Green March Day MOROCCO - Nov 6 The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.
Background
Morocco, to the north of the Spanish Sahara, had long claimed that the territory was historically an integral part of Morocco. Mauritania to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian. Since 1973, a Sahrawi guerrilla war led by the Polisario Front had challenged Spanish control, and in October 1975 Spain had quietly begun negotiations for a handover of power with leaders of the rebel movement, both in El Aaiún, and with foreign minister Pedro Cortina y Mauri meeting El Ouali in Algiers. Morocco intended to vindicate its claims by demanding a verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was issued on Oct. 16, 1975. The ICJ stated that there were historical legal ties of allegiance between "some, but only some" Sahrawi tribes and the Sultan of Morocco, as well as ties including some rights relating to the land between Mauritania and other Sahrawi tribes. However, the ICJ stated also that there were no ties of territorial sovereignty between the territory and Morocco, or Mauritania, at the time of Spanish colonization; and that these contacts were not extensive enough to support either country's demand for annexation of the Spanish Sahara. Instead, the court argued, the indigenous population (the Sahrawis) were the owners of the land, and thus possessed the right of self-determination. This meant that regardless of which political solution was found to the question of sovereignty (integration with Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, partition, or independence), it had to be explicitly approved by the people of the territory. Complicating matters, a UN visiting mission had concluded on October 15, the day before the ICJ verdict was released, that Sahrawi support for independence was "overwhelming". However, the reference to previous Moroccan-Sahrawi ties of allegiance was presented by Hassan II as a vindication of his position, with no public mention of the court's further ruling on self-determination. (Seven years later, he formally agreed to a referendum before theOrganisation of African Unity). Within hours of the ICJ verdict's release, he announced the organizing of a "green march" to Spanish Sahara, to "reunite it with the Motherland". In order to prepare the terrain and to riposte to any potential counter-invasion from Algeria(according to Morocco) or in order to invade militarily the land and kill or deport the Sahrawi population (according to the Polisario Front), the Moroccan Army entered the northeast of the region on October 31, where it met with hard resistance from the Polisario, by then a two-year-old independence movement.
The Green March
The Green March was a well-publicized popular march of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, U.S.A. flags, Saudi Arabia flags & Jordan flags; banners calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara," photographs of the King and the Qur'an; the color green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border, theSpanish Armed Forces were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed. The Spanish troops also cleared some previously mined zones.
The Moroccan arguments for sovereignty
According to Morocco, the exercise of sovereignty by the Moroccan state was characterized by official pledges of allegiance to the sultan. The Moroccan government was of the opinion that this allegiance existed during several centuries before the Spanish occupation and that it was a legal and political tie. The sultan Hassan I, for example, had carried out two expeditions in 1886 in order to put an end to foreign incursions in this territory and to officially invest several caids and cadis. In its presentation to the ICJ, the Moroccan side also mentioned the levy of taxes as a further instance of the exercise of sovereignty. The exercise of this sovereignty had also appeared, according to the Moroccan government, at other levels, such as the appointment of local officials (governors and military officers), and the definition of the missions which were assigned to them. The Moroccan government further pointed to several treaties between it and other states, such as withSpain in 1861, the United States of America in 1786, and 1836 and with Great Britain in 1856 . The court, however, found that "neither the internal nor the international acts relied upon by Morocco indicate the existence at the relevant period of either the existence or the international recognition of legal ties of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and the Moroccan State. Even taking account of the specific structure of that State, they do not show that Morocco displayed any effective and exclusive State activity in Western Sahara."
The Madrid Accords
Spain feared that the conflict with Morocco could lead to war, and with its government in disarray (thedictator, Franco, lay dying), it was in no mood for trouble in the colonies. Only the year before, thePortuguese government had been toppled, after becoming bogged down in colonial wars in Angola andMozambique. Therefore, following the Green March, and with a view to preserving as much as possible of its interest in the territory, Spain agreed to enter direct bilateral negotiations with Morocco, bringing in also Mauritania, who had made similar demands. This resulted in the November 14 Madrid Accords, a treaty which divided Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco. Spain received a 35% concession in the phosphate mines of Bou Craa, and offshore fishing rights . Morocco and Mauritania then formally annexed the parts they had been allotted in the Accords. Morocco claimed the northern part, i.e. Saguia el-Hamra and approximately half of Río de Oro, while Mauritania proceeded to occupy the southern third of the country under the name Tiris al-Gharbiyya. Mauritania later abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979 and ceded this area to Popular Army of Saharwi Liberation but it was instead promptly occupied by Morocco. The Polisario, now with heavy Algerian backing, refused the Madrid Accords, and demanded that the ICJ's opinion on Sahrawi self-determination be respected; it turned its weapons on the new rulers of the country, sticking to its demand for independence outright, or a referendum on the matter. The conflict has still not been resolved. Currently, there is a cease-fire in effect, after a Moroccan-Polisario agreement was struck in 1991 to solve the dispute through the organization of a referendum on independence. A UN peace-keeping mission (MINURSO) has been charged with overseeing the cease-fire and organizating the referendum, which has still not taken place as of 2007. Morocco has rejected the idea of the referendum as not workable in 2000 and is suggesting an autonomy for Western Sahara within Morocco. That proposal been rejected by Polisario, and also by its Algerian backers; according to the Moroccan government, it will be presented to the UN in April 2007.
October Revolution Day UKRAINE, BELARUS - Nov 7 The October Revolution (Russian: Октябрьская революция, Oktyabr'skaya revolyutsiya), also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (Russian:Великая Октябрьская социалистическая революция, Velikaya Oktuabr'skaya sotsialistichkaya revolyutsiya), Red October, the October Uprising or theBolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917. It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Old Style Julian Calendar (O.S.), which corresponds with 7 November 1917 New Style (N.S.). Gregorian Calendar. It followed and capitalized on the February Revolution of the same year. The October Revolution in Petrograd overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the local soviets dominated by Bolsheviks. As the revolution was not universally recognized outside of Petrograd there followed the struggles of theRussian Civil War (1917–1922) and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence in the Petrograd Soviet to organize the armed forces. Bolshevik Red Guards forces under the Military Revolutionary Committee began the takeover of government buildings on 24 October 1917 (O.S.). The following day, the Winter Palace (the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia), was captured.
Etymology Initially, the event was referred to as the October coup (Октябрьский переворот) or the Uprising of 25th, as seen
in contemporary documents (for example, in the first editions of Lenin's complete works). With time, the term October Revolution came into use. It is also known as the "November Revolution" having occurred in November according to the Gregorian Calendar. The Great October Socialist Revolution (Russian: Великая Октябрьская Социалистическая Революция, Velikaya Oktyabr'skaya sotsialisticheskaya revolyutsiya) was the official name for the October Revolution in the Soviet Union after the 10th anniversary of the Revolution in 1927.
Background
Nationwide crisis had developed in Russia affecting social, economic, and political relations. Disorder in industry and transport had intensified, and difficulties in obtaining provisions had increased. Gross industrial production in 1917 had decreased by over 36 percent from what it had been in 1916. In the autumn, as much as 50 percent of all enterprises were closed down in the Urals, the Donbas, and other industrial centers, leading to mass unemployment. At the same time, the cost of living increased sharply. The real wages of the workers fell about 50 percent from what they had been in 1913. Russia's national debt in October 1917 had risen to 50 billion rubles. Of this, debts to foreign governments constituted more than 11 billion rubles. The country faced the threat of financial bankruptcy. In September and October 1917, there were strikes by the Moscow and Petrograd workers, the miners of the Donbas, the metalworkers of the Urals, the oil workers ofBaku, the textile workers of the Central Industrial Region, and the railroad workers on 44 different railway lines. In these months alone more than a million workers took part in mass strike action. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a social revolution. By October 1917 there had been over four thousand peasant uprisings against landowners. When the Provisional Government sent out punitive detachments it only enraged the peasants. The garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in September openly declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands. In a diplomatic note of the 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov, expressed the Provisional Government's desire to carry the war against the Central Powers through "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and after them the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with the war!" and "all power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government. 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets", "down with the war", and "down with the ten capitalist ministers". The Provisional Government opened an offensive against them on 1 July but it soon collapsed. The news of the offensive and its collapse intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. A new crisis in the Provisional Government began on 15 July. On 16 July spontaneous demonstrations of workers and soldiers began in Petrograd, demanding that power be turned over to the soviets. The Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party provided leadership to the spontaneous movements. On 17 July, over 500,000 people participated in a peaceful demonstration in Petrograd, the so-called July Days. The Provisional Government, with the support of the Socialist-Revolutionary PartyMenshevik leaders of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Soviets, ordered an armed attack against the demonstrators. Fifty-six people were killed and 650 were wounded. A period of repression followed. On 5–6 July attacks were made on the editorial offices and printing presses of Pravda and on the Palace of Kshesinskaia, where the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks were located. On 7 July a government decree ordering the arrest and trial of Vladimir Lenin was published. He was forced to go underground, just as he had been under the Tsarist regime. Bolsheviks began to be arrested, workers were disarmed, and revolutionary military units in Petrograd were disbanded or sent off to the front. On 12 July the Provisional Government published a law introducing the death penalty at the front. The formation of the second coalition government, with Alexander Kerensky as chairman, was completed on 24 July. Another problem for the government centered around General Lavr Kornilov, who had been Commander-in-Chief since 18 July. In response to a Bolshevik appeal, Moscow’s working class began a protest strike of 400,000 workers. The Moscow workers were supported by strikes and protest rallies by workers in Kiev, Kharkov, Nizhny Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, and other cities. In what became known as the Kornilov Affair, Kornilov directed an army under Aleksandr Krymov to march toward Petrograd with Kerensky's agreement. Although the details remain sketchy, Kerensky appeared to become frightened by the possibility of a coup and the order was countermanded (historian Richard Pipes is quite adamant that the whole episode was engineered by Kerensky himself). On 27 August, feeling betrayed by the Kerenksy government who had previously agreed with his views on how to restore order to Russia, Kornilov pushed on towards Petrograd. With few troops to spare on the front, Kerensky was forced to turn to the Petrograd Soviet for help. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries confronted the army and convinced them to stand down. The damage was already done, however. Right-wingers felt betrayed, and the left wing was resurgent. With Kornilov defeated, the Bolsheviks' popularity with the soviets significantly increased. During and after the defeat of Kornilov a mass turn of the soviets toward the Bolsheviks began, both in the central and local areas. On 31 August the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies and on 5 September the Moscow Soviet Workers Deputies adopted the Bolshevik resolutions on the question of power. The Bolsheviks won a majority in the Soviets of Briansk, Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn, Minsk, Kiev, Tashkent, and other cities. In one day alone, 1 September, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets received demands from 126 local soviets urging it to take power into its own hands.
Revolution Day BANGLADESH - Nov 7 In Bangladesh, November 7 was celebrated as the National Revolution and Solidarity Day. This commemorates the 1975 uprising formed by the people and soldiers. The uprising, led by Colonel Abu Taher and his political group Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal, ended the three day coup organised by self-proclaimed Major General Khaled Mosharraf. It helped Major General Ziaur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to grab power in the long run.
Aftermath On this day the first Chief Justice of Bangladesh Abu
Sadat Mohammad Sayem was made the President of Bangladesh and Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) by Bangladesh Army and Major General Zia was made Deputy CMLA. Justice Sayem was not elected by Jatiyo Sangshad nor an acting president. Months later Justice Sayem stepped down on health reason, and Zia took the both posts of president and CMLA. Within the next year Major General Zia hanged Colonel Taher, along with several freedom fighters of the Liberation War of Bangladeshof 1971, through hasty military tribunal. Actually this day is in the series of coups and counter-coups those occurred after the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founderPresident of Bangladesh on 15 August 1975.
Today
Ruling Awami League government recognize it neither as a revolutionary nor a solidarity day, as they denounce it as Freedom Fighters Killing Day. November 7 was a national holiday in Bangladesh during the rules of autocrat Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad and prime minister Khaleda Zia. In November 2007, caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed scrapped this holiday.
Thanksgiving Day U.S, CANADA - Nov 7 Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving in Canada falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States. Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated.
of European and Native traditions.Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks for a good harvest, and to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans had also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest. Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
In Canada:
The origin of the first Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to the explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest, but in thanks for surviving the long journey from England through the perils of storms and icebergs. On his third and final voyage to these regions in 1578 Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Frobisher Bay in Baffin Islandin present Day Nunavut to give thanks to God and in a service ministered by the preacher Robert Wolfall they celebrated Communion, the first ever service in these regions.Years later, the tradition of a feast would continue as more settlers began to arrive to the Canadian colonies. The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving can also be traced to the French settlers who came to New Francewith explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who also took to celebrating their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter season, even sharing their food with the indigenous peoples of the area. Champlain had also proposed for the creation of the Order of Good Cheer in 1606. As many more settlers arrived in Canada, more celebrations of good harvest became common. New immigrants into the country, such as the Irish, Scottish and Germans, would also add their own traditions to the harvest celebrations. Most of the U.S. aspects of Thanksgiving (such as the turkey) were incorporated when United Empire Loyalists began to flee from the United States during the American Revolution and settled in Canada.
In the United States:
In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. There is also evidence for an earlier harvest celebration on the continent by Spanish explorers in Florida during 1565, as well as thanksgiving feasts in the Virginia Colony. The initial thanksgiving observance at Virginia in 1619 was prompted by the colonists' leaders on the anniversary of the settlement. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. In later years, the tradition was continued by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. While initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed half of the 102 colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival like this did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s. According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden.
Contending origins:
The claim of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States, and even the Americas has often been a subject of debate. Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon, of the University of Florida, have argued that the earliest attested "Thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. Similarly, many historians point out that the first thanksgiving celebration in the United States was held in Virginia, and not in Plymouth. Thanksgiving services were routine in what was to become the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607. A day of Thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619.
Fixing the date of the holiday:
The reason for the earlier Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada has often been attributed to the earlier onset of winter in the north, thus ending the harvest season earlier. Thanksgiving in Canada did not have a fixed date until the late 19th century. Prior to Canadian confederation, many of the individual colonial governors of the Canadian provinces had declared their own days of Thanksgiving. The first official Canadian Thanksgiving occurred on April 15, 1872 when the nation was celebrating the Prince of Wales' recovery from a serious illness. By the end of the 19th Century, Thanksgiving Day was normally celebrated on November 6. However, when World War I ended, the Armistice Dayholiday were usually held during the same week. To prevent the two holidays from clashing with one another, in 1957 the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving to be observed on its present date on the second Monday of October. Since 1971, when the AmericanUniform Monday Holiday Act took effect, the American observance of Columbus Day has coincided with the Canadian observance of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the United States, much like in Canada, was observed on various dates throughout history. The dates of Thanksgiving in the era of the Founding Fathers until the time of Lincoln had been decided by each state on various dates. The first Thanksgiving celebrated on the same date by all states was in 1863 by presidential proclamation. The final Thursday in November had become the customary date of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states by the beginning of the 20th century. And so, in an effort by President Abraham Lincoln (influenced by the campaigning of author Sarah Josepha Hale) to foster a sense of American unity between the Northern and Southern states, proclaimed the date to be the final Thursday in November. It was not until December 26, 1941, that the unified date changed to the fourth Thursday (and not always final) in November -this time by federal legislation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after two years earlier offering his own proclamation to move the date earlier, with the reason of giving the country an economic boost, agreed to sign a bill into law with Congress, making Thanksgiving a national holiday on the fourth (not final) Thursday in November.
Observance around the world Canada:
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Jour de l'Action de grâce), occurring on the second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. Although the original act of Parliament references God and the holiday is celebrated in churches, the holiday is mostly celebrated in a secular manner. Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in all provinces in Canada, except for Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. While businesses may remain open in these provinces, the holiday is nonetheless, recognized and celebrated regardless of its status.
