86 Issue | Zarb-e-Jamhoor e-Newspaper | 26 Aug-01 Sep, 2012

Heroes Day Namibia - Aug 26

Heroes' Day is a national public holiday in Namibia. It is recognized by the United Nations as Namibia Day. Celebrated annually on 26 August, the day commemorates the Namibian War of Independence which began on 26 August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe.

National celebrations take place annually at different places, usually in the north of Namibia near important battle zones. Hundreds of people annually gather to watch leaders such as Hifikepunye Pohamba, Sam Nujoma and Nahas Angula officially commemorate veterans of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), SWAPO's military wing during the War. Likewise, honours, such as military medals, are handed out on the day. Heroes' Acre, a war memorial outside of Windhoek, was opened on Heroes' Day in 2002. It is also the same day that the United Nations Institute for Namibia, a tertiary educational body in Zambia under the auspices of the United Nations and forerunner to the University of Namibia, was inaugurated in 1976.

Herero Day

On the Sunday closest to August 23, the Herero people of Namibia commemorate the post-mortem reburial of their chief Samuel Maharero in 1923. Each year, thousands of Herero people converge on the town of Okahandja on a weekend close to August 23, the date when Maharero's remains were repatriated from Botswana. Celebrations typically do not take place exactly on August 26 to give high-ranking government officials of Herero descent the opportunity to attend both events.

Our Lady of Czestochowa Poland - Aug 26

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa (Polish: Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska, Latin: Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte, and Ченстоховская икона Божией Матери in Church Slavonic) is a revered icon of the Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland.

The icon The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still hotly con-

tested among scholars. The difficulty in dating the icon stems from the fact that the original image was painted over, after being badly damaged

by Hussite raiders in 1430. Medieval restorers unfamiliar with the encaustic method found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image" according to the medieval chronicler Risinius, and their solution was to erase the original image and to repaint it on the original panel, which was believed to be holy because of its legendary origin as a table top from the home of the Holy Family. The painting displays a traditional composition well known in the icons of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodegetria" ("One Who Shows the Way"). In it the Virgin directs attention away from herself, gesturing with her right hand toward Jesus as the source of salvation.

In turn, the child extends his right hand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in his left hand. The icon shows the Madonna in fleur de lys robes.

History

Lucan origin:

The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the past six hundred years. Its history prior to its arrival in Poland is shrouded in numerous legends which trace the icon's origin to St. Luke who painted it on a cypress table top from the house of the Holy Family.

Arrival in Częstochowa:

One of the oldest documents from Jasna Góra states that the picture travelled from Jerusalem, via Constantinople and Belz, to finally reach Częstochowa in August 1382 by Władysław Opolczyk, Duke of Opole. However more recent Ukrainian sources state that it was taken by Władysław Opolski from the Castle of Belz, when the town was incorporated into the Polish kingdom and that earlier in its history it was brought to Belz with much ceremony and honors by Knyaz Lev I of Galicia. The golden fleur-de-lis painted on the Virgin's blue veil parallel the azure, semee de lis, or of the French royal coat of arms and the most likely explanation for their presence is that icon had been present in Hungary during the reign of either Charles I of Hungary and/or Louis the Great, the Hungarian kings of the Anjou dynasty, who probably had the fleur-de-lis of their family's coat of arms painted on the icon. This would suggest that the icon was probably originally brought to Jasna Gora by the Pauline monks from their founding monastery in Hungary.

Coronation as Queen and Protector of Poland:

The Black Madonna is credited with miraculously saving the monastery of Jasna Góra (English: Bright Mount) from a 17th century Swedish invasion, The Deluge, which actually changed the course of the war. This event led King John II Casimir Vasa to "crown" Our Lady of Częstochowa ("the Black Madonna") as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656.

Legends about the Madonna's appearance:

Another legend concerning the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is that the presence of the holy painting saved its church from being destroyed in a fire, but not before the flames darkened the flesh tone pigments. The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that the Hussites stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Among the items stolen was the icon. After putting it in their wagon, the Hussites tried to get away but their horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground and one of the plunderers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes.

When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and squirmed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty in covering up those slashes (as they found out that the painting was painted with tempera infused with diluted wax). In commemoration of the attack, two slashes on her right cheek were made by a pen.

Another legend states that, as the robber struck the painting twice, the face of the Virgin Mary started to bleed; in a panic, the scared Hussites retreated and left the painting.

Present day:

Because of the Black Madonna, Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pilgrimage there every year. Often, people will line up on the side of the road to hand provisions to the pilgrims as those who walk the distance to Częstochowa walk the entire day and have little means to get things for themselves.

Devotion to the image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in other traditions As evidenced from the icon on the right, it appears Orthodox Christians were not unaware of the Black Maddona.

They too venerate her. In Vodou, it is believed that a common depiction of Erzulie has its roots in copies of the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, brought to Haiti by Polish soldiers fighting on both sides of the Haitian Revolution from 1802 onwards. In her Petro nation aspect as Erzulie Dantor she is often depicted as a scarred and buxom woman, holding a child protectively in one hand and a knife in the other. She is a warrior and particularly a fierce protector of women and children. In Santeria, this image is referred to as Santa Barbara Africana.

Ukrainians also have a special devotion for the Madonna of Częstochowa.

Women's Equality Day U.S. - Aug 26

Women's Equality Day is a day proclaimed each year by the United States President to commemorate the giving of the vote to women throughout the country on an equal basis to men.

Women in the United States were given the right to vote on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified. The amendment was first introduced many years earlier in 1878. Every president has published a proclamation for Women's Equality Day since 1971 when legislation was first introduced in Congress by Bella Abzug. This resolution was passed designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day.

the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26th, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as "Women's Equality Day," and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women's rights took place.

Independence Day Moldova - Aug 27

Moldova officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: Republica Moldova) is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A strip of Moldova's internationally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.

The nation is a parliamentary republic and democracy with a president as head of state and aprime minister as head of government.

Moldova is a member state of the United Nations,Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

History

Prehistory:

During the Neolithic stone age era Moldova's territory was the middle of the large Cucuteni-Trypillian culture that stretched east beyond the Dniester River in Ukraine, and west up to and beyond the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. The inhabitants of this civilization, which lasted roughly from 5500 to 2750 BC, practiced agriculture, raised livestock, hunted, and made intricately designed pottery. Another remarkable feature of this society was the enormous settlements that were built, some of which numbered up to 15,000 inhabitants.

Antiquity and Middle Ages:

In Antiquity Moldova's territory was inhabited by Dacian tribes. Between the I and VII centuries AD, the south was intermittently under the Roman, then Byzantine Empires. Due to its strategic location on a route between Asia and Europe, the territory of modern Moldova was invaded many times in late antiquity and early Middle Ages, including by Goths, Huns, Avars,Bulgarians, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Mongolsand Tatars.

The Principality of Moldavia, established in 1359, was bounded by the Carpathian mountains in the west, Dniester river in the east, and Danube and Black Sea in the south. Its territory comprised the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern eight of the 41 counties of Romania, and the Chernivtsi oblast and Budjak region of Ukraine. Like the present-day republic and Romania's north-eastern region, it was known to the locals as Moldova. Moldavia was invaded repeatedly by Crimean Tatars Stephen the great, Prince of Moland, since the 15th century, by the Turks. In 1538, the principality davia between 1457 and 1504, and became a tributary to the Ottoman Empire, but it retained internal the most prominent Moldavian hisand partial external autonomy.

torical personality

In accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812 and despite numerous protests by Moldavian nobles on behalf of their autonomous status, the Ottoman Empire (of which Moldavia was a vassal) ceded to the Russian Empire the eastern half of the territory of the Principality of Moldavia along with Khotyn and old Bessarabia (modern Budjak).

The new Russian province was called "Oblast of Moldavia and Bessarabia", and initially enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. After 1828 this autonomy was progressively restricted and in 1871 the Oblast was transformed into the Bessarabia Governorate, in a process of state-imposed assimilation, "Russification". As part of this process, the Tsarist administration in Bessarabia gradually removed the Romanian language from official and religious use. The western part of Moldavia (which is a part of present-day Romania) remained an autonomous principality, and in 1859, united with Wallachia to form the Kingdom of Romania.

The Treaty of Paris (1856) returned three counties of Bessarabia — Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail — to Moldavia, but in the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Kingdom of Romania agreed to return them to the Russian Empire. Over the 19th century, the Russian authorities encouraged colonization of the south of the region by Ukrainians, Lipovans, Cossacks, Bulgarians, Germans, Gagauzes, and allowed the settlement of more Jews, to replace the large Nogai Tatar population expelled in the 1770s and 1780s, during Russo-Turkish Wars; the Moldovan proportion of the population decreased from around 86% in 1816 to around 52% in 1905.

Greater Romania:

World War I brought in a rise in political and cultural (ethnic) awareness among the inhabitants of the region, as 300,000 Bessarabians were drafted into the Russian Army formed in 1917; within bigger units several "Moldavian Soldiers' Committees" were formed. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, a Bessarabian parliament, Sfatul Ţării, was elected in October–November 1917 and opened on December 3 [O.S.November 21] 1917. The Sfatul Ţării proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic (December 15 [O.S. December 2] 1917) within a federal Russian state, and formed a government (December 21 [O.S. December 8] 1917).

Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia on February 6 [O.S. January 24] 1918 and requested the assistance of the French army present in Romania (general Henri Berthelot) and of the Romanian army, which had occupied the region in early January. On April 9 [O.S.March 27] 1918, the Sfatul Ţării decided with MPs of the Moldavian Democratic 86 votes for, 3 against and 36 abstaining, to unite with the King- republic in 1918 dom of Romania. The union was conditional upon fulfillment of the agrarian reform, autonomy, and respect for universal human rights. A part of the interim Parliament agreed to drop these conditions after Bukovina and Transylvania also joined the Kingdom of Romania, although historians note that they lacked the quorum to do so.

This union was recognized by the principal Allied Powers in the 1920 Treaty of Paris, which however was not ratified by all of its signatories. Some major powers, such as the United States and the newly communist Russia, did not recognize Romanian rule over Bessarabia, the latter considering it an occupation of Russian territory.

In May 1919, the Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as a government in exile. After the failure of the Tatarbunary Uprising in 1924, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian ASSR) was formed.

