the incorporation of the armies under his command:
With the conflict at an end, he resumed the rank of lieutenant general and was named Minister of the Supreme Tribunal of War and Marine.
Last years.
On 11 September 1846, he left for the Americas again with his daughter Margarita. He first attempted to disembark in Peru, but President Ramón Castilla, whose brother had been a Carlist officer in Spain, barred him from entering the country. He then headed for Chile, where he still owned an hacienda that he had inherited from his deceased wife. He landed in Valparaíso on 22 December and took over the aforementioned property, located near the town of Concón.
He died in Valparaíso, on 25 August 1853, after moving there to receive better medical care for his illness. On his gravestone is mentioned that he was a Lieutenant Colonel of the Spanish Army and his nobiliary titles of "Viscount of Elgueta" and "Count of Casa Maroto". Later on his remains were moved to an Army Memorial mausoleum in the anniversary of the Battle of Chacabuco, on 2 June 1918, to be buried in wall tomb number 77 with a new epitaph: "The Army of Chile to the Spanish Army Brigadier Don Rafael Maroto"
Rafael Maroto is a controversial figure. Some historians labelled him a traitor to the Carlist cause because his intervention in the Convention of Vergara, while others believe it was an intelligent and reasonable action, considering the hopeless state of the almost defeated Carlist army.
Maroto and the "Episodios Nacionales".
In the "Episodios Nacionales" series of historical books by Benito Pérez Galdós, Maroto is mentioned several times:


Mikhail Yasnov

Mikhail Alekseyevich Yasnov (; – 23 July 1991) was a Soviet politician. He was Chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee and head of Moscow in 1950–1956.
Between 1956 to 1957 he was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR. Between 1957 and 1966 he was First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR and between 1966 and 1985 he was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) and later deputy. Between 1950 and 1956 he was Chairman of the Soviet of the Union, the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. He was made a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1976.


Radical, Republican, Democratic and Progressive

The Radical, républicain, démocrate et progressiste "(, RRDP) "is a French parliamentary group formed on June 26, 2012. It brought together the Radical Party of the Left and some of the various Deputies from more minor left wing parties, or independents. Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg is the chairman.


Chance for Peace speech

The Chance for Peace speech, also known as the Cross of Iron speech, was an address given by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 16, 1953, shortly after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Speaking only three months into his presidency, Eisenhower likened arms spending to stealing from the people, and evoked William Jennings Bryan in describing "humanity hanging from a cross of iron." Although Eisenhower, a former military man, spoke against increased military spending, the Cold War deepened during his administration and political pressures for increased military spending mounted. By the time he left office in 1961, he felt it necessary to warn of the military-industrial complex in his final address.
Background.
Eisenhower took office in January 1953, with the Korean War winding down. The Soviet Union had detonated an atomic bomb, and appeared to reach approximate military parity with the United States. Political pressures for a more aggressive stance toward the Soviet Union mounted, and calls for increased military spending did as well. Stalin's demise on March 5, 1953 briefly left a power vacuum in the Soviet Union and offered a chance for rapprochement with the new regime, as well as an opportunity to decrease military spending.
The speech.
The speech was addressed to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, in Washington D.C., on April 16, 1953. Eisenhower took an opportunity to highlight the cost of continued tensions and rivalry with the Soviet Union. While addressed to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the speech was broadcast nationwide, through use of television and radio, from the Statler Hotel. He noted that not only were there military dangers (as had been demonstrated by the Korean War), but an arms race would place a huge domestic burden on both nations:
Legacy.
Eisenhower's "humanity hanging from a cross of iron" evoked William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech. As a result, "The Chance for Peace speech", colloquially, became known as the "Cross of Iron speech" and was seen by many as contrasting the Soviet Union's view of the post-World War II world with the United States' cooperation and national reunion view.
Despite Eisenhower's hopes as expressed in the speech, the Cold War deepened during his time in office. His farewell address was "a bookend" to his Chance for Peace speech. In that speech, he implored Americans to think to the future and "not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow", but the large peacetime military budgets that became established during his administration have continued for half a century.