Liberia:
In the West African country of Liberia, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the first Thursday of November.
The Netherlands:
Many of the Pilgrims who migrated to the Plymouth Plantation had resided in the city of Leiden from 1609–1620, many of whom had recorded their birth, marriages and deaths at the Pieterskerk. To commemorate this, a non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day in the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church in Leiden, to commemorate the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World.
Norfolk Island:
In the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Wednesday of November, similar to the pre-World War II American observance on the last Thursday of the month. This means the Norfolk Island observance is the day before or six days after the United States' observance. The holiday was brought to the island by visiting American whaling ships.
Mitrovdan (Orthodox)- Nov 8 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVUINA, SERBIA
Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος της Θεσσαλονίκης) was a Christianmartyr, who lived in the early 4th century. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George. His feast day is 26 October for Christians following theGregorian calendar and 8 November for Christians following the Julian calendar.
Name
Works in Persian:
Iqbal's poetic works are written primarily in Persian rather than Urdu. Among his 12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian. In 1915, he published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-e-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest poetic work In Asrar-e-Khudi, Iqbal explains his philosophy of "Khudi," or "Self." Iqbal's use of the term "Khudi" is synonymous with the word "Rooh" mentioned in the Quran. "Rooh" is that divine spark which is present in every human being, and was present in Adam, for which God ordered all of the angels to prostrate in front of Adam. One has to make a great journey of transformation to realize that divine spark which Iqbal calls "Khudi". A similitude of this journey can be understood by the relationship between fragrance and seed. Every seed has the potential for fragrance within it, but to reach its fragrance the seed must go through all the different changes and stages: First breaking out of its shell. Then breaking the ground to come into the light, developing roots at the same time. Then fighting against the elements to develop leaves and flowers. Finally reaching its pinnacle by attaining the fragrance that was hidden within it. Similarly, in order to reach one's khudi or rooh, one needs to go through the multiple spiritual stages which Iqbal himself went through, and encourages others to travel. Not all seeds reach the level of fragrance; many die along the way – incomplete. In this same way, only a few people can climb this Mount Everest of spirituality; most get consumed along the way by materialism. The same concept was used by Farid ud Din Attar in his "Mantaq-ul-Tair". He proves by various means that the whole universe obeys the will of the "Self." Iqbal condemns self-destruction. For him, the aim of life is self-realization and self-knowledge. He charts the stages through which the "Self" has to pass before finally arriving at its point of perfection, enabling the knower of the "Self" to become a viceregent of God. In his Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove the Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability. A person must keep his individual characteristics intact, but once this is achieved he should sacrifice his personal ambitions for the needs of the nation. Man cannot realise the "Self" outside of society. Also in Persian and published in 1917, this group of poems has as its main themes the ideal community, Islamic ethical and social principles, and the relationship between the individual and society. Although he is true throughout to Islam, Iqbal also recognises the positive analogous aspects of other religions. The Rumuz-e-Bekhudi complements the emphasis on the self in the Asrar-e-Khudi and the two collections are often put in the same volume under the title Asrar-e-Rumuz (Hinting Secrets). It is addressed to the world's Muslims. Iqbal sees the individual and his community as reflections of each other. The individual needs to be strengthened before he can be integrated into the community, whose development in turn depends on the preservation of the communal ego. It is through contact with others that an ego learns to accept the limitations of its own freedom and the meaning of love. Muslim communities must ensure order in life and must therefore preserve their communal tradition. It is in this context that Iqbal sees the vital role of women, who as mothers are directly responsible for inculcating values in their children. Iqbal's 1924 publication, the Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message of the East) is closely connected to the West-östlicher Diwan by the famous German poet Goethe. Goethe bemoans the West having become too materialistic in outlook, and expects the East will provide a message of hope to resuscitate spiritual values. Iqbal styles his work as a reminder to the West of the importance of morality, religion and civilization by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardour and dynamism. He explains that an individual can never aspire to higher dimensions unless he learns of the nature of spirituality. In his first visit to Afghanistan, he presented his book "Payam-e Mashreq" to King Amanullah Khan in which he admired the liberal movements of Afghanistan against the British Empire. In 1933, he was officially invited to Afghanistan to join the meetings regarding the establishment of Kabul University. The Zabur-e-Ajam (Persian Psalms), published in 1927, includes the poems Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed (Garden of New Secrets) and Bandagi Nama (Book of Slavery). In Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed, Iqbal first poses questions, then answers them with the help of ancient and modern insight, showing how it affects and concerns the world of action. Bandagi Nama denounces slavery by attempting to explain the spirit behind the fine arts of enslaved societies. Here as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future, while emphasising Final Years love, enthusiasm and energy to fulfill the ideal life. Iqbal's 1932 work, the Javed Nama (Book of Javed) is named after and in a manner addressed to his son, who is featured in the poems. It follows the examples of the works of Ibn Arabi and Dante's The Divine Comedy, through mystical and exaggerated depictions across time. Iqbal depicts himself as Zinda Rud ("A stream full of life") guided by Rumi, "the master," through various heavens and spheres, and has the honour of approaching divinity and coming in contact with divine illuminations. In a passage re-living a historical period, Iqbal condemns the Muslim who were instrumental in the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal and Tipu Sultan of Mysore respectively by betraying them for the benefit of the British colonists, and thus delivering their country to the shackles of slavery. At the end, by addressing his son Javid, he speaks to the young people at large, and provides guidance to the "new generation."
Works in Urdu:
Iqbal's first work published in Urdu, the Bang-e-Dara (The Call of the Marching Bell) of 1924, was a collection of poetry written by him in three distinct phases of his life. The poems he wrote up to 1905, the year Iqbal left for England imbibe patriotism and imagery of landscape, and includes the Tarana-e-Hind (The Song of India), popularly known as Saare Jahan Se Achcha and another poem Tarana-e-Milli (Anthem of the (Muslim) Community), which was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as Saare Jahan Se Achcha. The second set of poems date from between 1905 and 1908 when Iqbal studied in Europe and dwell upon the nature of European society, which he emphasized had lost spiritual and religious values. This inspired Iqbal to write poems on the historical and cultural heritage of Islamic culture and Muslim people, not from an Indian but a global perspective. Iqbal urges the global community of Muslims, addressed as Street named in Iqbal's honour in Heidelthe Ummah to define personal, social and political ex- berg, Germany. istence by the values and teachings of Islam. Poems such as Tulu'i Islam (Dawn of Islam) and Khizr-e-Rah (Guide of the Path) are especially acclaimed. Iqbal preferred to work mainly in Persian for a predominant period of his career, but after 1930, his works were mainly in Urdu. The works of this period were often specifically directed at the Muslim masses of India, with an even stronger emphasis on Islam, and Muslim spiritual and political reawakening. Published in 1935, the Bal-e-Jibril (Wings of Gabriel) is considered by many critics as the finest of Iqbal's Urdu poetry, and was inspired by his visit to Spain, where he visited the monuments and legacy of the kingdom of the Moors. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams and carries a strong sense religious passion. The Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (What are we to do, O Nations of the East?) includes the poem Musafir (Traveler). Again, Iqbal depicts Rumi as a character and an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufi perceptions is given. Iqbal laments the dissension and disunity among the Indian Muslims as well as Muslim nations. Musafir is an account of one of Iqbal's journeys to Afghanistan, in which the Pashtun people are counseled to learn the "secret of Islam" and to "build up the self" within themselves. Iqbal's final work was theArmughan-eHijaz (The Gift of Hijaz), published posthumously in 1938. The first part contains quatrains in Persian, and the second part contains some poems and epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the impression as though the poet is travelling through the Hijazin his imagination. Profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these short poems. The Urdu portion of the book contains some categorical criticism of the intellectual movements and social and political revolutions of the modern age.
career Political While dividing his time between law and poetry, Iqbal had remained active in the Muslim League. He supported
Indian involvement in World War I, as well as the Khilafat movement and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Maulana Mohammad Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus and was disappointed with the League when during the 1920s, it was absorbed in factional divides between the pro-British group led by Sir Muhammad Shafi and the centrist group led by Jinnah. In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes. He supported the constitutional proposals presented by Jinnah with the aim of guaranteeing Muslim political rights and influence in a coalition with the Congress, and worked with the Aga Khan and other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and achieve unity in the Muslim League. Iqbal's second book in English, the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, is a collection of his six lectures which he delivered atMadras, Hyderabad and Aligarh; first published as a collection in Lahore, in 1930. These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion as well as a political and legal philosophy in the modern age. In these lectures Iqbal firmly rejects the political attitudes and conduct of Muslim politicians, whom he saw as morally misguided, attached to power and without any standing with Muslim masses. Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism weaken the spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society, but that India's Hindu-majority population would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture and political influence. In his travels to Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences. He also speculated on different political arrangements to guarantee Muslim political power; in a dialogue with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Iqbal expressed his desire to see Indian provinces as autonomous units under the direct control of the British government and with no central Indian government. He envisaged autonomous Muslim provinces in India. Under one Indian union he feared for Muslims, who would suffer in many respects especially with regard to their existentially separate entity as Muslims. Sir Muhammad Iqbal was elected president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session inAllahabad, in the United Provinces as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In his presidential address on December 29, 1930, Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India: "I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistanamalgamated into a single state. Self-government within the British Empire, or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated Northwest Indian Muslim state appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of Northwest India." In his speech, Iqbal emphasised that unlike Christianity, Islam came with "legal concepts" with "civic significance," with its "religious ideals" considered as inseparable from social order: "therefore, the construction of a policy on national lines, if it means a displacement of the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply unthinkable to a Muslim." Iqbal thus stressed not only the need for the political unity of Muslim communities, but the undesirability of blending the Muslim population into a wider society not based on Islamic principles. He thus became the first politician to articulate what would become known as the Two-Nation Theory — that Muslims are a distinct nation and thus deserve political independence from other regions and communities of India. However, he would not elucidate or specify if his ideal Islamic state would construe a theocracy, even as he rejected secularism and nationalism. The latter part of Iqbal's life was concentrated on political activity. He would travel across Europe and West Asia to garner political and financial support for the League, and he reiterated his ideas in his 1932 address, and during the Third Round-Table Conference, he opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power without considerable autonomy or independence for Muslim provinces. He would serve as president of the Punjab Muslim League, and would deliver speeches and publish articles in an attempt to rally Muslims across India as a single political entity. Iqbal consistently criticised feudal classes in Punjab as well as Muslim politicians averse to the League. He fell prey to Punjabi dominated Muslims of region. Muslims across Indian subcontinent opposed the idea of two nation theory. Many unnoticed account of Iqbal's frustration toward Congress leadership were also pivotal of visioning the two nation theory. He also wanted to prove that defeat of Muslim ummat can be at least saved in this region by dividing the societies within British India in the name of Islam.
Patron of The Journal Tolu-e-Islam
He was also the first patron of the historical, political, religious, cultural journal of Muslims of British India and Pakistan. This journal played an important part in the Pakistan movement. The name of this journal is The Journal Tolue-Islam. In 1935, according to his instructions, Syed Nazeer Niazi initiated and edited, a journal Tolu-e-Islam named after the famous poem of Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Tulu'i Islam. He also dedicated the first edition of this journal to Sir Muhammad Iqbal. For a long time Sir Muhammad Iqbal wanted a journal to propagate his ideas and the aims and objective of Muslim league. It was Syed Nazeer Niazi, a close friend of his and a regular visitor to him during his last two years, who started this journal. He also made Urdu translation of The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, by Sir Muhammad Iqbal. In the first monthly journal of Oct. 1935, an article "Millat Islamia Hind" The Muslim nation of India was published. In this article Syed Nazeer Niazi described the political conditions of British India and the aims and objectives of the Muslim community. He also discussed the basic principles of Islam which were aims and objective of Sir Muhammad Iqbal' concept of an Islamic State. The early contributors to this journal were eminent Muslim scholars like Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, Dr. Zakir Hussain Khan, Syed Naseer Ahmed, Raja Hassan Akhtar, Maulvi Ghulam Yezdani, Ragheb Ahsan, Sheikh Suraj ul Haq, Rafee ud din Peer, Prof. fazal ud din Qureshi, Agha Muhammad Safdar, Asad Multani, Dr. Tasadaq Hussain, Prof. Yusuf Saleem Chisti. Afterward, this journal was continued by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, who had already contributed many articles in the early editions of this journal. After the emergence of Pakistan, the mission of the journal Tolu-e-Islam was to propagate the implementation of the principle which had inspired the demand for separate Muslim State according to the Quran. This journal is still published by Idara Tolu-e-Islam, Lahore.
Relationship with Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Ideologically separated from Congress Muslim leaders, Iqbal had also been disillusioned with the politicians of the Muslim League owing to the factional conflict that plagued the League in the 1920s. Discontent with factional leaders like Sir Muhammad Shafi and Sir Fazl-ur-Rahman, Iqbal came to believe that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a political leader capable of preserving this unity and fulfilling the League's objectives on Muslim political empowerment. Building a strong, personal correspondence with Jinnah, Iqbal along with Moulana Abdur Raheem Dard (Resident missionary of the Ahmadiyya movement in London) were influential forces in convincing Jinnah to end his self-imposed exile in London, return to India and take charge of the League. Iqbal firmly believed that Jinnah was the only leader capable of drawing Indian Muslims to the League and maintaining party unity before the British and the Congress: "I know you are a busy man but I do hope you won't mind my writing to you often, as you are the only Muslim in India today to whom the community has right to look up for safe guidance through the storm which is coming to North-West India and, perhaps, to the whole of India." There were significant differences between the two men — while Iqbal believed that Islam was the source of government and society, Jinnah was a believer in secular government and had laid out a secular vision for Pakistan where religion would have "nothing to do with the business of the state." Iqbal had backed the Khilafat struggle; Jinnah had dismissed it as "religious frenzy." And while Iqbal espoused the idea of Muslim-majority provinces in 1930, Jinnah would continue to hold talks with the Congress through the decade and only officially embraced the goal of Pakistan in 1940. Some historians postulate that Jinnah always remained hopeful for an agreement with the Congress and never fully desired the partition of India. Iqbal's close correspondence with Jinnah is speculated by some historians as having been responsible for Jinnah's embrace of the idea of Pakistan. Iqbal elucidated to Jinnah his vision of a separate Muslim state in a letter sent on June 21, 1937: "A separate federation of Muslim Provinces, reformed on the lines I have suggested above, is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of Non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North-West India and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other nations in India and outside India are." Iqbal, serving as president of the Punjab Muslim League, criticised Jinnah's political actions, including a political agreement with Punjabi leader Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan, whom Iqbal saw as a representative of feudal classes and not committed to Islam as the core political philosophy. Nevertheless, Iqbal worked constantly to encourage Muslim leaders and masses to support Jinnah and the League. Speaking about the political future of Muslims in India, Iqbal said: "There is only one way out. Muslims should strengthen Jinnah's hands. They should join the Muslim League. Indian question, as is now being solved, can be countered by our united front against both the Hindus and the English. Without it, our demands are not going to be accepted. People say our demands smack of communalism. This is sheer propaganda. These demands relate to the defense of our national existence.... The united front can be formed under the leadership of the Muslim League. And the Muslim League can succeed only on account of Jinnah. Now none but Jinnah is capable of leading the Muslims."