In August 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret additional protocol were signed, by which Nazi Germany recognized Bessarabia as being within the Soviet sphere of influence, which led the latter to actively revive its claim to the region. On June 28, 1940, the Soviet Union, with the acknowledgement of Nazi Germany, issued an ultimatum to Romania requesting the cession of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, with which Romania complied the following day. Soon after, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR) was established, comprising about 70% of Bessarabia, and 50% of the now-disbanded Moldavian ASSR. As part of the 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania seized the territories of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and Transnistria. Romanian forces, working with the Germans, deported or exterminated about 300,000 Jews, including 147,000 from Bessarabia and Bukovina (of the latter, approximately 90,000 perished). The Soviet Army re-captured the region in February–August 1944, and re-established the Moldavian SSR. Between the end of the Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in August 1944 and the end of the war in May 1945, 256,800 inhabitants of the Moldavian SSR were drafted into the Soviet Army. 40,592 of them perished.

Soviet era:

During the Stalinist period (1940–1941, 1944–1953), deportations of locals to the northern Urals, to Siberia, and northern Kazakhstan occurred regularly, with the largest ones on 12–13 June 1941, and 5–6 July 1949, accounting from MSSR alone for 18,392 and 35,796 deportees respectively. Other forms of Soviet persecution of the population included 32,433 political arrests, followed by Gulag or (in 8,360 cases) execution.

In 1946, as a result of a severe drought and excessive delivery quota obligations and requisitions imposed by the Soviet government, the southwestern part of the USSR suffered from a major famine. In 1946–1947, at least 216,000 deaths and about 350,000 cases of dystrophy were accounted by historians in the Moldavian SSR alone. Similar events occurred in 1930s in the Moldavian ASSR. In 1944–53, there were several anti-Soviet resistance ethnic germans resettling after the groups in Moldova; however the NKVD and later MGB managed Soviet occupation of bessarabia in to eventually arrest, execute or deport their members.

In the postwar period, the Soviet government arranged migration 1940 of workforce (mostly Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians), into the new Soviet republic, especially into urbanized areas, partly to compensate for the demographic loss caused by the war and the emigration of 1940 and 1944. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Moldavian SSR received substantial allocations from the budget of the USSR to develop industrial and scientific facilities and housing. In 1971, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision "About the measures for further development of the city of Kishinev" (modern Chişinău), that allotted more than one billion Soviet rubles from the USSR budget for building projects, subsequent decisions also directed substantial funding and brought qualified specialists from other parts of the USSR to develop Moldova's industry.

The Soviet government conducted a campaign to promote a Moldovan ethnic identity distinct from that of the Romanians, based on a theory developed during the existence of the Moldavian ASSR. Official Soviet policy asserted that the language spoken by Moldovans was distinct from the Romanian language . To distinguish the two, during the Soviet period, Moldovan was written in the Cyrillic alphabet, in contrast with Romanian, which since 1860 had been written in the Latin alphabet.

After the death of Stalin, political persecutions changed in character from mass to individual. All independent organizations were severely reprimanded, with the National Patriotic Front leaders being sentenced in 1972 to long prison terms. The Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova is assessing the activity of the communist totalitarian regime.

In the 1980s, political conditions created by the glasnost and perestroika, a Democratic Movement of Moldova was formed, which in 1989 became known as the nationalist Popular Front of Moldova (FPM). Along with several other Soviet republics, from 1988 onwards, Moldova started to move towards independence. On August 27, 1989, the FPM organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău that became known as the Grand National Assembly. The assembly pressured the authorities of the Moldavian SSR to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989 that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established.

Independence:

The first democratic elections for the local parliament were held in February and March 1990. Mircea Snegur was elected as Speaker of the Parliament, and Mircea Druc as Prime Minister. On June 23, 1990, the Parliament adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the "Soviet Socialist Republic Moldova", which, among other things, stipulated the supremacy of Moldovan laws over those of the Soviet Union. After the failure of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, on August 27, 1991, Moldova declared its independence.

On December 21 of the same year Moldova, along with most of the other Soviet republics, signed the constitutive act that formed the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Moldova received official recognition on December 25. On December 26, 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Declaring itself a neutral state, it did not join the military branch of the CIS. Three months later, on March 2, 1992, the country gained formal recognition as an independent state at the United Nations. In 1994, Moldova became a member ofNATO's Partnership for Peace program and also a member of the Council of Europe on June 29, 1995.

In the region east of the Dniester river, Transnistria, which includes a large proportion of predominantly russophoneEast Slavs of Ukrainian (28%) and Russian (26%) descent (altogether 54% as of 1989), while Moldovans (40%) have been the largest ethnic group, and where the headquarters and many units of the Soviet Deputy gheorghe ghimpu replaces 14th Guards Army were stationed, an independent Pridnestrovian the Soviet flag on the Parliament Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on August with the national one on April 27, 16, 1990, with its capital in Tiraspol. The motives behind this move 1990 were fear of the rise of nationalism in Moldova and the country's expected reunification with Romania upon secession from the USSR. In the winter of 1991–1992 clashes occurred between Transnistrian forces, supported by elements of the 14th Army, and the Moldovan police. Between March 2 and July 26, 1992, the conflict escalated into a military engagement.

On January 2, 1992, Moldova introduced a market economy, liberalizing prices, which resulted in rapid inflation.

From 1992 to 2001, the young country suffered a serious economic crisis, leaving most of the population below the poverty line. In 1993, a national currency, the Moldovan leu, was introduced to replace the temporary cupon. The economy of Moldova began to change in 2001; and until 2008 the country saw a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%. The early 2000s also saw a considerable growth of emigration of Moldovans looking for work (mostly illegally) in Russia (especially the Moscow region), Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and other countries; remittances from Moldovans abroad account for almost 38% of Moldova's GDP, the second-highest percentage in the world.

In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Agrarian Party gained a majority of the seats, setting a turning point in Moldovan politics. With the nationalist Popular Front now in a parliamentary minority, new measures aiming to moderate the ethnic tensions in the country could be adopted. Plans for a union with Romania were abandoned, and the new Constitution gave autonomy to the breakaway Transnistria and Gagauzia. On December 23, 1994, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a "Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia", and in 1995 the latter was constituted.

After winning the 1996 presidential elections, on January 15, 1997, Petru Lucinschi, the former First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party in 1989–91, became the country's second president (1997–2001), succeeding Mircea Snegur (1991–1996). In 2000, the Constitutionwas amended, transforming Moldova into a parliamentary republic, with the president being chosen through indirect election rather than direct popular vote.

Winning 49.9% of the vote, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (reinstituted in 1993 after being outlawed in 1991), gained 71 of the 101 MPs, and on April 4, 2001, elected Vladimir Voronin as the country's third president (re-elected in 2005). The country became the first post-Soviet state where a non-reformed Communist Party returned to power. New governments were formed by Vasile Tarlev (April 19, 2001 – March 31, 2008), and Zinaida Greceanîi (March 31, 2008 – September 14, 2009). In 2001–2003 relations between Moldova and Russiaimproved, but then temporarily deteriorated in 2003–2006, in the wake of the failure of the Kozak memorandum, culminating in the 2006 wine exports crisis. The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova managed to stay in power for eight years, mainly due to the appeal to the ethnic minorities, the support from the West during the presidential elections from April 4, 2005, the reliance on the Soviet notion of the Moldovan identity, the attempts to build a state based only on the Moldovan identity, and most important due to the control over a significant portion of the Moldovan media. The fragmentation of the liberal (aka the democrats) and the frequent manipulations of the electoral laws helped consolidate its power. The decline of the party started in 2009 after Marian Lupu joined the Democratic Party and thus attracted many of the Moldovans supporting the Communists.

Military

The Moldovan armed forces consist of the Ground Forces and Air and Air Defense Forces. Moldova has accepted all relevant arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union. On October 30, 1992, Moldova ratified the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment and provides for the destruction of weapons in excess of those limits. The country acceded to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in October 1994 in Washington, D.C. It does not have nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons. Moldova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation'sPartnership for Peace on March 16, 1994.

Moldova is committed to a number of international and regional control of arms regulations such as the UN Firearms Protocol, Stability Pact Regional Implementation Plan, the UN Programme of Action (PoA) and the OSCE Documents on Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition.

Mariamoba (Assumption) Georgia - Aug 28

Mariamoba on August 28 is one of the greatest holidays in Georgia. Mariamoba or The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated as a religious holiday in Georgia. This day is celebrated to commemorate the assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven. The day is celebrated all over Georgia with church ceremonies and feasts.

History The Blessed Virgin Mary, often shortened to Blessed Mary or Vir-

gin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians to refer to Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The Christian traditions give special honor and devotion to the Virgin Mary. According to traditional beliefs of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and some Protestant churches, Heaven assumed her physically after the end of her earthly life. Although Mary’s assumption to heaven has recently been defined as a dogma taught by the Catholic Church, accounts of her assumption to heaven circulated since 4th century. The chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation is interpreted to refer to this event. The story also appears in several Syric manuscripts and several other 5th and 6th century works.

Mary, whom Christians also refer to as Virgin Mary or Blessed Mary, was the mother of Jesus Christ. According to Christian belief, she conceived her son miraculously by the agency of a Holy Spirit. She lived a sinless life. Because of that and because she was the mother of Jesus Christ, she became known as ‘God-Bearer’ or ‘Mother of God’.

Thus, at the end of her earthly life, she was believed to be bodily assumed to Heaven. According to some doctrines, her Assumption to heaven is believed to occur after her death. The Assumption is important to many Catholic and Orthodox Christians as Mary’s heavenly birthday. It is regarded as a symbol of the promise made by Jesus Christ to all Christians that they too will be received into paradise. The Assumption is celebrated as a major festival. Though it is commonly celebrated on August 15, in Georgia, it is celebrated on August 28.

Celebration

The Slovak National Uprising (Slovak: Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovakresistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 fromBanská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso. Although the rebel forces were defeated by Nazi Germany, guerrilla warfarecontinued until the Soviet Army occupied Slovakia in 1945.

In the post-war period, many political entities attempted to "hijack" the uprising to their credit. The Stalinist regime in Czechoslovakia presented the Uprising as an event initiated and governed by communist forces. Slovak nationalists, on the other hand, claim that the uprising was a plot against the Slovak nation, as one of its main objectives was to oust the regime of the puppet Slovak state and reestablish Czechoslovakia, in which Slovaks were dominated

by Czechs. In fact, many factions fought in the uprising, including large rebel units of the Slovak Army, nationalist and communist partisans, and international forces. Given this factionalization, the Uprising did not have unambiguous popular support. Yet, the participants and supporters of the Uprising represented every religion, class, gender, age, and anti-Nazi political faction of the Slovak nation.