Formartine

Formartine ( meaning "Martin's land") is a committee area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the River Ythan. It has a population of 36,478 (2001 Census).
The committee area was formed in 1996 from part of the former district of Banff and Buchan.
Formartine has experienced rapid population growth, particularly around Ellon and Oldmeldrum, and in the south east where development has spread outwith the city of Aberdeen. By contrast, the area around Turriff retains strong dependency on the traditional agricultural economy. The area's coastline and rural environment offer recreation potential including the Formartine and Buchan Way.
History.
The district has a long history.
The early history of this locale is evidenced by the survival of a number of prehistoric features, including a number of tumuli.


Borden-Kinkora

Borden-Kinkora is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Members.
The riding has elected the following Members of the Legislative Assembly:


Moncton North (electoral district)

Moncton North () was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada.


Winifred Carney

Maria Winifred Carney (4 December 1887 – 21 November 1943), also known as Winnie Carney, was a suffragist, trade unionist, and Irish independence activist.
Early life.
Born into a lower-middle class Catholic family at Fisher's Hill in Bangor, County Down, Carney was the daughter of commercial traveler Alfred Carney and Sarah Cassidy who had married in Belfast on 25 February 1873. She had six siblings.
Winifred and her family moved to Falls Road in Belfast when she was a child, where her mother ran a small sweet shop. Her father, a Protestant, later left the family, leaving her mother to support them. Carney was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Donegall Street in the city, later teaching at the school. She enrolled at Hughes Commercial Academy around 1910, where she qualified as a secretary and shorthand typist, one of the first women in Belfast to do so. However, from the start she was looking towards doing more than just secretarial work.
Early career.
In 1912 Carney was in charge of the women's section of the Irish Textile Workers' Union in Belfast, which she founded with Delia Larkin in 1912. During this period she met James Connolly and became his personal secretary. Carney became Connolly's friend and confidant as they worked together to improve the conditions for female labourers in Belfast. Carney and Connolly worked together to try a better women's rights and suffrage among the female factory labourers, alongside fellow union oragnisers such as Ellen Grimley. According to her biographer Helga Woggon, Carney was the person best acquainted with Connolly's politics. Carney then joined Cumann na mBan, the women's auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers, and attended its first meeting in 1914.
Easter Rising.
She was present with Connolly in the Dublin General Post Office during the Easter Rising in 1916. Carney was the only woman present during the initial occupation of the building, which she entered armed with a typewriter and a Webley revolver. While not a combatant, she was given the rank of adjutant and was among the final group (including Connolly and Patrick Pearse) to leave the GPO. After Connolly became wounded, she refused to leave his side. This was despite direct orders from Pearse and Connolly. She had earlier taken the wounded Connolly's final dictated orders. Carney, alongside Elizabeth O'Farrell and Julia Grenan left the GPO with the rest of the rebels when the building became engulfed in flames. They made their new headquarters in nearby Moore Street before Pearse surrendered.
After her capture, she was held in Kilmainham Gaol and was then moved to Mountjoy Prison. Carney, alongside Helena Molony, Maria Perolz, Brigid Foley and Ellen O'Ryan and others were moved to an English prison. 69 women were released from prison one week after the execution of the Rising's leaders. By August 1916 Carney was imprisoned in Aylesbury prison alongside Nell Ryan and Helena Molony. The three requested that their internee status, and the privileges it brought, be revoked so that they would be held as normal prisoners with Countess Markievicz. Their request was denied, however Carney and Molony were released two days before Christmas 1916. After the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the formation of the Irish Free State, Carney sided with the Anti-Treaty forces and was arrested several times.