Final years & death
In 1933, after returning from a trip to Spain and Afghanistan, Iqbal began suffering from a mysterious throat illness. He spent his final years helping Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan establish the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute at the latter's Jamalpur estate near Pathankot, an institution where studies in classical Islam and contemporary social science would be subsidised, and advocating the demand for an independent Muslim state. Iqbal ceased practising law in 1934 and he was granted pension by the Nawab of Bhopal. In his final years he frequently visited theDargah of famous Sufi Hazrat Ali Hujwiri in Lahore for spiritual guidance. After suffering for months from his illness, Iqbal died in Lahore on 21 April 1938. His tomb is located in Hazuri Bagh, the enclosed garden between the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort, and official guards are maintained there by the Government of Pakistan. Iqbal is commemorated widely in Pakistan, where he is regarded as the ideological founder of the state. His Taranae-Hind is a song that is widely used in India as a patriotic song speaking of communal harmony. His birthday is annually commemorated in Pakistan as Iqbal Day, a national holiday. Iqbal is the namesake of many public institutions, including the Allama Iqbal Medical College in Faisalabad, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Open University, theAllama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town in Karachi. Government and public organizations have sponsored the establishment of colleges and schools dedicated to Iqbal, and have established the Iqbal Academy to research, teach and preserve the works, literature and philosophy of Iqbal. Allama Iqbal Stamps Society established for the promotion of Iqbaliyat in philately and in other hobbies. His son Javid Iqbal has served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Javaid Manzil was the last residence of Allama Iqbal.
Influence and legacy
If we are resolved to describe Islam as a system of superior values, we are obliged, first of all, to acknowledge that we are not the true representatives of Islam.—Muhammad Iqbal
Allama Iqbal's poetry has also been translated into several European languages where his works were famous during the early part of the 20th century. Iqbal’s Asrar-i-Khudi and Javed Nama were translated into English by R A Nicholson and A J Arberry respectively.
History There are several tradi-
15th-century icon of St. Demetrius (Russian State Museum, Saint Petersburg).
The origins of his veneration are obscure; the first evidence comes about 150 years after hismartyrdom. Therefore some modern scholars question the historicity of the man. One theory is that his veneration was transferred from Sirmium when Thessaloniki replaced it as the main military base in the area in 441/442 AD. His very large church in Thessaloniki, the Hagios Demetrios, dates from the mid-5th century, so he clearly had a large following by then. Thessaloniki remained a centre of his veneration, and he is the patron saint of the city. After the growth of his veneration as saint, the city of Thessaloniki suffered repeated attacks and sieges from the Slavic peoples who moved into the Balkans, and Demetrius was credited with many miraculous interventions to defend the city. Hence later traditions about Demetrius regard him as a soldier in the Roman army, and he came to be regarded as an important military martyr. Unsurprisingly, he was extremely popular in the Middle Ages, and along with Saint George, was the patron of the Crusades. Some scholars believe that for four centuries after his death, St. Demetrius had no physical relics, and in their place an unusual empty shrine called the "ciborium" was built inside Hagios Demetrios. What is currently purported as His remains subsequently appeared in Thessaloniki, but the local archbishop (John of Thessaloniki, 7th century) was publicly dismissive of their authenticity. These are now also kept in Hagios Demetrios. According to believers, these relics were ascertained to be genuine after they started emitting a liquid and strong scented myrrh. This gave the saint the epithet "Myrovlētēs" (Greek: Μυροβλήτης, the Myrrh-streamer). This has been attested in modern times, as well, and the relics continually stream myrrh which has to be collected constantly in order to prevent the reliquary from overflowing. If ever visiting Hagios Demetrius church, one can see a sarcaphagus that is worn down in several areas from the myrrh streaming from his relics. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the Saturday before the Feast of St. Demetrius is a memorial day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), under the leadership of St. Demetrius of the Don. This day is known as Demetrius Saturday.
Iconography
St. Demetrius was initially depicted in icons and mosaics as a young man in patterned robes with the distinctive tablion of the senatorial class across his chest. Miraculous military interventions were attributed to him during several attacks on Thessaloniki, and he gradually became thought of as a soldier: a Constantinopolitan ivory of the late 10th century shows him as an infantry soldier (Metropolitan Museum of Art). But an icon of the late 11th century in Sinai shows him as before, still a civilian. This may be due to iconic depiction customs on how saints are depicted. Another Sinai icon, of the Crusader period and painted by a French artist working in the Holy Land in the second half of the 12th century, shows what then became the most common depiction. Demetrius, bearded, rather older, and on a dark horse, rides together with St George, un- Fresco icon of St. Nestor of bearded and on a white horse. Both are dressed as cavalrymen. Also, Thessaloniki,disciple of St. while St. George is often shown spearing a dragon, St. Demetrius is de- Demetrius. picted spearing the gladiator Lyaeos, who according to story was responsible for killing many Christians. Lyaeos is commonly depicted below Demetrius and lying supine, having already been defeated; Lyaeos is traditionally drawn much smaller than Demetrius. In traditional hagiography, Demetrius did not directly kill Lyaeos, but rather through his prayers the gladiator was defeated by Demetrius' disciple, Nestor. A modern Greek iconographic convention depicts Demetrius with the Great White Tower in the background. The anachronistic White Tower acts as a symbolic depiction of the city of Thessaloniki, despite having been built in the 16th century, centuries after his life, and the exact architecture of the older tower that stood at the same site in earlier times is unknown. Again, iconography often depicts saints holding a church or protecting a city that did not even exist when they were alive.
Relic
On June 28, 2007, police recovered a silver box said to contain Demetrius' ankle bone. The relic had been stolen from a Greek Orthodox cathedral that shares his name in Astoria, Queens.
World Town Planning Day Wor ldwide - N ov 8
The World Town Planning Day is a day of action, the public attention on the goals and ideas of the city - and regional planning to direct. It was in 1949 by Carlos Maria della Paolera , a professor at the University of Buenos Aires , and will be launched annually on 8 November in more than 30 countries organized. This action will be arranged by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). With the help of the World Town Planning Days aims to urban developments and human settlements are shown. In all participating countries held lectures, events and exhibitions. There are also illustrated ways in which urban planning can make a positive impact on the global climate and have the prospects that the cities and municipalities in the future.
Literary career
Upon his return to India in 1908, Iqbal took up an assistant professorship at Government College in Lahore, but for financial reasons he relinquished it within a year to practice law. During this period, Iqbal's personal life was in turmoil. He divorced Karim Bibi in 1916, but provided financial support to her and their children for the rest of his life. While maintaining his legal practice, Iqbal began concentrating on spiritual and religious subjects, and publishing poetry and literary works. He became active in the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, a congress of Muslim intellectuals, writers and poets as well as politicians. In 1919, he became the general secretary of the organisation. Iqbal's Iqbal with Muslim political acthoughts in his work primarily focus on the spiritual direction and de- tivists. velopment of human society, centred around experiences from his (L to R): Mohammad Iqbal (third), travels and stays in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was Syed Zafarul Hasan (sixth) (at Aliprofoundly influenced by Western philosophers such as Friedrich garh Muslim University, Aligarh, Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and Goethe. He soon became a strong India) critic of Western society's separation of religion from state and what he perceived as its obsession with materialist pursuits. The poetry and philosophy of Mawlana Rumi bore the deepest influence on Iqbal's mind. Deeply grounded in religion since childhood, Iqbal began intensely concentrating on the study of Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its political future, while embracingRumi as "his guide." Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of guide in many of his poems. Iqbal's works focus on reminding his readers of the past glories of Islamic civilization, and delivering the message of a pure, spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-political liberation and greatness. Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations, and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim community, or the Ummah.
La Virgen de la Almudena is a Marian devotion of the Virgin Mary. It is the patron saint of Madrid. Its name comes from the Arabic Al Mudayna (the citadel).
Life
Veneration of Sainthood
Early life
Muhammad Iqbal was born on November 9, 1877 in Sialkot, in the Punjab province of British India in what is now Pakistan. During the reign of Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan—according to scholar Bruce Lawrence—Iqbal's Kashmiri Pandit ancestors from Kashmir had converted to Islam. According to some sources: "The family had migrated from Kashmir where Iqbal's Brahmin ancestors had been converted to Islam." Iqbal often wrote about his being "a son of Kashmiri-Brahmins but (being) acquainted with the wisdom of Rûm and Tabriz." Iqbal's father, Nur Muhammad, was a tailor, who lacked formal education, but who had great devotion to Islam and Sufism and a "mystically tinged piety." Iqbal's mother was known in the family as a "wise, generous woman who quietly gave financial help to poor and needy women and arbitrated in neighbor's disputes." After his mother's death in 1914, Iqbal wrote an elegy for her: Who would wait for me anxiously in my native place? Who would display restlessness if my letter fails to arrive I will visit thy grave with this complaint: Who will now think of me in midnight prayers? All thy life thy love served me with devotion— When I became fit to serve thee, thou hast departed. At the age of four, young Iqbal was sent regularly to a mosque, where he learned how to read the Qu'ran in Arabic. The following year, and for many years thereafter, Iqbal became a student of Syed Mir Hassan, who was then the head of the Madrassa in Sialkot, and later to become a widely known Muslim scholar. An advocate of secular European education for the Muslim's of British India—in the tradition of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan—Hassan convinced Iqbal's father to send him to Sialkot's Scotch Mission College, where Hassan was professor of Arabic. Two years later, in 1895, Iqbal obtained the Faculty of Arts diploma from the college. That year Iqbal's family arranged for him to be married to Karim Bibi, the daughter of an affluent Gujrati physician. The couple had two children: a daughter, Mi'raj Begum (born Iqbal in Spain, 1895) and a son, Aftab (born 1899). Iqbal's third child, a son, died soon after birth. Hus- 1933 band and wife were unhappy in their marriage and eventually divorced in 1916. Later the same year, Iqbal entered the Government College in Lahore where he studied philosophy, English literature and Arabic and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, graduating cum laude. He won a gold medal for placing first in the examination in philosophy. While studying for his masters degree, Iqbal came under the influence of Sir Thomas Arnold, a scholar of Islam and modern philosophy at the college. Arnold exposed the young man to Western culture and ideas, and served as a bridge for Iqbal between the ideas of East and West. Iqbal was appointed to a readership in Arabic at the Oriental College in Lahore, and he published his first book in Urdu, The Knowledge of Economics in 1903. In 1905 Iqbal published the patriotic song, Tarana-e-Hind (Song of India). At Sir Thomas's encouragement, Iqbal travelled to Europe and spent many years studying there. Before leaving for London he visited theDargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi and wrote a famous poem to acknowledge the great Sufi and by doing so he confirmed his own lifelong association with Sufism. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College at Cambridge in 1907, while simultaneously studying law at Lincoln's Inn, from where he qualified as a barrister in 1908. In Europe, he started writing his poetry in Persian as well. Throughout his life, Iqbal would prefer writing in Persian as he believed it allowed him to fully express philosophical concepts, and it gave him a wider audience. It was while in England that he first participated in politics. Following the formation of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, Iqbal was elected to the executive committee of its British chapter in 1908. Together with two other politicians, Syed Hassan Bilgramiand Syed Ameer Ali, Iqbal sat on the subcommittee which drafted the constitution of the League. In 1907, Iqbal travelled to Germany to pursue a doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität at Munich. Working under the supervision of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published a thesis titled: The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.
Virgen de la Almudenay SPAIN- N o v 9
The spelling "Demetrius" is a romanization of the ancient Greek pronunciation; the Byzantine and Modern Greekpronunciation is romanized as Dimitrios. See Demetriosfor more on the etymology of the name. In Russian, he is called Димитрий Солунский ([dimitri solunski] 'Dimitri of Saloniki') and was a patron saint of the ruling Rurikid family from the late 11th century on.Izyaslav I of Kiev (whose Christian name was Dimitry) founded the first East Slavic monastery dedicated to this saint. The name Dimitry is in common use. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian people revere St. Demetrius on 26 October as Димитровден(Dimitrovden). The Serbian Orthodox Church reveres St. Demetrius asMitar, having a feast of Mitrovdan on 8 November. He is known in Lebanon as Mar Dimitri or Mitri for short, which is a common name among Christian Lebanese. He is known in the Coptic Church as "St. Demetrius of Thessalonica". He is venerated in the Coptic Church on 8 November. The earliest written accounts of his life were compiled in the 9th century, although there are earlier images of him, and accounts from the 7th century of his miracles. The biographies have Demetrius as a young man of senatorial family who was run through with spears in around 306 ADin Thessaloniki, during the Christian persecutions of the emperor Diocletian or Galerius, which matches his depiction in the 7th century mosaics.
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938) was a Muslim poetand philosopher born in Sialkot, British India (now in Pakistan), whose poetry in Urdu and Persian is considered to be among the greatest of the modern era. He is commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal (ہمالع لابقا, Allama lit. Scholar). After studying in England and Germany, Iqbal established a law practice, but concentrated primarily on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-eKhudi—which brought a knighthood— Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara, with its enduring patriotic song Tarana-eHind. InAfghanistan and Iran, where he is known as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī (یروهال لابقا Iqbal of Lahore), he is highly regarded for his Persian works. Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilization across the world, but specifically in India; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of the most prominent leaders of the All-India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Indian Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address. Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan"), Shair-e-Mashriq ("The Poet of the East"), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat ("The Sage of theUmmah"). He is officially recognised as the "national poet" in Pakistan. The anniversary of his birth (موی لابقا دمحم تدالو – Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl) on November 9 is a holiday in Pakistan.
Revival of Islamic polity:
History Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix
Independence Day ANGOLA- N o v 11
Allama Muhammad Iqbal Day PAKISTAN - Nov 9
tions about the origin of the name and image. The first account in the 712 , before the alleged capture of Madrid by the Arabs, the villagers boarded up an image of the Virgin Mary on the walls of the wall to hide it from the Muslims. With the return of the city in the eleventh century by King Alfonso VI , set out to find the hidden picture. After days of prayer, and as the procession passed through the Cuesta de la Vega, the fragment of wall which was crumbling down, showing the image, which remained intact and the two candles which had been boarded up despite still burning of the centuries. Another tradition says that the Castilian hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar , El Cid, he would have appeared the Virgin, asking her to take the strength of Mayrit ()طيرجم. Approaching El Cid and his companions to the village, he would loose the piece of wall where was the figure, and so could have come in and take the city. These legends have little relation to history as the city of Madrid, with its walls, was not founded until the mid-ninth century by the Emir of Cordoba Mohamed I , and there is not any documentary evidence that aqueológica suggesting the existence of a population before. On the other hand, there are no evidence that crstianos take Madrid by force, but the city could have been delivered with all the Taifa kingdom of Toledo. It seems more likely therefore that the original image was carved in the late Middle Ages, during the Christian repopulation of the city, to be placed on the altar of the old mosque, now converted into a cathedral of the city (the old church of Santa Maria de la Almudena ). At that time it was common for certification of major Christian churches with generic invocations of the Virgin, Christ and the saints, so that church is called Santa Maria. Probably to distinguish it from other churches that were springing up in the suburbs of the early Islamic city, the temple became known as Santa Maria de la Almudena , because in Arabic Al-mudayna means "citadel", being locked in the first perimeter walls of Arab origin, which, like a citadel, was locked in the later Christian wall. That is, they would put this name to distinguish it from other churches in Madrid, with the connotation of being, so to speak, St. Mary of the walled city . Centuries later, the legend would emerge to explain the origin of the likes Mary, whose age was immemorial for both locals and no longer have news of when it was carved. In a society superstitious, deeply religious and given to to fuel any legend, it was easy to fit this myth. It is not an isolated legend, is actually very common in Spain, to explain the devotion of many shrines and churches, Picture of Santa Maria de which were intended to roll back to before the Muslim conquest. The truth is that it is unlikely that any of these legends is true, as Muslims respected the la Almudena in the interior Christian churches and allowed the Mozarabic Christian under his rule, to prac- of the Cathedral. tice their religion. It is in the twelfth century the Almoravids and the Almohads, to invade Al-Andalus , in the conquered territories impose a fierce religiosity, which led to the conversion of many Mozarabic and Jewish, or fleeing to other places, and concealment of their pictures, paintings and sculptures. In Andalusia and Levante itself that might have some basis in reality these legends, which later spread throughout Spain to explain the importance of virgins and saints who were venerated in many towns and cities. They are always found in caves and unspoilt places dingy, and often puts popular inventiveness found with lighted candles.