Preliminaries

Edvard Beneš, leader of the Czechoslovak government in exile in London, had initiated the preparations for a possible revolt in 1943, when he made first contacts with the dissident elements of the Slovak Army. In December 1943, various groups that would be involved with the uprising—the government in exile, Czechoslovak democrats and communists and Slovak army—formed the underground Slovak National Council, and signed the so-called Christmas Treaty, a joint declaration to recognize Beneš's authority and to recreate Czechoslovakia after the war. The council was responsible for creating the preparatory phase of the Uprising.

In March 1944, Slovak army Lieutenant Colonel Ján Golian took charge of the preparations. Conspirators stockpiled money, ammunition and other supplies in military bases in central and eastern Slovakia. The rebelling forces called themselves Czechoslovak Forces of the Interior and the First Czechoslovak Army. Approximately 3,200 Slovak soldiers deserted and joined partisan groups or the Soviet Red Army. In April 1944 Slovak Jews, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escaped from Auschwitz and eventually spoke about the horrors in German death camps.

In summer 1944 partisans intensified their war against German occupation forces mainly in the mountains of northcentral Slovakia. In July, Red Army troops in the Soviet Union and Poland began to advance towards Slovakia. By August 1944 the Red Army was at Krosno, Poland and within 40 kilometers of the North-Eastern Slovak border.

Two heavily armed divisions of the Slovak Army together with the entire eastern Slovak Air Force were deliberately relocated to Prešov in north-eastern Slovakia in summer 1944 to execute one of two planned options to begin the uprising. The two options were: the two divisions would start the uprising by coordinating their capture of Dukla Pass (joining Poland • and Slovakia through the Carpathian Mountains) with the arrival of the Soviet Army (1st Ukrainian Front under Marshall Ivan Konev), or respond to insurrectional army leader Ján Golian's orders to start resistance by immediately confronting • any invading German forces and hold the pass until the Soviet Army could arrive.

Colonel Viliam Talský was Chief of Staff over the two divisions. He had agreed in advance with the insurrectional army leadership and the uprising planning committee of the Slovak National Council to execute either of these two plans, depending on the circumstances he faced. On August 27, 1944 in Martin, a group of communist partisans under Soviet command in Kiev killed 30 members of a German military mission en route from Romania, a country that had just changed sides to support the Allies. German troops began to occupy Slovakia the next day to put down the rebellion. German arrangements for such occupation were done few weeks earlier.

At 19:00 hours on August 29, 1944 Slovak Defence Minister General Ferdinand Čatloš announced on state radio that Germany had occupied Slovakia. Golian sent the coded message to all units at 20:00 to begin the Uprising. Instead of adhering to the agreed plan, Colonel Talský gathered the entire eastern Slovak Air Force on August 30 and abandoned the two divisions flying to a prearranged landing zone in Poland to join the Soviet Army. The two divisions, left in chaos and without leadership, were quickly disarmed on the afternoon of August 30 without a single shot. Consequently, the uprising commenced prematurely and lost a crucial component of their plan as well as their two most heavily armed divisions capable of resisting any German advance.

Forces Accounts of the exact numbers of combatants vary. At first, the rebel Slovak partisan forces consisted of an estimated

18,000 soldiers. The total increased to 47,000 after mobilization on September 9, 1944, and later to 60,000, plus 18,000 partisans from over 30 countries. The Slovak Insurgent Air Force had a small number of mostly obsolete planes.

In addition to Slovak forces, the combatants included various other groups from escaped French POWs to Soviet partisans and SOE and OSS operatives. The Slovak side had to use mostly biplanes and improvised armored trains to fight against the better equipped German weapons. In addition to Soviet aid, United States B-17 Flying Fortress bombers landed at Tri Duby airfield on October 7, 1944 and brought supplies and OSS agents. Before returning, they embarked 25 Allied pilots shot down over Slovakia in past few month and five French partisans.

Course of the uprising Uprising begins:

Rebels began the uprising on August 29 8:00 p.m. under the command of Ján Golian. They entered Banská Bystrica in the morning of August 30 and made it their headquarters. German troops disarmed the Eastern Slovak Army on August 31. Many of the soldiers were sent to camps in Germany while others escaped and joined the Soviet-controlled partisans or returned home. On September 5 Ján Golian became the commander of all the rebel forces in Slovakia and was given the rank of General. Slovak forces in central Slovakia mobilized 47,000 men. His first analysis of the situation predicted that insurgents could resist German attacks for about two weeks.

By September 10 the rebels gained control of large areas of central and eastern Slovakia, including two airfields, which were used by the Soviet Air Force to fly in equipment.

Momentum lost:

The pro-German government of Tiso remained in power in Bratislava. Germany moved 40,000 SS soldiers under Gottlob Berger to suppress the uprising, which detained and disarmed two Slovak divisions and 20,000 soldiers that had been supposed to secure the mountain passes to help the Red Army. Beneš had met with Stalin and Molotov in Moscow in December 1943 to secure Soviet support for the uprising, but Stalin and STAVKA failed to deliver the needed support on time to the insurgent army and even blocked Western offers of military aid, as they had done only a few weeks earlier, during the Warsaw uprising. Meanwhile, General Koniev and the Soviet partisan headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine continued to undermine the Slovak insurgent army by ordering partisan groups operating in forward positions in Slovakia to conduct operations and avoid coordination with the Slovak insurgent army. The Soviet-led partisans even demanded and took desperately needed weapons and munitions from the insurgent Slovak army that had been stored for the uprising. The vast majority of Soviet air drops of weapons over insurgent-held territory in Eastern and Northern Slovakia were quickly confiscated by Soviet partisans and little ended up in the hands of the much stronger and better trained Slovak insurrectional army.

On September 8, the Red Army began an offensive on the Dukla Pass on the Slovak-Polish border and tried to fight through the Carpathian Mountains to penetrate into Slovakia. This poorly-planned and late action resulted in tremendous casualties on both sides and became bogged down for nearly two months.

Beneš, the Soviet partisans, and various Slovak factions began to argue among themselves for operational control.

Although he tried on repeated occasions, General Golian could not bring the sides together to coordinate their efforts.

General Rudolf Viest flew in and took command on October 7, with Golian becoming his second-in-command. Viest could not control the situation when political rivalries resurfaced in the face of military failure.

The uprising also coincided with the stalling of the Soviet summer offensive, the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, and other troubles on the side of the Western allies. The Red Army and its Czechoslovakian allies failed to quickly penetrate the Dukla Pass despite fierce fighting between September 8 and October 28; they suffered 85,000 casualties (21,000 dead). The Czechoslovak government in exile failed to convince western allies to ignore Stalin's obstruction and send more supplies to the area.

On September 17 two B-17 Flying Fortresss flew in the OSS mission of Lieutenant James Holt-Green. SOE team of major John Sehmer followed the next day on its way to Hungary. Their reports confirmed the suspicions of Western Allies that the situation of the uprising was worsening.

Counteroffensive:

On September 19 German command replaced SS-Obergruppenführer Berger, who had been in charge of the troops fighting the Uprising, with General Höffle. By that time Germans had 48,000 soldiers; they consisted of eight German divisions, including four from the Waffen-SS and one pro-Nazi Slovak formation.

On October 1 the rebel army was renamed the 1st Czechoslovak Army in Slovakia, in order to symbolize the beginning of the Czech-Slovak reunification that would be recognized by the Allied forces.

A major German counteroffensive began on October 17–18 when 35,000 German troops entered the country from Hungary, which had been under German military occupation since 19 March 1944. Stalin demanded that his advancing Second Ukrainian Front led by General Malinovsky be immediately diverted from Eastern Slovakia to Budapest.

The western advance of Soviet forces came to a screeching halt in late October 1944, as Stalin's interests focused on Hungary, Austria and Poland before he was interested in Slovakia or the Czech lands. By the end of October, Axis forces (six German divisions and one pro-Nazi Slovak unit) had taken back most of the territory from the insurgents and encircled the fighting groups. Battles cost at least 10,000 casualties on both sides.

Insurgents had to evacuate Banská Bystrica on October 27 just prior to the German takeover. SOE and OSS agents retreated to the mountains alongside the thousands of others fleeing German advance. The rebels prepared to change their strategy to that of guerrilla warfare. On October 28, Viest sent London a message that said the organized resistance had ended. On October 30, General Höffle and President Tiso celebrated in Banská Bystrica and awarded medals to German soldiers for their part in the suppression of the uprising (claimed by some to have been done by Tiso as to save the lives of Slovak soldiers captured by German forces in the uprising, who were deported to concentration camps, and to save three Slovak cities from German bombardment).

Aftermath:

Full text of resolution Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26th of each year as Women's Equality Day. WHEREAS,

Modern history: Russian Empire:

Slovak National Uprising Day Slovakia - Aug 29

Mariamoba is a public holiday in Georgia. On this day, thousands of Georgians flock to the church, to light candles.

It is the time of the year, when all Georgians visit their friends and family. Church ceremonies and feasts are arranged.

According to a Georgian ritual, a lamb is taken to the church. It is then taken around the church three times and then the animal is slaughtered outside the churchyard. Then its meat is boiled, shared, and eaten with friends and family.

The day is celebrated with banquets, song and dance performances. As some of Georgia’s greatest churches are perched on top of mountains, on this day, thousands of Georgians are seen climbing their way to the church, carrying arrangements for small family picnics. It is one day when Georgians, all over the country, come together to celebrate their ethnic religious identity.

However, partisans together with the remains of the regular forces continued their efforts in the mountains. In retaliation, Einsatzgruppen executed many Slovaks suspected of aiding the rebels and Jews who had avoided deportation until then, and destroyed 93 villages for suspicion of collaboration. A later estimate of the death toll was 5,304 and authorities discovered 211 mass graves that resulted from those atrocities. The largest executions occurred in Kremnička (747 killed, mostly Jews and Roma) and Nemecká (900 killed).

On November 3 Germans captured Golian and Viest inPohronský Bukovec; they later interrogated and executed them.

SOE and OSS teams eventually united and sent a message in which they requested immediate assistance. Germans surrounded both groups on December 25 and captured them. Some of the men were summarily executed. Germans took the rest to Mauthausen concentration camp where they were tortured and executed.