Despite her own time of imprisonment, Carney was not opposed to visiting her political friends during their times in prison. It was recorded that she visited Austin Stack in December 1918.
Political career.
She was one of the first Irish women to be qualified as a secretary and a short hand typist from Hughes' Commercial Academy. She worked as a clerk and became involved in the Gaelic League in the Suffragist movement and in socialist activities. She met James Connolly in 1912 and consequently became the secretary for the Textile Workers' Union. In 1913 she was heavily involved in the fundraising for the locked-out Dublin labourers. As a result of her deep involvement with the trade union, she met and eventually became Connolly's typist, typing his articles for publication. Aside from being his typist, she became a friend and confidant. According to her biographer, Helga Woggon, she had become the person most closely acquainted with Connolly's beliefs, ideals, and plans.
When the Great War commenced in 1914, Carney concurred with Connolly that it was the perfect time to stage a rebellion, even if it was only of a symbolic value.
While she was in Cumann na mBan, she taught first aid and developed a proficiency for handling a rifle. On 14 April 1916, she was summoned by Connolly to join him in the insurgents in the General Post Office where they were garrisoned. Initially, Carney was the only woman at the headquarters of the General Post Office and one of the three remaining women when the garrison had to evacuate the building when it was burned and had to relocate to Moore Street. After Connolly became wounded, she stayed with him. Afterwards, Carney was arrested and held in Kilmainham, Mountjoy, and Aylesbury Jails until the Christmas of 1916.
In the 1917 Belfast Cumann na mBan convention, she was the delegate.
She stood for Parliament as a Sinn Féin candidate for Belfast Victoria in the 1918 general election. She polled 4.05% of the vote, gaining 539 votes. Carney lost to the Labour Unionists. Having lost, she decided instead to continue her work at the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union until 1928. By 1924 she had become a member of the Labour Party. In the 1930s she joined the Belfast Socialist Party.
Following the Civil War, Carney became a lot more disillusioned with politics. She was very critical and outspoken of Éamon de Valera and his governments.
Later life and death.
In 1928 she married George McBride, a Protestant Orangeman and former member of the Ulster Volunteers. Ironically, the formation of the Ulster Volunteers prompted the formation of the Irish Volunteers, of which Carney was a member. Carney alienated anyone in her life that did not support her marriage to George McBride. McBride was however a fellow socialist. She continued to be involved in the trade union movement, working for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.
A number of serious health problems limited her political activities in the late 1930s. Carney died in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 21 November 1943, and is buried in Milltown Cemetery. Her resting place was found years later and a headstone was erected by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Because Carney married a Protestant and former Orangeman, she was not allowed to have his name (McBride) on her gravestone due to the religious differences. They were married for fifteen years and George McBride never remarried after Carney's early death.
In 2013, the Seventieth Anniversary of Carney's death was remembered by the Socialist Republican Party. Almost one hundred people attended as a short parade followed, marking an commemorating the work Carney did for the cause. She was placed in high esteem among the other hundreds of radical women, who stood up for what they believed in, regardless of the consequences they faced.


Maarten Hijink

Hendrik Pieter Maarten Hijink (born 24 May 1983) is a Dutch politician. Since 2017 he has been an MP for the Socialist Party.