Armistice Day - Nov 9
BELGIUM, FRANCE, FRENCH POLYNESIA, CANADA, ST. MARTIN, SWITZERLAND, GUADELOUPE, NEW CALEDONIA, UK
Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning— the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the cease fire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the oldOttoman Empire. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war. An exception is Italy, where the end of the war is commemorated on 4 November, the day of theArmistice of Villa Giusti. After World War II, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day remains an official holiday in France and Belgium, known also as the Day of Peace in the Flanders Fields. In many parts of the world, people take a two-minute moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. local time as a sign of respect for the roughly 60 million people who died in the war. This gesture of respect was suggested by Edward George Honey in a letter to a British newspaper, although Wellesley Tudor Pole had established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917. From the outset, many veterans in many countries also utilized Silence to pay homage to departed comrades. The toast of "Fallen" or "Absent Comrades" has always been honoured in silence at New Zealand veteran functions, while the news of a member’s death has similarly been observed in silence at meetings. Similar ceremonies developed in other countries during the inter-war period. In South Africa, for example, the Memorable Order of Tin Hats had by the late 1920s developed a ceremony whereby the toast of "Fallen Comrades" was observed not only in silence but darkness, all except for the "Light of Remembrance", with the ceremony ending with the Order’s anthem "Old Soldiers Never Die". In Australia, meanwhile, the South Australian State Branch of the Returned Sailors & Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia similarly developed during the interwar period a simple ceremony of silence for departed comrades at 9 p.m., presumably to coincide with the traditional 11 a.m. time for Armistice ceremonies taking place in Europe (due to the ten-hour time difference between Eastern Australia and Europe). In the United Kingdom, beginning in 1939, the two-minute silence was moved to the Sunday nearest to 11 November in order not to interfere with wartime production should 11 November fall on a weekday. After the end of World War II, most Armistice Day events were moved to the nearest Sunday and began to commemorate both World Wars. The change was made in many Commonwealth countries, as well as the United Kingdom, and the new commemoration was named Remembrance Sunday or Remembrance Day. Both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are now commemorated formally in the UK.
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congoon the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Portuguese were present in some— mostly coastal—points of the territory of what is now Angola, from the 16th to the 19th century, interacting in diverse ways with the peoples that lived there. In the 19th century they slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. Angola as a Portuguese colony encompassing the present teritory was not established before the end of the 19th century, and "effective occupation", as required by the Berlin Conference (1884) was achieved only by the 1920s. Independence was achieved in 1975, after a protracted liberation war. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002. The country has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy has grown on average at a two-digit pace since the 1990s, and especially since the end of the civil war. However, its level of human development is rather low, and its life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst-ranked in the world.
Etymology
The name "Angola" comes from the Portuguese colonial name Reino de Angola, appearing as early as Dias de Novais's 1571 charter. The toponym was derived by the Portuguese from theMbundu title ngola held by the king or warrior-chief Kiluanji kia Ndambi of the Ndongo. Ndongo was a kingdom in the highlands between the Kwanza and Lukala Rivers nominally tributary to the king of Kongo but which was seeking greater independence during the 16th century.
History
Early migrations and political units:
Khoisan hunter-gatherers are the earliest known modern human inhabitants of the area. They were largely replaced by Bantu tribes during the Bantu migrations, though small numbers remain in parts of southern Angola to the present day. The Bantu came from the north, probably from somewhere near the present-day Republic of Cameroon. When they reached what is now Angola, they encountered the Khoisan, Bushmen and other groups considerably less technologically advanced than themselves, whom they easily dominated with their superior knowledge of metal-working, ceramics and agriculture. The establishment of the Bantu took many centuries and gave rise to various groups who took on different ethnic characteristics. During this period of time, the Bantu established a number of political units ("kingdoms", "empires") in most parts of what today is Angola. The best known of these is the Kingdom of the Kongo that had its centre in the northwest of contemporary Angola, but included important regions in the west of present day Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo as well as in southern Gabon. It established trade routes with other trading cities and civilizations up and down the coast of southwestern and West Africa and even with the Great Zimbabwe Mutapa Empire, but engaged in little or no transoceanic trade.
Portuguese presence on the coast:
Main articles: Colonial history of Angola and Portuguese West Africa The geographical areas now designated as Angola entered into contact with the Portuguese in the late 15th century, concretely in 1483, when Portugal established relations with the Kongo State, which stretched from modern Gabon in the north to theKwanza River in the south. In this context, they established a small trade post at the port of Mpinda, in Soyo. The Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luandain 1575 as "São Paulo de Loanda", with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Benguela, a Portuguese fort from 1587 which became a town in 1617, was another important early settlement they founded and ruled. The Portuguese would establish several settlements, forts and trading posts along the coastal strip of current-day Angola, which relied on slave trade, commerce in raw materials, and exchange of goods for survival. The African slave trade provided a large number of black slaves to Europeans and their African agents. For example, in what is now Angola, the Imbangala economy was heavily focused on the slave trade. European traders would export manufactured goods to the coast of Africa where they would be exchanged for slaves. Within the Portuguese Empire, most black African slaves were traded to Portuguese merchants who bought them to sell as cheap labour for use on Brazilian agricultural plantations. This trade would last until the first half of the 19th century. According to John Iliffe, "Portuguese records of Angola from the 16th century show that a great famine occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into the river valleys." The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip during the 16th century by a series of treaties and wars forming the Portuguese colony of Angola. Taking advantage of the Portuguese Restoration War, the Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641 to 1648, where they allied with local peoples, consolidating their colonial rule against the remaining Portuguese resistance. In 1648, a fleet under the command of Salvador de Sáretook Luanda for Portugal and initiated a conquest of the lost territories, which restored Portugal to its former possessions by 1650. Treaties regulated relations with Kongo in 1649 and Njinga's Kingdom of Matamba and Ndongo in 1656. The conquest of Pungo Andongo in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda outwards, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Portugal also expanded its territory behind the colony of Benguela to some extent, but until the 19th century the inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited, and Portugal had neither the intention nor the means to carry out a large scale territorial occupation and colonization.
Delimitation and occupation of Angola:
The process resulted in few gains until the 1880s. Development of the hinterland began after the Berlin Conference in 1885 fixed the colony's borders, and British and Portuguese investment fostered mining, railways, and agriculture based on various forced labour systems. Full Portuguese administrative control of the hinterland did not occur until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1951, the colony was designated as an overseas province, called Overseas Province of Angola. Portugal had a presence in Angola for nearly five hundred years, and the population's initial reaction to calls for independence was scarce. More overtly political organisations first appeared in the 1950s, instigated by the USSR, and began to make organised demands for self determination, especially in international forums such as the Non-Aligned Movement. The Portuguese regime, meanwhile, refused to accede to the demands for independence, provoking an armed conflict that started in 1961 when black guerrillas attacked both white and black civilians in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola. The war came to be known as the Colonial War. In this struggle, the principal protagonists were the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), founded in 1956, the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), which appeared in 1961, and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), founded in 1966. After many years of conflict that lead to the weakening of all the insurgent parties, Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975, after the 1974 coup d'état in Lisbon, Portugal, which overthrew the Portuguese regime headed byMarcelo Caetano. Portugal's new revolutionary leaders began in 1974 a process of political change at home and accepted its former colonies' independence abroad. In Angola, a fight for the conquest of power broke out immediately between the three nationalist movements. The events prompted a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens, creating up to 300 000 destitute Portuguese refugees—the retornados. The new Portuguese government tried to mediate an understanding between the three competing movements, and succeeded in agreeing, on paper, to form a common government, but in the end non of them respected the commitments made, and the issue was resolved by military force.
Independence and civil war:
After independence in November 1975, Angola faced a devastating civil war which lasted several decades and claimed millions of lives and produced many refugees. Following negotiations held in Portugal, itself under severe social and political turmoil and uncertainty due to the April 1974 revolution, Angola's three main guerrilla groups agreed to establish a transitional government in January 1975. Within two months, however, the FNLA, MPLA and UNITA were fighting each other and the country was well on its way to being divided into zones controlled by rival armed political groups. The superpowers were quickly drawn into the conflict, which became a flash point for theCold War. The United States, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa supported the FNLA and UNITA. The Soviet Unionand Cuba supported the MPLA. During most of this period, 1975–1990, the MPLA organised and maintained a socialist regime. Despite the ongoing civil war, the model functioned to a certain degree, although it was foreseeable that it would eventually fail in face of UNITA opposition.
Ceasefire with UNITA:
On February 22, 2002, after the MPLA regime come to terms with the USA, Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA, was killed in combat with government troops. A cease-fire was reached by the two factions shortly afterwards. UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of major opposition party, although in the knowledge that in the present regime a legitimate democratic election is impossible. Although the political situation of the country began to stabilize, President Dos Santos has so far refused to institute regular democratic processes, UNITA head officials being given senior positions in top level companies. Among Angola's major problems are a serious humanitarian crisis (a result of the prolonged war), the abundance of minefields, the continuation of the political, and to a much lesser degree, military activities in favour of the independence of the northern exclave of Cabinda, carried out in the context of the protracted Cabinda Conflict by the Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda, but most of all, the dilapidation of the country's rich mineral resources by the regime. While most of the internally displaced have now settled around the capital, in the so called "Musseques", the general situation for Angolans remains desperate.
Mortens Day DENMARK - N o v 11
Martin of Tours (Latin: Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316 – November 8, 397) was a Bishop of Tours, whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name, much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints. He is considered a spiritual bridge across Europe, given his association with both France and Hungary. His life was recorded by a contemporary, the hagiographer Sulpicius Severus. Some of the accounts of his travels may have been interpolated into his vita to validate early sites of hiscult. He is a patron saint of soldiers and horses.
Early life
Martin was born at Savaria, Pannonia (nowSzombathely, Hungary). His father was a senior officer (tribune) in the Imperial Horse Guard, a unit of the Roman army, and was later stationed at Ticinum (now Pavia), in northern Italy, where Martin grew up. At the age of ten, he went to the Christian church against the wishes of his parents, and became a catechumen or candidate for baptism. At this time, Christianity had been made a legal religion (in 312), but it was by no means the dominant religion everywhere in the Roman Empire. It had many more adherents in the Eastern Empire, whence it had sprung, and was concentrated in cities, brought along the trade routes by converted Jews and Greeks (the term 'pagan' literally means 'country-dweller'). Christianity was still far from accepted amongst the higher echelons of society, and in the army, the cult of Mithraswould have been stronger. Although the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, and the subsequent programme of church-building, gave a greater impetus to the spread of the religion, it was still a minority faith. When Martin was fifteen, as the son of a veteran officer, he was required to join a cavalry ala himself, and thus, around 334, was stationed at Ambianensium civitas or Samarobriva in Gaul (now Amiens, France). It is therefore likely that he joined the Equites catafractarii Ambianenses, a heavy cavalry unit listed in the Notitia Dignitatum.
Episode of the cloak
While Martin was still a soldier at he experienced the vision that became the most-repeated story about his life. He was at the gates of the city of San Diego with his soldiers when he met a scantily dressed beggar. He impulsively cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with the beggar. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clad me." (Sulpicius, ch 2). In another story, when Martin woke, his cloak was restored, and the miraculous cloak was preserved among the relic collection of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. Small temporary churches were built for the relic and people began to refer to them by the word for little cloak "capella" that these churches housed. Eventually small churches lost their association with the cloak and all small churches began to be referred to as Chapels . Statue of Saint Martin cutting his cloak in The dream confirmed Martin in his piety, and he was bap- two. Höchster Schloss, Höchst. tized at the age of 18. He served in the military for another two years until, just before a battle with the Gauls atBorbetomagus (now Worms, Germany) in 336, Martin determined that his faith prohibited him from fighting, saying, "I am a soldier of Christ. I cannot fight." He was charged with cowardice and jailed, but in response to the charge, he volunteered to go unarmed to the front of the troops. His superiors planned to take him up on the offer, but before they could, the invaders sued for peace, the battle never occurred, and Martin was released from military service. Martin declared his vocation, and made his way to the city of Caesarodunum (now Tours), where he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief proponent of Trinitarian Christianity, opposing theArianism of the Imperial Court. When Hilary was forced into exile from Pictavium (now Poitiers), Martin returned to Italy, converting an Alpine brigand on the way, according to his biographer Sulpicius Severus, and confronting the Devil himself. Returning from Illyria, he was confronted by the Arian,archbishop of Milan Auxentius, who expelled him from the city. According to the early sources, he decided to seek shelter on the island then called Gallinaria, now Isola d'Albenga, in the Ligurian Sea, where he lived the solitary life of a hermit.
Attacking pagans and Arianism
With the return of Hilary to his see in 361, Martin joined him and established a monastery nearby, at the site that developed into theBenedictine Ligugé Abbey, the first in Gaul; it became a center for the evangelization of the country districts. He traveled and preached through western Gaul: "The memory of these apostolic journeyings survives to our day in the numerous local legends of which Martin is the hero and which indicate roughly the routes that he followed." (Catholic Encyclopedia). In 371, Martin was acclaimed bishop of Tours, where he impressed the city with his demeanor, and by the enthusiasm with which he had pagan temples, altars and sculptures destroyed. It may indicate the depth of the Druidic folk religion compared to the veneer of Roman classical culture in the area, that "when in a certain village he had demolished a very ancient temple, and had set about cutting down a pine-tree, which stood close to the temple, the chief priest of that place, and a crowd of other heathens began to oppose him; and these people, though, under the influence of the Lord, they had been quiet while the temple was being overthrown, could not patiently allow the tree to be cut down". Sulpicius affirms that he withdrew from the press of attention in the city to live in Marmoutier (Majus Monasterium), the monastery he founded, which faces Tours from the opposite shore of the Loire (river). Martin introduced a rudimentary parish system.
Martin's order at Marmoutier
The Abbey of Marmoutier was a monastery just outside today's city of Tours in Indre-et-Loire, France. It was founded by St. Martin around 372, after he had been made Bishop of Tours in 371. The saint founded the monastery to escape attention and live a life of monasticism. Martin was not just the source of status for the abbey, but he was also responsible for drafting the blueprint for Marmoutier’s institutional inviolability by appointing the abbot, Walbert. Walbert’s story demonstrated while Martin was Bishop of Tours, Marmoutier possessed its own abbot, which meant the abbey should remain “outside the dominion of every bishop except as it is necessary for the ordaining of canons.” The best way to protect the abbey’s autonomy was to give it its own abbot. The abbey was destroyed and ransacked by Normans in 853. The abbey continued to grow, and in 1096, Pope Urban II consecrated a new chapel. In 1162, Pope Alexander III consecrated the Chapel of Saint Benoit. Huguenot Protestants pillaged the abbey a second time at the onset of the French Wars of Religion. The abbey recovered, but was disestablished in 1799 during the French Revolution.