The German victory only postponed the eventual downfall of the pro-Nazi regime. Six months later, the Red Army had overrun Axis troops in Czechoslovakia. By December 1944 Romanian and Soviet troops had driven German troops out of southern Slovakia in the Battle of Budapest. On January 19, 1945, the Red Army tookBardejov, Svidník, Prešov and Košice in Eastern Slovakia. On March 3–5 they had taken over northwest Slovakia. On March 25 they entered Banská Bystrica and on April 4 marched into Bratislava.

Although the main military objectives were not achieved due to improper timing of the uprising and discoordinate actions of Soviet partisans that often undermined the plans and objectives of the insurrectional Slovak army--if occurred later when preparations were complete could theoretically have reverted the whole of Slovakia to the allied side and allowed the Red Army to quickly pass through Slovakia (though it is questionable whether the Soviet leadership would have preferred such an option because this would have significantly empowered the democratic forces in Slovakia)-the guerrilla struggle bound significant German forces that could otherwise have reinforced the Wehrmacht on the eastern front lines against the advancing Ukrainian Fronts to the north and south of Slovakia. Nevertheless, much of Slovakia was left devastated by the Uprising and the German counter-offensive and occupation.

Constitution Day Kazakhstan - Aug 30

Kazakhstan is one of the last Soviet republics to get freedom in December 1991. Its Constitution was adopted on August 30, 1995 — almost four years after their independence. On August 30, the entire political system became a democracy, replacing communism. The change in the political system marks a very important era as an independent Kazakhstan became a sovereign and economically liberal republic.

History The history of August 30, 1995, started before Kazakhstan’s in-

dependence. It became a sovereign republic within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in October 1990. August of 1991 saw an aborted coup effort in Moscow, which resulted in Kazakhstan gaining its independence on December 16, 1991.

Though Kazakhastan got its independence in December 1991, the economy and political system was the old one from the Soviet Union days. It was on Constitution Day, August 30, 1995, the constitution was given a new facelift in an attempt to make Kazakhstan a democratic republic.

An exception to making Kazakhastan a democracy is the fact that President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been granted lifetime power. Nursultan Nazarbayev started out as the head of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1989. Democracy in Kazakhstan is fighting against the early communist perception. However, it is still an improvement over the previous system. The major thing that changed following the new constitution was the economy. Kazakhstan is a mineral rich country with abundant resources of uranium, chromium, zinc, oil, natural gas and diamonds.

Celebrations August 30the, gives the people of Kazakhstan a big reason to celebrate its history. The Constitution Day is celebrated

all over Kazakhstan. It is not only a mark of a free country but a free country with lots of economic growth, which is worth celebrating.

The educational institutions reinforce this day as an important lesson in their history and their rule of law. The media plays its part in educating the citizens about the constitution and the constitutional developments. The Supreme Court spreads awareness about the importance of judiciary system in the country. It also tries to bring forward the facts about how constitution encourages and protects the country’s sovereignty, human rights and the benefits of independence.

The Supreme Court conducts seminars in high schools. The atmosphere is full of festivity and lot of special performances and events are organized by the citizens to celebrate this day. After all, it is the constitution, which brings about changes and protects the interest of the common mass of a country.

St. Rose of Lima Day St. Lucia, Peru - Aug 30

Rose of Lima, (April 20, 1586 – August 24, 1617), the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.

Biography

Saint Rose of Lima was born in the city of that name, the daughter of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier from San German, Puerto Rico, and his wife, Maria de Oliva, who was a native of Lima. She was part of a large family. She received the baptismal name of Isabel (Elizabeth). Her latter nickname "Rose" was a testament to her evident holiness. When she was a baby, a servant claimed to have seen her face transform into a rose. In 1597 she was personally confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, the holy Turibius de Mongrovejo, who was also to be declared a saint. She formally took the name of Rose at that time.

As a young girl--in emulation of Saint Catherine of Siena--she began to fast three times a week and performed severe penances in secret. When she was admired for her beauty, Rose cut off her hair, against the objections of her friends and her family, and disfigured her face with pepper and lye. She was very upset that she was so beautiful, and hurt herself to deter the suitors beginning to take notice of her. Despite the censure of her parents, she spent many hours contemplating the Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily. She was determined to take avow of virginity, in opposition to her parents, who wished her to marry. Finally, out of frustration, her father gave her a room to herself in the family home.

Daily fasting turned to perpetual abstinence from meat. Her days were filled with acts of charity and industry. Rose helped the sick and hungry around her community. She would bring them to her room and take care of them. Rose sold her fine needlework, grew beautiful flowers, and would take them to market to help her family. Her exquisite lace and embroidery also helped to care for the poor, while her nights were devoted to prayer and penance in a little grotto which she had built. Otherwise, she became a recluse, leaving her room only for her visits to church.

The fame of her holiness became so widespread among the populace of the colonial city, that she attracted the attention of the friars of the Dominican Order. She wanted to become a nun, but her father refused to allow this. Out of obedience to him, instead she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic, remaining in her parents' home. In her twentieth year she donned the habit of a tertiary and took the vow of perpetual virginity for which she had longed.

For eleven years this self-martyrdom continued without relaxation, with intervals of ecstasy, until she died on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31, having prophesied the date of her death exactly. Her funeral was held in the cathedral, attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and it was the archbishop himself gave her eulogy.

Veneration

Rose was beatified by Pope Clement IX on April 15, 1667, and canonized on April 12, 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first Catholic in the Americas to be declared a saint. Her shrine, alongside those of her friends, St. Martin de Porres and Saint John Macías, is located inside the convent of St. Dominic in Lima. The Roman Catholic Church mentions the many miracles that followed her death. Stories have been heard that she has cured a leper. Many places are named Santa Rosa in the New World and pay homage to this saint. Pope Benedict XVI is especially devoted to her.

Her liturgical feast was inserted into the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1729 for celebration initially on August 30, because August 24, the anniversary day of her death, is the feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle and August 30 was the closest date not already occupied by a well-known saint. Pope Paul VI's 1969 reform of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, made August 23 available, the day on which her feast day is now celebrated throughout the world, including Spain, but excluding Peru and some other Latin American countries, where August 30 is a public holiday in her honor.

She is honored together with Martin de Porres and Toribio de Mogrovejo with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on August 23.

She is the patroness of native Indian people of the Americas and their beneficence, of gardeners, of florists, of Lima, of Peru, of the New World,of Santa Rosa, California, and of Sittard, the Netherlands, of India, of people misunderstood for their piety and of the resolution of family quarrels.

Early Lives of Santa Rosa were written by the Dominican Father Hansen, "Vita Sanctae Rosae" (2 vols., Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward. Pope Benedict XIII wrote "Concentus Dominicano, Bononiensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum" (Venice, 1674).

There is a park named for her in downtown Sacramento, California. A plot of land at 7th and K streets was given to the Roman Catholic Church by Peter Burnett, first governor of the state of California. Father Peter Anderson built one of the first of two churches in the diocese to be consecrated in honor of St Rose.

In the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, the Santa Rosa Carib Community, Located in Arima is the largest organization of indigenous peoples on the island. The second oldest Parish in the Diocese of Port-of-Spain, is also named after this Saint. The Santa Rosa R.C. Church, which is also located in the town of Arima, was established on April 20, 1786 as the Indian Mission of Santa Rosa de Arima by on the foundations of a Capuchin Mission previously established in 1749.

The public may see the cranium of Santa Rosa, in the Basilica in Lima, Peru. It was customary to keep the torso in the Basilica and pass the cranium around the country, inviting all to venerate and gaze. She has a crown of roses on her cranium. She is also displayed with San Martin de Porres, who also has the cranium separate from the torso.

Literature Teodoro Hampe Martínez: Santa Rosa de Lima y la identidad criolla en el Perú colonial (Ensayo de interpretación)

National Day Malaysia - Aug 31

Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on August 31 each year. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.

History

The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress TunV.T. Sambanthan.

Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.

August 31, 1957

On the night of August 30, 1957, crowds gathered at the Royal Selangor Club Padang in Kuala Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman arrived at 11:58 pm and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and theUnion Flag A man is thrown into the air by a in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya was raised as crowd during Merdeka Day celebrathe national anthem Negaraku was played. This was followed by tions in Merdeka Square, Kuala seven chants of 'Merdeka' by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman gave a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment in the Lumpur, 2008 life of the Malayan people".

On the morning of Saturday, August 31, 1957, the festivities moved to the newly-completed Merdeka Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 am. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet and citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which culminated in the chanting of 'Merdeka' seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played and a 21-gun salute, followed by an azan call and a thanksgiving prayer in honor of this great occasion.

Attendees

Members of royal families:

• • • •

The King and Queen of Thailand The Crown Prince and Princess of Japan The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (representing The Queen) Prince William of Gloucester

• • • • • • • •

The Prime Minister of South Africa, Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Van Dong The Prime Minister of Ceylon, Solomon Bandaranaike The Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Sim Var The United States Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles (representing US President Dwight D. Eisen hower)

Heads of government:

Representatives from other British colonies:

• • •

The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham The Chief Minister of Singapore, Lim Yew Hock The High Commissioners of Australia, Canada and New Zealand in Malaya

• • •

Sir Gerald Templer (former British High Commissioner in Malaya) and Lady Templer Lady Gurney (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Henry Gurney) Lady Gent (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Edward Gent)

Members of the former British colonial administration:

The formation of Malaysia

The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th anniversary of Malayan independence.

However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due to Indonesian and the Philippines' opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim on. To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way for the final proclamation of Malaysia.

The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as Malaysia Day. The nationwide Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original independence date of Malaya, while Malaysia Day is a public holiday only in East Malaysia. However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malaya-centric.

In 2009, it was decided that starting 2010, Malaysia Day would be a nationwide public holiday in addition to Hari Merdeka on August 31.

ThiS ArTicLe conTribuTeD by coL. MuhAMMAD AzhAr zAinAL AbiDin, Defence ADviSor in MALAySiA high coMMiSSion To PAKiSTAn

Independence Day Trinidad & Tobago - Aug 31

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west.

The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands, comprising about 94% of the total area and 96% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.

The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on February 18, 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlandercolonizers. Trinidad and Tobago was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals.

Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan,calypso, soca, and limbo.

History

Historian E.L. Joseph claimed that Trinidad’s Amerindian name was Iere, derived from theArawak name for hummingbird, ierèttê or yerettê. However, Boomert claims that neithercairi nor caeri means hummingbird and tukusi or tucuchi does. Others have reported thatkairi and iere simply mean island. Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration.