Ivan Teodorovich

Ivan Adolfovich Teodorovich (; ) (September 10 (O. S. August 29), 1875 in Smolensk – September 20, 1937), a Russian Bolshevik activist and Soviet statesman, served as the first Commissar for Food at the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars (October - November 1917). He also became a Soviet historian of the Russian revolutionary movement.
Life and political career.
Teodorovich, the son of a land-surveyor from Smolensk, was born into a family of ethnic Polish origin. His father, two maternal uncles, and grandfather had all participated in insurrectionary activity; from this background, Teodorovich would write, he first learned to hate "tsarism, its officials, and [the] military establishment". Teodorovich spent his childhood in severe poverty: his mother, struggling to support six sons, worked as a seamstress and laundrywoman.
Teodorovich attended Moscow State University, where he joined an early Marxist group in 1895. From 1902 to 1903 he served as a member of the Moscow Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. After a series of arrests, in 1903 the tsarist authorities sent Teodorovich into exile in Yakutia. Escaping in 1905, he fled to Switzerland, where he made personal contact with Vladimir Lenin. In October 1905 Teodorovich returned to Russia and operated in Saint Petersburg; he gained promotion to become a member of the Central Committee in 1907. In May 1909 he was arrested again and remained in custody until the February Revolution of 1917.
After the February Revolution of March 1917 he left his place of exile and arrived in Petrograd in mid-March. He was a delegate to the 7th (April) All-Russian Conference (where he was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee) and to the 6th Congress of the RSDLP (B). From August 1917 he served as deputy chairman of the , then as a member of the council and special presence in food. After the October Revolution of November 1917, in the first Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SNK) he took the post of People's Commissar for Food.
Immediately after the October Revolution, Teodorovich became the first Commissar for Agriculture in the first Bolshevik government. In November he resigned due to political disagreement with Lenin's majority over a proposed coalition with the Mensheviks and other factions (Teodorovich supported a broad coalition, against Lenin's will). In 1920 he returned to the board of the Commissariat for Agriculture and rose to become Deputy Commissar in May 1922; in 1928-1930 he chaired the Peasants' branch of the Comintern. As the Bolsheviks' expert on agriculture, Teodorovich delivered speeches to various councils and international forums, and authored brochures, journal and newspaper articles dealing with agriculture and agrarian policy. Teodorovich was a proponent of Lenin’s New Economic Policy (the NEP); he further endorsed liberal land-reforms (delegating authority over land from the state to peasants). Contrary to the Bolsheviks' platform on agrarian policy, Teodorovich vehemently opposed the policy of food requisition and war communism. He supported the formation of a homogeneous socialist government with the participation of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. After The Central Committee of the RSDLP (B) rejected the agreement with these parties, Teodorovich on November 4 (17), 1917 signed a statement of withdrawal from the SNK, but continued to carry out his duties until December.
"(T)he disagreement concerned the question of whether our party had to start with "war communism" or whether it was possible to proceed from what was called the "new economic policy" in 1921. I held in 1917 the latter opinion .." - Ivan Teodorovich Autobiography
In articles of the 1920s, Teodorovich interpreted the NEP as a means of accumulating funds in the capitalist agrarian sector through the development of "strong" peasant farms, which was to serve as a source of funds for industrialization, including its transition to socialism. In the People's Commissariat Teodorovich supervised the work of economist N. D. Kondratiev, who led the department of agricultural economics and statistics of the Department of Agriculture and provided Teodorovich with a degree of protection and patronage (in particular, Kondratiev contributed in 1920 to his release from arrest).
At the beginning of 1918 Teodorovich left for Siberia after parting ways with Lenin's first government. In 1919-1920 he was in the red partisan units in Siberia. In 1920-1928 Teodorovich served as a member of the College of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the RSFSR. From May 1922 to 1928 he was deputy of the People's Commissar of Agriculture of the RSFSR, 1926-1930 Director of the International Agrarian Institute, from March 1928 to 1930 secretary general of the Peasant International (Krestintern), 1929-1935 editor of the Publishers of the Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers, 1929- 1935 editor of the magazine "". An ordinance of the Central Committee of the VKP (b) of the Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers closed the magazine on June 25, 1935 for factional activities.
In November 1930 Teodorovich was condemned as a counter-revolutionary "Kondratievist".
Teodorovich was convicted in the trial of the so-called "Moskva Center" group (involving a total of 120 people). Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov sanctioned the trial on September 15, 1937. Teodorovich was executed five days later - a victim of Stalin's Great Purge.
Ivan Teodorovich was posthumously rehabilitated on April 11, 1956, and is buried in the Don Cemetery in Moscow.
References.
http://www.knowbysight.info/TTT/00395.asp