Mercy to the Priscillianists
His role in the matter of the followers of Priscillian was especially remarkable. The First Council of Saragossa had condemned Priscillian and his supporters as heretics. Priscillian and his supporters had fled, and some bishops of Hispania, led by Bishop Ithacius, brought charges before Emperor Magnus Maximus. Although greatly opposed to the Priscillianists, Martin hurried to the Imperial court of Trier on an errand of mercy to remove them from the secular jurisdiction of the emperor. At first, Maximus acceded to his entreaty, but, when Martin had departed, yielded to the solicitations of Ithacius and ordered Priscillian and his followers to be beheaded (385), the first Christians executed for heresy. Deeply grieved, Martin refused to communicate with Ithacius, until pressured by the Emperor. Martin died at in Candes-Saint-Martin, Gaul (central France) in 397.
shrine and the devotion The The veneration of Martin was hugely popular in the Middle
Ages, above all in the region between the Loire and the Marne, where Le Roy Ladurie and Zysberg noted the densest accretion ofhagiotoponyms commemorating Martin, but Fortunat declared, "Partout où le Christ est connu, Martin est honoré." When Bishop Perpetuus took office at Tours in 461, the little chapel over Martin's grave, built in the previous century by Martin's immediate successor,Bricius, was no longer sufficient for the crowd of pilgrims it was already drawing. Perpetuus built a more suitably grand basilica, 38 m long and 18 m wide, with 120 columns. His body was taken from the simple chapel at his hermitage at Candes-St-Martin to Tours and hissarcophagus was reburied behind the high altar of the great new basilica; A large block of marble above the tomb, the gift of bishop Euphronius of Autun (472-475), rendered it Martin of Tours's Fountain, behind the visible to the faithful gathered behind the high altar, and perhaps, Werner Jacobsen suggests, also to pilgrims encamped Visitors Center - Szombathely in the atrium of the basilica, which, contrary to the usual arrangement, was sited behind the church, close to the tomb in the apse, which may have been visible through afenestrella in the apse wall. During the Middle Ages, the relic of St. Martin’s cloak, (cappa Sancti Martini), conserved at theMarmoutier Abbey, near to Tours, one of the most sacred relics of the Frankish kings, would be carried everywhere the king went, even into battle, as a holy relic upon which oaths were sworn. The cloak is first attested in the royal treasury in 679, when it was conserved at thepalatium of Luzarches, a royal villa that was later ceded to the monks of Saint-Denis by Charlemagne, in 798/99. The priest who cared for the cloak in its reliquary was called a cappellanu, and ultimately all priests who served the military were called cappellani. The French translation is chapelains, from which the English word chaplain is derived. One of the many services a chaplain can provide is spiritual and pastoral support for military service personnel by performing religious services at sea or in the battlefield. St. Martin's popularity can be partially attributed to his adoption by successive royal houses of France.Clovis (Cholodovech), King of the Salian Franks, one of many warring tribes in sixth century France, promised his Christian wife Clotilda that he would be baptised if he was victorious over the Alemanni; he credited the intervention of St Martin with his success, and with several following triumphs, including the defeat of Alaric II. As a result, Clovis was able to move his capital to Paris, and he is considered to be the 'Founder of France'. The popular devotion to St Martin continued to be closely identified with theMerovingian monarchy: in the early seventh century Dagobert I commissioned the goldsmith Saint Eligiusto make a wonderful work in gold and gems for the tomb-shrine. The later bishop, Gregory of Tours, made it his business to write and see distributed an influential Life filled with miraculous events of the saint's career. Martin's cultus survived the passage of power to their successors, the Carolingian dynasty. The Abbey of Saint-Martin at Tours was one of the most prominent and influential establishments in medieval France. Charlemagne awarded the position of Abbot to his friend and adviser, the great English scholar and educator Alcuin. At this time the Abbot was able to travel between Tours and the court at Trierin Germany and always stay overnight at one of his own properties. It was at Tours that Alcuin'sscriptorium (a room in monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes) developedCaroline minuscule, the clear round hand which made manuscripts far more legible. The basilica was destroyed by fire on several occasions, and it and the monastery were sacked by Norman Vikings in 996. Rebuilt beginning in 1014, by Hervé de Buzançais, treasurer of Saint Martin, The Charity of St. Martin, both to accommodate the crowds of pilgrims and to attract them, the shrine of by Jean Fouquet St. Martin of Tours became a major stopping-point on pilgrimages; Gothic vaults replaced the Romanesque ones and in 1453 the remains of Saint Martin were transferred to a magnificent new reliquary offered by Charles VII of France and Agnes Sorel. The basilica was sacked by Huguenots in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion, then during the French Revolution, deconsecrated, used as a stable, then utterly demolished, its dressed stones sold in 1802 when two streets were opened on the site, to ensure it would not be rebuilt. In 1860, excavations of Leo Dupont (1797–1876) established the dimensions of its former site and recovered some fragments of architecture. The project for a new basilica took shape in the resurgence of conservative Catholic piety after the radical Paris Commune of 1871. The architect selected was Victor Laloux; the style eschewed Gothic for a mix of Romanesque and Byzantine. The new Basilique Saint-Martin on a portion of its former site that was repurchased from the owners, was consecrated 4 July 1925.
Revival of the popular devotion to St. Martin in the Republic Third tomb of St. Martin was rediscovered on December 14,
The 1860, which aided in the nineteenth century revival of the popular devotion to St. Martin. Martin’s renewed popularity was in large part due to his promotion as a military saint during theFranco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. During the military and political crisis of the Franco-Prussian war, the Napoleon III’s second empire collapsed. After the surrender of Napoleon to the Prussians after the Battle of Sedan in September 1870, a provisional government of national defense was established and France’s Third Republic was proclaimed. Paris was evacuated due to the advancing enemy and for a brief time, Tours (September–December 1870) became the effective capital of France. St Martin was promoted by the clerical right as the protector of the nation against the German threat. Conservatives associated the dramatic collapse of Napoleon III’s regime as a sign of divine retribution on the irreligious emperor. Priests interpreted it as punishment for a nation led astray due to years of anti-clericalism. They preached repentance and a return to religion for political stability. The ruined towers of the royal basilica of St. Martin at Tours came to symbolize the decline of traditional Catholic France. With the government's move to Tours during the FrancoPrussian War, 1870, a great number of pilgrims were attracted to St. Martin’s tomb, which was covered by a temporary chapel that Monsignor Guibert (archbishop of Tours, 1857-1871) built. The popular devotion to St. Martin was also associated with the nationalistic devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Flag of Sacre-Coeur, borne by Ultramontane Catholic Pontifical Zouaves who fought at Patay, had been first placed overnight in St. Martin’s Tomb before being taken into battle on October 9, 1870. The banner read St Martin as a bishop: modern icon in the "Heart of Jesus Save France" and on the reverse side chapel of the Eastern Orthodox Monastery Carmelite Nuns of Tours embroidered "Saint Martin Protect of the Theotokos and St Martin, CanFrance".The French army was victorious in Patay, which led many among the faithful to believe that the victory was due tauque, Provence to divine favor. Popular hymns of the 1870s developed the theme of national protection under the cover of Martin's cloak, the "first flag of France". The popularity of devotion to St Martin among men is significant because historical evidence shows that "feminization" had affected French Catholicism in the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century Frenchmen influenced by secularism, agnosticism, and anti-clericalismdeserted the church in great numbers. Martin was a man's saint and the devotion to him was an exception to this trend. For men serving in the military, Martin of Tours was presented by the Catholic Right as the masculine model of principled behavior. He was a brave fighter, knew his obligation to the poor, shared his goods, performed his required military service, followed legitimate orders, and respected secular authority.
Opposition from Anticlericals
During the 1870s, the procession to St. Martin’s tomb at Tours became an impressive display of ecclesiastical and military cooperation. Army officers in full uniform acted as military escorts, symbolically protecting the clergy and clearing the path for them. Anti-clerics viewed the holding of public religious processions as a violation of civic space. In 1878, M. Rivière, the provisional mayor of Tours with anticlerical support banned the November procession in honor of St. Martin. To anti-clerics, religion was supposed to be a private matter and religious devotions were to be practiced at home or church. With the resignation of President Patrice de Mac-Mahon, the first president of the Third Republic, came Republican Jules Grevy, who created a new anticlerical offensive on a national level. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Bishop Louis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie of Poitiers united conservatives and devised a massive demonstration for the November 1879 procession. Pie’s ultimate hope was that St Martin would stop the “chariot” of modern society and create a France where the religious and secular sectors merged. The struggle between the two can be seen with the struggle between conservatives and anti-clerics over the church’s power in the army. From 1874, military chaplains were allowed in the army in times of peace, but anti-clerics viewed the chaplains as sinister monarchists and counter-revolutionaries. Conservatives responded by creating the short lived Legion de Saint Maurice in 1878 and the society, Notre Dame de Soldats to provided unpaid voluntary chaplains with financial resources. Ultimately, the anticlerical Duvaux Bill of 1880 reduced the number of chaplains in the French army. Anticlerical legislators wanted commanders, not chaplains, to provide troops with moral support and to supervise their formation in the established faith of patriotic Republicanism.
St. Martin as a French Republican patron St. Martin has long been associated with France’s royal
heritage. However, during the episcopate of Monsignor René François Renou(Archbishop of Tours, 1896–1913) St. Martin began to be regarded as a specifically "republican" patron. He served as a chaplain to the 88e Régiment des mobils d'Indre-et-Loire during the Franco-Prussian war and was known as the army bishop. Renou was a strong supporter of St. Martin and believed that the national destiny of France and all its victories are attributed to him. He linked the military to the cloak of St. Martin, which was the “first flag of France” to the French tricolor, “the symbol of the union of the old and new.” This flag symbolism connected the devotion to St. Martin with the Third Republic. However, the tensions of the Dreyfus Affair renewed anticlericalism in France and drove a wedge between the Church and the Republic. By 1905, under Rene WaldeckRousseau and Emile Combes combined with deteriorating relations with the Vatican, church and state was separated. St. Martin’s popularity was renewed with the First World War. Anticlericalism declined, as priests served in the French forces as chaplains, with the result that over five thousand of them were killed. In 1916, Assumptionists organized a national pilgrimage to Tours that attracted people from all of France. The devotion to St. Martin was further amplified in the dioceses of France, where special prayers were offered to the patron saint. When the armistice fell on the Saint Martin’s Day, 11 November 1918, the French people saw it was a sign of his intercession in the affairs of France.
Hagiography
The early life of Saint Martin that was written by Sulpicius Severus who knew him personally, while it expresses the St Martin leaves the life of chivalry and reintimate closeness the 4th century Christian felt with the nounces the army (fresco by Simone MarDevil in all his disguises, is at the same time filled with ac- tini) counts of miracles so extravagant as apparently to challenge disbelief. Some follow familiar conventions— casting out devils, raising the paralytic and the dead— others are more unusual: turning back the flames from a house while Martin was burning down the Roman temple it adjoined; deflecting the path of a felled sacred pine; the healing power of a letter written from Martin, indeed "threads from Martin's garment, or such as had been plucked from thesackcloth which he wore, wrought frequent miracles upon those who were sick." The first occasion on which Martin restored the dead to life was that of the catechumen who lived with him in his cell near Poitiers. He returned from a three-day absence to find The body being laid out in public was being honored by the last sad offices on the part of the mourning brethren, when Martin hurries up to them with tears and lamentations. But then laying hold; as it were, of the Holy Spirit, with the whole powers of his mind, he orders the others to quit the cell in which the body was lying; and bolting the door, he stretches himself at full length on the dead limbs of the departed brother. Having given himself for some time to earnest prayer, and perceiving by means of the Spirit of God that power was present, he then rose up for a little, and gazing on the countenance of the deceased, he waited without misgiving for the result of his prayer and of the mercy of the Lord. And scarcely had the space of two hours elapsed, when he saw the dead man begin to move a little in all his members, and to tremble with his eyes opened for the practice of sight. Then indeed, turning to the Lord with a loud voice and giving thanks, he filled the cell with his ejaculations (Sulpicius Severus, Vita). In one instance, the pagans agreed to fell their sacred fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it miraculously missed him very narrowly. Sulpicius, a classically educated aristocrat, related this anecdote with dramatic details, as a set piece. Sulpicius could not have failed to know the incident the Roman poet Horace recalls in several Odes, of his narrow escape from a falling tree.
Folklore From the late 4th century to the late Middle Ages, much of
Western Europe, including Great Britain, engaged in a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin's Day, November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days, and was, therefore, called Quadragesima Sancti Martini, which means in Latin "the forty days of St. Martin." At St. Martin's eve and on the feast day, people ate and drank very heartily for a last time before they started to fast. This fasting time was later called "Advent" by the Church. On St. Martin's Day, children in Flanders, the southern and north-western parts of the Netherlands, the Catholic areas of Germany and Austria participate in paper lantern processions. Often, a man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front Basilica of St. Martin, Tours of the procession. The children sing songs about St. Martin and about their lanterns. The food traditionally eaten on the day is goose. According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him. In Malta, children are sometimes given a bag full of nuts, hazelnuts, oranges and tangerines. In old days, nuts were then used by the children in their games. The parish of Baħrija is dedicated to Saint Martin and on his feast a fair with agricultural produce and animals is organized. Also, in the east part of the Belgian province of East-Flanders (Aalst) and the west part of West Flanders (Ypres), children receive presents from St. Martin on November 11, instead of from Saint Nicholas on December 6 or Santa Claus on December 25. There are also lantern processions, for which children make lanterns out of beets. In recent years, the lantern processions have become widespread, even in Protestant areas ofGermany and the Netherlands, despite the fact that most Protestant churches do not recognizeSaints as a distinct class of believers from the laity. In Portugal, where the saint's day is celebrated across the country, it is common for families and friends to gather around the fire in reunions called "magustos", where they typically eat roastedchestnuts and drink wine, "jeropiga" (drink made of grape must and firewater) and "aguapé" (a sort of weak and watered-down wine). According to the most widespread variation of the cloak story, Saint Martin cut off half of his cloak in order to offer it to a beggar and along the way he gave the remaining part to a second beggar. As he faced a long ride in a freezing weather, the dark clouds cleared away and the sun shone so intensely that the frost melted away. As this evolution was extremely odd for the time of the year (early November), it is credited to God's intervention. The phenomena of a sunny break to the chilly weather on Saint Martin's Day (11 November), which curiously enough still occurs today is called "Verão de São Martinho" (Saint Martin's Summer) in honor of the cloak legend. Many churches in Europe are named after Saint Martinus, also known as Saint Martin of Tours. The church of St Martinin-the-fields at Trafalgar Square in the centre of London is dedicated to St Martin. Saint Martin's Cathedral, in Ypres, is also dedicated to him. St. Martin is the patron saint of Szombathely, Hungary with a church dedicated to him, and also the patron saint of Buenos Aires. In the Netherlands he is the patron of the cathedral and city of Utrecht. In the Philippines, he is also the patron of the church and town of Bocaue. St. Martin is the patron saint of the Polish towns of Bydgoszcz and Opatów. His day is also celebrated with a procession and festivities in the city of Poznań, where he gives his name to the main street (Święty Marcin, from a church in his honor originally built there in the 13th century), and where a special type of crescent cake (rogal świętomarciński) is baked for the occasion. (November 11 is also Polish Independence Day, and is therefore a public holiday.) In Latin America, he has a strong popular following and is frequently referred to as San Martín Caballero, in reference to his common depiction on horseback. Mexican folklore believes him to be a particularly helpful saint toward business owners. San Martín de Loba is the name of a municipality in the Bolívar Department of Colombia. Saint Martin, as San Martín de Loba, is the patron saint of Vasquez, a small village in Colombia. Though no mention of St. Martin's connection with viticulture is made by Gregory of Tours or other early hagiographers, he is now credited with a prominent role in spreading wine-making throughout the Touraine region and facilitated the planting of many vines. The Greek myth that Aristaeus first discovered the concept of pruning the vines after watching a goat eat some of the foliage has been applied to Martin. He is also credited with introducing the Chenin Blanc grape varietal, from which most of the white wine of western Touraine and Anjou is made. Martin Luther was named after St. Martin, as he was baptized on November 11 (St. Martin's Day), 1483. Many Lutheran congregations are named after St. Martin which is unusual (for Lutherans) because he is a saint who does not appear in the Bible. (Lutherans regularly name congregations after the evangelists and other saints who appear in the Bible but are hesitant to name congregations after post-Biblical saints.) Martin of Tours is the patron saint of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, which has a medal in his name and also the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade.