Tobago's cigar-like shape may have given it its Spanish name (cabaco, tavaco, tobacco) and possibly its Amerindian names of Aloubaéra (black conch) and Urupaina (big snail), although the English pronunciation is /təˈbeɪɡoʊ/, rhyming with plumbago andsago.

Trinidad:

Both Trinidad and Tobago were originally settled by Amerindians of South American origin. Trinidad was first settled by pre-agricultural Archaic people at least 7,000 years ago, making it the earliest-settled part of the Caribbean. Ceramic-using agriculturalists settled Trinidad around 250 BC, and then moved further up the Lesser Antillean chain. At the time of European contact Trinidad was occupied by various Arawakan-speaking groups including the Nepoya and Suppoya, and Cariban-speaking groups such as the Yao, while Tobago was occupied by the Island Caribs and Galibi.

Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Trinidad on 31 July 1498. Antonio de Sedeñofirst settled Trinidad in the 1530s as a means of controlling the Orinoco and subduing the Warao (Whitehead, 1997). Cacique Wannawanare (Guanaguanare) granted the St Joseph area to Domingo de Vera e Ibargüen in 1592, and then withdrew to another part of the island (Boomert, 2000). San José de Oruña (St Joseph) was established by Antonio de Berrío on this land. Walter Raleigh arrived in Trinidad on 22 March 1595 and soon attacked San José and captured and interrogated de Berrío, obtaining much information from him and from the cacique Topiawari.

In the 1700s, Trinidad belonged as an island province to the Viceroyalty of New Spain together with Central America, present-day Mexico and Southwestern United States. However, Trinidad in this period was still mostly forest, populated by a few Spaniards with their handful of slaves and a few thousand Amerindians (Besson, 2000). Spanish colonisation in Trinidad remained tenuous. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the Spanish king Charles III on 4 November 1783.

This Cédula de Población was more generous than the first of 1776, and granted free lands to Roman Catholic foreign settlers and their slaves in Trinidad willing to swear allegiance to the Spanish king. The land grant was thirty two acres for each man, woman and child and half of that for each slave brought. As a result, Scots, Irish, German, Italian and English families arrived. Protestants benefited from Governor Don José María Chacon's generous interpretation of the law. The French Revolution (1789) also had an impact on Trinidad's culture as it resulted in the emigration of Martiniquan planters and their slaves to Trinidad who established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa) for the island.

The population of Port of Spain increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in five years, and the inhabitants in 1797 consisted of people of mixed race, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility.

The total population of Trinidad in 1797 was 17,718, 2,151 of which were of European ancestry, 4,476 were "free blacks and people of colour", 10,009 were slaves and 1,082 Amerindians.

In 1797, General Sir Ralph Abercromby and his squadron sailed through the Bocas and anchored off the coast of Chaguaramas. The Spanish Governor Chacon decided to capitulate without fighting. Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population and Spanish laws. The conquest and formal ceding of Trinidad in 1802 led to an influx of settlers from England or the British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean. The sparse settlement and slow rate of population increase during Spanish rule and even after British rule made Trinidad one of the less-populated colonies of the West Indies with the least developed plantation infrastructure. Under British rule, new estates were created and slave importation increased to facilitate development of the land into highly profitable sugarcane estates, but mass importation of slaves was still limited and hindered, arguably, by abolitionist efforts in Britain.

The Abolitionist movement and/or the decreased economic viability of slavery as a means of procuring labour both resulted in the abolition of slavery in 1833 via the Slavery Abolition Act 1845 (citation 3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73), which was followed by its substitution by an "apprenticeship" period. This was also abolished in 1838, with full emancipation being granted on August 1. An overview of the populations statistics in 1838, however, clearly reveals the contrast between Trinidad and its neighbouring islands: upon emancipation of the slaves in 1838, Trinidad had only 17,439 slaves, with 80% of slave owners having less than 10 slaves each.:84–85 In contrast, at twice the size of Trinidad, Jamaica had roughly 360,000 slaves. Upon emancipation, therefore, the incipient plantation owners were in severe need of labour, and the British filled this need by instituting a system of indenture. Various nationalities were contracted under this system, including Chinese, Portuguese and Indians. Of these, the Indians were imported in the largest numbers, starting from May 1, 1845, when 225 Indians were brought in the first shipment to Trinidad on the Fatel Rozack, a Muslim-owned vesselIndentureship of the Indians lasted from 1845 to 1917, over which more than 147,000 Indians were brought to Trinidad to work on sugarcane plantations.

They added what was initially the second-largest population grouping to the young nation, and their labour developed previously underdeveloped plantation lands. The indenture contract was exploitative, such that historians Hugh Tinker were to call it "a new system of slavery". Persons were contracted for a period of five years with a daily wage (25 cents in the early 20th century), after which they were guaranteed return passage to India. Coercive means were often used to obtain labourers, however, and the indentureship contracts were soon extended to 10 years after the planters complained they were losing their labour too early.

In lieu of the return passage, the British authorities soon began offering portions of land to encourage settlement; however, the numbers of people who did receive land grants is unclear. Indians entering the colony were also subject to particular crown laws which segregated them from the rest of the Trinidad population, such as the requirement that they carry a "Pass" on their person once off the plantations, and that if freed, they carry their "Free Papers" or certificate indicating completion of the indentureship period. Despite this, however, the ex-Indentureds came to constitute a vital and significant section of the population, as did the ex-slaves.

The cacao (cocoa) crop also contributed greatly to the economic earnings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After the collapse of the cacao crop (due to disease and the Great Depression), petroleum increasingly came to dominate the economy. The collapse of the sugarcane industry concomitant with the failure of the cocoa industry resulted in widespread depression among the rural and agricultural workers in Trinidad, and encouraged the rise of the Labour movement in the 1920 -1930 period. This was led by Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler, who, in combination with his Indian partners (notably Adrian Cola Rienzi), aimed to unite the working class and agricultural labouring class to achieve a better standard of living for all, as well as to hasten the departure of the British. This effort was severely undermined by the British Home Office and by the British-educated Trinidadian elite, many of whom were descended from the plantocracy themselves. They instigated a vicious race politicking in Trinidad which aimed at dividing the class-based movement on race-based lines, and they succeeded, especially since Butler's support collapsed from the top down.

The Depression and the rise of the oil economy led to changes in the social structure. By the 1950s, petroleum had become a staple in Trinidad's export market, and was responsible for a growing middle class among all sections of the Trinidad population.

Tobago:

Columbus reported seeing Tobago on the distant horizon in 1498, naming it Bellaforma, but did not land on the island.

The present name of Tobago is thought to probably be a corruption of its old name, "Tobaco".

The Dutch and the Courlanders (people from the small duchy of Courland and Semigallia in modern-day Latvia) established themselves in Tobago in the 16th and 17th centuries and produced tobacco and cotton. Over the centuries, Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Britain consolidated its hold on both islands during the Napoleonic Wars, and they were combined into the colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1889.

As a result of these colonial struggles, Amerindian, Spanish, French and Englishplace names are all common in the country. African slaves and Chinese, Indian, and free African indentured labourers, as well as Portuguese from Madeira, arrived to supply labour in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Emigration from Barbados and the other Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Syria, and Lebanon also impacted on the ethnic make-up of the country.

Independence:

Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. The presence of American military bases in Chaguaramas and Cumuto in Trinidad during World War II profoundly changed the character of society. In the post-war period, the wave of decolonisation that swept the British Empire led to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 as a vehicle for independence. Chaguaramas was the proposed site for the federal capital. The Federation dissolved after the withdrawal of Jamaica and the government chose to seek independence on its own.

In 1976, the country severed its links with the British monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth, though it retained the British Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal. Between the years 1972 and 1983, the Republic profited greatly from the rising price of oil, as the oil-rich country increased its living standards greatly. In 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, led by Yasin Abu Bakr, formerly known as Lennox Phillip, stormed the Red House (the seat of Parliament), and Trinidad and Tobago Television, the only television station in the country at the time, and held the country's government hostage for six days before surrendering.

Since 2003, the country has entered a second oil boom, a driving force which the government hopes to use to turn the country's main export back to sugar and agriculture. Great concern was raised in August 2007 when it was predicted that this boom would last only until 2018. Petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism and the public service are the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, though authorities have begun to diversify the island. The bulk of tourism visitor arrival on the islands are from Western Europe.

Military

The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of the Regiment, the Coast Guard, the Air Guard and the Defence Force Reserves. Established in 1962 after Trinidad and Tobago's independence from Britain, the TTDF is one of the largest military forces in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Its mission statement is to "defend the sovereign good of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, contribute to the development of the national community and support the State in the fulfillment of its national and international objectives".

The Defence Force has been engaged in domestic incidents, such as the 1990 Coup Attempt, and international missions, such as the United Nations Mission in Haiti between 1993 and 1996.

National Language Day Moldova - Aug 31

National Language Day (Romanian: Limba noastră) is a public holiday in Moldova and is observed on August 31.

Overview On August 27, 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova or-

ganized a mass demonstration in Chişinău, that became known as the Great National Assembly, which pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989 that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established. The date has been a national holiday ever since.

In the main square of Chişinău a concert is organized featuring the performances of various national entertainers. Normally the stage is not dismantled since Independence Day which takes place on August 27th.

Constitution Day Slovakia - Sep 01

Revista de Historia de América, No. 121 (January – December, 1996), pp. 7–26

Victory Day Turkey - Aug 30

The 30th day of August is marked as the final step to Turkish war of independence.

This day is registered in history as the Victory Day of Turkey. The Battle of Dumlupinar ended on 30th August 1922, subsequently ending the Greek invasion of Turkey. This day is celebrated throughout Turkey in the honor of those whose who got them independence.

History The history of the Greeks and Turks and

their wars dates back to the Troy days. Earlier the Turks invaded Greece. However, with the end of First World War the Ottoman Empire saw its downfall. They saw most of their provinces going in the hands of the allies.

There came a time when the Greeks were stationed at Izmir and General Mustafa Kemal was sent to Anatolia. General Mustafa Kemal is known as the prime person under whole leadership Turkish war of independence was won. He was the one who tried uniting the country against the people trying to take over. There were several battles fought with different outcomes. Eventually Turkey started taking over from the time the Greeks’ withdrew from one of these battles for independence. The last battle (as opposed to the previous one) not just made Greeks lose but also made them leave their land. Therefore, it was Victory Day on 30th August, which made Turkey the republic it is today.

Celebrations

On September 1, Slovakia commemorates the 14th anniversary of the adoption of the country’s Constitution and celebrates it as a national holiday.

The binding document was adopted by the Slovak parliament on September 1, 1992, thereby establishing the independent Slovak Republic. The Czechoslovak Federation was officially disbanded on January 1, 1993.

History

During the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia ended. What followed the end of Communism was the country’s dissolution into two successor states. In July 1992, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Vladimír Mečiar, declared that his country is now a sovereign state. Its laws prevailed over those of the federal government. All throughout the autumn of 1992, Mečiar and his Czech counterpart Prime Minister Václav Klaus ironed out the details for dissolving the federation. The federal parliament voted in November, that the country would be officially dissolved on December 31, 1992. Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated for good after January 1, 1993. This event came to be known as the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia remains to be a close partner of the Czech Republic.

In 1991, the process of drafting the Constitution began. The Parliament later adopted a resolution to set up a commission of MPs from the different parties to prepare a joint draft of the Constitution for soon-to-be Slovak Republic.

The draft of the constitution was debated by the Parliamentary on August 31 and September 1. The legislature held an open vote on the final text following a demonstrative walkout by MPs representing the Hungarian minority. The Constitution took effect on October 1, 1992. Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency on January 1, 2009.

Celebrations

On Constitution Day on the hill of Bratislava’s castle, people discover traditional manufacturers and folk handicrafts in this annual event. In this occasion, there is a presentation of traditional items made by Slovak artisans and folk artists. There are events presented by the handicraft schools and there are folk music programs for children as well.

This 30th day of August is celebrated with élan throughout the country. It is a public holiday in Turkey. People hoist the national flag on this day. This day is called Zafer Bayramı in the local language. The importance of this day can be well explained and understood by people who have fought for it or the ones who have seen it all. The armed forces also celebrate this day with march-pasts. 30th August give people of Turkey to breath and live in fresh air, air that smells of independence and victory.

Hero's Day Philippines - Aug 31

Different countries in the world celebrate heroes day. However, the main motive behind this celebration is same. Heroes Day is celebrated on the day when national heroes were born or on that day or the heroes made some special achievements that made them special. Thus Heroes Day is celebrated as a day to pay homage to those heroes of the country who sacrificed there life for their nation or they did something special for their nation.

Philippines celebrate its Heroes Day on the 31 of August.

History Philippines honor the “Cry for

Pugad Lawin” by Filipino revolutionaries known as Katipunan.

They secretly prepared troops to revolt that had the single aim, to gain independence from Spain.

Katipunan is a Philippine revolutionary organization that was founded in 1892 by Filipino anti-Spanish revolutionaries in Manila. It was led by one the famous leaders named Andres Bonifacio, who was also one of the founders. About four years from the time of its creation, the leaders recruited about one to two hundred thousand members in the troop. Then after that, the new members were divided into different grades. As time spent, there became more numbers of leaders as the numbers of members in different grades were increasing. Thus apart from Bonaficio there were other leaders too. Among them, Emilio Aguinaldo was among the supreme commanders. In addition, Licerio Geronimo, Vincente Lukban and Melchora Aquino were in the list as famous Katipuneros.

After some days, it was seen that most of the Katipunan leaders were arrested, because of this Bonifacio called a meeting so that they would start the revolt. Though about thousands of members attended the meeting yet nothing was decided on the issue. After that meeting, another meeting was organized were all of them promised to fight until death. As a sign of their commitment they tore there identity proofs. Thus, as per decision they attacked Manila. However, as the Spanish discovered this secret meeting their guards were able to defend themselves from this attack.

Although the Katipunan soldiers were in advantage, the Spanish guards changed things so that the Katipunans had to retrieve back. The Katipunan soldiers moved back from the battle of Pasong Tamo but still did not loose their hope.

They then regrouped after three days and decided not to attack Manila directly but to go for Spanish power magazine first. As per plans, they attacked the hindered Spanish soldiers who were protecting the powder magazine. Several soldiers died ad about one fifty three Katipuneors died too. In addition, many of them were taken in prison and were severely tortured. Although Katipuneors retrieved back, as more Spanish soldiers were sent, the people all over Philippines revolted and rose up with arms. Thus, the Spanish government declared military rule.

Thus, day by day, the Spanish government retrieved themselves and thus the dream of Katipuneors and the people of Philippines came true. The Philippians gained freedom from Spain. Thus the heroes day is celebrated to pay honor to all those who participated in that revolt and who lost their precious life.

Independence Day Kyrgyzstan - Aug 31

August 31, 1991 is the day when Kyrgyzstan got independent from the Soviet Union. The age-old Soviet pressure took a long time to shrug off. Although the country was declared a republic and went through a name change several times after 1990, it was far from being independent from the Soviet clutches. The decision of Independence on 31st August 1991 was welcome by the common people as it was in their interest.

History The Soviet influence started in Kyrgyzs-

tan in early 1919. The major oppression was experience during the Stalin days though. Though they were under the Soviet bear hug they still managed to retain and develop lot of social, cultural and educational aspect. The urge to preserve their culture maintained the tension among the all-Union authorities. The Soviet hold on Kyrgyzstan was not exactly like a typical colony these European countries had in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world however, they were far from being independent. The Soviet influence was quite visible in their political system. The independence of Kyrgyzstan would have taken longer if the mass resignation of the secretariat and bureau would not have happened. It was this move, which made the Supreme Soviet vote in favor of Kyrgyzstan’s independence. Another problem following independence was the fight to get to power. Lot of political instability was experienced after independence.

Celebrations

The struggle to reinforce a stable and able government never stops the people of Kyrgyzstan from celebrating their Independence Day. The typical celebration includes Independence Day parades with people attending it in their traditional wear. The evening sees many fireworks to celebrate the occasion. The fireworks light up the sky and make it look like a supernova explosion somewhere.

Independence Day Uzbekistan - Sep 01

Uzbekistan officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek:O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси, Üzbekiston Respublikasi) is adoubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Prior to 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.

Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.

Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991.

Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold,uranium, potassium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations.

History

The earliest Bronze Age colonists of the Tarim Basin were people of Caucasoid physical type who entered probably from the north and west and probably spoke languages that could be classified as Pre- or Proto-Tocharian, ancestral to the Indo-European Tocharian languages documented later in the Tarim Basin. These early settlers occupied the northern and eastern parts of the Tarim Basin, where their graves have yielded mummies dated about 1800 BC. They participated in a cultural world centered on the eastern steppes of central Eurasia, including modern northeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

At the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, people of Mongoloid physical type began to be buried in cemeteries such as Yanbulaq some centuries later, during the later second or early first millennium BC. About the same time, Iranianspeaking people moved into the Tarim Basin from the steppes to the west. Their linguistic heritage and perhaps their physical remains are found in the southern and western portions of the Tarim. These three populations interacted, as the linguistic and archaeological evidence reviewed by Mallory and Mair makes clear, and then Turkic people arrived and were added to the mix.

The first people known to inhabit Central Asia were Iranian nomads who arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) began to appear as centers of government and culture. By the 5th century BC, the Bactrian, Soghdian, and Tokharian states dominated the region.

As China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centers of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and settlements in the province of Mawarannahr (a name given the region after the Arab conquest) in Uzbekistan and farther east in what is today China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Mawarannahr was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity.

Alexander the Great conquered Sogdiana and Bactria in 327 BC, marrying Roxana, daughter of a local Bactrian chieftain. The conquest was supposedly of little help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Persian empires, including the Parthian and Sassanid Empires.

In the 8th century Transoxiana (territory between the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers) was conquered by Arabs.

In the 9th – 10th centuries Transoxiana was included into Samanid State.

The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during the 13th century, would bring about a dramatic change to the region. The brutal conquest and widespread genocide characteristic of the Mongols almost entirely exterminated the indigenous Indo-Persian (Scythian) people of the region, their culture and heritage being superseded by that of the Mongolian-Turkic peoples who settled the region thereafter.

Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members.

Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, Mongol law of the Mongol Empire maintained orderly succession for several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants of Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united.

In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia and India before dying during an invasion of China in 1405.

Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand and other population centres. Timur also initiated exchange of medical thoughts and patronized physicians, scientists and artists from the neighboring countries like India.; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkish, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Mawarannahr—although the Timurids also patronized writing in Persian. Until then only Persian had been used in the region. The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali-Shir Nava'i, was active in the city of Herat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the fifteenth century.

The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr. The slave trade in the Khanate of Bukhara became prominent and was firmly established. Estimates from 1821 suggest that between 25,000 and 40,000 Persian slaves were working in Bukhara at the time.

In the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia. By 1912, Russians living in Uzbekistan numbered 210,306. The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, a second, less intensive phase followed. At the start of the nineteenth century, there were some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia. Much of the land in between was unmapped.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union. On October 27, 1924 the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created. On August 31, 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence, marking September 1 as a national holiday.

The country is now the world's third-largest exporter of cotton, and it is developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.

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H u n g a r y Tr a n s f o r m s I t s R o l e in Afghanistan

HUNGARY PM meets Hungarian ambassadors and the Secretary General of ASEAN (Online 22 cause this Aug) In leads to Budapest prosperity today at and comthe annual petitivemeeting of ness, and Hungarian Hungary ambassas h o u l d dors, Prime strive not Minister be left out V i k t o r of this Orbán told process. the 104 In the spirit heads of of this, the mission Prime Minpresent ister met that HunSurin Pitgary is suwan, the managing Secretary the current General of e c o n o m i c Szurin Picuvan, Viktor Orbán , János Martonyi , Péter the Associcrisis suc- Szijjártó (Photo: Gergely Botár) ation of cessfully – Southeast as is CenAsian Natral Europe t i o n s in general.

(ASEAN).

He said The meetthat even ing was though it also athad been tended by hoped that Foreign the euro Minister c r i s i s J á n o s would be Martonyi, short, it State Secnow apretary for pears to be Foreign Afa profairs and l o n g e d External phenomeRelations non, and Péter Szithat we jjártó, and s h o u l d the Ambast h e r e f o r e Szurin Picuvan, Viktor Orbán (Photo: Gergely Botár) sador of be prepared for the euro cri- out that the Government will Thailand. sis remaining a determining not allow Hungary's debt re- The Prime Minister made it factor in European politics. duction plan to be compro- clear that cooperation with by EU crisis the Southeast Asian region He added that crisis man- mised agement in Hungary is dif- management. He also was crucial for Hungary, ferent from that which stated that the leaders of adding that a good basis for Europe has chosen, and it Member States cannot af- it could be cooperation in promises success even in ford to lose the trust of their education and scientific recountries’ citizens. the short term. search. Parties at the talks He also regards Central Eu- He also said that integration agreed that the two counropean crisis management with the West and opening tries would launch a scholas successful, and he high- up to the East are not mutu- arship programme to this lighted the approaches of ally exclusive. With regard end.