Lāčplēsis LATVIA- N o v 1 1
Remembrance Day W o r l d w i d e - N o v 11
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice ("at the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.) The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance of members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917. The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem In Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields ofFlanders in World Remembrance Day in Canada. The memorial at War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol the McCrae House (detail view); two Canadianstyle poppy pins can be seen resting on the for the blood spilled in the war.
sculpture.. Name "Remembrance Day" is the primary designation for the day in many Commonwealth countries, such as the United
Kingdom, Australia, andCanada. However, the term "Armistice Day" is also used, often to differentiate the event from Remembrance Sunday, and is the primary designation used in New Zealand and France. "Poppy Day" is also a popular term, particularly in Malta and South Africa. Veterans Day also falls upon this day in the United States, yet many other allied nations have quite different Veterans Days.
Observance in the Commonwealth
The common British, Canadian, South African, and ANZAC tradition includes either one or two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (11:00 a.m., 11 November), as that marks the time (in the United Kingdom) when the armistice became effective. The Service of Remembrance in many Commonwealth countries generally includes the sounding of the "Last Post", followed by the period of silence, followed by the sounding of "The Rouse" (often mistakenly referred to as "Reveille"), and finished by a recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance". The "Flowers of the Forest", "O Valiant Hearts", "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and "Jerusalem" are often played during the service. Services also include wreaths laid to honour the fallen, a blessing, and national anthems. Mozambique does not observe the Remembrance Day.
Australia:
In Australia, Remembrance Day is always observed on 11 November, although the day is not a public holiday. Remembrance Day, London, 2006 Institutions, including schools, generally observe a minutes silence at 11 a.m. Through a programme named Read 2 Remember, children read the "Pledge of Remembrance" by Rupert McCall and teachers deliver specially developed resources to help children understand the significance of the day and the resilience of those who have fought for their country, and calls on children to also be resilient when facing difficult times. Services are held at 11 a.m. at war memorials and schools in suburbs and towns across the country, at which the "Last Post" is sounded by a bugler and a one-minute silence is observed. In recent decades, however, Remembrance Day has been partially eclipsed by ANZAC Day (25 April) as the national day of war commemoration.
Barbados:
In Barbados, Remembrance Day is not a public holiday. It is recognized as November 11, yet the parade and ceremonial events are carried out on Remembrance Sunday. The day is celebrated to recognize the Barbadian soldiers who died fighting in the first and second world wars between 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945. The parade is held at National Heroes' Square where a interdenominational service is held.The Governor-General and Barbadian Prime Minister are among those who attend, along with other government dignitaries; and the heads of the police and military forces. During the main ceremony a gun salute, wreaths, and prayers are also performed at the war memorialCenotaph at the heart of Heroes' Square in Bridgetown.
Bermuda:
Lāčplēsis is an epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs, a Latvian poet, who wrote it between 1872-1887 based on local legends. Lāčplēsis is regarded as the Latvian national epic.
Synopsis The poem recounts the life of the leg-
endary hero Lāčplēsis, chosen by the gods to become a hero of his people. His name means "Bear-slayer", because as a young man, living as the adopted son of the Lord of Lielvārde, he kills a bear by ripping its jaws apart with his hands. At the castle of Lord Aizkrauklis, he spies on the activities of the witch Spīdola (Spīdala), who is under the control of the Devil, and the holy man Kangars, who is in reality a traitor plotting to replace the old gods with Christianity. Spīdola tries to drown Lāčplēsis by throwing him into the whirlpool of Staburags in the Daugava, but he is rescued by the goddessStaburadze and taken to her underwater crystal castle. There Lāčplēsis meets and falls in love with the maiden Laimdota. Shortly afterwards, Lāčplēsis becomes friends with another hero, Koknesis ("Wood-bearer"), and they study together at the Castle of Burtnieks, Laimdota's father. Kangars provokes a war with the Estonians, and Lāčplēsis sets out to fight the giantKalapuisis (Estonian: Kalevipoeg (the "Kalapuisis" name is derived from kalapoiss), probably refers to the hero of the Estonian epic poem Kalevipoeg), to win the hand of Laimdota. He defeats the giant, and the two make peace and decide to join forces to fight their common enemy, the German missionaries, led by the priest Dietrich (Dītrihs). Lāčplēsis performs another heroic deed by spending the night in a sunken castle, breaking the curse and allowing the castle to rise into the air again. Laimdota and Lāčplēsis are engaged. In the following episodes, Laimdota reads from the old books about the Creation and ancient Latvian teachings. Laimdota and Koknesis are kidnapped and imprisoned in Germany. Spīdola convinces Lāčplēsis that Laimdota and Koknesis are lovers. Lāčplēsis returns home to Lielvārde, then sets sail for Germany. His ship becomes lost in the Northern Sea, and he is welcomed by the daughter of the North Wind. In the meantime, Dietrich and the Livonian prince Caupo of Turaida meet with the Pope in Rome to plan theChristianization of Latvia. Lāčplēsis begins his dangerous journey home from the Northern Sea. He fights monsters with three, six, and nine heads on the Enchanted Island. Finally, he encounters Spīdola Lacplesis monument dedicated to Jelon the island, and frees her from her contract with the Devil. gava liberators (Latvian War of IndeLāčplēsis is reunited with Laimdota and Koknesis, who es- pendence). caped from Germany but were then trapped on the Enchanted Island. Koknesis declares his love for Spīdola, and the four friends return to Latvia. A double wedding is celebrated during the Jāņi (Midsummer festivities), but the heroes soon set off to fight the German crusaders. After several battles, the Germans are pushed back, and their leader, Bishop Albert, brings reinforcements from Germany, including the Black Knight. At Dietrich's bidding, Kangars finds out the secret of Lāčplēsis' strength and treacherously reveals it to the Germans: Lāčplēsis' mother was a she-bear, and his superhuman strength resides in his bear ears. The German knights come to Lielvārde offering to make peace. Lāčplēsis organizes a friendly tournament, during which he is goaded into fighting the Black Knight. The knight cuts off Lāčplēsis' ears. Lāčplēsis, still, having not yet completely lost his strength, explodes in anger and lifts the Knight, to throw him in the river from a cliff. But the two combatants fall into Daugava river, because the Knight, when thrown, grabs Lāčplēsis, and they both disappear into the water. In the same moment Laimdota's life ends. Canto I The council of the gods – Lāčplēsis' destiny revealed Canto II The first heroic deed of Lāčplēsis – Lāčplēsis sets out to Burtnieki castle – Meeting with Spīdala – In the Devil's pit – In Staburadze's palace – Return and meeting with Koknesis Canto III The conspiracy of Kangars and Spīdala – War with the Estonians – The sunken castle – The Creation – The Latvians tricked by the Christians Canto IV Kaupa in Rome – Koknesis and Laimdota in Germany - Lāčplēsis in the northern sea – Lāčplēsis' return Canto V On the bewitched island – Meeting with Spīdala – Homecoming – Lāčplēsis, Laimdota and Koknesis reunited Canto VI Midsummer festival – Battle begins – Lāčplēsis' wedding – Death of Lāčplēsis
Day Lāčplēsis Lāčplēsis Day (Latvian: Lāčplēša Diena) is celebrated on November 11. On this date, Latvians commemorate not
the end of World War I in 1918 (as in many other countries), but the victory over the Bermontians at the battle of Riga the following year.
Independence Day C OMB OD IA - N ov 9
Remembrance
Day
Parade,
Hamilton,
In Bermuda, which sent the first colonial volunteer unit Bermuda, 1991 to the Western Front in 1915, and which had more people per capita in uniform during the Second World War than any other part of the Empire, Remembrance Day is still an important holiday. The parade in Hamilton had historically been a large and colourful one, as contingents from the Royal Navy, British Regular Army, the local Territorial units, the Canadian Forces, the US Army, Air Force, and Navy, and various cadet corps and other services were all contributed at one time or another to march with the veterans. Since the closing of British, Canadian, and American bases in 1995, the parade has barely grown smaller. In addition to the ceremony held in the City of Hamilton on Remembrance Day itself, marching to the Cenotaph (a smaller replica of the one in London), where wreaths are laid and orations made, a smaller military parade is also held in St. George's on the nearest Sunday to Remembrance Day.
Canada:
In Canada, Remembrance Day is a public holiday in all provinces and territories except Ontario and Quebec. Veterans Affairs Canada, a federal entity, states that the date is of "remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace"; specifically, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and all conflicts since then in which members of the Canadian Forces have participated. The department runs a program called Canada Remembers with the mission of helping young and new Canadians, most of whom have never known war, "come to understand and appreciate what those who have served Canada in times of war, armed conflict and peace stand for and what they have sacrificed for their country." The official national ceremonies are held at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, presided over by the Governor General of Canada, any members of the Royal Family (such as Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, in 2009), the Prime Minister, and other dignitaries, to the observance of the public. Typically, these events begin with the tolling of the Carillon in the Peace Tower, during which serving members of the Canadian Forces (CF) arrive at Confederation Square, followed by the Ottawa diplomatic corps, ministers of the Crown, special guests, the Royal Canadian Legion(RCL), the viceregal party, and, if present, the royal party. Before the start of the ceremony, four armed sentries and three sentinels (two flag sentinels and one nursing sister) are posted at the foot of the cenotaph. The arrival of the Queen or Governor General is announced by a trumpeter sounding the "Alert", whereupon the monarch or viceroy is met by the Dominion President of the RCL and escorted to adais to receive the Royal or Viceregal Salute, after which the national anthem, "O Canada", is played. The moment of remembrance begins with the bugling of "Last Post" immediately before 11:00 a.m., at which time the gun salute fires and the bells of the Peace Tower toll the hour. Another gun salute signals the end of the two minutes of silence, and cues the playing of a lament, the bugling of "The Rouse," and the reading of the Act of Remembrance. Aflypast of Royal Canadian Air Force craft then occurs at the start of a 21 gun salute, upon the completion of which a choir sings "In Flanders Fields". The various parties then lay their wreaths at the base of the memorial; one wreath is set by the Silver Cross Mother, a recent recipient of the Memorial Cross, on behalf of all mothers who lost children in any of Canada's armed conflicts. The royal and/or viceregal group return to the dais to receive the playing of the Royal Anthem of Canada, "God Save the Queen", prior to the assembled Armed Forces personnel and veterans performing a march past in front of the royal and/or viceregal persons, bringing about the end of the official ceremonies. A tradition of paying more personal tribute to the sacrifice of those who have served and lost their lives in defence of the country has emerged since erection of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the War Memorial in 2000: after the official ceremony the general public place their poppies atop the tomb. Similar ceremonies take place in provincial capitals across the country, officiated by the relevant lieutenant governor, as well as in other cities, towns, and even hotels or corporate headquarters. Schools will usually hold special assemblies for the first half of the day, or on the school day prior, with various presentations concerning the remembrance of the war dead. The largest indoor ceremony in Canada is usually held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with over 9,000 gathering in Credit Union Centre in 2010; the ceremony participants include old guard (veterans), new guard (currently serving members of the CF), and sea, army, and air cadet units.
India:
In India the day is usually marked by tributes and ceremonies in army cantonments. There are memorial services in some churches such as St Mark's Cathedral in Bangalore. In other circles this event is virtually ignored.
Mauritius:
A number of Mauritians, who participated in World War I as combattants, lost their lives. Among them, were many students from the Royal College of Mauritius, who participated in the War on the french front and never got to return to their motherland. Thus, to mark the gratitude of the Mauritian people to those who got martyred honourably, in 1916, even before the Rememberence Day was recognized, the Governor Hesketh Bell announced that he had a meeting in London, Royal Military College of Canada bag piper with an eminent artist, JA Stevenson, who accepted to and bugler, Remembrance Day construct a monument similar to that of Bernard Partidge, representing two allied soldiers: the Frenchman Poilu and the Englishman Tommy. The innauguration of this commemorative monument, in bronze, took place before the Royal COllege of Curepipe on Saturday the 15th April 1922, which was decreted public holiday. Since then, on each 11 November or as the case may be, it is at the foot of the War Memorial that Mauritians, continue to celebrate the Rememberence Day with all solemnity and respect that the event duly requires.
New Zealand:
New Zealand's national day of remembrance is Anzac Day, 25 April. "Poppy Day" usually occurs on the Friday before Anzac Day.Armistice Day was observed in New Zealand between the world wars, although it was always secondary to Anzac Day. As in other countries, New Zealand's Armistice Day was converted to Remembrance Day after World War II, but this was not a success. By the mid 1950s the day was virtually ignored, even by churches and veterans' organizations. A few ceremonies are still held on Remembrance Day, and also on 11 November.
South Africa:
In South Africa, Poppy Day is not a public holiday. It takes place on the Saturday nearest to Remembrance Day, though in Cape Town a Remembrance Service is still held on 11 November each year. Commemoration ceremonies are usually held on the following Sunday, at which the "Last Post" is played by a bugler followed by the observation of a two-minute silence. The two largest commemoration ceremonies to mark the event in South Africa are held in Johannesburg at the Cenotaph (where it has been held for 84 consecutive years), and at the War Memorial at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Many high schools hold Remembrance Day services to honour the past pupils who died in the two World Wars and the Border war. In addition, the South African Legion holds a street collection to gather funds to assist in the welfare work among military veterans.
United Kingdom:
In the United Kingdom, although two minutes of silence are observed on 11 November itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. Ceremonies are held at local war memorials, usually organized by local branches of the Royal British Legion – an association for ex-servicemen. Typically, poppy wreaths are laid by representatives of the Crown, the armed forces, and local civic leaders, as well as by local organizations including ex-servicemen organizations, cadet forces, the Scouts, Guides, Boys' Brigade, St John Ambulanceand the Salvation Army. The start and end of the silence is often also marked by the firing of a cannon. A minute's or two minutes' silence is also frequently incorporated into church services. Further wreath-laying ceremonies are observed at most war memorials across the UK at 11 a.m. on the 11th of November, led by the Royal British Legion. The beginning and end of the two minutes silence is often marked in large towns and cities by the firing of ceremonial cannonand many employers, and businesses invite their staff and customers to observe the two minutes silence at 11:00 a.m. The First Two Minute Silence in London (11 November 1919) was reported in the Manchester Guardian on 12 November 1919: The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect. The tram cars glided into stillness, motors ceased to cough and fume, and stopped dead, and the mighty-limbed dray horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition. Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of 'attention'. An elderly woman, not far away, wiped her eyes, and the man beside her looked white and stern. Everyone stood very still ... The hush deepened. It had spread over the whole city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain ... And the spirit of memory brooded over it all. The main national commemoration is held at Whitehall, in Central London, for dignitaries, the public, and ceremonial detachments from the armed forces and civilian uniformed services such as the Merchant Navy, Her Majesty's Coastguard, etc. Members of the British Royal Family walk through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office towards the Cenotaph, assembling to the right of the monument to wait for Big Ben to strike 11:00 a.m., and for the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery at Horse Guards Parade, to fire the cannon marking the commencement of the two minutes of silence. Following this, "Last Post" is sounded by the buglers of the Royal Marines. "The Rouse" is then sounded by the trumpeters of the Royal Air Force, after which wreaths are laid by the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family attending in military uniform and then, to "Beethoven's Funeral March" (composed by Johann Heinrich Walch), attendees in the following order: the Prime Minister; the leaders of the major political parties from all parts of the United Kingdom; Commonwealth High Commissioners to London, on behalf of their respective nations; the Foreign Secretary, on behalf of the British Dependencies; the First Sea Lord; the Chief of the General Staff; the Chief of the Air Staff; representatives of the merchant navy and Fishing Fleets and the merchant air service. Other members of the Royal Family usually watch the service from the balcony of the Foreign Office. The service is generally conducted by the Bishop of London, with a choir from the Chapels Royal, in the presence of representatives of all major faiths in the United Kingdom. Before the marching commences, the members of the Royal Family and public sing the national anthem before the Royal Delegation lead out after the main service. Members of the Reserve Forces and cadet organizations join in with the marching, alongside volunteers from St John Ambulance, paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, and conflict veterans from World War II, the Falklands, Kosovo, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, other past conflicts and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. The last three British-resident veterans of World War I, Bill Stone, Henry Allingham, and Harry Patch, attended the 2008 ceremony but all died in 2009. After the service, there is a parade of veterans, who also lay wreaths at the foot of the Cenotaph as they pass, and a salute is taken by a member of the Royal Family at Horse Guards Parade. In the United Kingdom, Armed Forces' Day (formerly Veterans' Day) is a separate commemoration, celebrated for the first time on 27 June 2009.