Poland, the Czech Republic to the latter, western states and Slovakia. He pointed are ahead of Hungary, be-

Govt is firmly committed to the respect of the rule of law (Online 24 Aug) In common with its partners in the European Union, the Hungarian government is firmly committed to the principle of the rule of law as a value that provides the framework and basic norms for our everyday life. Pluralist democracy is a value that is to be protected at all costs, and indeed it will be protected by the Government from every ideology or action that is based on hatred.

On 19 March 2012 the Budapest Police were notified of a march being organised for 25 August 2012, on the fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Guard (Magyar Gárda). The Hungarian Guard was declared to be illegal by a court order, since it was found to be based on principles which are irreconcilable with the country’s

democratic order and principles.

The Budapest Police prohibited the march, but the applicant challenged the decision in the courts. The Budapest Metropolitan Court overturned the police ban, and declared the event to be within the law. This decision in no way alters the status of the Hungarian Guard itself, which remains an illegal organisation.

The Government – in compliance with the principle of the rule of law – respects the decision of the independent court, but at the same time makes it clear that it utterly rejects the ideology which was represented by the Hungarian Guard, and by all those who align themselves with discrimination, hate and violence. As a result of its deeply-rooted commitment

to democracy, the Government demands compliance with, and enforcement of, the law. The Government wishes to make it clear to all that the state has a monopoly over the use of force, and that illegal paramilitary or quasi- paramilitary organisations can have no role in maintaining public order.

Furthermore, with the help of the police, the Government will take all steps necessary to prevent any illegal or dangerous activity connected with the event. If there is any illegal activity, the Government will take the firmest action possible in the interest of public order. Such was the case in Cegléd recently, when significant police intervention restored order and ensured the safety of those present, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or political affiliation.

Budget surplus registered, resulting from higher income and lower expenditure figures (Online 23 Aug) According to the report issued by the Ministry for National Economy, in the month of July 2012, the central sub sector of the state budget registered a remarkable surplus.

With regard to the end-ofJuly deficits, this year’s figure of 56.7 percent is much more favourable than the 81.8 percent in 2011.

The revenues of the central government budget for July were much higher in comparison to the same month of the previous year on account of revenues of budg-

etary institutions, payments related to state property, interest payments and tax revenues.

With regard to expenditures, they were lower at consumer price subsidies, chapter administered professional appropriations, debt service related interest payments and redeemed government guarantees as well.

The revenues and expenditures of institutions which had been taken over by the state from the local governments of counties, played a

key part in this development.

The 22.3bn HUF surplus in July 2012 of Social Insurance Funds originated from the surplus of 9.1bn HUF of the Pension Insurance Fund and the surplus of 13.2bn HUF of the Health Insurance Fund. The balance was more favourable than last year, which is largely attributable to the higher revenues from social welfare taxes and contributions as well as healthcare services contributions.

National Chief of Police called for an investigation regarding police action in Cegléd (Online 22 Aug) József Hatala National Chief of Police has called for an investigation regarding measures taken by the police during recent tension between Roma and other locals of Cegléd, 70 km East of Budapest. László Garamvölgyi, Director of Communication at the National Police Headquarters stated, that the aim of the investigation will be to uncover whether police officers have failed to take the necessary measures in managing the conflict.

On Sunday, around 400 people gathered on the out-

skirts of the town, most of them associated with a farright movement. About 80 police officers guarded the houses of Roma residents.

No incidents were reported.

The national headquarters will analyse police reports and documents and prepare a report on the conclusions for the police chief, Garamvölgyi stated.

People around town said that recent thefts by Roma had led them to ask for the help of the New Magyar Guard, a new illegal formation of the radical nationalist Jobbik party. On Saturday night, some of them went on

‘patrol’ when about 80 Roma armed with garden tools, knives and other weapons marched towards them, one of the ‘patrollers’ told the Hungarian News Agency (MTI).

Ten Roma organisations issued a joint statement on Monday condemning the situation in Cegléd pointing out that Roma families live in fear and some fled their homes to stay with relatives. László Földi, the local mayor said that a false rumour ignited the tensions, indicating that he planned to move 40 Roma families into the outskirts of Cegléd.

Slovak minister of agriculture received Gyula Budai state secretary in Nitra (Online 23 Aug) Mr Ľubomír Jahnátek the Slovak Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development received Mr Gyula Budai Parliamentary State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Rural Development on August 23 in Nitra. The representative of the Hungarian Ministry arrived for a one day visit to attend the 39th AGROCOMPLEX International Fair in Nitra, which is an outstanding event for agricultural economy in the Central-European Region.

Press Release.

It became clear at the meeting that the Slovak Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Slovak partner ministry both follow closely the work of the Hungarian Ministry, since the in-

terests of the two countries are similar in many areas.

Mr Ľubomír Jahnátek highlighted the smooth cooperation experienced at the V4+2 Meeting in Poland in July, where both countries signed the Joint Declaration on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy.

The parties welcomed that the meeting took place,

since the Slovak relation has a key role due to neighbourly, V4 and EU relations.

During the day Mr Budai held a bilateral meeting with Ms Magdalena Lacko-Bartošová State Secretary of Slovakia who will visit Hungary to continue bilateral negotiations on agriculture and rural development.

(Online 23 Aug) While H u n g a r y ’s Afghanistan policy remains unchanged, at the request of NATO the Hungarian Defence Forces are going to transform their role in Afghanistan so that they can contribute even more effectively to the Asian country’s becoming independent and more secure, Defence Minister Csaba Hende stressed at a press conference on Thursday.

Csaba Hende stressed that Hungary’s Afghanistan policy remains unchanged and our country continues to support NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan. In the interest of assuming a more effective role, however, Hungary is going to transform its activity in the ISAF mission at the request of the North Atlantic Alliance.

As part of the transformation, the Hungarian-led HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) is going to complete its mission and the Hungarian Defence Forces will withdraw this contingent from Baghlan Province in March 2013.

This also means that Hungary terminates its development activity in the province. Csaba Hende pointed out that thanks to the Hungarian soldiers’ ac-

tivity, nearly 100,000 people have experienced an improvement in their quality of life, as considerable progress has been made in the fields of education, health care and agriculture, and significant development projects have been implemented in the field of infrastructure too.

At the press conference it was stated that in accordance with the government’s decision, the Hungarian Defence Forces will take over the lead nation role in force protection (FP) at Kabul International Airport (KAIA) for six months as of October 1, 2012. The Minister stressed that Hungary considers this mission a great honour.

Speaking about the helicopter air mentor teams, – i.e. the Mi-17 Air Advisory Team and the Mi-25 Air Mentor Team –, the Minister told the press that Hungary will extend their mandates in accordance with the

government’s decision.

Also in accordance with the governmental motion adopted o n Wednesday, the Hungarian Defence Forces Special Operations T a s k G r o u p (SOTG) is going to be converted as well. Reinforced and augmented with a staff element under the designation HDF Special Operations Forces (SOF) Contingent, it will be able to operate more independently with less allied support and to help with the training and capability-building of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

Csaba Hende noted that due to the transformation there will be a temporary increase in the number of Hungarian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, but next spring a significant drawdown will start in line with the NATO exit strategy.

The Minister of Defence stressed that the activities carried out by Hungarian troops in Afghanistan expand the experience of the Hungarian Defence Forces in crisis response operations conducted abroad and thus increase the territorial defence capability of Hungary.

Socialism is part of 20th century, just as WWII, Tibor Navracsics (Online 20 Aug) Those who concentrate on the events of WWII and ignore the crimes committed during the socialist regime fail to understand the 20th-century history of Europe, D e p u t y Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics told public radio on Sunday.

Navracsics was interviewed by public Kossuth radio's morning programme before the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23. The day will be marked by a conference in Parliament to be attended by justice ministers and experts from several EU member states.

While the affair of Hungarian war crime suspect Laszlo Csatary became a matter of global interest

overnight, the international press remained silent about one-time communist interior minister Bela Biszku and Gyorgy Matsik, a prosecutor during the post-1956 retaliations, he said.

The approach to the fivepointed red star and the swastika is a good example of double standards, he said. While a Lithuanian sees them as symbols of oppression, deprivation of independence and concentration camps, a Spaniard or an Italian deeply con-

demns the swastika but sometimes considers the red star merely a fashion article, the deputy premier said.

The recent ruling of the Strasb o u r g court upholding the right to publicly display the red star reflects a similar approach, Navracsics said.

Motivated by an abstract European point of view, the Strasbourg judges gave preference to freedom of speech over the need to warn the public of past crimes, he said.

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism was first marked on the anniversary of the 1939 MolotovRibbentrop Pact last year under a Hungarian-PolishLithuanian initiative.

Govt’s responses to the insulting behaviour of fans at Israel, Hungary football match (Online 21 Aug) The Hungarian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the insulting behaviour of certain Hungarian football fans during the friendly match between Israel and Hungary on 15 August.

The Government upholds, in every case and to the

greatest degree possible, the constitutional rights granted to all by the New Fundamental Law, and therefore takes action to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on race, religion or nationality. The Government also speaks out against provocative or insulting actions which are

not in direct violation of the law, and therefore not subject to immediate intervention from the authorities.

The Hungarian Government approaches all peoples of the world in a spirit of openness and peace, and requests the same from every Hungarian.

(Online 22 Aug) Government Spokesman András Gíró-Szász has announced that the Government adopted the recommendation of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) regarding the financial reward for successful Hungar-

ian Olympians. According to this, gold medallists are entitled to HUF 35 million, silver medallists to HUF 25 million, and bronze medallists to HUF 20 million.

Zsolt Borkai, the President of MOB, announced that in line with the Committee’s

proposal, there will also be remuneration for coaches and other members of the Olympic team who contributed to Hungarian athletes’ success, such as doctors and sports psychologists.

Hungarians celebrated national day in capital (Online 21 Aug) In the evening of 20 August, the day that marks the anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian State, more than half a million people watched the ceremonial firew o r k s display held on the Danube Banks. The ceremonial events attracted much attention and were held in high spirits; thousands of tourists were able to share the festive atmosphere of one of Hungary’s greatest national holidays.