Northern Ireland:
Remembrance Day is officially observed in Northern Ireland in the same way as in the rest of the United Kingdom. However the day has tended to be associated with the unionist community and ignored or opposed by Irish nationalists/republicans. The reason for this opposition is partly ideological and partly due to the actions of the British Army during "The Troubles" – especially incidents such as the Falls Curfew, the Ballymurphy massacre, Bloody Sunday and the Miami Showband killings. However some nationalists, especially Roman Catholic priests, began to attend Remembrance Day events as a way to connect with the unionist community. In 1987 a bomb was detonated by theProvisional Irish Republican Army just before a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, killing eleven people. The bombing was widely condemned and attendance at Remembrance events, by both nationalists and unionists, rose in the following years.
Similar observances outside the Commonwealth France and Belgium:
Armistice Day (November 11) is a national holiday in France and Belgium. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven a.m. in the morning — the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." Armistice Day is one the most important military celebrations in France, since it was a major French victory and the French paid a heavy price in blood to achieve it. The First World War was considered in France as the "Great Patriotic War". Almost all French villages feature memorials dedicated to those fallen during the conflict. In France the blue cornflower (bleuet) is used symbolically rather than the poppy.
Germany:
The German national day of mourning is the secular public holiday of Volkstrauertag, which since 1952 has been observed two Sundays before the first Sunday of Advent; in practice this is the Sunday closest to the 16 November. The anniversary of the Armistice itself is not observed in Germany. Each of the major German churches has its own festivals for commemorating the dead, observed in November: All Souls Day in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, Ewigkeitssonntag, or "Eternity Sunday" in the case of the Lutheran church.
Hong Kong:
Though not a public holiday after 1997 July, the Remembrance Sunday is observed in Hong Kong, and is marked by a multi-faith memorial service at the Cenotaph in Central, Hong Kong. The service is organized by the Hong Kong Ex-servicemen Association, and is attended by various Government officials and the representatives of various religious traditions (such as the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Buddhist community, the Taoist community, the Muslim community and the Sikh community). Although Hong Kong ceased to be part of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1997, the memorial service still resembles those in many other Commonwealth countries. The service includes the sounding of "Last Post", two minutes of silence, the sounding of "Reveille", the laying of wreaths, prayers, and ends with a recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance. The Hong Kong Police Bandcontinues to perform their ceremonial duty at the service. As well members of the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps (including Ceremonial Squadron), Hong Kong Adventure Corps, Hong Kong Sea Cadet Corps and scouting organizations are in attendance.
Israel:
In Israel there are two ceremonies, the first being in Jerusalem, Mount Scopus Commonwealth Cemetery on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday, organized by the British Consul in Jerusalem. The The Cenotaph at Whitehall, Lonsecond ceremony is in Ramleh on the Sunday itself, organized by the don on Remembrance Day 2004 British embassy in Tel Aviv. The Ramleh ceremony is the larger, and is also attended by veterans of the Second World War.
Italy:
Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of theIndochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total landmass of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 sq mi), it is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. With a population of over 14.8 million, Cambodia is the 69th most populous country in the world. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism which is practiced by around 95% of the Cambodian population. The country minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 various hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economical, and cultural center of Cambodia. The kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, an elected monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years. In 802 AD Jayavarman II declared himself king which marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire. Successive kings flourished which marked the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth who dominate much of South East Asia for over 600 years. Cambodia was ruled as a vassal between its neighbors, until it was colonized by the French in mid-19th century. Cambodia gained independence in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into Cambodia, giving rise to the Khmer Rouge, which took Phnom Penh in 1975. Cambodia reemerged several years later within a socialistic sphere of influence as the People's Republic of Kampuchea until 1993. After years of isolation, the war-ravaged nation was reunited under the monarchy in 1993. Rebuilding from decades of civil war, Cambodia has seen rapid progress in the economical andhuman resource areas. The country has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with economic growth growing an average 6.0% for the last 10 years. Strong textiles, agriculture, construction, garments, and tourism sectors led to foreign investments and international trade. In 2005, oil and natural gas deposits were found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters, and once commercial extraction begins in 2011, the oil revenues could profoundly affect Cambodia's economy.
History
Pre-history:
A gold-lotus bowl dating back to 1200CE.
The sparse evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of present day Cambodia are quartz andquartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratiéprovinces, and in Kampot Province, but their dating is unreliable. Some slight archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited Cambodia during Holocene: the most ancient Cambodian archeological site is considered to be the cave ofL'aang Spean, in Battambang Province, which belongs to the so-called Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates as of 6000 BC. Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia Archeological records for the period between Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital ofUdong), where the first investigations began in 1877, and Phum Snay, in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey. Prehistoric artifacts are often found during mining activities inRatanakiri. The most outstanding prehistoric evidence in Cambodia however are probably various "circularearthworks", discovered in the red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam as of the end of the 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, but some of them possibly date from 2nd millennium BC at least. A pivotal event in Cambodian prehistory was the slow penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the late 3rd millennium BC. Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau, in modern day Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Angkorian temples, like Baksei Chamkrong. Others were circular earthworks, like Lovea, a few kilometers north-west of Angkor. Burials, much richer, testify to improvement of food availability and trade (even on long distances: in the 4th century BC trade relations with India were already opened) and the existence of a social structure and labor organization.
Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian eras:
During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and Chenla coalesced in present-day Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, Cambodia absorbed influences from India, passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilizations that are now Thailand and Laos. The Khmer Empire flourished in the area from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Around the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism was introduced to the area through monks from Sri Lanka. From then on, Theravada Buddhism grew and eventually became the popular religion. The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century and it remained very powerful. The empire declined yet remained powerful in the region until the 15th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor, where a series of capitals was constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 1,150 square miles. The city could have supported a population of up to one million people and Angkor Wat, the most famous and best-preserved religious temple at the site, are reminders of Cambodia's past as a major regional power.
Dark ages of Cambodia:
Prasat Bayon
After a long series of wars with neighboring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. This led to a period of economic, social, and cultural stagnation when the kingdom's internal affairs came increasingly under the control of its neighbors. By this time, the Khmer penchant for monument building had ceased. Older faiths such as Mahayana Buddhism and the Hindu cult of the god-king had been supplanted by Theravada Buddhism. The court moved the capital to Longvek where the kingdom sought to regain its glory through maritime trade. Portuguese and Spanish travelers described the city as a place of flourishing wealth and foreign trade. The attempt was short-lived however, as continued wars with the Ayutthaya and the Vietnamese resulted in the loss of more territory and Longvek being conquered in 1594. With the capturing of Longvek by the Siamese, the nation never fully recovered. During the next three centuries, the Khmer kingdom alternated as a vassal state of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and Vietnamese kings, as well as short-lived periods of relative independence. A new Khmer capital was established at Udong south of Longvek, but its monarchs could survive only by entering into what amounted tovassal relationships with the Siamese and Vietnamese. A renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia in the nineteenth century resulted in a period when Vietnamese officials attempted to force the Khmers to adopt Vietnamese customs. This led to several rebellions against the Vietnamese. The Siamese–Vietnamese War (1841–1845) ended with an agreement to placed the country underjoint suzerainty. This later led to the signing of a treaty for French Protection of Cambodia by King Norodom I.
French colonization:
In 1863 King Norodom, who had been installed by Thailand,sought the protection of France from the Thai and Vietnamese after tensions grew between them. In 1867 the Thai king signed a treaty with France, renouncing suzerainty over Cambodia in exchange for the control of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Thailand. The provinces were ceded back to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Thailand in 1906. Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France from 1863 to 1953, administered as part of the colony of French Indochina, thoughoccupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945. Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king, and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grand-son of king Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control. They were wrong, however, and under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on November 9, 1953.
Independence and Vietnam War:
Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. When French Indochina was given independence, Cambodia lost official control over the Mekong Delta as it was awarded to Vietnam. The area had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698 with King Chey Chettha II granting Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father in order to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War, although he was widely considered to be sympathetic to the communist cause. While visiting Beijing in 1970 he was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, who had the support of the United States. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war. Soon the Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. Between 1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam forces and U.S. forces bombed and briefly invaded Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge. Some two million Cambodians were made refugees by the war and fled to Phnom Penh. Estimates of the number of Cambodians killed during the bombing campaigns vary widely, as do views of the effects of the bombing. The U.S. Seventh Air Force argued that the bombing prevented the fall of Phnom Penh in 1973 by killing 16,000 of 25,500 Khmer Rouge fighters besieging the city. However, journalist William Shawcross King Norodom is credited for saving and Cambodia specialists Milton Osborne, David P. Chandler and Cambodia from disappearing altoBen Kiernan argued that the bombing drove peasants to join the gether. Khmer Rouge. Cambodia specialist Craig Etcheson argued that the Khmer Rouge "would have won anyway", even without U.S. intervention driving recruitment despite the U.S. secretly playing a major role behind the leading cause of the Khmer Rouge.
Khmer Rouge regime:
As the Vietnam War ended, a draft USAID report observed that the country faced famine in 1975, with 75% of its draft animals destroyed, and that rice planting for the next harvest would have to be done "by the hard labour of seriously malnourished people". The report predicted that "Without large-scale external food and equipment assistance there will be widespread starvation between now and next February ... Slave labour and starvation rations for half the nation's people (probably heaviest among those who supported the republic) will be a cruel necessity for this year, and general deprivation and suffering will stretch over the next two or three years before Cambodia can get back to rice self-sufficiency". The Khmer Rouge reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975. The regime, led by Pol Pot, changed the official name of the country to Democratic Kampuchea. They immediately evacuated the cities and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects. They attempted to rebuild the country's agriculture on the model of the 11th century, discarded Western medicine, and destroyed temples, libraries, and anything considered Western. At least a million Cambodians, out of a total population of 8 million, died from executions, overwork, starvation and disease. Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately one to three million; the most commonly cited figure is two million (about one-third of the population).This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims suffered serious purges with as much as half of their population exterminated. In the late 1960s, an estimated 425,000 ethnic Chinese lived in Cambodia, but by 1984, due to Khmer Rouge genocide and to emigration, only about 61,400 Chinese remained in the country. Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced theVietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were also targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.
HUNGARY NEWS Hungarian–Chinese Military-to-Military Talks in Budapest (ONLINE) On Thursday, October 27 Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Chief of the MoD Defence Staff received Gen. Tong Shiping, the deputy director of the GenPolitical eral Department (GPD) of the Chinese People’s Liberation (PLA). Army Heading a delegation of six, the Chinese general was on a visit to Hungary to connegotiaduct tions. On a leg of his European tour, Gen. Tong Shiping, the deputy director of the General Political Department (GPD) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was staying in Hungary between October 26 and 30. The
aims of his visit to the Hungarian Chief of Defence were to learn about the legal-administrative and military structure of the Hungarian Defence Forces and to strengthen military-to-
military and friendly relations between the two countries. At the talks the negotiatparties ing stressed that the level of the Hungarian– Chinese military-to-military cooperation meets the national interests of the two countries, and its scope has been gradually expandGen. ing. Tibor Benkő out pointed that Hungary gives priority to the Hungarian–Chinese bilateral relations and welcomes China’s efforts to cooperate with NATO and the EU as well as its increasing role in UN-led peace operations.
Hungarian-Slovenian Agricultural Damage Mitigation Workgroup Formed (Online) Hungary and Slovenia is to form a workgroup consisting of experts within a matter of weeks to remedy the two countries' problems with regard to damage mitigation – announced Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas following discussions with his Slovenian counterpart on Friday in Eger. Following the bilateral ministerial talks, Sándor Fazekas stated that he and Slovenian Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food Dejan Zidan had discussed the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, the statute that came into force in Hungary last year on the regulations concerning food cultivation, production and distribution by small-scale producers, the public health product tax imposed on various foods, and experiences concerning the plight of bees.
345 million Ft fine for five chain stores (Online) The Central Agriculture Office (MgSzH) has fined five commercial chain stores a total of 345 million forints for unfair conduct as distributors with regard to their suppliers. The Authority has obliged the corporations concerned to pay a product route supervision fine. The fined commercial enterprises include two multinational hypermarket chains – Auchan and Tesco –, two smaller supermarket chains, – Aldi and Reál –, and the pharmacist chain Rossmann. The Central Agriculture Office performed the related investigations on its own authority. Auchan Hungary Limited and Reál Élelmiszer (Food) Limited were pe-
nalised for, amongst others, not fulfilling payments within the required, 30-day period. This put their suppliers in a disadvantageous situation. In addition, they had regularly asked some of their partners to sell their products at a lower price than the period of the special offers advertised in their stores would otherwise have justified. Another offence with relation to special offers is that they asked their suppliers for larger discounts than were subsequently passed to their consumers. The two supermarket chains also charged for services that were not performed in reality. The Authority also fined Rossmann Hungary Trading Limited for,
amongst other offences, paying invoices later than the allotted 30-day time limit, not fully passing on discounts provided by suppliers, and for charging for prohibited services. Tesco and Aldi Hungary were fined for distributing goods at less than their purchasing price. According to the Authority's reasoning, the fines are so high because the offences affected many suppliers and occurred continuously. All of the companies fined several million forints asked the court to review the decision of the Central Agriculture Office. Monitoring and spot checks continue.
High levels of small loose dust particles in the air (Online) During the past few days, the small loose dust particle (PM10) pollution in the air has risen throughout the country. Levels of pollution over the alerting level have been measured in several settlements. In Nyíregyháza, the smog warning was raised to alert level, while in Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc and Pécs, the level was declared high enough to require the informing of the public. According to meteorological forecasts, an anticyclone will continue to affect the weather over the coming days, which will not help the rapid improvement of air quality. Although air
quality is expected to improve in several areas as a result of rising southerly and south-easterly winds arriving on Thursday, there will be no appreciable change in calm, windless areas. The skies are expected to be cloudy over a larger area of the country on Sunday and Monday, as a result of which the concentration of air pollutants may fall. A smog state occurs when the concentration of pollutant materials – in this case loose dust (PM10) – in the air rises. If this level exceeds 75 micrograms/cubic metre on two consecutive days – and according to me-
teorological forecasts no significant change is expected in the coming days –, then the local government in question must announce a state of public information. If the concentration of small loose dust particles exceeds 100 micorgrams/cubic metre on two consecutive days, and no change is expected according to meteorological forecasts, then pollution has reached the alert level. A high level of air pollutants is an increased health risk for children, old people and the sick, especially those with chronic respiratory ailments.
Ceremonial Planting of Grapevines in the Our Kadarkas' Garden (Online) Several grapevines were planted today in Budapest's Jókai Garden. The aim of the initiative by the Ministry of Rural Development and the Duna-Ipoly National Park is for the Kadarka grape variety and wine to regain its earlier prestige. Budapest's legendary wine, Buda Red, is to gain a new lease of life in the Kadarkáink Kertje ("Our Kadarkas' Garden"). The first grafted vines were planted ceremoniously in the Jókai Garden, invoking the Swabian harvest celebrations of days gone by. Work will
continue in two stages, next spring and next autumn. At the opening of the ceremonial vine planting, State Secretary for Environmental Affairs
Zoltán Illés said, "Our task is to recreate the culture that was present in the Buda hills. The vines we are planting now will become mature in 2015, but we shall return every year and plant new ones. Kadarka may well become the flagship of Hungarian winemaking and a symbol of Budapest", he stressed. Barnabás Lenkovics, Grand Kadar of the Kadarka Circle, told those present, "our wine and viticulture is part of what makes us Hungarian. The rehabilitation of wine gardens is at once the rehabilitation of our culture", he underlined.
Over 11 thousand poached protected birds found at Nagylak (Online) The bodies of over 11 thousand protected birds were found in a truck by customs officials at the Nagylak border crossing on Friday. The poached birds were identified at the scene by the head of environmental the protection area of the Kőrös-Maros National Krisztián Park. Bránya stated: the birds are from 22 different species and the conservation total value of the shipment exceeds 100 million Forints. 8300 Skylarks alone were found in the Romanian lorry with which the perpetrators were attempting to transport the birds to Italy via Hungary. According to experts, the shipment also in-
cluded 2200 Red-throated Pipits, hundreds of White Wagtails and Calandra Larks, and many birds from several other species such as Fieldfares, European Goldfinches and Reed Buntings. The birds were most
probably shot by Italian somewhere Hunters near Moldova. The Romanian driver of the lorry was trying to pass through Hungary on his way to Italy. Customs officials became suspicious when they noticed that part of the lorry's cargo had been packaged differently, and a thorough began search, which resulted in them discovering the bodies of over 11 thousand birds in the refrigerated lorry, packed in boxes and plastic bags. This is one of the largest finds of this kind to have occurred at Nagylak. Criminal investigations have begun against the driver under nature conservation laws.
Over 11 thousand poached protected birds found at Nagylak (News Desk) KPK: Canadian High Commissioner Mr Ross Hynes inaugurated the Chail Shagai bridge in Swat District, one of 24 bridges Canada is contributing to res t o r e transportation links to communities affected by the 2010 floods. “ T h i s bridge is a token of Canada’s longstanding friendship with Pakistan a n d demonstrates Canada’s continued commitment to assist Pakistan in its recovery from the devastating 2010 floods,” announced High Commissioner Hynes. In an inauguration ceremony hosted by Brigadier Muhammad Tariq, Commander VII Brigade, High Commissioner
Hynes met with local residents who had witnessed the collapse of the previous bridge and saluted the resilience of the Pakistani people in the face of
recent disasters. He praised the National Disaster Management Authority, the Pakistan Army and local authorities for their critical role in response to the floods. The Pakistan Army installed the Chail Shagai bridge. The Chail
Shagai bridge replaces a bridge washed away last year and will be used by 9000 local residents. The Pakistan Army and local officials are in the process of completing the installation of the 24 bridges in flood-affected areas across Khyb e r Pakhtukhwa, Azad Jammu Kashmir and G i l g i t Baltistan. Foreign Affairs and International T r a d e Canada has provided $6 million in bridging equipment for the installation of 24 bridges to help the Pakistan restore links to communities cut off by the flooding. Canadian officials and the Pakistan Army collaborated to identify sites.
PICTURE NEWS
End of Khmer Rouge and transition:
In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge. The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), a Pro-Soviet state led by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, was established. In opposition to the newly-created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions. This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front. The Khmer Rouge representative to the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained. Throughout the 1980s the Khmer Rouge, supplied by China, Thailand, the United States and theUnited Kingdom continued to control much of the country and attacked territory not under their dominance. These attacks, led to economic sanctions by the U.S. and its allies, made reconstruction virtually impossible and left the country deeply impoverished. Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a comprehensive peace settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia(UNTAC). In 1993, Norodom Sihanouk was restored as King of Cambodia, making Cambodia the world's onlypostcommunist country which restored monarchy as the system of government. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état but has otherwise remained in place. In recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and led to some political stability in the form of a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy. In July 2010 Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison but the sentence was reduced to 19 years taking into consideration the time he spent in custody before trial.
October 31, 2011. A general view shows hundreds of thousands of pilgrims praying at Mecca's Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage to the Shrine City.
In Italy, servicemen who died for the nation are remembered on 4 November, when the ceasefire that followed the Armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918 began. Since 1977, this day has not been a public holiday; now, many services are held on the first Sunday of November.
Republic of Ireland:
In the Republic of Ireland, Armistice or Remembrance Day is not a public holiday. In July there is a National Day of Commemoration for Irish men and women who died in past wars, such as the Irish War of Independence and on service with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. Remembrance Sunday is marked by a ceremony in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, which the President of Ireland attends. In the Republic, the wearing of the Poppy is generally frowned upon due to the British Army's actions during the Irish War of Independence and their role during the Troubles. A very small number of citizens from the Republic of Ireland still enlist in the British Army, however the British Army is explicitly prohibited from actively recruiting under the Defence Act, 1954. The Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Dublin is dedicated to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who were killed in action in World War I.
October 29, 2011. A policeman in riot gear arrests a protester at the Occupy Denver camp. Police trying to tear down some newly erected tents at the encampment scuffled with demonstrators. They also arrested about six people and pepper-sprayed others during the melee.
Netherlands:
In the Netherlands, Remembrance Day is commemorated annually on 4 May. It is not a public holiday. Throughout the country, military personnel and civilians fallen in various conflicts since World War II are remembered. The main ceremonies are at the Waalsdorpervlakte nearThe Hague, the Grebbeberg near Wageningen and at Dam Square in Amsterdam. 2 minutes of silence are observed at 8:00 p.m. Remembrance Day is followed by Liberation Day on 5 May.
Poland:
11 November is a public holiday in Poland called Independence Day, as ending of First World War allowed Polish people to regain freedom and unity of their country after over a hundred years of partitions. Major events include laying flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by members of the government and highest authorities, other public ceremonies as well as church services and school celebrations.
United States:
Veterans Day is commemorated in the United States on 11 November, and is both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states. However, the function of the observance elsewhere is more closely matched by Memorial Day in May. In the United States, and some other allied nations, 11 November was formerly known as Armistice Day; in the United States it was given its new name in 1954 at the end of theKorean War to honor all veterans. Veterans Day is generally observed with parades and remembrance ceremonies and salutes at military cemeteries.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Birthday TA IWA N - N ov 1 2
Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" (國父), a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynastyduring the Xinhai Revolution. Sun was the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of theTaiwan Strait. Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country during the Northern Expedition. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death. Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood.
October 30, 2011. Spectators watch from behind a fence during the Formula One Grand Prix of India at the Buddh International Circuit on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Names
The original name of Sun Yat-sen was Sun Wen (孫文) and his genealogical name was Sun Deming (孫德明). As a child, his "milk name" was Dixiang (帝象). The courtesy name of Sun Yat-sen was Zaizhi (載之), and his baptized name was Rixin (日新). While at school in Hong Kong he got the name Yat Sen (逸仙; Hanyu pinyin: Yixian). Sun Zhong-shan, the most popular of his Chinese names, came fromNakayama (中山樵), a form of the Japanese name given to him by Miyazaki Touten.
October 31, 2011. Sheep colored to attract customers gathered at a market ahead of the Eid-al-Adha festival in Srinagar, India. Muslims in Kashmir celebrate Eid-al-Adha on Nov. 7 with sacrificial killing of sheep, goats, cows or camels.
November 1, 2011. Members of the Gendarmerie erect a barricade ahead of an anti-G20 demonstration in Nice, France. Anti-G20 demonstrators are gathering in Nice ahead of the arrival of the world's top economic leaders for the G20 summit in Cannes.
October 29, 2011. A foreign soldier investigates the crater caused by an explosion at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul. At least four people were killed when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of foreign soldiers in the Afghan capital, Kabul, with an unspecified number of NATO-led troops among other casualties.
Early years Farm life:
Sun Yat-sen was born on 12 November 1866 to a Cantonese Hakka family in the village of Cuiheng,Xiangshan (later Zhongshan county), Guangzhou prefecture, Guangdong province in Qing China. He was the third son born in a family of farmers, and herded cows along with other farming duties at age 6.
Education years:
At age 10, Sun Yat-sen began seeking schooling. It is also at this point where he met childhood friend Lu Hao-tung. By age 13 in 1878 after receiving a few years of local schooling, Sun went to live with his elder brother, Sun Mei (孫眉) in Honolulu. Sun Yat-sen then studied at the ʻIolani School where he learned English, UK history, mathematics, science and Christianity. Originally unable to speak the English language, Sun Yat-sen picked up the language so quickly that he received a prize for outstanding achievement from King David Kalākaua. Sun enrolled in Oahu College (now Punahou School) for further studies for one semester. In 1883 he was soon sent home to China as his brother was becoming afraid that Sun Yat-sen would embrace Christianity. When he returned home in 1883 at age 17, Sun met up with his childhood friend Lu Hao-tung at Beijidian (北極殿), a temple in Cuiheng Village. They saw many villagers worshipping the Beiji (literally North Pole) Emperor-God in the temple, and were dissatisfied with their ancient healing methods. They broke the statue, incurring the wrath of fellow villagers, and escaped to Hong Kong. While in HK in 1883 he studied at the Diocesan Boys' School and from 1884 to 1886 he was at the government Central school. In 1886 Sun studied medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital under the Christian missionary John G. Kerr. Ultimately, he earned the license of Christian practice as a medical doctor from the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (the forerunner of The University of Hong Kong) in 1892. Notably, of his class of 12 students, only two graduated, Sun was one of them.
November 1, 2011. Hindu devotees in the Indian state of Bihar wade into the Ganges during an annual festival honoring the sun deity. October 28, 2011. Men pray at a mosque in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. The presidential vote in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan was held Oct. 30.
Death
Sun died of liver cancer on March 12, 1925 at the age of 58 at the Rockefeller Hospital in Beijing. In keeping with common Chinese practice, his remains were placed in the Green Cloud Monastery, a Buddhist shrine in the Western Hills a few miles outside of Beijing.
Santa Cruz Massacre EA ST TIM OR - N ov 1 2
The Santa Cruz massacre (also known as the Dili massacre) was the shooting of East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
November 1, 2011. An Indian Hindu woman offers prayers to the setting sun during the festival of Chhath at the Arabian Sea, in Mumbai, India. During this ancient Hindu festival, rituals are performed to thank the Sun god for sustaining life on earth.
Background
In October 1991 a delegation to East Timor consisting of members from the Portuguese Parliament and twelve journalists was planned during a visit from UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights onTorture, Pieter Kooijmans. The Indonesian Government objected to the inclusion in the delegation of Jill Jolliffe, an Australian journalist whom it regarded as supportive of the Fretilin independence movement, and Portugal subsequently canceled the delegation. The cancellation demoralised independence activists in East Timor, who had hoped to use the visit to raise the international profile of their cause. Tensions between Indonesian authorities and East Timorese youths rose in the days after Portugal's cancellation. On 28 October, Indonesian troops had located a group of resistance members in Dili's Motael Church. A confrontation ensued between pro-integration activists and those in the church; when it was over, one man on each side was dead. Sebastião Gomes, a supporter of independence for East Timor, was taken out of the church and shot by Indonesian troops, and integration activist Afonso Henriques was stabbed and killed during the fight. A number of foreigners had come to East Timor to observe the Portuguese delegation, including independent US journalists Amy Goodmanand Allan Nairn, and British cameraman Max Stahl. They attended a memorial service for Gomes on 12 November, during which several thousand men, women, and children walked from the Motael Church to the nearby Santa Cruz cemetery. Along the way, members of the group pulled out protest banners and East Timorese flags, chanted slogans, and taunted Indonesian soldiers and police officers. Organizers of the protest maintained order during the protest; although it was loud, the crowd was peaceful and orderly, by most accounts. It was the largest and most visible demonstration against the Indonesian occupation since 1975.
The massacre
During a brief confrontation between Indonesian troops and protesters, Major Gerhan Lantara was stabbed. Stahl claims Lantara had attacked a girl carrying the flag of East Timor, and FRETILIN activist Constâncio Pinto reports eyewitness accounts of beatings from Indonesian soldiers and police. When the procession reached the cemetery, the leading section of the procession entered the cemetery while many continued their protests before the cemetery wall, waving flags and chanting pro-independence slogans. Indonesian troops had been standing by during this time, then a new group of 200 Indonesian soldiers appeared and began shooting. Fleeing people ran through the main entrance and deeper into the cemetery and were pursued by the soldiers. The massacre was witnessed by two American journalists— The Santa Cruz massacre took Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn (who were also attacked)— place during a 1991 funeral proand caught on videotape by Max Stahl, who was filming cession to the grave of Sebastião undercover for Yorkshire Television. As Stahl filmed the mas- Gomes. sacre, Goodman and Nairn tried to "serve as a shield for the Timorese" by standing between them and the Indonesian soldiers. The soldiers began beating Goodman, and when Nairn moved to protect her, they beat him with their weapons, fracturing his skull. The camera crew managed to smuggle the video footage to Australia. They gave it to Saskia Kouwenberg, a Dutch journalist to prevent it being seized and confiscated by Australian authorities, who subjected the camera crew to a strip-search when they arrived in Darwin, having been tipped off by Indonesia. The video footage was used in the First Tuesday documentary In Cold Blood: The Massacre of East Timor, shown on ITV in the UK in January 1992, as well as numerous other, more recent documentaries. Stahl's footage, combined with the testimony of Nairn and Goodman and others, caused outrage around the world. At least 250 East Timorese were killed in the massacre. One of the dead was a New Zealander, Kamal Bamadhaj, a political sciencestudent and human rights activist based in Australia. Although Indonesian authorities described the incident as a spontaneous reaction to violence from the protesters or a "misunderstanding", two factors cast doubt on their characterization. One was the documented history of mass violence committed by Indonesian troops in places such as Quelicai, Lacluta, and Kraras. The other factor was a series of statements from politicians and officers in Indonesia, justifying the military's violence. Try Sutrisno, Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian forces, said two days after the massacre: "The army cannot be underestimated. Finally we had to shoot them. Delinquents like theseagitators must be shot, and they will be...."
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Aftermath
In response to the massacre, activists around the world organized in solidarity with the East Timorese. Although a small network of individuals and groups had been working for human rights and self-determination in East Timor since the occupation began, their activity took on a new urgency after the 1991 massacre. TAPOL, a British organization formed in 1973 to advocate for democracy in Indonesia, increased its work around East Timor. In the United States, the East Timor Action Network was founded and soon had chapters in ten cities around the country. Other solidarity groups appeared in Portugal, Australia, Japan, Germany, Malaysia, Ireland, and Brazil. The television pictures of the massacre were shown worldwide, causing the Indonesian government considerable embarrassment. The coverage was a vivid example of how growth of new media in Indonesia was making it increasingly difficult for the "New Order" to control information flow in and out of Indonesia, and that in the post-Cold War 1990s, the government was coming under increasing international scrutiny. Copies of the Santa Cruz footage were distributed back into Indonesia allowing more Indonesians to see the actions of their government uncensored. A number of pro-democracy student groups and their magazines began to openly and critically discuss not just East Timor, but also the "New Order" and the broader history and future of Indonesia. The US Congress voted to cut off funding for IMET training of Indonesian military personnel. However, arms sales continued from the US to the Indonesian National Armed Forces.President Clinton cut off all US military ties with the Indonesian military in 1999. The massacre prompted the Portuguese government to increase its diplomatic campaign. Portugal unsuccessfully tried to apply international pressure by raising the issue with its fellow European Union members in their dealings with Indonesia. However, other EU countries like the UK had close economic relations with Indonesia, including arms sales, and were reluctant to jeopardise these. In Australia, there was criticism of the federal government's recognition of Jakarta's sovereignty over East Timor. The government had been promoting increased ties with the Indonesian military at the time of the massacre, but in 1999 would cut off military ties in response to the violence after that year's independence referendum. Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, described the killings as 'an aberration, not an act of state policy'. Commemorated as a public holiday in now independent East Timor, 12 November is remembered by the East Timorese as one of the bloodiest days in their history, one which drew international attention to their fight for independence.
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