P r o grammes began in the morning at Kossuth tér, outside the Parliament Building with the ceremonial raising of the flag and the officer inauguration cerem o n y w h e r e President of the Republic János Áder delivered a ceremonial speech.

The head of s t a t e stressed that we are at the beginning of a new era as the old world found itself at a critical junction, and only those nations will be the winners of the 21st century which will be able to “lift their spirits”. He stated with great pride that the Hungarians are amongst the persevering, surviving nations that created a state. János Áder likened the foundation of the State to the foundation of a family. As he said, family represents home to us all, and the State, too, is similar to the family in this respect; it means that not only do we have a country but we also have a home.

The most prestigious state decorations of the nation were handed over during the course of the morning in the Parliament Building.

These are awarded in recognition of outstanding performance rendered in the service of the nation, the development of the country, the promotion of the interests of the country and the enhancement of universal human values.

Early in the afternoon, nine organisations and persons from beyond the borders were awarded the Medal for Hungarians Beyond the Borders.

Already by 10.00 a.m., the embankments filled up with spectators to watch the air show organised over the Danube. Hundreds of thou-

sands of people followed the events from the highly popular Promenade of Hungarian Flavours where visitors had the opportunity to taste the best of Hungarian cuisine. Family programmes and concerts entertained visitors on the Danube Banks all day long.

At 3.00 p.m., after the traditional bread blessing, a spectacular harvest march set out and proceeded over the Chain Bridge all the way to St. Stephen’s Basilica. Children and adults adorned in traditional Hungarian folk costumes marched through the city with the New Bread that symbolises the holiday. The ceremonial mass at St. Stephen’s Basilica began at 5.00 p.m., which was followed by the traditional procession.

In the afternoon, President of the Republic János Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed Hungarian Olympic athletes at the Puskás Ferenc Stadium.

While the most memorable moments of the Olympic Games were being shown on the stadium screens, the 15-thousand-strong audience greeted the athletes with a standing ovation.

Similar to all national holidays during the past two years, also on this holiday, the Hungarian Parliament Building was open to visitors. This time, a record

number of visitors came to marvel at the beauty of the building; some 14 thousand people visited the building and saw the Holy Crown.

A spectacular firew o r k s display crowned the holiday at 9.00 p.m. As a special feature and novelty, rockets were a l s o launched from the C h a i n Bridge, a site that dominates B u dapest’s panoramic view.

T h e r e were celebrations throughout the country in memory of K i n g Stephen.

E v e r y year, one of the most spectacular events that is held in conjunction with the national holiday is the Debrecen flower carnival which was attended by more than a hundred thousand visitors. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics stressed at the commemoration held in Királyszentistván that the formal state is the best guarantee for the Hungarian nation to preserve its identity. He emphasised that a nation with an independent state is able to ensure its survival; at the same time, we are also aware that we cannot exist in isolation. He added that a nation only has a future if “we define our future in a European context, define our future as Europeans and live in the future as Europeans”.

20 August is the anniversary of the burial and canonisation of Hungary’s first king, the founder of the State, King Stephen 1 (9691038), the holiday of King St. Stephen, and also the holiday of the New Bread.

St. Stephen was the king who, simultaneously with the establishment of a formal state structure, also organised the Christian church in Hungary.

We shall not have to wait long for the next grandiose festival as the 21st International Wine Festival will be held between 12 and 16 September in the beautifully situated Buda Royal Castle.

Commemoration of the founRecommendation of the HOC regarding the fi- d a t i o n o f t h e H u n g a r i a n s t a t e nancial reward of Olympians has been adopted (Online 21 Aug) Commem- wreath-laying ceremony at alise their interests. During

Eur ope a n da y of r e m e m br a nc e for t he v ic t im s of t ot a lit a r ia n r e gim e s (Online 23 Aug) Facing the past and honouring the victims of totalitarianism: President János Áder and Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics speak at conference; State Secretary Bence Rétvári addresses the commemorative event.

Addressing the conference ‘Facing the Past’, held in the Hungarian Parliament building, President Áder said that as a democracy confronting dictatorship it is not enough to take the side of the victims; it is also necessary to voice a commitment to freedom, cooperation with partners and self-determination. He said it was no accident that dictatorships have striven to abolish these three values, which successive generations must therefore continuously preserve and reinvigorate.

Mr. Áder said there was no sense in distinctions between left-wing or right-wing dictatorships, as victims suffered under the banners of Socialism, Communism and Fascism alike. Dictatorships have always used the interests of the community as an excuse to crush the freedom of individuals; Democracies, however, are built on communities formed by free people.

‘Hungary is proud to have played an instrumental role in several democratic developments in the course of history,’ said Mr. Áder, mentioning the country's antiSoviet freedom fight in 1956 as an example. ‘Hungarians' uncompromising love of freedom made an ele-

mentary manifestation to the world that they would never succumb to dictatorship,’ he said.

In his address to the conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics reinforced the basic similarity between National Socialism and international socialism, which are both antagonistic to a free society. Both Nazism and international socialism practised ‘the same terror, humiliation, tyranny and violence against countries, peoples and social classes,’ the minister said.

In reference to a recent European Court verdict which decided against Hungary and its ban on the use of communist symbols, Mr. Navracsics said that ‘If Europe does not reject all totalitarian ideologies – symbolically, too – its democratic stance may become questionable.’ Mr. Navracsics defended the Hungarian legislation, saying that the ban sought to protect and pay tribute to all those who suffered in Hungary under either Nazi or Communist regimes. He said that in post-communist countries a red star is not a mere symbol, but the embodiment of oppression, and of total dictatorship.

Relativising Communism is an attack on human dignity, he said.

The participants of the conference also signed a joint statement on establishing a museum for European totalitarian crimes. The declaration outlined a co-operation

between Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland and Slovakia, to build a museum for presenting the history of European nations affected by totalitarian regimes in the 20th century.

Earlier in the day, at a commemorative event in front of Budapest's House of Terror Museum, State Secretary at the Justice Ministry Bence Rétvári similarly underlined the basic similarity of Communist and Nazi regimes.

They were both characterised by attacks on the value of human life and dignity, freedom and fundamental human rights, and by the multitudes of those falling victim to them. He also warned that much still needs to be done to ensure rejection of the symbols of totalitarianism.

‘Anyone wearing the swastika or a red star rejects Europe; one cannot be committed to European values and rehabilitate those symbols at the same time,’ he said.

At the end of the ceremony, remembrance candles were lit, and Lithuanian Justice Minister Remigijus Šimašius opened an exhibition on his country's anti-Soviet resistance from 1944 to 1953.

The ceremony was also attended by Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics, National Development Minister Zsuzsanna Németh, senior Hungarian officials, and Justice Ministers and State Secretaries from other EU Member States.

orative events related to the foundation of the Hungarian state proved extremely popular, both across the country and among Hungarian communities abroad.

In Lendva/ Lendava in Slovenia, Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog declared that both the kin state and the home state must be good states for Hungarians living abroad, because the reforms necessitated by the crisis in Hungary and Europe can be implemented by good states. Mr. Balog participated in the Procession of the Holy Crown, and a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Saint Stephen. He also met Ziga Turk, Slovenian Minister for Culture and representatives of the Hungarian community.

At an event organised by the Hungarian Coalition Party in Slovakia, its leader József Berényi stated that Saint Stephen secured the existence of the Hungarian nation, and now a similar task faces representatives of Hungarians in Slovakia.

Béla Bugár, leader of the Slovakian-Hungarian party Most-Híd, participated in a

the statue of Saint Stephen in Somorja/ Šamorín, and declared that Saint Stephen established a modern state with a foundation that still exists today.

In the commemorative event in Aknaszlatina/ Solotvyno organised by the Cultural Association of Hungarians in Subcarpathia, the association’s director Miklós Kovács emphasised that there are few saint kings in Western European history, although leaders were raised to be devout and moral. Events were also held in Beregszász / Berehove and Ungvár / Uzshorod in honour of King Saint Stephen.

In Romania, at the end of the Hungarian Days in Kolozsvár/ Cluj-Napoca, Deputy Mayor Anna Horváth pointed out that the strength shown during the festival every evening must be maintained by the community in the future.

In Serbia, István Pásztor, leader of the Hungarian Association in Vajdaság / Vojvodina, pointed out in his speech that the party continues to work for the Hungarian communities; he added that each and every person cooperates to re-

the celebrations consulgeneral Tamás Korsós handed over a gift from Viktor Orbán – the Prime Minister’s millennium flag – to the priest of the Saint George church in Szabadka/ Subotica, with the message that our Hungarian identity is about more than those places where Hungarians live in the Carpathian Basin, more than our legacy and more than our common past: the Hungarian nation is a great joint endeavour, and the flag is a sign of collaboration.

In the Czech Republic, representatives from Hungarian organisations emphasised that national cooperation and collaboration is extraordinarily important. Various Hungarian organisations participated in the commemorative event initiated by the Political Movement for Co-existence, including the largest one: the Association of Hungarians in the Czech Republic and Moravia.

In addition, many local Hungarian communities around the globe also held events linked to the foundation of the Hungarian state.

State secretary visits Sapientia University centre in Cluj (Online 20 Aug) Hungarian state secretary of foreign affairs Zsolt Németh visited the Cluj (Kolozsvar) centre - under construction - of Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania on Sunday.

Giving an impromptu press conference on the roof of the building, he expressed hope that Hungarian state subsidies for maintaining Sapientia could be decreased.

The two countries agreed that once the university has been accredited, the Romanian state would consider contributing to

funding, Németh said, noting that Sapientia is expected to get final accreditation later this year.

"I hope we will be able to put the issue of funding on the agenda in the near future," he said.

Cluj Mayor Emil Boc has promised, he said, that the city would give every possible assistance to both the Hungarian faculty of Babes-Bolyai University and to Sapientia.

Responding to Romanian journalists, Németh said that there are three Hungarian universities with Romanian-language

education.

Although Romania's ethnic Hungarians number about 1.5 million while Hungary is inhabited by just 8,000 ethnic Romanians, Hungary is prepared to co-fund Romanian private universities within its borders on the basis of a bilateral agreement, Németh said.

The private Sapientia university, funded in 2000, has faculties in Cluj, in Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda) and in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely). Over a thousand students pursue their studies at 27 majors.